I was almost relieved when Rick Wade cleared his throat, calling the meeting to attention. “Now that we’re all—”
Light footsteps clacked from the hallway, then the door opened and Karen Sanders backed into the room, carrying a silver tray loaded with full mugs and a pot of coffee. A chin-length strand of gray hair fell across her face, and when she tried to blow it out of the way, Marc rose to take the tray from her.
“You don’t have to do that, Mom,” Faythe chided. “We can all get our own coffee.”
“I’ve neverhadto do it,” Karen—Rick’s sister and Abby’s aunt—said. “And I really don’t mind.” She distributed mugs and poured coffee but gave a Faythe a paper cup instead, with a glance at her daughter’s pregnant belly. “Butyouonly get hot chocolate.”
“Because baby Ethan already has a sweet tooth?” I mock-whispered to Abby, who sat next to me on the leather couch.
She rolled her eyes and leaned closer. “Caffeine isn’t good for a developing fetus.”
“You know there’s caffeine in chocolate, right?” I said as her father stood to address the room. Abby stuck her tongue out at me.
“Okay.” Rick Wade cradled his full mug in both hands. “We’ve come together to discuss the recent rash of human murders in the Appalachian Territory, and with six council members present, we have the quorum required to put a plan into action.” He turned to me. “How many murders have there been so far?”
“Three.” I was acutely aware of each gaze trained on me. I’d arrived at the meeting with one strike already against me in the minds of my fellow council members. Even those who’d supported my takeover of the Appalachian Pride. After all, how good can an Alpha possibly be if he doesn’t realize there’s a serial killer loose in his territory until the bastard’s already slaughtered three humans?
“And we’re sure the killer is a stray?” Marc asked.
“Actually, we’renotsure, because we haven’t been able to inspect any of the crime scenes yet.” I set my mug on the end table to my left, then leaned forward with my elbows resting on my knees. “The first two victims were killed last month, but the first didn’t get much press until the second established a pattern. Until then, the first victim was assumed to have been mauled by one of his own dogs.”
“How can we be sure that’s not what happened?” Ed Taylor asked.
“The claw marks on first and second victims match, which means they were inflicted by the same animal. The state medical examiner ran some tests and realized the wounds are from feline claws, not canine.” I shrugged. “We all know cougars won’t settle into any region inhabited by shifters, and jaguars don’t live as far north as Kentucky.”
Abby’s eyes narrowed as she thought aloud. “So, we know for sure that the killer is one of ours, but not whether he’s stray or Pride?”
I nodded, and her father frowned. For a second, I thought he’d ask her to leave the room because she was neither an Alpha nor an official advisor to the council, like Karen. But before he could make up his mind, Faythe leaned forward, one hand resting on her stomach. “I assume the plan is to ID the killer and take him out?”
“ASAP. Assuming the vote tonight supports execution,” I added. “The third murder took place three days ago, and that scene’s the only one still fresh enough to be of much use. Now that the cops are done with it, I’ll be checking it out personally as soon as I get home.”
“In Manchester?” Abby sounded like something was stuck in her throat, and though she was staring at the rug, her eyes were unfocused.
Burt Di Carlo frowned. “What?”
“Manchester is where the third murder took place.” I turned back to Abby. “How did you know that?”
“Um…TV.” She met my gaze but seemed to struggle to pull my face into focus. “It must have been on the news. You’re going there, what? Tomorrow?”
“That’s the plan.”
Rick took a sip from his mug, his focus still trained on me. “Just tell us what you need.”
“If I recognize the killer’s scent, I won’t need anything. Mateo, Chase, and I will find him.” I glanced at Bert Di Carlo, Mateo’s father, in acknowledgment of his son’s skill. Teo was the first enforcer who’d signed on with me, and he’d been my right-hand man since I took over the Appalachian Territory. “If I don’t recognize the scent, I’ll overnight each of you a sample for help with the identification and we’ll proceed from there. Objections?”
I glanced around the room, waiting for an argument, but everyone seemed satisfied with the plan. Faythe looked almost as relieved by that as I felt.
Rick stood again, and every gaze followed him. “Sounds good, Jace. All in favor of capital punishment for the killer or killers, whenever he or they are found?”
I stood, and one by one, my fellow Alphas joined me. The sentence was unanimous.
“That went a lot better than I expected.” I glanced at Abby, expecting to see her I-told-you-so face, but she looked away as soon as I made eye contact. She looked worried.
No, she looked scared.
I ducked to catch her eye, trying to decide whether I should ask her what was wrong in front of the crowd or wait for privacy. Then Jerald Pierce clapped me on the back, and the moment was over. “These meetings go pretty smoothly when we all have the same objective.”
But I understood the part he’d left unspoken. The last time the council disagreed on something serious, my stepfather had started a war as an excuse to have Marc and me executed, and Faythe forced into marriage.
