Thankfully, Kieran wasn’t easily offended.He smiled and shook his head, then turned his attention to the problem at hand.“The clan lost both their leader and the leader’s second.That means that right now, they don’t have leadership.We have no idea who’s in charge, but someone has to be.”
“How can we be sure about that?”Rex asked.
“Because the first thing that happens when there’s a power vacuum is that someone tries to fill it.I don’t know how many supporters Martin had, but if even one of them wasn’t here the other day, they’re probably trying to move into Martin’s position right now.”
“None of that has anything to do with us,” Alpin pointed out.“I don’t know about you, but I don’t care what the dragons are up to.”
“You should.Whoever’s in charge next could decide to attack us.”
“They lost too many people.They’re not going to do anything that stupid.”
“Desperation makes people do things that they normally wouldn’t do.We can’t know for sure, and we need to find out.They’re still dangerous, even without Martin at their head.”
Alpin pouted.“Why does this have to be so complicated?”
“You don’t have to worry your pretty head about any of this,” Umberto said.“Kieran will make the decisions.”
“And thank God for that.So, what do you want us to do, Kieran?There’s a reason you asked all of us to come here today, isn’t there?”
“We can’t leave the dragons to themselves and ignore the threat they pose.As little as I like this, we can’t afford to.”
“What do you expect us to do, then?”
“That’s what we’re here to decide.I might be the alpha of this pack, and I might be making the decisions, but it doesn’t mean I don’t need advisors.”
Rex looked around the room.Well, if Kieran needed advisors, he had a boatload of them.
* * * *
ALPIN CLAPPED HIS HANDS.“Well,Ican advise you.”
Rex groaned softly next to Harmon.The relationship between the two brothers was sweet.Rex acted annoyed with Alpin, but it was clear that he cared about him.They all cared about each other.
Harmon missed that.He was sure that his coven members loved him, but he was their leader.It was an odd relationship because it meant that he had authority over them.His job was to take care of them and punish them if they didn’t follow the coven rules.That was why he hadn’t wanted the responsibility, but he was shit out of luck.He’d agreed decades ago, and he still hadn’t found a way to step down.
“Thank you, Alpin,” Kieran said.“I’d like to know what all of you think.We don’t know what state the dragon clan is in.We don’t know much, really.We’re just sure that both their alpha and their beta are dead.”
“I can think of a few names of people who would want to take Martin’s place,” Taylor offered.
As a dragon shifter who’d only recently left the clan, he’d know better than anyone what kind of mess the clan was in at the moment.Harmon could guess that he was happy to have left when he had.
“You think they’re going to attack us again?”Kieran asked.
“It depends on who wins the struggle for leadership.Martin had his supporters, and I don’t think all of them were here during the attack, but they’re not as strong as he was.He made sure of that because he didn’t want rivals.That means that there will be no clear winner anytime soon.Depending on who’s trying to step up, they might attack us soon or not at all.There’s only one way to find out.”
“Go there.”
Taylor didn’t look happy when he nodded.“Correct.It’s the only way for us to know for sure what’s happening and to have a say in it.”
“You think we could have a say in it?”
“You just defeated Martin and his beta.The only way you won’t have a say in what’s happening is if you decide you don’t want one.”
“I can’t leave the pack, not right now.We lost people, and we’re hurting.”
Harmon cleared his throat.There was something no one here seemed to have thought of, but he had, maybe because he was a coven leader.He wasn’t exactly looking forward to speaking up, but he felt like he didn’t have a choice.
“Harmon?”Kieran asked.
