Chapter 378

[ 883 words ]

Talia’s POV

For two days, all we did in the office was answer requests and fill out forms.

Other than meals and our evenings with Solon, Nolan and I pretty much lived in that office. Our packs used to work together fairly well. Each had its own ranks and territory. The recent war with the mad rogues left things tense. The chain of command was a mess. We settled pack arguments, approved rank changes that had been ignored for weeks, and dealt with the pile of requests that everyone had put off during the fighting.

Nolan let a stack of papers thud onto the desk. “I don’t understand how there are so many requests.”

I snorted, not looking up from my own stack. “And we haven’t even touched the stacks that are in his bathroom.”

Nolan groaned. “Moon Goddess, help us.”

The door creaked open and Solon poked his head in, looking both grateful and a little guilty for leaving us with all this work.

“Still alive in here?” he asked, peering over the mountain of paperwork.

“Barely,” Nolan said, not looking up from his stack.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I asked. “Leslie is going to freak out if she finds you here.”

“Then, let’s hope that she doesn’t find me,” Solon replied. “How’s everything going?”

I waved at the piles of paperwork. “How do you think it’s going? I don’t know how you manage all this.”

“This is the twentieth form that was filled out improperly. There are instructions at the top of the page!” Nolan exclaimed in frustration.

“Should I bring snacks next time or just more work?” Solon asked.

“Snacks,” Nolan said instantly.

I nodded. “And maybe some whiskey.”

Solon laughed and said, “I’ll see what I can do,” before leaving.

On the third morning, Nolan and I woke up tangled together under a blanket on the office couch. We had been too exhausted to make it back to our own room. I sat up. Every muscle protested. My joints were stiff, as if the paperwork had pressed its weight onto my bones.

“My hand’s dead,” I grumbled, shaking out my fingers. “One more signature and it might actually fall off.”

Nolan groaned into the couch cushion. “At least Derek hasn’t dumped more on us. He promised the last batch yesterday was the last of it. Whatever’s left, we finish today.”

All that remained was a stack of post-war disputes Derek had sorted for us. They were much more organized than I felt I deserved that early in the morning. I picked up the first folder with my coffee. Nolan did the same across from me.

“It better be. If I spend another day doing this, I may set the entire room on fire,” I warned as I went to brew us some coffee.

The first folder I opened was from Beta Henry of Shadowclaw. I wondered why he hadn’t just talked to me. Instead, he sent a report. Whatever he wanted must have been important.

Henry’s report was more detailed than I thought it would be. The mad rogues mostly attacked Silverfang, but some reached other packs too. Everyone who was bitten got the antidote, but a few wolves, like Solon, were left weaker. Some were in even worse shape. Henry’s idea was simple and honestly smart: set up a department to help these wolves recover, train them slowly, and make sure they aren’t treated as less than the rest of the pack.

“Look at this,” I said, tapping the page. “Henry’s two steps ahead, as usual.”

Nolan scanned it, eyebrows raised. “Can’t believe this is the same Beta that reported to Jason.”

“The only reason Henry became Jason’s Beta was that they were friends,” I explained. “Jason wasn’t always awful; he changed over time. But even from the start, Henry was smart. The only real mistake he made was sticking by Jason for as long as he did.”

“Either way, he has great leadership skills and integrity,” Nolan added.

“I agree,” I said, placing the folder into the finished pile. “Solon needs to see this when he is up for it. If Henry’s responding to this in Shadowclaw, I am sure there is a need for it in other packs as well.”

Nolan grinned at me over his coffee. “War council before breakfast. You make it look easy.”

“Hey, I’ve had smart ideas before,” I shot back. “Remember, I am the reason every pack had fortified defenses before the mad rogues attacked, and everyone called me paranoid.”

“You were paranoid,” Nolan said, grinning. I shot him a look. He just laughed. “Still, you were right.”

We kept working through the folders until the stack finally looked manageable. I was just starting to think we might actually finish today when my hand stopped on a thick folder near the bottom of the pile.

It was labeled “petitions,” which seemed odd, as the other folders were labeled with the pack name of where a petition or request came from. This wasn’t just another routine dispute or rank change.

My stomach dropped when I opened the folder. I flipped past the first document, then another, my hands moving faster with each one. Some of the documents were dated before the party, even before the Rogue King was killed.

I stared at the growing stack, anger burning in my throat. There weren’t just a few. There were a lot.

Each was worded a little differently, but they all said the same thing: Request to Replace the Alpha King.

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