Chapter 10: Pack Court

We did not sneak into the pack house.

Cade held the front door open for me, and we walked in together at seven in the morning, with hay in my hair.

"You said nobody finds out," I said under my breath.

"I changed my mind." His jaw was set. "I'm tired of the dark."

The great hall was full.

Pack court was held at dawn on the day after a crime, and half the wolves in Blackpine had come to watch.

Garrick sat in the alpha's chair at the far end.

My mother stood in front of him in the same green dress from graduation, with silver cuffs on her wrists.

Her hair had come loose. There was a bruise on her cheekbone that had not been there yesterday.

"Mom."

She turned. Her whole face changed when she saw me.

Then I saw her nostrils flare, and her eyes dropped to Cade, and back to me. She understood everything at once.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Orla Harrow," Garrick said. "How good of you to join us."

He had not looked at my face. He was looking at Cade.

He tilted his head and breathed in, and I saw the exact moment he put it together.

The corners of his mouth lifted.

"Well," he said softly. "Look at that."

A murmur went around the hall.

Melody stood at her father's side in a pale dress.

Her eyes went to the hay in my hair, and then to Cade's scratched neck.

Her mouth fell open.

"Cade?" Her voice was thin. "What is that smell?"

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