Three men who stood behind Marrock nodded in agreement.
“If Gabriel is too weak to be your successor, then name me instead of this boy.” Marrock looked like he wanted to spit in Daniel’s direction.
“Sirhan didn’t even trust you enough to name you to his council of Elders,” Lisa said. “What makes you think he’d name you his successor?”
Sirhan was aging fast in his chair. “The council will decide,” he wheezed out. “Marrock, Gabriel, or the boy?”
The council went back to deliberation, and I worried Marrock had thrown a major kink in Daniel’s odds of surviving this day. But then the council turned toward Daniel. “Here, here, to the boy!” they shouted, and one by one they fell to their knees, shoving their fists into the carpet. They bowed their heads toward Daniel.
“So it will be,” Sirhan said.
Many of the robed men dropped their weapons and copied the gesture of the Elders.
Marrock and five others in the crowd remained standing. “If that is what the council decrees, then I am no longer a member of this pack.”
His robe swished behind him as he stormed from the room, the five other men followed him.
“Should we go after them,” someone asked.
Sirhan lowered his head. “It’s their choice to leave.”
“I am afraid we will probably see them again at the Challenging Ceremony,” Gabriel said. “For now, let us welcome Daniel Kalbi—”
Lisa pulled on Gabriel’s robes and gave him a pointed look.
“Ah, yes,” Gabriel said. “Let us welcome Daniel Etlu, grandson of Sirhan Etlu, and his pack into our ranks. Here, here!” he shouted.
“Here, here. Here, here,” the kneeling men shouted over and over again, their chorus growing loud enough to rattle my eardrums.
“Here, here!” I called, clapping my hands. Dad and even Jude joined my applause. Only Talbot stood still without cheering, but a smile played on his lips.
Daniel stood tall, as if soaking it all in. He’d never really had a family before, and now he had one almost more than forty people strong. After a moment he cleared his throat and raised his hands to quiet the crowd. “Um, you all can stand up now if you want.”
Lisa laughed and clapped her hands as she stood. I ran to Daniel and threw my arms around his neck. But our joy lasted only a moment before Sirhan gave a great moan and crumpled in his chair. He looked even more withered and decrepit than before—if that’s possible—like the last few minutes had added another hundred years to his body. His sunken eyes rolled back, closing halfway. I would have thought he was dead if it weren’t for the deep-pitched wheeze of his breathing. Two of his men, his medical staff, I assumed, leaned over him, checking his vitals.
I let go of Daniel and sidled up to Gabriel. “What are we going to do? We can’t let him die here in Rose Crest.”
“We’ll need to move him. Somewhere secluded but comfortable. Do you have any ideas?”
“My grandpa Kramer’s cabin. It hasn’t been used in a couple of years, but it’s about a four-hour drive from here.”
Sirhan’s attendant shook his head. “He has had a long journey already today. I don’t think it wise to move him tonight.”
“Tomorrow then,” Gabriel said. “We will find a place for him to stay tonight, and then set out in the morning.”
“There’s always my house,” Daniel said. “He could take the master bedroom on the upper level.”
“No, that location has been compromised,” I said, remembering what Slade had told me about the Akh reading his mind. “No one should stay there.”
Gabriel nodded. “He can take my room behind the parish. I would like to spend the night meditating in the forest before our journey anyway. I must prepare my mind before I can cure Sirhan.” Gabriel took my hand. “I would like you to come with us to the cabin, Grace. Show me exactly how you cured Daniel, to ensure I do it right. You’ll have to miss another day of school, I’m afraid.”
When did my life get to the point that the idea of going to school felt like the abnormal part of what he had just said? “Of course,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I could really show someone how to do it. But at least I could lend my moral support to the “kill the ones you love in order to save them” club.
“I would like you there, also, Daniel. As his successor, you should be there when he dies.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
Gabriel let go of my hand and clapped his on Daniel’s shoulder. “We must help Sirhan survive the next few days, then you will have an entire month to prepare for the ceremony.”
“If he’s in hiding when he dies,” I asked, “could we keep it a secret? Just for a few days? Let the lunar eclipse pass, and then tell everybody. That way we could have another month to prepare even if he dies sooner.”
“It would be against pack law,” one of the Elders said.
“Yeah, but could we bend this law, just a little?”
Gabriel shook his head. “You could try, but once the Death Howl starts, everyone will know that Sirhan has passed. Secrets would do no good.”
“What’s the Death Howl?”
“When a true alpha dies, his pack will sense it. They will howl in his honor no matter where they are. It’s some sort of supernatural phenomenon that can’t be stopped. Other Urbats, even just plain wolves and domestic dogs, will pick up the call. After the Death Howl, word will spread quickly of Sirhan’s death, and every Urbat who wishes to challenge for the position of alpha will know it is time.”
“Oh,” I said. Really, what else could I say?
One of the guards lifted Sirhan’s frail body. Another took up his oxygen tank.
“I will show you the way to my quarters before I go on my sojourn in the woods,” Gabriel said, beckoning them to follow him.
“Be careful in the forest,” I said. “The sheriff has called for a full-on free-for-all on wolves. In fact, no one,” I sent a pointed glance around the crowd, “should be going wolf around here unless you want to be a trophy on a hunter-with-silver-bullet’s wall.”
The crowd gave one another grave looks, but I hoped that would be extra incentive to keep their innerwolves in check.
“Thank you for the warning,” Gabriel said, and left with Sirhan and his attendants.