Moon Bound

(44) The First Of Many |Regan's POV|

Angry waves crashing into the ocean that the packbond was. Grief. Misery sobbed out.

It was the last straw.

I saw my wolves lose their faith. I watched my mate break down and run out of the chapel. I walked alongside them back to the house.

"I'm putting the pack on lock-down until we deal with the perpetrators. No coming in or going out of pack's territory. No leaving your homes unattended and no staying out after sundown."

I hadn't been able to protect them after all—not my pack and not my mate—and I was now making them pay the price by taking their freedom away. We needed to prepare for the fight, but we needed to be safe first.

Murmurs rose from across the rows of pews.

"How are we supposed to keep our businesses up and running if we can't restock, Alpha? No coming in or going out of pack's territory will basically force us to close down." It was Thomas, one of the pack elders who stood up to speak out his mind. He was a man respected by the pack, a man who cared for others and took bullshit from no one.

"I understand your concerns, Thomas," I forced out the words, quieting down the whispers. "And this is exactly the reason I'm going to assign some of our pack warriors to this task. You, however, won't be allowed to venture outside our territory."

"That's fine then, I guess," Thomas conceded, slumping back down to his seat. He wasn't happy, no wolf inside the meeting chamber was, but he was willing to bear with me and give me the benefit of the doubt.

It was more than I deserved, yet I still hoped the rest of them did the same.

Averting my eyes towards the front row where Hayden sat, I looked at the man who had been my Beta for years long. Quick to stand by me once, he looked like he was a heartbeat away from leaving the spot he'd taken.

Anger beat in that vein throbbing on his temple as I wondered if he was going to do it now.

He'd been quietly submissive lately—too submissive even, but now he was probably seeing his chance. A chance he'd been waiting for. He didn't miss his chance. He rose an inch from his spot and then another.

"It's not actually," Hayden shouted a moment later and left his place in the front row to approach me.

What is that dumb ass doing? Cole snarled into my mind.

Glancing at him, his sulking form was perched in the middle of the rows, right next to her. He watched me intently beneath his thick lashes, the corners of his lips trembling, almost like he was trying to hold off his smile.

I turned back to my beta, ignoring Cole as I focused on the approaching wolf.

"If I understand correctly," Hayden drew out, barely pushing the words through canines that were now poking out. "You are going to charge our fighters with getting the necessary provisions for the pack but doesn't that leave us vulnerable to any eventual attack? I think it does and I don't agree with this decision."

With his beast lurking close under the surface, Hayden's face was starting to flow with motion. It was the first sign of the change. Yet, he still tried to deny the wolf under the skin, the dominance.

"Besides, this all started with them coming here," he added and spun around to point at Scarlet and her group. "You won't even tell us what we're facing but you demand we put the pack under a lock-down. They could be the ones behind the attacks on this pack for all we know."

He made another step forward, then another.

Adrenaline pumped through the veins on his jugular, the lines thickening to pulse in anger with each step he took.

I ground my teeth, clenching my jaw when all I wanted was to jump off of the stage and rip his head off.

What is your beta doing, Regan? Cole cried into the link.

"They are not behind the attacks, Hayden," I said to my beta, then to Cole sent, He's demanding his pound of flesh.

"Then who?" the wolf spat out, the words nearly growled out in his anger.

It wasn't just him. There were others—hushed, angry voices that reached my ear like a current in the still air of the room. A current of rebellion.

He's challenging you, isn't he? And he's your damn beta, Regan! The violent waves of Cole's fury clashed against my mind like it was the shore on a stormy day, his words bombarding into the mental link while there was nothing but a whisper inside the quiet of the room.

This wasn't supposed to happen, he added, the ocean of his rage ebbing as quick as it had come.

"It's the wild wolves acting with the Council's authorization," I admitted in front of the pack.

"I think we fucking need a change of leadership before you get us all killed, Alpha," Hayden barked the last.

Taking the hit of his words, the pack bond was shaking with his rebellion, the mind-link my wolves and I shared—rumbling with activity as they conversed their options. Stand by me or choose the one who'd finally come forth in a challenge.

I was no longer their alpha but a weak link to them. I wanted to close down the pack and I wanted to keep my mate by my side. They thought it was all because of her—them—coming, that this was happening.

They were right. The wildlings wouldn't have been here if I didn't bring her back with me. They followed us here, but did that mean I had to just give her up? Did that mean I had to give them up?

They were forcing me to choose and, for once, I had to make the right decision.

I wasn't even sure what was going to come out of my mouth when I opened it to speak.

"Are you challenging my authority, Beta?" I growled out, daring him to spell it out, just say it.

It spilled so easily, so effortlessly. Years of being the perfect alpha, years of choosing them over everything and everyone else—gone with one sentence.

"Why, yes, I think I am," Hayden confirmed, teeth baring in a snarl, betrayal in his voice. He whirled around to face the crowd. His wolf roared into the pack bond that was snapping and sizzling with this new power flooding inside of it. His hands rose up in the air. "Are you with me?" he called out to the pack.

To the Moon.

And this was as much of a challenge as any could be. The first of many to come.

The pack rallied. The wolves howled with human voices that didn't sound human but savage, just like them. The ground underneath my feet shook. Hayden turned on a heel and left the meeting room.

For a few long minutes, I stood on the stage, alone and waiting for the ones who would follow the next alpha contestant, abiding by traditions we lived and died by. One after another, they all started to leave, deserting me in the most symbolic, yet silent way.

We already had one funeral tonight, a moment to say our farewells to a future yet this felt like a second one.

Silently proceeding out of the meeting chamber, flicking sorrow-filled, apologetic glances at me, this time, however, the wolves were not saying goodbye to the future. No....

Now they were sending off their past.

Did you expect this, Alpha?

My gaze flickered in Cole's direction, measuring him up and down like Hayden's wolf had been measuring me all this time. Could I really trust this man?

It was just his group and my mate who had stayed behind. Just them.

I hoped it wouldn't happen now, I sent back.

The air was so still with the silence that followed you could drop a hairpin and be overheard. Eerie and frightening.

"So, what are we going to do now, Regan?" Those were my mate's first words to me after a week of silence. It was good to hear her my name on her lips.