Page 66 of The Wolf's Prince
He sighed.
“The current pack alpha is very old now,” he began. “When he passes, apparently the next strongest alpha should take their spot. Soren and Kamon have been at odds, knowing it will be one of them.”
“Interesting,” his father said as soon as he paused, immediately interested in the political side. “So their leaders are chosen by their physical strength?”
Nikolai nodded.
“And if they are challenged, they fight. Kamon has been trying to sabotage Soren's good standing with the pack. When we arrived, he dragged us from our horse to the village to make a scene, thinking we wouldn't be accepted, but the rest of the wolf shifters were actually quite kind. They accepted us and Kamon did not like that. When it was time for Andrey to leave, he attacked him.”
“To start a fight?” the king asked.
Nikolai shrugged.
“I assume so because they did get into a brawl.”
He shivered at the memory.
“So, then his attacker was chained up,” Viktor prompted.
“Yes,” Nikolai agreed. “And Soren... I asked him to assist me in taking Andrey to a doctor, but he wouldn't.”
His voice trembled a little and he had to swallow down the threatening emotions. Even now, he was hurt by Soren's decision.
“What was his reason?” his mother asked, eyes sympathetic.
“He—he said that he couldn't leave the pack while Alpha Jin was ill because then—if something happened to him while he was away, that would make Kamon the pack alpha.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Wow,” his eldest brother breathed.
“Yeah,” Nikolai agreed.
The other three exchanged a look.
“Nikolai, as usual, you are so spoiled that you can't even see the forest from the trees,” Viktor muttered.
“Viktor, that's enough,” his mother chastised.
“What are you even talking about?” Nikolai demanded.
“It seems like a perfectly reasonable reason,” his mother explained gently.
“In fact,” his father added. “I believe this Soren, of yours, was in a difficult position. It could not have been easy to stay there and let you leave angry. I'm assuming you were angry.”
Nikolai's entire face was red hot.
“Perhaps, a little,” he admitted in a small voice.
“Tell me, was this pack alpha very ill?”
Nikolai shook his head but then stopped, the fleeting thought he'd had before returning tenfold as the truth clicked into place.
“He sat with us the night before and seemed okay but... Oh, gods, Sorentriedto tell me... he said Alpha Jin didn’t have much time left.”
His hand rose to his mouth, and he looked toward the window, as though the time of day could tell him if enough time had passed for Alpha Jin to leave this world.
“I left him,” he whispered, “while his grandfather was dying.”
