King Aeon turned his head. His eyes were ablaze with anger, but he was smiling. "Thank you for doing that for me."

"You're welcome, Uncle."

But now, King Aeon was irritated to hear the way Cris addressed him, because it felt like he was mocking him instead.

"In that case, you can't merge the two packs."

"If that's your concern, I'll find another way to resolve it," Cris replied, halting his horse. The rest of the ...