44. The Nature’s Boon merger
Tony
As I walked down the main corridor, Matt’s words haunted me.
Do you think that the time in the human world… damaged her or something?
There was nothing in the old books that said that was possible, but it felt more and more true. I walked into the dining hall, scanning the room for my seat as I tried to put it out of my mind. No one’s lunas were here. This was a meeting for alphas.
I took my seat and allowed a waiter to fill my glass and set a salad in front of me. It tasted like ash, but I ate and tried not to think about what was happening with Lucy. It would be alright.
Then, David sat across the table from me. We met gazes for a brief moment as the waiter filled his glass and set a salad in front of him. So much for my prayer.
“Is Lucy alright?” David asked.
I glared at him. “Our mate is more than alright. And I’d appreciate it if you stop thinking of her entirely.”
David lifted his glass. “I didn’t take you to be a man who took after his father so much… Isn’t she a bit young for you? You’re going on thirty, aren’t you?”
I sipped my water, wishing it was something stronger. “No man can know why the Goddess grants them a blessing.”
David’s eyes narrowed. “A blessing, hm? Which is why someone had to call you?”
Shit. He’d heard a bit more than I first thought when we left.
David smiled viciously. His eyes were glinting. “I look forward to seeing… how prominent your bond really is.”
I smiled at him, just as vicious. “When the pups are born, I’ll expect a decent gift.”
David’s eyes went hard and cold. For a few moments, we just stared at each other. At the least, I was off to a good start at smoothing things over.
“So good to see that the tables haven’t been flipped over yet,” Peter said, coming and taking one of the other seats. Another man whom I didn’t recognize took the seat beside David, completing the table. “I was a bit concerned about seating us all together, but honestly, where else could I seat us?”
David started eating with little more than a glance at Peter before smiling. “How are things on your border?”
Peter lifted his glass. “Perfect as always. I suspect we’ll be taking over the dragon’s territory within a few months.”
I cocked an eyebrow at Peter. “Interesting thing to say, considering the forces of the territory next to yours and the human city on the border…”
Everyone knew that while dragon shifters were few and far between, they were powerful. Just one of them could take out half a pack with ease.
Peter cocked an eyebrow. “I had no idea you were so knowledgeable about other people’s territories… Begs to wonder how much focus you put on yours.”
I laughed. “A bit defensive, aren’t you? How can anyone defend what is theirs without knowing the threats around it?”
“How wise,” Peter said. “You don’t need to worry about the issues of my pack.”
“Shouldn’t I?” I asked. “The Black Moon Pack has never been… friendly with the Blue Moon Pack, has it?”
“The Black Moon Pack has rarely needed to be… friendly with anyone,” Peter said. “For different reasons than the Blue Moon Pack, that is.”
He chuckled as I narrowed my eyes at him. The jab at the status of our pack was sharp, but it made me think. I had my suspicions that Peter or David was behind the incident with Lucy. I knew that wherever the missing members of my packs appeared would be my answer, but what if it wasn’t either of them?
It meant I needed to figure out sooner rather than later who had attacked us and how they had managed to get to members of my pack.
What had they bribed them with?
“How are your human investments?” David asked, breaking in. “I heard that pharmaceutical company being mentioned on the human news.”
I watched him. “Well. More than well. We’re taking over another company very soon.”
“The Nature’s Boon merger.”
I smiled at David. “I’m flattered that you’re following our business so much… or perhaps is it because we’ve taken them from under your feet?”
David gave me a thin smile. “One of many options. Hardly the only, and if I wanted it that much, I would have taken it myself.”
I almost wanted to call his bluff, but then Peter started talking.
“At this rate, we’ll collectively have control of most of the human’s major industries,” Peter said. “It would be a thing of wonder to take our rightful place in the world, wouldn’t it?”
Not this again.
I shook my head. “With the way you’re attacking humans, we get close and closer to being exposed one way or another.”
He shrugged. “If the SCF had such a problem with my actions, I’m certain they would have said something before.”
The Supernatural Concealment Forces had their own agendas and tended to be more neutral than active. They didn’t cover up the deaths, just the methods of the deaths, passing them off as plagues or rabid animals attacking people.
“Maybe we should instead be thinking about how to undo the damage we’ve already caused ourselves rather than how to inflict further damage?”
Peter’s eye twitched. “Are you saying you view trying to increase our numbers as damage?”
“In the way you’re going about it? Yes,” I said. “The SCF may be neutral now, mostly because of whatever strings you’re pulling among them, but they can’t stay that way for long. Humans outnumber us, and while we are faster and stronger, one silver bullet would kill us, and they have all the means to mine stockpiles of silver.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “It would be best for the supernatural community for us to find a way to be at peace together.”
“And what are you suggesting?” David asked with a scoff. “For us all to be what? Friends?”
I scoffed. “I would never keep friends like the two of you. Though, a formal alliance rather than the peace we’ve all been playing at would be a step in the right direction. Just once, I’d like to come to one of these meetings and walk away thinking we did more than talk about making changes.”
Peter set his jaw. I could hear others around us huffing under their breaths at the thought.
“And what are you proposing? An alliance?” Peter asked. “Led by who? And to what end?”
“That is the entire point of an alliance, Peter: it’s not led by anyone.” I sat back and lifted my glass. I gestured across the room, trying to keep my grip on the glass light even as I could almost hear the glass straining against my strength. “Each alpha of rank within the pack, within the community, would be heard equally. We discuss. We vote. We think, and maybe we get somewhere with actually safeguarding our territory from human invasion, take over, and other issues rather than trying to provoke them at every turn.”
The fourth man scoffed. “You’re talking like a human.”
I turned my head and looked at the man, letting the glow of my eyes surface fully. The man went pale as my gaze fell on him.
“Once, we were all one people. Once, we had the Moon Goddess to unify us, and there was something like peace. Werewolves made up a much larger population of the supernatural community. If the White Moon Pack is truly gone, then we have to find a new way to co-exist… Unless you’re proposing an all-out war between the packs to unify under one alpha, this is the best solution.”
Peter looked just on the edge of furious, but he smiled thinly.
“What an interesting point of view,” Peter said, eating. “I wonder what your father will have to say about it when he’s released.”
I set the glass down before I snapped it.
What’s wrong? Matt asked at the back of my mind.
Peter knows that Dad’s being released this year.
Fuck. How? We didn’t even know!
I gave Peter an easy smile though I could tell he knew I would rather rip his throat out.
“His opinion is completely irrelevant.”
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