Austin gritted his teeth against a surge of anger. Kingsley wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited toward Jess—he was stating the truth. Austin knew he was right. Had always known and had never been able to do anything about it. He’d stopped trying.
“They’ve been practicing lining up for a couple months,” Austin said, watching the fading light dance across the brown liquid in his glass. The suite was quiet. Mac was playing golf, and Earnessa was at the spa.
Kingsley laughed quietly. “Huh.”
“Yeah. In practice, they actually looked mostly okay. Passable. Then, today…it just went all to shit.” Austin joined hisbrother in laughing. “Spectacularly. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like when she tries to push order onto them, they become that much harder to control.”
Kingsley took a deep breath. “The thing is…” He shook his head. “It’s not a deal breaker. I’d worried it might be. Did you see Jessie’s reaction when someone asked what would happen if her crew turned on her?”
“I felt her tense. Her feelings through the bonds were confusion.”
“It was this…” Kingsley started laughing again. “Thisthat is the stupidest question I’ve ever heardexpression teamed with absolute confusion, yeah. I figured I better interject before she came right out and called someone an idiot. Though by then, everyone knew there’d be no challenges. It was a solid move to wear what you did. Her as well. It immediately put people at ease.” He paused. “A little more at ease, anyway.”
“That was the point. I know the rumors that surround me. I’m exactly as wild as people fear.”
“Nah. You’re a controlled wild.”
“To you. You’re my brother—you’ve seen my absolute worst. What you see now is a far step above that, but it isn’t far enough to make the alphas in there today comfortable.”
“They’re entrenched, generational alphas without any strife. They don’t understand the sort of issues that your territory and your mate face. I didn’t either, and I’d been to your territory.”
“Exactly. And seventy-five percent of the big-time alphas in this country are generational alphas. Maybe just second generation for some of them, who might be more modernized in their way of thinking, but Armendale is an eighth. His territory has done things the same way for literal generations. Why? Because it works. In the world they think they’re living in, it works.”
Kingsley released a slow breath before taking a sip of his scotch. “Armendale, yeah. He’s what stopped my momentum the last time. He wanted to do things therightway. His words.”
“And that’s challenging for dominance?”
“Yes. Even though this isn’t a traditional pack setup, and I didn’t want anything to do with the leadership of his pack, those were his terms.”
“You couldn’t take him, and he knew that.”
“Exactly. Since you almost certainly can, he’ll probably have a differentrightway. The end result will be the same. I doubt he’ll join, and he’ll try to make sure no one else does, either.”
Armendale wasn’t as strong as they came—a legendary alpha called Yazanth Golden Fang had that honor—but he was one of them. He had power, money, and a lot of connections. And ever since Yazanth was exiled from his pack five or so years ago, presumed dead, Armendale had become something of the king of alpha network—at least,hethought so. His influence could be far reaching, and he would not like an upstart with a bad rep, like Austin, trying to climb up onto his perch.
Austin had purposely stayed away from the alpha rumor mill in his past, knowing how heavily he was featured in it, but he’d had to get caught up for this. Armendale was stuck in his ways and felt justified in that because he had a strong, prosperous pack—a peaceful pack that hadn’t hit a bump in the road in generations. He had wealth and privilege, and no one was stupid enough to challenge his authority.
Well…almostno one.
“Yes, I can take him,” Austin said. “I can make him say uncle. And I will, just to prove a point. But do you know what he’ll say once I do?”
“That you aren’t the right stuff? That my territory isn’t as big or properly set up as his and what befell me wouldn’t work on him? That he would have no trouble swatting down mages?”
“All of the above, yeah.” Austin took a sip of his drink. “He knew you wouldn’t challenge him, so he didn’t need any more excuses. It’s not about therightway, it’s about the easy way, and he’s never had it hard in his life.”
“Until he meets you.”
“Until that day, yes. And Jess. She doesn’t react well to people digging in their heels and pretending danger doesn’t exist. And if his people kick up to protect him, my people will make sure they stay out of it. Regardless, he won’t want to hear our plans or join unless he can lead us, and since he’s never had to build anything, he’d worry about failure. He’s a no-go. We won’t have his support.”
“Except his voice is the loudest in the alpha network, and his views are rarely disputed. If he puts the thumb down to you, the rest will follow.”
“The rest? You think the people at the meeting will change their minds?”
“Not them. The people here trust me. They might not have totally believed me about you, but they had enough of an open mind to meet you and hear you out. I don’t have that kind of sway with many others. It’s why it all fell apart last time.”
Austin curled his fingers into a fist and then released them slowly. “It won’t fall apart this time. Itcan’t. You don’t have any idea of the stuff Niamh is finding with Fred’s help. Momar isn’t just some random mage who’s managed to amass power and now holds it by a thread. He purposefully climbed to where he is, he built an empire, and now he is chipping away at the Mages Guild. He’s aiming for total control, and the shifters are his number-one enemy. If someone doesn’t stand in the way, he’ll wipe us all out. He failed last time because he wasn’t counting on Jess and didn’t know about Sebastian, but he’s incredibly smart, cunning, and methodical. Next time, he’ll have a different plan, and we might not be so lucky. Jess will be standing in his way,and I’ll be standing beside her, but we won’t be enough. This won’t be a battle the shifters can pretend doesn’t exist. I’ll make them see that.”
“Lucky?” Kingsley huffed. “You think Jessie sacrificing herself was a stroke of luck?”
