Chapter 11 The Pack's Reaction

Chapter 11 The Pack's Reaction
"Alpha Damon has been gone for three days!" I slammed my hand on the meeting table, making the other beta wolves jump. "Three days without any word, any contact, any explanation!"
The pack house meeting room buzzed with worried whispers. Fifteen beta wolves sat around the table, all of them looking at me like I had the answers. I didn't. Nobody did.
"Maybe he's handling pack business," suggested Beta Tom, but his voice didn't sound convinced.
"What pack business requires our Alpha to vanish completely?" I shot back. "No phone calls, no texts, no nothing. This isn't like him."
It wasn't. Damon Silvermane might be cold and detached, but he was always responsible. Always in control. The pack came first, second, and third with him. Until three days ago.
"We all know where he went," Beta Sarah said quietly. "He went after that omega. Luna Ashford."
The room went dead silent. Everyone knew about Luna, even though Damon thought it was a secret. Pack wolves have good noses - we could smell her scent on him during those weeks three years ago. We knew something had changed him.
"An Alpha abandoning his pack for a woman," muttered Beta Rick. "My grandfather would roll over in his grave."
"Watch your tone," I warned, but honestly? I was thinking the same thing.
That's when the meeting room doors burst open. Seraphina Nightshade strode in like she owned the place, her power radiating authority that made my wolf want to submit.
"I hear my husband has gone missing," she said quietly.
"Luna Seraphina," I stood and bowed slightly. She was still the Alpha's mate, even if everyone knew their marriage was a disaster. "We're handling the situation."
"Are you?" She walked around the table slowly, like a hunter circling prey. "Because from where I stand, it looks like you're all sitting around talking while the pack has no leadership."
"Damon will be back," Beta Tom said firmly.
Seraphina laughed, but it wasn't a nice sound. "Will he? Even if he comes back, can any of you honestly say he's fit to lead?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, though I was afraid I knew.
"I mean an Alpha who abandons his pack for personal obsessions is not an Alpha at all." Seraphina's eyes glowed with desire. "I mean it's time this pack had real leadership again."
"You're not Alpha-born," Beta Sarah pointed out. "You can't just take over."
"Can't I?" Seraphina smiled coldly. "Check the pack rules, Sarah. When an Alpha abandons his tasks, his mate can claim leadership to protect the pack's interests."
My stomach dropped. She was right. It was an old rule, rarely used, but it existed.
"Damon hasn't abandoned anything," I said desperately. "He's just—"
"Just what? Chasing after his omega girlfriend while supernatural threats gather at our borders?" Seraphina's voice got louder. "Did you think I didn't know about the secret attacks on the eastern territory? The weird disappearances in neighboring packs?"
Actually, I hadn't known about those. Neither had anyone else, judging by the shocked faces around the table.
"How do you know about threats we don't?" I asked.
"Because unlike your precious Damon, I've been doing my job," Seraphina snapped. "While he's been obsessing over Luna Ashford, I've been building alliances, gathering intelligence, preparing for what's coming."
"What's coming?" Beta Rick asked.
Seraphina walked to the window and stared out at the pack grounds where normal wolves were going about their daily business, totally unaware of the conversation happening above them.
"War," she said simply. "A magical war unlike anything we've ever faced. And when it comes, do you want to be led by an Alpha who puts his personal goals above the pack's survival?"
The room fell silent again. I hated to admit it, but she had a point. Damon's behavior over the past three years had been... unpredictable. Distracted. Not what we needed from a leader.
"What are you proposing?" I asked reluctantly.
"A vote of no confidence," Seraphina said, turning back to face us. "Declare Damon unfit for leadership and transfer authority to me until he proves he can put the pack first again."
"That's... that's mutiny," Beta Tom whispered.
"That's survival," Seraphina amended. "Jake, you're the senior tester. You know the pack's needs better than anyone. Tell me honestly - has Damon been the guide we need lately?"
I thought about the past three years. The distracted talks. The times Damon would just disappear for hours, pacing the area like a caged animal. The way he'd stare off into space like he was thinking about something - someone - else.
The pack had suffered. Not clearly, not in ways the regular wolves would notice, but subtle things. Missed chances for alliances. Delayed reactions to threats. Small problems that grew into bigger ones because our Alpha's attention was elsewhere.
"I..." I started, then stopped. How could I betray the man I'd served loyally for ten years?
"The pack comes first," Seraphina said softly, reading my tension. "That's what Damon taught us, isn't it? The pack always comes first."
She was using his own words against him. And the worst part was, she was right.
"If we do this," I said slowly, "and Damon comes back..."
"If he comes back and proves he can lead again, I'll step down gladly," Seraphina promised. "This isn't about power, Jake. This is about protecting our people."
I looked around the table. I could see the same struggle in every face. We all loved Damon. We'd all follow him into hell if he asked. But love and loyalty didn't change the fact that he'd been failing us.
"All in favor of a temporary leadership transfer," I said heavily, "raise your hands."
One by one, hands went up around the table. Not happily, not eagerly, but with the grim determination of people doing what they thought was right.
"Motion carries," I announced, feeling like I'd just signed my Alpha's death sentence.
Seraphina nodded seriously. "I'll make the announcement to the pack tonight. Jake, I want you as my second-in-command. The others will keep their current positions."
"What about when Damon returns?" Beta Sarah asked.
"He'll have to challenge me for leadership," Seraphina said simply. "Traditional combat, winner takes all."
That's when my phone buzzed with a text message. I glanced at it, expecting pack business, but the message made my blood freeze.
"What is it?" Seraphina asked, noticing my face.
I read the message again, hoping I'd misunderstood. I hadn't.
"It's from the Bloodmoon Pack," I said slowly. "They're offering to... help with our leadership transition."
"Help how?" Seraphina asked, but something in her words made me suspicious.
"They're offering military support," I kept reading. "To ensure pack stability during the change of command."
The room went dead quiet. Military backing from the Bloodmoon Pack meant one thing - invasion.
"Seraphina," I said carefully, "did you contact the Bloodmoon Pack about our internal affairs?"
Her smile was all the answer I needed.
"You didn't just plan a leadership coup," I realized with increasing horror. "You planned a takeover."
"I planned survival," she said calmly. "When the supernatural war comes, we'll need strong friends. The Bloodmoon Pack has agreed to merge with us under my command."
"That's not merger," Beta Tom said angrily. "That's conquest."
"That's evolution," Seraphina corrected. "The old ways are dying, whether we like it or not. We can grow or we can be destroyed."
That's when the pack house alarms started screaming. Through the window, I could see armed wolves in Bloodmoon Pack colors surrounding our area.
"You betrayed us," I whispered.
"I saved us," Seraphina answered. "And when history is written, you'll thank me."
My phone rang. The caller ID showed Damon's number.
"Don't answer it," Seraphina ordered.
But I was already pressing the answer button. "Alpha?"
"Jake, thank god." Damon's voice sounded different somehow. Stronger. More focused than it had been in years. "I need you to listen very carefully. Something's coming. Something that makes every pack disagreement look like a children's game."
"Damon, where are you? The pack—"
"The pack is in danger," he interrupted. "Not from other dogs. From something much worse. I need you to evacuate everyone to the safe places. Now."
Through the window, I saw something that made my heart stop. The Bloodmoon Pack wolves were changing, but not into their wolf forms. They were changing into something else. Something with too many teeth and eyes that glowed with strange light.
"Damon," I whispered into the phone, "I think it's already here."