Chapter 68

Arianna returned to Ravenwood three days later to find her territory in chaos.

Not the violent kind—no invasion, no battle, no immediate crisis. Instead, it was the bureaucratic chaos that somehow felt worse: settlements in dispute over resource allocation, trade agreements requiring immediate attention, a backlog of administrative decisions that had accumulated during her absence, and approximately fifteen different wolves who all needed the Alpha's immediate judgment on matters they considered urgent.

"Welcome home," Thomas said dryly as Arianna dismounted in the courtyard, immediately surrounded by wolves clutching documents and talking over each other. "Your absence was noticed."

"I was gone three days."

"Three days without Alpha authority...