“This has to be fake.” He growled as he shoved the paper to Silas.
“Calm yourself, Marcus.” Silas countered as he took the paper to read it, then passed it on. Marcus growled as he glared at me but I ignored him and took stock of the six council members. I remembered Theo, Evan and Yarrow from the assembly. Thinius was dead. I now knew Marcus and Silas’s names, so that was all of them.
The paper made its way around until Evan tossed it back onto the desk. “This is preposterous. Rowan doesn’t make any decisions.” I lifted an eyebrow at Evan’s vitriol.
“Is that true?” I allowed my mouth to drop open. Playing stupid.
Silas chuckled. “I can assure you it is not. Rowan is the king.” The others snorted, and I could see Silas’s jaw clench. It seemed there was some discourse between the others and him. That could be useful information. Silas looked at the rest of the menbefore he tapped the printout. “It seems that he issued you the pack lands, but where did you get the wolves?”
Theo growled. “A few Alphas have come to us with concerning reports of their pack mates going missing.” I wanted to laugh. They were trying to claim I stole these wolves.
I sat back and crossed my legs. “I can assure you I didn’t steal any wolves from another pack.” I waved my hand in the air. “As I am sure you saw when you came into the pack house, I have a shell of a pack. We are rebuilding. But what else I am sure you saw when you came in is that all of my wolves are walking around, free to do as they please.” I tented my fingers. “If I had stolen them from neighboring packs…” I lifted my brow, because we all knew there were no neighbouring packs. “Then wouldn’t they be running back to their homes?”
Yarrow pointed at me. “Listen, you little bitch. We never agreed for these lands to be redistributed.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “I totally understand, but I am a little confused by your anger.” I waited a second before I leaned back over and tapped the email. “This proves the King agreed to give me the lands. I already have the title re-registered in my safe.”
Evan leaned in, like a shark sensing blood. “You re-registered the pack?” I nodded. “Then why haven’t we received that paperwork?”
I tilted my head, and pulled out another email, then slid it towards him. “I apologize, but I sent the paperwork directly to the King as directed.”
“Silver Oak?” Evan read off the paper. He grabbed the paper to reread it. His eyes were cold as he looked up. “You renamed this pack Silver Oak?”
I nodded. “I thought it fitting. My father’s pack was Silvermoon, and I lived most of my life in Oakenfang.” I sat back.
“Why do you have all of these emails printed and ready to go?” Marcus tapped his chin. “It’s almost like you were expecting us.”
I smiled. “You wound me, Councilman. My father always taught me to be prepared. All of my correspondence with the King has been printed and filed away. Just in case I need to reference it, or like now, I have to prove that I have the authority to be here.”
“I think you are fucking lying.” Yarrow growled.
“Why not ask the King?” I tossed out.
“Because he hasn’t fucking answered us since he found his fucking whore of a mate.” Yarrow screamed, and he slammed his fist into the desk.
I gasped. “The King found his mate? Who is it?” I played dumb because I wanted to see what they knew.
Theo and Yarrow’s faces turned red. I thought they were going to attack me, but it was Silas who answered softly. “The King refused to tell us because we tried to force him to mate.”
Evan laughed. “Which is actually smart of the boy, because we would just kill her.”
Silas jumped up. “Evan! You can’t make jokes like that. You are a member of this council, and you should behave as such.” Theo, Yarrow and Marcus looked at each other, and I could see the divide.
Yarrow held out his hands. “Silas…”
I pressed back into my chair. “I don’t think he was joking.” I pursed my lips. “I feel like you said a dark inner thought out loud there, Evan.” I sat back. “Probably not the smartest decision you’ve ever made.”
Evan laughed as he turned his dead eyes onto me. “It’s not going to matter what I say here today.”
Silas paled. “What do you mean?” He backed away from the others. He looked at me with wide eyes. “Is this why you demanded we bring all our guards…and the spear?”
Marcus started to slow clap. “Come brother. You can’t be this dense.” He dropped his hands. “Can we get on with this little charade?”
Theo raised his hands. “Let’s calm down.” He turned to look at me and smiled. “Nothing has been decided.”
I sighed. “Listen, while I am not old, I am also not stupid. Silas here has spent many years with you four and has come to rely on your friendship. I can only assume that’s why he sounds so surprised.” I scratched my head. “But as soon as you showed up at my airport with a contingent of guards, I knew why you were here.” I smiled now. “So how about we all cut to the chase. Cause I have had a very long day.” I tucked a leg under my lap. That move earned glares from the four men.
“You are either very brave, or very stupid.”
