A big wolf with dark hair opens the door. He's dominant and scary, his aura impenetrable black.
“Sully,” Noah greets him. “I can explain–”
Sully cuts him off with a sign. He doesn’t bother to speak.
“It’s not a trick or a trap. I’m sure you don’t believe us, but it’s not.”
“Save it for the alpha.”
“May I see him?”
“This is your summons.” He glances at me and jerks his head toward the door. “Both of you.”
Noah helps me up from the chair, then puts a hand protectively on my lower back as he ushers me out. My heart pounds in my chest, but I hold my head up high, trying to pull on the mantle of respected Seeress rather than she-wolf caught on enemy pack land.
Sully escorts us to an office where Brick sits behind a giant wooden desk. Madi is on his lap. She tries to get up when we come in, but he tugs her back down, stroking her thigh with his hand.
He’s in protective mate mode. His female is pregnant–of course, any threat to her would turn him ferocious.
The walls are lined with the male wolves from the photo Noah showed me. Brick’s inner circle. They are all standing at attention, ready to attack. I can barely take in their auras–there’s too much power in this room all at once. It’s hard to breathe.
I force myself to keep my shoulders back and stand up straight, but the pressure comes from all sides.
But I am the Seeress. I was trained to stand in the presence of Alphas and guide them. My pack might have tried to crush me, control me, but I’m still here, standing on my own two feet. And I’d rather stand strong and be slain by the Blackthroats, my pack’s sworn enemy, than cower before them.
In the room full of intense Alpha energy, Madi’s aura is sweet and light, but grounding. Like a good cup of cinnamon tea after a long walk through a storm. It helps to remember Noah considers her a friend.
Madi signs something to Noah. I catch what I think is a thank you–an open hand from the chin.
Noah nods gravely. He’s also in protective mate mode, keeping me tucked against his side, on edge as he faces off with the most powerful wolf in the state.
But then again, according to the Blood Heir Alpha Rites, Noah is also a powerful male. Perhaps powerful enough to take on Brick, not that I want to see that happen.
Madi points at me and spells O-K with her eyebrows raised.
Noah’s fingers fly too fast for me to decipher what he’s saying, but my intuition tells me he’s explaining the fits I get when I have powerful visions.
“I wasn’t honest with you, sir,” Noah begins.
Blackthroat frowns. “No shit.” His aura pulses with power–reds and oranges burning like hot coals and rising into a fierce, fiery amber.
Madi rests her hand on the back of his neck and kneads the muscles there. Just her touch softens the anger in his aura a little.
“My grandmother isn’t sick.”
“I’m stunned.” Brick’s flat expression and voice drip sarcasm.
“I was born into the Adalwulf pack.”
This startles Blackthroat, not that he shows much emotion. But he does blink as he absorbs the information. His aura pulses bright, and his lips flatten into a thin, dangerous line.
“Have you heard of the Moonborn?”
Brick narrows his eyes. “The witchy cult where Odin bred his fanatics?”
“Yes. My mother is one of them. But Odin would’ve killed me because I am deaf, so she told everyone I died and gave me to her mother to raise.”
Some of Brick’s irritation seems to drain away as he listens.
