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There was nothing left to wait for.
“Do it,” Joe said.
The TV began to beep as the call went out.
Kelly took my hand.
It went on so long that I began to think no one would pick up. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck into the collar of my shirt. I pushed my glasses back up on my nose, and I heard my mother whispering little wolf, little wolf, little wolf.
The beeps from the TV cut off as the picture filled.
The office thousands of miles away looked as it did the last time I’d stood in it: the books in the background, the chair, the desk—all of it was the same. I remembered the first time I’d sat in it, but my resolve strengthened when I realized what I was thinking of wasn’t the first time. I’d been in there before, and they had taken it from me.
Alpha Michelle Hughes sat in the chair. She looked cool and calm, and if it was anyone else, I might have thought she was in control. That she had expected this and still thought she had the upper hand.
But I’d spent close to a year knowing her. Watching her. Working by her side. I could see the cracks in the steely façade. It was in the little things, the way she tapped her fingernails against the desk, the way her eyes widened briefly at the sight of all of us, the flaring of her nostrils, as if she thought she could get our scent from the other side of the country.
And there, for a split second, her eyes shifted away from the screen.
Like she was looking beyond it.
She wasn’t alone.
It was brief, and then she looked straight at us again.
It felt like she was looking straight at me.
She was.
She said, “Robbie. I see you’re—”
And Elizabeth Bennett said, “No. You will not say his name. Any hold you’ve had over him, anything you’ve done to him, it’s over. You are finished. If I ever hear you speak his name aloud again, I swear to you it’ll be one of the last things you do. I’ll see to it myself. It’s my turn to talk, and you’re going to listen.”
She flinched. “Elizabeth, I don’t know what you think—”
“No,” Elizabeth said coldly. “You don’t. You never have. And that’s always been to your detriment. You underestimate those you see as beneath you. I was only the wife of the Alpha to you. Someone to appease to get what you wanted but never to take seriously. That was one of your many mistakes. And it will prove to be your undoing. Because I am done with diplomacy. Hear me, Alpha Hughes, and hear me well. You tried to murder my pack with hunters. We survived. They didn’t. You tried to take Robbie away from us. And yet here he stands, with us as one of us. He is a Bennett, and he always will be. Your time is over. Stand down and stand down now. I will take your unconditional surrender. You’ll be held responsible for your treasonous crimes against my pack because of your alignment with the hunters, and against the wolves as a whole. My son will assume his rightful place as the Alpha of all, as he was always meant to be. And before you even think of speaking, know that this isn’t a negotiation. You do not have a choice in the matter.”
“Haven’t we been here before?” Michelle asked, shaking her head. She sounded aloof, almost airy, but there was something just off in her voice. I was sure most everyone else in the room missed it, but I didn’t. “You, the Bennett pack, threatening me from the safety behind your wards in Green Creek, while the rest of us live out in the real world. You think yourselves so high and mighty, so much better than all of us. And your husband was no different. He didn’t see the way things were supposed to be, and it cost him his life.”
“Maybe it did,” Elizabeth said. “But Thomas believed in the greater good. He believed in the strength of the pack and all that it was comprised of. You have forgotten what it means to be an Alpha, if you ever even knew at all. Thomas was infinitely more an Alpha than you could ever hope to be.”
“He trusted humans,” Michelle said, claws digging into the surface of the desk. “And look where it got—”
Elizabeth laughed, grating and harsh. “You don’t get to talk to me about trusting humans. Not after Meredith King. You trusted her enough to send her to do your dirty work. She and her people paid the price for coming after my family. You’re going to find yourself in a similar position unless you stand. Down.”
Michelle narrowed her eyes. “Are you threatening me?”
“You’re damn right I am,” Elizabeth growled. “And it would do you well to listen. There’s been enough bloodshed, enough good people giving their lives in the name of the wolves. But I will not hesitate to add to the body count. I will come for you, Alpha Hughes. And nothing you can do will stop me.”
She nodded slowly. “If that’s the way it’s going to be.”
“It is.”
She looked grave. “Then it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that the Bennett pack is now considered an enemy of the wolves. I’ll ask for your surrender. Your Alphas will be stripped of their power and Green Creek will be turned over to me. You caused the deaths of over thirty witches, slaughtered by Omegas under your control. You harbored these Omegas even though they should have been put down the moment they lost themselves to their wolves. Carter and Mark Bennett still breathe, though you were under explicit order to end their lives for the greater good. For all I know, whatever bonds that stretch between you all are infected and rotting because of them.”
“Rude,” Carter said, and the timber wolf woofed in agreement. “I think we’re doing fine. Why don’t you come here and I’ll show you just how much?”
She ignored him. She was getting worked up, though she was still trying to stay in control. “These are the crimes of the Bennett pack, and ones you will need to answer for. You will be tried for said crimes, and I will mete out your punishment as I see fit. Do you understand the terms as I’ve relayed them to you?”
