Page 38 of Bitter Discord

Iwas tired of mingling well before the hour was called. Zuri led the discussion opening.

“We’ve had an hour to introduce ourselves to each other… for the most part.” She gave me a look. When I had come back downstairs, I had gone to the three quiet men in the back of the room and hung out with them, not wanting to play politics. Everett, Coyotl, and Tokabi were already my favorite people. Hannah had gone to talk to Marnar, Roland, and the rest of that crowd, refusing to look at me again.

“I’m not used to this yet,” I said, genuinely meaning it. This was very much out of my depth. “I’m sure I’ll get to everyone today.”

“Of course.” Zuri didn’t roll her eyes, but I knew she wanted to. “What topic do we want to start with? This is an open floor.”

“I want your announcement,” Chao reminded her.

“I want to know more about what happened with the witches earlier this year,” Roland countered. “That was troubling to hear about. Do we know any more about how they’re hiding the smell of their magic? I’ve had my staff institute security measures at home, and I’ve backed away from dealings with witches, but since the news and warning came from the Tribunal, I’ve heard nothing.”

“I want to know what’s being done to keep the secrets of the werecats from being exposed any more than they have been to both the werewolves and the humans. Now they know we exist, we have to dance around them like the fae do,” Ysabel said, giving me a hard look. “I have a few suggestions.”

“Okay, thank you,” Zuri said, lifting a hand. The three or four people ready to speak remained silent.

“Is there a topic you want to start with, or is it my choice?” I looked at my sister. They had jumped out with the questions, covering nearly every topic.

“I think the situation in Dallas is the most pressing. You were there, so you might offer them helpful advice the Tribunal might have missed in their press release. I know Father wrote some tips and tricks as well for those concerned, but again,”—she gestured at me—“firsthand experience.”

Nodding, I stood up and looked at the room.

“What happened in Dallas took time and was two separate but equally important problems,” I explained. “The first problem is the most concerning because it opens up the potential for other problems. There was a witch family living outside of Dallas, on the southwest side of the city, who developed a way to mask the scent of magic, hiding it from our sense of smell. In the mad rush of that night, the majority of the family died. We kept the last one alive that night. She answered several questions for us, but not that one.”

“Why wasn’t she kept for further interrogation?” Abraham asked. “Why weren’t others in the coven captured?”

“We didn’t capture more because we didn’t have the resources or the time,” I answered, remembering the horror of the night. “The family was attempting to permanently bind the Alpha to their will, doing the spell because they realized they had drawn attention they didn’t want. Most of the witches died in an attempt to stop the spell. I was nearly caught in it, waiting on backup.” I curled my fingers, still remembering how the Change had been trying to pull me. It hadn’t been a full moon, but it had been close enough, only one night off. Between that and the magic done, I had been fighting a silent battle not to lose myself by the time the witches started dying.

“So, when my backup came, people died. For the majority of the fight, there were only three werewolves and me. It started with only two, me and a werewolf who wasn’t Heath. He and I weren’t allies before April. We didn’t have the necessary people.”

“You could have captured the last one and just didn’t think. It’s okay to admit you were foolish.” Marcia was so good at talking down to everyone.

I looked at Zuri.

“You can tell them as much or as little as you think is necessary,” my sister said, sitting down. “The reason the witch died is a decent one. If anyone in this room has been a parent, they would understand. Not even our father questioned that decision.”

“Heath Everson ordered the strongest wolf there to kill her… and make it hurt,” I told the room. “He had dealt with a coup four years ago when his oldest son betrayed him. We discovered his son had been under similar spells as Tywin, the Alpha in charge of Dallas and the one the witches targeted. They had forced his son to turn against him like they bent Tywin to their will to prepare him for capturing his mind.”

“And you let him kill the witch when she could have been useful,” Ysabel said, shaking her head. “This is what everyone worries about. You’re sleeping with him, and he might as well be your Alpha now. How are we to trust—”

“I let him kill the witch because I was the one who killed his son,” I snapped, hating how they assumed my motivation. “I killed an innocent man who had been a victim of a plot we didn’t know was unfolding. I killed his oldest child to defend his youngest. I live with it every day when I look at the Everson family and know they’re missing a piece, and I was the one who made sure of it. He didn’t order me to do anything. I stood aside because it was the only honorable thing I could do. He deserved to avenge the death of his child.”

No one had a comment for that.

Zuri cleared her throat, moving to stand beside me.

“My mother, Subira, is working on a way to replicate what they’ve done. Maybe if we have some insight to how another may do it, it could help us engineer ways to uncover when it’s being used.”

“The Tribunal is working on the second part of the problem. This witch family was going to use a werewolf pack to create an army compliant with their will. It would have run over the continent and gained in number before anyone could think to stop it. If they had brought the pack back into Dallas, they could have pushed their numbers into the thousands. The way the witches spoke was… worrying, as if others were developing similar techniques and plans. They talked about how it was their destiny to control us, that we belonged to them. Werewolves were more useful to this plan, but we don’t know if it will be a werecat next.” I sighed, pushing a hand through my hair. Looking over the room, I tried to think of where to go from there.

“Not that we’ll know,” Marcia taunted. Someone made anooohnoise like we were still in high school. The comment was entirely designed to undermine me and poked a sore spot, but it didn’t hurt. It just pissed me off.

“Yeah, mistakes were made that night. We didn’t know what we were getting into, and we didn’t have time for backup. They already had an Alpha. They had captured Heath earlier in the day. The trouble unfolding was something we needed to act against quickly. The full moon being one night away was a timer we had to race against. We either acted to stop it, or we fought a war. Not just us. Humans and fae, and vampires… So, bitch and moan about the mistakes all you want, but if we hadn’t acted, none of us would be here right now. We’d be in the trenches, hoping the werewolf army in the millions hadn’t caught our scent yet.” I growled at the room, but my eyes landed on Marcia.

“Against their will, they would have hunted us down and attempted to exterminate us. New werewolves, who would have no idea what happened to them, would die. Children would be bitten and Changed or just murdered in their beds until governments toppled. So bitch and moan all you like, Marcia, daughter of a wannabe god, but when you close your eyes tonight, you better be thankful you aren’t led by cowards and that I had an ally like Heath willing to fight alongside me.”

Marcia’s mouth dropped open.

Marnar stood and started clapping first. Abraham joined her, then Everett, Coyotl, and Tokabi. Roland and Ysabel were more grudging, neither looking impressed, but they stood and gave me the round of applause. Chao didn’t stand, but he clapped slowly in his seat. Andon whooped as he smacked his hand on the table. Hannah stood in the back, giving me a respectful nod when we made eye contact.

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