Greykin Mountain

| 66 | Steel Door

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News of the hostile pack spread like wildfire when Damon and his scouting group got back to the ruin. Everyone was nervous; Jackson could feel the tension in the air. He was sure that everyone was wondering the same thing: was Damon going to hand Julian over?

          Jackson was sitting in the courtyard, staring at the doors to the cellar. He knew that going in there wasn't an option, but he wanted to talk to Damon—he wanted to know what was going on inside the Alpha's head. Was he going to hand Julian over? Those other wolves were going to kill them, and after what Damon had said to that black wolf, he was confident that handing Julian over was something he didn't want to do. But what choice did he have?

          "Hey," came Tokala's voice.

          Jackson looked to his left and watched the orange wolf walk over to him. "Hey."

          "It's been a pretty awful day, huh?"

          "Yeah," he mumbled, setting his eyes on the cellar doors again.

          "Variants, hostile pack; one might think this is a sign of worse things to come."

          Jackson looked at him and frowned. Tokala didn't seem as shaken and horrified as everyone else—in fact, he never seemed discomposed or shaken to his core. But maybe that was a part of being a Zeta; just like Damon, he had to be strong, didn't he?

          He asked Tokala, "What do you think Damon will do?"

          "The best course of action would be to hand Julian over and leave this place. But where are we supposed to go? And Alpha Damon doesn't believe in the old ways. I don't think he's going to hand someone over to those who want to kill them."

          "Old ways? I heard you say something about that."

          Tokala nodded. "Our ways used to be much different—well...much different to what Alpha Damon follows. We only call them the old ways because Alpha Damon and his brother came up with a new way after their parents passed."

          Damon's parents. Jackson knew nothing about them. He was curious to know, of course, but there hadn't really been a good time to ask.

          "Among our kind, there are some strict rules that we follow—laws, if you like. Just like Caeleste laws...more specifically, the one that brands demon-wolf walker hybrids illegal."

          "You...know about that?" he asked nervously.

          "Yeah, but don't worry. I don't care. To be honest, having someone as powerful as you on our side is a good thing."

          Jackson scoffed quietly and looked down at his paws. "I'm not very powerful."

          "You could be, though."

          Looking at him, Jackson frowned again.

          "Anyway, the laws wolf walkers follow are called Lupi Sequi Veteris—to follow the wolves of old. Some shorten it to Lupi Sequi. It'd take all night to tell you every law, but the one Alpha Damon wants to save Julian from is the law that means any wolf who runs from or abandons their pack—if they are caught—receives the penalty of death. That pack want to kill Julian. Another important law to note here is that wolves shouldn't intrude on another pack's territory. If they do so by accident, the resident pack must give them twenty-four hours to leave."

          Jackson nodded slowly. "But...surely there's a law for when there're barely any wolf walkers left, they have to stick together?"

          The orange wolf slowly shook his head. "The only time wolf walkers come together is through the marriage of their Alphas."