I ended up reading the rest of the book I had started while the rest of the pack stayed up talking. I noticed that they were less subtle than they had been before, now. They were starting to get comfortable suggesting what they would do, or who they would choose between me and Zaahra if they were the ones deciding.
They seemed to favor Zaahra, and I heard a few of them make comments questioning whether my connection with Ares was genuine, or what terrible things I must have done to be abandoned.
I noticed Aleks making cynical comments at every given opportunity, and it made me cringe every time. He was making it clear to people that he knew something about my past, and he seemed to be enjoying the fact he had some secret knowledge that nobody else could guess. It made him feel like they
