Chapter Nine

Many lower-ranking packs think the buck stops with me. I am the ultimate power and if they challenge me it's only my pack they need to face. They're wrong. Just as humans have their governments we have the Elders, a group of well-loved, well respected retired Alphas. They've watched over us since the dawn of time, protected us, loved us and ensured we acted fairly to those who wrong us. Even the White Wolves could have been overruled by the Elders.

"Thank you," I sighed. A tiny slither of tension flowed from my body. I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and massaged my temples.

"The Elders will be here within the hour," I told Blake and Lena, eager to pass off responsibility for this hot mess to someone older and wiser than myself.

I blinked, a desperate effort to relieve the migraine threatening to send me crashing to my knees at any moment, and stepped back surveying the dismal scene behind me. Cedar Wood pack huddled on the dusty mess hall floor. Lucil