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“Especiallyif you do it,” Auren disagreed, and Ashe giggled, earning matching reprimanding looks from Jack and Elias. The man just shrugged, fluttering his lashes until they both turned their attention to our circle again.
“Francesca is no longer an obstacle,” Jack argued, arms folding across his chest. “That’s why we’re here in the first place. With no leverage to keep me at bay, it would be easy to persuade people to hear us out about Azazel.”
I took in the other shifters with new eyes. They were staring right back at me, equally curious. Obviously, we were all victims of the Upper Council to some degree, so maybe it wasn’tsooutlandish to consider we could be allies—at least against Azazel.
“We’re using him for our own purposes.”
Auren’s admittance had the other shifters with them sneering, and I could feel my hackles rise in his defense. My wolf hated their open irritation—it occurred to me that it was because I saw Auren as part of our makeshift pack—and they were lucky that Sariel was my focus at the moment.
His wolf was still clawing just beneath his skin, and I winced at the sensation. Without me standing beside him, he would have lost control in a matter of minutes, if the insistent pressure was any indication. His wolf was giving me a headache, and I wasn’t even the one housing it.
Remorse trickled through to me, so I bumped his shoulder with mine, silently asking if he was okay.
I’m fine, pup. Just a bit uncomfortable.
Liar, I rebuked. I could feel it like it was my own discomfort, after all.
He rubbed his thumb across my knuckles, obviously done humoring my questions.
“And what would those be?” Jack inquired, sounding every bit the snotty elitist most witches were raised as. It was rare to meet any willing to befriend people outside of their covens, and the echo chamber usually resulted in a very warped sense of the world.
Then again, most packs were that way, too. Maybe we were all a little biased toward our own.
“None of your business,” Auren replied. “You’ll need to leave if that’s all.”
He turned to walk away, and I watched Jack visibly bristle at the dismissal. Elias put a hand on the other man’s shoulder, and they shared a look.
Ashe rolled his dark eyes and took up the debate. “That’snotall. We’re seeking an alliance.”
That was more what Auren had been expecting, judging by the way he paused and cocked his head.
“When Elias pulled support for the war, it divided the Council,” Ashe explained. “Barimuz ran back to Hell, so that left us against the other three, and they’re not happy with the decision.”
From the way Auren’s fingers twitched at his sides, he wasn’t happy with that turn of events, but they made sense. The vampire, witch, and angel representatives were all a pretty self-righteous trio anyway, especially since the last one was Azazel fucking Ambrose. Having Elias openly disagree with them as awolfwas probably infuriating.
“And you think we want in the middle of that?” Auren countered, though I could have laughed at the way he grimaced, obviously regretting the condescending tone. It made the shifter look at him with raised eyebrows, arms folding; my lips threatened to turn up into a grin when Auren shifted uncomfortably.
“Weknowyou do,” Ashe countered. “That’s your whole movement. Freedom and safety for everyone and all that. With Elias behind you, that’s not just our pack—it’s pretty muchallthe blessed-blood wolves.”
“You can’t promise that.”
I finally scoffed, thinking back to Sean Homer. He’d looked for me at Azazel's request when I had to flee my family; there was no telling if he would side with Elias, or just keep his pack out of it entirely.
“No,” Elias said slowly, stepping forward. “I can’t. People are prone to protecting their own over strangers, no matter how well-known they are.”
Then, as if just now noticing I was there and recognizing me, he pursed his lips, brows furrowing. “Hello again, Aria.”
A low growl left Sariel, and when I glanced at him, he was nearly snarling, his lips pulled back over clearly inhuman teeth. Yanking on the bond made him look at me, and those wild eyes softened; it didn’t take long before the wolf receded entirely. That much was a relief, considering how this entire situation felt a lot like a bomb about to go off.
Sariel closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, rolling his neck.
Jack was obviously unhappy with the way Elias was inching closer to us to talk, shuffling closer as though he could stop a fight from breaking out if we all lost our tempers. I didn’t envy the man; a witch trapped among wolfish tempers was probably not the ideal situation, no matter who you were.
“I’m glad you made it here safe,” he continued. “I’d hoped you would when you managed to escape. I’m sorry for what happened.”
“You mean letting us be murdered for the crime of existing?” Sariel drawled, feigning disinterest almost as well as his brother. Obviously, this was a skill they shared, because I would never have known he was seething about the older wolf being anywhere near me if we weren’t bonded.
“Yes. There was too much at risk for me to play my hand then.” Elias made a face, and I finally felt the beginnings of sympathy for him.
