"My shifters, children of the moon," she began, silence befalling the hundreds of them that were gathered before them, “we have something important to celebrate today—the women who are Silvers. They will be special, and wemustclaim them if we want to win against the hunters.
“You might wonder what kind of power these women can offer us. Not only are they immune to silver, capable of twice the strength of our best Alpha, and more in tune with our magic… But we have recently discovered two things:
“We have strong suspicion that their powers will transfer to their mate… And they can interact with, and even ask commands, of the wargs.”
Ronan’s eyes widened.
He looked over the Silver women, all with comparable hair color, then he looked at the wargs, who seemed to watch them closely.
Whoever mated the Silvers would control the wargs… And also take on their power. That was a damning advantage.
The fight for the Silvers would no doubt begin after this.
Tania continued, “Tonight, Scarlet Howl and the other Elders have reclaimed the Silvers. Each pack sought their own, but since these women are of the alliance… We have decided they will belong to Scarlet, henceforth.”
He blinked, then looked around at the others to make sure he heard that right.
Many looked just as confused as he did.
Anger pricked the hairs on his arms as he spotted Enzo across the way, who returned a confused glower.
Did they really just say that Scarlet would take the Silvers for themselves?
“By the gods…” his mother mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in the seat next to him. “Scarlet cannot just take them all like that! They’d have a small militia who can control wargs, and then dictate who gets to mate them. Even the hunters struggle to penetrate their skin with bullets… Did we hear that wrong?”
Ronan remained quiet, his heart racing.
His mother looked at him. “Ronan?”
The chalice nearly bent when he clamped down on it, his gaze locked onto Rem’s back.
His sister leaned in, sitting next to their mother. “Did they really just fucking do that?”
Ronan moved his gaze to Enola, who stared at the Silvers with a gleam in her eyes.
“Yes, they just did,” Ronan replied, articulating his words carefully.
“We have to act,” his mother suggested with a high-pitched voice.
“And do what? Take them all ourselves?” Suna emptily proposed. “That would only be an act of war.”
Ronan slowly inhaled—focusing everything he had on controlling his wrath—and then looked at his mother and sister. “And so is taking the Silvers for themselves.”
Ronan could not allow this.
It was time to behave as an Alpha should.
16
THE ARRIVAL OF THE ELDER WITCH
R E M
Rem staredat the wooden pyre while kneeling on the grass, the Hunter’s Sigil atop it all. She didn’t know what the Arch Elder had said, but it was easy to see that it carried something immense, based on everyone’s reactions.
When the words of the Arch halted, the pyre went up in flames from no clear source—it justburned. The heat brushed against Rem’s skin in the wind. It even warmed the cold metal resting on her, her eyes widening as she witnessed the burning mass with trepidation and awe. She squinted when it grew too bright.
Such a sight was unprecedented for her, and it was a strong reminder that deep magic flowed through this world, unseen butpresent.
