13

I directed another group to grab some spare wood and supplies so we could get all hands on deck. Beer and food were served, and time passed in friendly productivity. Before I knew it, it was time to speak to the council.

I reached out to them telepathically.

“We’ve been expecting you, Alpha,” Wayne replied. “Meet us at my cabin, please. The five of us have already gathered.”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get the meeting over with.

Wayne’s cabin was farther inside the compound, a few yards from the library, where I was repairing one of the reading benches. In Wayne’s sixty years of life, he’d had six pups. Because of that, he lived in one of the larger cabins that were impossible to miss.

I walked up to the door and knocked before stepping inside. They were expecting me, so there was no need to wait for an invitation.

I found the council members sitting at the varnished wood table in Wayne’s living room. They stood as I entered. Jasmine Howler, the second-oldest in her