“And this bit here is where any challenges are carried out.” She raised an eyebrow at Cam. “Again, an area you’re familiar with.” Putting a hand on Cam’s arm, she smiled sadly. “An awful day for all involved, but justice was served in the end. I hope to never meet another alpha like Newell.”
Cam sighed. “I like to think he’s the exception.”
Rachel had to stop herself from looking at Sara. While Sara’s father wasn’t as bad as Stephen Newell, he had plenty of faults that an alpha shouldn’t have. But he was still her dad, so Rachel sat with her gaze fixed on Cam and Alpha Cornell.
“Anyway.” Alpha Cornell moved her finger and drew an arc over the rest of the map. “All this land here is where we do our full-moon runs and carry out our pack bonding exercises.”
The area looked massive. Rachel was used to having a lot of space for full-moon runs, but never with so many trees to run in and out of.
“Pack bonding exercises?” Daryl asked, not quite managing to keep the scepticism out of his tone.
Rachel bit her lip in an effort not to smile.
Alpha Cornell, however, grinned at him, all teeth. “Yes, Mr Easton. Sometimes—as in your case—packs need a helping hand in forming that tight bond we all cherish. And luckily for you, the council are more than happy to help you achieve it.”
Looking suitably chastised, Daryl nodded once and left it at that.
“I’m the first to admit we stole the idea from the humans. Their team-building weekends are loosely what we based this on, but ours have more…bite.”
Laughter sounded around the table.
“I’m sure they do.” Cam smiled at her. “For the most part, my pack is coming along just fine, considering what we’ve been through, but there’s one unit in particular that are struggling with the change.”
“Is their beta here?” She looked between Rachel, Jason, and Daryl, eyebrow raised.
“No. I thought it best for Jenn to remain with her team since their unit is a newly formed one. But”—he gestured to Jason—“Jason was also in the Primrose Hill pack before our two packs joined, so he has as much experience with them as Jenn. And Rachel”—he turned to smile at her—“Is a new beta, like Jenn, so she can comment from that perspective.”
“Very well.” Alpha Cornell reached into her bag again, this time producing a pad and pencil. “I like to tailor these exercises to specific pack requirements so that you and your pack get exactly what you need out of it. In some cases, that might mean only the alphas know the details of what will happen. Others require full pack disclosure. But all of these courses require at least a week’s attendance to make them of any use.” She looked directly at Cam. “Are you happy to proceed?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
