“We haveneverhad guilds in this pack.” Gen’s mother, Bernadette, steps forward, walking towards the woman in the crowd. “Your kind does not have any authority over resources, Myra. That is entirely up to us.”
“Bernadette,” Brad says, his tone firm. “I am the alpha of this pack. The guilds were introduced to supervise the distribution of resources—”
“And that’s exactly what they did,” Bernadette answers, shooting him a glare. “They distributed the goods according to our wishes.”
“We don’t run things that way anymore, Mother—” Gen tries.
“Don’t argue with your mother!” Sinclair, her father, snaps.
“I am here as a council member!” Gen says. “By Eccles law, you have to listen to me—”
“I’ll have my hide skinned by a bounty hunter before I allow my daughter to dictate to me!” Bernadette hisses, glaring at Gen.
When Gen looks away to hide the tear sliding down her face, my heart aches with pity.
She has been torn apart between both sides since Rex married Scarlett. It isn’t fair.
The argument between all three councils has turned into a shouting match. Gregor and Mitchell are up on their feet, arguing with Brad. Bernadette continues to deride the poor folk in the front row who are protesting the lack of resources sent to them recently, and the Clover pack council sits between both, looking completely stricken.
I see Sarah take Shawn’s hand and squeeze it, hard. He looks at her, and for a moment, they put their heads together and close their eyes.
They look like they want to go back home up the mountain, where it’s quiet. I can’t say I blame them.
“It was bad enough that we have been forced to give you more than your share!” Bernadette shrieks, her voice carrying above all the other arguments. She points at the woman in the front row, then turns to fix her gaze on the Clover council. “Then we were forced to supportyou. Filthy wild creatures, digging around in the dirt up in the mountains. Why don’t you just go back where you came from!”
“Happy to oblige,” Sarah mutters, her voice barely audible.
“Come away,” Sinclair says, hurrying out to put his arms around his wife. “It does you no good to get upset like this. Come with me.”
Bernadette puts her head in her hands and sobs as Sinclair leads her back behind the other elders. I see Hazel reach out and give Bernadette a quick hug.
Suddenly, Rex walks out to the front of the crowd. His expression is stern, right on the edge of fury, and his gold eyes shimmer in the last rays of the setting sun.
I know that look. It says he’s about to attack with deadly purpose and completely destroy his target.
“Enough,” he says, his voice soft. “I’m done with this—with all of this. The next person who speaks without my permission will be imprisoned. Do you hear me?”
Bernadette makes a little whimper as if she’s about to protest. Rex turns on his heel and glares at her, and Sinclair actually takes a step back, dragging Bernadette with him.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Rex says, turning back to address the crowd. “Since conflicts have risen to a point where we cannot have even a single day of peace, we are forming a new pack. A site near Caliente has been chosen—an abandoned town that has been upgraded with modern amenities. This will be our major transit hub, because it is an equal distance between Eccles, Rose Hollow, and Clover.”
“So, the new pack will completely control all resources?” Mitchell yells.
“Seize him,” Rex snaps, pointing at Mitchell without even looking at him. Cody and a couple of other guys break out of the crowd, grab Mitchell, and drag him away.
A ripple of tension flickers through the crowd, but no one dares to speak.
“There is not just dissent between the three packs,” Rex says. “Both Eccles and Clover have factions within them. The divide of classes within Eccles is painfully clear. In Clover, many pack members wish to remain in their original state, living off the land, but there are others who want even more modernamenities, and even to travel to the cities. Over the last few weeks, we’ve held small meetings and talked with members of all three packs to decide on this plan.”
A sigh creaks out of me, and I lean back into the grass.
I was at every single one of those meetings. I hope this is the last one I have to attend for a good, long while.
I zone out a little while Rex keeps talking. The three councils knew the general gist of our plan, but this is the first time everyone’s been given the full details. We’re hoping that the poor folk disappearing from Eccles, as well as a significant percentage of the Clover pack, will settle the first families and balance their reaction to the control of resources being taken out of their hands.
We simply can’t allow them any power over distribution. They don’t care if people don’t have enough to eat or can’t clothe themselves. In fact, they seem to enjoy it.
Rex and Brad talk about the pack members who have volunteered and the lottery system in place that will decide the remainder. The meeting has been called for this express purpose—so that everyone knows where they’re going, and what the new rules will be.
