Page 43 of I Will Make You Mine
“You have to let them think we’re on their side,” I said.
“Oh, I plan to do just that.” He looked down when his cell phone rang. He smirked. “Speak of the devil.” He looked at me. “Get Elijah.” He answered it, turning it on speaker and placing it upright on his desk so I could be in on the conference call if need be.
I texted Elijah for him to come to the office. I stayed, so that I was supporting Deacon.
“Selena, such a pleasure to hear your voice,” Deacon said.
“As charming as you are, Deacon, I’m calling to get your response. Are you in or not?” I heard the sultry voice of the only female Alpha in our wolf territories, which meant she was one bad bitch.
“Yes, I’m in,” Deacon said. “Josef has disrespected all wolves by allowing that vampire inside of his territory… our territory. He needs to go. Only thing, what do we do with the rest of his pack who may survive the attack?”
I smiled as I watched Deacon in action. He was playing the field better than any NFL coach. I turned when the door opened and Elijah walked in. Both Deacon and I motioned to the cell phone on his desk to indicate to Eli that Deacon was in the middle of a call. Elijah nodded and sat down in the other leather chair beside mine.
“The other wolves will have a choice to make, won’t they? Swear allegiance to the other Alphas, or die,” Akio said.
Both Deacon and I arched our eyebrows, because I realized that we were indeed in a conference call with not just one Alpha, but maybe all of them with the exception of Josef.
“Akio,” Deacon acknowledged. “Am I to assume that Laurent is also included in this call?”
“I am,” Laurent said. “We all know the main thing on your mind, Deacon, is territory. What will happen to Josef’s territory. Well, we’ll have to rid it of vampires first, that’s for sure.”
“Most definitely,” Akio added.
He was the oldest Alpha among us at sixteen hundred and seventy-eight years old. Not to mention, he had a pack of two-thousand strong. This cleansing of Josef was about to get very ugly. Really, Akio was powerful enough to take Josef’s pack out. And the other Alphas could handle Josef personally because they were all older than he was. Akio had the largest pack, followed by Josef, then Selena and Laurent.
They really didn’t need us, but they wanted to drag Deacon into this to see where he stood. Maybe they had heard rumors about him visiting Théoden at his home or hotel. Maybe they heard about Théoden’s sons coming to Deacon’s club and searching for clues about their deceased vampire. I wasn’t willing to shake that feeling Deacon said he had. He normally had amazing intuition.
“Why do you need us?” Elijah asked out of the blue.
“Is that your mate?” Akio inquired.
“He is, and he did ask a good question,” Deacon replied. “Seems like the three of you have been collaborating on this idea to overthrow Josef for some time now. You’re all powerful enough to do so without me and my tiny pack. Why do you need us?”
“An affront to one of us, is an affront to all of us. Your mate should know that, as should you,” Selena remarked.
“Are you afraid, Deacon?” Laurent asked.
“Don’t insult me, Laurent. Don’t ever question my courage or integrity,” Deacon snapped. “I’m fully aware of my role in the solidarity. But really, where was that solidarity when you first decided to plan this attack? I can’t help feeling my pack and I are being dragged in at the last minute. Just wanted to know why?”
“We’re still going over the basics. No need to feel left out, Deacon,” Akio said.
“The basics?” Elijah asked.
“I see your mate has assumed equal duties to you,” Laurent said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Don’t any of your mates run your packs by your sides?” Elijah asked. I think he was generally curious, as was Deacon, as this was their first and would be their only relationship.
“Mine knows his place,” Akio said.
“I’m by my mate’s side, Elijah, just as you are.” That was Darla, Laurent’s mate.
“Samuel is tending to pack issues. Now that we’ve all sounded off on our mates, can we get back to business?” Selena asked.
“Yes, of course, the business of territory,” Deacon said. “So, with the four of us attacking his, who gets it?”
“I think we’ll have to come together again and reformat the wolf territories to give us each equal shares and new land. So, for those of you with businesses and pack members that happen to reside outside of your new territory, well, you’ll just have to relocate them,” Akio said. “I think that is the best course of action.”
“Relocate, eh? There needs to be lush forest lands as well as functioning cities,” Deacon pointed out.
