Page 11 of Heartless

But when we got to the administration block, the principal’s secretary directed us to a meeting room down the hall. She left us at the door and at first I couldn’t take in all the faces, especially since both Jasper and Reed were sitting right across from me. But as I looked further along the polished table, I realized the other Pack Alphas were also in the room. Reed’s father, Nathan Marshall, was in a navy suit, looking more like an accountant than a pack leader. I was fairly certain the woman seated next to him was Callum’s mom. I didn’t know her name, but she had the same dark eyes and hair, and was beautiful in the way of an ivory statue. But even though she frowned at how closely I was standing to her son, it was the woman beside her who made my spine stiffen. Jasper’s mom, Gwendoline Arras. Marnie had once called her an icy blonde who can freeze your blood at twenty paces. But I’d also felt her heat, most recently when she slapped my face for endangering her sons on Den Night. And the glare she’d given me then was just as vicious now.

I dragged my gaze away and focused on Principal Bregman. He looked more like a soldier than a school administrator, especially with the fresh scar on his cheek, but he just directed us to two of the empty chairs at the table. When we were settled, he nodded in my direction. “Thanks for joining us, Ms. Marrow. Your grandfather wishes to check on you in light of the Black Den Pack’s attack. This is politically sensitive, to say the least, but most likely a formality.”

I tried not to squirm under the growing tension in the room. “Okay.” I looked at the only empty chair at the table. “Just so you know, I’ve never actually met my grandfather.”

“We’re aware,” Principal Bregman replied, “but he won’t be here in person.” Someone made a scoffing sound, like I was dense for thinking otherwise. I was pretty sure it was Jasper’s mom, but I kept my eyes glued to the principal. “While you’re here as a Marrow, it’s important that for this meeting we’re all on the same page.”

Instead of explaining what that was, he looked at Jasper, who leaned forward, his icy blue eyes fixed on me. I was so used to the hard alpha gold, I felt my heart leap at another glimpse of the old Jasper. The image of him kissing my hands stirred something in my belly, but there was no warmth in his voice as he said, “You’re here because they’ve asked to see you in person, Vail. But the Marrow delegate’s not to approach you or touch you. And you’re not to speak to him, unless I give you a nod.”

I wanted to bristle at both his hard tone and high-handed rules, but I sensed his unease was almost as bad as mine, and swallowed my anger. I’d learned enough about the Marrows to know this wasn’t going to be an easy meeting. “Do you know who he is?”

“Cyril Long,” Reed’s dad said from further down the table. His hands were folded, the lights glinting off his glasses so it was hard to read his expression. He sounded calm enough, but I figured he was at least as good as his son at hiding his emotions. “He was your grandfather’s enforcer and right hand for most of his life,” he went on. “He’s been lying low for the last few years, and there are rumors of retirement, but this kind of wolf never leaves the game. He’s ruthless, completely committed - and don’t take this personally, Vail - he’s vastly overqualified for a simple proof of life.”

“Which just goes to prove Jonathan is trying to keep the peace,” Jasper’s mom said with an irritated sigh. She drummed her long nails on the table, like this meeting was beneath her too, but she couldn’t hide the gleam in her eyes. “Put the cloak and dagger aside for a moment, Nathan, and accept this for what it is.” Her bright gaze darkened as it flicked dismissively over me. “This is clearly an excuse to bring our two clans closer together. And I for one think we should grab it with both hands.”

“So you’ve said, Mom.” Jasper was still watching me, but he sounded weary, and I felt a pang as he brushed a hand over his face. He suddenly looked too young to be carrying so much responsibility. Especially since his mother was frowning at him, instead of backing him up in front of the other pack leaders. But before I could dwell too long over their weird dynamic, Liam, the Clan Enforcer, stepped into the room. He was in full tactical gear, and just the sight of the black armor made my stomach clench. The campus was crawling with guards after the Denners’ attack, but this was just another reminder that a determined enemy would always find a way in.

Was Cyril Long my enemy?

My first thought was hell yes, because the man who entered with two of Jasper’s guards was the least human shifter I’d ever seen. He looked around Principal Bregman’s age, with thick white hair and craggy tanned skin. His eyes were a shade of very pale blue that was hard to meet for long. I was certain he was aware of everyone else in the room, but his unnerving focus settled on me and didn’t move. Even when Jasper slowly rose to his feet, that weariness now replaced by an air of menace. “You’ve seen her now, Cyril. She’s unharmed. You can take that back to your Clan Alpha, along with a message from me.” The enforcer finally turned towards him, and I had to bite my tongue to stop shuddering in relief. Of course, Jasper knew exactly how I felt, and leaned forward, knuckling the table, a knot pulsing in his temple. “You’re the last of your blood to come onto my lands uninvited. I don’t care what Marrow’s agenda is, or if he claims he had nothing to do with the Denners’ attack. Stay out of my territory. It will be your only warning.”

The air in the room was so supercharged I could barely breathe, but my grandfather’s enforcer just tipped his head a little. “They underestimate you,” he said with a small smile. He looked around the table, those frightening eyes crinkling with humor as he took in the pack leadership one by one. I half-expected Jasper’s mom to bat her lashes at him, but she seemed strangely subdued under his icy stare. Maybe it was because Cyril skipped right past her, settling for a moment on Reed’s dad, before jumping to Callum. He was still lounging back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head, but I was close enough to feel him tense up. Especially when Cyril’s attention dipped to my wrist. His eyes lingered there, like he could see the claiming mark beneath the leather of Callum’s awful jacket. “Jonathan doesn’t part with his family lightly. He expects Vail to join him at his estate before her eighteenth birthday. That’s in… three weeks, is it not?” No one spoke, and he nodded. “The Cold Moon. Or as the Marrow Pack think of it, the Long Night Moon.”

“Where Vail goes for Winter Break is up to her,” Jasper said shortly. “And if her grandfather wants her to ever consider a visit, he should stop sending assassins and feral wolves onto our lands.”

Cyril didn’t look offended by the labels, his gaze drifting from Jasper back to my wrist, before settling on my face. “You’re a strange pack,” he said finally, but then nodded towards Liam. “My business here is done.”

As they turned to the door, I let out a shaky breath, but the terrifying male chose that moment to pivot and lunge my way. He moved so fast, it was like he was made of shadow, and a roar went up as Jasper grabbed for his arm. Cyril ducked it without effort, his spine so fluid it was almost a dance step, and my heart was back to bursting out of my chest. Jasper’s enforcer was right behind him, but Principal Bregman had surged to his feet and there was no room to maneuver. Callum’s mom screamed and Jasper was swearing, but the enforcer’s icy stare had me pinned to my chair. I sensed Callum at my side – watching, waiting - but it was Reed who clambered over the table, his boots booming off the wood, and snatched me out of Cyril’s path. An arm like a tree branch swept me behind him as Reed’s big hand shot out and collared the enforcer. “Don’t fucking move.”

Cyril stopped dead, his hands raised in surrender. “So, you are a Ranger,” he mused, a note of admiration in his voice. “I mean her no harm, Alphason. Just a gift from Iris.” He waggled the fingers of his left hand and I realized he was holding a thin, silver bracelet. “Ask one of your old wolves about the ring of three.”

He threw it towards me, but Reed snatched it out of the air and tossed it on to Jasper. By that time, Liam had made it across the room and grabbed Cyril’s arm, pulling him back to the door. Liam’s face was murderous, his eyes narrowed to slits as he hissed, “We could skewer you for that trick, Long!”

“You could try,” he replied blandly, “but we’re all friends here.”

“You’re no friend of ours,” Jasper said harshly. “Get him out of here, Liam. And make sure the border closes behind him.”

The enforcers took each other’s measure in a single searing look, and I was glad I was behind Reed, until I remembered what had caused the near brawl in the first place. I tried to sidle past him, but his hand shot out again. “Not yet.”

I swallowed at the growl in his voice. “I just want the bracelet.”

Jasper was barring the door now the enforcers had left, but he turned and started towards me. It was a whole different feeling having a furious Jasper barreling towards me. His eyes weren’t so different to Cyril’s in color, but instead of conjuring a cold sweat, they vibrated with a heat that made my face burn. He’d claimed me before his pack leadership on the night of the Alpha and Omega dance, whisking me off to a private party that had ended with a collar around my neck. This time when he reached me, he tucked me tight against his ribs, Reed moving to stand on his other side. Callum watched us from his chair, the only one still unmoved by all the fuss. Something Jasper noticed with a long, calculating look.

“That was stupid,” he said to the room at large. “We should never have let him get so close.” My heart was beating hard for a different reason now. But when I tried to put a little distance between us, he held me tighter, until I could feel his words vibrating from his chest. “Let me be very clear. That’s the last time Vail gets treated like a political pawn. And if Marrow wants to force the issue, he’ll have to go through me to get to her.”

I looked up at him, as much to take in the deadly seriousness in his face as to avoid the condemning stare of his mom. But Jasper just took my hand and lay the bracelet across my palm. It was still warm from his skin, and my breath caught at its delicate beauty. And the three little charms attached to the chain: a wolf, a bear, and a perfectly formed cat.

Chapter Seven – Reed

As the other pack leaders left the room, I backed up against the wall and watched my dad watch Vail and Jay.

Even if he hadn’t just declared her off-limits, the Clan Alpha’s body language said it all. Wolf fire, containment collars and alpha triads aside, she was it. His one and only.

Vail was harder to read, but then, I was starting to wonder if I’d ever really understood her at all. Which was disturbing, since I was meant to be the calculating alphason. The one who planned everything out and covered all the bases. But all I felt lately was three steps behind and five minutes late.

In the last forty-eight hours, I’d lost the Packball Cup, my prospective mate, and a good chunk of my dignity, to say nothing of being attacked by a horde of Black Denners. And now I’d just gone toe-to-toe with Cyril ‘The Assassin’ Long, the most notorious enforcer on the continent.

“Clan Alpha, might I have a word?” My dad asked, and when Jay nodded, Cal got to his feet, his lip curling as Vail made no move to join him. But it was pretty clear our friend was now in the Clan Alpha’s crosshairs. Especially after Cyril Long oozed his way across the room like crap through a keyhole - and not so much as a twitch from Cal to pull his mate from harm’s way. No, he’d left that up to me. And I’d gone half-berserker, pounding over the table like a Ranger recruitment poster.

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