Jesse was shaking his head unhappily, but he wasn’t disagreeing with Matt. “He’s right,” he said, his voice quiet and rough. “So long as I stay quiet, I can be used as a symbol for any kinda cause. And that makes me damn useful to the kind of assholes who think they can prop me up like a banner and watch the rest of the world fall in line. They don’t want me—they want the Argent name. So if I don’t want to be a pawn, I’ve gotta speak for myself.”
He sounded both dejected and annoyed. Tristan wasn’t surprised—Jesse was as private aman as they came.
Tristan sat back in his seat and glanced around the table. Everyone else’s expressions reflected his feelings, unsure exactly what this meant but guessing from Matt’s tone that it wasn’t good. Or, at least, it wasn’t what Mattwanted.Bryce still wouldn’t meet Tristan’s gaze, but it was evident from the resignation on his face that he too had known about this.
“I’ve made some calls to Washington,” Matt said, and made it sound about as much fun as mucking out stalls. “We’ve got some breathing room due to budget talks being more important than anything else, but once the news about Jesse breaks properly, this place is going to be crawling with politicians and bureaucrats. We need to be prepared for that andnotrip someone apart just because they pissed us off. Understood, Christian?”
He got a half-hearted glare from Christian. “Spoiling my fun again,” he grumbled.
Politicians would be coming here? Members of the National Council? Tristan almost had to sit on his hands to keep his excitement in check. The Council didn’t usually get involved in pack matters, let alone in those of a tiny pack from Colorado.
“And I have the strangest feeling that the next thing that’ll happen is the Council decidingtheyget to control the way the news is broken,” Matt continued. “Riley, you need to write us a press release thatweput out when we’re ready and which says what we want it to.”
Riley turned pale as he stared at Matt. “I don’t want to do that. Not after…”
“I know you don’t, and that’s why I’m comfortable with asking you to do it. Plus, you know how those things need to be written,” Matt said. He looked around the table. “Any questions?”
Nobody spoke, and Tristan bit down on his question about whoexactly might be coming to visit. He wouldloveto meet some of the more outspoken Councilors, the ones who didn’t lick thegovernment’s boots. But it didn’t feel like an appropriate question in light of Matt’s seriousness.
“There’s something else,” Matt said. “Come dawn tomorrow, I’m going after Cale.”
Tristan was aware of Colby sitting still and rigid beside him. When Matt didn’t immediately say anything further, Tristan leaned forward to catch his gaze.
“Uh, Matt? If Jesse’s going public, Cale won’t have any reason to keep trying to grab him. So why go after him now? What’s the point?”
Matt’s green eyes were hard. “The point, Tristan, is that Cale took one of mine. He tookyou.And he doesn’t get away with that. Neither does any member of his pack who resists.”
“Damn straight they don’t,” Christian muttered from down the table, and when Tristan glanced at him, he looked happier than he had at any time since walking into the kitchen and finding Colby there.
Tristan swallowed. He knew Matt loved him, he knew Matt would do the same for any member of his pack, but something about Matt being willing to do this forhim—that hit home hard.
“I want you all ready to go two hours before sunup,” Matt said. “Everyone except Riley and Colby.”
Tristan stiffened as Colby, yet again, was made to seem like the enemy. Jason was staring at Matt pleadingly, because either Riley was part of the pack or he wasn’t.
Matt met Riley’s gaze. “You’d be at too much risk around wolves facing off,” he said, unyielding. “And Colby’s got history with that pack. I’m not putting him in the crossfire.”
Colby’s jaw was tight as he stared at the table, the way he’d been doing since the moment Matt mentioned Cale. Even hearing that Jesse was the Argent hadn’t seemed to break through to him. It wasn’t much comfort to Tristan that Riley looked just as unhappy.Not when Colby sat there like he was bracing for another blow, and no one else seemed to notice.
Chapter Twenty-seven
COLBY
Colby didn’t remember standing. But suddenly he was on his feet, chair shoved back from the table, the eyes of the pack fixed on him like they weren’t sure if he was about to bolt or shift or throw up.
He wasn’t sure either.
“I need some air,” he said hoarsely. He didn’t wait for permission, just turned and walked out through the door, down the back steps, into the night.
The air was cold on his face, and he breathed deeply, trying to still the churning in his gut. He felt like he might vomit his meal onto the dirt.
Tomorrow. They were goingbackthere. And Tristan was going with them. His stomach turned, and he pressed a hand to it, as if he could stop the nausea that way.
He should have expected this. Of course they’d confront Cale eventually. But hearing Matt say it so calmly, like it was just anotheritem on the to-do list… He’d been feeling safe. Notsafe-safe—he didn’t think he even remembered what that was—butsafer. He’d started to let himself want things. Like Tristan.
But now, Tristan was walking straight into danger. Tristan, who didn’t know what Cale and Nico were capable of. Tristan, who might not come back.
Panic, raw and gut-deep, made his breath come in gasps. That meant he didn’t hear Tristan until he was close, footsteps soft behind him.
