“I’m almost afraid to ask.” I ran my hands through my hair, leaning against the desk as I listened.
“There were no fewer than five reports of supes encroaching on goblin territory. And not just a roaming pack of wolves or some warlocks too big for their britches. Mixed groups, heavily armed. From the few I was able to read, they seem to be moving around from territory to territory, and the estimated size? Growing with each report. I wasn’t through the stack, and there werethousandsof soldiers. That particular goblin clan was completely overrun. They had to evacuate. So there could be even more waiting there now.”
I frowned, trying to follow where she was going with this. “How did no one notice that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. So few other species interact with goblins, and they tend to live more remotely. My guess is that this assistant was put in place specifically to hide reports of the gathering army.”
I pushed off the desk, an alarming picture solidifying in my mind. “You think the pixie king’s army has been hiding on goblin land?”
“That’s exactly what I think. And from the trajectory, the numbers are growing fast. One of the clans reporting the largest numbers was in Romania, within a day’s drive from Pack Caelestis’s lands. The soldiers threatened to kill anyone who spoke out.”
“That’s it, then. That’s as close to confirmation as we’re going to get. The pixie king has an army, and he’s staging it to attack the high alpha.”
She nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. “We need to get back to the pack immediately.”
We sent a brief update to Lucien that we had news of an army and were packing to leave, when Elodie spun on me, irritated. “Are you going to answer that? It’s barely stopped buzzing since we left Lug’s office.”
I’d been pondering the implications of Rubix’s parting shot, of the gathering army, not at all noticing my phone across the room.
“Whatever it is can probably wait. I’d rather get on the road and then deal with it. One more minute than necessary in this place is one too many.”
“I don’t disagree, but it’s driving me nuts. Here, shut it off if you don’t want to check it.”
She pressed the slim black phone into my hand, then returned to shoving her toiletries into her bag. We were nearly done, but with a sigh, I slid up on the screen to see who’d been blowing me up.
I didn’t make it past the first message, and I called her back over to show her.
“Firecracker. It’s happening.”
“What is it now?” She sounded exhausted from the bad news, and I couldn’t blame her.
“Kane has called all the packs. There’s going to be another great pack gathering.”
“What?” She snatched the phone out of my hand, eyes racing over the string of messages and missed calls.
“Not for mating this time. He’s done it. He called it a war council.”
Chapter 39
Elodie
My thoughts were heavy as we made our way back to the Hungarian pack grounds. Lucien wanted a full report before we all went together to the Caelestis castle for the gathering.
The war gathering.
Blood rushed in my eardrums, even as I calmly traced the back of Valens’s knuckles with my thumb. It felt like we’d spent more time together in a car than we had anywhere else, and somehow, the road slipping by calmed me.
“It’s really happening. I know Fiona saw it, but they must be sure an attack is coming if they’re openly gathering all the packs for war.”
“It’s happening. Reed has been working his influence with the other pack Alphas for weeks now, slowly introducing the idea of an omega bringing her gifts back to the wolves, sharing news of the omega stone as people were receptive. Lucien says he’s expecting a good turnout.”
“They’d better turn out if the high alpha calls.”
He snorted, giving my fingers a squeeze. “They will. They all will. They don’t have a choice.”
“True. I’m so used to Kane as just… part of the pack. Sometimes I forget how much power he wields.”
Valens laughed. “I’m still not used to it. For another alpha, being in the same room with him can get suffocating.”
