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The woman nodded and let them inside the conference room. The moment the secretary opened the door and they stepped over t
he threshold, everyone in the room fell silent. Avelyn knew they had been talking about them. She scanned the room quickly, taking in the highly futuristic decor, the large windows that covered the entire opposite wall and offered a spectacular view of the city, and the long conference table, surrounded by elegant, comfortable leather chairs. She had expected the conference room to be much more crowded than this.
“Ah! The Blackmanes! Welcome, welcome! I hope you had a nice flight.”
Avelyn immediately guessed that the man who stood up to greet them was human. He was of medium height, with rich, white hair, and cerulean eyes. She recognized some of Delyse’s delicate features on his wrinkled face. Clearly, he was the representative of the human faction, Arthur Harington.
“Mr. Harington, it’s a pleasure to see you,” said Karl, shaking hands with the councilor.
The councilor shook hands with Jocelyn and Max, then stopped in front of Avelyn and took a second to study her before raising her right hand to his lips. “Max, you have a lovely wife.”
“Thank you.”
The councilor’s eyes went down to Avelyn’s round belly. “I’ve heard that you haven’t been feeling very well lately, Mrs. Blackmane. I promise you this meeting won’t take too much of your time. If I may ask, is the child okay?”
“Oh yes, there’s nothing to worry about, Councilor. He’s fine. Thank you.” Avelyn offered him the brightest smile she could muster. She never expected Councilor Harington to be such a kind and caring old man. Because of Delyse’s odd relationship with him and the fact that he had actually donated his own daughter to a boarding school, Avelyn had pictured him as a bit of a tyrant. She made a note to herself to pay close attention to this man. The image she had grown up with didn’t fit with his small frame and wide smile, so she decided the truth was probably somewhere in between. Until she made a clear opinion about Arthur Harington, it was better to stay alert.
More greetings and pleasantries followed, and Avelyn was introduced to all the other councilors, as she was the only one who had never met them before. She put on a permanent smile, even though none of them was as warm and welcoming as Councilor Harington. When they were finally invited to sit down, she tried to relax in her chair and study each of the men carefully.
The meeting was a small one. None of the councilors had their advisers by their side, which meant that it had been scheduled in a rush. For the hundredth time that day, Avelyn told herself she had to calm down and chase away any fears. She was sitting between Max and Jocelyn, but she still felt like a deer caught in the headlights. From time to time, she would catch one of the men staring at her. Yes, they were the councilors of the six factions, the most important and powerful men in the world, but they weren’t dangerous. Not to Clan Blackmane, who didn’t violate any law. At least… that was what Avelyn thought. From her point of view, it had all been self-defense, but politics and law had never been her strong points.
“First, I want to thank you all for coming,” started Councilor Voinom. “Max, I hope you won’t hold yesterday’s phone call against me. You must understand the situation we are all in.” He stole a glance at Avelyn. He might have felt a bit guilty for dragging her such a long way. The bags under her eyes were clear proof that she wasn’t feeling quite all right.
“I completely understand,” answered Max.
Avelyn gave the councilor a quick smile. She didn’t particularly like him. Dimitri Voinom, the representative of the wolf faction, the most powerful Alpha werewolf in Europe, with five packs under his command. Tall and imposing, he was a mountain of a man, with raven black hair and thick, bushy eyebrows that were constantly furrowed. From the way he talked, in short, dismissive sentences, he always seemed displeased with one thing or another. He was one of those men whom no one could completely please no matter how hard they tried. However, Max had warned her about him and told her not to worry. It was true that Voinom was rather grumpy and unpleasant, but he was a fair man who didn’t take any kind of crap. The fact that he had almost disowned his own sons because they had opposed the peace treaty in its early days spoke volumes of his principles.
Councilor Voinom threw a look at the papers in front of him and cleared his throat. “Let’s get straight to the point. A young she-wolf… a newly turned she-wolf…” he emphasized, all the while moving his dark green eyes between Max, Karl, and Jocelyn, “came to my office yesterday morning. She wanted to report an impressive number of kidnappings all across Germany, countless breeches of the treaty, and…” he made a small pause, “…this is a good one, pay attention: a battle between wolves, dragons, and foxes. And they were all connected to Clan Blackmane. Now, what do you think my first reaction was?”
They all remained silent. Jocelyn shifted in her chair and leaned forward just a bit, enough to rest an elbow on the table. “You thought she was insane.” Of course Jocelyn Blackmane was not the woman to simply shut up when she had something to say.
“Point taken, Josie! Yes, I thought she was insane. But then…” Voinom spread his arms sideways, and looked at the other councilors, as if he was asking them for confirmation and support. “…this young woman didn’t have the trademark green eyes that indicate a born werewolf. No. She had the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen. If she didn’t lie about this, it was fair to work on the assumption that she may not be lying about the other things either, as surreal as they may have sounded. Any thoughts?”
Not even Jocelyn felt the need to speak. She did hold the councilor’s gaze until he averted his eyes to look at Karl.
But not everyone in the conference room had patience for strategic pauses and rhetorical questions. The representative of the bear faction, Zachary Willamar, sighed in exasperation and intervened: “We’ll just ask you some questions and all you need to do is answer truthfully. As big and dramatic this whole situation might seem, I’m sure it can be simplified and, eventually, cleared if we work together.”
“I agree,” said Karl.
The bear-shifter was even bigger than Councilor Voinom. Ebony skin stretched over bulging muscles, short black hair with just a few gray strands at the temples, deep black eyes, and a booming voice that could make even the toughest people shrink in fear. The uniform and the medals on his chest told he was still in the military, but his words showed how much he dreaded the idea of a second war between humans and shape-shifters.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what we’re talking about here,” said Max, drawing everyone’s attention.
Avelyn stared at his profile, admiring the straight line of his nose and the softness of his full lips. The business suit fit him perfectly, hugging his hard body in all the right places. If the situation were different and they were alone in this huge conference room, she would have jumped his bones and asked him to take her on the table. She sighed and tried to focus on his words instead of his gorgeous body.
“We are ready to answer all your questions, but first we’d like to know what the accusations are.”
“We’re not accusing you of anything,” said Councilor Harington.
“No, of course not,” added the bear-shifter. “The young she-wolf who asked for Councilor Voinom’s help yesterday is, however, accusing you of many things.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch her name…” said Jocelyn.
“We’ve decided to keep her identity private for now,” said Jonathan Redfur, the representative of the fox-shifters. He looked Jocelyn in the eyes and gave her a half smile.
Avelyn didn’t know what to think of Councilor Jonathan Redfur. He was one of the youngest members of the council, together with the representative of the eagle-shifters, Christian Kwahu. Christian hadn’t said anything yet, aside from the usual greetings at the beginning. They were both tall, with strong, yet lithe bodies, but the common traits stopped there. While Redfur had fiery red hair, violet eyes, and sharp features, Kwahu had the olive skin and soft, delicate features of the Native Americans, with long, straight black hair and gray eyes. Each was sexy in his unique way.
