Finn whipped around, his eyes locking on Edith. The faint sour edge beneath his scent, that damp-bark and iron-rust smell, turned sharp with something new. My wolf stirred, quiet and watchful, reading the shift before his expression even changed.
Edith's eyes reddened on cue. "Dear pack-sister, you don't actually think I'm the one who withheld your allowance, do you?"
"I'll send someone to investigate at once. Whichever wretched servant intercepted that money and pocketed it will answer for it."
She hurried off with her attendant in tow. Half an hour later, she returned and had a scrawny young she-wolf dragged before me, bound and trembling.
"Pack-sister, it was this worthless wretch all along! She stole every coin the Alpha sent you, moon cycle after moon cycle, to pay for her mother's healing. I'll have her beaten to death right here. Consider it justice served!"
"That won't be necessary."
My voice was ice. Even I wasn't foolish enough to miss it. The girl was skin and bone, a scapegoat shoved forward to take the fall. Her scent was thin with hunger and terror, nothing like someone who'd been skimming gold moons for years.