Page 145 of Ascendant King

My words ended on a roar, the echo bouncing off the walls.

“I can make you submit. I’ve done it before.” I knew it was a mistake. I knew that I shouldn’t bring it up, especially not like this, when he would feel ashamed about submitting to the more powerful alpha. I looked away, scanning over the crowd. “But I don’t want to. Making you submit by force isn’t how we grow stronger together. Come with me. Build something better with me. One mage house—one mage—almost wiped us out with Thorn. Leon Lucas did that. But we don’t have to ever let it happen again.”

The Pineridge Springs alpha inhaled, and I could see he was going to shift, he was going to attack me, and then I would have to put him down and make him submit again, only this time, it would have to be in front of his pack, and I didn’t want to be someone who shamed an alpha in front of his pack. Not if I didn’t have to.

But then, to my surprise, Three Lakes East and Three Lakes West came up on either side of the Pineridge Springs alpha, gripping his shoulder tightly and shoving him forward.

“Three Lakes East stands with you, Emperor,” one called out loudly.

“Three Lakes West stands with you, Emperor,” the other twin said.

As one, their combined packs moved to our side, and after that, it was fast, every other pack folding until Pineridge Springs was the last remaining one.

Their alpha was beginning to sweat, trapped between the Three Lakes alphas. He tried to jerk away, but they held him fast. I stepped close.

I tried to keep my voice low, but we were all wolves, and everyone could hear.

“I’ll fight you. I’ll show you that I’m stronger, that I can make you submit. But I was serious. I fought my way through twomage houses. I don’t want to have to fight your pack. Not today.” I leaned in, pressing our foreheads together. “Help me build something better.”

The Pineridge alpha slumped. If he hadn’t been held up by the Three Lakes alphas, I had the feeling he would have fallen to the ground, submission in the tilt of his head.

“Thank you,” I murmured. Stepping back, I shouted, “All right! Let’s have a feast!”

I turned, looking significantly at my betas, and Heather grinned fiercely.

“I’ll go warn Siobhan.”

“That was quite a speech,” Cade said as the wolves around us broke into shouts and screams of joy, the wordEmperordividing itself into a three-syllable chant broken only by howls from shifted wolves.

“I meant every word. This is a chance for all wolves to create something different than what we’ve had in the past.” I wrapped my arm around Cade’s shoulders, drawing him back toward the house. “It’s a chance for every mage to make their own decision about what the future of mages should be. You don’t have to go back to the house system.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Cade said. I almost couldn’t hear him over the roar of the crowd around us. “I’d like to show you something.”

We were jostled by wolves celebrating, slapping each other on the back. Mayra was deep in conversation with a few other alphas, and she glanced at me significantly, telling me that the next few hours of my life were going to be spent in meetings that I wasn’t sure I wanted to have.

“I want to see it. After all this settles down.” I leaned over, claiming Cade’s mouth in a kiss.

Samuel raised his head, starting a howl that was echoed by Pablo and Joel. I threw back my head, howling along with them,and everything inside me broke open when the rest of Los Santos Pack joined me.

Chapter

Forty-Eight

Cade shifted uncomfortably at my appraisal, the banner spread between his hands.

“If you don’t like it…” He trailed off, starting to bunch the fabric in his hands, likely ready to shove it back in the bedside drawer he’d drawn it from.

I pulled at the ends, straightening it before it could get creased. He had taken the wolf from the Los Santos Pack logo and surrounded it with two words: House Castillo.

“I’m no mage,” I said.

It was the part of this that made the least sense, but Cade chuckled. “No. But I want you to be in this with me.”

I looked up, searching his eyes for his meaning.

Cade swallowed, and by the tremble of his fingers, I could tell he was fighting to keep still. Finally, he exhaled a long breath and drew up his chin.

“You and I have both been saying that since the connection with the ley lines was severed, mage houses will need to discover on their own what their future looks like.” Cade shook the banner. “In the old days, a mage king would collect mages who were like-minded, who could agree with him. And from them, they would form a council. They would make agreements andfight together. They would protect those who needed protecting. Like you want to do with all wolves.”