Page 40 of Brutal Alpha Beast
I’ve been fixated on the dead forest land for a while now.
“Aaron,” I instruct. “Gather the elders and the council. We need to have a meeting right away.”
He nods, and everyone dissipates.
Danielle begins to walk off, but I stop her.
“Wait,” I say. “You should come with too. If you want. I think your insight will be valuable.”
She looks startled at first, her pale lips opening and closing in an undeniably cute way. I know what those lips taste like. I know how they feel. I can’t shake them out of my damn mind.
“Okay,” she nods. “Yeah. Sure.”
Once we gather around the table in our meeting room, it’s obvious that the elders and my Betas can sense the tense air. They murmur to each other quietly, muttering theories to one another, serious and confused frowns sweeping across each of their faces.
I wish I still had the enhanced sensing capabilities that Danielle temporarily gave me. Man, that thing was so powerful.
As I stand, the room falls silent. Everyone turns to face me, but the only person I truly register is Danielle.
“I know you’ve all been worried about where we’ve been, and noted, Aaron, I’ll be sure, next time, to bring my phone.”
I smile a little, but I don’t wait for the joke to land because I realize that it’s not the right place or time.
I go on to tell them about the shadow monsters, how we accidentally got lost, and how, with Danielle's help, we made our way home. Danielle deserves praise for her help; I’m still in awe of what she did.
I tell them about the dead forest land, to which I receive even more murmurs and shock.
“So what does this mean?” A beta asks. “Do we need to apply more solution?”
I sigh. “Yes, but I think we need to do more. The situation is worse than we thought. We need a better plan, one that attacks the root of the problem rather than just covering it up.”
“But we’ve tried,” another voice says.
“We need to try harder.”
“How are we supposed to defeat these monsters?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
I hate that I don’t have a definitive answer for them, but all I know is that danger is looming, and we need to work smarter and faster. We need to start investigating more.
“We should set up meetings,” Aaron says. “With the witches and with Sawyer’s pack. There must be something we can do to figure out what’s going on with the land. Or a source we can find that’ll tell us more about how to defeat the shadow monsters.”
I nod. “We need to keep thinking, with each other, and when we’re alone. I’ve called this meeting to spark the discussion, to raise the urgency, but we can’t panic. Aaron will coordinate meetings, we’ll double up on guards, and we’ll figure out what we can do with magic to protect ourselves more. I don’t know why the shadow monsters didn’t come for the rest of the pack yesterday, but we need to make sure that we’re prepared for them if they come again.”
The rest of the meeting continues with more brainstorming. Danielle stays pretty silent, even when the discussion of magic comes up.
I get it. She’s not used to being in a shifter council meeting, and she probably doesn’t know what she’s allowed to share.
After the meeting is adjourned, I let everyone leave first, then sit back and contemplate in my chair.
There’s gotta be something I’m not thinking of.
I feel like I’m failing, but failing, I know, is always on the verge of finding something…
Danielle has gotten up from her chair, and I watch as she walks through the hall. Her footsteps echo, her body sways.
I trace her movement instinctively with my eyes, and then suddenly, she stops.
