Sebastian’s fears are incredibly valid. The way he chose to share them wasn’t ideal, but it probably helped put everything in perspective. We have work to do.”
“Yes, alpha.” Niamh got into the van.
Austin turned—and then immediately jerked backward—not having noticed Edgar sneak up on him, which was worrying, since Austin should’ve felt the vampire’s proximity in a few different ways.
“Hello, ma’am,” Edgar said with a smile.
Austin just waited. There really was no point in reacting to the vampire’s antics. At least he’d cleaned up his teeth.
“What about the flowers?” Edgar asked. “The sooner we get them into the ground, the better.”
“That’s on the schedule for our meeting with the alpha, Edgar, as you know. Please go put on some pants that fit.”
“Yes, sir!”
Suddenly Austin wasn’t so sure Kingsley was going to go for the flowers. It was easy to see the merit in something like lethal flora once the absurdity no longer registered. Austin had been worked in gradually, though. Kingsley’s people weren’t used to the level of weird that Ivy House could conjure up. They’d probably have a hard enough time adjusting to the gargoyles.
Austin hadn’t thought the situation with Momar could get any more challenging. He’d just been proven wrong. Possibly very wrong. And this town was much too big to evacuate.
SEVEN
Jessie
“YOU HANDLED THAT SITUATION BEAUTIFULLY,” Mimi said as we followed James in the van to the first of the hotels our people would be staying in. The inhabitants were the same as coming to the territory.
I felt a touch on my shoulder.
“Which?” I asked, taking in their downtown as we passed through. The square had benches, vibrant grass, and a really cute gazebo with small businesses all around. People loitered, chatting or just sitting there and taking in the closing of the day.
“With the two alphas.” I heard her lean back. “It was perfectly done, backing them both down without making either of them feel lesser for it.”
“She backed me down,” Austin said. “He followed suit.”
“You shouldn’t have needed her to,” Mimi replied.
“I know. I didn’t realize we’d see things so differently right off the bat. It’s…concerning.”
“You two have always seen things differently.”
“We were younger then.”
“But no less thickheaded.”
Austin shook his head a little but didn’t comment. I had a feeling he wanted to roll his eyes.
“We need to get those mages out of those towns,” I said. “It’s insane, allowing them to lurk right at the border. What is Kingsley thinking? It’s a miracle no one’s gone missing.”
“Or have they?” Nessa asked. “It’s not like he’d volunteer that information when he was trying to make an ill-conceived point.”
“He’s thinking like a man who’s never faced a situation like this before,” Mimi replied. “Until recently, he’s only dealt with shifters, and while our kind can certainly be cunning, none of the hostile packs have ever been powerful enough to pose a problem for him. He’s unprepared for this fight. I always suspected, but it took getting to know your territory and how mages think to be sure. You’re going to have to push him, Austin.”
“He is not the type to accept being pushed,” Austin replied. “It’ll result in a challenge.”
“Then you meet that challenge diplomatically, assume control of this situation, and make sure we all survive. The family won’t like it, but the family would like seeing their pack and their loved ones die far less. Desperate times, as they say.”
“It was my fault,” Sebastian said, rubbing his chin. “I should’ve handled that situation differently.
I created a tense environment.”
“Wouldn’t have mattered if you had,” Tristan said. “The fact is, we’re not going to comfortably coexist. We need to focus on getting the job done and protecting our own. Begging your pardon, alphas, but there is no way in hell I am allowing Natasha to be separated from our group and put under their surveillance. I doubt you want the weird mage in that sort of situation, either. These people are scared, and they don’t trust or even like mages. We can’t risk that one of them will do the ill-informed and stupid thing of trying to kill the mages in their sleep.”
“Impossible,” Sebastian said. “I have a lot of spells to prevent that. They’d die long before I would.”
“Also a bad situation,” Tristan replied. “And what about when you aren’t there? Natasha doesn’t have that kind of power.”
“They can stay with Jess and me,” Austin said. “I have plenty of room.”
“That’s probably best, anyway,” I said, “because we need to figure out what we can do magically to level out the playing field.”
“We’ve been trying that for weeks,” Sebastian said wistfully.
“One question,” Nessa said. “If Kingsley likes to keep the Dick towns and his pack separated, did we just make a huge blunder with bringing in a bunch of townies with campers to deliver the basajaunak? Maybe that’s what got him riled up.”
“Bah.” Mimi batted the air with her hand. “We get food and products from Dicks all the time.
They come in to deliver and sometimes stay for lunch or what have you. We get Jane and Dick visitors, and the various mayors and their offices come by from time to time, or the police chiefs when something big is going on. Kingsley just likes to pretend our people don’t go seeking fun in the border towns, and now he has a reason to put a stop to it.”
“Why would he care?” Sebastian asked.
“Shifters didn’t used to be welcomed,” Mimi replied. “When the pack was taken over from my late mate, they created a lot of turbulence for Dicks. Not to mention it was a couple of generations ago, and people were close-minded about what goes bump in the night. It was a rough time. When I regained the pack, I worked to mend those fences, so to speak, but we were quite separated by then.
Denise, Austin’s mom, followed in my footsteps, trying to repair bridges and establish trade and goodwill. Kingsley maintains the semblance of a divide, and he’s in the position that he can turn a blind eye to the Dicks without it being a problem.”
“Until now,” Nessa said.
“Until now,” Mimi confirmed.
Kingsley
THE LIGHT FALLING through the windows dimmed as the day slid into night. Kingsley sat forward in his office chair, his elbows planted on top of his desk and his gaze far away, thinking about the meeting he’d just had with Austin.
Well, not just. It had been over an hour since he’d turned from his brother and shut the door behind him. Over an hour stewing in the anger and frustration that meeting had caused. Over an hour
of growing uncertainty about the fate of this pack and his family.
His phone clamored across the wood. Earnessa’s picture popped onto the screen. He should be home by now, getting everything set up for dinner. This was the big reveal of Austin’s mate. Everyone was curious to learn more about the woman who’d finally pinned his wild younger brother down.