“What about Stonefang?” Diesel asked, looking uncomfortable, and I wondered about the dynamic between the tall man that was Diesel and the small shifter who was the shaman.
The shaman chuckled. “The Grumps have been on those packlands longer than I’ve been alive. They were ancient when I was young,” he said with a smile. “It’ll take more than a Pack Council to turn the Stone against the Fang.”
Wolfe looked more alert. “Stone and Fang,” he murmured. “Stonefang.”
“Old magic lives beneath the rock there,” the shaman said with a nod. “Hard to cross.”
Wolfe’s eyes flashed silver. “You followed me there?”
The shaman nodded. “Needed to see the land react to you.” He glanced at Diesel. “Such power around you, it’s hard to see all the threads at times. Out there, on the barren land, your tie to Stonefang was clear.”
I felt a wrench of disappointment, and I felt guilty for it. The shaman missed nothing.
“You hoped the Hollow’s tie was stronger,” he told me.
Wolfe blinked and looked over at me, the question in his eyes. “Rowen?”
“I…I don’t know,” I admitted. “You have two territories and one pack. I know you’ll be gone sometimes. I guess I just…” I grimaced. “I’m sorry, it’s selfish.”
It was Killian who spoke first. “You’re newly married, newly pregnant, newly—” He looked at the shaman. “New,” he finished lamely. “No one will think less of you because you want your mate beside you.”
“Newly new.” The shaman kicked his legs as he smiled. “I can feel her,” he told Killian, leaning over conspiratorially. “You don’t need to hide secrets, not from me.”
“Comforting,” Diesel grunted.
“Will I offer you comfort, wild one?” the shaman asked, and I saw his sly smile. Diesel growled at him in warning, and the old man laughed with delight.
“What do you think they’ll do?” Wolfe asked the shaman. “Or should I ask the other question I have?” He didn’t wait. “I see it now, you pushing me to go to the Hollow. I bet you encouraged Rowen to go home and think she needed a political marriage,” he mused. “You’ve had a hand in us since the start. Why?
“No hands,” the shaman assured him. “A gentle hint, nothing else. You did the rest. Luna knows where her mated pairs are and who is standing in their way.”
“You knew she was my mate?” Wolfe asked carefully.
“No.” The shaman appeared to think about it. “I knew there was a reason why you needed to go, but if you remember, young Wolfe, it was your beta who raised his concern over the political allegiance on offer to your mate.”
Killian grunted. “Still should have kicked that guy’s ass,” he grumbled.
Which reminded me that Dex had been in the chamber. “Why is Dex here? Out there, it was alphas and their betas, but he is neither.”
“He is ambitious,” Wolfe reminded me with a sneer. “He wanted the Hollow; the Pack Council wanted it to beled. He looks like a follower. I guess that was good enough for them.”
“We should kill him on principle.”
Even the shaman turned to look at Diesel in surprise.
The dark-haired man shrugged. “What? I don’t like loose ends.”
“If we killed everyone who was ambitious, they’d call us the Pack Council,” Killian muttered. “Wolfe? I don’t like it.”
Wolfe sighed. “The Pack Council, never been an advocate for them either.” He glanced at the shaman. “Present company excluded.”
“You shouldn’t like it,” the shaman said, just as the entrance flap was tapped. “Tea.” He pointed at the entrance unnecessarily.
There were only four cups, and I wondered if it was Killian or Diesel who’d do without. Wolfe poured, much to the dismay of the serving male. I needn’t have worried about who wasn’t taking the fourth cup, as both Killian and Diesel shook their heads. Wolfe handed me the cup and saucer, doing the same for the shaman, hesitating slightly, suddenly unsure how to hand a blind man a hot drink, when Diesel suddenly lunged forward and knocked my teacup from my hand.
“What—”
The shaman grabbed the cup from Wolfe, hissing at the heat, but he inhaled deeply. “Nobody touch it,” he told us allquietly. “Beta of Wolfe, you told your pack member to test the tea. Where are they?”
