“I ain’t unifying anyone.” Jesse sounded indignant. “Hell, once half the shifters out there spoke to me, they’d find out I know jack about shifter history and that other stuff you all put such store in. I just got a pretty-colored coat is all, and once anyone met me, they’d get that.”
“With the greatest of respect, Mr. Turner.” Steadman’s voice was smooth and persuasive. “I think you underestimate the need in people to find something to give their lives meaning. Sometimes the truth behind that symbol doesn’t matter as much as the fact it exists.”
As so often, Tom thought, the councilor was right. She seemed to have a way of reading people’s motivations that escaped people like Bennett, who got what they wanted by throwing their weight around.
He glanced around the room to see what impact her words had made on everyone else. Tristan looked star-struck, but that was as far as he got because the next person he looked at was Bryce. It took every bit of self-discipline he had not to cross the room and settle next to him, feel his warmth, let their shoulders touch, groundinghim.
He forced himself to stop looking. Because if he kept watching Bryce, he might forget why he was here.
Chapter Seventeen
BRYCE
The meeting didn’t last long. Probably because the councilors had run up against an unexpected brick wall in both Matt’s and Jesse’s attitudes—they weren’t going to be dazzled by fancy words or promises.
Bryce would be glad to see them leave, especially Tom’s boss, Councilor Steadman. She was attractive, but Bryce’s balls wanted to crawl up inside his body whenever she looked at him. She was a powerful, intelligent woman, but unlike some men, he had no problem with that. It was something in her eyes, something he couldn’t identify, that had him wary of her.
She was talking to Matt right now, and as Bryce looked around the room, he saw that Bennett had taken advantage of that to corner Jesse. Bryce moved closer. Jesse could look after himself, but it wouldn’t do any harm for both of them to know Bryce was there.
“I can understand why you might be reluctant,” Bennett was saying. “But at the same time, just think what a united shifter community could achieve. Full rights for shifters would no longer be seen as something questionable but as remarkable they took so long to come. We could use that leverage to force the repeal of the law that prevents shifters who serve in the military from belonging to a pack. Can you imagine how many shifter veterans would benefit from that? They’d no longer find themselves discharged with no support system in place, vulnerable and alone.”
Jesse’s mouth opened, but he didn’t manage to get a word out before Bennett swept on.
“And of course, the more that shifters are accepted, the less prejudice there will be against shifters and non-shifters who are mates.”
“Councilor Bennett,” Bryce said, stepping forward and fighting the urge to take him by the arm and expel him from the room at high velocity. “I believe we’re reconvening at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”
He’d just made himself an enemy, if the way Bennett’s eyes narrowed on him was any indication. He didn’t care—anyonewho’d drag up the history of pack members and use Jesse’s loyalty to try and manipulate him did not deserve to be treated courteously.
Once he’d walked Bennett the few steps to Matt’s side so he could say goodbye to him, he glanced back to find Riley was now with Jesse, his sharp eyes darting around the room as if he’d picked up on the need to buffer Jesse from these blathering fools.
Tristan was talking to Tom—or more likelisteningto him, which was so unusual for him that Bryce stared. He didn’t remember deciding to cross the room to them. His body justwent. It appeared that he could no more stay away from Tom than he could warm to Councilor Steadman.
When he got to them, he heard what held Tristan so captivated. Tom was talking about Councilor Steadman’s evolving thoughts on how to lessen the power of lobby groups.
“I thought you were going to spend your life designing bridges, not running for office,” Bryce said, placing his hand on Tristan’s shoulder. The thought of someone as honest and optimistic as Tristan in a shark pool like Washington made his blood run cold, even as he thought it might be the best thing ever to happen to politics.
“Bryce, hey,” Tristan said, and squirmed out from under his grip. “I have to go. I said I’d check in with Colby.”
Bryce knew that was an outright lie because Colby was somewhere out in the darkness with Karl. They wouldn’t be checking in with anyone until Matt called them in.
Tristan beamed at Tom. “I hadn’t thought about it like that before. Mind if we finish that conversation tomorrow?”
Tom smiled back—it was impossible not to respond that way to Tristan—but his eyes rested on Bryce as he answered. “If we have the chance, I’d be glad to.”
“Thanks,” Tristan said, and as he turned away, he leaned in to murmur into Bryce’s ear, “Tell him over breakfast would be fine.”
He got a swat for his trouble, but Bryce knew his body language well enough to know that damn kid was still smirking as he walked away. He thought he was so smart, trying to throw Bryce and Tom together.
What Tristan didn’t realize was that they didn’t need throwing together. Tom’s eyes were darkening as he looked at Bryce, and Bryce’s heart did something strange in response. His presence made something in Bryce settle and stretch toward himlike warmth on a cold night, his wolf wanting nothing more than to curl around Tom.
Bryce stepped in close. “You staying tonight?” he asked, quiet enough for only Tom to hear.
Tom took a careful step back, serving to remind Bryce—and possibly himself—that he was still on the clock. Officially, he was at work, and his boss was standing just a few feet from them.
“I’d like that,” he said quietly, his eyes warm. “But let me find out if I’m needed back at the hotel.”
He moved away from Bryce with the ease of someone who spent their life circulating around rooms, moving from group to group without causing offense.
