Chapter 77. But They Failed
Lia
Shame flickered across many faces.
"But they failed," Kai continued. "Because when it mattered, when real enemies appeared, we united. Wolves who'd been tracking Luna Lia as prey fought beside her against invaders. Warriors who questioned her fitness watched her lead them in battle. And she…" He looked at me with fierce pride. “…proved once and for all that she belongs here. As Luna. As a leader. As one of us."
Cheers erupted from parts of the crowd. Not everyone, some still looked skeptical, but more than before.
"However," Kai's voice hardened, "we can't ignore the internal threats. The council faction that led this coup attempt, that collaborated with the Circle, that murdered Luna Lyanna five years ago."
Gasps and shouts filled the hall.
"Elder Thane," Kai called. "Step forward. It's time for the memory readings."
The pack shaman emerged, looking ancient and weary. "Who shall I read first?"
"Me," I said, surprising everyone. "I offered to submit first during the last readings. I'll do so again now. Show the pack that I have nothing to hide."
Elder Thane approached, placed his hands on my temples, and pulled.
This time, the reading went deeper. I felt him see everything, my time at Silvercrest, my almost-betrayal with Theron, my doubts about Kai, my use of Silvermane power to torture Helena, my fear that I was destroying the pack.
Every secret. Every weakness. Every moment of uncertainty.
When he pulled back, his expression was thoughtful.
"Luna Lia is... complicated," he announced. "She has made mistakes. Questioned her place. Feared her own power. But she has never, never, betrayed this pack. Everything she's done, every risk she's taken, has been to protect Feril wolves. Even when it cost her personally."
Relief flooded through me.
"Garrett," Elder Thane called. "Your turn."
Garrett stepped forward, his expression carefully blank. "I submit willingly."
The reading took longer. Much longer.
When Elder Thane finally pulled back, his face was grave.
"Garrett has been in contact with the Circle for three years," he announced. "He provided intelligence about pack defenses, Luna Lia's movements, internal divisions. He was promised leadership in exchange for cooperation. And..." The shaman paused. "He led the ambush that killed Luna Lyanna. Personally gave the coordinates to Eastern Pack assassins."
The hall exploded.
Warriors surged toward Garrett, but Kai's roar stopped them. "He's mine."
Garrett didn't run. Didn't deny it. Just met Kai's eyes with defiance. "I did what I thought was right. Lyanna was making us weak. You were making us weaker. The Circle offered stability, tradition, order. Everything this pack needed."
"They offered genocide," I said quietly. "Extinction for anyone who didn't fit their ideology."
"Better extinction than corruption," Garrett spat. "Look what you've become, Kai. Mated to a hybrid. Defending dormant bloodlines. Abandoning everything our ancestors fought for. You're not an Alpha anymore. You're a traitor to your own species."
"And you," Kai said, his voice lethal, "are a traitor to your pack. To your Luna. To every wolf who trusted you."
He shifted, his massive black wolf crossing the distance in a heartbeat.
Garrett tried to shift too, but Seraphina's warriors restrained him.
"You don't get to fight back," Kai's voice came through the wolf's throat, somehow human speech despite the form. "You don't get honor. You get justice."
His jaws closed around Garrett's throat.
And this time, unlike with Theron, he didn't stop.
When it was over, when Garrett's body lay lifeless on the floor, Kai shifted back to human.
"Vera. Adrian," he called. "Step forward for reading."
Both were already trying to run.
They didn't make it far.
The readings confirmed what we'd suspected, both were Circle collaborators, both had helped murder Lyanna, both had been working to undermine progressive leadership for decades.
Their deaths were just as swift as Garrett's.
When the bodies had been removed, when the hall had been cleaned, Kai addressed the pack once more.
"The conspiracy is over," he said. "The traitors are dead. And now we face a choice. Unite and stand against the Circle's coming assault. Or fracture and be destroyed."
"How can we unite?" someone called from the crowd. "The Assembly is demanding you take a second Luna. The Circle is demanding we hand over hybrids. We're caught between impossible choices!"
"Then we make a third choice," I said, stepping forward. "We refuse both demands. We tell the Assembly and the Circle that Feril Pack stands for something more than political convenience. We stand for the right of every wolf, pure-blood, hybrid, dormant bloodline, to exist without fear. To be judged by their actions, not their ancestry."
"Pretty words," someone muttered. "But words won't stop three hundred warriors."
"No," Kai agreed. "But unity will. Combined with Silvercrest, Northern Peaks, and Eastern Pack defectors, we have nearly one hundred fifty warriors. Not enough to match the Circle's numbers, but enough to make them bleed for every inch of our territory."
"And if we lose?" Vera's supporter asked.
"Then we lose fighting for something worth dying for," I said simply. "But I don't think we'll lose. Because we have something the Circle doesn't, desperation. They're fighting for ideology. We're fighting for survival. And desperate wolves are the most dangerous kind."
Silence fell as the pack absorbed my words.
Then, slowly, wolves began to stand. Not all of them, maybe a quarter stayed seated, too afraid or too opposed to commit.
But the majority stood.
"For Feril Pack," someone shouted.
"For Luna Lia!" another voice joined.
"For survival!"
"For the future!"
The chant built until the entire hall rang with voices.
Kai pulled me close, and through the bond, I felt his mix of pride and terror. We'd united the pack, but at a cost. The Assembly would withdraw support. The Circle would come with everything they had.
And we'd have to face them alone.
"Tomorrow," Kai announced when the chanting died down, "the Assembly arrives for our answer. I'll tell them we refuse their recommendation. That we stand united behind one Alpha, one Luna, one vision. And after that..." His eyes blazed gold. "We prepare for war."
As the pack dispersed, as wolves moved to their duties with new purpose, Seraphina approached us.
"That was either the bravest or most foolish thing I've ever witnessed," she said.