He looked down and let out the weariest sigh I’d ever heard. He shrugged. “Where would I go?”
“Well… maybe back to your mother? I know she’s terrible, but she’s still your mom. Maybe she’d let you see your siblings?”
He chuckled ruefully. “No chance of that.” He glanced at me, unable to meet my gaze. “I did try to leave, though.”
I blinked in surprise. “Youtried?”
He nodded. “Late last night. I started conjuring the teleportation spell, but something in my magic… spoke to me. Telling me to stay. There’s something different now,” he said, staring at his palms.
“Like what?” I asked, truly curious.
Without looking up, he said, “Before yesterday, my magic never really felt like mine. It was always like it didn’t belong with me. Have you ever put your underwear on backward in the dark?”
I laughed. “Um… probably. At some point.”
“Right,” he said, finally looking at me. “It’ll work, it covers you and keeps the pants from rubbing you raw, but it’ll always feel uncomfortable, and it doesn’t make it easy to walk around. That’s how it always was with me.
“Yesterday, when Sinthy touched my hands and pulled my magic through her body and fed it into your friend? Something happened. When we saved that guy’s life, and it all poured back into me, it didn’t seem foreign anymore. It was like… I don’t even know… like Sinthy using it, made the poweracceptme or something.” He looked into my eyes. “I think I’m supposed to be here. I am worried about my siblings, though. We must get them away from my mother.”
The boy—I kept thinking of him that way even though he was clearly in his early twenties—looked like a child. Fragile and broken. I patted his shoulder, and he flinched before calming under my touch.
“It’s okay, Maxwell. You’re safe here. I promise we’ll do anything we must in order to get them back safely.”
The only answer he gave was a hesitant grin. The tears that glittered in his eyes told me how much he was holding back. All I wanted was for him and his family to be okay. I’d be damned if I’d let that bitch destroy another family.
136
NICO
Leaving Maddy, I went to my office and called the surrounding alphas. It took some time before everyone joined the conference call, but once we were together, it went smoothly. They’d all seen the interview and were happy with how it went.
“Do we think this is going to give the royals something to think about?” It was Raul, an alpha from New Smyrna.
“If I’m being a hundred percent honest,” I said. “I don’t think so. What I do think it will do is get more people on our side. We get the conversation started, and there’s going to be a discussion happening outside of shifter compounds. If a person is thinking of going after and attacking a shifter, but their wife, mother, or husband says, ‘Hang on. I don’t think that’s the way to go about this’. Then we’ve done a good job of decreasing Viola’s reach and power. That’s what I think this will do in the short term.”
“I liked what you said about not rolling over and dying,” an alpha named Jacob said. “We aren’t doing ourselves any favors by hiding in holes. My pack has been stuck in an abandoned factory for weeks now. So far, no one has figured out we’re there, but it’s only a matter of time. Once the anti-shifters get wind ofit, they’ll come like locusts. I’m tired of hiding. Fuck, man, I’d love to take a damn walk around Target or something. Go to a restaurant and relax with my mate. The time for hiding is over.”
I nodded to myself. “Good. I like hearing that. To tell you the truth, I was worried you all might be upset that I went there with the interview.”
“Hell no,” Tiago said. He was on the call from his quarters near the Moon Mate building. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that the time is over. None of us want a bloodbath, but after what happened yesterday, I’m done playing nice. We’ve done everything we could to make peace, but if these psychos are going to keep doing Viola’s bidding, the gloves need to come off.”
“All right,” I said. “If we’re all in agreement, then we need to be ready to face the consequences. Are we certain we can push back if it comes to that? I don’t mean physically—I mean mentally. It’s one thing to say you’re going to fight back, but it’s another when you’re looking down the barrel of a gun or watching a horde of angry people flood your property.”
Brevard spoke up. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was with a bear clan out of Sarasota.
“Nico, listen, man, I know it’s a tough ask, but I don’t think you need to worry about it. When I was at your pack lands for that get-together a few months ago, I could already see where this was going. You’re right when you say it’s different talking about it versus actually doing it, but none of us are afraid. We’ve got packs to protect. Women, children, and older folks. You aren’t a true alpha if you aren’t willing to do whatever it takes to protect that. I’m in. Anyone else?”
Murmurs of assent came all around, and it lightened me that they all sounded confident and ready. That was good. I hoped my message would push down the attacks and maybe scare off Viola’s followers, but that was probably only wishful thinking on my part.
“Guys,” I said, “I need to get my own house in order. Be ready. Now’s a good time to add men to your guard rotation. Make sure that wherever you’re holed up, it’s secure and easily defendable. Get your people ready and prepared. If you’ve got guns, get those loaded and easily accessible.”
Once the call had ended, I sat back in my chair, exhaling heavily and breathing deeply. That was one item checked off my list, and it had gone better than I’d thought. Back when I’d hosted the alpha meeting, things had been a little contentious. A few men had even stormed off and left. Clearly, the events of the past few months had changed some minds.
Before I could get up to leave, my phone rang again. I glanced at the screen. Unknown number. My heart started hammering, slamming forcefully against my rib cage. It had to be Viola. She was calling to tell me about some new horrific idea she had to kill or torture people I loved.
Hesitantly lifting the phone to my ear, I said, “Hello?”
“Is this Nicolas Lorenzo?” It was a deep male voice about as far from Viola as it could get.
