Page 71 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

“You’re telling me. Old bastard didn’t even like Brigitte.”

Brigitte?I mouthed the question to Reed.

“His motorcycle,” he answered with an eye roll.

“Motorcycle, girlfriend—regardless, she was insulted,” Lucien said, picking up on our sidebar conversation.

“More to the point—” Kane cut us off from the rabbit trail with rage in his eyes. “He refused to see an emissary of the high alpha, appointed with the royal seal.”

“Something isn’t right, and it may be more than yourparents’ murder,” Gael said. “You know those old windbags don’t like the thought of bowing to a younger alpha. They respected your father, but there have been arguments for years that the high alphaship should have passed to one of them, not you, until you were ‘of age,’ whatever the hell that means.”

“I remember, but they’re too damn late. More than forty Alphas have already pledged their packs to me.”

“But not all of them,” I said. “What about the European packs?”

Kane leveled a questioning gaze on me. “Some were present, and they pledged along with the rest.”

I nodded slowly, thinking. “I’ve got some contacts back in the old country from when I was still an enforcer for Pack Caelestis. I could reach out, ask them to sniff around and see what the rumblings are. Discreetly, of course. But whatever they find, we should probably make time to go over there and get the remaining pledges. Once you control all the pack bonds, they won’t be able to pull this sort of shit.”

Kane nodded gravely. “I’d appreciate any help you can offer. Reed can get you a phone.” I expected anger or more bluster from someone as young as Kane with this much on his plate, but his father had trained him well. He was calm, if visibly troubled by the update.

“Anything else for me, Alpha?” Lucien asked, the sound of an engine revving coming over the line.

“No, Lucien. Keep your head down and your ears open. Call me immediately if anything changes.”

“Will do.” The sound of tires squealing came through the line before the click of him hanging up, which left us in heavy silence.

Gael was the first to speak. “So, we’re heading to Europe. Can’t say I’m thrilled about going to the ODL’s home turf, frankly.”

“Neither am I,” Kane admitted. “But an interpack war can’thappen. Our populations aren’t so great anymore that our species can handle sustained conflict.”

“Brielle might be able to change that, not that I’m condoning war,” Reed added hastily. “But if Jada is right, if she’s going to affect packs around her, save the mothers like she did Gracelyn… in ten years, we might be looking at a significantly different supernatural landscape.”

I froze momentarily as my own terror of fathering a child and having the Fetya snatch it away reared its ugly head. Brielle was certain she’d prevented the possibility, but until we knew the Fetya’s stance for sure … it would remain the stuff of my nightmares.

“We have to survive for that to happen,” Gael interjected. “And right now, we’re reacting, dodging, just trying to stay on our feet. We need a center of power, with defenses and weapons. Backup beyond the seven of us would be great too.”

“What did you have in mind?” Kane asked.

“Your ancestral seat.”

Kane blanched. “In Romania? You want to move Pack Blackwater out of Alaska?”

Gael leaned forward, both forearms resting on his thighs. “Not necessarily, but Kane, you’re also the Alpha of your father’s pack. They can’t be left alone, without leadership. Surely you’ve thought about what would happen if…” He waved his hand uneasily, not wanting to remind Kane of his father’s untimely passing.

“I thought I would have more time.”

“Well, you don’t, unfortunately. You?—”

Kane held up a hand, stopping Gael midsentence. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying I don’t have all the answers yet. For now, I think Dirge is right. We should schedule a visit. We can set up shop at the castle, of course. But… I’m not making any permanent decisions while we’re under the gun.”

I couldn’t agree more. “Smart. Moving too fast is a great way to make mistakes.”

Kane nodded his acknowledgment. “Shall we go fill in the women? We could join them for lunch. I need my mate’s touch right about now.” He rubbed his chest as if he could feel an ache there in her absence, even though she wasn’t far.

“Sounds good to me. I’m starved.” Reed was on his feet in a flash as I carefully turned to open the door to our clown car of an office.

But before I could step out, Kane stopped me. “Dirge, stay a moment?”

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