Thorne's POV
They said her name in the courtyard.
"Aisla."
The sound rattled through the pack house like a poison I could not swallow yet it was pushed into my face every waking moment. I stood in the dark corner of my chamber as the whispers carried through stone and timber. They no longer said her name with disgust any more. It was worshipped like a prayer.
The Moonblood had stepped onto the battlefield.
And worse… she had saved them.
And even worse, I knew nothing about it.
The warriors who bled for me now owed their lives to her. My sons who should stand as proof of my strength had faltered and she steadied them.
I smashed the glass of wine in my hand against the wall and the red wine spread on the floor like blood.
She should be mine to control or to crush, not theirs to exalt. Yet the moment her power flared, they forgot their Alpha. They forgot the oaths bound in marrow and name.
And now, the council dared summon me.
