Chapter 9

• Aysel’s POV
• The tension in the Moonvale Pack’s dining hall was thick enough to taste, like the metallic tang of blood just before a hunt. My family sat stiffly, each one pretending this confrontation was ordinary. But I knew better.
• I’ve always been the thorn in their sides, the wolf that bristles when poked. Every argument, every clash with them, had always ended with me retreating, teeth bared, leaving them unsettled. Today, though, I wasn’t stepping back.