“Yes, I agree,” Lucien said as he strolled back in, dusting off his hands as if he wanted to wash away the experience of meeting Alajos.
“But it’s not humans,” Olivia interjected softly. “It’s our own kind, conspiring with other supernaturals. They can’t be coming after just wolves, right? Kane might have been Petró’s target, but if the pixie king truly wants to run the world—and Alajos didn’t seem like he was making up that horror story—we’ll be the first, but not the only species under attack.”
Elodie shook her head, setting the misshapen metal down so she could pace while she talked. “The others are already under attack. The clowder was pissed off when we got there, claiming the IGC had been ignoring their complaints aboutLeon’s kidnapping. They let us in because they assumed we were the official investigators that had been sent in response to their complaints.”
“The pixies have a council seat. The corruption could run deeper than we knew,” Galyna said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Lucien, you’ve spent more time with the council members than any of us have. Did it seem like the pixies had strong allies? Someone who might have helped them block complaints coming into the council?”
Lucien dropped into a plush seat, rubbing both hands wearily over his face. “It’s hard to say. Everyone has allies, but they change constantly. The only one who really kept himself apart from the drama was Fortier, but the centaurs are always the lead council, and they always stay aloof to protect their perceived neutrality.” He waved a hand. “It’s political chess, mostly. That being said, one or two key employees might be all they’d need to stop reports from coming in and going up the ladder. From what I know of the pixie king, he’s a bit of a fundamentalist. He believes in supreme authority above all else. He’s not as popular as his father was with his people, but his low approval doesn’t mean much, because pixies have always been a monarchy, and he’s their leader by bloodline. So the idea that he would insert pixies into key places to stop the flow of information? I can believe that.”
“How long can keeping the council in the dark last, though, if people who work for the council and the ODL are also going missing?” I asked, remembering the laundry list of disappearances he’d given when he’d called me to investigate the missing lynx in the first place.
Lucien shrugged. “With me not being in session with the council right now, it’s hard to say. I hate to leave the pack so soon—I reallyshouldn’tleave the pack—but unless Kane wants to revoke my nomination and put someone else on the councilon short notice, I might have to go back in and see if I can figure out what’s going on. It may very well be that the only reason we’re hearing of it at all is because they messed up and took people with strong ties to the council and the ODL.”
An idea struck me. “Are you able to send in a delegate, or does it have to be you personally?”
Lucien frowned at me. “I believe I can send in a delegate, but it’s not done often. Too much politics, and no one wants to risk their cushy position. Why? Who did you have in mind?”
I lifted my eyebrows at him, pointing both thumbs at myself. “You need someone to go, I’m your second. I’m up to speed on what’s happened, and since Elodie and I personally inspected the crime scenes, it seems like we’d be the perfect two to go make a report to the council. Me as your delegate, her as a concerned representative of the Maiden’s Enclave.”
Elodie’s cheeks were pale as she shook her head. “I can’t leave. My duty is to the packs. I?—”
Galyna cleared her throat, shooting an apologetic look Elodie’s way. “The head priestess is already covering your position. Dakota got here last night. With everything happening, you’d usually be called back to the enclave until it passed. She’s making an exception this time, given”—Galyna locked eyes with me—“the impending circumstances.”
Elodie lurched back like she’d been slapped. “So I’m off assignment because I’m going to go into heat? Just like that? She didn’t evennotifyme?”
“Why don’t we talk about this in the hall? No need airing enclave business to everyone. They’ve got plans of their own to hash out.” Galyna waved to the rest of us standing around awkwardly.
“Fine.” The single word was mangled, forced out through Elodie’s gritted teeth. She stalked toward the door, and I watched her go, feeling helpless in this situation. Lucien shiftedfrom foot to foot. Olivia shot me a wide-eyed, awkward glance at the announcement that Elodie was about to go into heat. I was no less surprised she’d blurted it out like that.
On the one hand, lining up a replacement for Elodie—temporarily—made perfect sense, as it would for any she-wolf about to go into heat who had such an important job. Not telling her, though? That sucked. And I had to wonderwhythey hadn’t said anything.
Was it because they disapproved of her testing out the relationship with me? It was the logical conclusion.
And for my part in her getting blindsided, I was sorry. I also had no idea what to do about it. Was this the sort of thing I apologized for? Did I offer her a shoulder to cry on? Was she going to be pissed at me or at the head priestess?
“Earth to Valens.” An amused wave from my Alpha brought my train of thought screeching back onto the tracks of the here and now.
“Apologies, Alpha.” I snapped to attention, my hands behind my lower back, eyes trained just below Lucien’s in deference.
He chuckled. “It’s fine. There’s a lot going on. Are yousureyou’d be okay with a delegate position, given…” He gestured to the door, where faint sounds of Elodie and Galyna’s argument could be heard in snippets filtering through.
I hesitated. “I… probably should have discussed that with Elodie before offering both of us up. But I do think it’s the logical next step. Can I have a few hours to discuss it with her? As long as she’s okay with the plan, I’m happy to go.”
Lucien nodded. “Of course, just let me know by the end of the night. I’ll put out feelers for a plan B.”
“Thank you.”
The hall was now eerily silent, and even though I couldn’t see more than a slice of it through the door, I knew Elodie was gone.
Time to go find her. We had a lot of discussing to do.
Elodie wasn’t at her cottage—Galyna was, and she didn’t look happy to see me when she snatched the door open with a snarl. Elodie also wasn’t in any of the shops in the center of town. She was most likely running off some steam. That meant I needed to get back to my house, change into running shoes, and go find her.
Plan settled, I crossed through town, politely nodding at my pack mates as I dodged conversations left and right. Ever since I’d started fixing things, the list seemed to have only grown longer. And since I’d been gone for even such a short time, people’s demands had gotten louder.
I wanted to—and would—fix it all, but it would take time. As pack second, I had a lot of conflicting duties. Right now, I needed to find my mate and make sure I hadn’t put my foot in my mouth by making careless promises to Lucien. The rest could wait.
I was lost in thought as I walked up to the front of the cottage I shared with Savvy, but my wolf, as always, looked out for me.
