Chapter 48

Scarlett I’m in the archives with one of the pack scribes, a wiry man named Harlen whose spectacles keeps sliding down his nose. The air is thick with scent of parchment, and dust, the shelves lined with decades of council records. We work in silence for a while, pulling cases that set precedent for bond dissolutionn and the limits of Alpha authority to prepare more for my proposal–the bill. “Here,” Harlen says, passing me a leather-bound ledger. “Council rulings from thirty years ago. I thought that these might be useful to you.” I thanked him and started opening then scanning the entries. Halfway down the page, I found a record detailing a vote on forced bond dissolutions. My eyes track the names, and one stops me cold–Alpha Theron Black, Alexander’s father, listed among those who vote against it. A small, ironic smile tugs at my mouth. “So it runs in the family,” I murmur. Before I can linger on the door, the door suddenly creaks open. I looked up at saw Kathleen with flushed cheeks