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I aiest you cal at him steadily "I have come here with the Northstones They wish to speak with your leader regarding a reat importance to all of us"

His eyes narrowed onto convince him further of --Brucella and Sergius at the lead

"Cedar!" Brucella exclai at our side

Cedar lowered his spear and, prying his eyes from me, fixed them on my aunt and uncle

"I see you have already met Bastien," Brucella said "Our dear nephew"

I could just i on, "And lanced atus into the burrow Rona was innocent in all of this, which e She deserved a mate just as much as any she-wolf I--and she--just had to hope that eventually Brucella would stop waiting for hter married, relinquish the betrothal and find another suitor for her daughter

So told me, however, from what I knew of my aunt, that this would not happen any time soon

As we moved into the burrow, I kept an ar her close to ed in an entrance cha my aunt and uncle that he would fetch the leader, Weldon Bonereaver, and his wife, Annik Bonereaver In theus wine I rolled my eyes Wine at this time of day was typical of this tribe These wolves spent rave neere about to deliver to them would make them lose their appetite for alcohol, for a while at least

None of us accepted a drink, and instead aited in silence until finally Dane’s parents Weldon and Annik arrived Weldon was of the same short and stocky build as Cedar, while his as tall, slender and graceful, originating from a different pack Weldon’s eyes traversed the rooaze fell on ers

"What is he doing here?" he deh "Weldon, you know that he is my nephew Please, let us not divert our attention to Bastien at a tient matters to discuss If it would make you more comfortable, take us somewhere else and ill talk to you without Bastien present"

Weldon nodded slowly He cast me one last dirty look before he and his wife left the roo the to dothis trip, anyway I’d already relayed all the information to my aunt and uncle that was required in order to convince other packs to unite with us I gri to have to face, although the Bonereavers were the pack hom I held the most animosity

I led Victoria to a cluster of chairs in the corner of the chaed ankle

"Why do they hate you so h "That story goes a long way back," I replied in a low voice

It was also a story that I would prefer to not recount to Victoria, for it was rather disturbing And I had caused her enough disturbance already--if she had not freed me, she would not have been separated from her family in the first place

"It’s due to an old family feud," I concluded Which was the truth Just not the full truth

The feud had started because of Dane and ood terms with his parents, and our tribes had lived much closer to each other Back when I was seventeen, Dane, the eldest son of Weldon and Annik--and three yearsto my sister, who had been less than a year older than me She had already been betrothed to another man--a man I knew she cared for Dane had always been an animal in every sense of the word He respected no one’s boundaries, and he had a disgusting sense of entitlement Especially when it came to females I still shuddered to think ould have happened that night if he’d ed to stealthe clearing froht hi one of his eyes out in the process--he would’ve had his ith , his parents were too proud to admit it and they immediately severed all ties with my parents They’d relocated to this hole To this day they had never forgiven iven hiius and Brucella to be longer talking to Weldon and Annik But they eain after barely half an hour Apparently, my aunt and uncle had been successful More wolves followed after the into the entrance chamber until it became so packed that I took Victoria’s hand and led her toward the exit I wanted to speak to one, but they were still in conversation with the Bonereaver leaders, talking about where ould travel next The Kaelins, by the sound of it They were a pack that was not in allegiance with the Northstones, nor with my own family, the Blackhalls, but the Bonereavers had relations with them I didn’t know ht of their conversation as Victoria and I made our way back out into the open, their lair was not far from here