“I recently heard an outrageous rumor about how you found Jane. Something you neglected to mention six months ago when I met your lovely mate.”
I looked up at Carrick in surprise since I hadn’t heard that gossip, and then my jaw dropped open at Seth’s reply.
“That’s a perfect example of the pot calling out the kettle considering what’s going on between you and Audra. She is the mother of your daughter-in-law, after all. And a witch.”
Chapter Eleven
Carrick
It was a good thing Seth’s mate elbowed him in the side as she chided him to be nice, or else I would have been sorely tempted to punch him in the face. Audra had tensed up, and I didn’t appreciate anyone making her feel uncomfortable. Not even the head of the council. And especially not when he was using our new relationship to do it. I’d had a hard enough time getting her to say yes in the first place, I didn’t need someone giving her a reason to rethink that decision.
“It’s fine,” Audra reassured me, patting my thigh.
“I’m sure Seth didn’t mean it the way that came out. He’s a little sensitive about how we met, and sometimes he overcompensates for that in order to deflect attention.” The council leader’s mate leaned forward and held out her hand to Audra. “I’m Jane, the mate he found through a matchmaker.”
“A matchmaker?” Audra echoed as they shook hands. “I didn’t realize shifters had those like the humans do.”
“We don’t. Not really. The one he used to find me is kind of an unusual exception, but she has an unerring knack for finding mates.”
“Yeah, unusual is one way to put it,” Seth muttered under his breath.
“Don’t mind him,” Jane told me as she shook my hand next. “It’s hard for an alpha to admit to needing help with something as personal as finding their mate, especially since his best friend loves to tease him about it unmercifully.”
“Oh, I’m sure Carrick understands,” Audra snorted. “I can only imagine how grumbly he’d be in your mate’s place.”
“Hey!” I protested, glancing at Seth. He gave me a slight shake of his head, and I caught the hint. His frustration didn’t stem from any embarrassment he felt over using a matchmaker. Any shifter worth his salt would use any means available to them to find their fated mate. Pride had no place in matings.
If he was deflecting conversations away from how they met, it had to be out of a desire to protect his mate from any comments that might hurt her feelings. Considering how quick I was to shut down what he’d been saying about how Audra and I had met, I couldn’t blame him.
“That’s okay. I’m sure Seth will get over his irritation when Jared, his best friend, finds his mate. Seth has already set a plan in motion for the matchmaker to hunt her down. It’s the perfect solution because then Jared will never be able to tease him about it again.”
“That was quite clever,” I complimented the wolf alpha.
“I’m good at being cunning. It’s a big part of why I was appointed as head of the council”—his expression turned serious—“and it’s why I arranged for us to meet your plane in the limo you’d already arranged for…so it wouldn’t be traced back to me in any way. Nobody can know we’ve met before the meeting this evening. I had them pick us up in the underground parking garage at the council’s office, and Damien was the only enforcer present. My car is already there, and Damien will let me know when it’s safe for Jane and me to exit the limo. It’ll be conveniently parked next to my vehicle, on the passenger side. Anyone driving up once we’re out of limo will assume that we’ve just exited my car instead.”
I couldn’t fault his logic. Any calls between us would leave a paper trail, and using Damien as our go-between worked best for shorter messages. “I appreciate the effort you put in to give us the opportunity to strategize.”
“Hopefully you’re as appreciative of the other steps I’ve already taken on Nixon and Nyssa’s behalf.”
“Give him the chance to explain,” Audra urged, running her hand along my thigh in a soothing gesture when my muscles locked from the effort it took to hold my bear back from attacking the wolf who it felt had treaded too close to territory it consider his. In his mind, the safety of Nixon and Nyssa fell to him because they were clan.
“The only efforts I’ve made were diplomatic. I haven’t interfered with anything you’ve done to protect your family,” Seth explained. “Although I can understand why you’d have your doubts after I stood by and let Selene put herself at risk when she proved herself to the shifter community, I would never do anything to jeopardize your grandchildren. They’re cubs. Tiny, defenseless”—his hand slid from Jane’s shoulders to wrap around her waist, his hand covering her lower belly—“and deserving of protection by all shifters.”
I understood the meaning behind his gesture. Knowing he’d brought his pregnant mate to our meeting eased my bear’s anger because it was a demonstration of his trust in me. “What diplomatic steps have you taken?”
“I’ve reached out to the other representatives on the council to feel them out, see where their heads were at in regards to the petition that’s been filed.”
“What’d they have to say?”
“Everyone’s shock seemed genuine. I don’t think any of the council members were behind it.”
“Not even Ricardo?” The lion shifter had been vocal in his disapproval of Selene joining the council a year ago. It’d caused discord between us, which was unfortunate since he had played a role in getting Braden and Tahlia together because he was the one who’d suggested she work for the council as an enforcer.
He’d seemed to warm up to Selene a little, but there was always the possibility that he’d just been biding his time and waiting for the perfect opportunity to force her out. I hated to think it of him, but like I’d told Audra—everybody but family was a potential enemy in the current situation until they’d proven themselves otherwise. And it’d take a fuck of a lot to get me to relax my guard around Ricardo when I knew he’d been pissed enough about Selene joining the council to have confronted Seth over the decision. He’d only backed down when he’d learned of the additional parts of the prophecy that Damien’s hold had previously decided to keep to themselves. At that point, further resistance would have been futile since the other council members had fallen into line with the plan.
“Ricardo offered to put some of the lionesses from his pride on the trail of the person behind the anonymous petition. He has some of the best hunters.”
“But not the best or else he would’ve recommended they serve as enforcer instead of Tahlia,” I pointed out.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t take him up on the offer,” Seth assured me. “Like I said, the only steps I’ve taken are diplomatic. Giving Ricardo my blessing to go after this person would’ve been overstepping. And that would be true even without considering how he handled everything a year ago.”
“Part of me was hoping it was him because then at least we’d know who was behind this,” I sighed. “I don’t like not having any leads. It’s hard to fight your enemy when you don’t know who they are and the motives behind their actions.”
“The one thing we know about them is that they’re not too bright.”
I stared at Seth, turning over what he’d said in my mind while I tried to figure out how we knew that.
Audra must not have gotten it either because she asked, “What do you mean?”
“With the guaranteed support of three council members, there’s virtually no chance of it being given serious consideration.”
“Three?” I echoed.
“You, Audra, and me,” he clarified.
“Maybe they were banking on the fact that Selene would be unavailable to vote,” I suggested.
“That’s possible.”
I thought it was more than possible, but I wasn’t going to quibble over minor details like that with Seth. “And maybe they figured that would leave only one guaranteed vote in favor of Nixon and Nyssa. Me.”
&n
bsp; “Which brings me back to my original point because only an idiot would think that I would ever consider excluding the first shifter-witch babies from our community after I worked hard to make sure Selene was accepted as Camden’s mate and a member of the council.”
When he put it like that, it was hard to argue. All of the council members would be aware of how everything had played out a year ago, too. “It has to be a non-council member.”
Seth and Jane nodded, while Audra groaned, “The same is true for the Council of Four. Which leaves an entire world of shifters and witches as the potential culprits.”
“It would’ve been a fuck of a lot easier to locate them if they served on at least one of the councils.”
“Yeah, it would’ve narrowed the list considerably,” Seth agreed with me.
“At least it’s a good news/bad news situation,” Jane pointed out. “The council meeting should basically be a formality since we know how the petition isn’t going to be accepted by the majority of the members.”
“It’d better be,” I growled.
Jane was proven mostly right when the meeting began two hours later.
“Call to order.” Seth banged his fist against the table for emphasis. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. “We have a petition which was submitted to us two days ago which needs to be discussed and voted upon.”
“I beg to differ. I’d say there are two matters needing discussion tonight.” Ricardo’s gaze swept towards Audra. “Since you made a unilateral decision to replace Selene with another witch without asking for our input first.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed as he turned his attention to the lion shifter. I leaned back in my chair and flung my arm around Audra’s shoulders when I felt a wave of Alpha energy snap across the table. Seth was pissed, and I was okay with letting him handle Ricardo since the stupid bastard had basically challenged his authority as council leader.
“Damien,” he snapped out.
The dragon shifter had been leaning against the wall near the door, but he moved to stand behind Seth. “Yes?”
“You’ve served as one of the council’s enforcers for longer than any of us have had the privilege to sit as this table.”
“That’s correct.”
“In all that time, can you think of any instance where it wasn’t acceptable for a family member to stand in a representative’s place if an illness or some other kind of emergency prevented them from performing their duties?”
“No.” Damien’s gaze, filled with swirling flames, pinned Ricardo to his spot. “And it’s something all members of the council are well aware of since one of their first tasks after being appointed is to decide who in their family would best handle the responsibility should the need ever arise.”
Seth took over from there. “Is this a task you didn’t complete when you joined the council, Ricardo?”
“Of course not,” the lion shifter huffed.
“Then can I assume you had forgotten about doing so when you questioned my right to make an announcement that’s perfectly in line with the rules by which we all abide?”
“I forgot nothing.”
Seth placed his palms on the table and leaned forward. “Then maybe you’d care to enlighten all of us on the point you were trying to make.”
“Selene’s connection to the shifter community is unique. She’s mated to one of us. As such, I would respectfully suggest that her situation is different than any of our others when it comes to selecting a temporary replacement. Each of us have family members or seconds who are shifters from whom we can make our choice, but there is no other witch who’s mated to a shifter to step into Selene’s place.”
“Ah, I see.” Seth crossed his arms over his chest, a satisfied smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he leaned back in his chair. “It’s not that you’re against a witch fulfilling Selene’s duties while she recovers from the birth of her twins; it’s that you feel there isn’t anyone qualified to do so.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly.” The lion had no idea that he’d just handed us the perfect opportunity to solidify Audra’s position and ensure that nobody else tried to usurp the witch’s seat on the council.
Chapter Twelve
Audra
Seth’s gaze swung to me and I barely refrained from fidgeting in my seat when everyone else’s attention followed. Having Carrick’s arm around my shoulder’s steadied me, and I met Seth’s stare without flinching.
“Audra, what is your rank in your coven?”
“I’m the high priestess.”
“For those of us who might not be familiar with what that means, can you explain what that means in regards to your place in the hierarchy as compared to your daughter?”
“Of course.” I nodded. “My role as high priestess would be most similar to your alphas. Selene served the coven behind Tempest, our maiden or the equivalent of your second.”
“That only means she’s qualified to run a coven, not serve on the shifter council,” Ricardo butted in.
Seth sent him a dark glare before returning his attention to me. “Have you served the witch council in any capacity?”
“Ys, I’ve just returned from spending nine months as their emissary, working to improve relations between witches and shifters.”
“So you’re sensitive to the issues that exist between our two communities?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“And what kind of connection do you have to the shifter community?”
“I’m the mother of a bear shifter’s mate. Grandmother to two of the newest members of the McMahon Clan.” I turned to face Carrick as I finished. “And desperately in love with the clan’s alpha.”
The first two facts most likely would have been enough to prove my point, but the third was the most compelling—even though I’d never said the words aloud before. Not to Carrick. Not even to myself. But they were true nonetheless. I’d spent too much time running from my feelings, and it was past time for me to admit to them. Judging by the huge smile on Carrick’s face and the heated look in his eyes, he agreed.
“The McMahon Clan alpha is also in love with her and plans to convince her to allow him to mate her at the earliest opportunity.”
“Ma—”
Carrick cut off my gasp with a quick shake of his head and a squeeze of my shoulder.
“You’re taking her as your mate even though you are fated?” Ricardo asked.
“I am.”
Everyone at the table was familiar with the trouble Carrick’s fated mate had caused to his family. They also knew he wasn’t my consort, or else I would’ve included that in my recitation of my shifter connections. Knowing that Carrick still wanted to mate me, in spite of all that, was enough to make Ricardo back down while the remaining members of the council looked at me with new respect in their gazes.
“Good. That’s settled.” Seth swiveled in his chair to face forward again. “As I was going to say before the lion-shifter representative interrupted me, the petition was submitted anonymously. It requested that we provide Nixon and Nyssa, the newly born son and daughter of Camden and Selene McMahon, no standing in the shifter community. Jared will hand out a copy of the petition to each of you so you can see that it didn’t provide any evidence for why such a ruling should be made.”
As the folders were being handed out, Carrick bent low and whispered in my ear, “Jared is Seth’s second.”
“Ah, the best friend.”
Jared offered me a flirtatious smile when he set my folder in front of me, which earned him a growl from Carrick. “Impudent wolf.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from giggling, but my laughter ended when I opened the folder and read through the request to alienate Nixon and Nyssa from the shifter community so they’d have no standing. From what Carrick had explained to me as the limo was pulling into the parking garage, it was a punishment which was only considered when a shifter did something particularly heinous. But the only crime Nixon and Nyssa had committe
d was that they were born to a shifter father and witch mother. The person who deserved to lose their standing in the shifter community in this situation was the one who’d filed the petition in the first place.
“The petitioner didn’t supply any evidence to warrant the action they’re requesting. Since they chose to remain anonymous, we cannot ask them any questions. As such, I’d like to make a motion to dismiss the petition for insufficient reason.”
“Seconded,” three separate representatives called out. Unsurprisingly, Ricardo wasn’t one of them.
“All those in favor of the motion?”
“Aye,” everyone replied. I was relieved when the lion shifter’s voice joined the rest of us.
“All those against?”
There was silence.
“So moved.”
Seth rose from his chair and banged his fist against the table again. “Since the petition has been dismissed and it was the reason this emergency meeting was called, we’re adjourned.”
He turned swiftly and stormed from the room with Jared and Jane directly behind him. Carrick took my hand as we stood, sending a furious glare towards Ricardo before the lion shifter made a quick exit. Damien waited for us near the door, and it was funny to see how the other man darted around him.
“That went about how I expected,” he murmured as we walked towards the elevator. “The only twists were the declarations of love and your announcement that you plan to mate Audra.”
“And yet you didn’t look even the slightest bit surprised,” Carrick grumbled.
The dragon shifter shrugged his shoulders and stepped onto the elevator after the doors opened. When he raised a dark brow at the other council members waiting behind us, they backed away and let the doors close with only the three of us on board.
Bear Your Fate: McMahon Clan 4 (Fated Mates Book 7) Page 6