The Council's summons arrived three weeks later, carried by the same silver-cloaked envoy who had once demanded Jasmine's return to answer for Silas's binding, though his bearing this time carried none of the old suspicion. She recognized him instantly, and felt, watching him approach the fortress gates, how much distance the last year had put between the exile she'd been and the woman standing to receive him now.

"The Council has convened a special session," the envoy announced, "to formally address the matter of Jasmine's standing within the Blood Moon pack, and the question of Luna succession, given the pack's current lack of a formally recognized mate at the Alpha's...