Free Not The Leader Of The Pack by Annabeth Leong Page A

knowledge is our greatest gift.”
    He sighed and pushed his chair back, pulling himself away from her and her fantasies of what his life could be. “How am I going to do any of that when I can’t control myself? If the wolf is bursting out of me every time I see Juli, I can’t go to the pack meeting to look for her and issue a challenge. I can’t see how any of that can work.”
    Sarah whisked the empty plate off the table and turned back to her refrigerator. “Don’t think ahead so much. Do what feels right in the moment. When you called those investigators in, you did it because there was something you didn’t want to face. Stop avoiding it.”
    Neil shivered. “Thanks for the talk.” He stood as well, antsy to get away from her uncomfortable truths. A run on the trail along the Bitterroot River might clear his head. It would be better if he could go in wolf form, but he still had days to go before the exemption kicked in. Irritation rose within him, and he knew it would take hours of exertion to still it again. Neil turned to go.
    “I’m not sorry to upset you,” Sarah said dryly before he could disappear down her hallway. “You need to be upset. I hope the thought of her gets under your skin and won’t let go.”
    He growled a little in the back of his throat and left her, his walk becoming a lope and then an aching, full-out run.

Chapter Seven
    Juli paced and stared out at the Clark Fork River. The full moon would come in two days, and the accompanying urge to change itched constantly within her mind, making it hard to think. She sighed and dropped to a squat along the riverbank, toying with the rocks and driftwood scattered around her.
    The ceremony that would swear her in as alpha of the Missoula Pack would start in less than 15 minutes, and the only werewolves who’d shown up so far were the Lewistown investigators. For the thousandth time that night, she second-guessed herself. She’d chosen to hold the event at the Jacobs Island Bark Park because she’d always liked the place, but what if the pack had been insulted that she’d chosen a dog park? When she’d lived in Missoula as a teenager, she’d liked to come here mid-month and sit among its pungent animal smells, with the river flowing by on either side of her. Some houses crowded into the view, but if she turned her head just so and focused on the hills rising up on either side of the river, she could transport herself to the wilds even though she sat in the middle of town.
    She sighed and walked over to the Bark Park plaque she’d noticed tonight, which dedicated the place to “Heidi, Millie, Muffy, Buckwheat, and all other animals who enrich our lives.” Juli could easily imagine taking that the wrong way herself.
    A boot crunched in the rocks behind her, and she smelled Heather Compton’s vanilla-scented perfume. “You should get in place,” the cool-voiced investigator said. “It’s almost time to start.”
    Juli turned slowly, feeling gawky and disheveled beside the elegant woman. She fingered the leather ring she wore, trying to gain confidence from her father’s faith in her. Heather’s two companions flanked her, silent as always, even their smells subdued. “We haven’t got enough pack members to make the ceremony valid.” She drew in a shaky breath and looked quickly from side to side to make sure conditions hadn’t changed. “We actually haven’t got any pack members present,” she said darkly.
    Heather’s lips curled into one of her mysterious smiles. “Werewolf Council officials are authorized to substitute for members of packs under our jurisdiction in all sanctioned rituals and ceremonies. We have more than enough present to proceed with swearing you in, along with additional guards to ensure Neil Statham and any followers he may have collected can’t disrupt the event.”
    “That’s great.” Juli licked her lips, noticing that even on this rocky, sandy ground, Heather wore heeled boots. The other