Page 12 of Wolf's Reckoning
Tears threatened to spill, but I stubbornly held my head high. “Do you know when?”
The shaman shook his head. “No, but I think this year’s winter will be his last.”
The winter that we’d seen or the one to come? I bit mylip to stop myself from asking. I didn’t want to know, because either option was too soon.
“You are a daughter of the moon,” the shaman continued. “An only child. Alpha Malric bore no sons.”
“It’s whatonly childmeans,” I muttered and felt Lewis’s not-so-gentle dig of his elbow into my side for the third time that day.
The shaman smiled, not at all upset at my sass. “You’ve been sent here to look for a husband.” He didn’t wait for a response. “There has been suitable interest in your pack from those who know your need.”
Did they put it out in a flyer?
“Four Winds has offered one of their younger sons. Strong blood. Disciplined. Willing.”
“Deep Hollows has renewed their interest,” someone else added. “Their alpha has a second son. Single. Unclaimed.”
I blinked once, my senses reeling. “This isn’t a mating council,” I said flatly.
“Everything for you now is a mating council,” the shaman spoke smoothly, his voice as light as summer rain. “You carry the Hollow’s future in your blood. You are its roots and its bloom. We tend what we must grow.”
I stared at him. Was that a… Did he just… “You talk like you mean topruneme.”
The shaman sighed. “You are not being forced, Rowen.” He was sopolished, consideringhe looked like he’d been sleeping under the stars in a ditch somewhere. “We are simply providing paths. Options. Ones that keep your pack safe, strong and, above all, sacred.” He didn’t blink as he spoke to me, and I had the crazy thought that maybe hedidn’t need to if he was blind. “Your pack holds tight to the old ways, to tradition,” the shaman continued. “They place great weight on a child of the alpha born in the ancient depths of the Hollow at the base of their sacred Heartwood.” His head cocked slightly. “Old magic there, some would say it should be forgotten magic.”
The tent was eerily silent.
I felt like every muscle was drawn too tight, like if I moved too fast, I’d shift and be running before they could stop me. His words wrapped around me like iron chains, reminding me that the freedom to choose was not mine to make.
Lewis spoke for the first time. “We will take these options to Alpha Malric. You’ll have his answer when he’s made it.”
“We will send the prospective spouses to the Hollow for Malric to assess,” one of the other Council members murmured.
For Malric to assess. Not me. I’d heard enough.
I left without asking to be excused. I didn’t look back.
Chapter 4
Wolfe
The scent of old pine,mulch and Council bullshit hit me the second I stepped into the area where the Pack Council had set up camp.
I glanced at my beta, Killian, and he quirked an eyebrow at me with a smirk. Together, we walked into the marquee, and I was sure the scent of shit got worse.
The marquee was too warm. Too quiet. The kind of silence that meant agreements were being made behind veiled words and polite smiles.
Politics. I fucking hated politics.
Killian moved ahead of me, brushing back the tent flap of the inner sanctum. He walked like we’d been expected. It was doubtful. Not this soon.
The central tent wasn’t too crowded—not too many, but too many to be packed into one space. Shifters bristling with forced civility and tension so thick I could’ve sliced it with my claws.
A few heads turned as we entered. Some narrowed their eyes. One tried not to react at all. The rest kept talking likeshifters who didn’t think we were worth the effort. That wouldn’t last.
I looked around as the faint scent of something familiar lingered in the air. I turned to look over my shoulder, but all I saw were males.
“You good?” Killian asked beside me, his voice low.
