Page 139 of Awakened
The house had been scrubbed of all proof that young wolves lived there, and extra beds had been brought in. The old barn next to the house was cleaned and set up with beautiful lighting and chairs. It looked like a wedding Pinterest board banged a conference room and had a baby. Whitney and Emily had really outdone themselves.
I was running high on optimism—well, that is, until the second car of attendees arrived. The bickering started when room assignments were handed out. A few betas and gammas refused to acknowledge lunas as real leaders and wouldn’t share rooms with them. Their attitudes went directly against the spirit of the fake reason used to lure them there, which was probably a sign that this retreat was needed beyond the subterfuge The Howlers used.
I begrudgingly reshuffled the assignments to keep the peace while Marie ushered all forty-five attendees into the barn.
After sorting the lunas into the attic rooms, I rushed to jointhe festivities. Slipping onto a folding chair next to Emily, I focused on Marie.
“Now that the thank you bullshit has been taken care of—” Marie’s smile was terrifying. She looked like she was about to take a bite out of all of us. Grandma Rose sat behind her, shaking her head with a small smile. She didn’t correct Marie’s swearing. Clearly, she agreed with whatever Marie was about to say. “Let’s dive into the first talk of the weekend. How many people here know where our pack structure comes from?”
A couple of hands went up. Marie pointed to a dark-haired woman sitting in the front row.
“Pack structure comes from our ancestors and our wild brothers and sisters. It’s in place due to the natural strengths within the population. Power is inherited, thus legacies within packs.”
Marie’s eyes lit up, her smile thinning. “So, there is a biological factor to it?”
The woman’s shoulders tensed as she realized too late that she’d walked into a trap. “Yes, alphas are born with more leadership skills and strength . . .”
Nodding, Marie turned her focus to the entire group. “Who thinks that makes sense?”
Over half the room raised their hands.
Marie went to the other side of the small stage and asked, “Has anyone ever heard of the divine right of kings?”
A few tentative hands went up, a few heads nodded, and there was a little murmuring of “I have,” but no one directly addressed Marie. I didn’t blame them. The gleam in her eyes was terrifying.
“Monarchies used the divine right of kings to legitimize their rule. They said God mandated their power, so no challenge could be made to their lineage. It was believed that monarchs were born with the blessings of leadership and strength. Sound familiar?”
I couldn’t help but smile. Marie loved messing with people, specifically pack structure-loving fools. While the Amazons held a loose structure for bureaucratic reasons like dealing with otherpacks, the pack members had to approve every ranked wolf. There were no legacy leaders.
“We’re going to start this weekend by dispelling some of the lies we are raised with. Hopefully, by the end of this chat, you will begin to question things you took for granted.
“Most North American packs operate under a system that mimics a monarchy, complete with an aristocracy and an unhealthy dose of patriarchy.
“We see the titles alpha, beta, and gamma passing to first sons, much like king, prince, duke, et cetera, pass to first sons. Women gain positions of limited power through marriage or, in our case, mating. Questions yet?”
A few heads shook. All eyes were glued to Marie as she dismantled what everyone thought they knew about being in a wolf pack.
“Now, let’s look at our wild kin. They don’t follow a pack structure like ours. A pack is formed when a male and female become a pair and have pups. Hierarchy doesn’t become a factor until the children grow. Even then, it’s a battle for resources. Once the pups reach adulthood and mate, they form a new unit. Comparing structures, it isn’t hard to see that our humanity has created the pack structure we’ve all been raised in.”
Grandma Rose cleared her throat, and Marie turned to give her the floor. Standing, Grandma Rose gracefully took center stage. “When did the first female alpha ascend to power?”
My hand shot up. Smiling at my enthusiasm, she pointed at me. “Celeste?”
“In 1779, Electa Cook became alpha to a pack of six in Maine.”
Grandma Rose smiled. “That’s what you were taught, but no. There have been female alphas since there have been weres. Over the course of my long life, I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, collecting stories of female leaders from all over. While gender inequality has been a cornerstone of modern were-society, women and nonbinary alphas have always existed.”
Hope’s hand raised slowly in the front.
“Yes, honey. You have a question?”
“Um, why would the history books lie?”
Grandma Rose popped out her hip and rested a hand on it. “Why do you think?”
Hope shook her head.
“Our current pack structure supports passing titles to sons, specifically first-born sons. They are groomed from birth to have the strength to defend their positions physically, while daughters of the same men aren’t trained to their peak physical prowess.” Rose casually shrugged. “And why would they be? Men are the leaders, always have been, always will be,” she said with more sarcasm than I’d ever heard her use. “Imagine how different things would be if women were acknowledged to have the same potential. Imagine if history books supported that fact.”
