Sara wore jeans that molded to her curves, and the buttons on her shirt were open enough to give anyone who looked her way a view of her breasts. She’d pulled back her strawberry blonde hair into a high ponytail, emphasizing her striking features. Lithe, sinewy movements quickly gave her away as a feline shifter. Her sharp eyes moved over the room until they found Ethan’s. She smiled, and I automatically stiffened next to him and was unable to relax as she made her way across the room to greet him. She waved and stopped just a few feet away, giving him a long, lingering look. Then her eyes danced over to me and traveled languidly over me. A smile strained her lips as she looked at me.
“Ethan,” she greeted in a tepid voice. I again was treated to a long look, and it was more than apparent she wasn’t impressed with what she saw. “And your mate …” Her brows rose in inquiry as she waited for an answer.
“Skylar,” I offered. She nodded and quickly lost interest, refocusing her attention on Ethan.
“Thank you for assisting with the transfer.”
He nodded slightly. “I see you’ve been busy moving up the ranks.” Extension pack members were ranked, but their order was invalid within the parent pack. Sara had worked her way up to Beta or ranked member, but among the larger packs, she was just another member of the extension pack.
“Yes, but it’s not the same as being part of the Midwest Pack, is it?” Sara admitted.
I couldn’t escape her hard look, so this time, I returned it. A smile kinked her lips.
“It’s nice seeing you again.” She started to touch Ethan, probably to give him a pat on his shoulder. I growled.
I can’t believe I fucking growled.
She stopped abruptly, jerking her hand back as if she’d touched flames. Her eyes widening. Her smile faded, and she backed away as if she’d been confronted by a rabid animal. The heat of my embarrassment rose along the bridge of my nose and my cheeks. I growled.
Ethan snorted, and I fixed him with a sharp look. I didn’t want to be that person, growling and posturing the moment the opposite sex approached him.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “That’s normal, Sky.”
I didn’t want it to be my normal. If my sudden departure from the room would have gone unnoticed, I’d have bolted out. Instead, I continued to stand at Ethan’s side, working hard to keep from tracking Sara’s whereabouts. When my willpower gave out, I spotted her near Sebastian, hanging on his every word. I’d had more than my share of conversations with him—he wasn’t that interesting or particularly funny. No one would have known that from the attention she was giving him and her throaty laughter. I remembered Ethan saying how some pursued the Alpha to acquire their position through a relationship with them. Was that where her interest lay? Despite his less than hospitable personality, succinct ways, and dislike of banalities like small talk, he was strangely alluring.
This was more than a meeting; it was a conclave where the fate of the were-animals would be explored and debated. It was easy to shelve my embarrassment about growling at Sara, although part of me wanted to take it further and bite her when I caught her furtively glancing at Ethan. I shrugged off the emotions as a result of being surrounded by so many powerful were-animals. It brought out something primal in me. Well, that was the story I planned to stick with. I settled for appreciating being privy to the meeting. If I wasn’t Ethan’s mate, they probably wouldn’t have told me about it for fear I’d crash it. There was no doubt in my mind I would have tried, but being an invited guest felt better.
When Ethan tensed, I didn’t have to look at the door to know who it was. Cole. The Alpha didn’t look like someone who had lost a challenge, nor did he display the humility that he should have after losing. The moment he walked into the room, he lifted his nose in the air, inhaled, and scanned the room. His gray eyes landed on me. My eyes trailed elsewhere, but I could still feel him looking at me. I felt Ethan’s tension and anger. He was sneering, and his steely, cool eyes were homed in on Cole.
Cole flashed him a half-grin before he looked back at me. His smile broadened. No humility there. Perhaps Alpha arrogance kept him from feeling it. Or maybe he considered Ethan a worthy adversary to have lost to.
Ethan was taking slow, deep breaths to ease himself into a calm state, something Cole noticed and reveled in. He was making Ethan uncomfortable, and if nothing else, he found victory in that.
There was slight chatter throughout the room, making it difficult for me to distinguish what people were talking about. Most of the snippets I heard in passing were the same—what the meeting was about. Were we about to out ourselves to save one person? The consensus was an undeniable no. Anger and frustration rose again. I ran my hand over my cheek and felt the heat of magic on my fingers. Apparently, I was more emotional about it than I’d thought.
There was a reason Steven wasn’t there, and I was starting to think it was a bad idea for me to be there as well. Joan’s eyes narrowed as she studied each person in the room. I knew she was listening to almost everyone, trying to find out who was okay with sacrificing her son to keep our anonymity. Like me, she was wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and profound anger overtook her face.
Sebastian walked to the center of the room and silence fell. He gave it one sweeping look before his gaze landed on Joan. He approached her slowly, but she refused to make eye contact with him. He stopped in front of her, just a few feet away.
His face was professionally stoic. We weren’t dealing with the Midwest Pack’s Alpha, but the Elite Alpha. His job was to be responsible for everyone, and he took it seriously. He remained in front of Joan until she eventually lifted her eyes to meet his. I strained to hear what he was saying to her, but his lips were pressed against her ear, speaking words meant for her alone. A practiced tactic for speaking in a room with people who had enhanced auditory senses without being heard. Rigid muscles stood out along Joan’s neck as she clenched her teeth.
Sebastian tilted his head and assessed her for a few minutes. Then he whispered something else; she glared. She drew back her lips. The fury that radiated from her was so heightened I felt it from across the room. Sebastian just gave her another look, and she turned and left the room.
He did another assessment of the room, and his eyes focused on me. For a few seconds, I had his undivided attention. Holding his gaze was hard, especially when he regarded me with such intensity. After a while, he nodded at me, giving me permission to stay. I questioned his judgment. Could I be objective and unemotional as they debated Steven’s fate?
The final person to undergo his scrutiny was Winter, who was doing a great imitation of Gavin, having faded into the background and molded to the wall, almost unnoticeable. Sebastian kept his distance, but his eyes were so intense that he might as well have been standing within inches of her. He let out a breath.
“Based on everything I’ve heard, I don’t think I have to go over why we are all here, do I?” he asked in a level voice.
The debate over whether we should come out was a lot more amicable than I’d imagined it would be. At times, it got heated, especially for those who wanted to cling to anonymity under any condition.
It was Cole’s decision that surprised me the most. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected from him—probably to vote against Ethan out of spite—but with the same confidence he’d had before the challenge, that special Alpha nuance, he walked around the room, giving a skilled oration. He argued for coming out and highlighted the pros of doing it. Although his eyes bounced around the room, catching every person’s eye, he spent the most time holding mine. I gripped Ethan’s hand tighter, not for closeness, but to get a hold of him. I felt his heartbeat and his rage like heat from a bonfire.
“There is a benefit to us being out, although it’s hard to see now. The effort we put into keeping hidden can be used for other things,” Cole said.
“Yes, but then we will be under a magnifying glass. The humans will scrutinize everything we do.” It was easy to determine that the West
Coast Alpha had the same disdain for humans as vampires and faes did.
“True,” Cole said, “but as Ethan pointed out, that interest will wear off like any novelty. We police ourselves, and I believe the government will be happy with that. We have the ability to police others. They will see the things we can offer that no one else can. Our heightened senses. We have the instincts of animals, but the higher thought process of man. It will open doors for us.”
The West Coast Alpha offered, “But we are in various places: hospitals, police departments, governmental agencies, and Fortune 500 companies. Our anonymity gives us an advantage. Don’t you think they’ll be more careful knowing we can sense a lie and catch their scent and track them, and that we are faster and stronger than they could ever hope to be? Even if they are okay with us being around them, don’t you think that will give them reason for pause, fear? I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have the tolerance to coddle the humans. Nor do I care to be their fascination or the interest of the moment, whether it’s for three weeks or three years.” He fixed Cole with a hard glare.
Cole inclined his head, acknowledging his point. “Those are valid and compelling points and things we should very well be concerned with. But keep in mind, if we can’t keep Steven out of prison”—he shot Ethan a cold, hard look—“which I’m sure we will not be able to do, he will change in there. Is it fair for him to be the only one out? Don’t you think we have the opportunity to show our solidarity? There are benefits and power to anonymity, but I assure you there are benefits to being open and letting our existence be known, too.”
Sebastian just listened as the debate went on for several hours. Finally, he interrupted. “I’ve heard your arguments, and soon, we will vote. But it would be unfair for me not to give you the full picture of what we are up against.” He told them of the Red Blood and their mission to out us and how some of them were connected to Steven’s case.
Ethan added, “Based on our intel, they have members willing to perjure themselves to ensure a conviction.” His eyes floated in Cole’s direction, and his voice chilled as he continued, “Although I have no doubt I can win the case, we are dealing with extenuating circumstances. The DA is a member of the Red Blood and has made several appeals to revoke Steven’s bail.”
“Why?” the West Coast Alpha asked, his voice gentler than before. He might not have changed his stance, but Steven’s circumstances concerned him. I hated him less.
“The full moon will be here soon; he wants Steven in jail when it happens to expose him.”
A heavy silence fell over the room. It was difficult to read most of the faces, but everyone had to know that if someone was on a mission to expose our existence, it could be any one of us in prison instead of Steven.
There were more questions but most were focused on the Red Blood. Everyone wanted a list of the members in their area. Sebastian promised they would have it before they left and would receive updates afterward.
Although the vote was in favor of coming out as needed, immense hesitation hung in the air. I had a feeling Sebastian felt that way as well.
The privileges of being the Beta’s mate seemed to be up to Ethan and Sebastian’s discretion, which I pointed out in protest when they went into the office with the West Coast Alpha and shut me out. I suspected he kept his vote against coming out and they wanted to make sure he understood that the majority vote stood and he’d be expected to comply and behave accordingly. Once Quinn had provided everyone else with lists of Red Blood members, everyone else quickly departed—except Cole, who lingered under the pretense that he needed to speak with Sebastian.
Cole had no inhibitions when it came to the Midwest Pack’s home. He took the invitation to visit as an offer to treat it as his own, which is how he found me watching the former Worgen pack in their hub. They were quite interesting to watch. Most of the things they did I didn’t understand; I probably didn’t want to given the questionable nature of much of their work. They had diagrams and mappings projected on the wall, and I stood in awe as they filled them out, making connections and exposing associations. I toed that fine line between being wary of them and impressed. If this was what was needed to help Steven and the pack, I would shelve my disapproval. We needed this information.
At Cole’s approach, I started to leave. “Sky, should I expect you to make a mad dash whenever I come within a few feet of you?” he asked, his lips quirked into his genteel smile that could weaken the strongest walls of apprehension. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“No,” I lied.
His smile widened. “This pack has been cloaked in secrecy for so long and lies have become such a big part of it that honesty is met with trepidation. It shouldn’t be that way.”
I remained silent, hoping it would end the conversation. I had the options to turn from him and take the exit leading out the back or walk past him toward the front exit and Ethan.
His eyes kept searching for mine, waiting for me to look up. When I did, he smiled. “You chose to mate with Ethan?” he asked softly.
I nodded as I debated how rude it would be to pull a Gavin and walk away when I was done listening, which I was. Good manners kept me rooted in front of Cole, waiting for a good time to make a quick and polite exit.
“Your speech was very moving,” I said, trying to change the subject from my relationship with Ethan.
Giving me a half-smile, he said, “It wasn’t meant to be. Contrary to what you want to believe of me, the well-being of all the packs is my priority.”
I bit down on my lip, holding back the words threatening to come out. He felt that challenging Ethan was the best thing for all the packs. I disagreed. Behind his gentle brown eyes, self-assurance, and congenial ways lurked something nefarious. It made me uneasy, especially since I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It seemed like a predator and prey situation, and I had somehow become the latter. As the predator, he’d subdued himself enough to give me a sense of false security, a feeling that no harm would come to me, when I’d be devoured minutes later. I didn’t like feeling that way.
“Nevertheless, I appreciate it. I think it changed some people’s minds.” I slipped past him.
“Bye, Sky. I’m sure we’ll see each other again?”
I stopped midstep and turned to look at him, doing a poor job of hiding my disappointment. “You’re staying.”
“Of course. It seems reasonable to do so. As you said, I was able to change people’s minds. I believe that might be of some use while we handle this situation, don’t you?”
No, not at all. I want you gone. I had every intention of letting Sebastian and Ethan know about my uneasy feeling.
CHAPTER 9
The thought of Cole staying in the city irritated me, and there was no hiding it from Steven when I showed up at his door. He assumed I was upset because of the meeting today.
“I guess the meeting didn’t go well,” he said, stepping aside to give me room to enter.
“No, it went fine.” Walking past him, I picked up a discarded shirt, folded it, and placed it on the kitchen counter. Then I closed the milk carton and put it in the refrigerator, and I closed a box of cereal and stowed it back in the cabinet.
He blushed. “I was going to get that.”
“Of course, because you would never leave milk or a box of cereal out.” I wiped peanut butter off a knife on the counter and put it in the sink. Raising a brow, I then wiped down the counter. After that, I took a seat next to him on the sofa. Another shirt lay near my feet on the floor. He is a pig. I refused to pick it up and threw my look of disdain between him and the shirt until he snatched it up and tossed it on a chair. It was obviously too much work for him to fold it.
“Cole made several impassioned speeches, and I think he was responsible for changing many minds,” I admitted reluctantly. I might have had my suspicions about him, but his role in shifting opinions was undeniable. Credit needed to be given.
Steven made a sour face at the mention of Cole�
�one that perfectly expressed how I felt.
“Yeah, that guy. He’s an asshole,” he said and ran his fingers through his hair, disheveling the copper waves.
I gawked at his description of Cole. Steven, like his mother, tended to describe people—except for vampires—favorably. Even when he was insulting them, his deep Southern lilt, somnolent eyes, and affable appearance rounded the edges of the sharpest words. But he was curt and harsh in describing Cole.
“What has jail done to you?” I teased.
His brief chuckle was an attempt at levity, but the weight of the situation made it difficult to succeed. “Well, he is.”
“Why do you say that?”
He sat back in the chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and considered the question for a long time. I prepared myself for a laundry list of things.
“Those who really know him see him for the snake he is. He presents himself as a nice guy trying to help, and he provides enough assistance that it seems like he’s on your side, but I always feel like he puts obstacles in the way that tip things in his favor to make himself look good.” His face twisted into something between a scowl and a frown. “I can’t prove it, but he isn’t above doing that. From the moment he met you, he’s made no secret of his interest, even knowing you’re involved with Ethan. For most people that means you are off-limits; for him, it’s like a minor obstacle. He might be a good guy, but I’m rarely wrong about things like this.”
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