Page 17 of Virtually Guarded

“Yes, Seth.” As the leader of the guards, Seth had no official title, so we called him by name. But the name was spoken with the same deference a title would have been.

He nodded. “All right. Monitor the back of the house. Inside and outside. Keep an ear out for any indication of plans against the Anax and watch for any minor conflicts.” He gave me something that was about as close to a smile as Seth tended to get when he was on duty. “You may check on Ren if you want, as long as you don’t stay out of your assigned area for too long.”

“Thank you, Seth.” I rolled my eyes. Of course he knew a connection was forming between Ren and me. Anyone who saw us together would sense it. But I wasn’t inclined to discuss it with anyone other than Ren himself.

I didn’t locate Ren before the Anax called all attendees at the gathering back to the auditorium in the basement. There, to my relief, I spotted Ren among the crowd making their way into the room and pulled him aside for a second. “How are you doing?”

He shrugged. “Earlier, that was a lot. I’m assuming that isn’t how a gathering typically goes.”

“Not even close.” While I’d never attended a national gathering before, I had accompanied my old Alpha to a couple of the gatherings in our region, Western Central, in the past. That was how I’d ended up with this job. The Western Central Arkhon, Bob McKinley, was one of the Anax’s primary allies. Since I was a wolf of his region, he’d had as much authority over me as my Alpha, and he’d decided I would make a loyal, reliable guard for the Anax. “You don’t have to be in here, you know.”

“The summons said all guests.” He tapped the side of his head. “Hearing voices up here that are real voices? Freaky as fuck.”

“Yeah.” I’d gotten used to hearing other people’s voices in my mind after so long as a werewolf, since every wolf in a leadership role over me had been able to speak directly into my mind. I hadn’t considered how it must feel to someone who was new to it all. “You aren’t exactly a guest, though, Ren. You are in a way, but not one of the guests for the gathering.” I was having trouble expressing the difference. I hoped he understood.

He nodded. “I know. But maybe this is a way for me to learn more about this stuff? I feel like I need to be in there. Like the Anax is pulling me in.”

“Okay.” The Anax had used a mild amount of compulsion to recall all of the guests to the auditorium. He wasn’t fond of using compulsion to force obedience, but with somewhere around six hundred werewolves present, he needed some means of keeping them under control. “Sit near the back so you can leave if you need to.”

“I was planning on it.” He looked up at me, gratitude shining in his eyes. “Thank you, Xavier.”

“I didn’t do anything.” I smiled down at him. He was so small from my perspective. At least a foot shorter than me and thin, the thinness that came from not having enough to eat. Something I recognized all too well from my childhood. He looked fragile, but I’d already seen that he was anything but. “Go on in. I’m stationed near the front of the room, but you’ll be able to see me.”

“And you’ll see me.” With a grin, he rejoined the throng flooding into the room.

The Anax opened the meeting with a reminder that his home was considered neutral ground, and he would accept no conflicts among his guests. He also threw in a statement of zero tolerance for hatred toward others due to their sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, or anything else. That, as far as I knew, wasn’t a usual part of the opening remarks at a gathering, but given that the Anax himself was gay and had faced plenty of shit for it, it made sense that he would include such a statement.

When he asked that everyone present voice their acceptance of the gathering’s neutrality and the zero-tolerance policy, the response thundered through the auditorium. I was sure a few in the crowd stayed silent, but the agreement was overwhelming.

With that out of the way, the Anax continued with introducing the alphas, a process that had been interrupted when Davis Gray, the Pacific Region Arkhon, staged his little tantrum. Due to how many alphas were present, the introductions took far too long. At the end, the Anax announced lunch and then asked Enzo Pereira to stay.

Hearing that name, I quickly scanned the crowd until I found Ren, sitting at the back of the room like I’d told him to. Even from a distance, I saw his wide eyes. His pale face. I felt his fear.

Enzo Pereira. Alpha of Connecticut Pack. The one who had failed to protect Ren from his pack members. My fists clenched as if on their own. The Anax must have told Enzo to stay to discuss what had happened to Ren. And Enzo had damn well better make amends, or I would see to it that he and his pack paid for what they’d done.

I shook my head. Violence. Not my thing at all. When it came to my mate, though, it seemed to be my wolf’s thing.

As Enzo approached the podium where the Anax waited, Ren’s breathing grew shallow. I didn’t know how I managed to hear it over the noise of those who were still filing out of the auditorium, but I knew it was him. Every fiber of my being was focused on him, and I could almost taste his fear. He’d said the Alpha of the pack hadn’t hurt him, but he was clearly terrified right now.

After a moment, Mandeep, one of my fellow guards who served as more of a personal assistant to the Anax, bent beside Ren and said something so quietly I couldn’t hear. Ren got up and allowed Mandeep to escort him out of the auditorium.

Mine! my wolf ranted in my mind. I took a step to follow them.

And immediately stopped, because my place right now was here with the Anax, ensuring his safety. Mandeep was no threat to my mate. Or to my relationship with him, whatever kind of relationship that might be. The Anax must have noticed Ren’s fear like I had. Mandeep wouldn’t have done anything without the Anax’s say-so, which meant the Anax had asked him to remove Ren from the auditorium. Once the Anax was finished with Enzo Pereira, I could ask if I was right.

That took quite a bit of time, as the Anax interrogated the Connecticut Alpha. Enzo admitted his Beta had been behind the attack on Ren and had been consequenced, and two other members of his pack had been ejected. I looked forward to telling Ren how those who had harmed him had been punished. Enzo hadn’t done enough as far as I was concerned. The Anax should have added to the punishments, but that wasn’t my call. Before I could bring it up to the Anax after he dismissed Enzo, he left too.

I followed him upstairs and stayed close until he found Kyle. Seth was nearby and nodded to me. Trusting that the Anax was safe, I went to find Ren.

He was in his room, lying on his bed with the door ajar. Seeing him through the opening, I knocked to let him know I was there. “Is it okay if I come in?”

“Yeah, of course.” He sat up. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I saw you leave with Mandeep.” I stepped in and closed the door. “The Anax asked him to bring you up here?”

He nodded. “I kind of lost it when I saw the Alpha. The Anax must have noticed.”

“I did too.” I went closer to the bed. “Can I sit down?”