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“They won’t challenge him, or some bullshit?”
Glen looked shocked. “You know the only genuine Alpha challenge is one like Luke called. In a fighting ring, or at least a formal fight, in front of Council witnesses. If an Alpha could be deposed just by killing him, we’d go through Alphas like tissues. And we wouldn’t need Alpha Heirs.”
“How does an Alpha Heir become an Alpha, then?” I was horrified when I realized what this would mean for Glen. “You don’t have to fight your own dad someday, do you? Kill him?”
“No! Who the hell would want an Alpha who’d kill his own parent anyway? That’s sick.”
“Luke was going to kill Callaway,” I snapped. “His adopted father. Was that sick?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Callaway brought that on himself.”
I fought to keep my expression flat. Glen didn’t need to know all my secrets. “Sorry.”
“Anyway, when an Alpha wants to step down, he requests a full Council meeting, usually during Conclave, and hands the power over in a ritual.”
“I never heard of a ritual.”
“Oh, by the way, you missed your first shift ritual. Sorry about that, but my dad had to save your life.”
“Glenda, I’ve never heard of any rituals. There’s a ritual for shifting?” Southern had made me stupid in more ways than I’d thought.
Glen let out a series of soft curses. “Yes,” he finally said. “There’s a ritual to help guide the wolf into this world, so it doesn’t hurt. Well, not as much. The first time always pinches a bit.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Still acting like a degenerate.” I punched him in the arm, ignoring the magnetic swirling again as he apologized. “I guess Callaway never did the ritual because he liked to cause pain. The unmated females he forced to shift when they were twenty-one—well, let’s just say I was looking for a way out of the pack before that day, anyway.” I described some of the shifts I’d watched, the blood and the tearing, the way the Alpha had made some of the males and females stop in the middle to talk about the steps of a shift, like he was some sort of redneck university professor.
Glen’s face turned greenish. “From what I understand, your Alpha subverted almost all of the main tenets of pack law. The central ones being the pack protects each other, and the Alpha protects the pack.”
“Well, the pack protected some of the shifters here—the ranked ones. Before we go, I’d like someone to talk to the Mountain wolves about making sure the unranked wolves here get food, and aren’t worse off than before.”
“Luke’s on it.”
“Luke? He was here while it was all going on.”
Glen shook his head. “He couldn’t tell anyone. He was under dozens of Alpha commands that governed more of his life than anyone could have known, or suspected. For some reason, one of the commands was not to give food or assistance to any unranked shifters.”
Ah, hell. Luke had tried to feed me and some of the other kids a while back. I guess it made sense that if Callaway had found out about it, he’d have stopped it from happening.
“He’ll have his hands full getting anyone to obey, especially if Callaway’s commands are still in place,” I said, thinking about how pervasive the rot was in our pack. “Wait. Will all those commands Callaway stacked on him still be in effect?”
Glen frowned. “I don’t know; I don’t think so. He defeated Callaway in a dominance challenge, so his wolf should have the strength…” His voice trailed off before he shrugged. “Anyway, he’ll have help from the Mountain shifters once they get here, and they’ll make sure the unranked wolves are taken care of. Luke just needs to get well.”
I snorted. “He needs to watch his back. If he’s not careful, he’ll be killed before the end of the week.”
For some reason, Glen scowled at me. “He’ll be fine if that gut wound heals.”
Guilt surged through me again, like a wave of indigestion. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have stabbed him. Well, not so hard.”
The corners of Glen’s mouth twitched, and he teased, “I’d let you stab me hard, if you promised to kiss it better.” He made kissy lips and smacking noises until I grinned, too.
“I’ll kick it better, ya perv!” I pushed him with my foot, loving this feeling. Teasing, being silly. I’d had almost none of this in my life.
I kicked him again, and Glen poked a finger into my ribs, tickling me. Instead of laughing, I let out a cry, pretending it had hurt. “Don’t hit me, Glen!” I moaned. “I’m just a weak little?—”
Before I could finish the sentence, Glen was flying across the hall, and Luke was attacking, holding him by the throat up against the wall. Glen’s feet dangled, but he was either laughing or choking to death.
“Chill,” Glen croaked. “I wasn’t hitting her.”
“Hitting on me, maybe.” I smiled, then felt the oppressive energy coming from Luke. The air was almost vibrating with his anger. Shit, he was a half a second from wolfing out and tearing Glen’s head off. “Luke?”
