Chapter 7: A Message for the Messenger

**Jake**

The family sits at the table, all eyes on me, faces dark and sullen as if a storm cloud hangs in this very room.

This is the third meeting of a long string still yet to come. The meeting of the fire only strengthened my resolve to set warriors along the perimeter of the territory, a practice Alphas have done for generations in the Woodlands.

“Lord Cunnington,” Aunt Azalea says next to me. “What about the budget? How are we going to afford the repairs?”

Those who make up the Council are all elder members of the pack. They also happen to be on the board of Cunnington Corporation, and their word holds a lot of weight when making decisions for the pack and the company.

“The budget for what?” I ask, not realizing I’d been staring off into space.

“The ruined office building, dear nephew. How will we pay for the repairs?”

I blink a few times, staring at my knuckles on the table. I hadn’t given repairing the building much thought. If we did so, the South Side might just set the place on fire again.

I shake my head and give my chin a good scratch.

“We won’t,” I say, earning me looks of shocked expressions.

“What?” Aunt Azalea shouts. “But it was your father’s office! How could you not repair it? Do you just want to throw away your father’s legacy?”

I suddenly stand up, the sound of the chair on the floor scraping my ears.

“That office,” I say, pointing in the general direction of the office, “was no more than a place for Dad to sit. Now, it’s a pile of rubble that is useless to anyone.

“In fact, that fire probably helped us out a bit. With the insurance money, we can put something new there. Something we could actually use.”

I look out at the sea of faces before me. I know all these faces and have since I was a child. These are the people I was supposed to trust more than anyone else. Family. But I’m not sure I can trust anybody with what I'm about to do.

Nathan, to my left, scoots forward in his seat, his palms flat against the table.

“Dude, you know I’m crazy about you, right? But I think you might have had a bit too much to drink last night,” he tells me.

I roll my eyes and sit back down. “Look, we don’t need another office building. We have plenty. We DO need another training site where we can lock up in an emergency.

“The fact that the building was somehow broken into and set on fire doesn’t look good in terms of security. We need a show of force, a way to say we aren’t going to back down with our tails between our legs.

“If we build a high-security compound that not even God could break into, that’ll show the South Side Pack we aren’t playing games. This is OUR territory, and by Selene’s will, we’ll prove that.”

A few minutes pass by as silence spreads across the room. A few people lean in with their neighbors whispering words I can’t hear.

The room suddenly erupts into applause, all twelve Council members standing and smiling, shouting their agreement.

Nathan, standing, pats me on the back, and I feel dazed. I didn’t expect them to take that so well. I was planning on putting up a bigger fight.

“Wow!” Nathan exclaims. “I have to say, I'm impressed. The Council seems to be quite taken by you, and it hasn’t even been a week!”

Though he doesn’t realize it, his words sting. He means that it hasn’t even been a full week since my dad died, and already I’ve replaced him easier than someone buying a new car.

From there, it’s decided that we will allocate funds toward building a compound that will serve as the new training headquarters for the North Side Pack. On the outside, it will appear to be a bank and will, more or less, act as such. But inside, it will be even more beefed up than the Cunnington Tower.

Once the meeting is concluded, I dust off my suit and head back to my office, which overlooks Cumberland River, the only real division between the two packs.

I take off my jacket, shaking the wrinkles out of it and setting it on the back of my chair. As expected, Nathan walks in a minute later and quietly closes the door.

“So, are you really going?” he asks, joining me by the window.

I nod and swallow the knot that’s been hanging in my throat. “I have to. What else can I do?”

“Well, for one, you could NOT go and then tell that Brackon guy to f*ck off. Do you really think he’s offering peace? After what he did?”

“No, of course not. Besides, he never said anything about peace. He said he just wants to meet face-to-face.”

Nathan throws up his hands in exasperation. “Well, that could mean anything, then. For all we know, he could be planning to shoot you in the face, and then where will we be?

“You have no heirs. The only other person even capable of becoming Alpha is your Aunt Azalea, and she’s a hundred! And if something happens to her, who do you think will jump at the chance to be Alpha of TWO packs?”

“Look, Nathan,” I say, turning to him. “I have to do something. I can’t just let him get away with this. Maybe if I show him my face and meet him, that will be just the edge I need for him to end this whole charade.”

“What? You think he’ll take one look at you and run the other way? Pfft, you’re good, but you’re not THAT good.”

Nathan looks to the door when we hear feet shuffle past before speaking again.

“Alright, I have an idea. Did the guy say to come alone?”

“Not exactly,” I tell him and shrug my shoulders.

“Okay, then. I’m coming with you.”

“What?” I look at him, puzzled.

“You heard me. And it’s not up for discussion. As your second, it’s my job to keep you safe. You are going right into the lion’s den, and someone needs to watch your back.”

I sigh, knowing I won’t be able to change his mind.

“Where is it at, anyway?”

“A little place called the Shady Lane,” I say, turning around to sit at my desk.

“What the h*ll is that?” he remarks as he moves to sit across from me.

“A bar.”

“A bar? I’ve never heard of it.”

“You wouldn’t have. It’s not a strip club.”

Nathan laughs. “You got me there. Is that the same place you met the little piece you were telling me about?”

I glare at him, tightening my jaw. “Don’t call her that,” I growl.

“Alright. Geez, sorry. But is it?”

I grab one of my pens, take it apart, and put it back together, easing my nerves. “Yeah, that’s the place. It’s just before the river, in one of the few spots neither of our packs has marked.”

“That’s rough, man. It sounded like you really liked her too.”

“What does that mean?”

“All I’m saying is that as soon as Brackon walks in there, he’s claiming her simply because you haven’t.”

My head shoots up, and my heart quickens. “No.”

“No? That’s it?”

“No,” I repeat. “He won’t claim her.”

“And why is that, oh Lord and Master?”

“Because,” I mutter, my voice so low I can barely hear it. “I won’t let him.”