Page 35 of Bitter Discord

He nodded, and Zuri led him away as I locked the front door. I followed them to the meeting area in the basement, which I had made from the prison that was once there. When Zuri opened the door, I could hear the conversation, but all of it was benign, talking about the furniture or each other’s rides.

When Zuri and I walked in with Mason, the talking stopped. When I entered a room with werewolves, they bunched up into small groups. The werecats had evenly dispersed through the room, leaving the front of it to Zuri and me. I walked to it, looking over the room.

Day one had officially started.

13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Everyone here knows why Zuri and I wanted to talk to the werecats of the Americas. Clearly, not every werecat could or would attend, but word spreads quickly among our kind. We expect you to tell everyone you know the good and bad of the next few days.” I leaned on the wall. “Clearly, nothing you do will stop us from being the family in charge, but this is your chance to speak up about what you’re seeing and what you want to change. This is your chance to ask questions and get to know me.”

“Our goal isn’t to be formal for the entire visit,” Zuri added, standing beside me. “This mansion once hosted parties for the werewolf pack that claimed the city. It has a state-of-the-art pool, gym, home theater, and more for entertainment. We’ll break up and mingle between meetings on various topics. During the day, we’ll have snacks and refreshments. You are allowed to order food from any delivery service you wish. In the evenings, our final meal will be brought by one of the many fine-dining restaurants in the city, fully catered to give you a taste of what Dallas has to offer. You’ll have menus to put orders in for dinner after the lunch break.”

“For security measures, let me explain what Zuri and I have done to keep everyone safe.” I pushed my hands into my jacket’s pockets. “The BSA has agreed not to do surveillance on this area of Dallas, thanks to how politically charged this event is. Now, while they promised that, please be on alert for potential government agents, tails, and the like. If you feel any of them might be tracking you, let us know. I’ll handle it. We haven’t spoken to other supernaturals in the city about this gathering. There are no werewolves legally in the city right now. If you run across a lone wolf, please avoid it and let me know.”

“How will we know it’s not one of yours?” Marcia asked, sounding polite, but I knew it wasn’t.

“The werewolves of the rogue pack in my territory won’t be spying on anyone here,” I answered. “Therefore, it could only be a lone wolf or an agent of another pack. The members of the Everson Rogue Pack will be staying in my territory for the duration of this gathering. If you don’t leave on Friday, then yes, you could run into one. They do have lives and business in this city.” I smiled. “Speaking of my territory… If you go there while I am not there or with you, the pack is armed, and every round is silver. They’ve been given permission to shoot any werecat they see and don’t know. They only know two werecats in the state of Texas, and we’re both up here.”

“You would let them shoot us?” Lonan snarled.

“If you threaten them, yes,” I answered without a shred of guilt. It made me look bad, but it was better than admitting it after the fact if something happened. At least no one could say I wasn’t transparent with the dangers. “If you attempt to enter my territory and head for the center, thinking you’ll take it out from underneath me, Heath Everson is my fiancé, and we live together at the center of my territory. His daughter lives with us, and her safety is more important than anything.” I smiled at the asshole. “I would be more than okay with him shooting you to protect her.”

“They’ll kill to defend their homes and families, and they have the right to do that,” Zuri reminded the room. “That’s not something we’ve ever questioned before. Just because they inhabit the same space as Jacky doesn’t mean it’ll be her fault if you end up a rug. I can tell you that if you don’t antagonize them, they won’t bother us here.”

“We’re doing this in the city to keep everyone safe. If you don’t respect that, you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

“I love starting this with threats against our lives,” Lonan growled, looking around. “Anyone else?”

“I find it reasonable,” Everett replied, shrugging. “There’s no reason for anyone to head into her territory unless they plan on taking it. If that puts them in the house of a werewolf Alpha willing to shoot to kill… well, they should have accounted for that before attempting it.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Lonan growled.

“Everett, son of Soseono,” he answered. “I introduced myself earlier. I’ve met Jacky and Alpha Everson before in my territory.”

“And you didn’t kill him?” Roland asked. “In your own territory?”

“Didn’t have a reason to. He was there to help Jacky take a problem off my hands.”

“Yeah…” I dragged that word out, remembering the problem all too well. My human twin decided to murder someone on the operating table. “A problem…”

“He didn’t bring extra werewolves or act impolitely. He was all-around decent for the short time I was around him.” Everett was amazingly calm. “Back on the subject, I don’t understand why you think it’s their problem for telling you that a werewolf Alpha, who is a rogue of all things, is willing to defend his pack. You’re getting mad for no reason.” He directed that at Lonan. “If this is going to be how you behave all week, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Is there anything else someone wants to ask before we move on?” Zuri asked, stepping forward. I stayed on the wall, hands in my pockets. No one said anything, and Zuri sighed. “You all came here to listen and talk. We didn’t pick you. We invited more. There are a good number of things that need to be said.”

“What happened to your brother over the summer?” Marcia asked.

“Not the sort of question I wanted, Marcia. I was hoping for security-related discussion. As for Jabari, he and Aisha, daughter of Wekesa, became bonded mates this past summer. That isn’t a secret,” Zuri answered. “Anything else?”

Heads started to shake. The tension didn’t subside, but it loosened its iron grip on the room.

“Good. With the security discussion finished, let’s spend the rest of the morning mingling,” Zuri said, putting her hands together with a smile. “Not everyone here knows each other well. Some of us have personal history or connections, but it would be good for us to know each other better before we dive into deeper topics. We’ll take an hour and see what comes of it. Relax, get drinks. There are snacks as well, but if it’s not to your liking, let me know. We can have something quickly catered.”

It took a moment, but things relaxed. Everett got up and came toward me, shuffling and trying to appear shorter than he really was.

“You okay?” I asked him, wondering why he was uncomfortable.

“I’ve heard of Lonan. He’s a thousand years older than me,” he explained. “I don’t want to go home and have him pick a fight.”

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