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

Lewistown officials seemed just as incongruous. She’d only been back in Missoula a couple weeks, and already she wondered how she could ever have been part of this stiff, reserved group. Neil’s rebukes at the meeting stung her every time she thought about them, and she couldn’t help speaking up. “Could Neil have been right, Heather? Is it wrong for me to take over without pack support? No matter what my father intended for me?”
    The investigator frowned. “I did mean to speak to you along these lines, though not from that precise angle.” She paused, her hands steepled in front of her. Dark red nails gleamed in the light of the nearly full moon. “From the files I examined in the course of the investigation, you had a promising start to your career in Lewistown. I spoke with Gabriel, and he would be willing to reinstate you to your previous position, your resignation notwithstanding.” Juli started to protest, but Heather held up a hand. “You should consider whether you want to go through with a ceremony that invests you with responsibility for the actions of this pack—not because of the... democratic... objections Mr. Statham raised, but because of the potential consequences for you.” Heather dipped her head significantly in Juli’s direction. “If this pack attempts to secede from the Council, or even if it merely contains a critical mass of agitators, you’ll be held responsible, Juli. You will suffer consequences if your beta is as serious about causing trouble as he sounds. I would hate to see a good werewolf disciplined as a result of the actions of a bad apple.”
    Juli sighed. She couldn’t turn away and go back to Lewistown just because she might get in trouble. She imagined the disgusted twist of the lips her father would get if he caught her bowing out of a duty in favor of personal convenience. Besides, Juli knew Neil would be punished severely if he succeeded in taking over the pack, then broke with the Council. She might have a chance of talking him out of that, or at least softening the blow for him. She didn’t agree with his position on pack leadership, but she couldn’t abandon him to the wrath of the Council after so many years of faithful service to her father. Even if nothing ever came of her own feelings for him, she still cared too much to leave him to his fate.
    She shook her head firmly. “So long as it’s legal, I’m going ahead.”
    “I’m glad to hear it.” Heather took Juli by the elbow. “Come to the circle, then.”
    The Lewistown officials had arranged river rocks into a rough circle at the tip of the island. The park had closed two hours before, and a few guards waited at the entrance to distract any patrolling city police. The moon rose high above them all, bright and tempting against the black backdrop of night. Juli almost panted for the change, every touch of moonlight teasing her toward it that much more strongly.
    For a moment, she thought she caught Neil’s familiar scent. Her head snapped up, an embarrassing amount of hope surging through her. She peered into the night, searching for any flicker in the shadows surrounding the ritual space. Juli saw nothing.
    Ancient tradition held that the swearing in of an alpha took place fully shifted, which meant these days the ceremonies usually took place on the full moon. Modern realities invaded, in this case. Due to all the regulations restricting the shift, every full moon bore the weight of so many delayed desires, needs, and pieces of pack business that what ought to be a werewolf’s monthly night of freedom sometimes brimmed with obligation. Too often, the occasion didn’t even allow time for the exhilarating run through the wilds that every werewolf longed for so desperately.
    Juli couldn’t handle losing that this month. She needed to remember her father, and to honor him. She needed to find the places in the nearby woods where his scent still lingered.
    Aside from that personal concern, practical