Livia slowed her steps until she finally stopped altogether. The wind pulled lightly at the edge of her cloak. Her expression was unreadable for a moment, eyes squinting toward the tree line, as if she could focus her thoughts there.
"I don't know how the talks will go," she admitted.
Serena blinked. She hadn't expected that answer, not from her.
"I see the way the council tiptoes," Livia continued, her voice softer now. "They pretend to be confident. And maybe Darius believes he's ready to carry Ironshade through all this. But I've seen what happens to strong wolves when the ground beneath them won't hold. I have seen it up close."
There was no venom in her tone. A rare moment when she did not send a jab Serena's way. Her fears were the same as Darius and it sounded she had given it much thought, Serena had not fully understood the severity of Dawnbreak's arrival.
