As outraged voices swelled and surged, Eli’s tone merely boomed all the harder.

“My father’s way was not my way, and while I’m certain that some of you truly deserve your place here, I know most of you don’t. I’m also certain that I will be challenged in the upcoming weeks. No one likes change, after all. But you’ve already seen a mere smidgen of my power, a power that managed to prove that the council head does not deserve his seat at all if I can, with a simple growl, trigger his shame.” He eyed the still wet but semi-clean patch on the floor. “You are my council. I am your alpha. I do not answer to you. You will no longer summon me as though I am a dog. You keep me accountable, but I will not allow my next council to think they can decide when a new meeting should be called just because they think it’s time for a chat around pack-provided wine.” He narrowed his eyes. “Would anyone like to say anything?”

As he uttered the words, it was almost like a gust of air swept in alongside them. The second I felt it, the entire room seemed to burst with reaction. The wave of power didn’t make me shiver though, not like the rest of the council, who began trembling at Eli’s might.

Even Brandon wasn’t safe from the aftereffects, which only proved that he wasn’t the right beta for the job.

No one uttered a word, because they were too dominated to.

I had to smile at that particular move. It certainly quickened things up.

Of course, it made him look like a dictator when he wasn’t. He was, essentially, cutting through the bullshit, and my own BS monitor was very sensitive, so I appreciated that more than most.

The council had been abusing the pack’s generosity for years, and the average members, like Austin and me—for all we were high-ranking and had Eli’s ear, we were still ordinary—knew that the council did nothing in our favor. If anything, they were just a set of asses with lofty manners and principles that didn’t align with anyone who had less than a couple of million in the bank.

If one of them wanted to, they could challenge Eli and try to overturn him, face down his rules, but we all knew they wouldn’t. Brandon might, but I doubted it. He was too chicken.

Mostly, this was a ruse shaped in expedient terms. The ruse was we’d drag out the person who might have targeted Sabina with the intent to cause chaos in the pack.

With the promise of change coming, and even though this part was unplanned, I knew it was time to take a stand against these pricks, so I declared, “I challenge Brandon Wright.”

A flurry of gasps gusted around the room, and the council members gaped at each other as though they couldn’t believe their ears.

I was a powerful wolf in my own right—I hadn’t shifted at eight like Eli, but ten was pretty damn impressive—so I wasn’t sure why it came as such a shock.

That was the problem with these assholes.

All privilege and no common sense.

“You can’t challenge me!” Brandon spluttered, his mouth working like a goldfish as he gaped at me.

“Just did,” I told him calmly.

“I sanction the challenge,” Eli intoned, his words dark with warning that Brandon had better not argue.

His nostrils flared with outrage, but he raised his hands in surrender—to Eli, not to me, I assumed.

“When?”

“Tomorrow. Eight AM.”

Brandon narrowed his eyes. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

“So will we all. This has more ramifications than a regular challenge. All the council will attend.” Eli folded his arms across his chest. “Now, in other news, as you are aware, my enforcer is Austin.”

A lot of huffs made an appearance then.

“Charming,” Austin grumbled in my head, making me smile.

“We are well loved.”

Sabina snorted. “Really sounds like it.”

Eli cleared his throat, and I got the feeling he wanted to laugh. Sabina, despite everything, wasn’t frightened of us. I figured it made sense, considering she was the omega, powerful in her own right, but newly transformed creatures were always timid for a little while. It took their creatures some time to accept who they were in the pack, took them longer to find a place for themselves.

Sabina?

She’d already done that.

And she’d barely met anyone yet. She was bizarre—in the best possible way.

“As of this moment, the role of enforcer will hold a place on the council. He will be titular, as important as the alpha, omega, and beta on the ranks.”

People stared at him wide-eyed, and I knew, when they cast quick and furtive glances at Brandon, they realized that Eli fully expected Brandon to lose.

Seemed they weren’t total morons after all.

I thought Brandon even figured that much out, the douche.

He shot me a glare, but I shrugged. “That’s how the cards fall.”

He snarled, “The challenge isn’t a formality—I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

I smiled at him. “Just try.”

His eyes flashed, his wolf coming out to party, but I cocked a brow at him. I wasn’t, never had been, under his control.

Why would I be?

I was more powerful than him.

His mouth tightened at my lack of reaction, but Eli was kind and let him off by stating, “Austin, would you come in please?”

He didn’t speak all that loudly, just enough for his voice to carry. The council twisted around, trying to see which way he was coming from, like he was sneaking around, hiding in a cupboard or something, but the doors opened, and together, Austin and Sabina walked in.

The council stilled as her scent permeated the room. It was like a florist had just arrived and brought with her a thousand different blossoms.

I sighed, appreciating the scent of lily of the valley and orchids in bloom. She was exotic. Everything about her, from her fragrance to her appearance, and she didn’t fit in. Not among this council loaded down with rich white pricks.

Eli extended an arm to her as they walked down the side of the room toward his desk.

She didn’t flinch, didn’t appear to be concerned about being at the center of attention of a bunch of people who looked like they’d just trodden in cow manure. If anything, her smile was warm, her glance just as heated as she looked at me and then Eli.

She drifted from Austin’s arm to Eli’s, and he tucked her in at his side.

Her scent was deeper now, more intense, and I knew that was because she was with us. Knew it and marveled at it. Her essence ripened, growing richer and powerful, until my cock was hard, and the need to claim her was a powerful throb in my blood.

I’d moved from my leaning position against the desk to a standing one when she’d arrived, and the look she gave me, the smile? It made me want to take her in my arms and hold her and kiss her and give her all the affection I’d never had in my life and, sadly enough, that I thought she hadn’t had in hers either.

“Soon,” she breathed, the words whispering into my mind, making me realize she’d spoken them to me and me alone.

I sucked in a sharp breath and clamped down on what I was feeling. I didn’t need to transmit what she inspired in me, not in this den of boors.

So I slouched back against the desk once more, even as Austin moved over to stand at my side.

When she was looking up at him, Eli declared, “Meet your new omega.”