Page 27 of Henri's Little One
Mumbles rolled throughout the room.
Armand spoke. “Alpha Giraud has my full support on this. Ignore him at your peril.” More mumbles, but the crowd seemed to agree to stay put and went back to their feasting. Henri breathed a sigh of relief.
It was an hour and a half before all the members of the Gridwood pack had been located and arrived at their council Alpha’s home. Henri, Armand, and Alpha Utkin escorted them to the media room.
Henri made the announcement. “I have selected Alpha Utkin to be your new Alpha until your young Alphas come of age and acquire some seasoning. You must be at least fifty to be a pack Alpha, so it is within my right as your council Alpha to appoint an Alpha for you until that time. When your Alphas come of age, you may choose one of them to be your new Alpha or elect to retain Alpha Utkin. I need a vote from you to accept Alpha Utkin. Know that he has The Alpha’s, the council’s, and my full support.”
The pack took a vote after some discussion. One member of the pack who could have been a low Beta had he chosen to do so spoke for the others. “It shall be as you say, but we would like to retain the right to replace the Alpha with one of our own, should we choose to do so when our Alphas reach the age of fifty and are properly seasoned. He turned to Alpha Utkin. “No offense meant, Alpha Utkin…”
“None taken.” Alpha Utkin smiled. The pack looked to Armand and the council.
“So it shall be,” Armand intoned. “Now with Alpha Utkin appointed, I’ll need him and all of you in Alpha Utkin’s pack, to inspect Alpha Mate’s Vitas’ mark.” Dutifully, the people in the room followed Armand and Henri into the gathering room to have Vitas display his mark again. It took five and a half hours this time with the addition of Alpha Utkin’s pack, but it was less formal. Alpha Utkin and his pack were the last in line because he was the Alpha lowest in seniority.
“That was a little dodgy, but it served.” Rémy began to eat again as the she-wolves brought out more food.
“It’s a good thing the she-wolves overcooked. By the looks of Rémy’s plate, we would have run out of food an hour ago if they hadn’t.” Henri laughed, his arm again around Vitas’ shoulders.
§ § §
Julio came over again and dragged Vitas away from Henri over to the Mates. “You have all the time in the world to do that.”
“Do what?” Vitas asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Bask in Henri’s adoration. Boy, he has it bad.” Richard smirked.
“They all do and so do we. That’s the greatest thing about being a Mate.” Ian clapped Vitas on the back.
Vitas scrunched his face up. “Do you think that was enough? Sean, what are those Spidey senses telling you?” Sean was the only Mate, besides him, not smiling.
Sean frowned. “That isn’t the end of it. Chernof won’t let it be. It will be brought before the Assembly, and I can’t foretell the future, so I can’t tell you what will happen.”
Vitas stamped his foot. “I can tell you one thing, no matter what they decide, I’m Henri’s Mate, and I won’t go with Alpha Chernof. When they find out he’s killing humans, they won’t make me. Anatoly and Maxim will back my story so long as they know they are safe. If they are in Manhattan, they could become unaffiliated Betas.”
“They could,” Julio mused. “But do they know that? We’ll have to make sure they find out.”
“Julio, no scheming unless you run it by Etienne, Armand, and Henri first,” Sean warned.
Julio pursed his lips.
“You’re pouting…” Sean accused.
Julio laughed. “Aren’t I good? Mine is even better than yours, and I have the fem/fluttery thing to back it up.”
“You’re incorrigible.” Sean grabbed two cans of Coke and gave one to Vitas.
“Yes, I am a fearless leader. There is a new sheriff in town, deal with it.” Julio put his hands on his hips and leaned toward Sean. Sean rolled his eyes.
Vitas sniffed. “Do you really think I’m going to bring Henri more trouble?”
Ian punched him in the arm. “You’re not the problem, Chernof is, and he’s a bother that has to be dealt with sooner rather than later. So, it might as well be now. You and Henri will be legally wed tomorrow, so he can’t take you away in the eyes of the United States government, and you also have a green card. You have all the Yukon and Alaskan packs behind Henri, plus you have all the North American packs behind Armand. He can’t take you against your will.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Ian reassured him.
Julio said to Sean in an undertone, “Chernof can still kidnap him, claiming an invalid mating.”
Sean elbowed Julio in the ribs. “Shush…not here, and not now.”
