I sat up on my knees, nearly bouncing with energy. This idea—it was the answer. “She’s stronger than any alpha I know, and she has absolutely no desire to run or even be a part of her own pack. Ever. And her being bitten? That’s exactly why she should be on the Council. Even if she’s not human anymore, she grew up that way. She gets how they think. The humans know about us, and there are going to be more problems. Plus, she’s part bruja. She can help smooth things over with them, and she’s already our unofficial spokesperson. So, why not take it a step further?”

Donovan scoffed. “She’s a few centuries too young.”

“She’s as old as I am.”

He gave me a look.

“You going to insult me now?” Because even if my side was still aching, I wasn’t going to take that.

“No. I wouldn’t dare. Not after you distracted Bhrunyz from my mother.” All of his joking disappeared. “Never do that again.”

“Not agreeing to that. It was going after your mother.” I still didn’t know why the beast had come after me instead.

Donovan ran a hand over his face, and I noticed the lines around his eyes had deepened. “You’re exhausted,” I said.

“I’ve not slept a wink since you got hurt yesterday.”

That was too long without sleep. “You have to rest, Donovan.” I was worried about him. He wasn’t getting any rest. Just because werewolves seemed invincible didn’t mean we actually were.

“I will when this is over.”

It needed to be over soon. Now that Donovan had calmed down a little, maybe I could reason with him. “I know you say you have no idea who did this and that it doesn’t matter because you’re going to order it out of them, but I think that’s a cop-out. You have to know. And forcing it? That’s going to break your already broken pack. So, let’s talk this through. For now, my list is Vivian, whoever it was that attacked me on the run, Feidhelm—”

“It’s not Feidhelm.”

Why not? “He’s a jerk and he hates me.”

“He hates everyone. It’s not personal, and he’ll grow on you.”

It sure felt personal. Especially when he made faces at my hair. And I wasn’t so sure about him growing on me. “And the wolf who attacked me?”

“Emmerson. He’s a problem, and he’s very close with Vivian.” He got up and started pacing the room. This was his pack. His world. He knew more about it than he thought he did.

Suddenly, he started walking to the door.

My heart sped up. He was leaving? He couldn’t do that. What if Bhrunyz came back? “Where are you going?”