Chapter 26. Unsound Mind

June's POV

The Council hall at Tarrow was the biggest room I had ever stood in.

Gray stone pillars. A high, dark-beamed roof. Benches packed with people, every phone in the hall left in a basket at the door. At the far end, on a raised platform, a long oak table with five chairs behind it.

In the five chairs sat five Alphas who would decide whether I was allowed to speak for myself.

Speaker Ysolde in the center. Old, small, white-haired, with eyes like a hawk's. On her right, Orrin Bask, big and bearded, who'd hugged Ronan in the yard. On her left, Councillor Varne in silver-gray silk, his long fingers steepled in front of him. Beyond them, a lean, quiet man called Hadley, and a heavy-set woman with a lowland accent called Aurelia.

I stood alone in the open space in front of the table.

That had been my choice. Ronan had offered to stand beside me. I'd said no. If they were going to decide whether I could stand on my own,