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“Good. See you in a few.”
“Right.” But she lowered her voice and smiled up at him. “You can kiss me if you want to.”
“That’s the trouble, I want to way too much. Not sure I could let it stop at a kiss, though, which means we’d end up with a huge audience.” He jerked his head in the direction of the central platform and the shifters waiting for him to arbitrate the latest dispute.
That radiant smile of hers broadened. Did she know that she glowed, that some internal light always seemed to be shine out of her, calling to him?
When she entered the lodge and closed the door, he turned around, heading in the direction of about forty shifters. The men faced off, bristling on either side of the nearest communal fire pit.
Valgus and Alophi had already taken up dominant positions in front of their men.
“What’s the nature of the issue?” Seth stood just to the side of both groups and crossed his arms over his chest. The last thing he should be doing right now was settling pack squabbles, especially when the brigade needed to be running drills and securing the safety of all four gorges.
The alphas each turned to talk to their men.
Valgus addressed Seth first. “My troops were working the ridge between Inwether and Emberith, exactly as we’d all decided while laying out strategies in your office, when Alophi’s Guardsmen challenged them.”
Seth met Valgus’s incensed stare as the shifter continued, “My troops had jurisdiction twenty yards past the central line of demarcation. And you know that ridge drops off sharply to the west. We agreed on that.”
“Yes, we did.” Seth turned to Alophi. “What say you?”
“Valgus’s troops were well beyond the demarcation point.” Dark wolf fur sprouted along his jaw line, then quickly disappeared.
If Seth hadn’t been as schooled in shifter politics and structure as he was, he would have lost his temper for what seemed to be a trivial matter. But the truth went deeper, it always did.
Someone was lying.
But uncovering the lie wouldn’t help because the mastyr, lie or no lie, would have to back his troops, no matter the infraction. This was one reason creating a unified fighting force had proved so difficult.
“Will you submit to my decision here?”
Both mastyrs nodded, if reluctantly.
He could never address the lie outright, so he said, “Some mistake has occurred, that much is clear, but right now I don’t care whose it is. I want everyone back to their assigned ridges and back to work. The twenty yard demarcation line stands.” He slowly drifted his gaze over the assembled shifters, looking each in the eye. “I expect obedience here. If I find that one of you is stirring up trouble, I’ll have your lands impounded for the next decade.”
Nothing struck fear into the hearts of shifters more quickly than having territory, including lands each owned, messed with.
The alphas nodded their agreement and the troops grumbled their acquiescence. Both Valgus and Alophi ordered their shifters to return to their assigned gorges.
Just as Seth turned back to the lodge, however, a new vibration went through him, one that had nothing to do with shifters, and which caused his vampire brain to start unraveling. In addition, he could smell Lorelei’s arousal, her apple blossom scent, leaking from the lodge in heady quantities.
Oh, shit.
“Where’s Jude?” he shouted, turning toward the shifters. Several had already gone wolf and bounded like lightning into the forest. “Is Mastyr of Kellcasse here? At Big Timber?”
Valgus frowned. “Yes. He’ll be bedding down for the day in the lodge. I told him where he could find the whiskey.”
Seth roared.
* * * * * * * * *
Lorelei loved the feel of Jude’s massive body as he pressed her against the wall near the fireplace.
The moment she’d entered the lodge, she’d known another mastyr was nearby, and most of her ability to think had fled. He’d come from the kitchens carrying a bottle of amber liquid and a glass.
The moment she saw him, her heart had started pounding heavily in her chest. She’d already produced an extra supply for Seth and now here was Jude, another mastyr in need of what she could give in abundance.
Jude had long, black curly hair, some of which had escaped his woven clasp, giving him a wild dangerous appearance. He had gray eyes and was incredibly handsome.
