"That's right, Seraphina. They say that when Cadmus Wilder merely wandered past the blood-ward by accident, the Supreme Alpha executed him on the spot and it sparked the Pack War. Barging in like this... isn't it a bit reckless?"
"Reckless? I am the only she-wolf in all the Six Great Packs worthy of the Supreme Alpha's attention. He would never blame me."
Listening to the noise outside, I frowned. A cold sense of dread settled in my chest.
Fenris guarded me and the child with obsessive devotion.
After the incident where someone had accidentally touched my belly, he had dismissed every last soul from the Sacred Den.
Proud and untamable as he was, he came here himself each day to care for me. He would press his forehead to my swollen stomach and stay there, silent, breathing slow, as though listening for the pup's heartbeat with his own ears. The scent of ancient cedar heartwood and smoldering iron would linger on the furs long after he left.
Cadmus Wilder had once been an honored guest, on friendly terms with the Supreme Alpha.