Chapter 30 · Sovereigns of the River

Chapter 30: Sovereigns of the River

"Say it again." Kane's hand is still flat on the vault door, like he doesn't trust it to stay shut. "Say my name doesn't scare you."

"Your name never scared me, Voss. Your roster did." I peel his collar open with two fingers, find the bruise my own teeth left there two nights ago. Still purple. Still mine. "That's different."

"Is it." He catches my wrist before I can pull away, presses my palm flat over his heart. It's going too fast for a man who just locked a vault door on half the pack council. "I need you upstairs in ten minutes. Silas wants the roll read out loud. Every name. In order."

"My name's not supposed to be on it."

"It is now." He says it like a fact, not a gift. That's the only reason I let him pull me toward the stairs.

The roll-call hall is empty when we get there, except for the microphone stand someone wheeled in overnight and the examiner sitting behind it with my trial sheet, my actual sheet, the one that used to live stitched into a locker lining, spread flat on the table like