~Amelia~
The map table sat in the middle of Kaden’s council room, and every side of it was loaded with folded papers, patrol markers, little red pins, and one giant board showing our territory like somebody had turned the whole pack into a chess game.
Caleb was already standing on Kaden’s left, Clara had taken the seat near the back with her eyes doing that creepy calm thing they always did when she was seeing more than the rest of us, and Blake was on the opposite side of the table with his hands flat on the wood.
Lily was asleep in the nursery wing with Eli and other maids watching her, which meant I had exactly one reason to care about this meeting and that reason was sitting on the map like a threat with a pulse.
Kaden pulled out my chair first, then he stayed standing behind it instead of sitting down right away, which was his way of making it crystal clear that this was a serious strategy meeting.
