Thessian waited.
Through the bond, faint and distant, something stirred again, too weak to define, too far to grasp, but wrong in a way that brushed against his instincts like a whisper he could not quite hear. His jaw tightened for a fraction of a second, then eased. He could not afford distraction now.
Finally, one of the oldest council members spoke, voice slow and weighted with years of authority. "No one here is questioning your strength."
Thessian's expression remained unchanged. "That's not what I asked."
The elder exhaled slowly. "You act without consultation. You bind yourself to unknown forces. You involve the pack in matters outside our authority. And now you bring claims of internal betrayal without proof."
"There is proof," Thessian replied quietly. "You just don't want to look in the right direction."
That struck deeper than anything before it.
