Page 97 of Confusing Hearts

“That’s not even possible,” Cedric said.

“Believe what you want. I know it. Jenna knows it. She is my true mate,” I said stubbornly.

“At this point, it doesn’t really matter,” Ambrose, a Pack Council member, added. “What does this mean to the wolves?”

“Can’t we just not show up? Force his hand to bring the fight here? See just how serious he is?” I asked.

Patrick spoke up. “I’ve already put in some inquiries. He’s serious, Chase. There’s movement on the East Coast. It appears the felines are rallying behind him in force.”

“What does he want? I mean, seriously, what does he hope to accomplish from this?” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I wanted to know, but I needed to.

“He wants his daughter back and you dead,” Cedric said.

I growled, but Patrick and Cole Anderson held me back when I started to lunge toward the threat, even knowing that Cedric was not the actual threat to me.

“Get a grip on it, Chase.” Kyle snarled, letting his damn Alpha power subdue me once again. “He won’t get Jenna. I promise you. How many are we talking, Patrick?”

“Hundreds, possibly thousands. Every flight into the area is booked. We’ll have to go in on the ground. The area chosen is surprisingly far more wooded than you’d expect. We can plan for an aerial attack as well as ground. The cats will take to the trees, I’m certain of it. It will make it much harder to defend ourselves,” Patrick briefed.

“This is not just a Westin threat,” Cedric spoke, again. “They directed this to the Grand Council. We do not take lightly to such things. Kyle has agreed to temporarily lift the ban on the Bulgarians and their allies for this. Representatives from the fifteen largest packs worldwide will arrive tonight. We will formulate our plan then. First, we have to unite the packs before we can face an external enemy and hope to survive it.”

The meeting ended shortly after. Unbeknownst to most, Patrick and Cole Anderson, as pack Betas and heads of security, had a lodge built just past what we considered our pack line. This was to be a place for visiting packs and representatives, a neutral territory that kept them off Westin land while trying to mend the breaks in the Grand Council alliances caused from the war with the Bulgarians. Our foreign visitors would be putting the place to use while everything got sorted.

I was relieved they would not be on Westin soil. Still too close, but better than the alternative. The Bulgarians had tried to kill Kelsey and had almost killed my father in the process. I was not ready to forgive all that had happened, and neither were most Westins. If they truly accepted the temporary peace treaty being discussed to go to war against the big cats for my mate, I would have to find it in my heart to make peace with them, because I would have an eternal debt owed to each and every one of them.

When I was finally dismissed, I headed out to the living room and found Mom and Jenna with their heads together on the couch looking over the pictures Jenna took of Zander for the hundredth time.

“Princess, can I talk to you in private for a minute?” I asked her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, clearly feeding off my own anxiety.

“Private,” I said.

“It’s for the best, dear. We can finish this later,” Mom told her. I think that terrified her even more. I had no doubt my father had relayed the information to my mother already through the telepathic connection of their bond. Someday Jenna and I would be able to do that, too.

I led the way upstairs, double-checked to ensure the dampener was still on, and sat her down on the bed.

“You’re really freaking me out, Chase,” she admitted. “What’s going on?”

I didn’t want to tell her, but she had to know. “Your father has found out about us.”

“What? Already? The girls swore to keep it a secret,” she said, starting to cry. “How bad is it, Chase?”

“Worse than we imagined. He’s notified our Grand Council with declaration of war against the wolves. He’s rallying the big cats together and we’re to meet for battle this Saturday in some obscure areas of the badlands in North Dakota.”

“Why? What does he hope to gain from that?”

“You,” I said simply. “He wants you back and me dead.”

She gasped and started to sob. I dropped to my knees before her and hugged her close. “I won’t let it happen, sweetheart.”

When her initial sobs started to subside, she reached in her pocket and took out her phone. It was too late to stop her when I realized what she was doing. I could hear the phone ringing on the other side.

“Is he insane? Has he lost his mind? Please tell me this is dementia or some onset to Alzheimer’s, Mother. What is Daddy thinking, calling a war against the wolves?”

“Jenna?” the woman asked, like she wasn’t sure she believed it was really her.

“Yes, Mother, it’s me, Jenna. Do you know anything about this?” she asked.

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