"So, what's the deal with this Town Meeting anyway?" Demarco asked, a little apprehensive.
Winter refused to let go of Moonwood Mill without a fight. Despite the calendar claiming it was a few days until spring, cold winds blew down off the mountain, carrying icy snow that continued to blanket the ground.
"Everyone in town gets together and talks," Rory snarled.
Demarco cringed. Tempers already frayed by the long winter were stretched to the breaking point. The idea of getting everyone in town together in one room and talking sounded right up there with pouring gasoline on gunpowder while smoking a cheap cigar.
"Is democracy in action!" Kiril said with a broad grin. "Everyone votes on town budget, elects town officers, choose action plans... Is beautiful!"
"It's bullshit," Rory snapped. "The meeting is just for show. The Collective really runs everything."
"That's tonight anyway," Rory continued. "This is the Pack meeting... same kind of deal, but werewolves only. All the so-called Respected Elders and Heads of Families get together and hash out our business before we deal with the normals."
"Oh," Demarco said. "So, why am I here? I mean, I've been a werewolf for less than six months, so I'm not a respected elder, and I don't have a family so..."
Maybe I can get out of here, she added to herself.
"You are family of one," Kiril grinned.
"Exactly," Rory said, crushing Demarco's hopes of escape.
Demarco nodded, more in acceptance than agreement. She might have a voice in the meeting, but if she had any choice in the matter, she was going to stay quiet.
Resigned, she followed Rory through the bunker's heavy door and down the rusty metal stairs. No one had really explained to her why there was an old bunker behind Grimtooth's. Demarco knew there was a second one in the woods near the Collective house where Etta lived, and that they both connected to the network of tunnels that ran beneath the town.
Whatever its original purpose may have been, the bunker had become the formal meeting place between the packs. The Collective elders were there already, speaking quietly among themselves as Rory led the Wildfangs in.
Despite the rickety tables and mismatched chairs, Demarco felt the air of importance in the room and the weight of authority that rested on the single, otherwise ordinary, chair at the head of the table.
As she took her uncomfortable place at the table, across from Wolfgang, Daniel Moonrunner and Lily, Demarco considered that chair at the head of it. An uncomfortable silence fell, as everyone seemed to feel the emptiness of that chair.
Rory broke the silence, plainly holding back simmering emotion. "Are we waiting for Kristopher?"
"I believe we may... have to begin without him," Lily replied with a motherly smile. "I'm sure we can..."
"Where is he?" Rory demanded. "Where is the great leader of the Collective?"
"Perhaps, in his meditations..." Lily began.
"He's sitting on the damn mountain, isn't he!?" Rory snapped. "Or he's off walking in the woods, watching it snow. Or maybe he's playing guitar. His 'meditations' are more important than this meeting!"
"Really, Rory," Lily snapped back. "We can begin without him. I propose..."
"You can't!" Rory barked back. "You're not his mate, Lily. You're just like me... another one of his foundlings. You have no right to speak for him. Not here. Not now."
"I am your elder," Lily snarled.
Demarco almost rocked back in shock, hearing the anger in Lily's voice. She'd come to think of the Collective werewolves as calmer, more contained, than the Wildfangs. It was easy to think of Lily as a sweet, grandmotherly old lady and a shock to remember that, like her, a wolf hid behind the other woman's eyes.
"But she is correct," Daniel Moonrunner put in calmly. "You are not Kristopher's mate. You do not have the right to speak for him in council."
At least Mr. Moonrunner was still calm, Demarco thought. Born a werewolf, he rarely seemed to struggle with his wolf. It was just part of him. The news that Lily wasn't Kristopher's mate was actually a surprise though. Demarco had always assumed...
"Fine," Lily huffed, "but I am still an elder. I have a voice here."
"But I am a pack leader," Rory said fiercely. "So, I get to speak first. I claim my rights."
"Very well, Rory," Lily said stiffly. "What do you wish to say?"
"I think it's clear that we need a new leader," Rory growled.
"How dare you," Lily snarled back.
"Kristopher's not here!" Rory snapped. "He hasn't been here since Jake left. He's abandoned us... abandoned his position as leader. It's time for someone new to take his place."
Demarco did not like where this was going, and she could tell Wolfgang shared her fears. Kiril seemed to almost be enjoying this, his feral grin challenging Mr. Moonrunner to speak again.
"If Kristopher is ready to retire, he'll tell us," Lily said.
"He's not here! How much clearer do you need him to be?" Rory snarled back. "So, since he raised me to be his successor..."
"Until you turned your back on him and on everything he believes in!" Lily burst out. "You went out and founded your own pack, and you're welcome to it... but you are no leader of the Collective. If anyone will be the new leader of the Collective, it will be Jacob."
"Yeah? He left too!" Rory sneered. "At least I'm still here... and I didn't say I wanted to lead your damn Collective!"
"You said..." Wolfgang began.
"The Collective has ruled long enough," Rory snarled. "With your immortal elders and ancient bloodlines... cut off here on the mountain. It's time for new leadership and a new way for werewolves. It's time for the Wildfangs to rule!"
Demarco felt her breath catch as if she'd been punched in the gut. She hadn't expected this. Something, sure, but not this. What the hell was Rory thinking? She saw Wolfgang and Mr. Moonrunner exchange their own shocked looks, clearing sharing her thought. Beside her, she heard Kiril growl in fierce glee.
Deafening silence fell across the table. With a fierce grin, Rory surged to her feet.
"We're done," Rory growled. "Meeting adjourned. Kiril, Demarco... with me."
Turning on her heel, she stormed out.
Demarco, still too shocked for words, followed her out. The same thought continued to cycle through her mind - What the hell is Rory thinking?!
She didn't see Kiril's wicked grin as he sauntered after her.
She didn't see how the elders of the Collective watched them go, in worried silence.
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