AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The moon goddess was wrong.
Brie wouldn’t be with Gideon, and that was just something they’d all have to deal with.
“Glad you could be here,” Gideon said, his voice low, tempting.
Darn it. She needed to keep strong and not fall into the vice that was his voice. If she wasn’t careful, she’d make an even bigger fool of herself and hurt the purpose of this meeting.
“Let’s move to the meeting room so we can get going,” Gideon continued.
“Sounds good to me,” Kade agreed then stepped forward, holding out his arm.
Gideon did the same, and the two of them did that man-hug, back-thumping thing. She never truly understood it since she liked hugs in general, but whatever the guys needed to do to show that they were friendly, even though they were from two different Packs, was okay with her.
She took a deep breath then followed the rest of them as they made their way to the meeting place. Gideon gave her one last look then turned away as if nothing had happened between them. For all she knew, nothing had happened. He hadn’t acknowledged her beyond that look. It could have been that he stared at her because she was a submissive and he didn’t know why she was there in the first place. Maybe he didn’t feel her as his mate at all.
An odd pang echoed in her chest, and she rubbed the spot over her heart. It was silly to be emotional over this. She’d known for fifteen years she would never be enough for the Talon Alpha, so why was she worrying about it now?
Maybe because I’d never seen him in person.
She ignored her inner thoughts and pushed on, raising her chin without looking confrontational. It was a skill she’d learned growing up. She’d been a tomboy at heart, climbing on trees and digging in the dirt along with her cousin Finn and the others. She might not have been aggressive when she shifted, but she also wasn’t the girly-girl her mother might have wanted at first. Of course, Willow had dug right into the dirt with her, so really, it never mattered that Brie had grown up with dirt on her nose instead of a sparkly tiara on her head.
“What’s up with you?” Finn asked, his voice low.
Brie turned to look at him and shook her head. Finn was Kade’s son and Heir to the Pack. In reality, he shouldn’t have been the Heir yet, but when their grandparents had died in the Central war, everything shifted far earlier than it should have. In fact, Finn had been their Heir since before he started school. Everything changed that day, although Brie had been too young to remember the full extent of it.
Now she and Finn were in their thirties, relatively young for wolves but adults nevertheless. He looked just like his dad, but Brie could see glimpses of Melanie in him when he laughed. She was grateful for that since he didn’t laugh often. Something had happened to him before he’d become Heir—he was just two at the time—that had damaged him far more than gaining the bonds of the Heir at a young age had.
Not that they ever talked about it, but since her wolf begged her to, she tried to soothe him when she could. He was her best friend and roommate—even if they were growing farther apart as they grew older.
“I’m fine,” she finally answered.
He raised a brow. “You’re lying. Something happened when we met up with the Talons, and now you’re all in your head. If you don’t want to talk about it here, that’s fine, but wewilltalk about it when we get back to the den.”
She let out a small growl, low enough that only Finn would be able to hear, but from the look on his face, she’d surprised him. She didn’t growl in human form often—she didn’t need to—but when she did, others knew that she wasn’t going to back down.
“I’m fine, Finn. Keep your mind on the task at hand and not what’s going on in my head. Got it?”
He frowned then nodded, turning his attention back to their path. She relaxed and studied their surroundings. Unlike the rest of her family, she’d never stepped foot on Talon ground, so she wanted to soak in as much as she could. With the way they had to constantly conceal who they were from others, she didn’t get out as much as she should have.
They were walking along the outside of the more populated areas. This way, they didn’t encroach on the Talon pups and families but were still shown a measure of respect since the Redwoods were considered friends and allies.
By the time they entered the nondescript building for the meeting, Brie’s nerves were frayed. The wolves around her were starting to get amped up, not only because of the proximity of dominant wolves, but also because they were going to discuss the tunnels beneath their feet. Brie’s wolf wanted to hug and rub up against each of them, letting them know that things would be okay and taking a deep breath could solve many problems.
It was just that she wasn’t sure she should. She’d never been in a situation with so many other wolves that weren’t of her Pack. Yes, Kade had wanted her there, but now she needed to figure out what to do andwhento do it.
Her mother took that decision out of her hands and tugged her close. Willow was probably the least dominant wolf in the room besides her, and Brie was so thankful she was there. Brie leaned into her mother’s hold and took a deep breath. Cinnamon. Her mom always smelled of cinnamon—something that made Brie’s dad, Jasper, growl and tug her mom to their bedroom often.
So not going to think about that.
The others began to sit down, talking to each other in low tones. She wasn’t there to help make decisions. If they asked her opinion, she’d give it, but too many cooks in the kitchen ended up with a broken plate or two. She was there to ensure the wolves were as calm as she could make them.
With that thought in mind, she hugged her mom back then went to each of her family members, hugging them or placing her hand on their arms and backs, showing her support. As she watched the tension slide out of their shoulders, she knew she was doing the right thing. Her uncle Maddox, the former Omega grinned at her, as did her cousin Drake, the current Omega. They would deal with the heightened emotions, as would the Talon Omega, if things got testy, but as long as her wolves knew she was there, then she was doing a good job.
A few of them sat, but others needed to stand because their wolves needed to pace. Shifter meetings were slightly different than human ones.
“The wards are extending underground through the tunnels, which means we should be able to have our wards brush up against one another’s soon so they can connect in times of emergency.”
Brie lost her focus at the sound of Gideon’s voice and tripped over her Uncle Kade’s foot. She held her arms up to break her fall, but strong arms caught her and brought her to a solid chest.
