Page 67 of Magical Midlife Conclave

Her eyes twinkled as she looked over at him. “If you say so⁠—”

She cut off as Sue wandered closer, whiskey in hand. His attention seemed to be on her, mostly. He’d sought her out. That had to be a good sign.

“Speak of the devil,” she said, moving so he could join them. “I mentioned your call about the basajaunak guaranteeing our safety.”

He inclined his head at her. Pleasure to see you.

She replied in kind, keeping it professional. She was terrible at flirting. Always had been.

“I know you guys had a plan,” Sue said to Aljoe, “but she mentioned that she wanted to be part of the legend. Having an elder guard your back is definitely part of that legend.”

“Yes, it is.” Aljoe released a breath. “That elder, Nina… She got my heart pumping. If she’d been on the mountain I camped on, I would’ve turned around and walked the other way.”

“Smart decision,” Sue said. “I wouldn’t care if someone called me a coward. I’d run and hope she didn’t chase me.” His eyes glittered with humor.

“Yes. If they choose to battle with us…” Aljoe surveyed the alphas, breaking off into their cliques to chat. “Austin isn’t keeping to the schedule?”

Much like forming tight, synchronized lines, shifters judged a function’s timing and adherence to a schedule as a sign of good leadership and, therefore, a good alpha.

Sue took a sip. “It’s assigned seating and he’s spread out the cliques. He wants to give them a chance to talk amongst themselves, see who starts a problem when they’re forced into different groups.”

“Any worry the gargoyles will?”

“Doubt it. They’ve had two weeks to figure it out, and they’re all excited to get in on this convocation. I think Jessie’s got that all locked down.” He sighed. “About time.”

“Why didn’t he include a cocktail hour in the schedule?” Nina asked.

“Not adhering to the schedule is part of the plan,” Sue responded. “He mentioned at the start about not following traditions. Now he’s proving it. Some shifters will be very annoyed about all this. At the end of the week, if they make it that long, we’ll see who can loosen up enough to handle the changes.”

“Was it actually a plan?” Aljoe asked, not having heard about it.

Sue’s lips twitched up at the corners, drawing Nina’s eyes. “No,” he answered. “You should know by now, Al-joe, this group rolls with what comes. Austin had planned to give Armendale a wide berth until direct action was needed. You saw how that went.”

“Yeah, about that,” Nina said. “Is Austin actively trying to incite a challenge?”

Sue looked around. “I don’t think so. I think he’s responding to the threat he feels. His style is to go at it directly. So is Jessie’s.” He paused. “And they are. Neither of them will have any problem fielding a challenge from Armendale.”

Aljoe shook his head slowly, looking toward the bar. He’d planned to order a drink after they sat, but if the schedule was out the window…

“Nessa is grabbing you something,” Sue told him. “She said she’ll put it on the floor at your feet if you have a problem with her handing it to you.”

Nina looked at Aljoe with slightly raised eyebrows, asking if there was something going on with him and Nessa.

“She’s making fun of me and shifter custom,” Aljoe explained.

Nina’s eyebrows twitched up further. Since when do you allow this?

“You’ve met her,” he replied. “She has this way about her. It’s impossible to react too seriously when she’s joking.”

“Truth,” Sue replied.

“Armendale will not challenge Austin,” Aljoe said. “It isn’t just the power, either, though that is probably a lot of it. Austin has a raw, ruthless unpredictability about him. He knows how to fight, and he’s used to winning. Armendale, on his cloud of generational privilege, probably doesn’t realize the details of that, but he feels the fear of it. He’s smart enough to know that if he challenges Austin, he will lose.”

“Just like all those times you wondered if he would finally challenge you,” Nina told him.

“He was a coward then, and he’s a coward now. Nothing will change that. But he won’t want to lose face, either. No, he’ll play dirty. I’ve always heard that’s how he operates. He cheats. He’s good at it, though.”

He paused as Nessa worked her way toward them. She stopped next to a younger alpha who was watching her, frowned at him, pointed at her face, and said, “This is my shifter face. Do I fit in?”