“Let me fry this guy. C’mon, Sir. Please? It’ll only take me a minute.”
He chuckled. “No, pet. As much as I’d love to turn you loose on him, we can’t do that. That’s only inviting them to turn against us as a Clan and possibly rally support for their position from others.”
She looked at him incredulously. “Who in their fucking right mind would ever support Rodolfo Abernathy? The nicest thing I’ve ever heard said about him was that he was as crazy as a rabid Mississippi squirrel!”
“Think about it, pet,” he said. “One of the things that’s kept the peace with us and other Clans, not just wolf Clans but other shifter races, is our Code of the Ancients. That we don’t take others’ mates. No matter how different the shifter races are, there are two sacred things you don’t mess with—mates and pups. Well, children. How does it look that in not one, but two cases, we’d be seemingly turning a blind eye to challenges? It would go a long way to suddenly destroying the trust others have for our Clan.”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
He nodded. “Yeah, oh.” He pushed himself away from the counter. “I’m going to be in my office. Please don’t disturb me. I’ll be out when I finish.” He kissed her one more time.
“Yes, Sir.”
He turned at the kitchen doorway. “Oh, and pet?”
“Yes, Sir?”
He smiled. “I’m probably going to be in the mood to vent more than a little frustration when I get done. Make sure the playroom’s ready.”
She grinned. “Yes, Sir.”
* * * *
Daniel sat down at his desk and took a deep breath as he stared at his cell phone.
Cowboy up, numbnuts. You accepted this gig. Now fucking do it.
He grabbed his phone and pulled up Mark Telford’s number. Jocko had given it and quite a few other numbers to him during their meeting.
They were all now grouped in his Google Contacts under the heading FMN.
Fuck. Me. Now.
Because that’s what he felt like now that he’d accepted the job.
Fucked.
He’d met Mark Telford a couple of times, but they weren’t close friends or anything. It rang a couple of times before Mark answered.
“Hello?” The voice sounded cautious, guarded.
“Hi, Mark. This is Daniel Blackestone. I’m calling you from the Clan compound in Maine.”
Immediately, Daniel sensed a change in Mark’s tone, growing friendly, open. “Oh! Hi, Blackie! Hey, how you doing?”
“To be honest, I’ve had better days.”
“What?”
He started with the easy part, that he was now not only on the Council, but head of the Council.
“Congratulations. I wondered if Jocko would ever retire.”
“Yeah. About that. Unfortunately, he dicked me over.”
Mark’s tone grew guarded again, which Daniel had expected. “What? That doesn’t sound like Jocko.”
“He’s not the only one dicking me over, though.” Daniel took a deep breath. “Tell me about the Lyalls and Elain Pardie. And while you’re at it, tell me about Micah Donovan and his new mate.”
He gave Mark points for style and avoiding the first part of the comment. “You mean Jim? He’s a nice guy. Micah’s crazy about him.” He laughed. “I thought for sure the Clan gossip would have reached you all up there by now.”
“I’m not talking about Jim. I mean Micah’s other mate. The coyote shifter. The one I will shortly have Rodolfo Abernathy crawling up my poop chute over. After he tries to separate me from my sac over Elain Pardie being mated to the Lyalls despite the blood oath his Clan had with her ancestors.”
Momentary silence. Then, a long, deep sigh. “Fuck.”
“Yeah. That. I’ve said that a lot in the past couple of hours. Let me tell you what I heard, then you correct me where I’m wrong, okay?”
Resignation now colored Mark’s tone. He knew he couldn’t bullshit Daniel over any of this. “Sure.”
When they were both up to speed, Mark had returned to the open tone of voice that told Daniel they were once again allies. “So what do you want me to do on this end?” Mark asked.
“Nothing. Not right now, at least. This is a courtesy call. I just wanted to talk to you first. My next call is to Aindreas Lyall. I didn’t want you blindsided on the back end by him ripping your ear off over the phone. And yes, I will make sure he knows you didn’t rat him out, that I found out from other sources first.”
Mark laughed in his ear. “Let me know how that works for you. He’s going to tell you to go fuck yourself and the horse you rode in on.”
“Yeah, and it’s not that simple, unfortunately. I need you, Aindreas and his brothers, their mate, and Micah and his mates up here for a Council hearing.” He took the tone, the Alpha head of the Council tone that would brook no resistance, with him. “Pronto.”
Mark went silent for a moment. “Fuck,” he said.
“Yeeeahh. Exactly. I don’t want to be a dick and throw my weight around, but I also don’t need you guys down there making me look like a fucking douche, either. I need some cooperation here. You know as well as I do there’s no way in fucking hell any of us are going to let Abernathy get his way in this, but we have to, at least publically, give him a hand job and tickle his balls for the benefit of all the other Clans, or there will be serious shit to pay later down the road. Understand?”
Mark finally laughed again. “Fuck me sideways. Jocko picked the right man for the job.”
“No thanks, I don’t swing that way, but I appreciate the compliment. Have a good one.”
Daniel smiled as he hung up over Mark’s laughter on the other end of the line. He knew he could count on Mark as backup on this subject.
Hmm. I think I’ll add him to the top of my mental list of potential Council members.
He stared at the phone for a moment. That call had gone easier than he’d hoped. At the best, he’d expected guarded acceptance of the situation, not helpful welcoming of his ascension to the—cue the heavenly horns—exalted poo-bah status of head of the Clan Council.
He knew if someone called him about his good friends and told him there was a perennial prick out there to take away not only the love of their life, whom they’d looked for over a century, but the mate of their close friend and cousin, too, he wouldn’t be quite so accommodating.
Fortunately for him, as Callie was fond of saying, he had a way with words.
Actually, she said he had a magic tongue. Same thing.
All right, let’s do this. He pulled up Ain Lyall’s number and hit send.
The phone rang twice before Ain answered. His tone didn’t sound guarded.
Yet.
“Hi, Blackie,” Ain said. “What’s up?”
“Well, a lot’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. You got a few minutes?”
“Um, sure.”
Again, Daniel started with the easy part of the information, that he was now head of the Clan Council and the information about the cockatrice.
“Lina and her guys are here. Should I tell them all this?”
“Yeah, but that’s not the only reason I called.”
Now Ain’s tone turned guarded. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I think you know why I’m calling.”
Ain let out a ragged breath on the other end. “Abernathy.”
“Yeah. Howling like his tail’s on fire. I’ve already called Mark and gave him a heads-up. And no, he didn’t rat you out, either. Neither did I. Jocko found out from Abernathy himself. But Elain’s not the only reason Abernathy’s upset.”
A momentary silence met that comment. “How the fuck could he know about Mai?”
“Exactly. Apparently he’s had someone down there following all of y’all around. Now you know as well as I do we’ve got to have a Council hearing on all of this so he can air his challenges.”
Now Ain’s tone turned rumbly, growly. “No fucking way are we turning Elain over. Or Mai.”
“Calm down, Ain. You and I are on the same page. Like I told Mark, publically, at least, we need to let Abernathy piss and moan and have his day. It’s going to be a damn kangaroo court, of course, but it needs to at least look to everyone else like we gave him a fair shake so he can’t go whining to everyone about it. If I have to rule in his favor on anything, then you know damn well we’ll make this disappear on the back end, one way or another.”
Daniel wouldn’t have said this next part to anyone but Ain Lyall. He’d already made his mind up, but hadn’t told Jocko, that if he had to rule against Ain, he would ask Callie to fix things. “You know who my mate is. Do you really think I’m going to sit by and let that shit weasel do his thing? We do, however, have to put on a good show.”
Another moment of silence from Ain, but at least when he next spoke, his tone sounded more open. “You sure I can count on you for that?”
“Ain, please. I am not your enemy here. You’re old enough to know how Clan politics work. This is the beginning of the true end for Rodolfo Abernathy and his band of freaky fuckwads. We can’t let him paint us with shit-colored glasses on his way out the door. Capice?”
Ain sighed. “I know you’re right. I just hate like hell to have to do this.”
“So do I, but Abernathy wants a show. We’ll not only give him a show, we’ll make it look like Cirque du fucking Soleil.” He paused. “Can I count on you and your brothers? I swear on the Code of the Ancients, I will have your back on this, but you have to trust me as head of the Council to do things my way.”
“I’m probably going to have to edict the hell out of Brod, Cail, and Elain, but yeah. I trust you.” His tone turned dark. “I’m holding you to it, though. If you screw us over on this, there won’t be anywhere you can hide.”
“Don’t worry. This will work out. I need you up here in a week. Next Friday is full moon, and I’m going to convene the full Council to hear shithead’s challenges. My next call is to his royal fucktardness himself.”
Finally, a laugh out of Ain. “How did Jocko sucker you into this job?”
“That’s exactly it, he suckered me. See you next Friday.”
“Can we bring Lina and the guys up with us?”
Daniel considered it. “Actually, I would strongly suggest you do.” His own tone turned grim. “We might need her help with things, depending on the outcome of the Council meeting. We have to get Abernathy’s bullshit out of the way so we can focus on finding the cockatrice nest and deciding on our next move regarding all that mess.”
Daniel said good-bye to Ain and sat back in his chair. He had Abernathy’s number. Unfortunately, it was the last call he wanted to make. He knew by the time he hung up his blood pressure would be through the roof.
Let’s get it done.
He dialed. A man answered on the fifth ring. “Yeah?”
The lack of basic manners pissed Daniel off to start with. “Rodolfo Abernathy.”
“Hold on.”
After a moment, another, older-sounding man came on the line. “Hello? Rodolfo Abernathy.”
“Daniel Blackestone. You’re expecting my call.”
Daniel wouldn’t call Abernathy’s tone exactly friendly, but he’d tolerate it for a few more minutes, at least. “Ah, about time. When do I get those two women back?”
“First things first. We are having a Clan Council meeting here at our Maine compound. Next Friday at noon.” He took a chance, but as head of the Council, he knew he had latitude. “Be there, and be prepared to present your claims and evidence, or forfeit any and all claims, past, present, and future.”
“What?” the older man sputtered.
Daniel let him rage for about ten seconds before he interrupted him again with as calm a tone as he could muster. Just the sound of the dude’s voice made his skin crawl. “You have our conditions, Abernathy. If you wish your challenges to be heard, you must present them and evidence, in person, at our Clan Council meeting. If you aren’t there, we will declare a forfeit. This is your only option. We get to set the terms of hearing the challenges. You know that.”
A moment of silence passed through the connection. “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, pup,” the man said in a growly tone.
Daniel let out a laugh. “Dude, you have no clue who you’re fucking with.” Daniel hung up on him.
That felt fucking goooood.
After he pulled his thoughts together, he called Jocko and the Council members and updated all of them. Once finished with those chores he stood and stretched.
“Oh, pet!” he called. “Is the playroom ready?”
“Yes, Sir,” he heard Callie respond from the other end of the house.
He smiled as he walked toward the office door. “Good girl.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ain hung up the phone and stared out over the pasture. He’d been fixing a broken strand of barbed wire on one of the fences when Blackie’s call came through. He wasn’t looking forward to a return trip to Maine regardless of how many assurances Blackie gave him.
At least I know he’s a man of his word.
Too bad he couldn’t say the same about Abernathy.
He called Mark.
“I didn’t rat you out, I swear,” his friend said as soon as he answered.
Ain smiled. “I know. Blackie told me. That fucker Abernathy just won’t give up, will he?”
“Nope. I would love to know exactly who his spy is,” Mark said with more than a little growl in his tone. “I’d love to run them out of town on a rail.”
“Settle down. I don’t think it was a local. I think it was that guy Elain saw a couple of times. The same one Lina calls Fat Boy. Lina thinks he’s the one who killed Bertholde out in Yellowstone.”
“Oh. So when are we leaving?”
“Sooner rather than later. I’ll let you know, but probably in the next day or two. I want a chance to plan while we’re up there. I also want to bring Wally, Doug, and Oscar in on this, too, if they can make it.”
“No problem. I think that’s wise.”
“If Abernathy thinks he’s just going to walk in there and take Elain and Mai, he’d better think again.” Ain had to fight to keep the growl out of his voice.
“That’s exactly what he thinks, because he doesn’t understand how a closely knit pack works. Or a closely knit Clan. He’s been on his own for so long he thinks he’s invincible.”
“He’s wrong.”
“You and I both know that. Like Blackie said, we have to put on a show before we put him out of our misery.”
Ain ended the call and put his cell away. He had to complete the fence repair before he could do anything. An hour later, he drove to the main barn and found Brodey.
Brodey frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Trouble.”
Brodey cocked his head, his expression darkening. “I need more than that, bro.”
Ain sighed. “I only want to tell it once. We need everyone together in the house. And I mean everyone. Are the women home yet?” Elain, Lina, and Carla had taken Mai out again that morning. This time just into Arcadia, where all of them were getting their hair and nails done.
“If not, they should be soon. This doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not. Let’s go.”
Cail was at the house in his office and doing paperwork for the ranch. When Ain and Brodey stepped inside his office, he immediately sensed there was a problem. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t know,” Brodey said. “Ain won’t tell me yet.”
Ain glared at Brodey but let it go. “We need everyone together to talk. Five minutes, in the dining room.”
“Everyone?”
Ain nodded. “Including Lina and her guys. And Micah and Carla and…everyone.”
Cail stood, his expression now equally dark. “Oookay.”
It took a little longer than five minutes to get everyone together, but with a few extra chairs dragged into the dining room from the kitchen and elsewhere, they were ready. Ain loo
ked at everyone and did a quick head count. Brodey and Cail. Elain, Carla, and Liam. Lina, Rick, Jan, Kael, and Zack. Micah, Jim, and Mai.
His family.
His pack.
How could it be that just a few months ago he wondered if they’d ever find their One, and now they had a mate as well as a whole new extended family?
He took a deep breath. “Please let me get through the whole story before anyone starts asking questions or saying anything, all right? I know what I’m about to say is going to be both upsetting but not unexpected.” When everyone had nodded, he continued.
By the time he finished telling the latest events, all the men wore nearly identical dark, murderous expressions, and the women appeared worried.
Poor Mai looked nearly hysterical. “Do we really have to go?” she asked.
Micah put his arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, we do. It’s okay.” He looked at Ain. “You’ll be safe. I promise.”
Ain nodded. “Absolutely. I have Blackie’s word that even if he has to rule against us, he will take care of it on the back end. Unfortunately, I agree with him that we have to make it look legit. We can’t afford the Abernathys picking up any allies because someone thinks we rigged the Council hearing.”
“I won’t go with Abernathy,” Elain said. She looked around the table before looking back at Ain. “I flat will not go with him if Daniel has to rule against us.”
Ain nodded. “Babe, please. Stay calm. This will be okay, but we have to stick together and work together.” He looked at Brodey. “Please get in touch with Wally, Oscar, and Doug. Fill them in and see if they can meet us up in Maine on Wednesday.”
He nodded and left the table.
“So how do you want to handle this?” Rick asked him. “Make it look like Abernathy had a ‘tragic accident’ on his way to the meeting?”
Lina laughed and cracked her knuckles. “Ooh, pick me! Pick me!”
Ain smiled. “No, that would be too obvious. Don’t worry, we will have a plan in place by the time the Council meeting happens.”
“I want another shot at those cockatrice, too,” Lina said. “Maybe we can get a twofer. Take care of Abernathy and frame the cockatrice for it.”