Dominic led him back to Edwin’s apartment, and as they entered, the lighter mood that had been present when Shawn left shifted immediately into concern. Before he could say a word to any of the Chambers clan, they swooped upon him and as he settled onto a chair, they watched him settle and waited for an explanation. Shawn struggled not to envision how pallid or ashen his expression must have been, but each time he tried to shut out the feeling of his mate, it rolled across him anew.

“He’s been hurt,” Shawn finally explained. “I don’t know how badly, but it keeps slamming into me. What the hell are they doing to him?”

“They’ve probably attempted the mating and discovered it didn’t take,” Joseph said. He settled into the chair opposite from Shawn. “Family are on their way. This was the plan we were going to discuss. I want to get them here and have them ready for when we summon a meeting.”

“A meeting? With the –?”

“Laurent family.” Joseph frowned. “I had hoped they wouldn’t escalate things. We all underestimated their willingness to launch a turf war, but I kept praying to the goddess that they wouldn’t actually hurt Edwin like I feared they would. I don’t know what that means.”

“We’re going to have to play dirty,” Rob chimed from where he stood, closer to where the kitchen area began. The focus of the room shifted to him. “People might have to get hurt. I know we haven’t wanted that, but they’re the ones who struck first.”

“Escalating this is only going to make it more difficult, Rob,” Joseph said, shifting in his chair to face him. “No, we don’t want anyone to get hurt and I still don’t want that.”

“What’s next, then? Offering either me or any of the other un-mated pack members up for a marriage pact? The more times we roll over and show our belly, the more they’re going to assume they can get away with this.”

“We need them to surrender Edwin.”

“No, we need them to bring Edwin. That’s all.” Rob gestured at Shawn, causing him to sit straighter in his chair. “If they bring him, we can find him. All you need to do is divide them somehow and stall long enough for us to figure out where they have Edwin. Once we’ve got him, then we’ll drive those bastards back to Scranton.”

“And how are we going to do that?” The sharp way Joseph issued the question made Rob tense. One wolfen man glared at the other and as Shawn watched Joseph assert some unspoken form of superiority, he wondered, for the first time, if wolfen packs had alphas. “You know damn well we are losing this fight,” Joseph said, and somehow, the admission failed to make him look any less in control. “Even if we get Edwin back, driving them home requires much more force than we possess.”

“If I might,” Dominic said, raising a hand and drawing the focus of the discussion toward him. He assumed a place beside Shawn and silently, Shawn sighed with gratitude. “I don’t know anything about pack politics,” he continued, “or whatever the hell is going on here. But uh –”

Rob perked up when Dominic gestured toward him. “Rob,” he said, answering the unspoken question.

“– Right, Rob. Rob here has a point. If you can get them to bring Edwin and offer some sort of, I dunno, parlay? You can get the attention off Edwin long enough for a few of you to offer a rescue party.”

“You do know this would involve me helping to find Edwin,” Shawn said, looking up at his friend.

Dominic patted him on the shoulder – his injured shoulder – and even though Shawn winced, he didn’t speak up. “I’m sticking by you. Might as well get in trouble together, right?” Dominic slid his hand to his friend’s back and though Shawn released the breath he’d been holding slowly, an ache still lingered where he’d been touched.

Joseph paused to glance at Shawn, studying him for a moment, before looking back at Dominic. “What do either of you suggest happen afterward, assuming your rescue mission would be successful?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Dominic said with a shrug. “That’s your purview, sadly. I’m just saying that snatching Edwin up does take that card away from them and gives you a little more leverage, even if it’s only temporary.” When Shawn looked up, he saw a genuine frown on Dominic’s face. “I’m sorry, guys. I wish I had a long-term suggestion, but I know absolutely nothing about your people. Maybe this is one of those times when you need to solve one problem first, then address the other.”

Mallory walked toward the table from where she had been standing. Pulling out a chair, she lowered into it and smiled at Joseph while taking his hand. “He’s right,” she said when her husband made eye contact with her. “They’re both right. If we don’t fight, like Rob said, then we need to do something else, but that might be a problem for another day. Let’s work on getting our son back first.”

The couple stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. When Joseph sighed, Shawn saw reason washing over him, and didn’t bother to hold back the faint grin that ghosted across his lips. Joseph brought the back of Mallory’s palm up to his lips, kissing it before engulfing her hand in both of his. “Alright,” he said. Looking away from her, he glanced first at Rob, then back at Shawn and Dominic. “Where can we arrange a parlay? We need somewhere public if we’re going to avoid a fight in the middle of the city.”

“You could always do it at the coffeeshop,” Shawn said.

“Hell, I can arrange with the owner for a private meeting after hours,” Dominic chimed. “I’d like to hope that these people are civilized enough not to trash a business in some effort to get revenge.”

Rob stepped forward. “And you can tell them I’ve agreed to offer myself up for marriage in Edwin’s place. I know it’s not as good of an offer, but they know my father is the pack’s second. It’s as good of a consolation as they’re going to get.”

“We’ll see. They might have other words for us, but it’s good enough to get them speaking,” Joseph said. He sighed, the sound bearing the weight of his responsibility and though Shawn still struggled to figure out how he’d gotten himself tangled up in their mess, he began to accept his place in it. Joseph looked at Shawn, who nodded, then glanced at the other members of their newly-forged conspiracy. “A meeting at the café. Tomorrow night, if possible. This could be risky. I’m trusting that all of you know that if we continue forward in this plan.”

Each person nodded, though Shawn wondered if any of the others felt as out-of-their-depth as he did. Joseph waited for their acceptance to be unanimous before nodding as well. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll inform the family. Rob, Shawn, and Dominic, you all will find Edwin and assess how dangerous the rescue effort might be. If it’s too risky to chance, then I want you to come to the café immediately and we’ll try to arrange a peaceful resolution.”

“And if we can’t have a peaceful resolution?” Rob asked.

Joseph’s frown deepened. “Then we figure out what needs to be done. We’re all wandering into the unknown from this point forward.”

The sobering thought caused a hush to fall across the room, until Mallory stood and announced her intention to finish dinner. While she toiled over food, Shawn remained seated at the table, the sensation of Edwin impacting his own fear and making it difficult for him to focus on either being brave, or afraid. Brave, because he wanted to swoop in and be his lover’s knight in shining armor, but afraid as he considered he had no means with which to fight his enemies.

“What can I do?” Shawn murmured, aware only belatedly he’d given voice to his concerns. While Rob and Joseph looked at him, he glanced up at them both and swallowed down his hesitation. “I have to be a part of this,” he continued. “But I can’t do claws or teeth or anything like that yet, can I?”

“Not until the next full moon, no,” Joseph said.

“So, what can I do?”

While Shawn had expected a soft, albeit condescending, reassurance that he’d do everything within his current abilities, the pack leader beheld him with silent admiration. “It seems cliché for me to tell you to follow your heart,” he said, “but that is the best advice I can give you. We aren’t only dual-natured shifters. We are the keepers of a goddess’s magic. I know you don’t understand that yet, and I don’t dare prepare you to do something you’re not capable of yet. But you’ll know what you can do when it’s necessary. I promise you that.”

“Thanks,” Shawn said. “I think.” Joseph chuckled at the shy doubt, rising to a stand, and as he walked to help Mallory, Dominic settled in the chair he’d left vacant.

“From the frying pan into the fire,” Dominic said. “You owe me a favor when this is all said and done.”

“Hold back on the dog jokes and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Every single one of my plays from now until I’m on Broadway. I mean it. You and Loverboy will be there handing me roses.”

Shawn chuckled softly. “Done. Anything else?”

“Nothing else. Just sleep well, and tell me what you guys want me to do. I don’t want to get in the way, but I want to make sure I can help.”

Rob walked the rest of the distance to the table and sat where Mallory had been. “You’re an actor?” he asked.

“Most days, I’d say yes. Some days, I’d say I’m trying to be,” Dominic said. “Why?”

“We might be able to use that.” Rob looked Shawn in the eye and although Shawn felt his nerves take flight at the sober expression on Rob’s face, he found himself remembering their first discussion, where Rob had tried to warn him away from Edwin. Instead of looking at him like a lost and ignorant human, Shawn now saw a form of recognition that transcended respect. Shawn had become a member of the family.

“Are you up for this?” Rob asked him.

Shawn nodded. “Scared out of my wits, but I think I can do this,” he said. “You think we can use an actor?”

“He’s good for distracting and, to be honest, none of us are going to attack a random human from off the street. I don’t know yet, but if it gives us an advantage, then I’ll take it.” He looked at Dominic. “You have your own place?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said.

“Good. We’ll stick around for dinner, but maybe we can retreat to your place and form a plan.” He nodded in Joseph’s direction. “While they’re shoring up things on their end.”

His lips twitched, surrendering to a grin that rapidly turned conspiratorial. “They might win the war,” Rob said, “But one way or another, we’re going to make them regret forcing us into this battle.”