Page 59 of Never Submit

I slide a chip between my lips, crunching as silently as I can and leaning my head to the door. Not that I need to get closer. I hear every word without issue. My stomach gives another growl and I placate it with the chips until it falls silent.

“There was no way for you to have known she’d change. Just as there was no way to know what kind of changes the Moonstone would make in her,” Torin adds. “I know you were just as surprised as I when she said it.”

“No, I didn’t know. Is that what you want to hear?” Mathis sounds ready to explode. “In this case, I have no secrets. She surprised the hell out of me when she said she absorbed the Moonstone.”

“So how do we get it back?” Torin says.

Mathis groans, and then, “I’m not sure we can. It seems to me if the Goddess chose Ren for some kind of favor, then we’re shit out of luck when it comes to retrieving the gem.”

The tension in the room is thick enough to cut, evenfrom here, but I hold myself back from interrupting their little meeting.

Their fault, I reason. They shouldn’t talk this loud when I’m within earshot. And they shouldn’t talk about me. I’ve been left out of the meeting.

It’s bullshit.

I can’t stop munching and force myself to consider this from a distance. Pretend I’m at the movies and I’m watching these characters develop. Hell, I’m one of them.

Do they really think the goddess chose to favor me?

I guess it seems that way, from the outside.

But inside, where worry ought to be, there’s nothing but a strange unsettled numbness. Like I’m still not ready to actually consider what it means to be a wolf, or to have the blessing of a goddess.

What kind of things could the Moonstone do now that it’s inside of me?

“Look, Mattie boy, I didn’t accept your call because I want to hear about your theories. It’s time we put aside our differences and come together for our common enemy, as you said. Now, the woman knows exactly what we’re up against. And if not specifics, she at least has a better idea than the rest of us. She’s been up close and personal with Andras and the Blood Moon pack.”

I stop chewing, my face screwing up in a scowl. I know Torin did not just call methe woman.

I have to carefully tamp down my emotions, unless Noble feels me through the mating bond. Except when I tug on the connection, he’s already there on the other end, very much present, a little amused, and a little concerned.

Keep quiet.

It’s like his voice is in my head.

Stop talking about me, I snap back.

But you’re very interesting, baby.

He knows where I am. And I’m about to yell at him for talking smack about me where I can hear when Noble comes back with,We’re in the office. Better start getting used to your new hearing.

“I agree,” Mathis adds. “I think the best thing we can do for our combined people is to garner a truce between our packs as soon as possible, and figure out what Ren knows about Andras. That way, we might be able to get ahead of the asshole and stop him before he causes more damage.”

Torin pauses, as though delighted at the news yet surprised to have this outcome so quickly.

“We’ll have to discuss the terms in more concrete detail,” Noble adds. “The terms being that someone keeps his hands and his intentions to himself.”

“I’m not promising you shit,” Dax argues hotly. “Especially not when it comes to yourmate.”

“Say it again like that and I’ll rip the teeth out of your mouth one by one,” Noble finishes.

“The two of you are going to have to put your personal feelings aside. This is business. The business of growth, expansion, and protection. Especially considering neither of us has the crystal in our possession any longer.” Torin sounds rational but barely contained.

I can almost see him in my head, stoic and implacable in his suit and tie.

“I’d like to get the details of our truce ironed out as soon as possible. You know where I am. As a show of good faith, I'll allow you and your beta to meet me here, in the penthouse,” Torin tells Mathis.

I’m so shocked, I drop the apple slice I’m holding and it falls to the pristine floor with a thud.

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