My heart was still pounding after my speech. I hadn't planned to speak up at all during the summit dinner, but when I heard those Alphas so casually discussing abandoning millions to Valerius's tyranny, something inside me just... snapped.
The grand dining hall of the Silverholm compound buzzed with tense conversation. I caught snippets of heated debates around me as territorial Alphas and their delegations processed what I'd said. Some looked thoughtful, others annoyed. A few—those I'd need to watch carefully—appeared calculatingly neutral.
"Well, that was quite the entrance into shifter politics," Kaelen murmured beside me, his hand finding mine under the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze. His green eyes glinted with pride.
"I couldn't stay silent," I whispered back. "They're talking about abandoning everyone we know to die."
