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The Alpha turned to leave, taking a few steps across the ring as he moved toward the Pack House. It couldn’t end like this. With Callaway and Trevor walking away, and Flor dying.
But the fucker knew his pack law. He was right. The only way Flor would live long enough to see a Council meeting and resolve the claims was if the Southern Alpha died.
There was only one way to challenge him. If a ranked member of Southern and the Alpha were both standing in the fighting ring, and the challenge was made formally in front of a quorum of Council members.
No one had challenged for Alpha in decades, and the last night of the Conclave was the traditional place for such a thing. It wasn’t the final night, but all the other parts were there.
I raced behind him and spoke before his foot cleared the ropes to exit the ring. “I challenge you, Alpha Callaway, for leadership of the Southern pack.”
He actually stumbled, then turned slowly. “Boy?” His voice was soft and sharp as a whip. “You stupid fuck.” I’d felt his whips and belts on me for years, but his voice now cut just as deep, fueled by his power. “Don’t do this, fool,” he ground out. “I will kill you.”
“I know. But I’ll take you with me.” I raised my voice so the shifters around would hear. “If you die with me, the interim Alpha is Bradley Hillier, Head of Council. He’ll be able to force her shift then, won’t you, Alpha Bradley?”
“Yes, son, I will.”
I heard Glen whisper, “I never knew Luke was that brave.”
Finnick answered. “I did.”
My heart beat a little slower, knowing there was one wolf here who thought I was worth something.
Callaway stared at me, like he’d never seen me before. “What’s your game, son? You’re not doing this for that girl? You’re throwing everything away.”
“You’ve been stealing from our pack for years, Alpha,” I shouted, so that every wolf there could hear me, even the unranked in the back. “We made four hundred thousand dollars in profit last year in the stock market, and almost as much the year before. You told the pack we had a loss, and that’s why there wasn’t money for food or medicine. But really, you spent almost half of that gambling in Atlantic City, right? Yeah, I saw those receipts, too.”
The Southern shifters were all listening now, even the Enforcers. Van looked unsurprised, but some of the others looked pissed. Their houses weren’t as nice as the Enforcers in the other packs; they’d seen that at past Conclaves.
“Do your Enforcers even know?” I called, hoping to insert a little more doubt in there. “You spent the money the Council sent us for battle training, not on trips to make pack connections, but on prostitutes and vacations. Unless by pack connections, you mean sexual hookups with fourteen-year-old Russian shifters.”
Now even Van looked irritated. That money had been earmarked for Head Enforcers to distribute.
“Shut up, boy.” Callaway stripped off his shirt and pants, and I realized it was the first time I’d seen him without clothes in over a year. He was as broad and burly as ever. But his muscle tone was weaker than it should be, and he had a small spare tire around his gut.
The shifters around us laughed out loud when they saw it. Someone called out, “I think he’s been spending your pack’s money on Twinkies.”
The Southern ranked shifters were enraged. The visitors acted like it was funny, but I could see them reaching for their weapons, casually unsnapping pockets where they must have stashed knives, even though the Conclave accords required visitors to leave all but one small weapon at home.
Our Enforcers sensed the change in the crowd, and their hands settled on the hilts of their own daggers.
Callaway began his shift, and I did too, fighting through the pain. The staples flew out as my abdomen curled and slimmed, and my wounds tore open. The best thing about shifting was it sped up healing—not that much for me, though. I sighed, knowing I’d earned my wound… and my death.
I hadn’t been allowed to shift for so long, the change hurt more than it should, and took more out of me. I let my wolf feel the muggy breeze move through his fur, let him sniff the air that held her scent, and the harsh iron tang of her blood.
Mate, he whined in my mind.
Yes, I answered. Mate.
I felt a sudden rush of strength from my beast. I just hoped we were strong enough to kill the Alpha for her so she could live.
We had to be.
The last moment of the shift settled into my bones. And then, we were at war.
23
The Shadow That Kills
JOAQUIN
