“No words were exchanged between him and the Phoenix wolves. They merely stood with us for support. If he finds them intimidating, I can hardly help that.” Dawn’s response made Remy’s upper lip curl back.
“So you admit that you need support?”
“Only against Remy.”
Parker looked about to ask a question, but Emilio beat him to it. “Tell me, Dawn, why is the shelter becoming overfull?”
“A large number of the residents were fired from their jobs after their employers—”
“Fired? That made it hard for them to support themselves and move on, I’m guessing. Is it true some of your sponsors pulled out?”
“It is, but—”
He whistled. “Now that must have had a big impact.”
Dawn’s mouth tightened. “We’ve attracted new sponsors. And none would have pulled out if—”
“So when Remy says you need help, support, funding, and the ability to expand the building, he couldn’t be more accurate. Your shelter is overflowing—”
“No one said it was overflowing,” she hissed, and Emilio looked pleased to see her riled.
“—you have cougars fighting to get inside the building—”
“There was no fighting.”
“—and you’re lacking the one thing the shelter needs to keep going: appropriate funding.”
Hissing again, she snapped, “Maybe if you’d let me get a word in edgewise, I could explain why I’m suddenly having all these problems.”
Instead, Emilio looked at Parker. “I think it might be helpful to speak with Makenna Wray and hear more about her problems with the extremists.”
Oh, fucking groovy. Makenna watched as Dawn’s back snapped straight and alpha vibes flowed from her. Not good in a courtroom.
“Makenna does not need to be questioned,” stated Dawn. “I can tell you whatever it is you need to know.”
Landyn gave Dawn a pointed look. “Reign in those vibes. We will not be intimidated.”
“I’m not trying to intimidate anyone, I’m—”
“Wasting time,” finished Emilio. “Makenna Wray, please take Dawn’s seat.”
Swallowing back a groan, Makenna patted Ryan’s rock-hard thigh. He didn’t want her going up there, she knew; he wanted her close, wanted her where he could easily protect her. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered in his ear as she rose.
Grinding his teeth so hard he was surprised something didn’t crack, Ryan rested a possessive hand on his mate’s ass as she slid past him. With each step she took away from him, his anger at Remy and Emilio built in his system. He hated the distance between them. Emilio probably meant to toy with her and twist her words, just as he’d done with Dawn.
What Emilio didn’t know was that she’d toy with him right back. Makenna would be pissed at the asshole for playing with Dawn and so she’d deliberately antagonize him. Ryan knew from personal experience how good she was at it.
“I saw the news clipping of your encounter with the extremists,” Emilio said as Makenna sat. “They appeared outside your apartment building, correct?”
“I don’t live there anymore.”
Emilio opened and closed his mouth. “In any case, did they begin a protest outside the building?”
Makenna tilted her head. “Why would you ask if you saw the news? Were you lying?”
Emilio’s eyes flashed. “No, I’m merely asking you to verify it.”
“Why?”
“Why are you asking why?”
“I think it’s important to question everything. Don’t you?”
Taking a deep breath, Emilio gave her a brittle smile. “You must have been very frightened to see them outside the building, knowing how zealous these human extremists can be.”
Makenna pursed her lips. “I was more annoyed than anything else. They were aggravating my headache.”
“Clearly you escaped. Were you seen?”
“By who?”
A muscle in his cheek ticked. “Extremists.”
“Well, none followed me.”
“The extremists know your name and address—”
“Old address.”
“—yet you didn’t stay clear of the shelter for its safety. You persisted in going there.” He paused as he caught sight of a spider crawling along the bench. He wacked it hard with a notepad, crushing the insect.
Makenna winced. “You shouldn’t have done that. It’ll rain now. Quick, cross your fingers.”
Ryan closed his eyes, sighing inwardly. His mate was insane, and now everyone knew it. Still, he couldn’t help but want to smile.
Emilio arched a brow. “Rain?”
“Yes, you killed a spider.”
Emilio turned to his fellow council members with a smirk, which they didn’t return. In fact, they seemed to agree with Makenna. Expression hard, Emilio turned back to her. “Why didn’t you stay away from the shelter?”
She blinked. “Why would I?”
“To stop the extremists from following you there, of course.”
“I already told you, no one was following me.”
“I’m sure they will from here on out, considering the news showed them hanging outside your new pack’s territory.” So they had seen this morning’s news.