Rhett’s head lifted first, of course. But he stared too, his eyes filled with respect, his scent cloaked in spicy awe.
“Mal,” Trevor said quietly. When he looked up, his blue eyes were wide as a pup’s, shining as though they were all teens again and Malachi had just crushed a river rock in his palm at Trevor’s request. “That was alotof alpha-will you just threw around the room.”
“I’m in control,” Malachi said.
“Clearly,” Rhett said. “Dang, Malachi.”
Gradually the room reanimated, conversations and games resuming. Malachi relaxed against the back of the couch. He turned his head toward Aaron, who watched him like a medic.
“You’re all right?” Malachi said.
Aaron sighed as though the question had proved some point or settled a bet he’d made with himself. Then he smiled. “Yeah, I am, thanks to April.”
Malachi rumbled a growl toward the game table, where April sat watching some card game already in progress. She looked toward them and smiled. Already she knew his wolf voice apart from any others. Already she knew the moods of his voice, recognized the appreciation in his growl was for her.
“She’s so strong, Mal,” Aaron said, “but she’s also really kind. I think fate brought exactly who you need.”
Yes. When April was ready, he would give himself as her wolf. He would be bonded to his mate before all the pack.
Not today, though. Today duty and instinct poked at him.Wolf council. Immediately.Though he wouldn’t typically call one at midnight, when he evaluated the scents in the house, most people seemed alert, a few even fidgety. Maybe everyone would be able to settle if their voices were heard, if their thoughts were processed aloud together.
Ignoring Aaron’s side-eye, Malachi pushed to his feet and managed not to wince. “A wolf council is needed.”
Relief spread through the room, lifting the stressed essences of wolves and mates alike. Games, books, conversations were abandoned as the pack came together in a loose circle. Only Ember didn’t stir. Aaron gently shook her foot.
“Hey,” he said.
She stretched a little and muttered, “Bed?”
“Or wolf council. Your choice.”
Ember’s eyes shot open, and she rolled herself into a sitting position with a supporting arm under her pup. Blinking, she looked around, found Malachi, and smiled. “You’re awake.”
“Are you?” he said.
“I’ll get there fast.” She patted Aaron’s knee. “Thanks.”
“Knew you wouldn’t want to be left out.”
Those at the card table turned their chairs around to face into the circle. Malachi stifled a sharp longing for his mate to sit beside him, as Aaron and Ember sat together. Then, as if she read his mind, April swapped seats with Rhett, creating an open spot next to her on one of the couches. She patted it, and Malachi nodded. When he had finished presiding, he would sit with his mate.
Quiet settled as the pack waited for him to begin. He reached within to the place the lore lived. He breathed deep as his authority surged through him. He knew the wolves sensed this somehow too; they smelled different right now, attuned to him and deferent somehow, just as they had in January at the previous council, called for a similar though lesser emergency.
“I want to know my pack is all right,” he said. “I see you’re physically safe; I smell you’re not in acute distress, any of you. But this level of threat is new to us, and it isn’t over.”
“You stopped them,” Jeremy said. “Shoot, youkilledtwo of them. They’ll move on now.”
“No, they won’t,” Malachi said as April began shaking her head. “April?”
She looked around the circle and bit her lip. Several people nodded her on, but she looked to Malachi. “First… Um, first I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“You said Drew’s still out there.”
Malachi nodded.
“I want to know who else. Can you tell me anything—anything about the ones…?”
