Page 101 of Pack Rage
A young Alpha stepped forward. “The moon’s law?”
Brand nodded. “Where the strong protect the weak, and the Alpha protects the pack.”
“Protect which pack, Brand Becker?” The Alpha who’d been brave enough to speak was missing a hand, his wound madewith silver. “Mountain? That’s what this is, isn’t it? A coup. You want to be an Alpha of Alphas, like McDonnell said?”
I’d never seen this guy before, but I liked his spark. Finn’s voice in my mind supplied a name.He’s Cilian, Alpha of a smaller pack between here and Northern. Honorable.And brave.
Cilian bared his teeth at Brand. “You want to rule all the packs, because you’re the strongest Alpha. Well, we want out. My pack may be small, but we never had a choice to say no before. Look at what you’ve done to us. Silver weapons? Guns? We want nothing to do with any of you; we never did. Just leave us alone, and pretend we don’t exist.”
My heart ached. I’d felt like that for most of my life. Like staying out of a fight could keep me safe. Like I could run away from the pack, and live alone, be content.
“I’m not the strongest Alpha,” was all Brand said when the crowd’s muttering had died down.Get ready, wildflower.
I’d never wanted to kick him in the shin more than I did right now, and I would’ve, if Glen and Luke hadn’t held me back.
Cilian bristled. “Who is, then? Finnick, son of the witch and the dead Alpha who made sure my pack never had enough to thrive? Or Grigor Dimitrivich? You want us to accept one ofthemas our leader?” More than one shifter shouted angrily at that.
Brand gazed around at all the gathered shifters, many of whom flinched when his silver eyes turned their way. “No. None of those are the strongest of us. The strongest Alpha here was seen as the weakest by nearly everyone, even their own pack. They were hunted and abused, for no other reason than that it was allowed by the Alphas who could have stopped it. This Alpha doesn’t want to rule, and that’s what makes them the very best choice to lead.”
His voice was loud, and rang with truth. The moon rose over the trees at that exact moment, painting him in golden light, as he turned and kneeled, bowing his head at me. Glen and Luke dropped to their knees at my sides, and Finn did the same.
The Mountain pack was on their knees without another word spoken. Their eyes shone up at me from where they kneeled all around the rim of the bowl, guarding.
I’d never hyperventilated before, but I was pretty sure I was about to. “This is absolutely batshit crazy,” I choked out. “I’m?—”
“The strongest Alpha on this continent,” Sergeant called out, as his pack kneeled as well. “Before you came here, you traveled from pack to pack, howling for change, and bringing the moon’s justice to the oppressed. We watched you fight an enemy who imprisoned you, one who would have enslaved us all and forced us into an unholy partnership with our mortal enemies. We watched your mates draw on your power, given by the moon and by your righteous anger, to overcome an army. Then, after the battle, you protected the vulnerable and cared for the wounded.”
His voice was so loud now, I was almost certain he was using magic to amplify it. “You are more than an Alpha. You are the daughter of the former Alpha Calvin Callaway of Southern, and Lily Rain, Alpha Mother of the Tenebris pack. You are Florida Wills, Heir of the Occidens Pack, and their only living Alpha Mother.”
For some reason, the words Alpha Mother changed the atmosphere. The smaller packs seemed confused, but the foreign packs, the visitors, all slowly bowed their heads to me as well. They didn’t kneel, but it was obvious they felt some kind of way about the term.
Glen called out, “Northern will follow your guidance, Florida Wills, as Alpha or Alpha Mother.” The Northern pack all kneeled as well, leaving only the smaller packs to stare, uncomprehending, at me.
I let out a shaky breath as the moon flew higher, and the assembled packs all waited for me to speak. Del’s laughter echoed in my ear, so loud I could have sworn he was standing right there beside me.“If you can’t run, fight. If you can’t fight, then talk your way out. The most important weapon any shifter has is a brain. Use it.”
I still wanted to run, but I knew it was time to stand my ground. I’d spent too many years running, letting the pack chase me. Even if I wasn’t anywhere near sure I was the right one to do this, the moon hadn’t sent anyone else. So it was time to stop running, to turn around, and encourage them to acknowledge a few things.
Force them to, if it came to that. I had the power, like Finn and Grigor had said. It flowed through my blood, rested in my bones. My wolf knew it, and so did all of these wolves.
I was the Alpha. Now all I needed to do was act like it.
“A girl?” Cilian called, interrupting my thoughts. “A female can’t be an Alpha.” His nose wrinkled. “Wait.”
I took a deep breath. “You know what that is, right? The smell of really old, outdated bullshit. It turns out all the things we thought we knew were a load of it. But even if I’m somehow the strongest we’ve got—which makes me pretty fuckin’ terrified for y’all, if it’s true—I don’t want to be Alpha. All I want to do is help them.” I pointed to Vanya and the girls around her, then the Tenebris boys. “I want to help the ones who’ve been shit on for decades finally get to live without being afraid of those who were supposed to protect them.”
I waved at Cilian’s missing hand. “I was raised by a shifter named Del, who had one leg. My pack stripped his rank and told him he was worthless, that he couldn’t be a warrior because he didn’t have all his limbs. That was bullshit, too. I want all the packs to get it—that strength isn’t about how many you can kill, or who you can force with Alpha commands, or coercion.”
The guy blinked. “What else?”
“What else? I want the packs to stop dying from their own damn stupidity. You see this?” I pointed to Vanya. “She met her true mate, who was a rogue until he landed in my Mama’s makeshift pack. She’d never have met him if she’d stayed locked up in the kitchens here. I want the Conclaves to stop being for political bullshit and be about this: bringing shifters together to meet their true mates. So more babies get born, and we stop dying.”
I glared at the dead Easterners. “I want no more guns, no more silver. I want any shifter who so much as picks up a silver knife to know it’s the fastest way to find himself stacked up like firewood.”I softened my tone as I gazed at the maids, or what was left of them. “I want no more putting one wolf over another. No more keeping females under an Alpha’s thumb, and calling it protection. The moon doesn’t see rank, She just sees Her children. Why should we think we know better?”
“No rank?” someone called out. “Packs make their own decision about rank, not the Council.”
I shouted back, “Then maybe before the Council disbands, they make one more fucking rule! All that rank is used for is to keep someone under your heel. To put shifters in their place.” I sneered. “The Mountain pack doesn’t have rank, besides Alpha, and look at them. They’re huge, the most powerful pack in the world, and they have pups on their packlands. Their pack isn’t dying, but they’d be even stronger if they had their true mates. I’m talking about some of you.” I waved a hand to the crowd. “Think about this: your mate could be right here, right now, standing on this field.” I pointed to the stacks of the dead. “Or there, about to be sent on to the moon. So why the hell would you fight each other?”
One of the foreign Alphas stepped up, a guy almost the same height as Brand, and said in heavily accented English, “You arefemale; you cannot be Alpha. You are witch wolf. You should not even be alive.”
