She's younger than I expected, maybe forty, with sharp eyes and silver-streaked dark hair.
She studies me as I approach, and I can see the calculations happening behind those eyes.
"Luna Sophia.Welcome to Shadowpeak."
"Alpha Lydia." I stop at the base of her platform, making a deliberate choice not to bow.
"Thank you for seeing me."
"I didn't think I had a choice." A slight smile.
"Given what happened to Alpha Giga when he refused your... hospitality."
"Giga chose war; I gave him multiple chances to surrender peacefully."
"And when he wouldn't, you crushed his pack and absorbed his wolves." Lydia leans forward.
"You'll forgive me if that doesn't make me eager to negotiate."
"That's why I'm here." I gesture to the advisors around her.
"May we speak privately?"
She considers
