Drex glanced at her feet. “Then how would we pretend we’re so tough by walking on the rocky ground?” He looked around at the other alphas. “Let me make introductions.”
He gave the alpha’s names, the age of their packs, and their various locations. He also mentioned what they’d started with—very little—and what their townships were like now. For each one, Jess showed how impressed she was with the growth and nodded with each point.
“And this is Jessie Ironheart and Austin Steele, original alphas of the Dusky Ridge Convocation. The convocation is nearly a year old, incredibly new, but already the size of three towns and growing. They reside in the Sierra foothills, where I will look into moving my pack. I must confess, however, I don’t have the details of what they started with.”
Except he did, knowing that Austin had inherited a fortune from his generational family. He was allowing Austin to define his wealth. Or maybe wondering if Austin would make light of it to better fit in.
He had nothing to hide, and he’d never fit in. He’d made peace with that after visiting Kingsley’s territory following the long time away.
“I showed up in O’Briens with a large inheritance and no desire to use it,” he said, getting that out there right off the bat. “I started a business, a bar, and used the proceeds to buy some land and build a home. It wasn’t until I decided to officially take the title of alpha and build up my territory in a hurry, that I dug my hand into my deep pockets.”
“Why did you need to build a territory in a hurry?” Rhea asked, a woman on the shorter side with dark skin and deep brown, piercing eyes. She’d started with debt and now had the most prosperous territory of this group. She seemed like a helluva businesswoman.
“Because Jess took the magic of Ivy House and needed a strong force to protect her,” he replied. “She’s been a target since day one. I decided I would be the castle guarding her keep.”
All eyes turned to Jess.
“And you, Alpha Ironheart?” Drex said.
“Oh.” She seemed surprised that they should care. “I was a Jane who’d just gotten divorced and didn’t want to live with my parents. I thought I was getting a job as a caretaker of an old house. Instead, I became magical, took a blood oath to tie me to the house and its magic, and got an absolute shitload of money. Just a ridiculous amount of money, along with a whole lot of danger that might kill me before I can enjoy it. I don’t know anything about running a territory or creating businesses from scratch because I’m too busy learning this tidal wave of magic and putting together an army that Austin and I need to co-lead to stay alive. I’m going from battle to battle, challenge to challenge, fight to fight while desperately trying to shake some sense into shifters who are too scared or stupid or both to realize the very real danger you are all in. While also trying to find the mages who are very aware of the dangertheyare in and so are trying to hide in plain sight so they won’t be killed by the incredibly cunning and powerful mage organization that isthreatening the entire magical world. I know we have to prove ourselves, and theoretically that makes sense, but honestly, this feels like just handing Momar a bunch of time that he will wisely use to create a plan to kill me when I least expect it. Sebastian and I are currently the only thing keeping him from systematically killing all the shifters, and he knows it. Without magical power, you’re all dead. Don’t bother trying to organize, there’s no point. So, every moment I spend meeting alphas is a moment I’mnotmeeting mages that can help me magically stand up to Momar’s people.”
The torrent of words cut off, her eyes widened, and she clicked her mouth shut. Her body language did the equivalent of finding a hole and crawling inside. Her stress and anxiety with their whole situation had finally boiled over and honestly, there couldn’t have been a better time. There could be no doubt that she was genuine, as well.
Edgar tsked. “Jessie,” he whispered, “that is not how we make friends.”
“I do not love that I agree with that vampire,” Ulric murmured.
“Truth,” Jasper quietly responded.
“Well, then.” Fenric, a barrel of a man with a straggly red beard stepped out of his pack’s line. “Not that any of us doubted Drex, but if we did, we can plainly see Alpha Steele has the power we’ve heard of and a certain something else to go with it. I understand now why he makes people nervous. The beta with the power of an alpha checks out, too. The massive gargoyle, the basajaun, all that power there in the middle.”
“Which are the mages?” Barek asked, in his early thirties with a wiry body. Despite the almost slender frame, Austin had heard this guy was serious trouble in a fight.
Jess turned and pointed. Sebastian and Nessa stepped out.
“I’m not magically powerful,” Nessa said. “My uses are more in-line with espionage and strategy.”
“I’m powerful,” Sebastian said without emphasis.
“You’re Elliot Graves, is that right?” Rhea asked.
“Correct, though that is a secret that Momar almost certainly knows but is not sharing in the magical world. We’re not sure why.”
“And why aren’t you sharing it?” Drex asked.
It was Niamh that spoke up. “Because they are the bad cops, and we are the good cops. They will attract the mages that don’t mind breaking the rules and getting their hands dirty, and we will attract the opposite. We’ll reveal our joint venture when it will do the most good, and hopefully before Momar does. I just need to figure out why Momar is keeping it to himself still. He’s a cunning one. I can’t quite get a handle on him yet.”
Drex asked Jessie to introduce her people. When she’d finished, they asked if they could get a demonstration of Cyra and Hollace. Their expressions didn’t change when the great thunderbird rolled his sonic boom across the sky and then zapped lightning down the street.
Cyra didn’t play things so safely.
The phoenix swooped down toward them and opened her beak. A thin stream of fire burned a line into the concrete, tracking straight for Fenric.
Two feet away, Jess stepped forward, her hands out, and looked up. “Take it easy,” she called up at Cyra.
The fire continued, not slowing. Fenric’s eyes tightened marginally. His fingers spasmed, the only indication of his wariness. Still the fire burned a black line toward him. A foot away now. His loose clothes and face glowed from the fire. Sweat broke out on his brow. He took a step back, giving himself more space. The fire kept coming. If she was playing chicken, she’d just won. Clearly, she wasn’t playing.
“Damn it, Cyra.” Jess went active, shoving her hands forward.
