The pack closed around him, bocking her vision with a solid wall of muscle and fur. She heard the snarling snap of teeth and wet sound of rending flesh. Fear, bile, and blood burned in her throat.
***
‘And now, the ordeal,’ Derian thought as he put his crutch aside and sat down.
The dining hall was lit with candles. Dozens of them burned from wall sconces or from filligreed plates positioned between place settings on the long table. Their light burnished ivory linen and Roman glass…