GREENWOOD’S POV

I sat behind the desk, my fingers tracing the jagged edge of a map I no longer had the heart to look at. 

Everything was slipping. The trade routes were still fraying!

Elias stood before me, his posture stiff, eyes fixed on the stone floor.

"Well?" I growled, the word scraping against the back of my throat. "Tell me you brought something worth the breath it takes to speak it. Do you have good news?"

Elias swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. "I have three reports, Alpha. One is good. Two are... less so."

“Start with the rot," I snapped, leaning forward. “Give me the bad news."

"We have...