Chapter 461: Chapter 461

Chapter 461

Xander As more shouts erupted, and the crowd began surging up toward the stage, I held up my hands.

The truth was, if they all truly wanted to riot, they would. There wouldn’t be much me, Zane, and Mason, could do about it.

I didn’t want to rule this pack like my father had. I refused to, as a matter of fact. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to show them all exactly who was boss.

My lip curled in a snarl that reverberated through the air. I felt my canines lengthen, just a touch.

Behind me, without me saying even a word to them, both Zane and Mason did the same. When I shot a glance at Lanie, she’d stepped back, her eyes wide. Not frightened but impressed.

“Let him speak!” Someone shouted from the crowd.

I should have known they’d all want to know where my mom was. Telling them she’d found a new mate wasn’t going to sit well with anyone who was harboring conspiracy theories about her being killed because of my father, but I also wasn’t going to start this new era building on the lies he’d left behind. Sure, I missed my mom, but I understood why she wanted to stay at Brightsky. She deserved the chance at happiness.

As the crowd settled, I let my wolf retreat…at least physically. I was sure to keep Hunter at the ready in case I needed him. He was eager to be set free and wanted to run, but he’d have been happy to launch himself into battle, too.

“Steady, old friend,” I murmured to him in my head and promised myself I’d set up some training days as soon as I could.

Hopefully, though, training for war would only be a pastime, not something we needed to truly prepare for.

My brother stepped up to address the audience. “Everyone, I realize this is not something you were prepared for, but I want to reassure you that my brother and I are both on the same page when it comes to this pack. I’m honored to be at his side, and I’m also honored to have Zane as my Beta.

And, I want to make sure you all know that I’ll be available to meet with any of you who have concerns about me, who I am, and how I intend to work as the co-Alpha of this pack.”

I listened to his calm, steady voice, and shot a grateful thought up to the Moon Goddess that I had my brother at my side. For as bad as it started off, our relationship had become steady. We couldn’t have gone through everything we had without ending up having each other’s backs.

Mason gave me a nod and stepped back.

I faced all of them again. “There are a lot of changes coming for this pack. First, I want you all to know that I appreciate and value your support. I am my father’s son, but I will not be making his mistakes.”

Some faces in the crowd frowned and grumbled, but most of them smiled and nodded. I sensed an upsurge of confidence and relief. We’d been gone a long time, and a lot of shit had gone down.

They wanted and needed leadership that worked with them and for them.

“Second,” I continued, “I’ll be setting up a series of discussions about what we experienced while we were gone. We’re going to be sharing that information with you. No more secrets. And friends, let me tell you, there’s a lot of stuff we weren’t told.”

I waited a second or so for the murmurs to die down, then went on. “Third, Constantine will now become a sanctuary for all supernatural beings, provided those who join us abide by our rules:

Contribute to the well-being of the pack, and be kind. Hatred and discrimination will no longer be tolerated here.”

I looked around at everyone, fixing my gaze and the light in my eyes on as many individuals as I could.

“The old regime, the High Council, used fear to control us. Ultimately, their fear and hatred was their own downfall. They were destroyed because of it. I won’t see that happen to the rest of us. We are Pack Constantine!”

The crowd’s roar became deafening. Shouts, cheers, hats thrown into the air. People were jumping up and down, hugging, slapping each other on the backs.

“We are!” Mason shouted, and the crowd called back, “Constantine!”

“We are!” Zane stepped up and hollered out the words with a wide, broad grin.

The crowd bellowed out the response, “CONSTANTINE!”

That’s when another, single voice rang out. “Show us the child!”

The silence fell like a hammer. The crowd parted to show a single man in the center of it. He looked around like he was surprised at being shown up that way, but then faced the stage to shout it out again.

“Show us the child!”

“Stella,” Lanie thought to me in a panic. “He means Stella.”