Page 51 of Wolf's Reckoning
I looked toward the Hollow again, toward the heart of the land that was calling her name.
Not mine. Not yet. I needed to claim this land if I was going to lead it. I did not doubt that Rowen would be trying to lead it too. But if she thought I’d stay out of her way? She didn’t know me as well as she thought.
“They haven’t left,” Killian murmured. “And I’m bored.”
I shared a grin with him. “Then let’s move these fuckers out of here.”
Killian rolled his head on his shoulders. “I wassohopingyou’d say that, Wolfe.” He rolled his shoulders back, loosening up.
“We remind them of where they are, scare them, don’t scar them, Kill,” I murmured as we walked back to the pack hall. I saw his pout. “I didn’t say don’t make them bleed if they push it.”
He gave me a wicked grin. “Today is going to be a beautiful day after all.”
The two potentials were still at the training area, neither training, leaning too casually against the far post, talking to two Hollow males as if they belonged there. Both looked a mix of annoyed and sulky. They resembled pups who had been told they couldn’t have any more ice cream. It made me want to punch them harder, but I knew I couldn’t be splitting my knuckles on anyone’s face today. I glanced at Killian, grinning to myself because I knew I couldn’t say the same for him.
The pack’s training ground was smaller than I remembered. Over the years, whenever I thought about it, I always imagined it to be bigger. More ferocious. The sense of violence andstrength, but now standing here, it was just a small patch of grass with a makeshift fighting ring marked out on the land and, from the looks of it, barely used.
I looked around, wondering if it had changed or if I had. I knew I had, but either my memory was playing tricks on me or I had romanticized it into something it wasn’t. I’d done a lot of that when I was younger, before I knew it was better to look forward instead of back. Before I had a pack of shifters who relied on me, who needed me to lead and protect them.
I didn’t need to introduce myself as we got closer. Bothof the males looked up and moved closer together. Was it defiance? Or self-defense? I suspected the latter.
I was already the trouble they sensed was coming.
Voices hushed. Heads turned. One of the pack elders slowly rose from his chair, as if instinctively about to bow before his mind caught up.
Killian walked beside me, quiet but steady.
I didn’t slow down as I crossed the grass. I stopped just before the fighting ring and pulled one of the chairs over—Malric’s chair. The one always reserved for the alpha.
I sat in it.
Conversations came to a complete stop. The move wasn’t subtle, nor was it meant to be.
“You think this is smart?” Killian asked under his breath.
“No,” I said. “It’s necessary.”
Tyler pushed away from the post, eyes narrowing. “You lost, Stonefang?”
I looked at him. Let the silence hang. “Wrong question,” I said. “Try again.”
Dex didn’t say anything, but he looked at me differently now. Not like a rival. More like a wolf deciding whether to run or not.
A few of the pack glanced toward the pack hall, expecting someone, probably Rowen, to storm out—to stop me. She didn’t. Because even if she was watching, deep down, she knew. This wasn’t about disrespect; it was about order.
“This pack is vulnerable,” I said to those gathered around, voice steady and calm. “Your alpha is ready to join the Goddess. Your borders are compromised. The PackCouncil is more focused on wedding proposals than preparing for war.”
I let that hang.
Tyler shifted. “You think sitting in a chair makes you a leader?”
“I think anyone who lets this place fall apart while they measure their dicks for a dowry doesn’t deserve to be here.”
Tyler’s growl started in his throat, but I was already on my feet, the chair tipping back slightly. Power surged through every limb.
I stepped toward him.
“You want to lead in Blueridge Hollow?” I asked. “Thentakeit.”
