Chapter 12: The Severance

The Moon Stone was cold under Rosalind's palm.

She did not put her hand on it yet.

She turned to face the ring of nine packs instead.

"I was asked to say a few words tonight," she said. "I'll read them."

She drew the cream paper out of her sleeve and unfolded it.

Jessamy smiled in quiet relief.

A faint smile touched her mouth, and she tilted her head, ready to be gracious.

Rosalind read in a clear, even voice.

She thanked the pack for twenty years, and for every winter they had kept each other alive.

She thanked the pup school and the clinic and the she-wolves who had carried her through the worst of the cold.

The crowd was utterly silent.

She came to the last line and looked up from the page.

"I give my place and my husband freely," she read. "With my blessing."

Jessamy's eyes shone.

"That is what I was asked to say," Rosalind said.

She folded the paper once and dropped it onto the cobbles.

"Now I'll say what's mine."

She turned and laid her bare palm flat on the Moon Stone.

The old she-wolf in the front row stood up so fast her chair fell over.

"A rejection spoken at the Stone comes before any verdict!" she cried. "It is the oldest law! No Alpha can silence it!"

Dalton's head jerked up.

"Rose."

His face had turned white.

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