Silence descended once more. Tight and hostile, but laden with truth.
Another Council member cleared their throat. “We are not here to quarrel like pups. We are here to investigate the sudden rise in your dominance.”
My eyes narrowed. “My what?”
Deryn interlaced his fingers. “Your dominion.”
Dominion.I kept my voice neutral, though I knew damn well what it meant. “Explain.”
“Dominion,” the oldest looking alpha said, speaking to the room more than to me, “is the capacity of an alpha to extend his authority beyond traditional bloodline or region.”
“It is rare,” another added, and when I turned to look at them, they gave a tentative smile, as if they were happy to explain. Maybe not all who sat in front of me resented me.
“Rare anddangerous,” Deryn said, in case anyone in the room had forgotten he hated me.
“Dangerous if unregulated,” another elder murmured.
All eyes swung back to me. “And the alpha in the north who did exactly the same thing as I have, is he unregulated andrare?”
Deryn straightened. “We suspect your rise is not natural.”
“Meaning?” I asked, tone quiet.
“Meaning,” his sidekick replied, “you may have taken power that was not yours to take.”
A soft, ugly sound slipped from my throat. “How exactly do you think I’ve done that?”
“It’s what you’re here for,” they said. “So we can find out your crime.”
“They’ve already judged you, Alpha,” Diesel muttered under his breath. “That’s the real crime here.”
Several of the Pack Council heard him and scowled in his direction.
I stepped forward again, drawing their attention off of him. “You’re reaching. I united Stonefang and the Hollow because both packlands are where my pack are. If you think I enjoy playing politics, you’ve misunderstood me.”
“No,” Deryn said. “We understand perfectly. You’ve sought out power.”
My jaw flexed. “I sought no such thing.”
Deryn met my glare. “You will remove yourself from Blueridge Hollow and take your pack back to Stonefang, and there will be no more on this matter.”
“And what happens to the Hollow?” I asked them, my voice low.
“The territory known as Blueridge Hollow will fall under the Pack Council for protection.”
Killian bared his teeth. Diesel took a single step forward—one I barely stopped with a hand on his chest. Rowen went still beside me, her wolf coiled like a drawn bow. Through it all, I didn’t look away from Deryn.
“You can try,” I murmured, my tone quiet and deadly, and I saw his swallow. “But you won’t succeed.”
I’d just challenged a member of the Pack Council, and the room held its breath.
The oldest alpha at the table cleared his throat. “For thesake of transparency, there are…tests to determine the legitimacy of dominion. Old rites. Not performed in generations. But there is a shaman on the Pack Council who could do this.”
Shaman.
My skin went cold. Old rites. Shamanic rites. The kind of shaman whose presence followed me like a dogged demon. I didn’t know if their intent for me was in my pack’s best interest.
“And you want me to submit to one,” I said. “A shaman?”
