—“it’s more spread-out than I was envisioning. Much more isolated. Obviously I’ve only seen a portion of the territory, but what I have seen is a nightmare. If they have off-road vehicles, they can likely move faster than our shifters. Maybe our fliers in some places.” He pointed at Nessa without breaking his gaze away from Jessie. “See if you can get any info on their gear. We only know about their magical guns so far. Let’s see if they’re planning anything else.”
“Got it.” She pulled her phone out from her cleavage and started tapping the screen.
“We have the fliers to combat the mages, though,” Jessie said, bracing her hands on her hips.
“With Gerard’s guardians, we should have about as many gargoyles as they have mages. Gargoyles can withstand a degree of magic.”
“Gargoyles can withstand a degree of magic, yes, but they aren’t impenetrable. The higher-powered mages will punch through their tough hides, and they’ll have plenty of time to do it because it’s grassland and dirt out there, only dotted with trees. They’ll throw spell after spell before the gargoyles can reach them. This isn’t like what we faced in the basajaunak lands, Jessie, or in your territory. This is the big leagues. These will be power players with power approaching mine. A few of them working together? Stronger than you. They have the upper hand here, and we haven’t a hope of—”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Jess held up her hands. “Let’s take a breath. Look, mages are cowards and their mercenaries are no match for shifters. We know this. The gargoyles can dodge the magic while still applying pressure to keep those mages running scared. After the shifters handle the mercenaries, we’ll apply pressure to the mages. You and I can strike them down one at a time if we have to. Or create more nasty potions for the gargoyles to throw at them. This is possible. We can do this. We just have to think it through, right? Think it through, Sebastian.”
He took a deep breath, his gaze going inward. “Okay,” he said softly.
“Sebastian, Nessa, Niamh,” Austin said, “we need more information. We need to know exactly what Momar’s group is thinking. We felt the presence of at least one mage in town. We need to grab a couple—”
“We leave the Dick and Jane towns out of our affairs,” Kingsley said, his tone hard. “Our business is none of theirs, and theirs is none of ours. It’s our truce with the Dick world. It’s how our ecosystem continues to work, or don’t you remember?”
“Beggin’ yer pardon, alpha,” Niamh said, “but ye’ve got yer shifters running into town, drinkin’ a bunch and flappin’ their gums to the mages hanging around there. Those mages are tellin’ everything they hear to their bosses. Yer basically injecting yer business into that town, and it’s keepin’ the mages lurking. Yer not exactly practicing what ye preach, if ye get me.”
“It’s cool, though,” Nessa said. “We’re not going to bother the Dicks and Janes. We’re just going to remove some vermin without anyone knowing. They won’t miss them—”
“This is not up for debate,” Kingsley barked, his tone brooking no argument. “We will not hunt those towns for our enemies. We can hunt our lands, but not theirs. Even though my shifters know better than to talk about our business outside of the pack, I’ll keep them from leaving until the attack.
That’ll end any information leaks you assume have happened.”
Austin stared at his brother, his power swelling and his frustration paramount. His brother’s
willful ignorance about the supposed divide between his people and the border towns was incredible. Maybe Dicks and Janes didn’t cross pack lines often, but plenty of shifters did. They had girlfriends and boyfriends in the border towns, hookups and friends, businesses, sometimes even mates they left the pack each night to stay with. It was complete neglect to leave them to the mages.
Austin held his tongue, however. They were in front of their subordinates. He couldn’t challenge Kingsley’s authority in front of everyone.
Damned if he could make himself break eye contact, though. Damned if he could stop his power from surging or dampen the energy that crackled between them. They were heading into dangerous waters right now, a challenge for dominance imminent. One they’d both follow through with because neither of them knew how to back down, their pasts be damned.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Jessie ran her hand up Austin’s arm and over his shoulder. “We’re tired, tensions are running high, and we’ve got a big puzzle to work out. We’re all a little wound up.”
She brushed her fingers across his neck and pressed her body to him, drawing his focus to her like a moth to flame. He bent down to give her the kiss she was tilting her head back to receive. Her smile was disarming and easy, and her fingers slipped between his, further anchoring him.
“So. Protocol.” She winked at him before turning her attention back to Kingsley, who’d shifted his gaze to her as well. “We’ve done the introductions, we’ve raised the alarm as to the magnitude of threat we’re soon to face, and now we all…break up for naps, right? Or a rest and a read?”
“I trust my house is still in working order?” Mimi stepped up between her grandsons. “No parties in it, I hope.”
“Mimi,” Kingsley said, his voice gruff. “Did you enjoy your holiday?”
“Greatly. It’s going to become my permanent residence, or didn’t your mate sing it from the rooftops?”
He grunted. “Dinner is at eight.” He spoke to Austin, still keyed up. “Mom looked after your house. It’s ready for you. The beta will show the rest of your people to their accommodations. They’ll be spread out across a couple of hotels and inns, except for the mages, who will be in a bungalow near downtown where they will be under constant surveillance. I realize he’s been with you awhile, but my people need to know we’re watching him. The basajaunak will be in the park nearest your house. There should be plenty of space for them. The rest of the territory knows to leave it alone.
Earnessa invited you and Jessie to our place for dinner tonight. See you then.”
He didn’t spare anyone a glance as he turned and walked back into the building. His people followed him, clearly uneasy, except for James, who stayed behind with a guarded expression.
“I have my car around back,” he said, looking everyone over. “When you’re ready to move out, I’ll show you the way.”
“Go grab it,” Austin said, not doing enough to temper the command in his tone. “We’ll load up now.”
When James jogged away, Austin gave Niamh a poignant stare he knew she’d understand. She’d have to slip away with a small team to extract some of those mages from town. All of them, if possible. That town needed to be cleared of vermin, and given the mages were only there because of the shifters, the shifters had to take care of it. How Kingsley couldn’t see at least that, Austin couldn’t fathom.
“He can’t know we defied his orders,” Austin told Niamh softly, walking her to the van she’d ridden in. “It’ll lead to a challenge, and that would…complicate matters.”
“I’d planned to use one of his cars…”
“Do not plan to use one of his cars. I’ll make one available to you. Tell Sebastian and Nessa to
get me a list of the gear the enemy will be using, and anything else they can scrape together.