CHAPTER FORTY ONE

KIERAN'S POVFive years after the treaty signing, the territory was stable in ways that felt permanent.Reina was managing the Beta position better than Cole had, which was not a criticism of Cole — it was just that she'd brought her own innovations to the work and the territory had evolved because of it. Eli was teaching four days a week and handling appeals coordinator work two days a week and had stopped trying to fill the remaining hours with additional projects.We'd built a life that actually resembled a life instead of a series of professional obligations.It was Sienna who brought up what nobody had explicitly discussed yet.She came to the administrative building on a Tuesday when Eli was there teaching a curriculum session and asked to speak with both of us privately. When we were in my office with the door closed she said:"I want to formally acknowledge something that's been happening quietly for years."I looked at her."Eli is bonded to you, which means he's part of this

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

ELI'S POVThe first month as territorial counsel felt different than every other position I'd held.Not because the work was harder or more complex — it was actually simpler than the regional oversight had been. But because I was doing it as part of the territory's structure rather than as someone operating in parallel to it.I had an office in the administrative building. I attended governance meetings. I reviewed territorial decisions from a legal perspective. It was work I'd been doing informally for years, just now with a title and formal authority.Reina came to my office the second week."I need your opinion on something," she said without preamble. "The pack member who filed the bonding dispute last month wants to appeal the ruling. The appeal came through the regional enforcement office, but it's originated from someone in our territory."I pulled up the case file. "This is a clear violation of the appeals protocol. The appeal should have come through the territorial coordinat

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

KIERAN'S POVSix years after the treaty, I received a call from Alpha Reina Cross asking for a private meeting.Not in her territory or mine — she requested neutral ground, which meant she wanted to discuss something that required confidentiality. We met at a small restaurant outside pack territory and she ordered coffee and looked at me with the direct assessment that had characterized her since the beginning."I'm stepping back from the western territory," she said.I set down my coffee. "Why.""Because I've been running it for twelve years and I want to do something else." She paused. "I want to move into education. I'm interested in what Eli's built with the curriculum and I want to help expand it."I understood immediately what she was saying. Reina was one of the strongest Alphas in the region and she was proposing to step back from active leadership to focus on teaching."Does this have anything to do with the treaty," I said."Everything to do with it," she said. "The treaty c

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

ELI'S POVSeven years after I came back to the territory, I stood in the new education center and looked at what we'd built.Three classroom spaces. An administrative office. A library of enforcement frameworks and territorial implementation guides. The building was designed to be accessible to pack members from multiple territories, with housing available for those who needed to stay while taking courses.Reina and I had designed it together. Cole had helped establish the curriculum standards. Kieran had secured the funding from the territorial governance board.It was the first permanent structure dedicated entirely to education and enforcement coordination in the northern territories.I walked through the empty classrooms and understood that this was completion in a way the treaty signing hadn't been. That had been the legal framework becoming real. This was the framework becoming something that would teach and sustain itself beyond any individual person's involvement.Kieran found

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

KIERAN'S POVEight years after the treaty, I made a decision about the Alpha position.It came to me quietly, not as crisis or dramatic revelation, but as the simple understanding that I'd been running the territory for twenty years and I was ready to do something else.I was sitting in a governance board meeting when Director Draven asked about territorial succession planning and I realized I didn't have an answer because I'd never let myself think about stepping down.That evening, I mentioned it to Eli without preamble."I want to transition the Alpha position," I said. "Within the next few years."He looked up from his curriculum notes. "To who.""I don't know yet. That's the work I need to do." I paused. "But I don't want to do it forever. I want to do it until it's stable and then step back.""The way I did with the regional oversight.""Yes," I said. "Except I want to have already trained my replacement before I hand it over. I don't want to just leave it for someone else to fi

All Chapters of My Alpha, My Verdict : Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

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