Tomorrow she'd figure out how to fight Hector without violence. How to reclaim her tavern through strategy instead of claws. How to prove to the Council and herself that she was fit to run the Silver Fang regardless of who she chose to be with.
And admitting that was the first step, though painful, at her acknowledging what her lion had been forcing her to see.
28
DANTE
The woods behind Hollow Oak offered space to breathe and bleed without witnesses.
Dante moved through snow-heavy pines, working through combat forms that had kept him alive for a decade. His ribs still ached from the fight with Hector's rogues. Freya's magic had sealed the worst damage, but bruises remained, reminders of fights he couldn't win with violence alone.
He drove his fist into a tree trunk, bark cracking. Again. Again. Knuckles splitting, blood warm against frozen air.
"You planning to beat that tree to death or just piss it off?"
Dante turned, finding Callum leaning against a pine twenty feet away. His old friend wore work clothes dusted with snow, his blue eyes assessing with the kind of quiet concern that hadn't changed in ten years.
"Wasn't expecting you. FIgured you didn’t want to see me," Dante said.
"Why wouldn't I?" Callum pushed off the tree, moving closer. "You're an idiot who picks fights he can't win and makes terrible decisions, but you're still my friend. Still my pride brother, even if neither of us has a pride worth claiming anymore."
"I thought after the Council meeting?—"
"After the Council meeting, I thought you might do something stupid. Then I saw you actually did something stupid. Confirmed what I already knew." Callum's mouth twitched. "You're predictable."
"Consistently disappointing?"
"Consistently loyal." Callum stopped beside him, studying the tree Dante had been abusing. "Even when loyalty's misplaced or badly executed, you commit. Always have. That's what got you in trouble ten years ago. That's what's getting you in trouble now."
Dante flexed his bloody knuckles. "You here to lecture me about standing beside Maeve instead of trying to protect her?"
"No. Everyone else already covered that." Callum grabbed a low branch, testing his weight. "I'm here to spar and talk strategy. Figured we could kill two birds. Or in your case, work out aggression before you get yourself killed picking more losing fights."
"I don't need?—"
"You do." Callum dropped into a fighting stance, grin sharp. "Come on. Show me what you've learned in ten years."
They moved together, old patterns returning like muscle memory. Callum had always been faster, trading strength for speed. Dante countered with reach and power, their styles complementing in ways that had made them dangerous together.
Snow flew. Branches cracked. They traded blows that would've floored lesser shifters, pulling punches just enough to avoid serious damage.
"Hector's weakness is arrogance," Callum said, ducking under Dante's swing. "He thinks he's already won. Thinks two weeks and an audit will prove Maeve unfit. That overconfidence makes him sloppy."
"He wasn't sloppy at the Council meeting." Dante blocked a kick, ribs screaming. "He was precise. Calculated. Used procedure like a weapon."
"Because he'd been planning for months." Callum swept Dante's legs. Dante hit snow hard, rolled, came up ready. "But now he thinks the hard part's done. Thinks Maeve's broken and you're neutralized. That's when people get careless."
"How do we use that?"
"We find what he's hiding." Callum circled, breathing harder now. "He's got those rogues camped somewhere permanent. Got forged documents that took time to create. Got connections to other prides willing to support his traditionalist agenda. Somewhere there's evidence of conspiracy beyond Hollow Oak. We find it, we destroy his credibility completely."
Dante feinted left, struck right. Caught Callum's shoulder. "Varric already has evidence. Didn't matter at the Council meeting."
"Because Bram twisted procedure and Miriam got scared of setting precedent." Callum absorbed the hit, countered with a strike to Dante's ribs that made him see stars. "But if we prove Hector's conspiracy extends beyond Maeve? If we show he's actively recruiting other traditionalist prides to undermine Council authority across multiple territories? That's bigger than procedure. That's a threat to Hollow Oak's sovereignty."
The logic clicked. "Multiple territories means multiple Councils affected. Multiple leaders with vested interest in stopping him."
"Exactly." Callum grinned. "Varric can bring it to the regional Council. Make it bigger than one tavern in one town. Make it about whether traditionalist prides get to override local governance anywhere they don't like progressive policies."
