Only without the temptation of wealth, he reasoned, could wolves stop obsessing over profit.
Only then could they preserve their noble integrity.
My portrait was even turned into a cautionary display.
The entire household was made to remember how vulgar and base life had been when I was in charge.
The Crown Alpha's territory was renovated from top to bottom.
Crane motifs carved in moonstone and ceremonial howl-scrolls adorned every wall and corridor.
The place looked like something out of an old moon-singer's ballad.
You could smell the night-blooming flowers from halfway down the path.
Wolves passing by marveled: "The elder Duskborne truly is remarkable. Look how refined he's made the Crown Alpha's territory!"
Even the Supreme Alpha heard about it and brought the Supreme Alpha Female for a personal tour.
But nobody seemed to realize
that all this elegance
had been bought with the fortune I'd built for the Crown Alpha's territory.
It wasn't long before the territory ground to a halt.
A crowd gathered at the front gates.
They were demanding their back pay.
Edric had burned through nearly every moon-coin in the pack vault on his little vanity project.