Unbound

Chapter 13

Dmitri and Constance were waiting for me outside the kitchen, as promised, standing with another wolf who I recognized as Dmitri's Second.

"Mikael," he introduced himself when I joined the group. I shook his hand.

"We've met, I think. I've treated your son at the clinic." His son was six or seven years old, cute as anything, and an absolute terror. I'd bandaged him up more times than I could count on both hands.

"In that case, I'm sorry." Mikael chuckled. "We've ordered him a helmet."

"You may need to add elbow and knee pads as well," I teased. It was comforting being around my pack members; I felt more myself in those three minutes than I had all month. That feeling didn't last, though, and the nerves began creeping in as we approached the meeting space.

From across the room I saw Gabriel's body react to my arrival: his eyes darkened and his muscles rippled with tension across his chest and shoulders, then on down his arms. Though his hands were hidden beneath the table, I was sure they were balled into tight fists in his lap. I hoped to at least put the length of the room between us, but we were the last group to arrive and the only seats open at the table were across from him.

Dmitri and Constance both noticed his reaction, likely expecting it after his behavior after dinner the night before, and took the seats directly across from him. I sat between Constance and Kellan. I was across from the wolf who'd offered me water from the passenger's seat on the drive up, who I now understood to be Gabriel's Second.

I recognized Isaiah, Amari, Archer, and Kellan from the night before and they, too, were joined by their Seconds. As they had all already been acquainted, they didn't bother with introductions before Archer kicked off the discussion.

I listened quietly and tried to absorb as much as I could. These were the sorts of meetings I always wished to be included in back home, and now here I was: far from home, but finally seated at the table. Inwardly, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of input the Alphas were taking onboard from Constance and Amari. Their mates' opinions seemed to hold just as much water with them as their Seconds' did. I never knew about this side of their dynamic, and it made me respect them even more.

They were discussing the recent incursions on their shared borders and their concerns about escalation. I knew that Dmitri was hopeful that this weekend would yield greater support from old alliances, and possibly pave the way for new ones. I wasn't sure where he and Gabriel stood with these two packs, but it seemed that they were all dealing with similar issues.

The humans had been lobbying to take back their park lands, to push the wolves out and consolidate pack territories in areas that they had no vested interest in. They'd push us into land with less access to natural resources, less fertile soil, and less acreage per head. It was how things were long ago, and it seemed that they were eager to return to those times of separation.

"Kiera is familiar with both of our worlds, she might have a different perspective." Dmitri leaned forward to look at me, putting me on the spot as he had at dinner, seemingly determined to bring me into the conversation. "What do you think?"

My face flushed when all eyes turned to me, waiting for my response. My mind circled back through all the times that Jack would come back to the house after a meeting and fill me in, then take my comments back to the Council as his own. He hated doing it that way, but I didn't mind. I was grateful to contribute any way I could. Now here was a real chance to share my ideas, straight from my mouth to their ears, and I was frozen. Constance nudged me gently under the table and it shook me out of my thoughts.

"I wonder whether they're connected." I tried not to stumble over my words, but my mouth suddenly felt incredibly dry; dryer than it had ever been. I realized I had said out loud the end of a train of thought I'd had in my mind and backtracked quickly: "The human incursions and the recent rogue attacks. I wonder whether they're connected."