EMBER’S POV

The council chamber is packed to the walls.

Every seat in the gallery is filled. Wolves are standing along the back, crowding the doorways, craning their necks for a better view.

Word has spread through the Summit like wildfire—the Lycan King’s case reaches its conclusion today, and everyone wants to witness the carnage.

I sit beside Knox at the defendant’s table, my hands clasped in my lap to hide the trembling. I barely slept last night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Gale’s finger dragging across his throat. Saw my mother’s satisfied smile.

Saw the future stretching ahead of me—back in that house, back in that...