Zane followed his brother out onto the roof to the waiting helicopter. Climbing onboard, he picked a seat by the window so he could have a birds-eye view of the city. Lifting off, he heard Cody speak. Tearing his eyes away from the tall buildings they were skimming over, he looked over at his brother and mouthed, “What did you say?”
“I said ‘Isn’t it amazing’?”
Nodding in response, Zane turned back to the window, looking down at the sidewalks filled with ant-sizedpeople, scurrying about.Someday, I’ll bring my mate here so he can see this. He’ll love it.Chuckling, he pulled out his phone, snapping a picture, then added a message, before sending it to David.Within ten minutes, Zane felt the helicopter descending. After the blades stopped rotating, Zane jumped onto the roof. Looking at Dylon, he asked, “How far are we from the cab company?”
“Two minutes,” Dylon replied, “tell him, we’re five minutes out.”
“Gotcha,” Zane said, typing as he followed his brother and Dylon into the building. Within a minute, his phone dinged. After reading the message, he announced, “He’s waiting for us. We’re supposed to go to the side gate and tell the guard Mr. Vaschel is expecting us.”
“Great,” Dylon replied, ushering Cody and Zane into the elevator. Pushing the first-floor button, he waited until the door closed and they were alone. “I’ll stay in the car while you go in to talk to him.”
“What about Cody?” asked Zane.
“He’ll go with you, but will be invisible.”
“Why? Do you think there’ll be trouble?”
“No…”
“I’m going because Dylon is using me,” Cody said. “It’s our link…whatever I see or hear, my mate does also.”
“Ohhh, I get it,” Zane replied, as the elevator door opened.
“Good,” Dylon said, leading Cody and Zane out of the elevator and toward a waiting rental car. Sliding into the driver’s seat, Dylon started the car after the brothers were seated in the back.
~/~/~/~/~
Dialing Hunter’s number again, Jackson stared out his study window. Worry was setting in since his cousin hadn’t returned his calls nor had Carson. Up until now, he’d come up with a number of possible reasons, but no longer. Dinner was over, time to get acquainted with everyone at the chateau had passed and, by Jackson’s calculations, Hunter was getting ready for bed. Counting the unanswered rings, he decided if his cousin didn’t answer this time, he’d have Steel get on it.
“Hello?” Hunter said, his voice thick with sleep.
“Hunter? It’s Jackson.”
Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Hunter rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. If Jackson was calling, something must have happened to one of his brothers. “What happened? Quin? Is he okay?”
“Quin’s fine. Listen, I found out today your uncle has a meeting with Josiah. According to the email, your uncle has something very important to tell him,” Jackson said. “Two guesses as to what that might be.”
“Fucking sonofabitch!” Hunter growled. “Do you know when it is?”
“Only that it will occur in the next two days.”
“Thank the Fates for small favors,” Hunter muttered under his breath. “Okay, I’ll handle this tomorrow.”
“How? You’re in France?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yeah, I kinda do,” Jackson said. “I need to know if I have to put my pack on high alert, because I’m pretty sure when Josiah finds out our mom’s alive and watched him kill our family, his goons will be heading here to make sure she never testifies against him.”
Exhaling, Hunter knew Jackson had a good point. From everything he read in the complaint on file at the High Council, Josiah wouldn’t have any problems killinganyonewho got in his way. “My uncle is a greedy bastard, so I’m sure he won’t be giving information away for free. However, there’s one thing he loves more than money and that’s power. I found this out after my father died. Since this is my uncle’s Achilles heel, tomorrow I’ll issue a challenge for leadership of the Rolling Hills Pack.”
“Why would that stop him?” asked Jackson. “And more importantly, can you defeat your uncle?”
Snorting, Hunter replied, “With one hand tied behind my back. My uncle knows if I ever decided to reclaim my birthright, he’d lose…not only in the fighting arena, but also the support of the pack members who didn’t want him as their Alpha to begin with, after my father died. The last thing my uncle wants is word to get out that I’m challenging him.”
“I get that, but how will this stop your uncle from meeting with Josiah?”
“Simple, initially my challenge will be made to him privately. That way, I can withdraw it if he drops the idea of a meeting with Josiah. However, if he goes through with it, Iwillfile the challenge with the High Council, making it public.”
