“Yes, Anax,” the two of them said together.
“As for the Southeast Region, we also need a new Arkhon there.” I looked at Robert, who flinched. “Robert Greenlea, as one of the arkhons whose region borders Southeast, and as Edward’s ally, do you know any of those alphas well enough to make a recommendation?”
“No, Anax, I don’t,” Robert mumbled. “I have met some of the alphas but not all of them, and the meetings were brief.”
“All right. Then I’ll need to speak to the Southeast Regionalphas as well.” I decided not to keep freaking Robert out. “Bob McKinley, will you please inform the Southeast alphas that I will meet with them individually this evening?”
“Yes, Anax,” Bob said. “If I may, however?”
“Sure. Yes. Thank you.” He clearly had something in mind, and I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed, so I was definitely willing to listen.
“Anax, while it is best for you to be the one to speak to the Pacific alphas whose loyalties are in question, with the other Pacific alphas and with the Southeast alphas, perhaps we arkhons could assist you.” Bob gestured around the table. “Each of us could speak to several alphas and present to you one or two who would be suitable to become Arkhon of their region. You could then speak to those whose names are presented to you.”
I considered the suggestion. This was a case where I needed to tread carefully. Choosing the new arkhons and doing their formal declarations and instatements was my responsibility. I was their leader. From that standpoint, it was also my responsibility to interview the contenders for the rank. I didn’t want to give the impression that I was shirking my job or that I couldn’t handle the task of speaking to sixty-some-odd alphas.
But speaking to that many alphas would take a ridiculous amount of time. Even if each interview lasted only ten minutes, that would be tenhoursof interviews. We didn’t have that much time left before the hunt, unless I chose not to sleep at all. Which was a choice I suspected Kyle and some of my friends, and probably my guards, would take issue with.
Instating the arkhons tonight would be best. If that wasn’t possible, the instatements needed to happen immediately after the memorials during the next morning’s meeting. I couldn’t afford to insist on doing every single interview myself. I could practically hear Kyle saying, “Don’t take too much on yourself, Tobias. You don’t have to do everything.” Gods knew I’d heard him say it enough in the past two years.
“You are a wise man, Arkhon,” I said. “I do need to speak personally to each of the alphas who followed Davis out of thisgathering, presuming they have returned.”
“They have, Anax,” Hollis said without waiting to be recognized. I chose to let it go.
“I’ll start with them,” I said. “If each of you is willing, we can divide the list of alphas of the Pacific and Southeast regions so you’ll know who to speak to. Once you’ve talked to everyone on your list, if you believe any of them would be a suitable Arkhon, bring me their name. If you don’t believe anyone you speak to is suited for the rank, let me know that. Once I have all of the names, I’ll speak to them and make the final decision. Is that agreeable to all of you?”
“Yes, Anax,” ten voices replied.
We got to work on the list. It was fairly easy to divide the regions into smaller geographic areas, and each of the arkhons was assigned to speak to the alphas of one of those areas. We omitted the names of the alphas who had gone with Davis. None of them, as far as I was concerned, was a contender to become Arkhon of the Pacific Region.
Once all of that was done, I instructed the arkhons to eat while they spoke to the alphas on their list and dismissed them to get started. I didn’t know whether everything would be settled before we went to bed, but I was damn well going to try.
In the dining room, I got more food together, along with a couple of bottles of water, and found Kyle talking to Suzannah in the front room. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Just chatting about wedding stuff.” Kyle grinned and patted the cushion beside him. “Have a seat. Take a break.”
“If only.” I motioned toward my office. “I have to deal with the alphas who left with Davis. I’d like you with me. You notice things I don’t, and I have to make sure it’s feasible and safe to allow them to keep their rank.”
“Yeah.” Looking surprised, Kyle stood. “To be continued, Suz.”
“No worries.” Suzannah tilted her head. “Tobias, you’re all right?”
I shrugged. “I need to rest. I will rest once the new arkhons are in place and I make sure I don’t have any alphas conspiring tosilver me to death or something.”
Kyle shivered. “Don’t even joke about that.”
We went into my office, where I began summoning the alphas who had followed Davis. One at a time, they came in and answered the few questions I put to them. Every one of them gave Kyle a look that might have been hatred or might have just been irritation that he was involved. I ignored the looks. I wasn’t assessing whether they were homophobic, though maybe I should have been. I just wanted to know if they could stay in their ranks.
As speculated, one of them said he had followed Davis solely because he believed he had no choice, and two others said Davis had commanded them under threat to follow him. They didn’t say what the threat was, and I chose not to ask; with Davis gone, it no longer seemed relevant. Two voiced opposition to me as Anax but also pledged that they had no intention of challenging me.
The sixth, the Alpha of Salton Pack, stonewalled me with a belligerence that made me wonder how he treated his pack members. I stripped him of rank and called his Beta to appoint one of the pack members at the gathering as a proxy to supervise his companions and the former Alpha until I could send them home. I told the Beta I would formally instate him via video call as Alpha once the arkhons were in place, and that it would then be his choice whether to allow his former Alpha to remain with the pack.
Once that was settled, I leaned back and motioned for Kyle to come closer. “Shit. I hate dealing with things like this.”
He bent and kissed my forehead. “You don’t have to deal with everything tonight.”
“I kind of do. I can’t leave two regions without arkhons.” I sighed. “It’s going to be a late night. It’s probably better if you aren’t in here for the arkhon portion of the program. I trust you and value your insight, but…”
“But I’m your mate, and to some of these chowdernuggets, that means I’m not anything.” He quirked his lips. “Iget it. I don’t really have a place in all this. The Anax’s mate doesn’t have a title or a rank, and when it comes to important shit, I have to step back and let you handle it.”
