Elena ignored the exchange. "The failed shifts. The marked posts. The trader. The missing key from three years ago. I have heard the reports. I am not here to add another theory. I am here to ask what the three of you need that you are not asking for."
Lila answered first. "Time. And for Hadrin to stop trying to turn every fear into a Trial."
"He will not stop," Darius said. His voice was quiet and certain. "Men like Hadrin believe fear is a tool. You will have to break the tool or take it from him."
Thorne leaned forward. "We break it by finding the hand behind this. Everything else is noise."
Elara spoke more softly. "The younger wolves are starting to doubt their own skins. That doubt will do more damage than any mixture if it lasts."
Elena looked at each of them in turn. The weight of her attention had not lessened with the years; it had only grown more precise.
