The Rules of the Red - 2014 Watty Award Winner |✓|

Chapter Three - Part Four

"Yes, a lovely girl." Diane replied. "I assume she also told you about your grandfather becoming the Elder again, after your father passed?"

I nodded.

"Well, unlike with the other Leadership positions, most Packs choose to keep the Eldership passed down within a single family. The Garou have always been led by a Noble, and I'm sure the town would prefer it to stay that way..."

"Diane, what are you saying?" I said slowly, knowing full well what she meant.

"The Eldership was Jack's birthright, Naomi - just as it's yours."

At the sound of these words my heart skipped an entire measure of beats.

"Charles can't lead the Pack forever, and if you choose to stay in Harbor, the Eldership can be yours one day too. The Garou will need a Noble to take my husband's place."

"Wow. I... I can't believe it. Diane, are you really saying that I could be in the Leadership?"

"Well dear, you wouldn't become eligible for the Eldership until your twenty-first birthday, but I think that you would make an excellent Leader in the meantime..."

New concepts sprang to life from the possibilities that lay in wait beyond this new door. Certainly this was an opportunity that I would be a fool to decline; that much power and resources at my fingertips simply refused to be ignored. But even so, the thought of so much abrupt responsibility carried me down from my excitement like a weight. And suddenly, I imagined all of the Garou, and a Leadership full of strangers, that would have their eyes trained on me like a spotlight from some dreaded beacon. Could I handle so much pressure? Was I ready for that much obligation?

But more importantly, did I really want this?

"That's... incredible, Diane. I, I don't know what to say -"

"Say you'll do it."

A man's voice broke the flow of our conversation, and I turned to the doorway to see Charles Edward Noble, my grandfather, entering the room. He wore a black Armani business suit with a red tie that was already loosened. His jaw and nose were large and strong, sitting on a smile that didn't quite reach the point where the eyes should have crinkled. He was practical and calculating - I could see it in his face. And he had the hard edge that I supposed was meant to compliment the softer air of his wife. Where she was the light he was her dark, but when I looked at him - with his flagrant pride and premeditated smile - I wondered if devils were even capable of love.

"Hello," I tossed a smile with my greeting and stood from the couch to approach him with ease. There was no embrace between us, but if there had been, I imagined that it would have been very forced and stiff.

"Your beautiful wife was just in the middle of delivering some amazing news. A seat with you on the Leadership - I can hardly believe it!"

"Oh not just any seat, Naomi." Charles replied with stiff, but polite correction. "After all, you're a Noble, so your role would be no smaller than my own. Unlike other Packs, the Garou have no Alpha and Omega - they've been replaced by Leaders so that power within the Pack remains more widespread. It's a challenging job, but you're a Noble, so I have no doubt that you will prove yourself worthy."

"So that's it?" I said, looking between the two. "It's that easy?"

"Well, not quite. It's tradition to have a small induction ceremony when a new Leader is appointed. The full moon is in a few days, and that's when we hold our monthly meetings with the Garou, so we'll have it then. And all you need to do is show up."