Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
The Warden, Aiden, and all his enforcers freeze, staring at us. Immobilized.
The magic pulses between us, following the cadence of the beating drums. A golden light surrounds us. I turn my face up to the eclipse to receive the blessing of the Moon Goddess. The moonstone tiara channels a bolt of power straight through my body and into Noah’s.
The dais we stand upon cracks in half, just as the moon reemerges, bathing Noah in light.
He’s in exactly the position Oma described to the Warden when she shared her vision of the pup with no ears, straddling two halves of the broken dais.
Suddenly, I know what to do.
“This wolf is your true alpha!” I lift our joined hands in victory, like he’s a boxer who’s just won a fight. “It’s time for the truth to come out.” I shout over the pounding drums. The wind whips my hair, and I raise my free hand, commanding attention as only a Seeress can. “The last Seeress prophesied this moment.”
“Kill them!” Aiden snaps.
His enforcers don’t move, seemingly frightened or mesmerized by the magic I wield.
I go on. “Aiden was never the true alpha chosen by the Grandmothers. He was not the first born after the Alpha Rites” I let the wind carry my voice to the edges of the land. I don’t need to shout, though, because every wolf but Noah can hear what I’m saying. There are gasps and murmurs as I proclaim to Aiden, “You’re not the true alpha of the pack.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aster
The drumbeat stops. No one else makes a sound. They’re all processing what I just told them. Aiden’s eyes blaze, but he remains still, his face a ferocious mask.
“The Warden and the last Seeress developed the Alpha Rites to choose the next alpha because Odin could not produce an heir.” I point at the Warden, whose mouth is open as if he’s being strangled. His clown makeup makes his angry face look ridiculous. “The Grandmothers marked the next alpha as the first-born pup after the Alpha Rites. Odin believed that pup was Aiden, but it was not. Liora’s son, Noah, was the first-born.”
“Lies,” the Warden shouts. The sound is lost in the rippling roar of all the wolves present, clamouring for the truth. “She’s lying!” His voice cracks. Anyone looking at his expression would see his fear as he takes in Noah, as if for the first time.
He’s been looking for the wolf with no ears for years and still didn’t recognize he was Noah.
“I am the Seeress.” I grip Noah’s hand for strength. “I walk beyond the veil. Listen to my words or suffer the consequences.”
“Oma wanted to kill the first-born pup because he was born without hearing, but Liora sneaked him out, and the Warden looked the other way.”
“Seize them,” Aiden orders his red-eyed wolves, flicking his hands towards the Warden and us. The enforcers secure the Warden but stop short of the dais when Noah growls. Hugh stands between us and them, his teeth bared and tail lashing his legs. The enforcers can’t see him, but they must feel something strange and dangerous because they stop in their tracks.
“Stop!” Noah’s voice carries the timbre of Alpha Command, and the enforcers freeze. “I didn’t come for your pack. I don’t want to be alpha. I just want to leave with my mate.” His eyes search mine, as if looking for my agreement.
Of course, he would doubt me after what I told him when we parted.
I nod.
His eyes shine. He turns back to Aiden. “Let her go, and you’ll never see us again.”
“I am the chosen Alpha,” Aiden snarls at me. “I am Odin’s son.” He has to save face in front of the pack.
I face him, speaking more softly. “He tried to make you as cruel as him, but you get to choose.” The crowd’s murmurs die away until there’s silence in the Cradle. I say to all of them, “We all get to choose. If you choose cruelty, then life will not be kind to you. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose to make this pack better.”
No one makes a sound. Noah’s moved to my side, still holding my hand. Supporting me, as he always does. I can feel the power of the tiara pulsing around us. It feels like a prowling animal, ready to strike.
Please let them listen to me. Please allow my mate to live.
“The Adalwulfs will reign now and for all time, with me as their Alpha.” Aiden fixes his eyes on Noah. “Fate has delivered me a solution. Once I sacrifice the true Alpha, then I will be next in line.”
NO! Power surges through me in a rushing tide. It’s white hot and so intense, my eyes water and my teeth ache. A vision rises up in me, straight from the Grandmothers. A Seeing of our pack’s future if Aiden leads us where he wants to go.