Page 89 of The Fated Hunter Wolf
Logan went still, and I could tell he was on the verge of bursting. “Explain.”
The single word hit Bart with enough alpha authority that his bear instincts capitulated entirely. He bowed his head.
He bowed his head. “They called it business. No one from the south would attack Orion. Everyone knew you were compromised. The fertility issues, the declining influence in Northern Council affairs… The Southern Council saw an opportunity to restructure certain agreements without… interference.”
Restructure agreements?Sable’s mental voice was full of sharp understanding.They carved up your political territory while you were bleeding out.
Vultures, I replied, my wolf bristling.They waited until we were down, then moved in for the feast.
“A temporary measure,” Bart continued. “Just until Orion recovered from the difficulties. When the situation deteriorated instead of improving?—”
“And no one told us.” Logan’s voice could have etched glass.
Bart nodded. “The Council’s vote formalized the exclusion. Granted territorial autonomy, revoked all voting rights and political representation. It was…” He swallowed hard. “It was called an act of mercy.”
The silence that followed had weight. Logan’s power was building in the small space until I felt my spine wanting to straighten in automatic deference.
“Mercy,” Logan repeated, the word barely audible.
Bart looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. “I argued against it. My father and I both did. But the votes were there, and with Orion not participating anyway…”
“Who led the vote?”
The question emerged so quietly it almost disappeared, which made it roughly ten times more terrifying than if Logan had been roaring.
“Cassiopeia pack,” Bart whispered. “Alpha Emmanuel Vex, though everyone knew he had to have some vamp backup. He convinced the Council that Orion’s, um,conditionmade them a liability to supernatural stability. That exclusion served everyone’s interests.”
They’d expelled us from supernatural governance while we were being attacked, then had the audacity to frame it as charity.
Now I understand the orc’s reaction, Sable said through our bond.You’re not just unexpected guests. You’re supposed-to-be-dead royalty walking back into court.
Fire rose in my chest.And we’re getting our fucking crown back.
30
SABLE
While the other shifters partied, the past two hours with Bart had given me an education in supernatural politics no Crux training could have prepared me for. The real event hadn’t even started yet, and I wondered what else I’d learn that could help me track kidnapped and trafficked Crux. Hunched around the conference table, maps shimmering with magical border lines as Logan and Bart discussed the systematic destruction of pack independence, I wasangry.
The corruption was bad. What was getting to me even more was the loyalty to Orion growing in my bones. I was offended on their behalf.
They’re our pack now, too,my wolf growled.
His protective instincts were running hot, and I was again realizing just how wrong I had been about him. My hybrid senses still screamed warnings about the darkness coiled beneath his surface—the soulless dark void that had knocked me back the first time I touched him. Watching him, I couldn’treconcile that threat with the man who was fiercely protective of his pack, his alpha, and his mate.
Me.
When Bart traced the territorial boundaries with his massive finger, showing us how the major coalitions had carved up smaller packs, I leaned forward without thinking. My heritage was picking up on micro-expressions, scent changes, the barely perceptible tells that indicated when someone was holding back information.
“What about neutral territories?” I asked, because someone needed to voice what we were all thinking. “Packs that don’t align with the major coalitions?”
“Absorbed or put to work,” Bart answered, and the bitter truth in his scent confirmed it.
The Crux had always been neutral. Useful to everyone, loyal to none, our true allegiances hidden. Watching Logan’s rage as he learned how his people had been systematically erased from supernatural politics, I wanted to fight for him, for Orion.
Not for survival or strategic advantage, but because it was right. Because Orion would actually rule, and they would do it fairly.
I was hyperaware of the bonds that gave me multiple loyalties. The mate bond with Rhys hummed throughout my body, pleased we remained so physically close. And there was the pack bond with Orion, Logan at the helm.
