The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel(79)

“No. You are to be my chosen successor, Gabriel, not the Kalbi boy. You are my beta…”

“I am your beta, yes. I am the caretaker of the pack. Alas, I am not the leader you are. I am not a fighter. I don’t stand a chance against Caleb and his demon hoards. But Daniel has been chosen by a higher power. He is a true Hound of Heaven and a true alpha. It is his calling to take your place. Only he can lead us out of this dark time and defeat Caleb. I believe he and his alpha mate, the Divine One, have been chosen to take the Urbat to a new level. Imagine it. This pack led by a true alpha and the Divine One. A warrior and a healer. The Etlu and the A-zu. Together—”

“No! No! No!” Sirhan roared. “No son of Caleb will rule this pack.”


“Sirhan,” Daniel said. Every head in the room snapped in his direction. The true alpha essence radiated off his body like waves of pure power. The spearmen pulled their weapons back, ever so slightly. “The difference between Caleb and me is that I don’t want to be alpha. I’ve never wanted to be a ruler, or a leader, or even powerful. All I’ve ever wanted to be is an artist. I embraced my true alpha nature only to save the ones I love. And now, if that means my calling is to do it again at the Challenging Ceremony in order to defeat Caleb—then I will do it. If there was any other option, I’d let this responsibility pass to someone else. But once you die, I will be the only true alpha left. Let me be your successor instead of Gabriel. Give me your blessing, grandfather.” Daniel’s voice wrapped around that word like he’d never addressed anyone with that title before. “I will make you proud.”

Sirhan slumped in his chair, clutching his clawed hands to his head. Again, he looked as if he’d aged another ten years in a blink of an eye. “I cannot think,” he said. “The boy has confounded my mind. His words ring true, but the wolf inside of me screams something else.”

“You’re brain is addled by the aging, Sirhan. The wolf has too much control. Let the council decide, if you are not able. Who will be your successor?”

“What say the Elders?” Sirhan asked. “Advise me. Whom do you choose? The son of Caleb, or Gabriel?”

All the Elders huddled together—speaking in whispers so low I couldn’t even make out their words with my sensitive hearing—except for Lisa Jordan, who came to stand in front of Sirhan.

“Your choice sounds more like, ‘Son of Caleb, or Caleb himself’ to me,” Lisa said. “I don’t need to deliberate. I cast my vote for Daniel now.” She turned to him and bowed on one knee. One fist pressed into the ground. “And I will follow him into battle to defeat Caleb if need be.”

“Here, here!” Gabriel knelt, fist to the ground toward Daniel. “I cast my vote also.”

The other Elders took in the sight of Lisa and Gabriel, and for a second it looked like they’d made up their mind to follow their lead.

“This is bullshit,” shouted a voice from the crowd.

I looked in the direction of the voice and found that the man with the blond dreadlocks had stepped forward. I thought hard, trying to remember the name Lisa had called him by … Marrock.

“I will not give my allegiance to this boy, true alpha of not,” Marrock said. “He’s, what, eighteen? Most of us have been alive since the French Revolution. What does he know of being a leader that I do not?”

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.