Page 44 of Shattered Fears

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kas placed the phone back down on the table. The cacophony of infuriated noises from behind him silenced, leaving the air in the room thick with tension. One of their own was being tortured, held against his will, and cut up like a lab rat. He was struggling to keep a lid on the anger surging through his veins. The black taste of retribution on his tongue.

“Brayden,” he growled.

“Kas.”

“Get the council leaders assembled. I want to address them.”

Brayden coughed to clear his throat. It irritated him.

“They’re already in sitting, discussing our situation. I was about to tell you before the call came in.”

He spun around to face his beta.

“They’re sitting without us? Discussing our issues without us being present?”

“Pretty much.”

Kas slowly nodded his head and got to his feet. He looked at Tyler and Scott. “Are the women and babies safe?”

“Teagan and Jessica are protecting Jane, Emma, Molly, and Selene. Ethern was with them until he was called into the meeting,” Tyler answered.

“Good,” Kas replied, his mind forming a plan. The door opened, Emma, Teagan, and Jessica walked in.

“What are you doing here?” Scott frowned at his mate and her two friends. “Who’s with the twins?”

“They’re safe, don’t stress. Selene, Molly, and Jane are watching them.” Emma came to her partner’s side, and Scott wrapped his arm around her.

“You need to go back and look after them.”

“You go and look after them.” Emma looked first at Scott with a raised eyebrow then switched to an intense stare. “I may be out of practice, but I’m still the best fighter in Glacial Blood. One of ours is taken, and I’m not going to sit back and watch when I can help.”

“Emma…” Scott started, but Kas cut him off.

“Brayden, is Selene able to protect Zahara and Morocco with everything happening to her in pregnancy?” he asked.

“Anyone tries to come near those kids and, in Selene’s current condition, there won’t be much left of them. My kid seems to have a built-in protection monitor for Zahara and Morocco as well as for his mother. I blame the crying: the constant crying.” Brayden smirked with pride at the child growing within his mate.

“Emma, your help will be invaluable. Before we go, though, I have to clear this with the Council. There’s the risk of us all being discovered. At present, they only have one shifter. With several, it will compromise any chance the Council has of keeping this quiet.”

“You think they’re going to say yes, just like that?” Jessica asked.

“Probably not, but I don’t really have a choice.”

They all got to their feet from where they were lounging: in one of the meeting rooms hidden in the heart of the Reichstag. In no time at all, they were outside the council chamber. The red light was on, signaling a meeting was underway. Without bothering to knock, Kas opened the door and marched into the center of the room. Flanked by Tyler, Teagan, Scott, Emma, Jessica, and Brayden, they looked a formidable force.

“Kaskae?” Ethern, who’d been mid-speech, queried their appearance with a knowing smirk on his face. The councilman had always been on their side, and it was nice to know that despite the dire situation it would continue.

“I heard the capture of one of my pack, and the exposure of another, was being discussed. I thought, as it involved my people, it was only fair I came along to listen to what you all decide should happen.” He turned to face the other members of the Council, those he specifically knew were against him and most likely in Nuka’s pocket. “And, then, tell you what I’m going to do about it.”

“Mr. Lincoln.” A particularly unpleasant human member of the board, named Samuel, stood and slammed his fist on the table in front of him. “Your presence here is not required. Your pack members have done enough damage to the Council already. I’d advise you to return from wherever you came and wait until we make a decision on how we’ll proceed with trying to neutralize the harm caused.”

“I think, Samuel, you’ll find Mr. Lincoln is well within his rights to sit in on this meeting,” Ethern responded while getting to his feet and leaning over his desk with confidence.

“I agree with Ethern. Kas should be allowed to join our discussion.” Hunter Windsor, a wolf alpha from another pack and a confidant of Kas’, lent his support. The polar bear hadn’t seen the wolf since an incident involving Teagan and the wolf’s bitch of a former wife. He looked well following the divorce, which was a complicated procedure in the shifter world. Kas bowed his head in a gesture of thanks for the support.

“Well, there’s a surprise,” Samuel moaned.

---