Hundreds of terrified faces stared back at me.

A feeling of shame crept over me because I knew that I was the reason they were scared to even look me in the eye. They probably thought I was here to give them bad news, not that I could blame them– my last speech was to explain the punishments being put in place.

"Today I stand before you to apologize."

There were a few gasps, and some wolves were staring at me with their mouths wide open, while others didn't seem to believe me yet.

Was it really unbelievable that I wanted to apologize?

"A part of being a good leader is being able to take responsibility when things go wrong, and this past week was an eye-opener to my many faults. I am ready to accept the blame for my misdeeds with open arms and set forth to rectify the situation to the best of my abilities, and I believe the first step would be to apologize to all of you."

I paused to take a moment and gage their reactions.

The tense atmosphere that had filled the field before was gone and left an air of anticipation in its wake as if everyone was eagerly waiting for something else to occur.

I exhaled softly, "Even though all of you are aware that I was not meant to be your Alpha, you still pledged your loyalty to me, and for that, I am forever grateful. It's unfortunate that because of my idiocy, I used your loyalty against you and forced all of you to succumb to my insensitive laws. And for that reason, I want to make changes today, at this moment, and free you from the chains of my tyranny."

I let my words sink in and lifted the corner of my lips as excited murmurs snaked across the crowd.

"Commander Reece has received a copy of the new laws I have written, and she will email each family with a PDF version for you to read. And once you're done, Beta Conrad will be taking a survey of alterations you think should be made."

"As for the punishing grounds," I trailed off slowly as silence fell upon the pack once more, "The grounds will be transformed into a construction site for a new building, and the dungeons will be the primary area for punishments of intolerable crimes. I understand that the orphanage has become crowded after the rogue pups have joined so the new structure should be large enough to accommodate everyone," I said, nodding a little at the caregiver who seemed ecstatic by the news.

"And lastly, I am well aware that the previous punishments could have done severe damage to your mental health, and it may not be in the best interest for you to remain under my rule anymore. So I have talked to neighboring pack Alphas, and they have agreed to make the transfer process easy if you wish to move out and start afresh. You just have to contact Commander Reece about it, and she'll take care of your paperwork."

My lips twitched into a small smile, "Other than that, consider this a new era for us. We will reconstruct, rejuvenate, and rejoice in our future triumphs that will show the supernatural world that our strength has multiplied when they don't see it coming. After all, we are the Prowlers, aren't we?"

Someone howled loudly from the back.

And the rest of the pack followed suit, howling to their heart's content as if they were celebrating this new beginning with me.

I raised a hand to pause their cheers, "Thank you for your time this morning. Any questions or concerns you may have may be directed to my inbox or any of my advisors."

There was a thunder of applause, and I turned and exited stage right, feeling a sense of relief and content I hadn't felt in days. My father waited by the stairs, a proud smile on his face as I walked right into his embrace.

"You did good," he muttered, slapping my back, "Real good, my pup. That was a speech I could have given."

"Of course, because the great Alpha Mavriky is the only eloquent public speaker in the family," my mother drawled from behind me.

I rolled my eyes amusedly and rotated to face my mother, only to stop in my tracks by the woman standing beside her, leaning her weight on a cane and my mother.

"Jaslynn, what are you doing here, woman? You should be resting," I chided, moving toward her as she attempted to hobble over to me.

I swung her up in my arms, and she smiled sheepishly, brushing a loose curl away from her face, "I begged your mom to let me out to see what was going on."

"Really, mom? You couldn't have just FaceTimed her?" I asked, giving her a deadpan look.

"What's FaceTime?"

Jaslynn snickered at my facial expression and leaned forward in my arms to stretch her hand out my father, "Mr. Kuznetsov, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

He shook her hand warmly, "You can call me Mav, dear. I've heard wonderful things about you. Leader of the Imperium Coven, right? Thank you for screwing my son's head on straight."

"You know, I hate to cut this conversation short," I interrupted, knowing my father could probably go on for hours, "But Jaslynn needs to return to the hospital. You have all the time to talk later."

I carried her away before they could reply, and she slapped my chest lightly, "I feel alright, Alrik. Maybe a little sore, but nothing I can't handle. You didn't need to pull me away."

"Believe me, if I let you stay, my dad would have talked your ear off," I said, quickening my pace.

She sighed and leaned her head against my shoulder, causing a flood of warmth to swarm my chest through my suit jacket and shirt. She didn't have to do anything to make me feel this way, and it made me sick to my stomach to think that there was a chance that she would choose to leave.

"I was impressed by your speech," she murmured in my ear, "And I think your pack was too. I overheard a lot of positive remarks after."

"How much of it did you hear?"

"I came at the part where you discussed transfers. It's very noble of you to do that for them."

"It was just the right thing to do," I muttered, trying to ignore the fact that my ears were on fire. Unfortunately, she noticed and snorted, tugging at my earlobe, "Is that humility I hear?"

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

"Of course not. But I did want to ask, what did you plan on doing with the rogue wall?"

I pursed my lips in thought, "I haven't come up with a solution for that. It would definitely take a substantial amount of time to knock it down and bury all the heads."

"Well, I had some time to think about it. Instead of knocking it down, how about just taming it?"

"Do you mean just taking the heads and plaques down and leaving the wall?" I asked, shoving the door to the hospital open.

"That or you leave the plaques and just bury the heads. The point of the wall is to ward off rogues, right? I think the rows of names would be enough to scare anyone off."

I dropped her on the hospital bed gently and pulled a strand of hair away from her face as she stared up at me curiously with her glowing brown eyes, "I'll run it by Reece and see if we can get that done."

Jaslynn nodded and grabbed my hand, tugging me forward, "Do you have anywhere urgent to be?"

"I've got a few minutes to spare," I said, glancing at the clock, "Why do you ask?"

"Come lay beside me for a second. I want to talk to you," she said, scooting to the side to give me room.

There were no arguments from my side. I whipped my suit jacket off and slid beside her, pulling her into my arms so she could lay comfortably. One of my hands automatically flew up to her neck, and the other wrapped around her hip as I inhaled her scent discreetly.

"You jumped to conclusions earlier," she said, messing with my tie, "You think I would leave you after all this?"

I chuckled humorlessly, "Any sane person would leave me. Who would fall in love with someone who hurts people for a living?"

Her fingers gripped my jaw and turned my head so I looked her in the eye, "Why do I get the feeling someone said those words to you? It almost felt like you were reciting them from memory."

This woman was too smart for her own good sometimes.

I released a sigh and leaned my cheek on the top of her head, "Aleksei said it when we fought, and he wasn't wrong. If I hadn't opened my fucking eyes, we probably wouldn't be laying here."

"Perhaps, but it also sounds like he was a little harsh on you."

"My brother just wanted the best for the pack, and I wasn't giving them the best. He gave up on me and forced the split because he thought the two of us couldn't exist in the same pack together."

She was silent, and I snorted a little at the memories, "I used to think he loved me so much that he couldn't banish me so he gave me a part of the pack to prove my point. But looking at it now, all I did was prove his point. I put everyone I love through so much pain. I tore the pack apart with the divide, and my parents are forced to travel back and forth between our packs because we refuse to reunite."

"Do you want to reunite with him?" Jaslynn asked quietly.

I exhaled deeply as an image of Aleksei formed in my mind, "I do. I really fucking do, but Aleksei is a master at holding grudges."

"I've never met anyone who could hold a century-old grudge."

"Then you have to meet Aleksei," I muttered, feeling the necessary urge to change the topic as the memories flashing in my head became painful, "My dad's really proud of me."

"Of course he is, Alrik. Who wouldn't be proud?"

My face morphed into a small smile, "I know, but it's a bit different with him, you know? He didn't train me to be an Alpha so hearing him say those words meant a lot. It's like I'm finally pushing all the right buttons."

She lifted her head and stared at me questioningly, "If he didn't train you, who did?"

"My grandfather. My dad didn't want to pick between me and Aleksei so he sent me to my grandfather. That's why I called you a bitch the first time we met. My grandfather was a bit old-fashioned."

She patted my cheek, "You're a very lucky wolf. I was this close to turning you into a nice little piggie."

"I'm sure," I muttered, watching her yawn, "I think I'll let you take another nap now. I'll be back for lunch."

She groaned in protest, but I climbed out of the bed and tucked the blankets around her, leaning over to plant a kiss on her forehead,

"Rest up. When you get your energy back, I've got something fun planned for us to celebrate."