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Don’t start, dragon. I have to be careful.
A text message beeped on her phone, garnering Teagan’s attention. It was from Aaron, about her next appointment: Some bloke called Hugh. Refused to talk with me. Arsehole.
She snorted. Hugh was indeed an arsehole, although she wondered what had happened to her original appointment for the day. Hugh’s name hadn’t been on the list.
A knock on the door ceased her wonderings. The tall, balding form of Hugh Burns waltzed in.
Teagan steepled her fingers in front of her. “I don’t have you on the schedule. Why are you here?”
“Donna gave me her spot.”
Donna Mullins had been scheduled for this time. Teagan would have to seek out the female later and see if she’d been coerced in any way to abandon her appointment.
Her former rival to lead the clan sat down in the chair in front of her desk. “And what do you want, Hugh?”
Hugh waved a hand toward the door. “I had to see it for myself. You’ve all but cut off the English male’s balls.”
Teagan had suffered years of Hugh’s taunts, so it was easy to keep her expression neutral. “What is your grievance, Hugh? Others are waiting their turn.”
“My grievance is inviting Padraig and Orin to our clan for a bloody challenge. An outsider has no place ruling here.”
Orin Daly was the leader of Clan Greenpeak in Killarney, and Padraig O’Leary was in charge of Clan Wildheath not far from Dublin.
“It’s happened many times over the centuries, Hugh. Glenlough has done a fairly good job of finding our leaders internally, but most of the other Irish clans haven’t.”
Hugh grunted. “Just because it’s happened before doesn’t mean I have to accept it. We have plenty of strong candidates here.”
“I acknowledge your opinion, but since I won the leadership challenge nearly five years ago, this is my decision by right. And while I know you don’t think I can win, I’m out to prove otherwise. The clan will be updated as things unfold,” she stated.
“You won’t win, you know. Your being clan leader is a result of luck.”
Teagan had suffered Hugh’s bullshit over the years, but she was done dancing around. “You can leave, Hugh. If you continue to stir up trouble, Killian will pay you a visit.”
“Hiding behind a male, I see. Without us males to assist, you would’ve destroyed the clan long ago.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “All members of a clan are important, and even the arseholes play their roles. So of course I need the males to help; otherwise, there wouldn’t be any babies.”
He sneered. “Being witty won’t help you win. You’ve invited strangers onto our land without our consent. I could challenge you because of it.”
Raising her brows, it took everything she had not to laugh. Hugh had gained several stone and a flabby middle over the last five years. “You want to challenge me and lose a second time? Fine, then join the contest with the other leaders. Unless you’re too afraid of losing to me again?”
Hugh smiled slowly. “I heard the challenge will be different this time. Having a former leader’s coaching won’t help you this round. I will be there and I’ll win the leadership. Once I do, I’ll be reporting your deeds to the DDA’s office. Then I won’t ever have to deal with you again.”
Her dragon growled. Are you sure we can’t wrestle with him now and put him out of the running? I can’t take much more of his smugness despite his obvious flaws. While we all have flaws, he is blind to them.
No, dragon. We can’t afford to injure ourselves dealing with hi
m.
Her beast huffed and fell silent.
Teagan gave her best glare and thread every bit of dominance she possessed into her voice as she said, “Then you know if you continue to harass me, you could be disqualified and it’ll squash your dreams early. Now get out before I literally kick your arse out of my office. We’re done talking.”
He stood. “When I’m leader, you’ll be tried for your crimes, Teagan O’Shea. Remember that.”
Hugh waltzed out of her office, leaving the door wide open behind him.
A beat later, Aaron popped his head into the doorway and raised his brows in question. She gave a small shake of her head to indicate they would discuss it later. She merely said, “Send me the details of the next person and send them in a few minutes later.”
