Thomas grinned.“So you do know what this is about.“
“I do, and it has nothing to do with a wedding.”He almost wished it did.It would be a nicer reason to be here.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
More people walked in through the door and joined the group of mages.Those people included Ryan, and Seth’s focus immediately went to him.He looked good, even with the bruise darkening on his cheek.How hard had Christian hit him?If Seth ever got his hands on the man, he’d make sure that Christian regretted what he’d done—although he suspected Christian already did.
He looked around for him.He wasn’t surprised to see that he and Tim were sitting together, whispering harshly to each other.Tim gestured toward the back of the room while Christian was doing his best not to look.It was almost as if he felt guilty, which he should.This meeting was because of him—and Tim, too, but the main problem here was Christian.He was the one who’d hit Ryan.
“You’re going to find out soon enough,” Seth muttered, still staring at Christian and Tim.
The last people to come in were Chance and his beta, along with his father.Chance’s father might have retired as the alpha, but he was still pretty involved in the pack’s leadership.Seth didn’t know him well, but from what he’d heard and seen, the man had been a good alpha.It made sense that he’d raised Chance to be one, too.They climbed the few steps up to the small stage that had been built on one side of the room.Seth wasn’t sure Chance needed it.He had a way of commanding the room that meant that people started turning to him even before he announced his presence.
Seth looked at Chance.His expression was serious, and Seth could see from the tightness of his eyes and the flat line of his lips that he was angry.He doubted that Chance would stop being angry anytime soon.He was disappointed with his pack.
Seth wasn’t.He hadn’t expected much from them, and he wasn’t surprised that people weren’t accepting of the mages or that some of them had reached the point of becoming violent.He’d seen this kind of thing his entire life.Chance might be the alpha, but his pack had been peaceful when he was growing up.He’d had the opportunity to learn with his father, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to see how nasty people could become when they felt they were cornered.
“I’ll get straight to the point,” Chance announced, his voice booming through the room.
It took a few seconds, but eventually, everyone stopped talking.Everyone was watching Chance now.Theo wasn’t on the stage with him, so Seth wasn’t surprised when he joined him and the rest of their family.He didn’t say anything.He just grimaced when Seth caught his eye and tilted his chin toward Chance, who was looking around the room.His gaze stopped on Christian and Tim, and the two men seemed to try to make themselves as small as possible.They curled in on themselves, but there was no hiding for them.
Chance didn’t say their names.He didn’t mention them.Seth was sure he’d want to talk to them once the meeting was over, but for now, Chance had something else in mind.
He returned his attention to the rest of the room once he was done staring at Tim and Christian.“When I welcomed Theo’s pack and the mages into our pack, I was clear,” he said.“If any of you has anything to say about their presence here, good or bad, you should come find me.I understand this is a complicated situation, and I don’t expect every one of you to welcome the mages with open arms.What I do expect is for you to behave like pack members.Instead, I learned that some of you have cornered one of the mages to hurt him.I learned that some of you have been threatening the mages and telling them they don’t belong.This isn’t what I expect from my pack.This isn’t the kind of people Iwantin my pack.So this is my last warning.If you think that threatening the mages and hurting them is acceptable, you know where the door is.If you think that I should let you hurt them or that I should kick them out of the pack after welcoming them in, you’re welcome to leave.”
Seth was in awe.He’d expected his brother-in-law to be strong and to set down the law, but he was really standing up for the mages.It was his job, but it would’ve been easy for him to favor his pack.In fact, Seth was pretty sure that was what most people in the room had expected him to do.Most alphas would have.
But not Chance.
“If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with what happened, I encourage you to leave,” Chance continued.“I don’t want you here.I don’t want anyone who thinks that hurting someone who’s already gone through hell is acceptable anywhere near my pack.This is the last time I’ll do this.It’s the last warningyou will have.If I ever hear of anything like this happening again, I won’t be so lenient.Iwillexpel anyone who disobeys my orders.If you don’t want the mages in your pack, that’s fine.You can find another pack.If you have any problems, please come to me or Houston.Hell, talk to my father if you trust him more than you trust me.I don’t care if you hate me or if you think I’m making a mistake.I want to hear your thoughts.What I don’t want to hear is that people have been attacking other pack members.”
He glanced around the room again, and Seth was pretty sure that his gaze stopped on Tim and Christian.It was a miracle that the two of them were still there.If Seth had been in their place, he’d have found a way to sneak out the door.Hell, he would’vecrawledout the door.
He turned toward Ryan again.The mage was a little pale, which made the bruise on his face more visible.From the way people kept glancing his way and whispering, Seth was pretty sure they suspected that he’d been involved in whatever had caused Chance to call for this meeting.That meant people would try to talk to him once Chance was done talking.They might not like the mages, but they were a curious bunch, and they’d want more information.
“You can go now,” Chance declared.“You know where to find me if you have doubts or anything else to say.”
Seth didn’t have anything to tell Chance, and he wanted to protect Ryan from the onslaught of people who would want to talk to him now.He hoped that most of them would be nice, maybe apologize for what had happened, but he was sure that some wouldn’t hesitate to imply things or to be nasty.It was the nature of having so many people living in a tight-knit group.
“Where are you going?”Thomas asked when Seth stepped away.
“I’ll be right back.”
“That’s not what I asked!”
But Seth didn’t have time to explain himself.He wanted to reach Ryan before the rest of the crowd.Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d even be able to drag the mage out the door before Chance tried talking to him.
* * * *
RYAN WAS GRATEFUL THATChance was taking what had happened seriously, especially since Ryan hadn’t talked to him, but he wished the alpha hadn’t put him on blast the way he had.He might not have mentioned Ryan by name, but considering the bruise on Ryan’s face, it had to be obvious to anyone who saw him that the alpha had been talking about him.
That meant that people were curious—everyone, not only the other mages.Ryan had caught several shifters glancing his way as Chance spoke, and if he wasn’t wrong, he’d even seen some of them inch toward him.They seemed to want to talk to him, which was the last thinghewanted.He was sure that some of them would be on his side and apologize, but they had nothing to apologize for.They hadn’t been involved in what had happened yesterday.
Ryan didn’t even want Tim and his friend to apologize.He just wanted to put all of this behind him.Unfortunately, with the speech Chance had just given, Ryan suspected that wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
“I’m going home,” he said as he turned toward his family.
His mother’s eyes were wide as she stared at his face.She’d put two and two together, hadn’t she?“Ryan,” she started.
