Page 65 of Pack Rage
Aidan straightened his shoulders and called, “Under the full moon, and before the witnesses gathered, I, Alpha Aidan McDonnell of the Eastern Pack, and current Head of the North American Council, call the gathered packs to order. I call the moon to watch over us all, and for the packs to know that the judgments made here are lawful and true.”
Brand snarled silently toward the moon at those words. I looked up as well, and shivered. What in the hell was going on? The full moon had been a pain in my ass during the nights I was hunted at Southern, but even then, its light had felt pure. I didn’t know what was going on now, but I knew what Brand had been looking at. The muted feeling in the ring extended to the sky, somehow. The moon itself felt… cut off, from us. How in the hell had this been done?
“Such bullshit,” Brand muttered, then raised his voice. “As if any shifter can call the moon. As if any judgment but Hers is true.”
Aidan pointed at Brand. “You have not been given a voice in this Council, shifter. You have made no pledge, and have no rank here. Be silent. You may not speak until instructed.” It was an Alpha command, carrying the force of all the North American packs. Well, all of them except one. Mountain.
Brand blinked for a second, then burst into the loudest laughter I’d ever heard. It almost hurt my ears, and Aidan flinched at the sound. But when Brand stopped laughing to reply, all the shifters, even the Eastern Enforcers, were throwninto a near-panic. “If you weren’t such a worthless bastard, it would be cute to watch you try to command me. I’ll speak when words are needed. And I’ll only honor the judgment of the moon, not of some weak Alpha attempting to break our deepest laws in order to grasp at power.” His voice didn’t hold even the tiniest hint of strain as he shucked Aidan’s Alpha command, on his own packlands, like it was a piece of dead grass.
You could’ve heard a pin drop. I did hear a few clicks, maybe safeties being switched off on guns, all around us. Brand must have heard them, too, since he stepped back. All of my mates except Luke moved slightly closer, so I would be protected from the bullets, if they came. Luke’s expression was tortured, as if he wanted to break away from the role he was playing now and run to me as well.
Such bullshit. They obviously hadn’t put it together that we were all the weak links now, not just me. “I’m not the only one that needs protecting,” I breathed.
“You know we don’t see you as weak. But our wolves won’t be able to resist defending their mate,” Brand whispered.
“Sure, sure,” I grumbled, just as something sliced into me.
A bullet? No.Claws.
There were invisible claws in my neck, piercing my skin. I choked, stumbling to a stop when Finn caught me. In less than a second, Brand and Luke were sprouting claws as well, and Finn was snarling through a mouth with sharp teeth.
“What’s going on?” Bradley demanded.
I didn’t know. I hadn’t been injured, but someone had.Glen!I cried out inside as I heard him scream my name, then vanish.
A wave of anger came from outside, from Grigor. He was sending emotions toward me, but I couldn’t hear his voice. “Why can’t I hear Grigor?” I whispered.
“Because there is something wrong with this place, and because he’s far away,” Brand answered just as quietly. Sniffingthe air, he peered around us with eyes that glowed bright as the night grew dark. “Though the witch is not.”
Chapter 31
The First Alpha Challenge
FLOR
Glen was outside the ring, hurt, and I was almost certain he was in the hands of that bitch, Elina. But we had plenty of other problems standing a few feet away.
“You break pack law if you refuse to honor my position and our rules for Council meetings, Brand Becker. You and your pack may not be a part of the North American Council, but if you don’t intend to join and follow my leadership, then you have no place here. No vote on the decisions we’ll make.” Aidan’s voice rang with truth, and the strangers from the other packs murmured in assent. He had a point.
Brand delivered a sharp look to Finn, who stepped up. “The pack law is clear. Alpha Becker is here as a guest, so you can’t force him to leave. And he may have no vote… but then who does? You’ve had Bradley and Margarette imprisoned in your dungeon for weeks, bound with silver, waiting for this meeting, to vote on whether or not they betrayed their own. To decide on their possible execution. If Bradley can’t vote, then are you prepared to make the decision on your own?”
“If I have to,” Aidan spat. “I am the Head of this Council.”
Finn leaned forward almost eagerly, like he was on the hunt. “InterimHead. Your position is to be decided here as well. If no other Alpha stands here to cast a vote, then there is no Council. In the fourth amendment to the North American pack law, the decision made at the first Conclave at Eastern after the war, it was decided that no serious matter could be brought to a vote without the presence of at least three Alphas of the larger packs, or their Heirs voting as proxies.” He curled his lips in a humorless smile. “No proxies here, Father? Did their invitations to this Council go astray?”
The ring had gone still, the only sound the hum of the electric lights set around the perimeter. I didn’t understand all the politics, but it seemed pretty clear that Aidan was fucked. He needed at least one Alpha he could depend on to have his side.
Of course, he had one. Just a worthless, toadfucking, rat bastard, piece-of-shit one.
“I’m Alpha,” Callaway slurred from the edge of the ring, the bloody-faced Niall dragging him forward. Dear old Dad was still wearing the clothing he’d had on when he left the lower levels, though it looked like someone had tried to wash out the bloodstains on his shirt. His thick chestnut hair fell over his face in a greasy curtain, almost hiding his bloodshot eyes.
The nearest shifters stared at him with derision and moved back a few steps. He had to smell worse than ever, from their reactions. I heard the wordferalmuttered more than once.
No one seeing him now would bet a dollar on him winning this fight, but I was still worried. He was a tricky bastard, and Luke was honorable. Though maybe he’d picked up a little of Grigor’s moral flexibility when they’d bonded. I sure as heck hoped so, because I had a feeling we’d need every advantage we could get soon.
I glanced over at Mama, noting how straight she was standing now. She’d pulled her sword out from under her shirtand held it in her hand, her eyes fixed on her mate, like she was watching a rattlesnake that had slithered too close.
“I’m Southern Alpha now, and I’ll still be Southern Alpha when you’re dead in the dirt, boy. You’re not even from our pack, you know? An adopted wolf from a weak pack.” He staggered forward when Niall let him go, then turned on Aidan, spit flying from his mouth as he ranted. “Aidan, I can’t believe you’re letting this foreign wolf try for a place on the Council. Haven’t I always voted the way you said? Even back when Bradley was Council Head.”
