The atmosphere in the bar was chaotic. It was filled to the brim with wolves and every chair was seated, some people even sat on tables and on the windows. Mothers carried their young ones in their laps, fathers also had their sons draped across their shoulders. The bar was too small to accommodate everyone, so some were outside, looking in through the window.
The bar was almost as old as the Borough, it had always been a part of them. It was a place where members of the pack came to relax from time to time over a bottle of beer, or a snack. It was always open but only to wolves. Humans who passed through the Borough and stopped at the bar never lasted long there, they always found a reason to leave eventually. Vampires and hybrids were never welcome and would be killed on sight.
The bar was where all their assemblies were held, whenever there was an important matter to be discussed, they held it in the bar and it was always an open discussion where everyone could air their opinion.
Now, everyone was talking at the top of their voices, the nerves and tension in the air were palpable. They were terrified that the Borough would be raided and there would be no one around to coordinate their defense. Losing Ulva at such a critical time was difficult, none of them had expected it, and they had no idea how they could move forward from that.
Drake Barrymore stood silently in front of everyone, his eyes were roving over the crowd, taking everyone in and watching their expressions. When he was ready to speak, he raised his fist up and at once, a hush fell over the bar. When he spoke, his deep baritone carried across the entire room, "I know we're all scared, I know that we're terrified. But none of that is going to help us right now. We need to get our heads straight if we're going to see this through."
"Well, how do we do that?" Someone asked.
"For starters, we have a headcount. Evan," Drake turned to his friend. "Can you help me out with that? We need to make sure that everyone is here."
While Evan did the headcount, Drake continued to speak; "what has happened to us is terrible, but we're not going to let it bring us down. Ulva was our leader and he would have wanted us to move forward, regardless of…" as he spoke, he glanced at Lena. She looked away from him, choosing to look out the window instead. He swallowed and then continued, "Regardless of everything that just happened.
"However, the more important thing we need to face right now is the fact that at this moment, we're without a leader. We have no idea who killed Ulva; it could be either a wolf or a hybrid. And since no wolf from our pack killed him, we can only assume it's an outsider."
"What?" Someone else exclaimed, "an outsider? That's impossible. There's no way an outsider came into the Borough. I thought that's why we have a magical barrier around us."
At that, Drake glanced to his left where a young lady stood quietly. Her name was Agnes Cray'on, and she was the Borough's witch.
She shook her head at him, "Nothing magical came through the barrier, I can assure you. I checked before I came here."
"Well then, how do you explain Ulva's death?" The man insisted.
"Ulva is gone, what matters now is what we do next to protect our pack, our home! We don't know who has the Mantle and we would not allow an outsider to take control of the pack, that will never happen. Not while I'm alive."
"So, what do you suggest?" A woman asked, she had a jar of beer in her hand as she stared at Drake over the rim, "What if this is not just about Ulva's death? What if there is more to come? Are we safe right now?"
"This is why we need to protect ourselves. The longer we stay without a leader, the longer we remain weakened and exposed. We need a new alpha as soon as possible. We know the ritual and selection process takes at least seven days, so I suggest that each family here bring forth their candidate for the alpha position. The faster we do this the better for us."
"For fuck sake, Drake! Are you even listening to yourself?" Luke surged to his feet, punching the air with his fist. "Ulva is barely dead and you're already thinking of replacing him. Shouldn't we at least mourn him first?"
"That can come later," Drake insisted. "I'm sure this is what he would want if he were here."
"How do you know what he would want?" Lena asked suddenly. "What makes you so certain you know what's right for the pack?"
Drake was about to respond when he stopped himself, he knew the pain and grief she was going through so he was opting to choose his words carefully. "Lena, I know how all this sounds and I know you're not in the right frame of mind for this, but you have to understand that all this is for the good of the pack, that's all I want."
"Are you sure about that?" Luke demanded, "Because all I can see right now is that you seem to care only about the Mantle of the Alpha. Ashina is still out there in the woods, she was with Ulva, and she could be hurt or injured! So, why the fuck are we not looking for her right now?"
At this, more and more people began to complain. They needed to find Ashina first before any other decision would be made. Drake tried to calm them down, raising his fist into the air but it went ignored as he tried speaking over them all but he was unsuccessful. He frowned at Luke who was staring back at him in anger. Drake was furious, Luke was only concerned about Ashina while Drake was concerned about everyone- including Ashina. Why was that so difficult for the people to grasp?
"Someone's coming!" A person cried from outside, capturing everyone's attention at once. The wolves got to their feet and looked out of the window. With perfect vision, they scanned their environs. Slowly, they watched as the figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
"Is that… is that Ashina?"
The young lady was walking out of the woods, in her arms she held Ulva's corpse like a groom would carry his bride on their wedding night. At the sight of them, Lena let out a piercing scream, she then ran outside to meet them.
A deathly silence had fallen over the bar, not even Drake nor Luke spoke a word as they all watched Ashina come home with their fallen alpha. This was a sight none of them would ever forget.