The boy kept talking, words tumbling out faster now. "There are twelve of us left. We have camps in the dead passes. We were going to wait for the next full moon when the kings are weakest, then come for the little ones. That's the plan. Take the children alive. Use their blood to fix the curse in our own line."
I let the silence stretch after he finished. Lila shifted on my hip, her small voice piping up clear and loud for the first time in front of the whole pack. "Bad wolf," she said, pointing straight at the scout. "Bad wolf go away."
The hall went dead quiet. Then a few wolves chuckled, the sound low and surprised. Lila looked at me, proud of herself, and repeated it louder. "Bad wolf go away!"
I pressed a kiss to her temple and stood up. "You heard my daughter. The east wants my children to fix their broken curse. They think they can take what is mine and turn it into power. They are wrong."
