Chapter 34 What it Costs

• “You can’t hold an entire room of territory leaders hostage,” my father said, stepping forward despite the guards surrounding us. “Marcus, think about what you’re actually doing right now.”
• “I’m protecting fifteen years of work,” Marcus said, though something in his voice had gone slightly unhinged, desperation finally cracking through decades of careful control. “I will not watch it collapse because of sentiment.”
• The guards tightened their circle, and I felt panic rippling through the crowd of assembled pack leaders, none of them prepared for their host to turn genuinely dangerous in front of witnesses.