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As we walk towards the fire we all shift, standing naked in the moonlight as Cookie walks around and hands out fur blankets to everyone. I watch her as she passes Ryder. She doesn’t look up at him as he stands next to me, but her hand lingers a moment and his finger strokes her knuckle.
The singing woman stands in front of the fire, her hands raised as she dances naked. Her arms and legs have been painted with runes, and her long black hair is braided intricately. The keenness of her voice pulls me back to days long gone, to when Raina and Cassius ran these lands, when Raul darkened their future, when werewolves were first created.
“Fire burns our souls with desire,
The moon comes to conspire.
We gather as one making the land shake,
The power of the pack making the earth quake.
One pack, hearts beating together,
The ancestors guide our paths forever.
Come and gather around the fire,
Come as one and be inspired.”
The woman’s voice rises and falls with so much power I can feel it in my chest, only lessening when her song ebbs and echoes off the cliff and reverberates against the trees. The drummers accompanying her go silent, and she turns with preternatural grace and kneels in front of Ryder.
When she looks up, her pale eyes are such a contrast to her coal smudged on her face that I barely recognize Scarlett. Her red full lips part as she pants for breath and when Ryder places his hand on her head and blesses her song, she shivers with pleasure. Next to Rachel, Scarlett is the highest ranking female of our pack and has yet to be claimed. It’s said that she’s waiting for Ryder to choose her, and thus saving herself for that day.
When she stands and walks away from him, the way her body moves as she watches him tells me all the truth I need to know. Ryder doesn’t seem to notice, he never notices any woman. Even with Cookie, he doesn’t see the way she looks at him with adoration.
As Ryder steps forward a hush comes over the pack, and I track every face. Every single member is here. I can even see golden eyes flash on a rock far away from the fire. Even Rowan is here, distant, but here. Even a recluse must come when the Alpha calls. His eyes flash to mine and he nods once before he disappears in the shadows. He’s been seen, his presence recorded, now he need not let anyone else know he’s here.
“Since last we gathered,” Ryder says as he walks around the bonfire and greets every wolf and pup in turn, “many things have come to pass. We’ve suffered a grievous loss, and celebrated the union of our Tracker, Chase, and his mate Ruby.”
All are silent as he speaks. Many people cry silent tears, but hope fills their eyes as they look at Ruby and me. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and place my other hand over her stomach.
A shadow passes over Grace’s eyes as she holds her pups close and she blushes. I try to touch her mind but she’s closed it to me. Her children, though, think only about how I won’t be their daddy after all, and I understand. Even though she pushed me away, she never thought I’d mate with someone else.
“The loss of Brody will echo in our hearts for generations to come, the cruelty of what was done to him will not easily be forgiven. Many of us think it’s the work of our enemy, but seeing the passion between Chase and Ruby, I feel no danger there. Someone did this to our pup, but I’m not certain it was the Silver Dawn.”
Many men in the pack begin to growl slowly, eyes filling with doubt and hurt as they look at Ruby. Their minds are wide open, sharing their thoughts with all willing to listen.
“The only people who would harm us are them,”one man shouts.
“Just because your second decided to bed one doesn’t make them innocent!”an elder from the days when Ryder’s dad led chimes in. Not everyone’s handled the changes with grace and dignity.
“I will say this only once,” Ryder continues, shutting out the naysayers with a single look but not ignoring their concerns. “If anyone harms Ruby, they will be cast out. Whoever hurt Brody will be found and put to death, but I’ve personally touched Ruby’s mind and she’s just as horrified as we are about losing the sweet boy.”
I feel Rowan’s mind touch mine as he circles in the darkness. He’s positioned himself behind Ruby and me, set on defending her back from any unseen attack. I send him a silent thanks without looking, my heart breaking for him. Ever since his mother passed he’s been fiercely protective of females, even if he stays far away from the pack as a whole.
“Ruby is our sister now, and with Chase as my second, he stands to inherit the pack if anything should happen to me. Ruby could end up being your Luna, and I expect you to respect her as if she already is.”
The declaration from Ryder is absolute, an order even if not voiced as one. The pack stirs and out of the corner of my eye I see Grace glare at Ruby. A phone rings in the distance, and I watch as Cookie jumps off the tailgate of her little truck and walks away so as to not disturb the meeting.
“When we find those responsible for Brody’s murder it will be death by the pack,” Ryder announces.
A chill settles on my spine. Never in recent history has that order been called; it means the enemy will be chased by the pack and attacked until dead. Tradition calls that the one hurt directly by the crime would be the one to deliver the final blow, and Grace puffs up with pride as she realizes this.
“I don’t pass this kind of order lightly, but with a heavy heart. It’s the worst of verdicts, a punishment that will not soon be forgotten, and as such will protect our people from danger.” Ryder looks at Ruby and sends a preemptive apology, if it is someone in her old pack he will not show mercy.
Cookie walks back around her truck, hands shaking and eyes wide. She gulps as she walks through the clearing around the fire and directly to Ryder.
A bold move for a wolf, unheard of coming from a human.
