They still hadn’t noticed my entrance. “How many people do we have down here in the bunker?” I asked Rab.
“Roughly eight thousand Paladin, and about double that in city wolves.”
That sounded like too little. Twenty-four thousand people. The rest must have died.
But I didn’t have the heart to ask.
“We have four mess halls and we eat at staggered times,” Rab informed me. “The bunker is three stories. Living on base level, eating and exercise and medical on mid-level where we are now, and offices and supplies and engineering on top level.”
Wow.
“Is there a way I can speak to everyone?”
Rab nodded, walking over to the wall and punching in a code. It seemed he’d been given some kind of leader status here, and that made me proud. Probably Eugene’s doing. Rab pulled a handheld PA mic off a hook on the wall and approached me.
“You’re live throughout the entire bunker,” he said, handing me the mic.
Say what now? Shit, I wasn’t good at speeches. That was Sawyer’s department.
I cleared my throat, watching people argue and scream at each other.
“Settle down!” I shouted boldly, and my voice projected throughout the speakers on the wall.
“I am Demi Spirit Moon Calloway-Hudson, Sawyer Hudson’s wife andyournew alpha,” I declared confidently.
There was a ring of cheers from the Paladins present, but mostly boos from the city wolves.
I ignored the boos. “I’ve just been debriefed on the situation here. And I’m proud to report that the Paladin Village land has been healed and is free of enemies. We can escape there and set up a new temporary village for everyone while I go and get Sawyer and Walsh.”
More cheers mixed with only a few boos.
“We will have fresh water, food, and air there … daily sunshine, and we can function asone pack.” I yelled the last two lines for emphasis.
Silence descended over the crowd. I wondered what the other people in this place were thinking, hearing my voice coming out of the wall and stating all of this.
A man who I didn’t recognize stepped forward and sneered. He was a city wolf, about mid-thirties, and looked like he’d seen better days. He had that wild, don’t-fuck-with-me-I-might-be-a-felon, look—shaved head, hooded gaze, and rough skin. “You left us in this concrete hell for ayear, and Sawyer got dragged away for protectingyou. So who says you’re in charge now?” He spit on the floor at my feet, and Rab moved forward to probably punch him, but Sage held him back.
She knew I could handle this myself.
I had zero time or patience for this bullshit.
Reaching into the thigh holster on my leg, I pulled my blade and gave this bastard what I hoped was the craziest look I could muster.
“Isay so. Your alpha’swife,the mother of hischild.” People gasped in surprise at that. “And if you have a problem with that, you can fight me. Winner takes the pack.” Then I growled, low and with warning, and I knew my eyes had flashed yellow, because my wolf was so close to the surface I had to make effort to restrain her.
The Paladin wolves in the room roared their approval, jumping up onto the tabletops or pounding their open palms onto it like it was a drum. The man’s nostrils flared as he looked over my face and then he lowered his head in defeat. Maybe it was my confidence, maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want to fight a woman, or maybe it was the crazy look in my eye and blood on my face mixed with war paint, but the dude stepped back.
“There is noonepack!” someone cried from deep in the crowd. “There isthemand us!” he roared and too many people cried out in approval of his comment for my liking.
Paladin wolves might be “savages” by city wolves thinking, but I just didn’t care, I liked being a savage. I liked knowing how to catch and cut up my own food, how to live off the land. I liked being alpha, and no one was taking from me what was rightfully mine. I’d worked too hard for it.
I stepped forward, holding the PA mic to my lips. “I just spent ayearin the woods. Lost, living off the land. I gave birth to Sawyer’s son out there with no hospital and no medication. Igavemyself to that mountain, to the land, and to my people, and I was foundworthyof being alpha, so Idareany one of you that disagrees with that choice to speak up now. You’ll end up rotting in this underground tomb, because anyone who leaves is leaving as a part ofmypack!”
Then I dropped the mic into Rab’s outstretched hand and the group went wild, chantingalpha, alpha, alpha.
Most of them did anyway, some were stony silent. I knew it would take time for old ways of thinking to be broken down, but I wasn’t going to have a mutiny on my hands. If anyone wanted to live topside and be offered protection and life at Paladin Village, they were going to play by my damn rules.
“Is there enough room for all of us there?” someone screamed out over the yelling. A female voice.
