Angel's POV
Everyone was assembled in the courtyard by the time we came down - the troupe of soldiers in their formation, horses ready, the trader looking significantly the worse for a night on the dungeon floor, Merrick standing to one side in his riding clothes looking like a man who had made peace with his morning.
Terrell was addressing the soldiers.
I stood a few feet back and watched him - the way the soldiers listened, the quality of their attention, the authority he carried. He spoke without raising his voice and the courtyard was completely silent.
"You do not come back," he said, "without the child. Is that understood."
It was not phrased as a question.
"You will keep the trader in sight at every moment. You protect the woman with your lives. Every lead, every family, every transaction - you follow all of it until it ends at the right door." He looked along the line. "Is that understood."
"Yes, Alpha."
He stepped back.
