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My cousin glared down at me. “What the hell are you doing?”
I peeked up at him. “Telling the truth.”
“She hasn’t even shifted!?”
I opened my mouth to answer but I was quickly cut off by the rest of the pack starting to yell out at me.
“She wants to lead us, and she hasn’t even met her wolf yet!?”
“Get her out of here!”
“Bring back Dean!”
“Dean for alpha! Dean for alpha! Dean for alpha!”
I twirled in a circle, taking in the protest as they thrusted their fists into the air and chanted. I looked across the street at Dean, who had his eyes cast to the ground and his hands clasped behind his back. The pack pumped their fists as their chanting mounted, and the problem was that I didn’t know how to reassure them.
They were right in everything they had said, and I found myself at a loss for words.
“Enough!” Dean roared.
The chanting immediately ceased as his gaze lifted to meet my own. We stared at each other for a long time before he stepped off the sidewalk and into the road. He came toward me and Brody, approaching slowly, as if to not spook me off. And as he came up to my other side, he turned in a circle to eye his pack before clearing his throat.
“While none of you may agree with this appointment, you should remember that Colin—our deceased alpha—appointed her himself by order of the blood contract. She has been sealed in, whether you like it or not. And until such time as she passes on her responsibilities to a shifter that she sees fit to run this pack, you will respect her with the same respect you once gave her father. Because human or not, whether she’s shifted or not, he handpicked her. And we owe it to Colin to see this through.”
“Thank you,” I said softly.
But a voice rose from my left and pierced the silence. “She’s not even fully shifter! She’s got human blood in her veins!”
Dean growled as he whipped toward the voice. “I’ve seen it.”
Gasps ricocheted throughout the crowd as I furrowed my brow. “You’ve seen what?”
He tossed me a glance before unclasping his hands from behind his back. “I’ve seen it. All of it. I’ve seen Raven as our alpha. I’ve seen the strong leader she becomes for us. I’ve seen the charges she commands. I’ve seen the life she takes with us. It is true, and it is great, and it is worthy of the honor we once gave her father. So, if you don’t have faith in who Colin chose to succeed him, then have faith in your interim alpha. Have faith in me and what I’ve seen. Because if you allow it—if you let it transact—it’ll bring our pack into a new and revolutionary age that, and I’m sorry to say this, Colin couldn’t even bring.”
“All right,” I whispered, “you can stop pumping me up now.”
He shrugged. “It’s merely the truth, Raven, whether you wish it so or not.”
I didn’t know what to do with his statement, so I shelved it. I had enough bullshit on my plate that I had to consider simply to get through the rest of the day, and that didn’t leave much energy to consider the future. My eyes locked with each and every shifter standing out on their porches. Husbands and wives. Children and best friends. They all saw me, and I saw them.
And slowly, the anger in my stomach faded.
“What’s happening?” I whispered.
Brody chuckled. “You feel that, I take it.”
I nodded. “What is it? Why is my body relaxing so much?”
Dean nudged me softly. “They’re aligning themselves with you.”
My chest swelled with pride as starlight glistened through my veins. I felt lighter than air as the lead-heavy anger that had filled my stomach melted into nothingness. I could’ve sworn that, in that moment, I would have sprouted wings and flown away. And the nostalgia of the feeling alone ripped me back into a part of my childhood I had long since forgotten. I’d never found anything on the planet that made me feel like I felt at that moment. I’d never found any place or any person that felt quite like home the way this place once had. And as a soft smile pulled across my cheeks, I found myself second-guessing everything as sunlight poured its way through my body.
Was it really possible for me to lead this pack? To be this happy for the rest of my days?
And if so, then what did that mean for the life I had already created for myself?
10
