Grandmother laughed. “The only clueless idiot is you, boy. Alphas are born. They can’t be replaced.”
He held it up in his hand. A thin vial of liquid silver. “Not anymore. This is the future. Pity you won’t see it, bitch.”
“That’s how you crossed,” she said with understanding. She drew herself up to her full tiny height, and with a resigned nod, she shrugged. “Fair enough, tell me one thing before I die. Why?”
Axel mimicked her shrug. “Because I hate you all.” He stepped closer. “You most of all.”
“Come one step closer, boy,” she seethed. “I will rip you from groin to throat for the blood you spilled today.” She could see them, those of her blood, watching. Her gaze met the strongest of them, love filling herheart as his eyes met hers. “Tell them we fought, Alpha,” she told her grandson. “The stone falls.”
I opened my eyes and met the gaze of the man who had orchestrated everything. The one who had pulled all the strings. I looked around at the rest of them, everyone was still shock-stricken, but most were also watching Deryn and his fellow traitors, who had just had the ground ripped out from under them.
“Deryn, you and the members of the Pack Council beside you…you’ve been found guilty of treason and murder. Judged by every shifter here.” I bared my teeth.
“Your reign is over.”
Chapter 33
Rowen
My heart ached for him.For them all.
I watched as the Pack Council realized what he’d done. He’d shown them their truth, and Brand lying on the stretcher, clearly dying, just drove home their treachery.
The alpha Deryn took a step forward, a snarl twisting his lips. “You tricked us into coming here, and now you trick us with your lies.”
Wolfe didn’t respond; it was the Hollow that did. The ground shifted beneath them, causing a few to stumble.
“Wait!” one of the Pack Council shouted. He looked at Deryn, anger and mistrust clear on his face. “Not all of us are trying to do this,” he said. “I didn’t know this was happening. You ignored summons, you threatened the Pack Council, you risked exposing our kind?—”
“When?” Diesel growled. “Our alpha got two summons and answered them both.”
The Pack Council member looked between Wolfe, Diesel, and Deryn. “But…”
“But you were told I never attended,” Wolfe said with anod of his head. “I don’t recall seeing you there either time I was there. Maybe when I first went, and the shaman and I spoke.” He looked around. “I don’t see your shaman here, but I have seen him since. He is noticeable in his absence, because he also knows this is bullshit lies to lay claim to a land that is not yours.”
“You’ve spoken to the shaman?” the Council member asked. He looked at his companions, then his gaze fell and rested on Brand. “I have no part in this, Alpha Wolfe. My pack and I, we’ve been misled.”
Wolfe dipped his head. “Your pack will need time to discuss how you could have been so easily fooled, Alpha…?”
“Munroe. Alpha Munroe, of Three Ferns Pack. I have a lot of explaining to do,” he agreed, turning to Deryn. “But my beta and I will listen to this now and hear the truth for the first time.”
I noticed his feet moved a little easier, and I realized the Hollow had let him go. The Hollow was not as kind to the others. Every step they’d taken into the Hollow…the land pushed back from.
Behind me, someone drew a sharp breath. They felt it too. The Hollow was rejecting the Pack Council, and the Pack Council were pushed back.
It didn’t break. Didn’t open. Didn’t lash out. It simplywould not hold them.
The soil trembled and rolled beneath their feet, forcing them to stumble back a pace—back toward the ridge, back to safety, back out. A ripple moved beneath the Council’s delegation, spreading outward like a slow tide. Wolves scrambled, trying to stay on their feet. One alpha hit theground with a sharp cry. Another bared his teeth at the soil as if he could challenge it.
It didn’t matter. The Hollow wanted them gone.
Wolfe’s voice was quiet, but every wolf heard it. “It’s casting them out.”
Deryn looked furious—humiliated. “This is manipulation. A trick. Your druid?—”
“Our druid isn’t doing this,” I said. “And even if they were, the Hollow wouldn’t obey them.”
“It’s choosing,” Killian murmured. “It’s showing every wolf who belongs here…and who doesn’t.”
