Chapter 171: The News

I read the wire twice and then I put it down on the table and put my hands flat on the wood.

“War,” I said.

“War,” the Corrigan boy said. “The whole of the Council has voted and the whole of the east has voted and the whole of the north has voted. The whole of them have declared the Circle Pack a rogue pack and the whole of them are going to come to the territory at the next full moon and the whole of it is going to be decided at the east circle.”

The pack house was silent.

“The next full moon is in twenty days,” Elias said.

“The next full moon is in twenty days,” the boy said.

I stood up.

“Get the whole of the territory into the square,” I said. “Get the whole of the pack and the whole of the line and the whole of the nine and the whole of the twelve and the whole of the eleven. Get the whole of the Council and the whole of the Alphas and the whole of the ones who stood with us at the tribunal.” I put my hand on the table. “The whole of it is going to be decided in one night and the whole of it is going to be decided in twenty days and the whole of it is not going to be decided by a Council that has declared war on a pack in its own territory.”

The pack house moved.

And then June came and put her hand on my arm.

“Wren,” she said. “The whole of the pack is in the square and the whole of the line is in the square and the whole of them are waiting.”

I went out into the square.

The whole of the territory was in the square. There were four hundred wolves of the Circle Pack and the whole of the line and the whole of the nine and the whole of the twelve and the whole of the eleven and the whole of the Council who had stayed and the whole of the eleven Alphas of the north who had stood with us and the whole of the east who had withdrawn and the whole of the north who had come over.

And the whole of them were silent.

“Pack,” I said. “The Council has declared war on the Circle Pack and the whole of it is going to be decided at the east circle at the next full moon.”

The square was silent.

“And I am going to tell you the whole of it,” I said. “The whole of the Council is four thousand wolves and the whole of the north is four thousand and the whole of the east is four thousand. And the whole of the Circle Pack is four hundred and the whole of the line is four hundred and the whole of the ones who have stood with us are four hundred.” I put my hand on my chest. “And the whole of it is not enough.”

The square moved.

“So I am going to ask the whole of the territories,” I said. “I am going to ask the Coeur d’Alene and the Clearwater and the Salmon River and the Kootenai and the Pend Oreille and the Walla Walla and the Riverside and the Kessler and the Snoqualmie and the whole of the ones who signed the petition. I am going to ask the whole of them to stand with the Circle Pack at the east circle and the whole of it is going to be decided in one night.”

The square was silent.

And then Thomas the old wolf with the hoe came forward.

“Alpha,” he said. “The whole of the territories is not going to come.”

“Then the whole of the territories is going to lose the whole of it,” I said.

Thomas stood in the square.

“The whole of the territories has been afraid of the Council for two hundred years,” he said. “And the whole of it is not going to stop being afraid in twenty days.”

I stood in the square.

And then the keeper of the east came forward.

“Alpha,” he said. “The whole of the east is not the Council. The whole of the east is the lake and the room and the whole of it. And the whole of the east has been the Council’s since 1802 and the whole of it is going to be the line’s.” He put his hand on his chest. “And there is a thing about the east that the whole of the Council does not know. The whole of the east has a circle and the whole of the east circle is not a circle. It is a door.”

The square was silent.

“A door,” I said.

“A door,” the keeper of the east said. “The east circle is a door and the whole of it has been closed since 1802 and the whole of it opens into the whole of the line and the whole of the land and the whole of the ground.” He put his hand on my arm. “And the whole of it is going to be opened by a Luna who is not you. The whole of it is going to be opened by the Luna who is going to come after you.”

I stood in the square.

“My daughter,” I said.

“Your daughter,” the keeper of the east said. “And the whole of it is going to be opened in twenty years and the whole of it is going to be opened in twenty days.” He put his hand on my arm. “The whole of the east circle is going to be opened in twenty days by the whole of the line and the whole of the pack and the whole of the territories. And the whole of it is going to be opened by the daughter who is not born yet.”

The square was silent.

“Then the whole of it is not a war,” I said.

“The whole of it is not a war,” the keeper of the east said. “The whole of it is a birth.”

I stood in the square.

And then I said, “Get the whole of the territories on the wire. The whole of them. The Coeur d’Alene and the Clearwater and the Salmon River and the Kootenai and the Pend Oreille and the Walla Walla and the Riverside and the Kessler and the Snoqualmie. Tell the whole of them that the east circle is a door and the whole of it is going to be opened in twenty days and the whole of it is going to be opened by the line.”

The square moved.

And then a wolf came into the square.

It was old and he had a gray beard and a hat and a stick and he was Daniel.

“The whole of it is not a door,” he said. “The whole of it is a deed. And the whole of the deed is mine.”

I stood in the square.

“Then the whole of the deed is going to be answered for,” I said.

“The whole of the deed is going to be answered for at the east circle in twenty days,” Daniel said. “And the whole of it is going to be answered for by the whole of the territories.”

He turned and walked out of the square.

And then June came up beside me.

“Wren,” she said. “The whole of the territories has answered the wire.”

“What did they say?” I said.

“The whole of them said no,” June said.

I stood in the square.

“Then the whole of it is a war,” I said.

And then the whole of the square went dark.

It was the ground. It came up out of the square and out of the whole of the territory and the whole of the square went down on their knees and the whole of it was white.

And then the ground spoke.

It said: The whole of it is not a war. The whole of it is the line. The whole of the line is in this territory and the whole of the line is going to stand in the east circle and the whole of it is going to be opened.

And then it went out.

The square was dark.

And then the light came back and there was a wolf standing in the middle of the square.

It was Ilse the grandmother and she had a cane and a shawl and she had a paper in her hand.

“The whole of it is not a war,” she said. “The whole of it is a treaty.”

I stood in the square.

“A treaty,” I said.

“A treaty,” Ilse said. “The whole of the Council has been the east for two hundred years and the whole of the east has been the Council and the whole of it has been the whole of the war. And the whole of it is going to be ended by a treaty and the whole of the treaty is going to be signed at the east circle in twenty days.”

I stood in the square.

“Who signs it?” I said.

“The whole of the territories,” Ilse said. “And the whole of the line and the whole of the pack and the whole of the Council and the whole of the east.” She put the paper in my hand. “And the whole of it is going to be signed by the Luna and the keeper and the whole of the line.”

I looked at the paper.

And then Silas came forward.

“Alpha,” he said. “I am going to negotiate the treaty.”

I turned around.

“You,” I said.

“I have been the Council’s pen for nineteen years,” Silas said. “And I know the whole of the Council’s paper and the whole of the east’s paper and the whole of the north’s paper. And the whole of the treaty is paper.” He put his hand on his chest. “Let me negotiate it.”

I looked at him for a long moment.

“Then negotiate it,” I said.

And then a wolf came into the square.

It was the Alpha of the Snoqualmie pack and he had a paper in his hand and his face was gray.

“Alpha,” Arden said. “The whole of the territories has voted and the whole of them have voted no. And the whole of them have asked me to come and tell you the whole of it.”

I stood in the square.

“Then tell me,” I said.

“The whole of the territories is not going to sign a treaty,” Arden said. “The whole of the territories is going to stand with the Council.”

I stood in the square.

And then the whole of the square went dark.