When the last of the visiting elders disappeared into the frozen distance, only Ethan, Blackie, and the Moonfrost Direwolf Patriarch remained amid the fractured ice.
Blackie wasted no time shrinking down to his usual size once the tension cleared, his massive frame folding in on itself until he was once again manageable, though no less imposing in presence.
"Please, come in," Xakier said warmly, all earlier hostility gone as if it had been a different man wearing his face. He gestured toward the unseen entrance of his clan's domain, smiling in open invitation.
Blackie, never one for overthinking, immediately took a long stride forward.
Ethan caught him by the collar and hauled him back.
