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His words cut through her appreciating his closeness and snapped her back into her role as clan leader. “There are several ways to handle the situation. I just look forward to one of the males challenging me so I can win and revel in the disbelief on his face.”
Aaron raised his brows. “Maybe you should practice with me first, just to refresh your skills. After all, clan leaders tend to go a bit soft once they assume leadership.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I can practice with Killian and the others, like I do on a regular basis, I might add.”
He leaned a fraction closer and her heart rate ticked up at the heat radiating from his body. “You can, but it won’t help you prepare properly. You already defeated the strongest members of your clan. What you need is a new challenger. I’ve never participated in a leadership trial myself because being leader involves too much diplomacy and paperwork, but I like to think I would have a fighting chance if I tried.”
“You’ll lose, of course. Can your ego handle losing to a female?”
He smiled slowly. “The bigger question is, can yours accept losing to a foreigner?”
She raised her brows. “That’s rather presumptuous.”
He shrugged. “I’m good at what I do, even if I’m a tad more impatient than my head Protector likes.”
Her dragon chimed in. Challenge him. It’ll be brilliant to stand over him and have him admit defeat. Then we can claim our prize. One night of passion should do the trick.
Aaron’s voice prevented her from replying. “Care to tell me what your dragon is saying?”
Teagan pulled away and sat up straight. “No. We can discuss it later. My brother is signaling that it’s time to begin.”
To his credit, Aaron merely nodded and fell silent. It seemed he could follow orders when it came to important matters.
Once the doors to the great hall clicked closed, Teagan stood and walked to the front of the dais. Despite the fact an entire table of people would be staring at her from behind, she sensed Aaron’s gaze on her arse. Her traitorous body warmed at the idea.
Pushing away what was only a response to a handsome male’s attention, she raised her voice. “Everyone, welcome.” The remaining chatter died and she continued, “Tonight we officially welcome Stonefire’s representative and Protector, Aaron Caruso, to the clan. While most of you have alre
ady warmed up to Brenna from Stonefire, I hope you do the same with Aaron. He’s here to learn and help when needed.”
Someone shouted from the crowd, “We don’t need outsiders to help us.”
Teagan didn’t miss a beat. “I know that we’ve lived isolated for many years out of necessity. However, me being clan leader has leaked. And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of living a lie and maintaining a ruse. Glenlough has a long tradition of female leaders and other clans should accept that. Having allies at our back will only help us in the long run.” A murmur went through the crowd, and Teagan decided to just share the rest. “But I do want to assure you that Killian, Aaron, and I have a plan of how to deal with the other Irish clans. I’m going to invite the other Irish leaders to a clan leader challenge.”
Roars and shouting greeted her ears. Teagan held up a fist and waited until the room was mostly quiet again. “This is the best way to handle them. Otherwise, we’ll be fighting with them for who knows how many years. Once that happens, Northcastle might pounce and take advantage of the chaos. I’d rather show the other leaders what I’m made of and then reach out to Northcastle as a potential strong ally.”
A male shouted, “Northcastle is full of wankers. We don’t need them.”
Teagan answered without hesitation. “If that’s true, then are we to sit back and watch as more and more of our clan run away with Northcastle mates? Allowing dragon-shifters to claim mates freely from anywhere in Ireland, North or South, is essential to our long-term survival. Many of us have distant relatives in Northcastle. It would be nice to see them, don’t you think?”
A few people replied grudgingly in the affirmative, while others still protested. Teagan had known this part would be tricky. She raised a fist and waited for complete silence before she spoke up again. “However, doing anything with Northcastle is secondary to me fighting for my right to lead Glenlough. And not just for me, but for the future of other clans, too. Many of you remember my grandmother’s time as clan leader. She helped us survive the human Troubles as well as strengthen our clan when the economy devastated many others in our country. Females have the right to be a leader as much as any male.”
She paused as a roar of agreement echoed inside the hall. With everyone back on her side, she pushed toward the end. “But in order to prove how capable females can be, I’m going to need the support of my clan. Your cheers and faith in me will give me the extra strength I need to ensure no one perceives us as weaker ever again. Who’s with me?”
For a split second, as silence stretched, Teagan wondered if she’d made a mistake. Then cheers and shouts rose in encouragement.
Her beast hummed. Of course they support us or we would’ve had another challenge long before now.
Logically, I know that. Still, I don’t like to take our clan and their support for granted.
Raising her fist for the last time, the noise died down. “Right, then I have one more request. For the next few weeks, I need you all to only petition an audience with me if it’s truly important. Killian will also assist with settling disputes until this is over so I can focus on the upcoming challenge. I have faith that Glenlough will have my back. Am I correct?” A resounding yes rolled through the crowd. “Then enjoy the celebrations tonight! If I have any say in the matter, we should be having another one before too much longer to celebrate showing the other clans that a female has as much right to lead as a male.”
There were a few more cheers, and Teagan waved to certain members of the audience. As people sat down and started to dish out food from the serving platters that sat in the middle of the tables, she turned around and let out the breath she’d been holding. The first set of eyes she found were Aaron’s dark brown ones. He gave an almost imperceptible nod, and she returned the gesture.
Not that she knew why she did it. Aaron’s approval wasn’t important in the grander scheme of things.
Before her dragon could go on about why it should matter, Teagan took her seat and reached for her glass of wine. She took a sip and Aaron leaned over to whisper, “I look forward to facing the strong female who just rallied her clan’s support. Outsmarting you will be a worthwhile puzzle.”
After swallowing the smooth red wine, she turned toward him. “Do my ears deceive me or was that almost a compliment?”
