Page 46 of Shifters Unifying
“A hell of a lot of shit’s gone down since I saw you last, and it’s like everything else. If I’ve seen it done, and I’m pissed enough, I can do it without thinking.” She paused. “Well, except the hitting you with my magic. I don’t know where that came from.”
“What are you pissed about?”
“Phil said you called a meeting. Without me. But you made Olivia say thatIcalled it. You can’t do that.”
“She did warn me that you might be angry about that,” I said, trying to adopt an apologetic tone and failing. It came out more like an accusation. Well, the sooner she learned that alphas didn’t apologize, the better.
“You’re undermining me, Logan,” she exclaimed. “What am I supposed to do now? I promised them you wouldn’t have a seat on the council and now you’re summoning them on my behalf.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” I snarled. “You didn’t see what I did, and I had to make a decision as an Alpha. That is what Alpha’s do. We make decisions, and we don’t look back. Second-guessing my resolution isn’t a part of who I am. Did you enjoy your visit to Willow Creek?”
“No. How can you ask me that?”
My eyebrows sank of their own accord. “You were visiting people.”
“Listen. I scared the shit out of my mom and found four new shifters. Not to mention, you scared the shit out ofme, doing whatever you did, and to top it all off, I helped burn Theo’s body after I got back to Six-Mile.” Her chest heaved as she dumped all of the emotion of the day.
I grasped her shoulders, barely resisting the urge to crush her to my chest. It was easy to forget that she hadn’t grown up around magic in a shifter family. I wanted to beg her to wrap her legs around my waist, so I could drive into her. Instead, I rasped, “You felt it? Through the bond?”
“Yeah, I felt it, and it frightened me enough that I ran out on my mom and sped back to Six-Mile to find you. Phil said it reminded him of the primal crap I’d done.”
“I guessed as much, but I couldn’t be sure.”
She peered up at me, eyes pleading. “Promise me that you won’t use my name, my clout to call meetings anymore. I can’t cover your ass every time you get a wild hair, Logan. Honesty is the only way through this.” She took a shaky breath andswallowed. Then, she added, “I’m your multimorph, and youwilllisten.”
Howdareshe command me. My jaw slacked, and I opened my mouth to respond.
But she waved her hand, and the shield around us dissipated. She turned to the watching crowd, the clamor quieter than it had been since we’d gathered.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said. “As I’m sure you’re aware, we’ve discovered more evidence of Acheron. With each shifter he consumes, his power grows. We need each of you to keep your eyes open, to let us know anything out of the ordinary. While Acheron is good at hiding, there must be clues we can share.”
She gestured to encompass the crowd. “If we work together, we can find ways to beat our common enemy. For now, I’d like to make a confession which might help explain a few things and perhaps excuse a few things.”
I took a step toward her, but Marcus caught my arm. “I would speak to you, Logan. We have a conversation to finish, and Emma’s arrival doesn’t change my intention or my threat to work against you.”
I shoved him hard in the side. “You will release me voluntarily, or I will force you, Marcus.”
“As you wish,” he said.
“Alpha Logan Blackwood and I…” She faltered.
“Emma,” I growled. “Don’t.”
She glared at me, then she lifted her chin. “We’re fated mates, and we’ve bonded.”
A gasp filtered through the crowd.
“Unprecedented,” Torbin rumbled from his spot at the table.
“Fortuitous,” someone else crowed. “How can Acheron stand against us now?”
“The orgasms alone shake the ground,” Olivia called from the perimeter. “We wouldn’t be able to keep it secret for much longer.”
At that, most of the men started grinning, and many of the women did, too. Several seemed uncomfortable with the idea of the multimorph, but applause began at one side of the room and swept through the conclave.
Beside me, Marcus released a low whistle. “Now that’s not quite what I expected.”
I scanned the collected shifters. We had enough attendees that the news would spread through the clans like wildfire. Soon, it would reach Acheron, and he would be free to exploit our weakness: each other. “Dammit, Emma, now there’ll be no keeping this quiet, and I won’t be able to protect you.”
