Shattered Sanctuary: The First Luna's Severance novel · Chapter 19 of 24
Chapter 19: The Vote
The vote began at dawn, in a thin gray light, with frost on the cobbles.
The old law was simple.
Every wolf of Echo Hall over the age of sixteen walked across the court and stood behind the one they chose.
No hands, no ballots, no whispering.
Two candidates stood in front of the Stone.
The Alpha of Redwater had slept, shaved and put on a clean coat, and he looked like a man arriving at a wedding.
Rosalind had slept for two hours on Hamish's shoulder in a chair, and she was wearing yesterday's dress.
"I'll speak first," the Alpha of Redwater said, "as the guest."
He turned to the pack with his hands open.
"I'm not your enemy. I beat a man who couldn't defend you, and I'd do it again. Your Alpha is gone, your Luna is leaving, and your treaties are on a woman's desk who just announced she's walking out. I'm offering you a strong hand."
His voice dropped half a tone as he said it, and the air in the court changed.
It was the Alpha voice, pressed out slow and heavy.
A she-wolf near the front swayed.
A boy of sixteen put a hand to his forehead.
Rosalind felt the weight of it settle on the court.
"Take your time," the Alpha of Redwater said pleasantly. "There's no hurry."
Rosalind stepped up beside the Stone.
She did not raise her voice, and she did not reach for the thing in her chest.
"I won't ask anyone to vote for me," she said. "I won't push. I haven't got a voice like that, and I would not use it if I did."
She laid her bandaged palm on the Stone.
The Alpha's lid lifted off the court.
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