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I nod. “And Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia?”
She gives a small shake of her head. “Nothing yet.”
My jaw tightens. “It’s still early. What about Boston and D.C.?”
She shakes her head again and my stomach hardens.
“We checked in with all of our core allies just last month.” Felix, my alliance advisor speaks up from the far end of the long table. “Everything seemed fine. No issues at all. This cold shoulder shit is coming out of nowhere.”
“Dispatch a small recon team to Boston and D.C. to see what’s going on,” I say. “They’re our oldest allies. If they’ve been won over to Bane and Kelley’s side, we can assume the rest of them are lost, too.”
“Will do,” Felix says, then adds in an incredulous voice, “but surely not, Alpha. There has to be some other explanation. They wouldn’t turn on us on a dime like that.”
“Maybe it’s not on a dime.” I pace in front of the windows, too restless to sit. “Maybe they’ve been feigning friendship for months, even years, waiting for Bane to give the word to drop the act.”
“But why?” Felix insists, glancing around at the other grave faces at the table. “I mean, this is insane, right? Surely, I’m not the only one who’s finding this hard to swallow? We’re not living in the Dark Ages, for fuck’s sake, especially Human Side. No one’s taken prophecies this seriously in centuries.”
“Maybe not, but something is up. Something bad.” Hermione sighs. “I did some texting last night, just casual, catching up kind of stuff to see who would text back. None of my friends or family in the Boston pack have responded, and I’ve been close with some of them since I was in diapers.”
Hermione’s mother’s people were from Boston. If she’s getting the cold shoulder from them, this is likely even worse than we thought.
“This is my fault,” my father says, his voice rough. “I should have done a better job of preparing the pack. I’ve always thought the prophecy contained grains of truth, I just never thought either of my sons would ever… Could ever…” He sighs. “I thought that part had to be wrong.”
I rest a hand on his shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze as I assure him, “It’s not your fault, Dad. It’s Bane’s. He could have come home any time and been welcomed with open arms. There’s no need for all of this.”
Dad pats my hand. “Maybe he didn’t think so. We fought the night before he left. I can’t remember everything we said, but…it was ugly. Maybe he didn’t realize there’s always room for forgiveness in a father’s heart.”
“Well, he should have,” I say. “I certainly do. So does Diana.”
“There’s something we’re missing,” Hermione says, her fingers lacing together on top of the table as she leans in. “Even if Bane thought you wouldn’t support his bid to lead the pack, Jukebox, there are far easier ways for him to take control. He could have challenged Maxim in the ring and, no offense, Alpha, but he would have won.”
I arch a brow. “None taken. He was always a beast with his fists.”
“Exactly,” Hermione says, “and judging from that video he posted, he’s only gotten bigger and stronger. So why go through all of this? Why steal from us and attack us?”
I grunt, nodding as I add, “Unless he did something he knows he’d be cast out for. Something the pack would find out about if he came back.”
“Or if he’s after something he knows our people won’t stand for,” Hermione says. “We need to know more about his end game.”
“Christopher said he’s promising love, light, and peace at the end of the uprising. That all shifters will live in harmony under his rule.”
“Smells like bullshit to me,” Denver growls from beside Felix. His opinion is met with nods from the rest of the advisory council. Vivian, the cultural advisor, adds, “You don’t ambush your brother or set off a bomb in a crowded theater full of innocent people if you’re after love and light. Both are violations of the Human Side shifter conflict code.”
Her words spark something deep in my brain, summoning a memory to the surface that I’d nearly forgotten. “Bane used to talk about erasing the boundaries. About what would happen if The Parallel and Human Side were merged into the same real space.” I turn back to Dad. “Remember? A long time ago, when I was in middle school I think.”
My father frowns. “Vaguely. But that’s impossible. The two sides are closer than they used to be, but they’ll never merge.”
“But isn’t there a theory about that?” I press, my instincts insisting there’s something here. “About what would happen if the two sides did combine? About how much stronger it would make supernatural beings, since we exist on both sides and humans are only present in one reality?”
Hermione sits up straighter. “There’s a physics concept. Causality, I think it’s called. I remember Bane talking about it, too, but it was too much for my brain to hold onto. Science isn’t my forte.” She points a finger toward the ceiling. “But I bet they’d be able to fill me in on twenty-seven,” she says, referencing our science and development lab. “Want me to do some research there and get back to you?”
“As long as you don’t have any hot leads to follow,” I say, nodding when she shakes her head and says, “Unfortunately not. Aside from Christopher, I haven’t heard a whisper about Bane’s coalition from any of our eyes and ears on the street. Either our spies don’t know about it, or they’re in on it and staying very quiet until it’s time to make their move.”
I sigh, silently hoping it’s the former. If this goes deeper than the shifter world—if other supernatural species are in on this, too—then we’re truly and completely fucked. With the help of our Canadian allies and the shifters Christopher is hopefully going to win over, we have a chance against the massive coalition Bane seems to have built. But with fairies and witches and vampires against us, we might as well surrender now and save ourselves the pointless death toll.
“Willow might be able to help, too,” Hermione adds. “She’s a scientist. And more likely to understand physics than I am. Maybe she can come with me?”
“I’m sure she’d like that,” I say, checking my watch. The fertility expert should be with her now, but I don’t expect the examination will take that long. “She should be free in fifteen minutes or so. Why don’t you swing by Diana’s apartment and pick her up on your way to twenty-seven. Then I can meet you both for lunch and see what you’ve learned.”
