Page 12 of Pack Rage (The Splintered Bond #4)
Chapter 11
In the Wolf’s Den
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I t was all I could do not to flinch when Aidan McDonnell’s oily voice slid over me as I stood, my hands on my head and my legs apart, in the front foyer of the Mansion. “Young Brand Becker, welcome back to my home. I’m glad you decided to join us for the emergency meeting.”
His words were welcoming. But the rough hands of the two burly Enforcers searching me—one of them holding a wand of some kind that clicked at the metal buckles on my clothing and bag—made it clear I was not a trusted guest.
Not that anyone was right now. I’d never seen as many Enforcers inside the Mansion as I did today. One stood at each door, eyes tracking me as if I might attack. I grunted as one of them took my bag and opened it, dumping the contents out on a small table and inspecting each item.
“Really, Aidan? Is this necessary? I’m well-versed in protocol. I entered your home unarmed and on your invitation.”
The Alpha stiffened at the lack of a formal title. But he’d chosen not to use mine, so he couldn’t protest. I had on a pair of sunglasses and left them on, even inside.I didn’t want him to see my eyes, not yet. He may have heard about the change already, but I wasn’t certain.
“It is, I’m afraid,” he replied. “You can’t know this, of course, but someone has taken our daughter. We don’t know where she is, and until we do, our security will be increased.”
Tana, missing? I felt a surge of relief that I was forced to hide. Finn must have gotten her out. Some part of me relaxed, knowing there was one less innocent who might be harmed in the coming days. “That’s shocking to learn. Who would take her?”
“All leaders have enemies. It’s a wise Alpha who takes precautions to protect his pack,” he replied, flicking his fingers for the guards to retreat.
I picked up my bag, the sparse clothing I’d neatly packed now rumpled. “A shame when even an Alpha who takes precautions can have the things he values stolen from him. I hope Tana is safe and well, and where she should be within the day. I understand your reaction now. Fear drives your actions, not a desire to insult.”
His lips tightened at my carefully worded caution and criticism. “Of course not. Though I did think you might not answer my summons at all.”
“Why would you think that?” I knew what he would say, but wanted to see what he would admit to. Find out what he knew, if I could.
He ushered me into the sitting room, snapping for a young maid to fetch refreshments. “More often than not, as you know, your father chose not to attend to Council matters. I had wondered if you might do the same once you took his place.” He settled back in his chair, pretending nonchalance. “Though I’m extremely curious as to how you managed to become Alpha while leaving him alive.”
“The old ways, of course. You know my pack has always followed them. In the few instances that we did not, we regretted it. It’s a good thing that with my rise to Alpha, we can begin to set things right again,” I replied, as the maid delivered a tray with steaming tea, along with a plate piled with warm scones, jam, and clotted cream.
Aidan stared at me in silence as I ate a few bites. Perhaps in shock, that I even knew the law. Unless and until the Council had me under its rule, I had the power here.
My father had rarely cared enough about Council politics to play these sorts of games. I had a feeling the Eastern Alpha had forgotten that we weren’t just brawn at Mountain. We were strategists as well.Of course, he’d never spoken more than a few moments with me. In his eyes, I was still a dumb pup, one he could take advantage of.
I sipped my tea while Aidan stewed. “My father taught me a lot about how shifters were meant to live, and govern. I may be a new Alpha, but I will follow the old ways. I believe the Council might do well to also return to them.”
“The old ways?” He almost barked the words. “The old ways would have his blood feeding Mountain soil.”
Usually, Aidan was calm, even cold. I’d unsettled him. Good. I breathed calmly, controlling my own wolf’s response to hearing this weak Alpha speak of my father so disrespectfully. It was time to unsettle him a bit more.
“Now, Aidan, you know as well as I do that the Moon Goddess cannot be tricked. We fought under the moon, in the presence of the pack. The power flowed from my father to me. We followed the old ways, and were rewarded.” I chose that moment to look down and take off the sunglasses. “His survival was not the only surprise. I was also gifted with Her favor.”
When I set them on the table and looked up, his face turned almost as white as my gaze. He began to sputter, finally getting words out. “What… How? ”
So he hadn’t known. I relaxed slightly. I didn’t need to tell him when my eyes had changed. If he thought it was a result of the fight for leadership, he would be hard pressed to find a valid reason to claim I had been affected by magic.
“My grandmother did some research. Moonblessed eyes have only been seen once before, hundreds of years ago. It could be a sign that our pack’s adherence to the old ways, that my own leadership, has the moon’s blessing.” I let my gaze harden. “My pack sees it as such.”
“They would,” he muttered, standing in a move intended to show his dominance. He even sent a push of power at me, which should have felt intimidating with the strength of the Council in his hands. But the Council’s authority no longer encompassed the Mountain pack.
It felt like a toddler punching my chest, if that.
I smiled gently, as I would at a misbehaving child. “As Mountain’s leader, I am certain I’ll be combining a few new things with the old. I’m not my father, and I have no intention of retreating to Mountain and leaving the governance of all the packs to others, when it will be my responsibility to be deeply involved.”I stayed seated, but allowed some of my new power to emerge, filling the room with an almost oppressive electricity until the pictures on the walls began to shake, then pulled it back until it was completely hidden away. Before Aidan could call me on my disrespect, I went on. “I think I could use my power to help the Council. So of course I came when you called.” I wasn’t lying. I fully intended to help the Council. I’d help it by restoring its rightful leader, for one thing.
“You’ve already taken the vows of your entire pack?” he asked cautiously, blinking at me. “Your father took far longer.” He pulled his glasses out of his pocket, toying with the handle.
I smiled, remembering how Flor had accused him of lying, by wearing them to appear more human before his business associates. No shifter needed glasses, but he thought his were a tool.
They were more of a tell . He was nervous. Nervous and greedy.
I sipped my tea. “Unfortunately, your summons prevented me from establishing connections with my entire pack. The power I hold is only half of what I will someday soon. The other half are waiting at home, or traveling to the Alpha’s Den, to pledge themselves to me.”
“So they have no Alpha until you go back,” he said, tapping his chin in thought. “We’ll need to make sure you return quickly, so they don’t feel the effects of being without your guidance.” The threat was so subtle, I was almost impressed.
“I can’t see why I should be delayed. The full moon is in two days. The Council meeting then is to decide on Margarette and Bradley’s fate, as well as your own election as Head Alpha, isn’t that right?” I knew he also wanted me to pledge to the Council, but that was the only thing I could delay.
And I would.
“Don’t be obtuse. You can’t take part in any Council activities unless you and your pack are pledged to us,” he snapped.
“My half pack, you mean.”
He flinched. “You’ll have plenty of time to build up your power after we take care of our emergency business. After you make your vow.” His face grew hard. “In fact, you should do that now.”
Of course he wanted me to pledge now, before I’d even caught my breath, or finished my fucking tea.
I knew I might be forced to do just that, even if I had promised my father I wouldn’t repeat his mistake. But I would delay as long as possible, to give the others time to gather their forces.
“I find myself concerned, Aidan, at what might happen to me and my pack, if I make that pledge now.” I gestured to the floor, knowing he would follow my train of thought. At that very moment, Margarette and Bradley were imprisoned beneath our feet. “I find myself curious as to who will even be at this emergency Council meeting. Southern’s pack’s leadership is still in question. One of the other Alphas and his mate are imprisoned, his pack given no voice.”
Aidan and I were the only legitimate votes remaining, the only two Alphas with power left standing. Although I supposed Luke might be allowed to attend an emergency meeting, even vote, if Aidan and I both concurred. I was certain he would be given permission, if Aidan was sure Luke would side with him.
But when it came to power—the kind that came from the moon, the kind that the wolves of all our packs would respect—there was no question that Aidan needed me as well. So he needed leverage over me, and fast. And I needed to keep him from gaining it.
“I find I have deep reservations about the charges against Bradley. Why would I give the current Council power over me and mine, when I am not yet sure… of who the full Council might be? Or why the rush is necessary.”
Emergency meetings could be conducted only with the four main Alphas, if necessary, and didn’t have to be held with much notice at all. A full Council meeting, though, the kind that was supposed to be where decisions like the ones Aidan was insisting be made quickly, could only be held on the full moon. I would need to force him to wait.
Of course, I knew Aidan intended that Council to consist of Alphas and Head Enforcers who were under his thumb, or over whom he held power of some kind. Aidan and Elina and their Head Enforcer Torran would be balanced against me and Dean and Luke.
As my mate, or Luke’s, Flor would have been allowed to vote in the Council, if I had any intention of allowing her near this place. Which I absolutely did not. She’d be executed for witchcraft almost instantly, if she set one foot on Eastern’s land.
But a full Council would also include an Alpha from Northern. That most likely meant Patrick, if the Hilliers were executed, or banished. Patrick and an Enforcer, since as far as I knew, he hadn’t yet claimed the woman from Northern, Kristin.
I knew the McDonnells might keep the elder Hilliers alive, to force Patrick and his supporters to bow to him. That would give Aidan all the power he’d need to become a true dictator.
Not a true Alpha. Not there to protect the pack, but himself. My wolf snarled soundlessly.
“The rush is necessary because the entire nation is in disorder, thanks to Bradley and his pack,” Aiden said. “And those aren’t the only pressing matters. As I told your father, you’ll need to pledge to the Council before all of us even meet. We need to face them as a unified group, to keep the smaller packs from growing fearful, among other things.”
He rose and retrieved an old book from a shelf—a record of pack law, I assumed. He’d made it clear on the phone that he wanted me to pledge loyalty, and that I’d need to do it immediately. Dad had warned me about what that would entail.
“You can put the law book away, Aidan. Until I know who makes up the Council, I cannot in good conscience give the authority the moon blessed me with, over to them.”
“I’m the Council!” he spat out, slamming the book down on a side table.
“No, you are the Interim,” I said calmly. “Bradley’s fate has not been decided. Or Margarette’s, for that matter. She’s imprisoned for what reason? Supporting her Alpha, her mate? I find myself wondering if you’re the one who needs to read over that law book again. You’ve overstepped. Who’s to say you will not attempt to overstep again, in my direction?” I allowed my wolf to peek through my eyes at him, daring him to argue.
His face turned red, and he took a breath to speak, but the door opened again, and another voice interrupted him.
“Oh, Aidan. No one told me Brand had arrived.” Elina McDonnell glided into the room, her black pantsuit and heels the same as always, though her hair was slightly windswept, and her expression more brittle than normal. She perched on the arm of the chair next to Aidan and tilted her head to look at me. Her eyes widened. “Your eyes.”
“Moonblessed.” One word was all I would give her.
Her face had shifted now, filled with a lust that disturbed me. It wasn’t for my body; I could sense that immediately. She wanted my power.
“Such a powerful Alpha,” she half-purred, moving to sit in the chair next to mine, her hands clenched as if she were in danger of reaching out to touch me.
“I’m surprised you didn’t know about my eyes,” I said, leaning away from her. “I thought your spies would have kept you informed.” When Aidan began to stammer about unfounded accusations, I turned back to him. “What did you learn, then?”
Elina slid to the edge of her chair. “We learned how you became so strong.”
I clenched my jaw. “You know I took a mate.”
Aidan chuckled. “I do know. You didn’t bring her with you?”
“Of course he didn’t,” Elina said dismissively. “She’s a rogue. Trash.”
My wolf began to emerge, fur prickling the backs of my hands. It was considered extremely poor manners to shift inside the Mansion. It was a punishable offense to attack either one of these two, outside a formal challenge. I took a deep breath, forcing calm. “She is not. She’s the Alpha Mate of Mountain, my true mate.”
Elina’s smile was a terrible thing. “Now, Brand. She isn’t true .”
My teeth grew sharp. “Your meaning?”
But it was Aidan who answered. “Your mate’s a whore.”