Chapter 17 Gabriel

I looked around the grounds instead of focusing on the food on my plate. Knowing Silverpine’s previous Alpha was poisoned only one week ago didn’t leave me confident the meal wasn’t tainted. Regardless of whether they caught the little murderess.

It was a beautiful night; the moon was full and bright…not a cloud in the sky. I wish I was home with my pack running with the full moon instead of attending a funeral. But here I was, fulfilling another Alpha obligation.

Silverpine set tables outside for this event; near the river so we could all stay seated and watch the platforms be pushed off, biers lit so the pyres could flow downstream.

There were dozens more tables tonight than for the feast last week. Only the Alphas and some Betas from the twelve allied packs attended from the outside, but the entire Silverpine Pack shared this meal with us.

Seith let me know prior to our departure, that Coralridge didn’t have any pyres for this moon cycle, nor did we have any bonds to celebrate.

Bonds were fickle like that, they didn’t wait for formal celebrations to let the universe know exactly who wasn’t in charge.

I shot a side eye glance at my Beta and wondered when he’d find his mate. He kept himself as far from bonding ceremonies and females in general, almost as if he didn’t want to find his life partner.

I wondered why. We never talked about it. I never broached it with Nakoa either, and I never heard him or Aunt Marai ever speak about it.

It’s not like I had any legs to stand on, being unbonded and unmated myself. Maybe one day I’d talk to him about our predicament, but not today.

We all quieted when Lucien stood. His new chosen mate Vanessa stood and moved to his side. Her concern for him shown in her teary eyes, and in the way her hand gently rested on his forearm, offering comfort and strength as a Luna should.

It wasn’t the place or the time, but I couldn’t help but judge. I knew Vanessa. Most, if not all the Alpha Heirs knew Vanessa. She wanted power, she wanted prestige, she wanted to be Luna.

She got her wish.

Earlier when Lucien greeted me, the gleam in his eyes with her by his side was unmistakable. His tone when he introduced her to me, dripped with condescension as he said ‘my beautiful mate’.

So much for him not being an asshole anymore.

The two were suited for each other in my opinion.

I only half listened to his eulogy, hearing the obligatory, great man, great deeds, shoes to fill words come out of his mouth. I know he loved his father, hell we all loved his father.

I knew I needed to give him some latitude because his father just died, but jeez he sounded robotic. Like someone has a gun to his back and is making him say all these nice things.

I think I wasn’t the only one who had that opinion of Lucien…

Sitting here listening to the old generation alphas that either ruled before or alongside Corren, none of them seem to be too fond of Lucien either.

Lucien might have inherited Silverpine, but he sure as hell didn’t inherit the respect we all had for Corren.

Corren was a good man, good wolf, good Alpha. One of the best.

It would be interesting to see how Silverpine fared under the prodigal son.

About a dozen Silverpine men moved down to the river bank. The crowd hushed even more.

I tried to pull in the memory of my own parents’ pyres, but I was too small to retain details. All I remembered was big fire and my Uncle standing next to me with his hand on my shoulder.

Seith was on the other side of me holding my hand, and his twin Toren holding his hand. At three, we didn’t realize that was a show of strength that meant to other packs.

Children holding hands. That’s all we were, but it also signaled the formidable strength Seith, Toren, and I would have in our future selves.

Managing a pack as large as Coralridge and on two different continents was daunting.

We managed it just fine.

Silverpine pushed the biers off shore and knocked their arrows. On the count of three the arrows arced into the air; each landing on target…sending the wood ablaze.

After a moment of silence, the old timers decided it was time to start on me. This wasn’t anything new. Whenever the twelve gathered, for any reason, it was the perfect reason to badger me into getting a mate.

They were hell bent on seeing me mated with pups of my own, and weren’t shy about letting me know I was remiss in my duties as an Alpha for ignoring it. No matter how many times I tried telling them about all the Bond Ceremony failures, they flicked their hands at me and tsk-tsk’d me yammering about the younger generation and how we’re all useless.

And yes, that also included their own sons and daughters who were often right next to them.

Tonight though, they had a good point. Now that Lucien was at the helm and mated. No matter how weak the bond; it was still a bond. They would be stronger after a decade of Corren being a widower.

Did I want to leave my pack weak when Lucien was gaining strength and might be stupid enough to flex his fur in my direction.

As we walked down to the river, their words left me thinking about the future far longer than I ever had before. We shed and shifted, all of us looking toward the new Alpha, who stood high on the hill, looking down at us all.

I couldn’t help but wonder if that was indicative of how the future would play out. Lucien had power now.

That may or may not be a good thing for the twelve.

Or, for him.