Howling Passion (Paranormal Alpha Werewolf Shifter Romance) Read Free Page B

anyone, don’t you, Lupe?
     
    I was overcome with sorrow.  The memory of my parents and my brothers came flooding back.  The fatal conflict with the Great Pack of Wisconsin had borne too high a toll on both sides.  None higher than for my own family.
     
    “Leadership is much more than just strength, Lupe,” the Alpha observed wisely.  “It requires a respect that boy does not yet have.”
     
    I stared up at the Alpha, his eyes blazing with intensity.  Of course I’ll join the hunt, Alpha Michael.
     
    Their energy instantly transformed into intense relief.  They ushered me on with another hug so they could continue to greet the rest of the pack.  I moved around the outside of the circle, taking up a position away from Connor and his gang.  I was so angry with him.  I hated the way he behaved in front of others, always showing off.
     
    If he wasn’t so damn sexy.
     
    “Lupe!” an excited squeal came from my left.  It was Scarlet and Suzie, my closest friends.  We hugged and kissed, and rubbed our faces all over each other.  It was so great to see them.
     
    “Alpha Michael and Elizabeth want me to join the hunt tonight,” I whispered to them amongst the growing crowd.
     
    “Oh my God!  Are you going to do it?”
     
    “You so should!” Scarlet cried, a little too loudly.
     
    “Of course,” I shushed her.  “The Alpha asked me to.”
     
    They both hugged me tightly, giggling with excited anticipation.  We continued chatting, catching up on everything since the last time we had been together.  Others spoke in hushed tones around the edge of the Caldron, waiting for the last of the pack to arrive.  There were over two hundred of us in total, plus the handful of visitors.
     
    The energy in the Caldron shifted as we gradually realized the Alpha and the other pack elders were ready to begin, and we all fell silent.  Alpha Michael took up his position on top of the domed, rocky outcrop, overlooking the base of the Caldron.  The White Queen stood just behind him, to his right.  The other Emeritus Alphas, former pack leaders themselves, settled into  their places on the ledge behind, and very importantly, beneath the current Alpha.  While the visiting Alphas from the other eight packs  assembled in a gallery on the opposite side of the Caldron to observe the ceremony.
     
    I got a chill down my spine.  I was tingling with excitement, looking forward to what Alpha Michael had to say.  He looked over us all, and I felt his pride.  He was so very proud of us.  He was the leader of the largest pack of werewolves in North America.  And for all he knew, this would be his last night as the Alpha.
     
    “Welcome, my friends,” he spoke to us in a deep, booming voice.  “Hmm, my family,” he corrected, causing a bristling of positive energy to swirl around the Caldron.  “Too rarely does the Great Pack of New York gather in its entirety.  But I must say, it is such a pleasure when we do.
     
    “As you all know, every fifteen years on this night, the first moon after the snow falls, the White Stag of Lycanthus crosses our territory.  And it is this extraordinary event that determines the leadership of our pack.  Any of you worthy to lead the Great Pack of New York must prove yourselves equal to the task by bringing down the White Stag, and returning its head to the Caldron before the sun rises.
     
    “No easy feat,” the Alpha boomed.  “None has been worthy in the last four hunts.  I have been this pack’s leader for seventy-five years.  Most of you have known no other Alpha.  He snorted a laugh and looked back at the White Queen, and the other three Emeritus Alphas behind her.  “I’m so very tired.”
     
    The pack around the edge of the Caldron all chuckled knowingly.  The White Queen had been the Alpha for thirty years before Alpha Michael, one hundred five years ago.  And the other three old men behind her had each served multiple terms.  The White Stag of