Page 101 of Wolf's Vow

They looked up at me. “Some days, when I am at another funeral pyre, bidding farewell to a friend gone too soon, I believe it is true,” they said, leaning forward and placing their hand on the trunk. “On other days, when my alpha’s power shakes the foundations on which we stand, I look here for guidance.”

“Do you believe what you told them in the house?” I asked softly. Rowen had told me their theories, and I hadn’t disputed any of them.

“No.” The druid stood swiftly, their eyes focused on something beyond the vegetation in front of us. “I believe you are young yet, and I believe you have too many influences of magic beside you. Your beta, he is no ordinary beta.”

Diesel. I shrugged it off. “My betas are their own men.”

“The ancient ones still sit on Stonefang soil,” the druid continued. “Three strong influences of magic in your reign, young alpha. And then you come here, and you are a true mate to the daughter of the Hollow herself. And you thinkluckwould have you become its alpha. This land is rich in the power of the Goddess.” They looked directly at me. “I don’t believe in coincidences. There is more than luck at play here.”

“The Goddess?”

They nodded. “Luna has marked you for so much, but what I do not know.Thatis why I watch.”

I looked up at the canopy of the Heartwood. “Well, I hope for both our sakes that she tells us soon,” I grumbled.

“You have a visitor,” the druid told me. “They cannot cross, but they wait. You should go.”

I didn’t ask how they knew. I didn’t know if I wanted to know how they knew. There was too much talk of magic in our conversation already. Still, I lingered.

“Ask,” they said as they cut off the crow’s feet.

“Whose side are you on? And don’t say the Hollow’s.” They turned their head to look at me. The pale eye shone with power, as the golden eye burned. “Am I your alpha, Druid? Or am I an intruder on your sacred ground?”

“The Hollow claimed you a long time ago, Wolfe.” They turned back to dissecting the crow, and I knew that was the only answer I was going to get.

I headed north to the boundary line, feeling the push against the barrier as someone tried unsuccessfully to enter the territory.

A young male stood frowning at the trees when I approached. They straightened when they saw me. “What the heck is it?” they asked. “I can’t get across.”

“Party trick,” I answered glibly.

“Alpha?” they said in a voice that was too young for the nerves behind it.

I looked the boy over. Gangly. Tall. Obedient, I didn’t doubt. He had a sealed scroll in his hands. Sealed with the Council’s mark.

My stomach dropped. Not out of fear. Out of fury.

“And what have you there?” I asked, not taking it yet.

He swallowed. “I’m a runner for the Pack Council, sir.” He looked down at the scroll. “They said it’s urgent.”

Of course it was. Everything they did was urgent when they were not the ones bleeding for it.

“Drop it here,” I commanded him. When it fell harmlessly on the grass at my feet, I stooped and picked up the scroll, breaking the seal with a flick of my thumb. The wax crumbled. The parchment was stiff—too new, too formal. The kind of paper made for declarations, not dialogue.

I read it once. Then again. Then I laughed, soft and low.Cold.

“Go,” I told the runner. He turned and fled.

“Wolfe?” Killian walked down the ridge. He looked surprised to see me there. “What’s going on?”

I turned and handed the parchment to Killian, and he read it aloud.

“Alpha Wolfe of Stonefang and Blueridge Hollow is hereby summoned to appear before the Pack Council within three days’ time.”

I sniffed in derision.

“Recent events in Blueridge Hollow territory, including suspected breaches of territorial law and ongoing unrest between unified packs, shall be reviewed under Council oversight. Failure to comply will be considered an act of perdition and breach of the law.”