Chapter 21

Billie

Almost the whole pack had assembled in Gavin's cabin this evening. The only adult absent was Harper. She was watching her and Shane's two children, as well as Helen and Matthew's two kids. I knew everyone in the pack by name, but there was still a handful out of those gathered with whom I hadn't spent much time. After the dragons had left Grandbay territory, Gavin had arranged for us all to assemble here this evening for a pack meeting.

Expectation prickled through me as I wondered what it was he wanted to announce.

Earlier today, we'd been alerted to the bank of the Gunnison as the huge forms of three dragons had obscured the light like storm clouds gathering over our lands. Gretel and Oslo's howls had roused the whole pack. Tension had shot through everyone until all adult members of the pack, clothed with fur, fangs, and claws, had gathered. The charge running through us had been electrifying. We'd held our forms poised and alert, ready to move forward to defend our Alpha and Betas if they summoned us to attack the dragons perched on the chasm.

I'd felt the breath stagnate in my lungs, barely breathing as I watched the huge dragon shifter morph into his human form. The Alpha of the Inkscales had been a giant of a man, tall and rippled with muscle. He'd even loomed over Gavin.

A potent mixture of fear and anger whipped through me as I watched the dragon shifter coming toward Gavin. I'd longed to be beside him. Not that I'd thought my strength could have done much against such a formidable opponent, but the need to be beside Gavin had caught me up. I'd watched with even more trepidation as I'd witnessed Gretel and Oslo restraining Gavin. What had the dragon shifter said to him that had enraged him? We'd been too far away to hear what Lothair had said, but we'd all heard Gavin's shout of, "Why?" The rawness in his voice had rung through me then. Soon after Gavin's shout, the dragon shifter took flight, and Gavin ordered us all back to our homes.

Anticipation pounded through me as my attention bristled over Gavin's pensive face and the tense lines of his body.

Gavin leaned against the huge mantlepiece, his Beta, Oslo, mirroring him at the other end of the huge piece of reclaimed wood. Aislin had taken the armchair nearest Gavin by the fire while I'd curled up in the other opposite. It gave me a good view of our Alpha. As he waited for all of the pack to assemble, I couldn't help but sneak glances at his handsome, clean-shaven face, limned in warm firelight.

Helen, the pack healer, was on the couch beside Muriel. It turned out Helen was the person Muriel had been borrowing all the beautiful flowing bohemian dresses from. They looked like sisters sitting next to each other now. Speaking of clothes, I was wearing my very own pair of jeans and a vest top that fitted me like a glove for the first time in my life. Gretel had surprised me earlier today by coming back with a few sets of clothes that she'd specifically bought in my size. I'd blinked in astonishment in the full-length looking glass before I'd come around this evening. In the form-fitting vest, my breasts weren't lost, and my slender waist and hips were complimented in the straight-cut jeans.

Matthew, Helen's mate, who stood resting his elbows on the sofa behind the healer, said, "So, who else needs a beer?" Matthew was a beefy guy with auburn hair and freckles across the bridge of his nose.

There were a couple of takers from those assembled at the large table where eight of the pack were sat. "Niko, Kai," Matthew pointed at them, looking around at the rest of us, but everyone else seemed too tense to do more than shake their heads. The handful of packmates who had arrived last leaned against the wall beneath the Pack Rules sign.

When Matthew returned with beers for the packmates who could stomach it, Gavin turned and announced, "The Alpha who set foot on our lands today is Lothair, the Inkscales' leader." Gavin's mouth tightened. "He came here to inform me that he and Dalesbloom have formed an alliance."

The steel in his voice vibrated through the room, and I wondered what threats the dragon shifter had made to Gavin to press his buttons. From a distance, it had looked as if Gavin had been about to shift and tear into Lothair.

Oslo said, "We think Catrina and David must have struck this deal with Lothair so as to help her get her hands on your horn, Muriel."

Muriel didn"t look surprised. Her silvery stare was stoic as she registered this news. Oslo's lips thinned as if he wanted to be able to offer her some reassurance. But at this point, I supposed any assurance we gave would be empty. With Dalesbloom now allying with the dragon shifters, our position was definitely looking bleak.

It was no secret to the whole pack that the dragons had been hunting Muriel. She'd been very open with the information that Everett had shared with Gavin about the ritual and the potential to gain another Lycan form through it, too. And everyone gathered here knew what Catrina and David were after by going for Muriel.

Everyone knew, too, about Catrina's killing Joseph and her attempt to kill me. The whole pack had heard about the evidence that the vampire forensic scientist had acquired. Catrina was personally guilty of the killing of her fated mate.

But the packmates' shock was rife at the news of this new alliance springing up between the dragons and the Dalesbloom Pack.

"Do we know how many dragons are in the Inkscales Clan?" Shane piped up. Most of us looked at Gavin.

But Muriel answered first, "There are another four on top of the four dragons you all fought in the clearing the night you helped Billie and I."

Quiet fell over the room as everyone digested this. The Dalesbloom Pack was slightly larger than ours. So, before this new alliance, the two packs had been relatively evenly matched in number. But now with the Inkscales supporting Dalesbloom, their threat had increased substantially. On top of the Dalesbloom wolves, we were up against eight dragons.

Everyone remained on edge as we considered what was happening with these threats accumulating around us.

Gavin's voice sounded again, "I don't know how yet, but we will defend our lands against Dalesbloom. And, I swear, before you all now, we will destroy the Inkscales."

Goosebumps prickled along my arms at the determination in his voice, and I sensed that whatever it was that Lothair had threatened him with today was about to come out.

Gavin's hazel stare swept around the room, edged with anger … and something else that I couldn't decipher until he announced, "Lothair confirmed that it was he and his clan who caused the deaths of my parents." His jaw clenched, and then he added, "He said it was for no other reason than because they didn't welcome him and his clan into Grandbay territory."

My heart battered my chest, and I swore I felt Gavin's pain ricocheting through me. Shockwaves shuddered through the pack.

Obviously, Gavin's Betas had been present when Lothair had told him, and it was clear from Aislin's steely expression that she'd heard this news already. But everyone else's energy pulsed with anger and shock.

"That bastard," Matthew exclaimed.

"We'll kill 'em," Shane growled.

After the first wave of surprise and talk had ebbed away, Gavin said,

"I want you all to be on high alert and follow Oslo's and Gretel's watches to the letter. Be ready to defend our pack, and we will get vengeance for Martin and Bria."

"For Bria and Martin," the pack piped up, their voices unifying with grit and resolve.

In a moment, the packmates were dispersing. I realized I'd zoned out as Oslo had called an end to the meeting. I watched dazedly as Gretel and Aislin wandered out of the cabin arm in arm, followed by Muriel and Helen. The others from the table had already slipped out. Gavin had turned his back to the room, lost as he leaned on the mantle and stared into the fire.

For a moment, the fire in the hearth seemed ferocious to me as I thought of how it had been fire that snatched Gavin's family from him. The quiet prickled over me as the awareness that it was only Gavin and me in the room struck me.

Part of me knew I should leave, but my heart clenched at the thought of leaving him to deal with his grief and pain alone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered, knowing how much I'd needed to talk things through with Colt whenever I was upset.

"No," he ground out, not even bothering to turn around from the fire.

I got to my feet, feeling awkward for forcing my company on him when, clearly, he didn't want it.

I should go.

Then, I remembered what Aislin had said earlier about how he didn't need to talk. Maybe it was my touch he needed.

So, instead of going to the door, I moved toward him, laying a gentle touch on his arm. My palm ran up his forearm to his bicep. I could see the tension tightening his shoulders. I went to slide my hand round to his shoulder blade, but instead of relaxing as I'd hoped, he tensed and flinched away from me.

His eyes darkened as he looked at me. "What part of being dismissed don't you get?"

I flinched. My stomach twisted as his haughty stare returned. It was so similar to the one he'd given me weeks ago when he'd rejected me. His words from then came back to me, "I don't want you." That's what his angry hazel eyes told me now.

Hurt wound through me. It felt impossible that the man standing before me had kissed me with such want only this morning. Doubt and insecurity crept in. I wondered whether it might just be me who wanted to explore what was between us. Perhaps the attraction I felt toward Gavin wasn't mutual. There'd been hunger and heat in his eyes, and the way his mouth had explored mine had been intoxicating, but … maybe he'd just been blowing off steam.

With a sense of clammy disappointment swirling through me, I left Gavin's cabin. As I wandered through the night, hollowness stole through me. I told myself I needed to build a wall around my foolish, tender heart because it still ached for the scowling Alpha I'd left behind.