You wake.
You feel like shit.
Groggy, dry eyed, and gross. Why the fuck did you sleep in all your clothes? Fuck.
You grab a change of clothes and rush into the bathroom before anyone else gets a chance. Half an hour later you're feeling a little more alive. You rip open curtains to watch dawn break. With it so does some of the tension of the night.
The moon is down. Everyone is exhausted. But, at least, for now, you're safe from vampire attacks.
Minjo assembles a cereal buffet in the living room. You grab a bowl and shuffle down the line, looking at the cheap, sterile, off-brand boxes. Cornflakes. Puffed Wheat. Something alarmingly rainbow and reeking of sugar that Marco is already helping himself to.
There are also bowls of raisins, pumpkin seeds, and almond slices. At the very end of the table sits a freshly cooked batch of instant milk.
It isn't fancy, but it's a cheap and easy way to feed two dozen hungry werewolves.
You fill up your bowl, splash some milk onto it, and find a seat in the corner of the den. Vicky quietly pulls up a chair beside you.
For the next few minutes the pack just eats. The sounds of spoons clacking on bowls fills the room. Then...
Next
"We should do this now," Addie calls out. "We're all here. We should sort this out now."
She's not wrong.
"How are we going to do that?" Sergi asks, frowning down at his untouched bowl of cereal.
Another long pause.
Every pack has their own method of choosing an Alpha. Fights are old fashioned, but not uncommon. You brace yourself for that. For the sight and smell of packmates battling packmates. Teeth, blood, and rage.
"How about a vote?" Ed says, voice ringing in the empty air.
To your relief the pack murmurs in agreement.
"Who's challenging?" Vicky calls out.
A few seconds of silence. Then...
"Fuck," Sergi spits. Me.
His howl rings like an Alpha's howl. Heavy and demanding, loud enough to drown out the others.
You glance at Addie and Elma. They're sitting beside each other, heads close, Izzie on Elma's lap.
Me. Addie howls. For pack.
Elma nods and gentle takes Izzie off her lap. Me too.
Sergi lurches to his feet and starts pacing.
You put your cereal aside, stand, and howl.
Me.
The howl feels unnatural. Deafening... and dangerous. The wolf within you stirs, hungry and ready.
Sergi's eye slips to you. "You?"
"Yeah."
He barks out a laugh. "Fucking hell."
Several people in the pack stare at you in shock.
"Sit down, Gideon Mercer," Sergi growls. "You ain't going to win this."
"You don't know that."
"Jesus fuck. I can't. The fucking moon is still so loud."
"Sergi," Elma warns softly.
"I have a chance," you protest.
He rounds on you. "I'm going to tell you the truth, Gideon Mercer. The real honest truth. You don't have a chance. You don't. I fucking love that you're a part of this pack. You're everything I want in a packmate. Loyal, good. But you aren't ready to be an Alpha. Maybe you'll be one day, but today isn't that day."
You stare at him, shocked, angry... but perhaps that's just the moon... because deep down you also know he's right. You haven't been leading, and you're not ready to lead now.
You nod and sit down.
Addie and Elma stand. "So this is who it's come down to?" Sergi asks no one in particular. "Two pack elders and a cripple?"
Addie growls.
"We're it, Sergi," Elma calls out. "You'd make a damn good Alpha, if you weren't so blinded by your own anger right now."
"I'm blinded by my missing fucking eye!"
"And we'll get an eye for that eye," Addie says. "Together."