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“I’m sure you’ve all heard about our visitor,” I began, my voice clear and strong over the watching crowd. “And I wanted to make everyone aware of the situation.”
I quickly filled them in about the Queen’s message, explaining that the witch was now long gone and they were safe.
“But a decision needs to be made here,” I continued, meeting the anxious gazes of my people. “In my opinion, this is a trap. The Queen declared her war long ago, and we’ve just been dancing to her tune. But I won’t make such a big decision without your input. This affects us all and I need to hear your thoughts.”
Unexpectedly, Mina didn’t speak, her eyes moving over the crowd with a sympathetic smile on her face as Donn sat subdued beside her.
“But the Queen wants to discuss peace. Isn’t that a good thing?”
I looked for the speaker and found my gaze settling on a small, red-headed teen. I was quietly impressed with the confidence in his tone, certain he would be a solid beta one day.
I smiled patiently at him. “Yes, Rudy, it would be a very good thing if it was a genuine offer.”
“And how can you know it’s not?” Zeke asked, arms firmly folded over his chest.
I forced my jaw to relax to answer him. “Because Dad already made the biggest peace deal in our history and it failed. She sent her own daughter here as reassurance but it was all a lie. Why should anything have changed? She wants us dead.”
“And who told you that?” Mina called, standing as she finally decided to speak. “Your witch?”
Swallowing down my growl took a mammoth effort as I turned to her. “Cordelia is your Alpha female, let’s not forget to show her some respect.”
Mina threw up her hands. “I’m just confused, Liam. In one breath you’re asking us not to trust the Queen, and in the next you’re asking us to accept her daughter as our Alpha? It makes no sense. Do we trust the witches or not?”
Murmurs erupted around the space, the number of nodding heads making my chest tighten.
“I don’t understand,” I called, gaining their attention again. “You all know Cordelia, accepted her when my father passed on the Alpha role. Why are you questioning her now?”
An uncomfortable silence fell for a long moment before Mina spoke again.
“We don’t know what path she led you on, but nothing has been the same since her arrival. We’ve lost people, you boys are not the same as you once were, and we are now facing a conflict that we must try to avoid. No matter what her intentions may have been, Cordelia is gone.”
She turned to address the pack. “And we must attend this peace talk, for the good of the pack.”
My gaze locked on Noah’s where he stood at the back of the crowd, noting that his concerned expression was also reflected on the shifters who stood beside him. The small group we had freed from enslavement had been widely accepted by the village but had yet to officially join us. Only Berry had psychically bonded into the pack link on that first night, and the rest had yet to make a decision. This left them largely outsiders still, and they now stood beside Noah on the outskirts of the meeting, silently watching the conversation unfold.
Noah gave me a small shrug and I dragged in a deep breath before calling the now chattering pack quiet once more.
“Do you understand how dangerous this meeting could be? How foolish we would be just to walk directly into her grasp? If they attack us…”
“You have no evidence that this is anything other than what the Queen claims,” my father interrupted, standing as he finally found his voice.
Mina claimed that their reunion had returned his full strength, continuously hinting that I should return the Alpha status to them. But in the long months that we had been back I had hardly heard his voice, only hers. I wasn’t sure he was the same man I’d known anymore.
“Our last peace talks went well,” he continued, placing a hand on his mate’s shoulder as he stood slightly behind her. “And we won’t be walking in unprepared. Trust the strength of the pack, Liam.”
I held his eye for a long moment, seeing nothing to tell me he didn’t believe his own words. Glancing around the pack, I felt my gut fall as I realised that I was in an impossible situation. I could use my status to overpower them and order them to fall in line, but that would only cause long-term issues. Not only would it add power to Mina’s claims about the pack leadership, it would tell them all that I didn’t value their opinions or trust their strength.
I ran a palm over my face as I felt the heavy weight of the pack’s gaze on me.
“Fine, we’ll attend the meeting,” I relented, hating the satisfied murmur that ran through the crowd when I knew it was the decision that would put them in more danger.
I dismissed them quickly, needing space to work out how the hell I was going to get us through this safely.
More importantly, I needed to walk away before I snapped and reacted to the glint of triumph in my mother’s eyes.
Chapter Three
Cordelia
