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My eyebrows rose. She was sorry? Good. I would take that. “As soon as this is over, I want to be taken to the tracks. I might get a premonition or something.”

“Which is why we didn’t want you out there,” Papa Christian said. It was evident him and Papa Nic weren’t going to be saying sorry anytime soon. “When you get a premonition, you’re in a vulnerable state. We didn’t want your mates, or anyone else, to witness that.”

“Then I should’ve been shown first.”

Mother held her hands out. “Let’s just agree to disagree right now. We can talk about it more later, but we have a room full of people waiting to hear about this.”

“And I’ll be finding out the same time they are.”

Mother glared at me.

Okay. Maybe that last thought was taking it too far, but I was a little like Papa Nic in that way. Sometimes I let my anger get the better of me.

“Fine,” I said.

The rest of them agreed and Papa Christian helped Mother and then me up onto the raised dais while they followed shortly after.

The room quieted like a wave rolled over the talking voices until it was silent. My mother sat first and then the rest of us sat, except for Papa Christian. His voice rang out as clear and as steady as he always was. “As you may have heard, we have found unidentifiable animal tracks located just outside the perimeter walls. We have people trying to discern what animal this has come from because an initial review did not yield any immediate matches.”

Whispers went up around the room like a cacophony of buzzing flies.

Papa Christian ignored them and kept going. “We also had a man posing as a guard from a visiting leading clan let onto the premises yesterday. The leading clans have all been talked to, and we can discern from this point in time that this person is not from a leading clan, but a stranger to us. The current whereabouts of the stranger are unknown.”

I bit down on my jaw. “That was one thing I didn’t know.”

Though I didn’t say it loud enough for everyone to hear, Mom reached out and placed a steady hand on my thigh and then patted it.

“First thing’s first,” Papa Christian said authoritatively. “I would like to hear from the visiting clans to see if they wish to stay, move the mating ceremony, or leave all together.”

Calen stood with his father. “We’re staying.”

They sat back down again immediately, then Kai rose. “I’m staying, but I wish to find transportation for my mother to return home safely.”

I smiled at him and though he looked at me, he looked away almost immediately, his cheeks flaming red.

“We can arrange that,” Papa Christian said.

Felix stood. “Staying,” he stated simply, then sat back down again.

My eyes flicked to his. I still couldn’t get a good read on him. Though, apparently, he was the only one who thought of me when they were investigating the tracks. That was a surprise.

The Nolan Clan stood. The threesome was as stone-faced as ever. “We intend to stay for the time being.”

The time being? That didn’t give me all the warm and fuzzies.

“Understood,” Papa Christian said.

Rafe was the only one who hadn’t declared what his intentions were. I found him in the crowd sitting next to Felix. He stared at me for a long time before standing. “Staying as well, King Christian.”

Instead of moving on, Papa Christian waited. I looked up at him and then noticed Papa Stephan leaning down and whispering to Natalie. Natalie’s eyes widened and then she looked up. “Staying,” she said, a little flummoxed. “Of course.”

After she turned back around, Papa Stephan leaned back over, most likely explaining that it was all just procedure. Something they had to ask for to be put on record.

Papa Christian nodded. “Very well. More guards will be added to security here at The Fort. If you would like to up security at your individual residences, please see King Nicolai. If you believe you have an expertise that will help in identifying the animal tracks, please see myself. We’ll call another meeting when we have more information. Thank you for coming.”

Just like that The Council meeting ended. People rose from their seats and started to leave. Something such as animal tracks surrounding the Rajyvik Training Facility wouldn’t have been news that was shared with everyone, but since we were holding the mate choosing here and it was getting a lot of attention, it was a smart move by my parents to put everyone at ease. The best thing the Ravana Clan gave their members was communication. We tried not to hold back or keep anything away from them.

“Princess Izzy,” a strong voice said.