Chapter  374

XENOIS   Before I could send it, another message came through. Then another. Then a third. Alpha Chen was pulling out. So was Alpha Rodriguez. And Alpha Thorne. Four alphas----half of the new additions we'd gained through my parents' manipulation----were withdrawing from the coalition less than a week after joining. "Fuck," I breathed. "That's not good," Lumina observed unnecessarily. I started making calls immediately. Tried to reach Morrison, got his voicemail. Tried Chen, got a secretary who told me he was unavailable. Rodriguez at least answered, but only to tell me that her elder council had overruled her decision and she couldn't maintain coalition membership without their support. "This was a mistake," she said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I should have consulted my elders before agreeing to coordinate with outsiders. My mother pushed me to join without proper consideration of pack sentiment." "Pack sentiment that could get you killed if Jerome's coalition attacks," I pointe