Whoever they are, they’re in a hell of a hurry.
It takes almost twenty minutes to get to the restaurant Dante saw my uncle at. I recognize Everett’s car in the parking lot, so the odds of him still being inside are high… along with the odds that whomever he was meeting with is still here as well.
I stride into the restaurant, Dante and Brody flanking me. The floor plan is open enough that I can’t miss my uncle’s big head over in the corner, so I head immediately in that direction.
Three other men are sitting at the table with him. Two of them I don’t recognize, but the third is William. I don’t know why I’m surprised to find that snake here, but I am. This level of blatant disrespect absolutely can’t be tolerated. I give my uncle and the elder an icy stare, then turn my attention to the other two.
The first guy is on the scrawny side with a pinched face and appears to be somewhere in his fifties or maybe sixties. The second guy must be the Alpha Dante heard Everett addressing. He’s only older than me by maybe ten years, but there’s something cold and intense about him that gives him an almost palpable aura of control and power.
I’m less than ten feet away from the table before Everett even notices me. His eyes widen and he blusters for a moment, then plasters on a big, fake smile.
“Julien, I’m so glad—”
“Cut the shit, Everett,” I snap, my gaze shifting from him to William. “What the hell is going on here? Who gave either of you permission to invite non-pack members into my territory?”
Everett chuckles nervously, but William gives me a tight-lipped smile.
“As the hearing is being held here, the normal rules don’t apply,” he says. “I thought it best to—”
“Shut up, William.” I turn my attention on the dark-haired Alpha. “I don’t appreciate you coming into my territory without announcing yourself.”
“I apologize for the oversight,” he replies smoothly. “You’re Alpha Matisse, I assume?”
“Yes.” I narrow my eyes. “Now, who the hell are you? I know you’re not the Alpha of Keir’s former pack.”
“You’re right. I’m not,” he says. He stands, a placating smile on his face, and holds his hand out across the table. “I’m Alpha Stevens.”
Rage floods my body. This is the guy trying to buy Keir.
I ignore his hand, curling my upper lip back to flash my teeth. “You won’t take my mate from me. Keir is mine.”
Stevens lets out a mocking chuckle. “I believe that is yet to be determined. Besides the fact that I had him first, there’s something else you aren’t considering.” His expression goes dark and malicious. “What’s the saying? Possession is nine-tenths of the law?”
Fifty-Five
Julien
Ifitwouldn’tbringall sorts of trouble down on my head, I’d leap across the table and tear this guy to pieces. I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but based on his comment about having Keir first, I think this guy might be the Alpha that William claimed Keir ‘seduced.’
If he is… Keir is only twenty-one now and he left his pack at seventeen. This sleazeball is at least in his mid-thirties. I already knew there was more to the story—and that William was full of shit—but doing the math makes it very clear that Keir was taken advantage of and there was no so-called seduction.
But that’s not what I need to be concentrating on right now.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at Stevens.
The other Alpha smirks. “Exactly what I said.”
“Stop playing these childish word games,” I say, a growl rising in my throat, “and tell me what the fuck you meant. Possession of what?”
“Of the only thing that matters,” replies Stevens. “I have Keir.” He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Didn’t you even notice the absence of your supposed mate?”
My wolf’s earlier agitation suddenly makes sense. The mating bond was warning me that something was wrong, but I was so distracted by that damn lawyer…
My nostrils flare as I fight to keep my rage and frustration under control. I can’t risk going furry in public. “Do you mean myfatedandclaimedmate? You have gone too far. The consequences of abducting another Alpha’s mate—”
“Do not apply in this circumstance,” says the scrawny shifter, speaking up for the first time. There’s a glint in his eyes as he looks me up and down, his upper lip curling with distaste.
“And who the fuck are you to tell me—”
