Chapter 25. Connecting the Dots

THE SOUND OF gongs shook the air, alerting the heightened senses of the citizens of the Blood Claws Pack. The ladies from all the packs who were in their silk clothes squirmed on their seats as they waited for the potential males among the new members of the pack.

Mothers chastised them for giggling. Golden ringlets made from the sought-after goods of the mines from the far mountains of the western territories gleamed under the glaring sun. Parasols littered in front of the double doors of the gates that were made with fire and metal ores. It flustered everyone from the mere thought of finding the most compatible scent in this gathering.

If outsiders would see this, no one would associate it with the ruthless and crude Blood Claws Pack.

Beyond the rattling doors that were slowly opening before the eligible unmated ladies of the Blood Claws Pack, a woman who barely finished the celebration of her eighteenth summer solstice stared at the Cherry Blossom trees below her. The