“Funny. That’s what Niamh always says.” Austin walked down his line of people, all shifters, with Brochan at their head.
His beta stood the way he always did, spine straight and shoulders back, head high, gaze just a fraction lower than straight on. His posturing was just shy of alpha. Dangerously shy, it seemed, judging by how Kingsley bristled and his people coiled with tension.
Brochan’s status had never bothered Austin. They knew where each other stood, and the beta was appropriately respectful. If Kingsley and his enforcers were worried about their inability to challenge
Brochan and win, that was their problem. Austin would not cut the legs out from under his people to ensure others stood taller, not even for his brother.
It was a wonder, though, why they hadn’t had the same reaction to Tristan, who was just as mighty in battle as Brochan—maybe even more so, depending on those secrets he was hiding. Too different, maybe. Unable to properly size him up. Or maybe it came down to the fact that he always looked like he was wearing a cape.
“Austin.” Kingsley stopped in front of him.
“Alpha.” Austin bent his head in greeting.
Kingsley’s gaze roamed over the people Austin had brought and then over Jess’s crew, settling on the cooler at Niamh’s feet and the doily-wrapped can in her hand.
“Is that alcohol?” he asked, unable to hide how mystified he was.
“Champagne.” Niamh hoisted it up. “I found it in the corner store near the hotel. They didn’t have any proper black tae, so I figured this would do the trick. Fierce handy, putting it in a can like this.”
“It’s nine o’clock,” Kingsley said.
“Yeah. That’s why I’m drinking champagne.” She said it like duh. “It’s a perfectly respectable drink for the morning. Like a mimosa, but without the orange juice.”
Kingsley stared at her for a moment, then at Austin. Without a word, he passed into the building, his people following.
“Nice goin’，” Ulric murmured.
“What was I supposed to do? I don’t drink coffee,” she shot back. “I could be drinkin’ the moonshine I got off one of the locals last night, but am I? No. I’m drinking a mimosa.”
“Except it’s not a mimosa, it’s straight champagne,” Jasper said.
“Better fer ya.” She took a swig. “Orange juice is too sugary.”
“Off to a great start,” Jess murmured, entering the building at Austin’s side.
“Could be worse,” he replied. “He could’ve had one of his people try to take it from her.”
“I think at this point we know it could always be worse.”
On the second floor, they entered a large room with a custom-made table in the middle supporting a 3D map of the pack territory and the town therein. Kingsley had clearly continued updating it through the years, the town having grown since Austin was here last.
“You’re expanding the town?” Austin asked, noticing his mom, Mimi, Aurora, and Mac standing at the back. It was customary to invite the former alphas to such meetings for their experience, and the possible future alphas for training.
Kingsley took a stance at the side of the table with his back to the windows. “I buy land whenever the neighboring farmers will sell it to me. The town expands at its own pace.”
Austin took the opposite side of the table, looking down on all the little figurines, then the grid of fishing line not too far above it.
“Cute,” Jess said, stepping beside Austin. “Look, there are little wolves and— Oh, these are the creatures your people turn into, huh? Neat.” She pointed at the fishing line. “Awesome! That’s for the gargoyles, right?”
“Yes,” Kingsley said. Most alphas Austin had ever met would’ve given clear signs that she was wasting time. Not Kingsley. He watched her patiently, allowing her to analyze each street and smile at the little animal figurines.
“Very cool.” She put her hands behind her back, finally straightening up. “We should do something like this.”
Cyra pushed in next to her and pointed to a strip of land on the eastern side. “I found an area here
that is a bunch of rock and dirt. No bushes or anything. I could unleash all my firepower on the enemy, and you wouldn’t need to sap the heat afterward.”
“This map is mostly accurate in the details,” Kingsley said, stepping back now to allow Jess to pass by if she was so inclined. “The map indicates that there is vegetation there. Possibly you were in a different location?”