He jerked his chin. His little faction scraped back their chairs and followed him out, cold air knifing in as the door opened and shut.
The room exhaled.
Wolves peeled away in twos and threes, muttering about patrols. A few approached Arthur to mutter clumsy loyalty—“with you, Alpha,” “wasn’t going to follow him”—not meeting his eyes. He clocked each face. Who came. Who didn’t.
Fenred rose last. For a heartbeat, it looked like he might speak. Instead, he just gave Arthur a short, unreadable nod and went out after his hunters, silence wrapped around him like a cloak.
When the door shut behind him, the Inn felt suddenly too big.
“Well,” Chase said, “that was a shit start to the morning.”
“Language,” Julian murmured, inspecting his nails.
Arthur turned to him. “You enjoy that?” he asked. “Throwing your weight around in my bar?”
Julian sighed. “Dominic sent me. I’ve been…overhearing some mutterings from your pack for a few days now. He was worried it might come to a head.”
“You been spying on us?”
Julian grimaced. “This town is full of strangers. I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground. I can’t control what I hear.”
“And Dominic was worried?”
“He would have come himself if it hadn’t caused a spectacle,” Julian said. “So you get me. Condolences.”
Arthur grunted. “So this is an olive branch?” he asked. “Tell Arthur Volkhov still loves him?”
“Something like that,” Julian said dryly, “Dominic wants you focused on the real enemy, not wasting energy smacking your wolves around. We have bigger problems.” He hesitated. “Layla sent a message too.”
Arthur’s hackles rose. “If this is about Dani—”
“It’s about Dani,” Julian said. “Layla mentioned your little…spat.”
Arthur growled. “Is Dominic aware that his pet snake now belongs to his mate?”
Julian didn’t flinch at the insult. “I serve the Volkhov. Both the alpha and the luna.”
“Get to the point.”
“Layla is naturally rather concerned at your attitude towards witchcraft,” Julian said, choosing his words carefully. Wise. “She had a hard enough time with Dominic. I think it pains her to see another woman go through the same thing.”
“So, Layla is a witch?” Chase asked, crossing his arms somewhat aggressively.
Julian just raised his eyebrow. “Worst kept secret in town. Yes. She is a witch. But unlike Dani, she doesn’t have a coven. When Dominic found out about her powers, she was alone. Dani is not in the same situation.”
Arthur swallowed a snarl, chest thrumming, wolf thrashing. “Meaning?” he bit out.
“Meaning,” Julian said, “there are consequences to how you treat her that go beyond your relationship. The entire Salem Coven is behind her, and they are the most powerful in North America. All other covens will defer to them. If you treat her badly enough, they will leave, and take their power with them.”
“I’m not treating her badly,” Arthur said, teeth bared at the mere insinuation. Chase stepped subtly closer, ready to intercept if things got ugly.
“But you have reached an impasse. And I doubt Dani will be the one to change. Nor do I believe she should have to.”
Arthur’s fists shook. He was sick of the sly spymaster, of Dominic interfering, of his pack rebelling. He was sick of all of it. His wolf howled to have his mate and daughter with him, to nestle them away somewhere safe. To protect them from all this.
“So he’s just supposed to pretend to accept her witchcraft for the sake of the alliance?” Chase muttered. “How romantic.”
Julian leveled his gaze on him. “I don’t particularly care what methods he uses,” he said, “as long as we keep our allies.”
