They'd almost reached the tree line when I felt it.
The pull. The need. The Alpha command rising in my throat like a howl that demanded to be heard.
"Wait," I called.
Jasper's warriors stopped. Turned. Fifty men looking back at me with varying degrees of wariness and confusion. Their breath misted in the frigid mountain air, each exhale a small cloud that dissipated into the slate-gray sky. The scent of their collective unease hung heavy, bitter as burnt pine, mixing with the clean sharpness of snow and stone that defined these peaks.
"This isn't done," I said. Louder now. Power bleeding into my words. "You came to my territory. To my den. You brought warriors to threaten my family. And you think you can simply walk away?"
