23. Blayne

TWENTY-THREE

BLAYNE

Taking Ava to the lily field had been a success. Being able to talk to her like that had really helped to make things a little more normal between us. It seemed we were both starting to leave the shadow of Liam behind. That was a huge weight off my shoulders, and I was certain Ava felt the same.

We stopped at a little restaurant not far from the field for lunch. The conversation became much less intense. Instead of delving into deep and dark memories, we talked about silly things: favorite cartoons we watched as kids, music, movies, holidays—all the goofy things people in a relationship talked about. It was silly but also necessary. How could you really be sure you knew someone until you knew all the goofy things they enjoyed?

We'd been gone over four hours by the time I pulled back up to Gio's house. The escort parked behind us. Gio was reading a newspaper out on the front porch. As we got out of the truck, he waved to us and started folding his paper.

"How was the day?" he called out as we walked toward the steps.

"Really good," I said.

Gio nodded and put his paper aside. "Blayne, can I have a minute? In private?"

Ava narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why do you need to talk to him?"

"I think you know the answer to that, kiddo." Gio winked.

She opened her mouth to argue, but I put a hand on her lower back to stop her. "It's fine," I said. "Your father and I do need to have a little talk."

I leaned forward and kissed Ava on the cheek. She walked past us toward the front door, glowering at Gio. "Don't scare him off."

Gio chuckled as the front door swung shut, leaving us alone. "Well. I think this is the time when we have the talk ."

I took the seat opposite him at the patio table. "I suppose so."

"I guess we'll jump right into it. What are your intentions with Ava?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "I want to get to know her and see where this leads. We're taking it slow."

Gio pointed at me. "You know, I could see what was happening between you two before either of you realized it. It scared me a bit. What with past history being what it is."

"Gio, I've made peace with what happened to Liam. I'll never be okay with it. No one can be okay with losing someone they love. But blaming anyone else for the choices my brother made was not a healthy way to live. I swear to you, my intentions with Ava are pure. This isn't some vindictive thing. I'm not lying about my feelings. I would never screw with someone's feelings to get back at them, if that's what you're worrying about."

"No, I wasn't worried you were doing something like that. I just wanted you to be sure of each other before getting too deep. A lot has changed in the last ten years, and you both deserve to be happy. I want my daughter to be happy. But I wanted you to do it the right way."

"Exactly," I said. "I want us to take our time. We need to get to know each other properly. We never had that chance before." I leaned forward, locking my eyes on his. "I promise I'll take care of her for as long as she allows me to."

Gio rapped his knuckles on the table. I felt like he was trying to look all the way into my soul. Satisfied with whatever he'd seen in me, he nodded and winked. "Okay, Blayne Walker, I think you truly do have my girl's best interests at heart. Perhaps you can make an honest woman out of her." He held up a finger. "We're a traditional Italian family. If you get to the point that you all are getting really serious, you need to put a ring on that finger. Stuff like that matters to us."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Okay. I will keep that in mind. Anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Gio grabbed his paper and started unfolding it. "One thing. The message has been sent to Antonio. We'll know what's coming soon—likely very soon. You may want to check in with your boys. We need to be ready for whatever Antonio sends our way."

A strange thrill of excitement and fear trickled down my spine. "All right. I'll see how Ava's doing, and then call the guys. We've got a big meeting planned today, anyway."

I headed inside and found Ava in the den. She was putting her phone down as I came in. "Hey. I need to go meet up with the guys. Your dad says we've made contact with Antonio. We need to prepare."

She nodded and held up her phone. "I figured. I just got off the phone with April. Harley and the kids left town this morning. Celina is set to fly out tomorrow morning." She chewed at her lip and furrowed her brow. "This is making me nervous."

I sat beside her and put an arm around her. "It's all right. Your dad and I will keep you safe."

She chuckled and shook her head. "No, you dumbass. I'm not nervous for myself. I'm scared for you and your friends. I want you to stay safe."

"Oh." I leaned in close, and our foreheads almost touched. "I'm not my brother. I won't do anything reckless." I closed the remaining distance and pressed my lips to hers. I kissed her hard and long before I pulled away. "I'm not going to let you lose me, too. That's a promise."

Ava touched my cheek gently. "Okay. Hearing that makes me feel better. Go on. See your friends."

The guys were already in the conference room at the office when I arrived. Tate had given the entire staff paid time off for the day. All the alphas we'd contacted would be showing up soon. It was easier to get our staff out of the office than to explain the influx of strangers..

Tate and Miles looked their usual selves, but someone seemed to have shoved a broom up Steff's ass. He stood in the corner, staring at the door like he was waiting for the devil himself to walk through the door. I headed over to him.

"You good?" I asked.

"He's not," Miles said.

Steff glowered at Miles. "I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth. "It's been a long time since I've seen my old alpha. He'll be here today. They sent him to represent the pack. He's the one who kicked me out all those years ago. He's not the current alpha, but…still."

I nodded. Steff had been expelled from his first pack for something he didn't do, and the wounds still ran deep.

"I've got your back. We all do," I said. "Don't worry about that guy."

Steff sagged and gave me a weary frown. "I didn't think this would bother me so much, but as soon as I woke up this morning something didn't feel right."

"First arrivals are here," Tate said from the hallway.

It took twenty minutes before all our guests arrived. The guys and I had all been born alphas. We were used to being around each other, and we never really noticed the power of our auras. With all the pack chiefs in one room, the office was pulsing with alpha energy. I could tell all the attendees sensed it as well. Bringing this many alphas together was not something that happened a lot in the shifter world.

The last arrival was Steff's old pack leader. As soon as the man entered the room, Steff's energy practically pulsed out of his body. I'd never experienced an aura so strong. All the others seemed to feel it, too. Several of us involuntarily bowed our heads or cast our eyes down. It made me sort of proud in a strange way to see that my friend was so strong.

Steff, knowing what he'd done, blushed. "Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to do that."

His old alpha nodded from across the room. "Never apologize for showing your true strength."

The older man walked across the room toward Steff. All of us in attendance stood, watching silently. There was a lot of tension between the two men, so we let them have their moment.

Steff stood tall as the other man looked him up and down. "You look good, Steff." A pained look crossed the man's face. "I'm glad you're well. I…um…I'm sorry about what happened all those years ago. Your brother told us the truth. All I can say is I am truly sorry. I know too much time has passed for you to ever come home, but I'd like to try and put all that behind us."

Steff nodded. "That would be nice. I've been thinking about visiting for some time. If that's okay with you and the new alpha, of course."

The man put a hand on Steff's shoulder. "I'd like that. I think we all would."

With that out of the way, everyone took a seat or leaned against an available spot on the wall. Tate stood at the front of the room. We'd decided to let him run point on the meeting. Every person here was an alpha, but Tate was a dragon. As far as we knew, he was the last dragon alpha in North America. If there was anyone these men would listen to and respect, it was Tate.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for coming," he said. "I know I've spoken to all of you over the last week, and I'm glad you were able to make time to come down here. As you all know, there is a new organization of hunters causing havoc across the country. They're led by Antonio Lowry, a dirty billionaire who has funneled all his resources into killing every shifter in existence. This organization is better funded and more heavily armed than any group in the last five hundred years. If anyone has the ability to eradicate our kind, it's him."

A man with a thick beard at the back of the room raised his hand. "What's the plan to deal with this guy? Sounds like he's damn near untouchable."

Tate nodded. "If we were working by ourselves? Yeah, he basically would be untouchable. We"—Tate gestured to me, Steff, and Miles—"have formed an alliance with someone who we think has the ability to help us win this war."

"Who might this white knight be?" Steff's old alpha asked.

"Gio Francis," Tate said.

There was a moment's pause, and I could see several of the men frown as they tried to place the name. Recognition flickered across several faces. In Gio's line of business, it didn't pay to be well-known, but once you were powerful, it was inevitable that your name would get out.

"The mob boss?" a man asked.

Tate, looking pained, nodded. "Yes. That Gio Francis."

"Do we really want to work with someone like that?" an alpha from a Wyoming wolf pack chimed in. "Do we want to make a deal with the devil?"

Other men started speaking up, some in favor of the help, others shouting that they couldn't trust Gio, or that he might ask for something in return for his help.

Tate put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly until the crowd quieted. "I know it's unorthodox, but working with Gio has gotten us a ton of evidence that can topple Antonio's entire fortune if used correctly. Having Gio as an ally is the best way to counteract Antonio's power. The evidence we have has been shown to Antonio. We're hoping that it'll be enough to blackmail him into forgetting all about shifters. The reason we've brought you all here is because we don't truly believe it'll stop him. We anticipate that he will retaliate. We need to plan for that. If we're all on the same page, it'll make us stronger as a whole."

A man at the back of the room raised a hand. "What's to stop this Antonio from exposing us? If we threaten him with releasing this info, why wouldn't he turn around and do the same thing? We've spent thousands of years staying hidden. If he releases his evidence, then the whole world freaks out. We become public enemy number one."

Those words sent a shot of adrenaline through me. None of us had thought about that. The sudden worry on Miles and Tate's faces was easy to see. In all our planning and eagerness to throw something into Antonio's face, we hadn't considered the possibility.

Before any of us could come up with a response, the door burst open. Sam Francis stood there, looking surprised to find the room full of men he didn't know.

"Sam?" Tate said. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…sorry to interrupt. Gio sent me. We got a response from Antonio. He says no compromise. He's not stopping until every shifter is dead. He does not sound like a man who cares if he loses everything. He's coming. No matter what, he is coming."

A murmur of unease rippled through the crowd. Miles and Tate had been hopeful that Antonio would see reason. It was partly because they had a lot to lose if this went south. Now that was out the window. There was no way to reason with the man. He was crazed and obsessed with ending the entire shifter race. The only thing he had was his dream of genocide.

Tate sighed and rested his hands on the table in front of him. "Okay, then. We need to get ready for war."