Page 47 of Moonlight and Mischief
“Neither does the Valley Pack,” Cashel confirms.
“Excellent,” Heath says, though his tone is flat. “Then we can proceed to some of the measures we’d like to propose.”
“Let’s hear it,” Zephyr says.
“I think it’s time we renewed our commitment to not take wolves from each other’s pack, particularly against their will.”
“Agreed,” Cashel says. Zephyr nods.
Ferris smirks - actually smirks. “Granite Ridge agrees.” As if they hadn’t actively been taking wolves captive. My teeth grind together hard enough my jaw clicks.
“Secondly, we feel it would be wise if all Alphas maintain a phone line where we can contact each other.”
“I’m not going to carry around a cell phone so you can call me whenever you want,” Zephyr drawls.
“I’m sure your Gamma could handle it,” Cashel says, his smile not reaching his eyes.
“We will see about it,” Ferris says.
“Fine.” Zephyr rolls his eyes.
“Lastly, in addition to a regular Alpha Counsel, I recommend our representatives, such as our Gammas and their apprentices, begin to meet regularly with the goal of greater pack cooperation.”
“How regularly are you thinking?” Cashel asks.
Ferris looks away as if the table isn’t worthy of his attention, “Waste of time.”
“Would you prefer we meet without you?” Zephyr says with a sneer. Ferris crosses his arms and sits back.
“How about bi-monthly? Or quarterly,” Heath suggests.
“Quarterly sounds good to me,” Zephyr says.
“Quarterly, it is.” Cashel folds his hands.
“In the future, we should consider inter-pack gatherings,” Heath suggests, “but for now, our Gammas can meet regularly and we can reconvene the Counsel in six months.”
Ferris frowns. “The Counsel meets annually.”
“In the past, the bonds between packs were stronger. Perhaps if we had maintained those relationships with regular meetings, we could have avoided some of the conflicts of recent years.”
Cashel nods. If I remember my history, Zephyr became an Alpha only five years ago when he challenged for his position. Nyx is younger as well, but the remaining three packs were led by the same Alphas for much longer. They know the history because much of it was caused by their hands.
“Anything else?” Ferris asks.
“Doyouhave anything else?” Cashel asks him. Ferris scowls at him.
“I’m sure you’re all eager to get home. I have no more agenda items,” Heath says.
They make small talk for a few more minutes, though it’s obvious Ferris believes he is above such things. Zephyr’s words feel insincere and make my skin prickle. Cashel and Heath make little effort to continue the conversation, and soon everyone is looking to their teams.
Ferris stands, Sienna rising gracefully after him. Without a word, they walk away, falling into a practiced formation. Hawk walks behind Sienna, in the place I would have occupied. As their forms retreat, my lungs relax and I can draw a full breath again.
“I’ll be off too,” Zephyr announces, snapping his fingers to call his wolves forward.
Finally it was just our team and the Valley Pack’s representatives. “Come sit down,” orders Heath.
Hawthorne takes the empty seat on Heath’s other side, and I join him. Dell sits across from me.
