Page 70 of Her Males

“And this information is accurate?” a man sitting farther down the table asks.

“Yes,” I say. “Do you not have female births? I assume you would, given the rumors about how well you treat women.”

The room falls silent. Every pair of eyes is on me, and I nervously twist my fingers into the fur on my shoulders. I shouldn’t have asked that.

“Shifters don’t speak about their females,” Mammon says.

Kato shifts in his seat. “We’ll overlook that,” he decides, making eye contact with each shifter male. None look happy, but they don’t argue.

Fuck.I pissed them off.

“And if it comes to the females and your males?” a man across the table asks. “Whom will you choose?”

I gulp, my throat dry and face hot. “I believe I’ve already answered that by coming here.” The words burn my throat, but they’re true. “I’m committing treason by sharing this information with you.”

Kato fingers through the report, his eyes scanning over each page.

“How can we help?” he asks Mammon.

She perks up, and I pull out a rough proposal she created earlier.

It’s not much, but it outlines a basic plan for securing ownership of the Seekers organization and a few potential regulations that could be enforced immediately. The more significant changes will take time, but with the shifters and elves on our side, we’ll be in a place to move quickly.

The shifters are careful not to touch my skin as they launch themselves onto the stone table and politely take the papers from my hand.

Mammon handles the conversation with ease, brainstorming quick ideas and eagerly accepting their adjustments. My heart soars as I watch them grab writing utensils to mark up their sheets.

They’re taking this seriously.

Despite a good portion of the conversation going over my head, I can’t stop myself from grinning as they make their way through each section of the proposal.

“We won’t commit to anything until we see your luck with the elves,” Kato says, speaking for the group. “We can provide men to fight, but we don’t have the financials to support a war.”

A war?

Mammon nods, her eyes darting to me. “We can stronghold Aziel into paying. He’s not looking for a war, and now’s the perfect time to strike. With you and the elves backing me, he’ll have no other options.”

I feel like vomiting, but I force myself to keep my chin up and shoulders back.

“Aziel was looking to work with you on making a plan to help the females,” I tell the shifters. “I’m sure he’ll offer financial support without the threat of war.”

I doubt it helps, but I want it to be known that the Wrath Trio were trying to fix the problem. They were going about it all wrong, but there were attempts. Mammon’s making it sound like they’ll have to fight Aziel and force his support, but I don’t think that’ll be the case.

At least, I hope not.

Mammon clears her throat and shoots me a sharp look. “They sat on this information for over fifty years,” she interjects.

“I can confirm I’ve had recent meetings with Aziel and Silas,” Kato says. “They didn’t outright share this information, but they did say they were conducting studies on the female decline and had some promising early results.”

Kato eyes me, his gaze heavy, before turning back to the room.

__________

Mammon helps to steady me as we materialize in her sitting room.

“That went well,” she says.

I agree. The shifters seemed receptive, and our meeting lasted hours.

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