Shortly before nine, I raised my voice, knowing that enough of the guests would hear me to send word around to those out of earshot. “Everyone, please proceed to the basement and take your seats. Arkhons and alphas, your spots are labeled. All other guests, sit where you wish, following the directions of your leaders. Go now.”
A flood of people headed toward the basement stairs, and I made a mental note to talk to the architect and find out whether it would be possible to add a second set of stairs from the first floor to the basement before next year. I hadn’t taken into account how ridiculous it would be to try to get several hundred people to the basement down a single, relatively narrow staircase.
I stayed in the dining room with Kyle, watching to ensure that everyone went where they were supposed to go. Not directing them; that was Mandeep’s role, and he’d gotten Ren to assist him. Even though Ren wasn’t officially part of the gathering, I was glad Mandeep had given him something to do. I made a mental note to tell Mandeep to watch that Ren didn’t encounter any of the Connecticut Pack wolves. Without knowing who had assaulted him, I couldn’t be sure that none of his attackers had accompanied Enzo, and Ren damn sure didn’t need to be around the people who had hurt him.
Kyle didn’t speak as we stood there. Silence wasn’t always his friend, but he could keep his mouth shut when necessary, and right now, as much as I hated it, it was necessary. Some of those who passed us shot us looks that all too clearly showed their contempt for their male Anax’s male mate, and I didn’t want to attract any more vitriol than we would already face. Especially for Kyle’s sake. Even though he said he’d chosen this life, he hadn’t actually had much choice. He’d just come along for the ride because the alternative was to not be with me anymore. And he’d faced far too much hatred and threats as it was solely because he was my mate.
It took nearly half an hour for everyone to make their way from the first and second floors down to the basement. Finally, Seth came over to me. “It’s clear, Anax.”
“Thank you, Seth.” I closed my eyes for a second, then took Kyle’s hand. “All right. Let’s do this.”
Seth preceded us down the stairs, with Davion right behind us. Xavier would stay on the first floor to greet the Texas wolves, who still hadn’t arrived due to their flight issues. I’d almost told them not to bother, that we would loop them invia video chat, but as far as I knew they were in the air now and due to arrive in Boston soon. Not wanting to spare a guard now that everyone was here, I’d asked Justin to send one of his trackers to pick up the Texas guests in the large passenger van City Pack owned.
As I neared the auditorium, the noise level was so high I wanted to clap my hands over my ears. Fortunately, Kyle didn’t let go of my hand, which kept me from showing how much the cacophony got to me. Once we entered the room, it didn’t matter. Everyone instantly stopped speaking. They wouldn’t continue their chatter in the presence of the Anax.
I released Kyle’s hand but stayed beside him as we walked down the center aisle to the seat near the front that I’d designated for him. Since he held no rank, and was officially just a packless wolf under my rule, he wouldn’t ordinarily have rated an assigned seat. But I didn’t give a fuck about ordinarily. He was my mate, and that meant he deserved respect and consideration as much as I did. And I wanted him where I could easily set eyes on him if I struggled at the podium. Seeing him would keep me steady.
He sat, and I continued to the podium on the raised platform at the front of the room. Surrounding it were two long tables where the arkhons sat. Given the sheer number of alphas, I hadn’t bothered with tables for them, but the front few rows of chairs had small folding desks attached to their arms.Some of the alphas sat with pens poised, ready to take notes.
I raised my hands, though there was no need to signal for silence since no one was making a sound. “Arkhons and alphas of the United States. Guests. Thank you all for attending. This is the national gathering, and I have chosen to bring all of you together rather than separating arkhons from alphas as has been done in the past. Each of you, regardless of rank, is a valued member of our world, and you will be treated with respect while you are here. If anyone behaves toward you in a way that feels unsafe or disrespectful, or that makes you uncomfortable, speak to me or one of my guards. That sort of thing will not be tolerated here. This applies to all present.”
A faint murmur moved through the room, and I allowed itbecause I knew damn well I was saying something most of them didn’t expect to hear from the Anax. Our world was incredibly hierarchical. In some cases, that was necessary to ensure that everyone followed the laws and didn’t reveal our existence to humans at large. But some higher-ranked werewolves took it a little too far, assuming that their ranks meant they could do whatever they wanted to those they viewed as beneath them.
That was the world I wanted to change. That Iwaschanging, slowly and not always as effectively as I would have preferred, but change was occurring.
I waited for the murmurs to quiet again. “I am Tobias Rogan, Anax of the United States.” A wave of power accompanied my statement of name and title, washing over all the wolves in front of me. I’d felt the power as one of the attendees of previous national gatherings, but since this time it came from me, I couldn’t compare the strength of it to the way it had felt from Hezekiah. Judging from the gasps I heard, though, it was the strongest thing some of my guests had ever felt.
I was fine with that. Maybe their perception of my power would keep them in line.
I immediately judged myself for the thought, which completely opposed my statement that we were all valuable here. But I did need to keep these werewolves in line to ensure that no fights or conflicts broke out that would cause harm to any guests, even if I didn’t entirely like the idea.
I scanned the crowd, stopping as I found each of those I considered true friends. “A little housekeeping first. My staff will be passing out bottled water soon. More will be available at the back of the auditorium; help yourself freely but without disrupting the proceedings. If you need to leave the room for any reason, check in with your arkhon or alpha through your bond. Arkhons may leave as needed. You don’t need my permission. We’ll begin with introductions. I won’t lie; this will take a while. When those are complete, one of the alphas has something to say, and then we’ll break for about two hours for lunch. The lunch break can be extended a bit if necessary, but not too long.”
I studied the crowd again. No one said anything.
“This afternoon’s meetings will be only for the arkhons and alphas,” I continued. “Guests, you may freely wander the house and the cleared portion of the grounds. The woods are reserved for our hunt, and you are asked to stay out of them until then. The other houses on the property are off-limits unless you’re staying in one of them. If any of you would like to visit one of the nearby towns, check in with Mandeep.” I gestured toward the back of the auditorium, where Mandeep, standing beside Seth, raised his hand. “He’ll arrange transportation for you. The meeting will end at six, followed by supper.”
I paused again. I wasn’t sure the next thing I had to say was actually a good idea, but I refused to sit up in my figurative ivory tower when I knew damn well there were problems throughout the country that I might be able to solve if I was aware of them.
“I am available to those who have concerns or conflicts,” I said slowly. “Mandeep is your first point of contact if you wish to speak to me. This is extended to all of you, not only arkhons and alphas. If you have a problem within your pack. If you are afraid. If you simply want to complain. You may go to Mandeep, and he will do his best to ensure you have an opportunity to speak to me. There are a lot of you, so if anyone doesn’t get that opportunity while you’re all here, Mandeep will compile a list and I’ll contact you by phone or video starting around the middle of next week.” Monday and Tuesday, I intended to focus solely on Kyle. That was my wedding gift to him. Two days to just be us. Naturally, it might not work out that way, but I could hope.
I waited. No one spoke. That might have been a good sign, but something about the silence sent up a red flag in me.
“I’ll begin now by introducing the arkhons.” I gestured at the tables to my right and left. Introductions would go from north to south and east to west, which was a lot easier with the twelve arkhons than it would be with the hundreds of alphas. “First, Zane Wolfskin, Arkhon of the Northeast Region.” Zane stood and nodded to the crowd.
I went through the rest of the arkhons one by one. Each of them stood and nodded. Each of them sat down again.
But before I could move on to introducing the alphas, DavisGray rose to his feet. A dozen or so alphas stood as well, as did multiple members of the crowd.
“Tobias Rogan, Anax of the United States.” Davis paused, and I held my breath. Surely this man wasn’t about to issue a challenge.
No, he wasn’t. His plan was worse. “We have no confidence in your ability to serve this country’s werewolves as our Anax,” he said after a beat. “We, the wolves of the Pacific Region, reject you as our leader. We will take no part in this gathering.” He surveyed the crowd, some of whom punctuated his words with gasps and whispers. “Any who agree with us may join us. Pacific Region wolves, with me.”
He descended the steps from the platform and started up the central aisle. My heart pounding, I frantically searched for words to speak. This was worse than a challenge. This wasrebellion. Mutiny.
Chapter Eight
Finally, when Davis was about halfway to the back of the room, with his alphas and some of the other Pacific Region guests behind him, I found my voice. “Davis Gray, you are stating your unwillingness to be among this country’s werewolves any longer. I hear you. I accept your choice. You and those who would follow you will leave my property within the hour, or you will be removed. Any Pacific Region wolves who wish to stay may do so under my protection and rule.”
