Jaegar had thought he’d take Lisane away from me? After having given her to me in the first place?

And all because she had chosen my company over his?

I hadn’t read the letter from her I’d delivered to him, thinking myself above it at the time, but now I wished I had—I would’ve read the sentence where she said she wasn’t returning a thousand times.

As it was—I reached out with my mind and heard several distant howls. My creatures were in their places.

“I call a convocation!” I shouted aloud.

Jaegar’s guards, who’d begun to eye me with curiosity, startled. They had no idea what a convocation meant—but other mages would, and I knew Jaegar’s throne-sworn slept nearby.

Castillion the Spiked came out of the next tent over, shirtless and half-awake. “A convocation? On what grounds?”

“Your king tried to steal from me.” I watched him with glittering eyes, waiting for him to try to deny it. The obvious question would’ve been to ask “Steal what?” but we both knew Castillion didn’t need to guess. He’d been the one to deliver a sleeping Lisane to me two months prior.

There were more howls now, as wolves spoke to other wolves, and I heard the clamor and surprise of men waking to the sound.

“All-Beast,” Castillion complained, after waving his hand toward Jaegar’s tent, sending one of Jaegar’s guards scurrying inside.

“Do you deny it?” I took a broad step forward. My beast hated him to an irrational degree, and I felt its pull inside me, asking to be set loose.

Castillion’s jaw ground and I knew the man hated me back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he spat.

My eyes narrowed. I knew Castillion was Jaegar’s closest mage—and it didn’t sound like he was lying. My rational, mannish part wanted to gather more information to understand, whereas my beast thought Castillion would quickly confess if he were made to see his own intestines.

Other mages gathered, whomever was at camp and not out on missions fighting the Deathless—the war against the monsters was a round-the-clock operation, seeing that as of yet no one could predict when they’d attack. I heard them murmuring concerns to one another, giving me wide berth, and I saw Sibyi the Rainmaker join their ranks, leaning heavily on his staff, still healing after having recently broken his leg.

I waited until my wolves’ howls reached a crescendo, making it clear that the entire camp was surrounded by creatures loyal only to me, and then with a gesture from my hand, their howling stopped, leaving ominous silence behind.

“You all know I had no interest in the lives of men,” I said, addressing my fellow mages solely, though I knew soldiers beyond them would hear as well. If this camp had just been full of soldiers, I would have killed them all in thoughtless retribution for trying to steal Lisane, but I knew I needed to prove my case to those who were of my kind. “And perhaps some of you know that for years, Jaegar tried to tempt me into his battles, offering what I suspect he offered most of you. Gold, power, opportunities for greatness—things I needed none of, or that I already possessed.”

I saw Castillion’s eyes widen as he realized what I would share next.