“Stella, are you intent on dragging the Montgomery Pack’s honor through the mud? We do not suffer the insolence of an unranked pup!”

“Avery is a High Advisor to the Hayes Citadel! She carries the mandate of the Alpha. By what right do you bark at her?”

“It seems the lash Jerome gave her at the last Solstice didn't sink in. She’s hunting for trouble again.”

“Perhaps her wolf is truly mad. We should have the pack-shaman check her for the Silver Decay!”

Surrounded by the snarling criticism of her own kin, Stella’s scent turned sour with humiliation. She wanted to bolt up the stairs and tear the silver-threads from...