Dad was at ease, as usual, taking everything Elena had just said in stride. I could only hope that as my training continued with him, I’d be able to process things as well as he did. His level head and ability to see the bigger picture when he made decisions was what made him the best alpha I knew.
“We need to call everyone in for an actual meeting. Mandatory for everyone except the children,” Dad said. “They can stay in the pack house with a few teenagers and Courtney. I want everyone accounted for within two hours.”
Augie headed for the door to put things in motion but turned back. “What about the guards around the perimeter?”
“We’ll bring them, but not until we’re ready,” Dad answered. “Make sure they know they’re on call to come in as soon as we’re ready. The meeting won’t last long and it’s better to have everyone together for this. I want the traitor, whoever it may be, to know we won’t go down without a fight and we will be ready.”
Augie nodded and left the room.
I glanced from my dad to Rick. “What about them? Until we address the pack, we probably shouldn’t let them walk around, but I don’t believe Rick needs to be locked up, either.”
“I agree.” Dad faced the two of them. “Do you mind staying here? Taya can bring both of you some clothes and you can use one of the guest rooms to clean up and relax. I will explain as little as I can to the pack, but make sure they understand Rick isn’t to blame here when we gather for the meeting later.”
Rick stood and pulled Elena up with him. “Thank you, Gerald. I’m sorry I’ve put you in this situation, but I thought I was keeping you out of more trouble rather than bringing it to our doorstep.”
Dad placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve had a mate. I understand how it changes things. I just hope the two of you know, you can trust me to always be there for any of my outlying packs, no matter what is happening here. I would have found a way to make it work.”
Rick nodded. “I know that now. Thank you, again.”
Once they left the room and it was only my dad, Liam, and me, I was ready to pull my hair out. I stood back up and began pacing as my dad took a seat behind his desk.
“What are we going to do?” I asked. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to invite the whole pack? Maybe we should just begin moving those who can’t fight up to the mountain like before and wait. I don’t like not knowing what Declan has planned. Can we call Zarai for a tracking spell?”
My anxiety was through the roof. There were so many variables that it was hard to determine the right thing to do.
Dad smiled. “We’re not going to call Zarai. This is all very good. Elena doesn’t realize it, but she likely saved all our lives today. We may not know when Declan plans to attack, but we know he’s not off hiding somewhere. He’s moving in. I have no intention of hiding any of our plans. I want this to be done with, and the sooner Declan knows, the sooner it will be over. One way or another.”
“How are you so calm?” I was ready to scream in frustration.
“Years of practice, daughter. This isn’t the first time we have faced an adversary, nor will it be the last. Sit and learn. Both of you. Liam, I expect you to be Taya’s voice of reason when I am no longer able, so this training is just as important for you as it is her.”
I snorted. “Are you saying I’m not reasonable?”
Then they both laughed, and the tension broke. I took a seat and got my head where it needed to be. I trusted my dad, and if he was confident in what he was planning, then I would be, too.
***
We didn’t leave my dad’s office until it was time to address the pack. Augie came and went with updates on how things were going with notifying the people. For the most part, it sounded as though people were either angry or afraid.
They wanted to know who Elena was and what happened to Rick. They wondered if they were safe within our pack anymore and that killed me the most. I hated that Declan had not only taken lives from our pack, but he’d also taken away the sense of security we had always provided. Thankfully, part of our plan should ease some of those fears.
Liam fit right into the strategy talk with my dad and, between the two of them, I saw how well the plan would work. It was a good plan, as long as the army Declan had been able to recruit since his human-shifter-hybrid plan failed so epically hadn't gotten too large.
My dad stood. “Times up. Let’s head out there. I don’t think anything else could be added without more information to make this plan any better.”
Liam and I stood, and I nodded. “You two have scary minds. Remind me to never plan an attack against either of you.”
We headed to the backyard for the second pack meeting of the day. The atmosphere was completely opposite from earlier today. No one waited on the stage for judgement, and the faces that had been eager to see justice served were no longer angry but confused and almost fearful.
The crowd before us was easily twice the size it had been earlier. I gripped Liam’s hand and held my head high. We needed to remain united and confident if the pack was going to have faith we knew what we were doing.
“Thank you all for coming, some of you for the second time,” Dad began. “We appreciate you giving us time to sort through what happened earlier. Now that we have more information, we knew we needed to share everything we could with you. We will let you make the decision to stay and protect or leave.”
“Why isn’t Rick on trial still?” someone called out.
“Rick was protecting his mate and willing to die and take blame for something he wasn’t involved in to keep his promises to her. When the woman showed up earlier, it gave Rick the chance to explain things and we have fully vetted the situation. Rick is no longer on trial and will be staying with our pack, along with his mate Elena. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my decision, but it is final. I open my office to discuss your concerns, but first, we have bigger problems.”
As my dad had mentioned earlier in the morning, I watched our people for their reactions to the news. He had been right that I would learn a lot, but it also cemented what I already knew. Our pack was family. Most everyone seemed relieved with the announcement about Rick. From the faces I could see clearly, less than a dozen were upset with the choice.
Dad continued. “Elena came from an outlying pack, which was attacked by Declan’s men earlier today. Her family was slaughtered, and she was left for dead. Declan seems to be going to the smaller packs and giving them two options: take his side in his vendetta against me or die. He’s growing an army and I expect him to attack at any moment.”
Gasps and outrage poured from everyone. My heart continued to break for our pack and I hoped they continued to listen with an open mind.
“Please, settle down. I know it’s alarming, but we have a plan we believe will benefit everyone. I’ve reached out to other packs, warning them of this potential, and found that Declan’s men have already hit two other packs. One was able to fight them off, not knowing who they were, and the other did not succeed. Our intention is to draw the focus here. We don’t want any more packs losing more people.”
“But you’ll sacrifice your own family?” another shouted.
People were always so impatient, and I wanted to step down there and smack whoever it had been upside their head.
“No, I would never do that. I would have hoped you knew me better by now. I always put my people first. I was trying to propose that we send those who don’t feel confident or safe staying here to other packs temporarily and bring some of their strongest members here to help us.”
“If they’re sending their guards here, how will we be safe there?” a woman named Deidra asked from the front.
Now, that was a good question and one we had already thought of.
This time, Augie moved forward to speak, giving my dad a break from the spotlight.
“We won’t be allowing all protectors to come from each pack. Plenty of guards will be available and we will make sure to send at least two of our own to the four packs we are going to be working with. Our hope is that by building our army rapidly and calling Declan out, he will be forced to act before he is ready.
“Once our pack members are safe, we will be getting feet on the ground again, searching for Declan. If we can bring the fight to him, we will. This time, he won’t get away, no matter the consequences.”
Cheers rose from the majority of the crowd, and I was pleased to know that our plan sounded good to others besides ourselves. I stepped forward with Liam to stand next to my dad as he gave the final information.
“Taya and Liam will be who you need to see if you decide you want to temporarily move to another pack. We have two options in Nevada and two in California. Sam and Rick will be sorting out which guards will stay here and who will go to the other packs to keep an eye on things.
“We want everything in motion by tomorrow evening. There will be no time to waste, so make your decisions soon and pack only the essentials if you decide to go for the time being. Please, see one of us if you have any immediate concerns. We will keep everyone updated from here on out on our secure email system. Thank you again for your understanding.”
I stepped up to the middle of the stage. “Liam and I will be in the training room for the next hour to speak with anyone about the different locations and back again in the morning at eight. We’ll only be letting a select amount in tonight as it’s getting late, but I promise we will be around as long as it takes tomorrow.”
Each of us went our separate ways. My dad and Augie went back to the office to finish filling Sam in on what he needed to know to work with Rick, and more than twenty members of the pack followed us up to the training facility.
Augie had set up tables and we had information printed out about each pack: where they were located, how many members they currently had, and living conditions. We had thought of as many outcomes and questions as possible.
Now we just had to hope we could get those who wanted to leave to another location before Declan showed up. We needed his spy within our pack to relay the information that we weren’t afraid, and our numbers were growing.
If Declan didn’t act soon, then we’d continue to pull our resources. We weren’t going to sit idly by while he forced shifters to take sides. It was time we forced his hand and finished this.