Page 93 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“It’s me, little dude. I have something for your mommy.” I waved the unlimited black credit card, not that plastic meant anything to a cat. “I’m going to leave it for her with a note and be out of your hair. Fur. Whatever,” I muttered to myself as I crossed the space, feeling a little bit like a crazy person for talking to a kitten.

I had solid control before I met Leigh. Not Reed levels, but solid. I certainly didn’t lose my shit and shove people against the wall in a red haze because they’dspokento someone. Not ever. And here I’d done it to Lucien more than once. He had a reputation, sure, but I needed to get a grip.

I dropped the card with her name on it on the nightstand and pulled out the next note, hesitating. I didn’t want to violate her space, but if I was already in here to leave the credit card, did a note hurt or help? Screw it. I tucked the note beneath the card and made for the door.

If she was mad about it, she could yell at me. I’d welcome anything that meant she was actually going to communicate at this point. Silence from her was way more unnerving than her usual happy chatter. She never stopped talking, and while that might bug some people, I liked it. I always knew what was on her mind, and her voice made my wolf happy.

This silence, the cold shoulder… I hated every fucking minute. I snuck a scratch behind Nugget’s ears and then carefully shut the door behind me, heading to Kane’s suite for our meeting.

Lucien had beaten me in there, and he glared as I leaned against the wall opposite the seat he’d taken near the window.

Kane let the tension lie, giving us both a cocked eyebrow and nothing more as he poured his own cup of coffee from the lavish tray his staff had brought up for the meeting. Reed and Dirge walked in as he took his first sip.

“Is Brielle joining us?” Reed asked, casting an eye at the unmade bed on the other side of the suite.

Dirge snorted. “No, she’s asleep in my bed next to Shay. I got booted out because ‘somebody woke her up before the sun and Jesus,’” he said drily.

Kane laughed, and I smirked at the idea of the musclebound alpha being ousted from his mate’s bed before dawn by the tiny little omega. It cheered me up more than anything had since Celeste showed up and ruined everything.

“Laugh all you want. I’ll return the favor and sic Shay on you tomorrow.”

“Utterly terrifying,” Reed said as he kicked back and crossed one ankle over his knee. “What’s on the docket for today? One of my restaurants in New York lost the GM, and I need to get on a call in less than half an hour to put out a fire.”

“We’ll keep it brief,” Kane said. “Lucien, what’s the fallout?”

Lucien shook his head. “They’re not happy. The council called an emergency meeting for ten a.m., and it’s an all hands. The brief didn’t say much, other than multiple complaints have been filed by the Hungarian pack and, slightly more surprisingly, one of the Indian packs. Apparently, there were more traitors among your father’s allies than we knew.”

“Nice of them to out themselves for us,” Dirge said.

“Indeed. I’ll keep notes and let you know any names on the complaints.”

“I appreciate that. But I’m not too concerned. Tribunals are pack law, and they don’t have a leg to stand on. By rights, I could have executed him simply for refusing to pledge his loyalty and submit to questioning.”

Dirge spoke up. “You did the right thing going the extra mile with the proof. His own pack turned on him. That has weight. People will see you as fair and thorough, not the inexperienced pup he was trying to write you off as.”

Kane nodded thoughtfully, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Well, it’s done now. All we can do is go forward. Any word on the investigation into the ODL?” He directed the question to Lucien.

“Not a thing, but we’re supposed to get news next week. Any more thoughts about how we’ll handle it in the event they find no wrongdoing?”

“A follow-up petition, obviously,” Reed interjected. “But we need to be ready with what specifically we want to ask for. The likelihood of them doing away with the law up front is next to nothing. It might take years of bargaining to get the kill order removed.”

Lucien winced, clearly not pleased about years of his life spent in a council seat.

I stepped forward off the wall, raking a hand through my hair. “We should wait for the women and have a larger discussion. It directly affects three of them.”

Everyone fell silent at the reminder of how much our pack was screwed if we couldn’t work this out inside the law. Bri was an omega, both Leigh and Olivia were branded with an omega seal, and our unborn daughter was the next omega. But Lucien just looked confused. Granted, he still didn’t know why it was so personal to Pack Blackwater, but it impactedallwolves.

We could not afford to fuck this up.

Kane nodded his agreement. “Let’s regroup after Lucien gets out of the emergency session with everyone. I’m sure we can come up with a game plan.”

We all broke up to go our separate ways, but even as I headed to do my morning rounds of the pack’s security, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were about to get bent over a barrel by the Interspecies Governing Council.

Call it a sixth sense, call it a gut feeling. A shitstorm was headed our way, and I didn’t want to be caught without an umbrella.

FORTY-SIX

Leigh

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