Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
He and his pack were staying in a newly renovated building their hosts used for guests and as a recreation center for the pups. It smelled like a good pack. That’s why Justice was there. To congratulate the Black Mountain alpha on obtaining an associate’s degree in architecture from the College of the Sequoias.
It was a major accomplishment for a shifter to even attend and complete public grade school, let alone graduate from a college. Justice was one of very few wolves that had a master’s degree. He and his pack had implemented education programs and scholarships all over the country for shifters who wanted to continue with schooling. Many of the older wolves and those on the shifter council didn’t like this kind of change; they still preferred the pups to be homeschooled or taught only by shifters until maturity and then taught a trade to strengthen the pack.
The fact of the matter was, times were changing and packs had to keep up or they were going to get run over or run off. Educating shifters gave them the tools they needed to bring back and help bolster the pack. Shifters still lived off the land. There were a few wolves that chose to live in the city or burbs surrounded by finery and things that operated at the touch of a button. They were called lazy wolves.
“Is everything okay, Alpha?” his sister, Farica, asked him. She eyed him cautiously and quickly pushed positive emotions in his direction. Justice released a soothing breath. His sister was an enigma to most. She was an alpha, but her name meant tranquil leader so she didn’t flex her position. She sat down fourth, before all the pack leaders. His three brothers, his betas, sat before her. Justice’s security taking up position around the room.
“I know this was supposed to be a pleasure trip, the kind that are few and far between for us, but I’m afraid we will have to cut this one short.” Justice ran his hand over his jet-black, wavy hair. “I’ve just got word that there was a damaging disturbance in Nevada. While it wasn’t catastrophic, this is the one that broke the camel’s back. The governor has had it with wild shifters and temperamental vampires.”
“Josiah was on Nevada’s case?” The third oldest brother, Mac, said, his deep voice resounding around the huge room. “Speak up.”
A man standing close to the door with a yellow legal pad in his hand slowly stepped forward. The stench of fear rolled off him. Justice needed a few of the members allowed in his personal pack to be a functional administrative pack as well as wolf warriors. As the leader of all the shifters in the United States, Alpha of the Alphas, he had to have capable wolves to help him keep track of and control over one hundred and fifty thousand shifters.
Justice was one of the youngest Alpha Zeniths in history. When his mother was killed by hunters, his father had resigned early to live his days alone without his mate. Justice had no choice as oldest male in the original pack – descendant of the first Dawn-wolf – to take his official title.
“Alpha.” Josiah addressed Justice’s brother by his birth-earned title. “I’ve been there and disciplined several wolves myself. Carson City has one of the heaviest populations of shifters and vampires. I tried to—”
“Why do you have to get involved personally?” Their sister leaned forward, her body language showing her concern but her face as beautiful and serene as always. “You don’t handle infractions. They wouldn’t ask the President of the United States to come handle a few rowdy criminals.”
Justice crossed his arms over his chest as he walked around the large conference table, lightly touching each of them as he passed. His touch was an extreme comfort to any wolf. “True. But this governor is well aware of shifter/human politics. He knows I’m working hard to keep the government from demanding national shifter registries or regulating our population. We can’t let the humans build shifter prisons. But I can’t battle the laws of their land when our shifters keep breaking them with no consequence.”
“You’ve done your best to negotiate and compromise, Justice.” Another one of his pack leaders spoke up. “You’ve built five shifter prisons with shifter funds. Funds that were taken away from schools and the building program Farica worked on for months.”
“I know you made a tough decision, Justice, to delay that program. You had no choice. If you hadn’t built the prisons, then the humans would’ve. No wolf should be confined to a cage the size of a kennel. They shouldn’t be allowed to shift and run only on the full moon like we live in some sort of Werewolf in Paris movie. Shifters need to shift and run regularly, some even daily.”