* * * *
For werewolves, death was as inevitable as transformation. It was only a question of dying well, preferably in service to the pack. Werewolf culture had many ways of honoring the dead based on rank. Even when Josh’s mother had died, there had been an elaborate ceremony and burial. It did not matter that she was an omega. By dying for the safety of the pack, she had been elevated to an honored member. In death, she achieved what she could never have done while alive. Josh, of course, did not inherit any of that new-found respect.
Josh couldn’t remember the main house ever being so full. There had been bondings and celebrations, but the death of the alpha bought out everyone from the most distant cousin to dignitaries from neighboring packs and the sss queen, Regina, in full regali
