Page 120 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

My wolf growled at her disrespect. I bit back the retort my wolf and I desperately wanted to make, forcing my voice to remain calm. “I’m saying that a violent takeover won’t be necessary. If we want to end decades and decades of hate between our pack and the Kings, there’s a peaceful way to do it.”

Graham steepled his fingers in front of his face. “Do not misunderstand, Night—we Wargs are not trying to make peace with our former oppressors.”

The shock was a lance that speared me where I stood. “The council,” I managed to get out, “has never expressed this position. None of you have ever mentioned that you didn’t want a merger. You all seemed open to it just a few weeks ago. What changed?”

“For us, nothing has changed.” He shrugged.

“Up until now, your goals and ours aligned. With the work you have been doing with the Kings, they will expect us to play nicely. They won’t attack when we start to move in after you’ve won the ceremony—not until it’s too late.

The only difference is that now we are letting you in on our thoughts, Night. ”

I shook my head, my thoughts barraging me with negativity and worry.

“No. That was never my plan. What about the women and children? You know they’re treated like second-class citizens, don’t you?

You want to punish them for things they had no say in?

How is that any better than what the Kings did to us? ”

None of them rushed to answer me, but their silence said enough.

It took everything I had not to lash out at them.

To take things so far…it was wrong. The traditional hostile method of taking over a pack was killing the male wolves loyal to the previous alpha.

That had been my original plan before I met Bryn, and everything changed.

But what the council was suggesting was unnecessary and dangerous.

Sneakily and underhandedly forcing so many wolves into the wilds could result in even more feral wolves, which meant a greater threat to everyone—not just the Wargs.

And if Troy managed to escape the search party and the hunting party, more ferals would give him an even bigger army. I opened my mouth to tell the council that, but as I looked from face to face, I could see their minds were made up.

Damn them. I could never be that alpha. I refused. I would send out a hunting party as they’d asked—I’d already promised them I would—but there was no fucking way I’d oversee the slaughter of an entire pack.

I could be ruthless when necessary, but doing it this way would put me on the same level as Gregor and Troy.

Needless cruelty went against everything I believed, and it went against everything I’d thought the council believed.

I remembered what Bryn had said about wanting to give the Kings an alternative to violence.

Was this the sort of thing she was worried about?

A forever-escalating scale of violence to the point of outright cruelty?

If so, I could see her position much more clearly than before.

What a shame that my own council had brought her argument into such focus.

“Do not forget,” I said in a low growl, “that when I win the challenge, I will be the alpha, not the five of you. And once I’ve claimed the land that should always have been mine, I will decide what happens to it. Do not overstep your bounds as council members.”

Wayne smiled, but none of his usual joviality shone in his eyes. “We’ll have to agree to disagree for now, Alpha Night. But I hope we’ll see eye to eye when the time comes.”

“So do I, Wayne.” I took the time to meet each of their gazes, my fists clenched at my sides. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll end this meeting here.”

Wayne inclined his head. It looked like a dismissal, which only increased my temperature. Gritting my teeth, I turned and stormed out of the cabin.

I could hardly think with the angry rhythm of my heart beating against my ribs.

The last thing I’d expected was the council to drop that kind of bomb on me.

Still, I shouldn’t have shown so much emotion in front of them—it wasn’t becoming of an alpha to lose his cool in front of his council.

I ran my hands through my hair and took a few deep breaths.

If I had time, I’d have loved to head to the hot springs and clear my head, but I didn’t have that luxury.

Instead, I gathered my best fighters and trackers and told them I wanted them to seek out and kill Troy. Among the members of this team was Jasper, hanging onto my every word.

“I want this as discreet as possible,” I said. “There’s also a search party looking for Troy. Don’t get in each other’s way. Even better, don’t cross paths with them unless you can’t avoid it. Do you understand?”

The group of seven nodded. Their eagerness to get out there and tear into Troy blazed from their eyes. I couldn’t blame them for their excitement. Part of me felt the same, despite my meeting with the council. I couldn’t summon even an ounce of pity for the shitstorm that was headed Troy’s way.

“Report to me the moment you’ve found something,” I said. “Don’t make a move until I give the word.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Good. Get going.”

With their orders given, they shifted and sprinted into the forest. As their quick footsteps faded, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

I had nothing pressing to do now. My mind was free to return to uncomfortable territory: the council and their thirst for blood.

I had to figure out what to do about them.

As old and as esteemed as they were, the council had a lot of sway within the pack.

As the alpha, I had a ton of sway myself, but if we were publicly in opposition, it would cause a huge rift among the Wargs—those who were most loyal to me and those who were most loyal to the council would be in direct conflict with each other.

From what I remembered of wolf history, conflicts like those ended poorly for everyone, and those who survived the turmoil either tried to rebuild or were forced to join other packs.

It was a shitstorm waiting to happen, and I couldn’t let it reach that point. Fortunately, I had over two weeks before the alpha challenge. I was sure I could come up with a plan by then.