Chapter 128

Grace

I held my breath. The whole city was silent. I couldn't even stand to breathe, bracing for the heat and agony. I firmed my jaw and hoped that the protections in City Hall would keep my children alive.

Then, I heard someone scream. I opened my eyes, searching for the sound, and realized that it was from the earbud in my ear.

"We got it!"

I swallowed. I didn't know what they'd gotten, but there was nothing. The hourglass was empty and glowing still, but nothing happened. No deafening explosion, no cataclysmic destruction. The silence persisted.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, and confusion reigned supreme. The citizens of Mooncrest exchanged bewildered glances as if waiting for the delayed disaster to strike. But the seconds continued to tick by, and nothing happened.

Then, I heard someone in the crowd.

"Half-breed or not, she adhered to the custom," someone said. "Are you really a champion for werewolves and preserving our culture or not?"

I saw the flash of light on Alpha Shadow's wrist, but I didn't dare look at mine. I couldn't. I was frozen with fear. The hourglass was still glowing.

"It's diffused," Charles said. "I've got Eason. We're leaving the ritual space."

I almost buckled, but I swallowed back the cry of relief and leaned a bit more of my weight on the podium.

"What's your answer, Alpha Shadow?"

I swallowed. I didn't need to hear it. The people of Mooncrest had apparently agreed with my terms. Now, all I had to do was wait for Alpha Shadow to back out, and I wouldn't have to figure out how to follow through. The crowd continued talking. The hourglass started to dim, and Alpha Shadow still said nothing.

The old man huffed. "A challenge is a challenge, Alpha Shadow. Your answer? We don't have all day."

Alpha Shadow remained silent. I could see the way his eyes darted back and forth, searching for a way out of it or an answer.

"We're headed up to the next level. We should be ground level in about thirty minutes."

I heard people in the crowd still talking, but I wasn't listening to them. I was listening to the feed.

"Get a medic to meet us at ground level. Take him to base. He'll need to be monitored."

More of the Enforcers checked in, stating that the barriers had fallen and they could get to the bombs. I looked up at Alpha Shadow.

"Are you going to refuse?" I asked.

"You're bluffing," he said easily. "Everyone knows that. You're barely breaking even as a company, let alone as a pack. Do you have the first idea of what getting a seat in the Senate would entail? You're issuing a challenge. You're doomed to fail." He scoffed. "Why would I even acknowledge anything?"

I set my jaw. "Don't underestimate a mother when you've threatened her kids. Just go ahead and say you're a coward. Go ahead and say that you won't accept it so everyone will know exactly who and what you are."

I stared him down, determined and unyielding. He wasn't going to agree. As the crowd continued to yell, I felt the relief falling on me.

The hourglass had stopped glowing. We were really in the clear.

"I'll be looking for you for what you've done," I said.

He scoffed. "I assure you. You won't have to look hard. You and I will be seeing each other again very soon."

Then, his broadcast ended without another sound. I could hear the Enforcers still working their way through the rest of the pillars as I took deep, calming breaths. I looked back at Amira, who grinned at me even as she looked like she wanted to pass out.

"Hey!" I swallowed and turned back to the crowd. They were all looking at me; the skepticism in their eyes was still there, but it didn't seem so angry. There might have even been a bit of hope in their eyes.

"Yes?" I asked, my voice echoing through the city.

"Were you serious?" they asked, doubt clear in their eyes.

I blinked. "About what?"

"Were you just saying it to say it?" The old man asked. "Or did you really mean what you said?"

I blinked again. Fuck. What was I supposed to say?

"I am working to be an alpha that provides a brighter future for Mooncrest."

"Not the fluff," an older woman hissed. "You said you were going to get Mooncrest a Senate seat by the end of the year. Do you even know what that means?"

"Of course I do," I said.

I knew enough to know it was outlandish enough to get everyone in Mooncrest to listen to me and buy us time.

"Then, were you serious about it?" The older woman said. "Making Mooncrest a senate-level territory was something your father could have done if he'd had more time."

"I know." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why such an interest in whatever plans I have? You certainly didn't care before."

She blinked and looked at me for a few moments before speaking.

"Because you're right."

I was speechless.

"When you said we have to change... that we can't be comfortable with the status quo, that we've been comfortable knowing that Mooncrest's politics, while not the greatest in recent years, are still worlds better than what many would face in other packs..."

I swallowed. I was touched and shocked. This woman, with her hard, searching eyes, had listened to me, and though there was skepticism in her eyes, there was hope, too.

She... wanted to believe in me.

"When you were talking, I... started to let myself hope that maybe you weren't just talking to talk, so I'm asking... Were you?"

I swallowed, meeting her gaze. "I want to be honest with you."

She set her jaw, but she didn't look away.

"Most of my appearance today was to buy the Enforcers, police, and militia as much time as I could so they could dismantle the bombs beneath the city, but..."

I hesitated. Thinking back to everything that had happened over the past few days, of what Gabriel told me about Blood Moon and what I'd told Eason.

I won't run.

I'm going to tell them to fuck off.

"I meant it." I firmed my jaw and stood taller. "I mean it. That I want to make things right--really make things right. Not just dig us out of the hole I've put us in... I want to get on broadcast one day and not have to apologize for my actions or feel like I don't deserve to be there."

I swallowed.

"You think doing that, making us a Senate-level territory, will make you feel like an alpha?"

I met her gaze. "I think that doing so will make me feel like an alpha my mother and father could be proud of."

She narrowed her eyes at me and nodded slowly. "Then... I guess we'll see how you do... Alpha Wolfe."

I swallowed. My wrist tingled, and I glanced down. The mark of the challenge had changed. There was another line of script above the one that had begun to form when I was speaking to Alpha Shadow.

I looked up, trying not to think about it, as I put on a smile that felt brittle.

"Since we're all still alive," I said, my voice shaking a bit. "To hell with what I said before: the Wolf Moon Festival is still on. I think we deserve a party for scaring off a terrorist."

The entire city seemed to go up in cheer, and while I felt like I had gained some sort of respect in the eyes of Mooncrest, the warmth of that knowledge didn't reach me.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I got in the car with Amira, shaking still. I had shaken every person's hand who had come to the square. The picketers had disbanded, and I was still on edge. I could hear the Enforcers still going through the sewers. My whole body was cold. I wanted nothing more than to see Charles, to hold my kids, to do anything but think about everything that had happened over the past few hours or what this other band on my wrist meant. The car glided back towards City Hall. We got out, and I went to the little apartment where Cecil and Richard were sleeping as if they didn't have a care in the world. I sank down onto the bed with them, not even bothering to undress, and curled close to them, shuddering and smothering the cries that wanted to escape me.

I didn't leave the room until I could hear the fireworks going off, and I heard heavy boots coming through the main door.

I got up.

"Grace?"

I opened the door and rushed to Charles. The scent of dank water, stone, and blood clung to him, but I didn't care. He squeezed me tightly, pressing me into his chest.

"You were amazing," he whispered. "You did well."

I shook my head as my eyes burned with tears, and the stress of the day started to crash down on me.

"I fucked up."