“There was some vegetation, yeah. That’s the right place.” Cyra nodded as Jess traveled around the table, checking out more details. Cyra trailed her before pointing at another spot. “Right there, too.
Your map hasn’t been updated since yesterday at about noon. Those areas are all black now.”
“You were supposed to keep that to yourself,” Hollace said through his teeth. “Remember?”
“Oh, I was?” She glanced over at him. “I thought the secret was about the—”
“Stop her,” Ulric tried to interrupt.
“—strange creature that I accidentally-on-purpose killed this morning?”
“No, that was information you were supposed to tell the alphas,” Hollace murmured, looking at his feet with his hands behind his back. “Except you were supposed to do it either before or after the meeting, not right at the beginning while everyone was staring at you.”
“Especially after Niamh already cast a bad light on our crew by drinking on the job,” Jasper muttered.
“Jaysus, Mary—it’s just a little champagne, like!” Niamh replied. “It gives me less of a kick than that horrible dredge, coffee.”
“How dare you!” Mr. Tom said, turning on her.
“Now sucking down the basajaunak brew,” she continued, “would be drinking on the job. That stuff’ll put hair on yer—”
“Enough,” Austin barked, crackling power through the room. Too much power, unfortunately, showing everyone he had more than the reigning alpha. Still. It couldn’t be helped. Kingsley was only so patient, and judging by his posture and his crimson hue, his head was about to pop off. “Alpha, I apologize. Some of the people gathered in this room are not used to pack life.”
“Not even yours?” Kingsley asked, his direct gaze aggressive.
Austin held on to his beast and lowered his eyes, showing submission. “Not even mine. They are a subset of our convocation, led by Jess, who has a much looser structure. They are more of a peer group than a defined hierarchy.”
“That is not how we do things in this pack,” Kingsley said, his tone like ice. “If rules are set, like temporarily not leaving the boundaries of the town, I expect those rules to be followed.” He raised his voice for the whole room. “Do I make myself clear? ”
His power rippled through the room, followed by a surge of hostility through the Ivy House bond.
Jess straightened up slowly, her eyes suddenly on fire and pointed at Kingsley. Her power pumped, stronger and more volatile than the surge that Kingsley had just sent out. She’d also just unconsciously proved she had stronger magic than the reigning alpha. Not a great start for either of them.
“We’re good, Jess,” Austin said softly, pushing warmth through their bonds. “That is a standard and justified request. We’d ask the same.”
Kingsley noticed her stare and was thankfully slow to turn to meet it, likely because he sensed what Austin did. His people probably wouldn’t know that, though, treating her power with the same vague indifference that they did Tristan’s.
She blew out a breath, braced her hands on the table, and slowly bent her back. The movement looked like it cost her a great effort. “Sorry.” She shook her head. “I mean, yes, you make yourself clear. Or whatever I’m supposed to say.”
“Strange creature?” Kingsley asked Cyra, easily navigating away from Jess’s borderline disrespect of his position.
“I flew it here before the meeting,” Nathanial said, stepping forward. “I knew you’d want to see it, but there wasn’t enough time to apprise Jessie and Austin Steele about it before you were due to arrive, so we felt it was better to wait until the standard business was done. We left the basajaunak with it. It’ll be safe until you’re ready to check it out.”
Austin nodded at Nathanial. He’d handled the situation with textbook precision, though Austin wished he’d learned the news before his brother, in case it wasn’t something he wanted to deal with as a team.
“And this creature was where?” Kingsley asked Nathanial.
“I picked it up along the river, in pack territory, about a hundred yards away from where the mage was found.”
Kingsley’s look turned intense, swinging toward Cyra now. “And you were there why?”
She spread her hands helplessly, her gaze flicking to Jess. “I was…wanting to see…the abduction sight of the mage?”
Half of Jess’s crew wilted, hanging their heads. They weren’t even going to pretend that was a good lie.