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Raine’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Submit to me.”
Dannika’s heart squeezed. Raine wasn’t talking to Maddock’s shadow. He was talking to the dying wolf within Maddock’s body, the single thread of decency left in the leader. The one tossed away as if it had been worth nothing.
Maddock’s form rippled as his shadow forged an inner battle. He went to his knees as smoke and fur fought beneath his skin.
Raine held up his black reaper blade. “To the wolf, that was once my leader. My friend. My father. I release you.”
He stabbed the blade down into Maddock’s heart, pulling it out quickly.
The high-pitched scream mixed with the howl of an angry wolf. A single red tear dripped down Raine’s cheek as Maddock’s eyes changed from red to gold. The wolf looked up to the future alpha. “Be a strong leader. You made me proud.”
Raine arced his blade , slicing through Maddock’s neck. Maddock’s head bounced on the ground before his dead eyes focused on his former home.
The wolf clan members dropped to their knees with their heads bowed.
Dannika leaned towards Ryder. “What is going on?”
“The wolf clan is recognizing Raine’s authority as clan leader,” Ryder said.
Raine resumed his human form and held out his hand to her.
She glanced around the kneeling clan. “Am I supposed to kneel?”
Sweat beaded on her brow and she recognized the emotion: fear. Not that he would hurt her; that he would rule her.
Raine’s lips twitched. “As much as I wish it were otherwise, you would never follow my orders. You are, however, quite reasonable and will do anything for your family. That’s what this clan is. Our family. We will run our clan together, and when the time is right, we will pass it down to our children without a death match. You are my partner. My mate.”
She swallowed hard. The wolf clan members looked at her. With hope. With anticipation. They longed for a new way of life, and she was the only one who could give it to them.
“How do we plan to accomplish those goals?”
Raine shook his head. “I don’t know. There are no guarantees, but if the clans work together, we can find a way.”
She made her way to Raine’s side and took his hand. “I like the idea of working together.”
Ryder looked at Stern as he resumed his human form. “You are an exceptional fighter for a newling.”
Stern growled at him. “You call me that again and I will challenge you.”
Ryder’s smile brightened. “I like him, Dannika. You have given my clan a tremendous gift. Stern will be my second. My chosen son. His alpha is unformed, but I am confident he will develop quickly with my guidance. The bear clan has an official alliance with the wolf clan.”
Dannika wasn’t sure who was more shocked, her or Stern. “You’ll take good care of him, right?”
Raine whispered in her ear, “Ryder just made Stern the heir apparent for the bear clan and outed Stern’s alpha. No one will mess with him. That you turned him also works to his advantage.”
Steele nodded to Ryder. “You have made a good choice. The cougar clan also voices its alliance with both the wolf and the bear clans. We will unite to fight the reaper incursion. Killian is much more powerful than we expected. It will take all the clans to depose him.”
The grunts of derision were from cougar clan members only.
Colton stepped in front of his father. “I will continue the investigation into Killian’s past. Our connection to the reaper leader will not make our clan weak.”
The cougar clan bowed its head in silence. While Steele had lost some confidence with his clan, Colton had not. They would follow the next alpha.
At the leaders’ request, the clan members dispersed back to their own clans.
Colton joined Raine and Dannika in the center of the clearing.
He ran his hand through his hair. “We need to find a solution to the death match soon. Steele raised me in the old traditions. Our clan knows no other way. Some of our clan has lost faith in him. He will ask me to replace him. He’s a loyal leader, despite everything that has happened.”
