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“I’m glad you’re so confident,” I said with a laugh. “I can’t seem to get myself under control.”
“Have faith, girlie,” she said. “We’ve got this.”
I took a deep breath and tried to walk a little taller, but when we arrived at the Elders’ white cabin, my hand trembled when I lifted it to knock on the door.
The door opened almost immediately, which startled me. “You two are right on time,” said an Elder with wavy black hair. “Follow me inside.”
Violet, unbothered, walked in after him, and I followed a bit more slowly after her. The walls and floors were painted white and left unadorned. The floor creaked underneath us as we went down a long corridor and into a small room, where the other two Elders stood waiting for us. The room was sparsely furnished, aside from a long, rectangular, varnished pine wood table and six chairs made from the same wood.
All three Elders were male and wore simple linens. Elder Sage was probably in his late seventies, and he was the one who had done most of the talking the day of the challenge ceremony. The top of his head was bald and shiny, but his jaw was covered in a thick, silver beard that was almost long enough to braid.
Elder Queene appeared to be the youngest and tallest of the three. He was the one who’d answered the door. He might have been in his early sixties, and he boasted a full head of thick wavy hair. He towered over Violet and me. He might have even been taller than Night.
Finally, Elder Forsythe was clean-shaven with thinning gray hair and a jagged scar that cut across his nose. It was difficult to tell who was older between Elder Forsythe and Elder Sage just based on the way they looked and the number of wrinkles on their faces, but something about Elder Forsythe’s air told me that he had several years on Elder Sage.
“We’re pleased to be here,” Violet said, curtsying.
“Yes,” I said, following her lead. I could have raided Troy’s mother’s closet for clothes, but I hadn’t wanted to do that. Instead, I chose my outfit from the clothes my mom and I had available to us. I’d found a pair of slacks that had needed to be hemmed, and a blouse that was only a size too big for me. Something about wearing these simple clothes felt more right to me.
As we straightened, the Elders inclined their heads in acknowledgement. They gestured for Violet and me to take a seat, and we obliged them. After we were seated on one end of the square table, they took the chairs on the other side.
“We wanted to inform you of the ceremony,” Elder Sage said. “It’s fairly straightforward; all you need to do is make a vow to the pack, a vow to the spirits of the pack mothers, and a vow to yourself. Afterward, you will bind your vows with your blood and throw it into the fire. And then you will announce your beta, who will swear fealty to you.”
“Mmhm,” Violet nodded. “After that, we can all party.”
Her addition startled the Elders, but none of them disagreed.
The word “beta” stood out to me. Though I hadn’t thought about who would take the position, a name immediately came to mind—Octavia Black. Of course, it was possible that Tavi wasn’t the best person for the position or that she’d refuse to take it. The girl I had known a few weeks ago would have nominated herself as my beta, but I had no idea how she would react to the suggestion now.
I tried to consider other people for the job. I couldn’t have Night or Dom, obviously, and it was too demanding a position to give to Mom, who also had the pack garden to worry about. Violet wouldn’t be good for similar reasons.
There was the female wolf, Frankie. She seemed strong and intelligent, but I didn’t really know her, and I wouldn’t feel right having one of Night’s group of elites in my circle. As much as I loved Night and trusted him and his people, I needed a beta who would put me first as their Alpha. Frankie was loyal to Night first, so I would always be second. Of course choosing someone from another pack would come with its own set of problems too—
“Alpha Hunter?” Elder Queene asked.
I blinked. I’d let my mind wander off. “I’m sorry, what were you saying, Elder?”
“As I was saying, I’m sure you don’t need a reminder of this, but your position is only temporary because a female cannot be the Alpha of the pack. However, because you won the challenge, you will have the option to stay on as Den Mother if you so choose.”
“What does that mean exactly?” I asked.
“It means essentially that you will have a seat on the council. You will still be involved in the pack and in future decisions.”
“I see.” I tried to contain my excitement, but I was sure they could hear the hard beating of my heart. I had never wanted to be Alpha, but I was willing to do anything I could to help the pack. They might not appreciate me or even like me, but they were still the people I grew up with, and I wanted to make sure the good ones in the pack and the pups had a good life.
“How will the choosing of the new Alpha go?” I asked.
“I am curious about that myself,” Violet said. “I’ve never heard of this situation happening before. I brought all relevant historical texts from our library with me, but none of them mentioned this.”
The Elders raised their eyebrows, obviously impressed with her knowledge.
“I’m not surprised,” Elder Sage said. “This situation is quite rare, but we’ve come up with a solution that we believe will satisfy all parties.” He and Elder Queene looked at Elder Forsythe to explain.
“Each member of the pack council will be allowed to nominate any wolf they want to for the Alpha position.” His voice had a lilting edge to it, like the sound of a deep hum. “Those potential Alphas will challenge each other one-on-one until there is only one wolf left standing. That wolf will have proven to be strong enough to be Alpha.”
“That sounds reasonable enough,” I said, though inside, my thoughts immediately went to Night and how I would again, despite my promise, have to watch him fight for his life in that arena. “When will this challenge take place?” I asked.
“In a month’s time.”
