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Rylan lets the words settle before continuing. “We talk about strength all the damn time, but some of you are forgetting something more important. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

The gathering quiets.

“That includes the wolf beside you. The Omega serving your table. The shewolf you don’t find attractive. The male wolf you don’t particularly like. The pack member who disagrees with you.”

His gaze moves slowly across us.

“If you wouldn’t want somebody humiliating you, threatening you, provoking you, using you, or standing around laughing while you’re being mistreated, why the hell would you do it to somebody else?”

My wolf grows still.

“We have freedom to make our own choices. That freedom isn’t permission to satisfy every selfish impulse you have. Use it to serve one another. Help each other. Protect each other. Love your pack enough to care about what your actions do to the wolves around you.”

Several male wolves nod.

“Look at what tears groups apart. Hostility. Quarreling. Jealousy. Anger nobody bothers controlling. Selfish ambition. Envy. Division. Wolves provoking each other because pride matters more than peace. You let enough of that spread through a pack, eventually we’re biting and tearing at each other so much there’s nothing left for an enemy to destroy.”

My wolf shifts inside me. And the opposite.

I know.

“Now look at what actually takes strength. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self control.”

Rylan pauses on the last words.

“Especially self control.”

His attention moves through the gathering.

“Some of you can fight three wolves at once but can’t control your mouth when you’re angry. You can run a border for hours but can’t walk away from somebody trying to provoke you. You can face rogues without flinching but can’t see a beautiful shewolf without acting like every thought in your head needs to become an action.”

A few male wolves chuckle.

“I’m serious. Being attracted to someone is not an excuse to forget your values. Anger isn’t an excuse. Lust isn’t an excuse. Jealousy isn’t an excuse. Your friends cheering you on isn’t an excuse.”

His voice lowers.

“If the only time you can control yourself is when there’s nothing you want, you don’t have self control.”

My wolf goes completely still.

Rylan continues. “Self control matters when you’re angry enough to hit something. When somebody insults you. When the shewolf standing in front of you is so beautiful you can barely think straight. When your friends are telling you nobody will ever know. When doing the wrong thing would be easier, faster, or feel better in the moment.”

His eyes move over us.

“That’s when you find out who you actually are.”

My wolf presses closer to Damian. Remember.

Self control, Damian answers.

Yes.

“Love doesn’t make you weak,” Rylan says. “Kindness doesn’t make you weak. Gentleness doesn’t make you weak. Waiting doesn’t make you weak. Walking away doesn’t make you weak. Saying no when every wolf around you is saying yes doesn’t make you weak.”

His Alpha aura rolls over us.

“It takes more strength to control yourself than it does to lose control and expect everybody else to suffer for it.”