Hailey's POV
The council hall had never felt colder.
Not because of the stone walls or the lack of firelight, but because of the people in it. Survivors. Elders. War-weary wolves with bloodied hearts and conflicted minds. I watched them file into the room we used for council meetings, some limping, some silent, some staring at me like they weren't sure whether to salute me or question my right to stand where I was.
Vickson stood at my right side, silent but alert, like the wall I knew I could lean against if everything crumbled again. My children were safe, tucked away in the care of two trusted healers who'd sworn themselves to me with tears in their eyes. Still… I kept checking the bond, feeling their little pulses like anchors in my chest.
We needed to get this over with.
The moment the heavy doors groaned shut behind the last elder, I stepped forward.
