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of Whiteriver territory. Shadows shifted between the trees. There were at least ten of them that Alder could see, but only one emerged from the darkness.
    Alder recognized her as the beta female that had accosted him and Taylor on their way through Mount Ezra. She wore white animal furs around her hips, but only her long, black hair obscured her high breasts. Just as before, he recognized her, but this time with more clarity.
    “Olive,” he said, unable to keep the surprise from his voice.
    “Olivia,” she corrected, her lip curling.
    Though she looked murderous, Alder couldn’t bring himself to feel any ill will towards her. He realized why he hadn’t recognized her before. When he last saw her, she had been a juvenile and somewhat small for her age. He remembered her being shy and timid, always following in her brother’s shadow with her head down.
    Her eyes assessed the body of her pack mate, and then settled on Alder. “I’m surprised you didn’t string him up and put him on display for us.”
    “Hale wanted to,” he admitted. “He attacked several members of my pack.”
    Her equanimity slipped for a second. “Alder?”
    Alder merely nodded in reply. He had vague memories of her stealing glances at him as a girl, with a blush that extended all the way down past her neck. She should have hated him for the part he had played in her father’s death, but he distinctly remembered her wavering when Silas and his pack left for Mount Ezra.
    “I brought him here so that you could give him a proper burial,” Alder said, adopting an authoritative tone. “And to warn you to stay away from the valley. I want there to be peace between us, but even I won’t be able to ignore another stunt like this.”
    Olive’s face hardened.
    “Halcyon doesn’t want peace,” she spat. “All you’ve ever wanted is to see Whiteriver fall.”
    Alder shook his head. “Is that what you believe, or bullshit that Silas is feeding you?”
    Her hands balled into fists. “You’re the ones who broke the treaty. If Hale didn’t want war, he wouldn’t have set foot inside of our den.”
    Alder was taken aback. Impulse made him want to question her, to find out exactly what Hale had done. Wisdom made him grit his teeth and will himself to remain calm. If he admitted to her that he didn’t know what had happened, he would be exposing the fact that his brother had played him for a fool. That was not something he wanted to give away to a potential enemy.
    Whiteriver needed to believe that Alder and Hale were an indomitable force, though Alder was uncertain if he could ever trust his brother again. He couldn’t conceive of any reason why Hale would trespass in the Whiteriver den other than to intentionally provoke them.
    While Alder silently considered the best course of action, Olive raised a hand, signaling something to her pack mates. Alder tensed, his body preparing for an attack. None came.
    Two females emerged from the forest, one pulling the other. The female being pulled was bound at the wrists, he noticed, with some sort of rope. He could smell her blood.
    “You can take this garbage back to your brother,” Olive said, pointing at the bound female. “And let me be clear that Whiteriver doesn’t want war, but if you attack us, we will be prepared.”
    Staring into Olive’s cold eyes, Alder saw no hint of the sweet girl she once was. Briefly, he regretted not advocating for her. He had stood by, remaining aloof while she warred with the decision of whether to follow her brother. Looking back with a more adult perspective, he realized that she had wanted to stay in Halcyon, but she was young and no one had ever told her that following Silas was a choice. In the end, she had done the only thing she’d known how to do.
    Alder watched as Olivia and her pack mate gathered up the body of their fallen comrade. They vanished into the forest, leaving behind a displaced scent of decay and the bound female, who sat on the ground,