“So much power,” Sirhan said. “It would be so glorious.”
“No, Sirhan. It would be far too dangerous.” Gabriel looked back at us. “The way the sun, moon, and Earth align during a total lunar eclipse, something about it increases the power of the wolf tenfold. The draw of the wolf,” he glanced at me, “would be overwhelming. And if an Urbat can channel the power of the bloodred moon, it would make him immensely powerful. A Challenging Ceremony held during the eclipse would be far too dangerous.” He held Sirhan’s hand, not seeming to notice the grotesqueness of it. “Alas, you must hold on longer, my brother. Two days is not enough for time for us to prepare.”
“Very well. I’ve been alive for nine hundred and ninety-nine years. What is two more days?” He let out a low, raspy laugh. The he straightened up in his chair. With a labored swing of one of his leathery, withered arms he pointed at Daniel. “In the meantime, kill the Kalbi boy.”
“What!” I screamed.
The five spears that had been pointed at my face were now positioned by their holders at Daniel, who stood tall and unflinching.
“This wasn’t part of the deal, Sirhan!” I said. “Daniel is to get sanctuary.”
Lisa stepped forward from the pack Elders and rushed to Sirhan’s side. “Be reasonable,” she begged.
“Keep your end of the bargain,” Gabriel said.
Sirhan grabbed both Lisa’s and Gabriel’s hands with a fierceness I didn’t think him capable of. Lisa’s face twisted with pain. Sirhan’s face resembled that of a rabid, deranged beast. “No!” he roared. “A true alpha who possesses all the power but without the curse. No son of Caleb Kalbi should be allowed to have that. No son of Caleb should be allowed to live.”
“That’s the wolf speaking, Sirhan,” Gabriel said. “Come to your senses. The boy has done nothing to you.”
“He has the blood of Caleb Kalbi, the most selfish and treacherous Urbat I have ever known. That is offense enough.”
“Daniel and I are a matched set,” I said. “If you kill him, then you’ll have to take me, too. Then you’ll have no more Divine One.”
“That’s no longer an issue.” Sirhan clapped his mangy hands, and one of the spearmen turned toward me, the sharp blade ready to stab into my neck. “You already told us what we needed to know about the cure.”
Crap, he did have a point.
“Sirhan,” Gabriel said, “the girl still has so much more to give. And the boy may be our only hope—”
“Silence,” Sirhan barked.
“Wait,” I said. “Yes, Daniel has the blood of Caleb inside of him, but he also has yours. He’s your grandson, for heaven’s sake. But he’s so much more than that. He’s proved it time and time again. And he did once more when he freely gave himself over to you. Would Caleb have ever done that?”
“Tricks,” Sirhan hissed between his wolf teeth. “How do I know it was not part of his plan to win my favor?”
“Daniel helped heal me,” my father said from behind us. “He helped heal my wife, too. He’s saved my daughter’s life and my youngest son, also. Where Caleb is selfish, Daniel is selfless.”
“Caleb is coming to the Challenging Ceremony,” Jude suddenly spoke up from our semicircle of Elders. I’d all but forgotten that he and Talbot were here.
“It’s true. He’s amassing an army,” Talbot added. “I used to be one of his generals, until my loyalties changed. The others have seen how dangerous his forces are with their very own eyes.”
“I can also confirm this,” Gabriel said.
Daniel, Jude, and I nodded in agreement.
“He’s planning on tearing the ceremony apart and claiming the position of alpha of your pack, no matter the cost. Is that what you want?”
Rage burned in Sirhan’s eyes. “Never.”
“You kill Daniel now, and that’s exactly what you’ll be asking for,” Talbot said. I felt a sudden pang of appreciation toward him.
“He is right, Sirhan,” Gabriel said. “Daniel, as a true alpha, is our best shot at stopping Caleb from winning.”
“No. You are to be my chosen successor, Gabriel, not the Kalbi boy. You are my beta…”
“I am your beta, yes. I am the caretaker of the pack. Alas, I am not the leader you are. I am not a fighter. I don’t stand a chance against Caleb and his demon hoards. But Daniel has been chosen by a higher power. He is a true Hound of Heaven and a true alpha. It is his calling to take your place. Only he can lead us out of this dark time and defeat Caleb. I believe he and his alpha mate, the Divine One, have been chosen to take the Urbat to a new level. Imagine it. This pack led by a true alpha and the Divine One. A warrior and a healer. The Etlu and the A-zu. Together—”
“No! No! No!” Sirhan roared. “No son of Caleb will rule this pack.”
“Sirhan,” Daniel said. Every head in the room snapped in his direction. The true alpha essence radiated off his body like waves of pure power. The spearmen pulled their weapons back, ever so slightly. “The difference between Caleb and me is that I don’t want to be alpha. I’ve never wanted to be a ruler, or a leader, or even powerful. All I’ve ever wanted to be is an artist. I embraced my true alpha nature only to save the ones I love. And now, if that means my calling is to do it again at the Challenging Ceremony in order to defeat Caleb—then I will do it. If there was any other option, I’d let this responsibility pass to someone else. But once you die, I will be the only true alpha left. Let me be your successor instead of Gabriel. Give me your blessing, grandfather.” Daniel’s voice wrapped around that word like he’d never addressed anyone with that title before. “I will make you proud.”
Sirhan slumped in his chair, clutching his clawed hands to his head. Again, he looked as if he’d aged another ten years in a blink of an eye. “I cannot think,” he said. “The boy has confounded my mind. His words ring true, but the wolf inside of me screams something else.”
“You’re brain is addled by the aging, Sirhan. The wolf has too much control. Let the council decide, if you are not able. Who will be your successor?”
“What say the Elders?” Sirhan asked. “Advise me. Whom do you choose? The son of Caleb, or Gabriel?”
All the Elders huddled together—speaking in whispers so low I couldn’t even make out their words with my sensitive hearing—except for Lisa Jordan, who came to stand in front of Sirhan.
“Your choice sounds more like, ‘Son of Caleb, or Caleb himself’ to me,” Lisa said. “I don’t need to deliberate. I cast my vote for Daniel now.” She turned to him and bowed on one knee. One fist pressed into the ground. “And I will follow him into battle to defeat Caleb if need be.”
“Here, here!” Gabriel knelt, fist to the ground toward Daniel. “I cast my vote also.”
The other Elders took in the sight of Lisa and Gabriel, and for a second it looked like they’d made up their mind to follow their lead.
“This is bullshit,” shouted a voice from the crowd.
I looked in the direction of the voice and found that the man with the blond dreadlocks had stepped forward. I thought hard, trying to remember the name Lisa had called him by … Marrock.
“I will not give my allegiance to this boy, true alpha of not,” Marrock said. “He’s, what, eighteen? Most of us have been alive since the French Revolution. What does he know of being a leader that I do not?”
Three men who stood behind Marrock nodded in agreement.
“If Gabriel is too weak to be your successor, then name me instead of this boy.” Marrock looked like he wanted to spit in Daniel’s direction.
“Sirhan didn’t even trust you enough to name you to his council of Elders,” Lisa said. “What makes you think he’d name you his successor?”
Sirhan was aging fast in his chair. “The council will decide,” he wheezed out. “Marrock, Gabriel, or the boy?”
The council went back to deliberation, and I worried Marrock had thrown a major kink in Daniel’s odds of surviving this day. But then the council turned toward Daniel. “Here, her
e, to the boy!” they shouted, and one by one they fell to their knees, shoving their fists into the carpet. They bowed their heads toward Daniel.
“So it will be,” Sirhan said.
Many of the robed men dropped their weapons and copied the gesture of the Elders.
Marrock and five others in the crowd remained standing. “If that is what the council decrees, then I am no longer a member of this pack.”
His robe swished behind him as he stormed from the room, the five other men followed him.
“Should we go after them,” someone asked.
Sirhan lowered his head. “It’s their choice to leave.”
“I am afraid we will probably see them again at the Challenging Ceremony,” Gabriel said. “For now, let us welcome Daniel Kalbi—”
Lisa pulled on Gabriel’s robes and gave him a pointed look.
“Ah, yes,” Gabriel said. “Let us welcome Daniel Etlu, grandson of Sirhan Etlu, and his pack into our ranks. Here, here!” he shouted.
“Here, here. Here, here,” the kneeling men shouted over and over again, their chorus growing loud enough to rattle my eardrums.
“Here, here!” I called, clapping my hands. Dad and even Jude joined my applause. Only Talbot stood still without cheering, but a smile played on his lips.
Daniel stood tall, as if soaking it all in. He’d never really had a family before, and now he had one almost more than forty people strong. After a moment he cleared his throat and raised his hands to quiet the crowd. “Um, you all can stand up now if you want.”
Lisa laughed and clapped her hands as she stood. I ran to Daniel and threw my arms around his neck. But our joy lasted only a moment before Sirhan gave a great moan and crumpled in his chair. He looked even more withered and decrepit than before—if that’s possible—like the last few minutes had added another hundred years to his body. His sunken eyes rolled back, closing halfway. I would have thought he was dead if it weren’t for the deep-pitched wheeze of his breathing. Two of his men, his medical staff, I assumed, leaned over him, checking his vitals.
I let go of Daniel and sidled up to Gabriel. “What are we going to do? We can’t let him die here in Rose Crest.”
“We’ll need to move him. Somewhere secluded but comfortable. Do you have any ideas?”
“My grandpa Kramer’s cabin. It hasn’t been used in a couple of years, but it’s about a four-hour drive from here.”
Sirhan’s attendant shook his head. “He has had a long journey already today. I don’t think it wise to move him tonight.”
“Tomorrow then,” Gabriel said. “We will find a place for him to stay tonight, and then set out in the morning.”
“There’s always my house,” Daniel said. “He could take the master bedroom on the upper level.”
“No, that location has been compromised,” I said, remembering what Slade had told me about the Akh reading his mind. “No one should stay there.”
Gabriel nodded. “He can take my room behind the parish. I would like to spend the night meditating in the forest before our journey anyway. I must prepare my mind before I can cure Sirhan.” Gabriel took my hand. “I would like you to come with us to the cabin, Grace. Show me exactly how you cured Daniel, to ensure I do it right. You’ll have to miss another day of school, I’m afraid.”
When did my life get to the point that the idea of going to school felt like the abnormal part of what he had just said? “Of course,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I could really show someone how to do it. But at least I could lend my moral support to the “kill the ones you love in order to save them” club.
“I would like you there, also, Daniel. As his successor, you should be there when he dies.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
Gabriel let go of my hand and clapped his on Daniel’s shoulder. “We must help Sirhan survive the next few days, then you will have an entire month to prepare for the ceremony.”
“If he’s in hiding when he dies,” I asked, “could we keep it a secret? Just for a few days? Let the lunar eclipse pass, and then tell everybody. That way we could have another month to prepare even if he dies sooner.”
“It would be against pack law,” one of the Elders said.
“Yeah, but could we bend this law, just a little?”
Gabriel shook his head. “You could try, but once the Death Howl starts, everyone will know that Sirhan has passed. Secrets would do no good.”
“What’s the Death Howl?”
“When a true alpha dies, his pack will sense it. They will howl in his honor no matter where they are. It’s some sort of supernatural phenomenon that can’t be stopped. Other Urbats, even just plain wolves and domestic dogs, will pick up the call. After the Death Howl, word will spread quickly of Sirhan’s death, and every Urbat who wishes to challenge for the position of alpha will know it is time.”
“Oh,” I said. Really, what else could I say?
One of the guards lifted Sirhan’s frail body. Another took up his oxygen tank.
“I will show you the way to my quarters before I go on my sojourn in the woods,” Gabriel said, beckoning them to follow him.
“Be careful in the forest,” I said. “The sheriff has called for a full-on free-for-all on wolves. In fact, no one,” I sent a pointed glance around the crowd, “should be going wolf around here unless you want to be a trophy on a hunter-with-silver-bullet’s wall.”
The crowd gave one another grave looks, but I hoped that would be extra incentive to keep their innerwolves in check.
“Thank you for the warning,” Gabriel said, and left with Sirhan and his attendants.
“I hope Sirhan can hold on,” I said to Daniel.
“Me, too,” he said. His voice sounded like the weight of the whole world suddenly rested on his shoulders.
Chapter Twenty-nine
ANTICIPATION
LATE THAT SAME EVENING
The next couple of hours were spent making sleeping arrangements for our thirty-five or so unexpected guests. Rose Crest doesn’t have any hotels, and most of the pack Elders weren’t too keen on staying too far away from Sirhan, so Mom and I rummaged through the storage closets at the house. We pulled out blankets, old decorative pillows, and bolts of cloth—anything that could make a few bedrolls.
It was strange, really, that only a couple hours before I had been worried these Urbats were going to kill us—and now one of my biggest concerns was for their comfort as they slept on the cold hardwood floor of the parish social hall.
But now that they’d accepted Daniel as Sirhan’s successor, and me as Daniel’s alpha mate, they treated us with the utmost respect.
“I could only find stuff for about twenty people,” I said when I showed up at the parish with a few boxes of old baby quilts, sheets, and sleeping bags.
“I guess it will have to do,” Jude said, and took one of the boxes out of my arms. I smiled at him, remembering the time we’d spent together as siblings, sorting through boxes for the annual Thanksgiving charity drive each year. Working with him now almost felt like old times.
April grabbed a couple of sleeping bags.
Lisa Jordan picked up a set of threadbare Star Wars–themed sheets out of one of the boxes—the same set Jude, Daniel, and I used to make tents out of in the family room for movie night when we were little. “I don’t think I’ve roughed it since 1991,” she said. “Not since Sirhan took me in.”
For some reason, I’d always imagined that a werewolf pack that lived in the mountains would be roughing it all the time. Living in campers or caves or something. However, based on the fleet of practically brand-new Cadillac Escalades—not to mention the Aston Martin Rapide—and the quality of the pack members’ velvet robes, I’d started picturing Sirhan’s compound looking more like a fine European manor with at least a dozen garages attached.
I guess if you’ve been around for almost a thousand years, you probably learn a thing or two about long-term investing. It was obvious Sirhan and his pack were swimming in mone
y. No wonder someone like Caleb coveted control of this pack—I imagine it came not only with power, but also with Sirhan’s estate.
“I guess some of them can stay at my house,” April said. “My mom is on a business trip, and we’ve got two extra bedrooms.”
I looked at her. April was offering her home to a bunch of werewolves to spend the night? For some reason, I wasn’t shocked.
Lisa dropped the sheets and popped up on her toes. “Do you have HBO?” she asked. “Sirhan doesn’t allow TV in the compound. I haven’t seen a movie in years.”
“Yeah,” April said.
“And licorice. Do you have popcorn and licorice? We could have a girls’ night!” Lisa looked happier than a puppy with a brand-new chew toy.
April smiled. “And I just got a new pedicure set.”
Lisa squealed, clapping her hands on April’s arms. “I haven’t painted someone else’s nails since the 1980s. You know how hard it is living with a bunch of grumpy old werewolves? Not another girl in sight for miles.”
“You want to join us, Grace?” April asked with a hopeful smile. “Girls’ night!”
“No, thanks,” I said. “But have fun.” I had way too much on my mind to think about movies and makeovers. I didn’t foresee a “girls’ night” anytime in my near future.
April looked at Jude. “It doesn’t just have to be a girls’ night. You can stay at my house, too. I promise not to paint your nails.”
“No.” Jude shook his head adamantly.
“Ooh, is that your boyfriend?” I heard Lisa ask April when the two made their way to April’s car. A small group of Urbat men followed after them, rolling their eyes. If they wanted comfortable beds to sleep on tonight, they were going to have to put up with the giggly girl squad.
I glanced at Jude, whose eyes followed April with a longing sort of look. “If you want to go with her, I’ll cover with Mom. Just this once.”
Jude shook his head. “I want to stay here tonight. Back in the cage in the basement.”