“What?” she asked, looking up at him.
“One second,” he said, walking back a few steps to where Tawny stood with a small overnight bag in her hand, a fake smile on her lips despite the worried look on her face. “Tawny? You alright?”
“Mmhmm, fine,” she said, not really looking at him, but past him.
“You going somewhere?” Sin asked.
Tawny finally looked right at Sin. “No, why?”
“You’ve got an overnight bag,” Sin said.
“Oh, uh. I was thinking about going somewhere, but I think I missed my ride.” She looked worriedly toward the front of Alliance, again, then back toward the opposite end of Alliance where she knew Hail and Athena’s team lived. “Or maybe they’re not quite ready yet,” she added.
He quickly put two and two together and realized she’d hoped to go with Feral and Hail, because they were headed to the same place Frenzy was in. But he pretended he didn’t know.“Must be something in the air today. Frenzy and Hail left about half an hour ago. And now you’re looking to go, too.”
Tawny’s fake smile stayed firmly in place, but the disappointment showed in her eyes as she did her best to pretend it had no bearing on her. “Must be. I’m going to wait a few more minutes and if my friends don’t show up, I think I’ll just chalk it up to a trip not meant to be, throw on a bathing suit and spend the evening by the pool.”
“A lot less hassle than traveling,” Sin said.
“Without a doubt,” Tawny agreed.
“Well, have fun. Either way,” Sin said.
Tawny nodded, then went back to pretending she was watching for her ride. She waited until Sin and Celia had disappeared into the apartment building, then she turned and hurried toward the small place she shared with a couple of the girls she was rescued with. The moment she stepped inside, she went right to her bedroom and sat quietly on her bed. She’d hesitated too long, and missed her chance to get to Frenzy. Her chin trembled as she fought the urge to cry. “No!” she admonished herself. “You will not let it hurt. You survived, and that is enough. If he wanted you, he’d be here.”
She sat there for only a few more moments before she opened her overnight bag and snatched the few changes of clothes she’d packed out of it, and stuffed them back into her small dresser. She tossed her overnight bag beneath her bed, and plopped down onto her bed again.
Then she remembered the email she’d scheduled to be sent to Law and Sin respectively at 7:00 A. M. the next morning. “Oh, shit!” she cursed, as she got up and ran out of the house.
With her heart broken and a deep sense of loss settling in her gut, she ran the whole way to the Admin building and her office inside, to gain access to the mainframe computer and delete the evidence of her attempt to leave Alliance. The lastthing she wanted was anyone knowing she’d tried, and failed, to go after Frenzy. The humiliation was enough for just her to know, she certainly didn’t need anyone else to be aware.
~~~
Jack sat at the large formal dining room table he preferred to hold official Pride meetings around, and looked at the Pride members around him. Rance, Niko, Vance, Frenzy, Three, Dane, Jett, and Noah. “Y’all ready?” he asked.
“Titus coming?” Niko asked.
“No, he sent me,” Dane said.
“Draven?” Niko asked.
“He’s with Brinnley, Findley and Gwen’s boys,” Three said.
“Let’s do it,” Rance said.
Jack dialed the general number for the Council, put his phone on speaker then put it on the table in front of himself.
“North American Panthera Council of Justice, how may I be of service?” a female voice answered.
“This is Jack Laighin. Please let any of the Council members know that I’m on the line and have an urgent matter to discuss with them.”
“Please hold, sir.”
A few moments later, she was back. “Alpha Laighin? There is no one available at this exact moment, but I’d be happy to take your number and pass it to the first Council member that gets a free minute.”
“Miss… I’m not leaving my number. Because they all know it, just as I’m sure you do. Someone will get on the phone with me, now, and discuss the slaughter of the Gamieyon Pride, or I will take what I know to every damn Pride in the continental United States, and Canada. And as I’m sure has been rumored,we’ve recently formed an alliance with the Variant. In fact, on second thought, it might be preferable that they didn’t take this call. I’ll just let the Variant know they can go ahead and move in, and I’ll send my males to round up any shifters who’d like to fight beside them. Based on the lack of support that we all agree to have received from the Council, I’m sure there will be a lot of pissed off males knocking on your door, with me leading the crowd.”
There was shuffling and the sound of the phone being dropped on the other end, and then a familiar voice came on the line.
