I wasn't strong enough for this.
My body still ached from the venom, a deep bone-weariness that no amount of sleep could shake. Wounds barely healed, the pink new skin tender and tight. Throat scarred where vampire fangs had torn through flesh and muscle, the tissue puckered and sensitive. Every movement hurt. Every breath reminded me how close I'd come to dying, how the venom had crystallized in my veins and tried to freeze me from the inside out.
But the vampires were waiting.
"You should rest," Lyra said as I dressed. "Let Ronan handle the negotiation. You're not recovered enough to..."
"They demanded the Alpha attend," I said. "Not the Direwolf. Me. If I don't show, they'll see it as weakness. Proof their attack worked, proof I'm too damaged to lead."
"Then at least stay in the den," Selvara tried. "Make them come here. On your territory."
