hapter 39: Being a Leader
Samara
The next morning, Roman drags us both out of bed. While neither of us got much sleep, I feel energized and happy. When we walk downstairs for warrior training, the pack cheers and howls in excitement.
“Let’s see it.” Luna Devi says, walking up with a huge smile on her face. Since I’m wearing a tank top for warrior training, I move my hair aside to show her.
“Beautiful, just like you,” she says, pulling me into a hug.
“And yours?” she says to Roman when she releases me. He isn’t wearing a shirt, so he leans forward giving his mother a
closer look at his mark.
“Perfect,” she says.
I pull my hair into a ponytail and watch as the pack members look at my mark and grin. The feeling in the pack is happy and excited
Roman doesn’t push me as hard in training today, recognizing that I’m a bit sore after all of our activities yesterday and last night. Instead, he works on my form and how to stop giving my opponent ‘tells‘ into the moves I’m about to make
At breakfast, Alpha Sterling begins talking about next steps.
“I think
you
need to have a a Luna c
ceremony,” he says.
ad? Roman asks him.
“How can I do that without inviting Sawyer and Dylan, Dad?”
“Make it a private ceremony. You can have a larger celebration when all of this is done, but officially making Samara the Luna of this pack will not only add protection to her during the attack, it will also make the pack stronger.”
“What do you mean?” I ask them
“Your family’s pack was the strongest in the country primarily because your mother was their Luna. Of course, your father was a very strong Alpha, just like Roman is. However, I’m guessing you feel stronger today after marking your mate, don’t you son?” Alpha Sterling asks him.
“I do, yes.”
“The pack can feel that through the pack link, but once they accept Samara as their Luna, once they drink her blood, it will make them stronger, too. Devi and I were there when Jessica had her Luna ceremony. Even without us being part of their pack, we could feel the increased power in the pack. Sawyer’s pack has accepted Althea as their Luna, so they will have the added strength that a white wolf gives to the pack. Your pack will need that as well.”
“Is that really necessary? I mean everyone knows that Roman’s pack is the strongest in the country, even without being mated to me,” I say.
“Our pack
“Our pack,” Roman says, still watching his father.
“What?” I a
I ask. He turns to look at me.
“It’s not my pack anymore, Samara. It’s our pack You’re the Luna of this pack. You’re as much of a leader in this pack as I
I realize that’s true. I knew that but before it was arbitrary knowledge, like something I’d have to think about sometime in the future. Now, I look around the pack and realize that these people are my responsibility just as much as they are Roman’s. The weight of that responsibility settles heavily on my shoulders.
+25 ADHUS
“Don’t overthink it. You aren’t the only one responsible for all of them, although you might always feel that way. Leaders who take their responsibility seriously usually feel the weight of that responsibility all the time,” Luna Devi says kindly.
Roman reaches out to squeeze my hand. I turn to look at him. “I never really thought about what it would mean to take a pack to war. I mean, I know what it was like to be attacked. I know we lost a lot of warriors that night. But to actively send these people, our pack members into battle? They’d be risking their lives for me. I don’t know if I could handle it if any of them died because of my need for revenge,” I say to him
“It’s not just your need for revenge, Samara Sawyer will die for his betrayal of your family. Our pack is strong. But this is why we need to be ready before we go to war. This is why I refuse to rush into a battle unprepared. I want as many of our men and women to come home as possible. So we will do everything in our power to make sure that happens,” he says.
I look around at our pack members. They’re happy, smiling and laughing with each other. I feel my lips tremble at the thought of losing any of them.
“Being a leader isn’t always easy, sweetheart,” Alpha Sterling says gently. “But wars happen. Sometimes they are necessary, like now, and sometimes they aren’t. The best thing that you can do is to make sure that your pack is as ready as possible for that battle. The first step is to make sure you are strong enough to fight. You’re getting there, but you’re not there yet. The second is to make sure that this pack is as strong and ready to fight as we can make them. And then, we need a plan, something that we’ve looked at from every possible angle to ensure that we haven’t missed anything before we take the pack to war. Right now, we’re doing all three of those things at once so we can move as quickly as possible. We have the added problem of trying to figure out how to attack two packs at once. We have to split our warriors and attack Alpha Dylan’s pack while still leaving enough warriors to fight against Sawyer’s pack, and then we need to leave warriors here to protect the
pack while most of us are away.” 1
The weight of what we’re going to do, the burden that I’m putting on the pack, suddenly feels much too heavy.
“Hey, it will be okay. The pack has watched me search nine years for Theo’s murderer. They want revenge almost as much as you and I do. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared, but it does mean that they support us, both of us, in what we’re doing. And that is important. It means that they will fight hard, but it’s even more of a reason for us to be prepared and to do everything we can as good leaders to make sure we bring everyone home,” Roman says, stroking his knuckles over my cheek
I nod, looking at the pack members again before turning to Alpha Sterling
you sure that me taking my place as their Luna will make them stronger?” I ask
“It will I’m positive about that,” he says and Luna Devi nods in agreement.
I look at Roman “Then let’s plan the Luna ceremony as soon as possible. I have no intention of letting any of our pack
members die. If I can make them stronger and you and your father can make them better fighters, then we need to do that.”
Roman smiles at
“What?” I ask him
me
“You’re already accepted this pack as your own. I like that. Since we don’t need anything fancy, we can the ceremony tomorrow if you’re ready.”
“Im ready”
He leans in and kisses me, pressing his lips to mine in a loving, reassuring way. We’re interrupted by the ringing on his phone, and he pulls away from me, snarling
“Why are you snarling?” I ask him.
He pulls the phone out of his pocket and shows me the screen without looking at it
Sawyer
Cooper
Samara just faced the reality of becoming a leader and putting the lives of pack members at risk
