Page 12 of Lycan Prince's Secret Baby

I remembered how adamant the elder had been the night Leah had been caught stealing the herb from the hillside. He’d claimed that supplies had been going missing for months and that she was the one taking them from the infirmary.

I narrowed my eyes, not mincing my words. “He’s also stealing the herbs from the infirmary, right?”

“With his status as an elder, he has access to everything. He’s been selling the pack’s herbs for profit for a long time.”

Rage crashed through me. The perfect image of my childhood shattered as I realized that this elder had been taking advantage of his position for years. The world I had always believed to be just was unraveling fast. My head spun, thinking of how earlier tonight, I’d been sure I was about to expose the deep-rooted evil of the Blood Moon Pack. Instead, I’d uncovered corruption festering at the heart of the Moonlight Pack.

For a moment, I wished my father were back.

It's my duty now. Things have to change.

Feeling the same certainty zip through me as I had when I’d known I needed to protect Leah, I knew I had to help the Blood Moons. No longer would they live under the oppression that I’d unknowingly accepted.

“Starting tomorrow, Mark, I want you to be in control of the distribution of the Blood Moon rations.” I straightened, mydetermination sharpening. “I’m charging you with ensuring that all Blood Moons receive enough to eat.”

“Are you sure about this?” Mark asked, newfound seriousness washing over his features. “The elders won’t like this, and you’ve already sparked dissent with the medical treatment order.”

“I’ll handle the elders,” I assured him, shoving aside any lingering doubts.

With Mark’s acquiescence, I stepped out of the cabin, adrenaline coursing through me. I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but the time for talking was over. Back in my study, I found my mind buzzing with ideas. Soon, the clack of my computer keys echoed through the stillness of the night. Every keystroke was fueled by an earnest need for change. As I drafted a plan for dealing with the elders, relief washed over me. Maybe this was just the beginning of real reform. Excitement stirred within me, a sense of igniting my spirit.

It was a spirit I saw reflected in the faces of the Blood Moon Pack over the upcoming days. As the week progressed and the Blood Moons began receiving their rightful share, it became a common occurrence for them to greet me with smiles and gratitude. A mix of discomfort and guilt churned within me every time I received their thanks. After witnessing the hellish conditions they lived in, I knew what they were receiving was merely the basic rights every shifter was entitled to—rights that Leah was now receiving as well. My wolf finally felt content as I ensured from a distance that she ate her portions, nourishing herself, too.

But Mark had been right about the Moonlight elders’ discontent. Their disgruntled faces and murmurs reached me over thefollowing days. Within a few days, I summoned a council meeting, knowing I had to confront their dissatisfaction directly.

By the time the council meeting arrived, the sun had begun its descent, casting an amber glow through the narrow windows of the Council Chamber. The ten elders—an imposing fortress of grim faces—had already convened. The atmosphere was thick, the bitterness of the past entrenched on each of the lined and weathered faces surrounding me.

Most elders congregated around two additional tables that had been moved in to seat the entire council. The central seat at the high table, bearing Igaluk’s symbol, was left vacant for me. Without surprise, I noticed Elder Sam seated to my right. Healer Maria sat to my left, here in both her capacity as an elder and as a healer. I’d asked her to answer any questions the other elders had about the healthcare costs. My Assistant, Mark, was also seated at the high table to take down the minutes. He had already set up the projector.

I took my seat at the head of the table. “Good evening, Council,” I began, my voice steady as I leveled my gaze at the elders. “I’ve gathered you here today to discuss the future treatment of the Blood Moon Pack.”

“The future?” Elder Matthew scoffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “Their ‘future’ is servitude. You’re creating trouble where there was none.”

I quelled the urge to lash out. I countered calmly, “The treatment they’ve received has been inhumane. They’ve suffered under the guise of servitude for too long, and it’s time we change that.”

“Not every shifter deserves respect—especially when they turn on their own kind,” Sam interjected from my right, anger radiating from him as his hands rested against the table.

I met his dirt-colored stare. “All shifters deserve life’s basic essentials. If history has taught us anything, it’s that it’s our duty to treat our fellow wolves with common decency.”

Murmurs rippled through the council, but I pushed on, determined to lead them through the evidence I’d collected. “The data I’ve compiled reveals the economic advantages of increasing rations and healthcare,” I declared, my voice gaining momentum. “In doing so, we ultimately help our pack.”

Mark activated the projector, and the first slide illuminated the room, casting shadows across the elders’ faces. My clearly outlined calculations became my battleground, cementing my arguments in a way that emotionally charged ones couldn’t. I displayed graph after graph, illustrating the productivity gains correlated with improved rations and care, and a visible shift began to occur within the council.

“So, although the Moonlight pack expends more on healthcare and rations for the Blood Moons, the return on investment far outweighs the costs. Each Blood Moon may require additional resources, but their increased health will lead to greater productivity. In essence, for every outgoing we make, they give back a greater return to our pack as a whole,” I concluded, finishing the cost-benefit analysis.

Nods began to ripple through the elders, clearly processing the implications before them. Hope beat through my chest. But, sensing the tide turning against him, Sam’s venomous voice rang out, “All this is a charade, a smokescreen, isn’t it, Kyle? Youstand here, presenting us with figures, but the truth is you’ve been seduced by that Blood Moon girl!” Anger laced every word, rising from him like smoke.

A mix of uncertainty and anger rocked me. He was trying to provoke me, but I stared him down. Part of me longed to lash out and expose him here for all his crimes, but I needed to gather evidence against him first. Now was not the time for such a revelation.

Instead, I curbed my anger and announced deliberatively, “Discussions in this council should be led by data and logic, something I can seemostof the council is able to fathom.”

“You truly have forgotten your mother’s memory—what they did to her, what you owe us!” Sam shouted, his voice booming through the chamber.

Outrage blazed through me. “How dare you accuse me of forgetting! What I’m doingishonoring her memory. My mother’s final undertaking was to try to heal the rift between our packs.” My body vibrated with suppressed rage.

As Sam’s fury spilled from him, I recognized the depths of his exploitation. He was wielding my mother’s death like a weapon to prevent these changes. I’d never thought he’d stoop so low as to invoke her name just to protect the money he’d been siphoning from the Blood Moon Pack’s rations.

Taking a breath, I tempered my voice and scanned the other elders, realizing some of them looked ashamed. Anticipation beat through my chest. Could I propel them toward throwing off these outdated beliefs by appealing to them in my mother’s name? “Let us not choose the past over the future anymore,” Iurged them. “Let us move forward and build a future your Luna dreamed of.”

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