Rejected: The Alpha's Fatal Mistake
"You two would get along better than either of you probably wants to admit."
The war council convened in full that afternoon — Wren, Ezra, Rurik, Torren, and Sable gathered around the central map, the particular focused energy of people who'd spent weeks preparing for exactly this conversation finally getting somewhere concrete.
"Three weeks for the scouting mission," Wren said, laying out the timeline with the same steady authority Kade had watched her wield since the day she'd stood up in that summit hall and named the Ashenmoor connection out loud for the first time. "Torren leads, Rennick and two of Rurik's mountain-trained wolves alongside him. Minimal contact, maximum information. If a