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Rylan shakes his head before looking over the gathering again. “But understand the difference between permission and disrespect. We can have an open conversation without forgetting who we are to each other. Respect for your Luna and me is not optional. Cross that line, and I’ll handle it.”

His Alpha aura presses through the gathering before easing again.

“The same protection goes both ways. Nobody here is going to be punished, threatened, intimidated, or targeted because of something they say tonight. If you speak honestly and another pack member retaliates against you for it, there will be consequences.”

A male wolf raises his hand. “Alpha, how can you guarantee that?”

Rylan turns toward him. “Explain.”

“You can’t be everywhere. Neither can the Luna. Someone could smile and nod tonight, then make a wolf’s life hell tomorrow because of something he said here. You might never know.”

A few male wolves nod.

Another calls out, “Especially if the wolf retaliating outranks him.”

“You’re right. I can’t be everywhere. Neither can your Luna. Neither can Joshua. That’s why a pack has a leadership structure, and why every wolf in that structure is supposed to do his damn job.”

Joshua steps forward beside him, a writing pad already in his hand. “If someone retaliates against you, report it. If the wolf you’re supposed to report it to is involved, go above him. Keep going. If it reaches me, I handle it. If it needs Alpha, I take it to him. If I’m the problem, you go directly to your Alpha.”

Rylan nods. “And there are plenty of ways to reach us. You can mindlink Joshua or me, but there are three thousand male wolves standing here tonight. If thousands of you start mindlinking us at once, there’s a damn good chance something important gets lost in all that noise.”

A few male wolves laugh.

“So use some common sense. If it’s urgent, mindlink us. Otherwise, write it down. Give it to Joshua. Bring it to my office. Send a text. Send an email. Request a meeting. I don’t care how you communicate it. I care that you communicate it.”

Joshua lifts the writing pad. “And tonight, if you have something you don’t want to say in front of everyone, write it down. Names, dates, what happened, who witnessed it, anything you think we need to know. You can hand it directly to me.”

“Or bring it to me privately,” Rylan adds. “You don’t have to make a public accusation to be taken seriously.”

The male wolf who challenged him nods. “But you still can’t guarantee somebody won’t retaliate.”

“No. I can’t promise nobody will be stupid enough to try. What I can promise is that when we find out, there will be consequences. And if somebody in leadership receives your report and deliberately ignores it or protects the wolf responsible, then I have two problems to deal with instead of one.”

Rylan crosses his arms. “I can’t fix what I don’t know about. Give us the opportunity to do our jobs.”

The wolf nods and sits.

Rylan looks over the gathering. “One more thing before we start. We don’t all have to agree. Hell, with three thousand male wolves in Silver Moon, some of you probably don’t even like each other.”

Laughter breaks out around us.

“That’s fine. I’m not ordering three thousand male wolves to become best friends. But you will respect each other, or at the very least, you will not harm each other because you don’t. We’re a pack. Divided, we become weak prey for every threat outside our borders. Other packs. Rogues. Hunters. Other supernatural communities. I’m not letting Silver Moon tear itself apart from the inside and make somebody else’s job easier.”

My wolf rumbles. True Alpha.

Damian is staring at Rylan.

Remember this, pup.

What part?

All of it. An Alpha doesn’t need every wolf to like each other. He makes sure they can still stand together.

Because we’re stronger together.

Exactly.

Rylan spreads his hands. “Now that that’s understood, I want the truth. If you could change one thing about Silver Moon, what would it be?”