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“He is her rapist, yes. He’s not a murderer. Not hers, anyway. He wants to keep her forever. He wants her to love him. That’s all. She’s going to get raped. She’s going to come back to us, though. If you can’t have even a shred of faith in her ability to survive, then go plan her godsdamn funeral and leave me alone,” I say seriously. “None of you heard how he talked about her or how he looked at her when she showed up that day. He’s mad because he thinks she chose the kings over him. He thought he had her brainwashed.”

“Leli, I…” Striker starts to interrupt.

“Also,” I continue. “If you ever raise your voice to me again, Iwillkick your ass.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry,” he says, putting his hands up as if to surrender.

“You’re a sassy little thing today,” Vash comments with a smirk. I narrow my eyes at him, and he simply grins.

“Anyway,” I say. “Fermin is in custody and will remain there until Lilith gets back and decides what will happen to him.”

“And if she doesn’t come back?” Dad asks. I won’t get pissy with him. He’s been through too much trauma losing her before not to be worried.

“Then he will rot in that cell for the rest of his life,” I say simply. “You and I both know she is too stubborn to die. Traumatized or not, she’s smart as hell, just like her Dad.”

“You’re just sucking up now,” he says with a soft smile.

“A little,” I say before moving on. I am liable to cry if I focus on her absence too much. “We have representatives coming today for every species. This includes wolves and lions. Be nice or get out.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon to be including them?” Vash asks.

“No. Lilith and the guys made it very clear that no one would be excluded. No segregation. No slavery. That means they are included. They have someone coming up, and it’s been confirmed through Ulfric that they have no connection to Zypher or Morwen.”

“Is this true?” Dad asks Ulfric.

“Yeah. I’ve talked to both of them,” Ulfric says. “Kragan Dungrell is the lion shifter rep and Alasdair Erdritch is the wolf shifter rep. I chose Kragen because he punched Morwen in a bar fight a few years ago. Alasdair…”

“What,” I ask.

“He used to be in Zypher’s pack,” Ulfric says cautiously.

“What?” Striker booms.

“Stop it,” I growl. “Why him?”

“Because he left the pack when Zypher invited him to join the pack inbreaking inhis new maiden five years ago,” he says simply.

“Does he know?” Dad asks.

“No. When I asked around, a few people were suggesting him yesterday, so I asked him why he left his pack. He told me that he had no desire to rape some innocent girl for fun. I asked him if he knew who the maiden was so I could confirm, and he said he never asked, and he left immediately. Zypher never questioned it and signed off on him leaving,” Ulfric explains.

“So, he has no idea that he will be serving under the same woman he refused to rape?” I ask.

“Not a clue. He said he’d have to actually show up to find out who she was, and once he was there, they’d kill him before they let him out of that house without touching her,” Ulfric says with a frown.

“Makes him a culprit and less likely to come forward,” I say, and he nods. “Alright. We can talk to them.”

“They are here.”

“What about Draik?” I ask.

“He’s here,” Eldric says.

“Wow,” Brenna says. “I’m surprised he came. He’s been on the council for a while, and he’s never come in as far as I’ve ever heard.”

“He has the same values as us; it makes sense why he and his group are coming out now,” I say.

“Yeah. If they know they can openly help, they don’t have to hide out,” Dad says.