This is my life now, and the wolves waiting in the wind are always watching.
Chapter 16
Slade
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Standing beside mysister on the back patio, I gaze out over a sea of faces with hungry eyes that I’d like to gouge out with a grapefruit spoon. The doors are flung wide open behind us, revealing the sitting room that contains what’s left of our small pack. Even with Vince’s advanced healing, he has four massive scars slashing down the length of his body from where one of Stonewood’s men tried to gut him, and he shows them off with pride as he sits at Lizzie’s feet, her other mates caging her in on the sides. Sabrina is situated on the other couch on Reid’s lap, nestled between Cinjin and Bo that each have a hand on her. The latter are struggling more with her home than they were during her stint in her apartment, not that I’m faring much better.
We promised that she’d be safe, and even with all of us here, on her first night at our house, we almost lost her, and it was my fault for bringing her here, for leaving her alone and failing to realize one of the men in the control room wasn’t dead. It’s driving their wolves mad, battering relentlessly inside of their chests, desperate to reach and protect her where we didn’t. Hell, her screams hauntmydreams, and she hasn’t even claimed me; probably never will after this. Not when I failed her, failed all of them.
Closing my eyes, I take a slow, deep breath, schooling my features so as not to give a single thing away to these vultures. “I appreciate you all coming, when I know we weren’t set to reconvene for another three days. But unfortunately, this situation has made us reconsider our timeline.”
“You’ve finally seen sense that you’re unfit to protect your pack, you mean.” Victor’s deep auburn eyes pin me with smug self-satisfaction, to which I simply raise an eyebrow, appearing unfazed.
All the while, I mentally note how... unsurprised he appears. It’s the main reason I called them here instead of meeting at his home, which is more of a central location for all of the families. The doors are flung wide open so that the foul scent can saturate the air to the point that even in broad daylight, their weaker senses will have no trouble picking it up. The bodies may be gone now, but death? It leaves a lingering memory that even bleach can’t eradicate.
“Quite the opposite, old friend. It would appear that the seven of us are plenty to not only safeguard three women, but can do so while slaughtering the sixty-five men that not a single one of you lifted a finger to stop.”
Silence surrounds me before the flurry of protests that I don’t bother calling to order, I simply continue speaking. Whether or not they shut up to listen is yet another test; endless games, orchestrated to flush the vipers from the shadows. Not all threats need to be put down, but the winds can change without notice, and I need to always be ready for when they inevitably do.
There are too many people counting on me not to.
“I came to you about Stonewood over a month ago. You all were aware that they didn’t surrender Carter for punishment as our law demands. Still, none of you did a single thing beyond rush Emmeline to make her choice in a bid to get her away from here before things escalated, leaving Elizabeth at risk. Eligible or not, females are to be protected at all cost; is that not the one standard we still hold ourselves to, when all of the others have fallen by the wayside over the centuries?”
Victor. Eric. Andrei. Still objecting and trying to discredit me.
Flicking an invisible piece of lint from my shoulder, I carry on. “Still, I believe it’s in Emmeline’s best interest to settle this matter now. Then perhaps everyone can quit their bickering and turn their attention to matters that concern us all. Namely, if we’ll be turning a blind eye toanyone’shome that’s attacked from here on out, or if we’d like to actually honor those alliances we’ve all worked so hard to cultivate.”
Ah, universal hatred. At least we’re all on the same page again.
“Emmeline?”
With a sweep of my hand, I give my sister the floor, letting her hold the spotlight while I search for disinterested eyes. Those would be the ones that didn’t show up today hoping to walk away with a mate. They’re the ones that wanted to see what type of shape we were in, when we didn’t alert anyone to the attack until they were already on our land.
Bo joins me on my left and I glance back at Sabrina out of habit to ensure that she isn’t alone, these last few days making us more obsessive than ever where she’s concerned. She’s just so... fragile. The one bit of light left in our lives and we almost lost it, lost her.
