Chapter 197

• Ryker asked us to stay at the castle with him for a little while, which I completely understood. He felt like he was way over his head here, and he didn't know what to do. But he had heard about everything that Ethan and I had been doing lately, so we decided to stay to help Ryker get on his feet.
• Ethan was constantly checking in with his gamma to make sure that our pack was doing alright. And if there was a problem, Ethan would sort it out over the phone. But while at the castle, the first thing I did was put in a request for warriors to protect the king. And it wasn't just among the people that we had brought with us. We sent that invitation out to all wolfpacks. So they didn't think that they were forgotten about or being neglected.
• We ended up getting hundreds of requests coming in over email. They came pouring in quickly, and I told Ryker that I would sort through them and decide which ones deserved a second look. I didn’t want him to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants. Ethan had other things to show him about being in charge, and I felt it was my responsibility to handle this part for now. Ryker was still learning what it meant to be an Alpha, but being a king was something else entirely. There was more pressure, more eyes on you, and more decisions that could affect thousands of lives. And Ethan, having been in charge of so many packs while we were preparing to take on Alexander, had more firsthand knowledge of everything that came with leadership. He understood how to delegate, how to command respect, and how to unite others under a common purpose. So Ethan and Ryker were spending a lot of time together.