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While we ate the delicious caprese panini, Shane told Dom and Vallin to patrol the pack lands’ border. The Whitecrest pack had deliberately attacked us. He didn’t want to be caught by surprise again.
When they walked out, Killian closed the door behind us. Only him, Lavinia, Shane, and I remained inside his office.
He leaned on the closed door and crossed his arms. “So, what happened?”
Seated behind his desk, Shane scoffed. “Do you want to know everything, or the abbreviated version?”
“Tell us everything,” Lavinia said. She was seated on one of the chairs across the desk, and I took the other.
Shane and I shared a glance before he told the events of the past two days. He started with arriving at the underworld, the heavy demon hunter presence, how the new king was easygoing, and his sister a little horny.
Then he told them about meeting his father, the crystals, and the dragon.
“A dragon?” Killian asked. “But … those have been extinct for centuries. So have dragon shifters.”
“Yeah, well, maybe they became extinct faster because of what my ancestors did,” Shane said, his tone heavy.
“All right, a dragon,” Lavinia said. “What do we do about it? What your father suggested? Ask another coven to recreate the spell, or invent a new one, to reactivate the crystals and make a new barrier? Or will you wake up the dragon?”
“I don’t know.” Shane sighed and ate the last bite of his panini. “If we let the dragon go, the crystals won’t work. There will be no barrier. But how can I sleep with a clear conscience knowing we’re keeping such an amazing creature buried underneath our feet?”
That was exactly how I felt. Even knowing the right thing to do, it wasn’t an easy thing. Freeing the dragon meant dooming the pack lands.
And having my powers out in the open.
“There’s more,” I said and everyone looked at me. Shane trusted Killian and Lavinia. They had been his allies for a long time now, and I knew he trusted them more than he trusted Dom and Vallin—thus why they weren’t here. So, I told them what Franc said about me, my powers, and my heritage.
It might not be the most important detail, but things were going sideways, and having all the cards on the table might make a difference.
Lavinia rested her hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry you had to find out this way.”
I nodded. I felt sorry too, but not because I had found out, but because it was the truth. I still hadn’t come to terms with it, and I wasn’t sure I ever would.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, then we were attacked by Whitecrest wolves on the way back.”
Shane’s brows curled down. “I still don’t understand that.”
“Didn’t you say Delco, the Ironfang alpha, had told you the Whitecrest had been talking to Conri?” Killian asked.
Yes, I remembered that.
“But Conri is dead,” Shane said. “Whatever alliance they had, it’s gone now. However, it doesn’t matter why they did it, this attack can’t be ignored. They attacked the alpha directly. They wanted to kill us. Quiet and simple. If that isn’t reason to start a war, I don’t know what is.”
I pushed half of my panini aside. It was delicious but this talk was all doom and gloom, and my appetite had waned. “You won’t start a war, though, right? We have too many problems at the moment, and we don’t have enough wolves to fight.”
“I don’t want to start one, no, but I won’t stand by and let them play with us.” Shane paused, his jaw hard. “I’ll call for a meeting of the alphas. I’ll show them I might not be my father, but I won’t stand for this crap.”
“A meeting is a good idea,” I said. As long as it didn’t turn into a big fight right then. I hoped Shane took his betas, plus Killian and some of his vampires.
“What about here?” Shane asked with a sigh. “Anything that we should know? Any news in the day and a half we were gone?”
Lavinia and Killian exchanged a glance.
Oh, that couldn’t be good.
“There is, but you'd better come with us,” Killian said.
Shane tensed. “What is it?”
