“Good best friend.” Talking to Fallon had the disarming effect she needed going into this. With her, there had been no need to playact at all. Giselle hung on her every word. If all Alphas could be as cool as Fallon was, this evening would be totally easy.
“Oh, Alyssa’s the best,” Fallon continued, as they walked. “And she let me tag along until we met Brady and Aiden.” Fallon pointed a finger to two large men across the room.
Giselle couldn’t believe her eyes – they were both hot. And as a bonus, young-looking, too. She’d have placed them in their twenties, though true wolfy age was so damned hard to judge. But based on their looks and casual dress, she assumed they’d be just as easy to deal with as Fallon was. “Nice!”
“Yep. Fell hard for Aiden, and then had to decide between humanity or him.” Fallon sighed. “I think I made the right choice.”
“Your story is way better than mine,” Giselle said.
“Oh, I don’t know. Lost little werewolf rises to become the Alpha of the western territory? Sounds pretty epic from where I’m standing. Like an Oscar-worthy movie plot.”
“Well, when you put it like that...” Giselle had gone into the room feeling like the lowest of the low, and it had been one of the big scary Alphas who’d given her the courage she felt now. Things were definitely looking up. She could do this. She would win the votes she needed to secure her place as Regional Alpha.
“See? Now hold your head up high. I got your back. Wow those Alphas. Show them why you were born to do this!” Fallon gave Giselle another friendly wink. “Let’s start with my guys.” She guided their steps toward Aiden and Brady.
I can totally do this!
Chapter 13
“Announcing Mrs. Vivian Silverman and her eldest son, Aeson Silverman.”
The butler’s call drew all attention to the new arrival standing proudly at the doors.
I can’t do this!
The moment Vivian locked eyes with her from across the room, Giselle knew she was done for. And worse, Ace was with her.
How? Why? This couldn’t be happening. She’d literally been thrown to the wolves and told to survive without even the smallest bit of help. And there was queen bitch herself ready to pounce on her dying carcass in front of the whole assembly of Alphas. Ace’s presence confirmed one thing: they were going to push hard for Giselle to be passed over as Alpha.
She’d been staring so hard she’d failed to notice the angry glare on Misha’s face. Fifteen minutes of sucking up to a modern day clone of Jackie Kennedy, the great Alpha of the Midwest territories went down the drain in one moment of jealousy.
“If you’re not too busy, Miss Silverman, we’ll get down to business.” The tone of Misha’s voice sent a spear of dread straight into her chest.
Standing taller than Giselle, Misha had the presence of a woman who lived and breathed wolfy politics. She was the one wolf Giselle sensed she needed to impress above all others.
She’d failed at it miserably, and before she could utter an apology, the annoyed wolf walked away to find her mate, Brianna.
The other half of this Alpha duo from the Central territories, Brianna had gained an audience of her own, surrounded by the Lobos. She was a pretty wolf, not as intimidating in stature or dress as her mate, but she had the charisma to get the job done.
Richard’s words came back to haunt her: either be the biggest and baddest, or have someone to be it for you. It appeared Misha and Brianna were a matched set that exemplified that very principle.
Other wolves hung on Brianna’s every word until Misha walked up and silenced them all with a look.
Once Misha had her mate Brianna by her side, they walked up to the center table. Just as Richard had said, Misha acted as organizer and moderator, calling loudly to the room, “If you’d all take your seats, we can begin.”
Giselle hoped she’d do better in the official meeting and began looking around for Richard and Martina, who should already have arrived. Neither had showed. She’d drown without a life preserver soon, and the hateful looks Vivian was shooting her from across the room were like a promise to be the first to hold her head under water.
Remembering she was supposed to be playing her part, not wallowing in the sea of nerves, Giselle lifted her head, set her jaw, and walked as proudly as she could toward the tables, hunting for the little name placard to tell her where to sit.
Tables had been strategically set in two rows with seats set only on one side, forcing each party to look at another across the gap. She spotted her table and the names that were assigned to it. Hers was there, and so was Vivian’s; but oddly, Martina and Richard had been left off. Her heart sank with the realization that no help would come. Had they known this ahead of time? Had they lied to get her to attend with false hope of backup? Or had something more nefarious caused their absence? The moment of worry broke her mask of confidence. Anyone looking at that moment might have seen her true terror, and the game would have been all but lost. That thought alone had her gritting her teeth to keep her jaw from trembling. A growling breath rumbled up her chest to push away the stuttered breath of fear. Giselle called on all the strength her wolf had to rise and endure the rest of this meeting.
Across from her sat Fallon and her two escorts, Aiden and Brady. She felt more at ease knowing they were right in front of her. Talking to them had been refreshing. Unlike the others, these were younger Alphas, though no less powerful. They seemed, at least on the surface, open to Giselle’s taking the title as long as she had a few years’ tutelage under a regent.
Talking to the packs of the south had been less comforting. Thankfully, the Rufus Reds were seated out of her line of sight. They had showed particular curiosity in her upbringing, which Giselle took as a bad sign, refusing to talk about anything but life as a foster child.
The Lobos were to her left at the next table over. Unlike the Reds, they were happy to hear that leadership would be moved closer to them if she were to be allowed to take her place as Alpha of the Long Teeth, though she’d had her suspicions about their intentions when they began talking up their oldest son and marriage prospects.
The whole evening thus far had been beyond stressful, and the one light at the end of the tunnel, her adoptive mother’s return, she knew would never come.
In her place, Vivian and Ace had been assigned to her table as representatives of the Pacific Coast packs.
Vivian strolled up confidently alongside Giselle and took her seat. “My dear niece, your nerves are showing.” Her tone had all the concern of a schoolyard bully and the wicked smile to match.
Giselle couldn’t roll her eyes any harder. She refused to rise to Vivian’s taunting and remembered to keep her head high. Backup or no, she was going to give off as much pride as she could, especially with the queen bitch at her side.
Ace at least had the decency to look sorry for his role in all of it, though he did not speak to Giselle directly.
Servers began to walk the floor, delivering appetizers to the tables: small plates of meats on skewers. At least they got the food right. Giselle’s stomach was nearly ready to eat itself with hunger.
Misha stood at her table and addressed the room. “You all understand why we are here?”
Between the sounds of hungry wolves eating, murmurs of Alpha and Regency answered Misha’s question.
“Precisely,” Misha responded. “We must determine the legitimacy of this wolf’s claim.” She pointed a finger directly at Giselle.
“You cannot seriously consider this child for the leadership role of our territories.” Vivian was first to speak.
“Is she, in fact, Orion Silverman’s child?” Brianna spoke up. It was the first time Giselle had heard her voice, and instantly it was clear why she held everyone’s attention. Singsong in its melody, her tone was pleasing to the ears but did not betray intent. Whether Brianna was asking for confirmation or condemnation, her Giselle couldn’t tell.
“Yes,” Vivian answered with noticeable reluctance.<
br />
“Then by birthright, she is entitled,” Brianna affirmed.
“But she spent her years in human care. She knows nothing of our way of life.” Vivian’s anger manifested in a loud slam of her hand down on the table.
Across the row, Charles from the Rufus Reds territory stood. “I too take issue with the child’s lack of upbringing.” Where Vivian had blunt anger, he responded with soothing concern. “How are we to know she’ll uphold our laws and values? Could she mount a defense if her territory were encroached upon?”
“That is something the child can learn.” Aiden responded directly to Charles, adding a nod towards Giselle. “Are you planning to encroach upon her territory?” he added casually, though his words were anything but.
“Charles is speaking hypothetically, I’m sure,” Misha answered before he could. “But that brings up an excellent point. We should consider her ability to control her borders as well as her birthright.”
“That has never been a consideration before in the succession of a child when the Alpha dies,” Aiden put in, addressing Misha directly. “We honor the lineage.”
Thank the gods she had at least one pack on her side. The Boston wolves had, without really knowing her, thrown in their support with nothing but a nod from Fallon as reason to do so.
“In a special case such as this, where the child has been brought up outside our laws and ways, we cannot ignore it. Weak leadership opens the territory to threats not only from within but outside as well. Traditionally an heir is groomed for the position as they grow within a pack.” Her words sounded sweet, but they held a bitter edge. Giselle wondered if Misha would really hold such a grudge over their earlier interaction, or if this was just her businesslike tone. “I would hate to see Pacific territory slowly fall apart and be enveloped into the surrounding regions due do dissent and border disputes that couldn’t be handled properly.”
“She’s a Silverman wolf. She comes from a strong and proud family line, one who’s governed over the Pacific region for a very long time. I highly doubt she’d lose territory with the support of her family in the north and southern portions of her territory.” Aiden answered back as if he were prepared for her argument. “And she’d have the benefit of a Regent until her twenty-first birthday. Plenty of time to be educated and guided as has been stipulated in our laws.”
Misha nodded thoughtfully, as if weighing the information rather than actually agreeing, but that was enough for Giselle.
She let out a breath, feeling grateful that someone with the knowledge of pack law had taken up her cause, as she had no idea what she could have said in defense. At that point, she’d become a spectator in the game of succession. Had Richard been in attendance, she had no doubt he’d have been upset she’d not taken a more active role.
The moment of relief ended when Misha opened her mouth to rebut again. “The Silverman family is an old and very proud family. Of that I have no doubt. But will she be guided by a Silverman wolf during her those formative years?”
Vivian scoffed. “Her mentor and regent is a wolf who already lives on the fringes – some backwater leftover of a turf war that’s been raging for a generation. Hardly the shining example of how proper packs operate.”
Rage had Giselle’s hand flying up ready to smack the bitch for speaking so badly about her adoptive mother, who’d been the first person to ever make her feel like she belonged, but she was able to pull it back before she landed a hit.
“You see? She can’t even hold her own temper in a formal meeting. How will she handle warring packs or territory disputes if she can’t handle what I have to say?” Vivian’s words earned murmurs of acknowledgement from the other Alphas.
Fallon addressed the group. “You can’t expect her to hold her temper when she’s being verbally attacked by one of her own. None of you, not a single one, is standing up for this girl. You discredit her for how she grew up, but have you taken into account exactly what she’s had to endure all these years? She’s survived as a lone wolf in the human world. A child. No knowledge of what she was or how she came to be the way she was. And she managed to stay off the radar all this time. That’s more than you give her credit for. You can’t expect her to adapt to our ways overnight. Give her a chance. She’s proven she can handle everything else that’s been thrown at her.”
Gratitude tempered Giselle’s anger. That Fallon chick was pretty cool to stand up the way she did, after knowing her for only a few moments. But it seemed she was the only one to appreciate it.
Vivian swooped right in with an equal measure of anger. “Yes. Please, half-wolf, tell us all how we should allow more unfit wolves to be Alpha.”
“You want to see how much of a wolf I am? Bring it.” Fallon rose to the occasion, fearless, with her wolf peeking out from behind her eyes, frightening in its beauty. Giselle had no doubt the Alpha spirit resided within Fallon, half-wolf or not.
Vivian smiled evilly, as if she’d won without a single swipe of her claws. “See? This is why we have to be selective about whom we chose for leadership. Those who have not been bred for it simply can’t handle the politics. My boy here is the first son of David Silverman – the last presiding Alpha of the Long Tooth territory.”
Fallon speared Vivian with a fierce glare. “Orion Silverman still lives, does he not?”
Vivian slumped back down into her seat as if those words had landed a direct hit. “He is... not capable of leadership. In his current state, he’s as good as dead.”
“But not actually dead,” Fallon reminded the group.
“No.” Vivian gulped loud enough for Giselle to take note. “He lives.”
“Then David Silverman, as second son, was acting as steward of the Alpha-ship to your territory. He had no claim to the actual title. Your son, therefore, has no direct claim either.” Misha’s words held a tone of finality that none of the other Alphas dared question.
However, after a moment of uneasy silence, Vivian spoke again. “And this girl does? Raised by humans, unaware of her birthright until a week ago?” Desperation colored Vivian’s words. Her eyes again found a target with Fallon. “We would welcome the same problems as the Olde Town pack if we gave leadership to her.”
Fallon’s snarl could be heard throughout the room. And that seemed to rekindle Vivian’s lust for power. She rose again and speared Fallon with a look of pure determination. “A cursory review of the Olde Town pack would reveal a staggering number of wolf deaths and attrition since the young Whelan and his half-wolf took over.”
Across the row of tables, Giselle watched the twitches of muscle that preceded a shift. But before Fallon could bring her wolf forward, Aiden gripped her arm and pulled her back down to sit next to him. He stood and met Vivian’s eyes with deadly intent. “When the Acta Sanctorum comes knocking at your door, we shall see how well your little pack fares.”
“Excuses.” Vivian scoffed and took her seat as well, having won for the moment.
“The Olde Town pack is the largest in the country and we’ve always been the caretakers of our domain. The Acta Sanctorum has plagued us for many years because of this. And yes, while our numbers have dwindled, we’ve worked hard to keep all supernatural activity off the radar. My leadership is not under question at this time, but if you’d like to make it an issue, I’ll happily accept your challenge.”
Giselle waited for someone to dare to speak up, and when no one did, Aiden sat slowly, confident in his win.
Vivian whispered under her breath, “I doubt the little werewolf here would be capable.”
“This whole thing is kind of ridiculous,” Giselle mumbled and dropped her gaze to her plate of food sitting uneaten despite her nagging hunger. The way things were going, she assumed she’d already lost.
“Would you defend your position, little wolf?” Misha asked, smiling almost deviously as she offered the floor to Giselle. “I’m sure we’d all be enlightened by your view of our Council and proceedings.”
She instantly regretted her li
ttle grumble of dissent. Strike two with Misha. She counted on her fingers the wolves who were against her: Misha, Vivian, Charles. It was inevitable she would lose, but she’d been offered the floor to speak her piece.
Richard would want her to; Martina too. She looked around the room, meeting all the stony faces of the Alphas already in power. They were already taking more interest in their plates than what she was about to say, and she nearly let it go. But, Giselle had promised her family that she would do her best, no matter what.
With a deep breath, she stood, feeling that was what they would expect her to do. She attempted to meet each pair of eyes equally. The power they emanated had her wolf feeling uneasy. Everyone here was an Alpha of alphas, representatives of their territories and leaders who’d been in power for more years than she had been alive. In truth, she didn’t belong. But when had she ever? And that gave her the voice she needed to speak.
“I’m not like you. You’ve all guessed as much. But I’m also not like others, either. I’ve spent the entire time I’ve known about my condition being my own wolf. It’s taught me to rely on instinct, to trust only when someone has earned it, and how to read between the lines of bullshit when someone is trying to pretend they are something they’re not. That’s what years of being a lone wolf will do to you. So when I sit here and listen to Vivian call me and my new family names, or preach that I am not qualified to lead, I don’t see a leader of wolves making a valid argument. What I see is a petty woman who wants the position for her son. Someone willing to tear down anyone and everyone if that’s what it takes to get it.” Giselle looked at Vivian and smirked. “You all want a leader you can feel confident in. That’s cool. Can I guarantee you I’m that person? Nope. But I’m also not the person trying to attack a young girl’s character without knowing her. I’m not the person trying to attack other Alphas on the Council to cause their leadership to be called into question. You have to do what you feel is best. All I can say is that if you want me to take the role, I’ll do what I can. I won’t make false promises.”
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