Lycan's Promise: Book 3 by Chandler Dee

Beginning…
    Sanda nudged a piece of hot coal with her
foot. It glowed with dark orange light in the cracks from where it
popped out of the fireplace, hiding dangerous, but useful heat
within. Jurisa paced back and forth in front of her as she lectured
Sanda about her reckless decision to go after Beryx without telling
anyone in the Cold Mountains community first. Dragos stood by her
with arms crossed, frowning at his nearly frantic mate. His brother
was also present, but seemed to be paying more attention to the
quiet Mouse seated next to Garrett and Cami in the lounger,
unobtrusively waiting her turn for a lecture. Sanda stepped on the
coal beside her booted foot, crushing it into black powder and
effectively putting out any potential fire.
    At least she wasn't being immediately run out
of the pack. Sanda had been afraid of what sort of reaction their
little group would receive on returning to the village several days
ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as she feared.
    Jurisa’s first concern was for any immediate
political ramifications of their journey down the mountain. She
made certain they hadn’t broken any major tenets of the contract
between Lycans and humans. Jurisa was obviously relieved that the
humans in the village agreed not to speak of the incident, but
Sanda could still see the concern in her eyes when Beryx described
Sanda's first change and the havoc it brought. The Alpha didn't say
anything on the subject, but Sanda knew then that she could expect
further inquiries.
    Jurisa granted everyone in their group some
time to recover from their journey. They needed it, especially
Beryx and Garrett who were both shot. Mouse used her considerable
medical skill to ease everyone's pain and encourage fast healing.
Sanda spent those first few days ensconced in bed next to Beryx,
curled around him like a protective blanket. They couldn't remain
locked away in his cottage forever. Sure enough, everyone had been
summoned to the leaders’ home for a grilling and who knew what
else. Sanda wasn't well-versed in Lycan law yet. Beryx had been in
little mood to discuss the subject during his recovery.
    Jurisa stopped in her tracks and turned with
a pointed finger at Garrett. “I know you're the one who implemented
this plan.”
    “I owed a debt to Sanda and the community,”
Garrett spoke up. They all knew what he was referring to, his
decision to let the human villager go without telling anyone. At
the time, Jurisa and the other Alphas were furious. Sanda was in
shock over his decision and responded with deep, deep anger. She
felt that villager was the only chance she had to get her mate back
safely. Looking back on it now, Sanda was ashamed over her
treatment of Garrett. She still harbored some anger towards Mouse
for keeping it all quiet, but could understand the woman's loyalty
towards her friend.
    “It wasn't up to you to decide how to pay
that debt,” Jurisa said. She shook her head and threw up her hands
in disgust over their misadventures.
    “No, it wasn't. We did get him back alive,”
Garrett said, referring to Beryx. Jurisa had banned Sanda’s mate
from the meeting despite his forceful arguments. She hadn't wanted
him influencing her decisions.
    “He's right,” Dragos said, “they did manage
to bring Beryx back and no one is the wiser.”
    Jurisa side-eyed her mate. It was obvious
what she thought of that statement. Dragos’ brother on the other
hand, snorted.
    “If they had just waited a few days,” he
started to say before he was interrupted by Dragos.
    “They didn't know if they’d have time.”
    “All right, all right,” Jurisa said to the
two brothers. “I need to think about this before I decide how to
handle this behavior,” She finished, stating it for the benefit of
everyone in the room. Jurisa turned to look at each of the four
offenders. “Understand that I view this as clear disrespect and
disregard for our law,” she said, cool steel in her voice. 
With that they were all dismissed to