Acceptance

by Grace R. Duncan

  I’ll be fine, baby. I have the SIG. And my father.

  Okay. Chad’s armed, as is Jamie. Love you.

  Love you. See you soon.

  Quincy refocused on the conversation in the room with him.

  “He’ll be here shortly,” Cesar said, hitting a button on his cell phone. “I figure Thomas first.”

  On the coffee table in front of him sat the folder—open—they’d brought with the evidence. The picture on top was the one of Miles that had sent Quincy racing back to PA. His blood still boiled when he saw it. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

  He tuned out the small talk between his father and Cesar. Too nervous to be able to participate, he instead mentally drew the house he and Miles would have. Before he could get beyond the front porch, however, the doors to the suite opened and Thomas came in, escorted by two of the biggest cats in human form Quincy had ever seen. They stood just about as tall as Thomas, but both were pure muscle—not just toned, but muscular in a way few cats could manage.

  Thomas’s normally immaculate suit was covered in wrinkles and his usually perfect hair stuck out in disarray. He was in handcuffs, though everyone was aware they were a formality. Any cat could break simple handcuffs if they needed to. Quincy suspected it was the behemoths next to Thomas that kept Thomas in line more than any little metal bracelets.

  Abraham Thomas stopped short at the edge of the living area of the suite, gaze bouncing from Quincy to Aubrey to Cesar to the open file folder and back again. Time seemed to stand still as they waited for him to react. He swallowed once, lips compressing into a thin line.

  “I told Ross we should have had that brat killed instead of his mate,” Thomas muttered, face turning red. “But no—” He seemed to realize he was speaking out loud, and his mouth snapped shut audibly. He looked from Quincy to the iret again. “Uh, I mean—”

  Cesar held up a hand. “I’ve heard enough. And I thank you for your cooperation.” He smiled, and Quincy hoped to hell he never had to go up against the tepey-iret for anything. That smile was downright terrifying.

  Thomas’s eyes widened and he paled. “Wait! Uh… there’s a dog! Daniels! And the prime—the dog leader! They started it. They wanted the war! It wasn’t my idea! Ross wanted it more! He financed the whole thing!” He shook his head hard.

  “I’m well aware of who all is involved. Thank you for confirming it. However, if I were you, I’d be more concerned about your test of maat.”

  If possible, Thomas’s skin turned even whiter. “I—”

  “You were brought here initially to answer for your breaking of the secrecy accords with your human servants.” Cesar shook his head. “With that and, now, your confession of involvement in the attack on the wolf, you have enough to answer for. You might consider trying to figure out how to face Osiris. You’ll be taken back to your room and we’ll discuss sentencing when we return to LA.”

  The enforcers bodily picked Thomas up by his arms, turned around, and carried him back out of the room.

  Quincy did not pity the man even a little. He turned his attention to the iret and his father. “That went better than I’d hoped,” Quincy muttered.

  Cesar nodded. “Indeed. Though I’ve seen many guilty parties behave that way.” He shrugged a shoulder.

  “Thank you,” Aubrey said.

  Cesar shook his head. “No, thank you. If they’d have succeeded, we would have been in a hell of a mess. I wasn’t iret when the peace treaty was signed—I wasn’t even born yet—but we’re all too well aware of what could happen if it’s broken. I can’t imagine there’d be any cats left if they’d gotten their way.” He sighed. “For the record his confession only ties him officially to the attack on the wolf. However, his breaking of the secrecy accords could bring a death sentence. Officially he’ll be convicted of that, since it has the strongest punishment potential.”

  Aubrey nodded. “I’d expected as much. The evidence is….”

  “Not quite solid enough to get them on treason. However, there’s enough here for both of them to, if not get a death sentence, be locked up for a really long time.”

  Quincy let out a breath. “They hired another enforcer to go after Miles. I can try to find out who, but I don’t know—”

  Cesar held up a hand again. “We can take care of that too. I can find out who it is.”

  “Thank you,” Quincy said, swallowing hard. Miles?

  Yes, baby?

  Thomas and Ross were officially arrested. They’ll be taken to LA for sentencing.

  Oh thank the gods. Did they ask about Payne?

  No, and I’m not going to tell them. He tipped us off to the enforcer that’s out after you, and we did enough to him, I think.

  I agree. See? Maat. Anyway, now to deal with the prime.

  Indeed.

  “The meeting is scheduled for about an hour from now at the Aria. My driver can take us over. Let’s hope this goes the way we hope, yes?”

  Aubrey and Quincy both nodded. “If he knows we know and he gets away with it….” Quincy shuddered.

  “Then you and your mate will go into protected custody for a while until we figure something out,” Cesar said.

  Quincy raised his eyebrows. “You’d do that?”

  Cesar smiled—in a nonterrifying way. “Of course. You are my cat, he is your mate; that makes him my responsibility by extension. I care about all my cats. But hopefully it won’t be necessary.”

  THEY WERE the first to arrive at the neutral hotel. They’d agreed on the Aria, with its Sky Villa suite, because it would comfortably accommodate any number of cats and wolves. The living area had seating for seven, plus a desk, as well as additional seating around the outside of the room. Two walls were made entirely of glass, showing miles of Las Vegas buildings and landscape.

  Cesar, two of his guards, an aide Quincy didn’t know, and Cesar’s second-in-command—a smaller version of Cesar ironically named Jesus—chose one side of the living area. The aide took the seat at the desk behind a computer and immediately started working. Quincy guessed he was going to record the proceedings somehow.

  Jesus—who turned out to be Cesar’s younger brother—immediately went to the bar and poured drinks. He handed out tumblers of scotch before taking a seat next to his brother. Quincy happily chose a seat at the bar, by the windows, near the guards. He sipped his scotch and tried not to let the wait unnerve him.

  Miles? Are you guys on your way?

  Yes, but he’s making the driver circle a few times. Wants to make the iret wait on him.

  Quincy may not have been able to see his mate, but he could almost hear the eye roll in Miles’s words. Power play. Ugh. This is why I don’t want to deal with politics.

  I don’t blame you. I’m sure it’ll only be another minute or two until we finally get into the hotel.

  Okay. Thanks, baby.

  Quincy sighed. “The prime’s making his driver circle to make you wait,” he said, shaking his head.

  Cesar laughed. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Power games,” Aubrey said, nodding.

  “That’s all right. I am a patient cat.” Cesar smiled again before taking another sip of his drink.

  They sat in silence as they waited, which, thankfully, wasn’t much longer. The door opened and the alpha prime and his entourage came in. It took Quincy a moment to count all of them. Not counting Miles, their friends, and Alpha Noah, there were no less than ten other wolves with the prime.

  Is he fucking kidding?

  Miles looked over at him. I wish.

  Who are all these people?

  Prime is the one with silver in his hair. Four of them are guards, two aides of some sort, and I think three are random wolves who don’t seem to have a clue why they’re here. Can you believe this ridiculousness?

  Somehow… I can.

  Noah’s wired, by the way. Just like you were for the dinner with your father, only this time he has most of the alpha council on conferenc
e.

  Oh… really?

  Miles gave a small smile and a minute nod.

  Cesar stood but didn’t move from his spot otherwise. “Alpha Prime Adams. It’s nice to see you, though I do wish it was under other circumstances.”

  “Save it. This isn’t even close to nice,” Adams said, scowling.

  The only reaction Cesar gave was the slightest raising of his eyebrows. “Very well. Will you take a seat and we can get started discussing things?”

  Wow, can he be more of an asshole?

  He wasn’t always like this. I met him once, back when I was doing my residency in Denver and studying wolf physiology. He didn’t seem like such an asshole then.

  I wonder what happened.

  Adams hesitated very briefly, then slowly walked around the chairs and took a seat. None of the wolves joined him. Noah, however, did step forward, standing closer but not with the prime. The guards took up spots behind him, and the aides and other wolves retreated to the seats by the windows. Chad and Jamie casually took two of the last three seats next to Quincy at the bar.

  I’m staying near Noah for show.

  I figured. Love you.

  Love you.

  Cesar finally sat, his face still in friendly lines. “It is unfortunate, what has happened.”

  “Unfortunate? You call an attack on my wolf unfortunate?”

  “Is this the wolf in question?” Cesar asked, waving at Noah.

  The prime shook his head, pointing at Miles. “This was the one attacked. Luckily he survived, but my understanding is that wasn’t the intent.”

  Did you guys tell him that?

  Nope. Just that I was attacked.

  Yet again Cesar didn’t show an outward reaction. “It wasn’t? Are you implying the intent was to kill?”

  “I’m not implying anything. I’m quite sure of it.”

  “May I ask how?” Cesar glanced at Noah. “Are you the wolf’s alpha?”

  “You’ll talk to me,” Adams growled.

  “My apologies,” Cesar said, bowing his head briefly. “Is this the wolf in question’s alpha?”

  Adams hesitated, then nodded. “Noah Pearce.”

  Cesar nodded at Noah, then turned back to Adams. “Was there evidence, first, that it was a cat? And second, that the intent was to kill?”

  Yet again the alpha prime hesitated. He pointed at Chad and Jamie. “Those two were at the scene and smelled your cat.”

  Cesar raised his eyebrows. “We are very adept at hiding our scent. I find that hard to believe.”

  Adams looked at Chad and raised his eyebrows.

  Chad stood and cleared his throat. “I’m a relatively newly made wolf. My senses—especially smell—are still more sensitive than most wolves. I don’t filter things as well as they do yet.”

  “Ah,” Cesar said, nodding. “Very well. I will accept that it was a cat.”

  Quincy admired the way Cesar was handling all of this. He didn’t think he could be so calm in the face of such hostility.

  “Do you have evidence of the intent to kill?” Cesar asked again.

  Adams lips compressed into a thin line, and his eyebrows came together even more harshly. Finally he more growled than said, “No.” He shook his head. “But the cat was in the process of trying to strangle him. What else could he be trying to do?” Adams raised an eyebrow as if he had a trump card.

  Cesar shook his head. “He could have been attempting to make your wolf pass out. Not that I excuse the attack, mind you,” he added when Adams opened his mouth. “But that alone does not guarantee an intent to kill.”

  Quincy had the brief disconnected thought, wondering if the scowl would permanently embed itself in Adams’s face, it was so deep.

  “The fact is, there was an attack. What are you going to do about it? I believe it is my right to demand recompense for the attack. Since you were the ones so insistent on the peace treaty, then you should be willing to give more to maintain that after being the ones to break it.”

  Once more Cesar didn’t react except to incline his head. “What are you looking for?”

  The smile on Adams’s face sent a chill down Quincy’s spine. “I insist you execute those involved. The cats who ordered it, the one who carried it out, as well as their tepey.”

  Um… did he just give away that he knew there were people who ordered it?

  Yes, yes he did. Miles looked over at Quincy with wide eyes.

  “I don’t recall admitting the attack was a paid hit. Is there something else you’re implying?” Cesar asked, still as calm as could be.

  It seemed the calmer Cesar was, the more riled Adams got. “Of course it was a paid hit! This is why these damned animals need to be put in their place!” Adams turned to Noah. “Do you see? This is why they should be wiped out! Two hundred years of watching them act as if they did nothing wrong! They should have been gone then, but no! They had to form peace! We could have wiped them out then! Instead they put a treaty in place because the scaredy-cats couldn’t handle the fight with the wolves. Well, it’s about time we fix that, and I’m not going to let this… this… cat get in the way. This may not have worked, but the next plan will!”

  Noah calmly pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and held it up, his eyes fixed on the alpha prime. He touched the screen, then spoke. “Alpha council, did you hear that?”

  A chorus of yeses came through the phone.

  Noah turned to Cesar. “Could you give us a moment, please?”

  “Of course,” Cesar said, and he and the other cats made a quick exit.

  Quincy stayed, unable to not watch. Adams seemed to have forgotten he was even there.

  “I move to remove Alpha Prime Adams from office on the grounds that he no longer has the capacity to carry out his duties.”

  “Seconded!” someone said on the phone.

  “Does anyone oppose?” someone else asked.

  Adams’s nostrils flared, and he was panting hard as he stared at Noah when no one answered the question. “How dare you? You can’t do this!”

  “I can.” He spoke to the phone this time. “All those in favor?”

  Another chorus came through this time, all ayes.

  One of the aides stood and crossed over to them. “I, Calator Riley, hereby excuse Ezekiel Adams from the duties of the Alpha Prime of the United States. You are also hereby placed under arrest, pending investigation in conspiracy to commit murder.”

  Two of the guards stepped forward. One reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “You need to come with us.”

  Adams angrily shrugged the hand off. “I don’t have to do anything. I’m alpha prime! This is ridiculous.”

  “No, you’re not,” Noah said. “The council has spoken, and you’re well aware we have the right to do this if we feel the alpha prime is not working in the best interests of the wolf population.”

  “It is legal and so decreed,” Riley said.

  Each of the guards took an arm, and Adams went with them. He muttered angrily the whole way out the door.

  Quincy couldn’t stop himself from staring after the man. Wow, just… wow.

  You can say that again. Miles crossed the room and wrapped both arms around him. Are you okay? It’s over.

  I… yeah, yeah I am.

  “Alpha Noah,” someone said through the phone. “I nominate you as ambassador to the jaguar leader to finish the summit.”

  “Seconded!” a few other voices chimed in.

  “Uh—” Noah said, looking a little confused.

  “All those in favor?” Riley asked.

  Another chorus of ayes sounded.

  “Anyone opposed?” This question was greeted with silence. “And so it is.” He turned to another man sitting on the bench. “Scribe Owen, will you please stay and take notes for the rest of the meeting?”

  The aide, an obviously young wolf, jumped to his feet and practically bowed.

  Riley rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Alpha Noah, this is Owen, apprentice scr
ibe. He can contact me if you need anything. I have a former prime to deal with. And a new one to find.” He turned to the phone. “Alpha council, we will be calling an emergency meeting in Denver in a few days’ time. Please make arrangements as such. Thank you.”

  Noah touched the phone screen and tucked it back into his pocket. “I’ll report to Denver as soon as I’m done here.”

  “Of course. Thank you very much for all you’ve done, Alpha Noah.”

  “I’m happy to do it. I’m sorry he really was involved in this. It’s never good when a leader falls like that.” He cleared his throat. “I’m just glad I was able to help.”

  “Well, thank you again. I’ll see you in a few days.” He shook Noah’s hand, and then he and the three random wolves left. Two guards stood back.

  Noah waved a hand. “I’m not worried, guys. Go ahead.”

  They raised their eyebrows, glanced at each other, then shrugged. “We’ll be nearby if you need us.”

  “Thanks. Could you let the cats know?”

  One of the guards nodded, and Noah turned to the rest of the room. “Holy… wow.”

  Everyone laughed, the sound full of relief and almost giddiness.

  “I do not envy you, Noah,” Aubrey said, crossing the room. “And it’s nice to officially meet you.”

  “Indeed, Aubrey. I do hope it won’t only be for this.”

  “I’m sure, if my son is going to be involved in your pack, we’ll cross paths somewhere. For now I believe we are redundant and I’m sure they want a chance to rest.”

  Noah nodded. “I’m sure. Thank you for all your help.”

  “You’re welcome. Good luck.”

  Quincy, Miles, Chad, and Jamie wasted no time getting out of there and back to the limo. It was time to go home.

  Chapter 19

  QUINCY FLOPPED into the seat and sighed. He still couldn’t seem to wrap his brain around the idea that it was over. He was—they were—free. He and Miles could pick their apartment, decide where to live, go places, and do things without worry.

  After so many months on the run, it almost felt weird.

  “You know,” he murmured, turning to his mate. “I’d be happy if I didn’t see another hotel room for quite a while.”