My ex man brought his new girlfriend

His inner thoughts were shrouded behind carefully controlled eyes, which was a shame. Ptarmigan would have liked to mock him if only he'd known the thoughts he had about her and her companions. Alas, she knew only what he said, all of which was stated plainly and gave no hint to his inner violence.

“Admirable,” said Ptarmigan, who could appreciate a wolf who knew how to pick his battles, or at least how to stay out of those that had little to do with him. “Too bad your queen wasn't so honourable in combat. They should have appointed you.” Though it scarcely mattered now, she had privately wondered all along what claim the yearling had had to the pack.

It was no secret that Ptarmigan considered Cara a dishonourable wolf for intentionally drawing blood in a ritualized challenge. Although it was reasonable enough, for she had been trespassing on claimed land, it was nevertheless a law of their breed as the Endore saw it. To draw blood in a rank challenge was to invite the ire of every ancestor of every wolf. Although Ptarmigan did not believe in spiritual mumbo-jumbo, if she had, she might have pointed out that Cara had lost by the will of the gods because she had drawn blood wilfully.