All of a sudden, shouting broke out in the bleachers, and shifters leaped to their feet. “He’s running! Stop him!” someone screamed. Felix had apparently realized he was in trouble, and he’d shifted and was trying to escape during the chaos. The Wardens quickly tackled him and subdued him, and he was placed under guard.
Max and Kray were both led off the field. They waited on separate sides of the field, surrounded by Wardens, while the Elders debated which shamans to choose. It obviously couldn’t be a shaman from either the Iron Claw pack, or the Timber Valley pack, or for anyone who was allied with either pack.
I was sick with anticipation and worry. I knew that Max would test clean, but still, this test was life or death.
Three shamans from out of state packs were selected, and their names were announced to the crowd. Max and Kray were led to a spot directly in front of the Elders.
First they tested Max. They did it by having him slash his arm with a sharp knife, and dripping his blood into a vial. Each of the shamans tasted it. The shamans pronounced it clean.
“Oh, thank God.” Virginia slumped against me. I realized I’d been holding my breath, and I let it out and gulped in air, dizzy with relief. Jade and Vince gripped each other’s hands; “Praise the Lord,” Jade murmured. Whatever came next, at least Max was all right.
Kray didn’t want to be tested. He fought the wolves, and the Wardens had to hold his arm down, while Ragnar himself slashed it. His family was now hunched in their seats, looking away from the disgraceful and cowardly spectacle.
The shamans immediately detected the magic in his blood. Kray was dragged out into the center of the field for the pronouncement of sentence.
“Kray Renker, you have brought disgrace upon yourself, your family, and our glorious race,” the chief Elder boomed down. “Your blood showed significant signs of magic enhancement. The sentence is death.”
Chapter Seventeen
“You can’t kill me! You can’t kill me! There was cheating, there was no way he could beat me, no way, no way!” His voice rose to a hysterical screech.
The Wardens, gripping firmly on each arm, began dragging him out to the center of the clearing.
“Stop! I have information that you need!” Kray howled.
They paused, looking at Ragnar for direction, while Kray wailed and blubbered. Apparently, he had more corruption to expose. One of the other Elders, a man named Timor, had been on Kray’s payroll. Timor was paid to notify Kray of any complaints filed against his pack, so Kray could challenge the Alpha of their pack.
Standing there before the Elders, Kray ratted him out in a desperate attempt to get out of his death sentence.
It didn’t work. Kray screamed and threatened and begged, while his family grimly looked on. Kray died on the field, with two wardens holding him down and a third slashing his throat. It was the most embarrassing, disgraceful death that anyone could remember witnessing.
The Renkers were now a social disgrace.
Timor was led away for questioning, protesting loudly. Shamans have spells that can detect lies; he’d be exposed and also executed.
Max came back to the Timber Valley side of the field, hugging his parents, hugging his siblings, hugging me. There was shouting and cries of relief. On the other side of the field, there was cursing and shouted threats and screams of rage.
Kray’s younger brother Kimball jumped up. “I issue a death challenge to Maxwell Battle, to retain control of the Iron Claw Pack, and to take over the Timber Valley Pack! And I demand the immediate return of all pack members to our custody, until the death challenge has been carried out!”
Oh no he didn’t. It was time to make my move. Max wasn’t the only one who’d been studying the Covenant. I’d been studying it frantically for the past few days, knowing that this gathering of the Elders in front of a huge crowd of shifters would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The crowd was even bigger than I’d expected.
I leaped to my feet and rushed into the field before anyone could stop me, turning to address the
“I demand audience on a matter of vital importance to shifter welfare!” I had the right to demand this, but woe to me if the Elders felt that what I brought up wasn’t vitally important.
Ragnar gave me a look of great displeasure. I wasn’t an Alpha, and therefore, in his eyes, I was clearly not worthy of notice. He was a notorious chauvinist. However, he couldn’t refuse me permission to speak.
“You may address the Elders.”
“The Renker family has been abusing members of their pack! They’ve been forced to seek sanctuary with us because they are in fear for their lives! They have killed young males without provocation, they have murdered the family of the former Alpha in a cowardly fashion. They’ve sexually and physically abused the females, and refused to let them leave their compound to seek help. I propose a rule change to prevent this ever happening again. I propose that any member of any pack be allowed to leave their pack without fear of reprisal.”