“Silence, Gwyar, or I will remove you,” Alpha Due told him with a growl. “The young beta is correct.”
“Normally during an alpha challenge, control of the pack isn’t given to the challenger if they win,” Eirian explained. “They have to actually challenge for the pack itself, or the next person in the pack hierarchy takes control.”
“Yeah, I knew that part, it’s like regular wolves and why they called for control of the pack. I just didn’t get the part about allies and the conclave and stuff.”
“Normally, a challenged won’t challenge back,” Eirian continued, as though she hadn’t heard me. “The fact that Alarick is means that the challenge automatically needs a sanctioned mediation and witnesses to ensure the fairness of the fight. The second part was that Lupine Hollow Academy is a safe zone, as you are aware.”
“Yeah, that’s why there are wards and things.”
“Exactly. Whoever is in control of Lupine Hollow controls the academy. Raff has worked hard to maintain alliances and ensure that packs are comfortable having their children under his care. There are old laws in place regarding the care of pups in our world, as well as the exposure of our species.” Well, that I knew. “Alarick is calling on them in order to put off the duel until parents of the pups who reside at the school can be notified and make the decision if they want to remove the pups immediately for their safety, or if they want to wait and witness the duel and make decisions on whether to remove the pups after the winner of the duel has been decided, citing the prevention of a possible war that would expose our species.”
“Oh!” Realization washed over me—Alarick had set it up not only to give us time to plan, but to make sure that pups from the other packs wouldn’t be trapped underneath Gwyar and unable to leave the academy. And from the rage Gwyar was projecting after Alarick’s announcement, that had been his plan all along.
“There would be no war! He is simply trying to avoid a duel he knows he will lose,” Gwyar argued.
Eirian lifted her chin. “As a mediator ordained by the conclave, I am sanctioning the requested challenges. As the law has been correctly cited by Alpha Alarick, and no opposing law was cited by Alpha Gwyar, the challenge shall take place on the Thunder Moon. I offer the dueling grounds here at my home for your use. All packs who have pups at Lupine Hollow Academy shall be notified of the potential challenge, and shall be given the option to immediately withdraw their pups for their safety. They and those who do not immediately wish to withdraw their pups may join us here under our hospitality to witness the duel. Alpha Alarick and Alpha Gwyar will fight to the death for control of their packs and of Lupine Hollow Academy. Goddess bless us all.”
Chapter Nineteen
Chann
How the hell did Zelda do it? The question pounded in my overloaded brain as shrieks echoed in my ears and little bodies barreled into me before darting off in other directions. I had offered to keep an eye on the pups for Zelda, but for some reason, I hadn’t expected this. As omega, I knew part of my job would always revolve around the young of the pack, but something akin to terror was slowly creeping up my spine. Was it always going to be this exhausting? Would I get used to it? Or did this seem so overwhelming simply because of everything else going on?
I ducked as a pillow sailed over my head and Bella catapulted herself off of the couch in an attempt to catch Rolf. I managed to snag her midair, setting her on her feet again to resume whatever insane game they were in the middle of. Helplessly, I glanced at the clock and had to swallow back a groan. I doubted Zelda would be back any time soon. She’d only been with Borris for a few hours, and there was still time before I needed to tuck the kids in.
Alpha Eirian had been able to help Zev search Borris’s mind and verify what we had already assumed—he had no memory of poisoning Raff and was absolutely horrified and heartbroken at the realization that he was the one to have caused so much damage to his beloved alpha. Unsure of what other damage might have been done to the omega, he was being held in a guarded suite for the moment to allow time for any powers or drugs that might have still been active in his system to work their way out, as very few could last more than a week without being updated. The team of enforcers who had been with Raff and Borris were also being held for observation in the same manner as a safety precaution.
Raff was resting as comfortably as possible while Fillian and Pixie worked on healing the long-term damage to his body. Fillian was hopeful that he would regain his vision in time, though he admitted that Raff’s body would never return to the condition it had been in before the poisoning.
At the resounding crash behind me, I threw my hands into the air, racking my brain desperately. “New game!” I cried out, wincing at the shattered remains of what looked like a vase. I really hoped Zelda hadn’t liked that one. Glancing around the room, I took in the large television on the wall and sighed in defeat. “Luna, Valerie, grab some beanbag chairs,” I ordered. The girls hurried to the closet, dragging out the multicolored bags to settle in front of the screen.
“We’re watching a movie?” Louve didn’t seem sure whether to whine or get excited as he studied me.
“Better,” I told him, heading into the kitchenette and opening cupboards as I searched. “We’re going to play movie theater!”
“Movie theater?” Now I had their attention. They shuffled toward me as I pulled popcorn and candy from the cupboards. Okay, so Zelda would kill me when she came back, but it was the only idea I had.
“Yep. Movie theater.” I stuck the popcorn in the microwave, the cheerful sound echoing in the room.
“How do you play movie theater?” Luna asked, bouncing on her toes.
“Well, you have to get tickets of course.” I racked my brain for a minute before ducking into the cabinet to pull out construction paper and crayons. “Why don’t you go make some while I set up the concession stand?”
“Yeah!”
“Okay!”
The art supplies were snatched from my hands as the kids darted for the small table in the corner. I blew out a breath as I began to fill bowls with all the snacks I could find—chocolate chips, pretzels, red vines, gummy bears, and the popcorn. Knowing better than to ask what movie they wanted to watch, I slid one into the DVD player, letting it load as I pulled a series of cups from the cupboard to fill with water. The pups were giggling as they designed their tickets and I sighed in relief. With any luck, I’d be able to sit down for a little while during the movie, and if I was really lucky, someone else would be showing up soon to lend a hand.
“We did it! We did it!” Lyall chirped, tugging on my pants to show me the scribbles on his ticket.
“Wow. This is an incredible ticket,” I said solemnly. I reached out as they all began slapping tickets into my palms, taking the time to inspect and praise each one. “Amazing, how did you all know to make super tickets?” I questioned in pretend awe, shaking my head.
“Super tickets?” Louve repeated, and Bella hissed, elbowing him.
“Yeah, so you get all these snacks.” I tapped my mouth as I considered him. “Wait, these are super tickets, right? You do want snacks?”