The afternoon sun stretched slowly across the wide stone courtyard of Regina estate while the restless tension left behind by Darius Kane's challenge continued to drift through the pack like the uneasy scent of a storm that had not yet decided whether it would break into thunder or fade quietly into the horizon, and the wolves gathered along the training grounds spoke in low voices while glancing often toward the manor balconies where the Alpha and his Queen had retreated after the confrontation.
Two lines of irritated whisper slipped through a small group of younger wolves near the fountain.
"First that arrogant bastard Kane."
"And now the whole territory feels like a damn battlefield again."
