The burn of so much aggravated shifter power in the air made me gasp. I created a wall in my mind like Ty had taught me and blocked their energy. Thankfully, it was one shifter trait I was good at. The hall cooled instantly to a tolerable temperature.

  As he flung the door open to the conference room, Ty glanced back at me.

  No one within had shifted yet, but that was the only good news. The room was a jumbled mess of people facing off. Caninus Council members, members of Hemlock Hollow’s Alpha Council, members of other alpha councils unknown to me, all argued and gesticulated wildly. Fangs and claws flashed here and there. In the middle of them all stood Ayra and Vidar on a raised dais. Both brandished claws and fangs at the fools surrounding them. So many people shouted at once that I couldn’t tell what the commotion was about.

  From the way the Hemlock Hollow Alpha Council were facing off against members of the Caninus Council, I wasn’t sure it was bad that they were here.

  One thing was clear as a real crystal wine glass: the meeting was headed toward a fight. If it came to that, I wouldn’t be much help in an enclosed space protected from the weather. So much power filled the room that it was hard to breathe. Maybe that was just my anxiety, maybe not.

  Ty went straight into the chaos and began attempting to placate some of the most agitated people he could get to. His words were lost in the roar of angry voices. Moments later he disappeared into the crowd. Energy shoved at me, biting, pinching, burning, so much of it. Growling in frustration, I pushed back at it. Miraculously, it retreated as if blown back by a gale-force wind. All conversation in the room stopped, and the weight of every gaze within it fell upon me.

  Well that’s new.

  Mouth agape, I froze for a moment. Ty’s gaze caught mine. The encouragement and pride in the brilliant blue depths helped me find my voice. “We came here intending to listen and cooperate, but every conversation seems to end with the threat of violence.” I paused long enough to fix several of the most hostile ones with a hard glare. A few had the good grace to look ashamed—but none of them were Caninus Council members. “You are all leaders in your own right, of your own territories. We have no interest in threatening or challenging that. But understand this: the four of us are alphas in our own right, and these troubled newly bitten with no pack, these condemned who go mad, they are ours to watch over and take care of.”

  Striding into the room on a wave of building confidence, I met and held the gaze of several people despite how their power bit at me like angry wasps. “Our concern isn’t the people who perform the unsanctioned bitings. That’s for their packs to deal with.”

  A howl went up, along with several yips of what sounded like agreement. It was hard to tell. I was still getting the whole canine language thing down. Even more voiced words of agreement. One of the familiar voices struck a chord.

  “The leitar is right. We need to come up with a new system, one that works for all of us. And we need to treat the four of them like the alphas they are. They deserve that respect at the very least.”

  Through the crowd, I met the speaker’s golden brown eyes—Raul Anderson, the man who had bitten me in. Of all the people to stand up for me, he would have been my last choice. Helheimr, it hadn’t even occurred to me he would be here. How could I have forgotten he was now alpha of the Draupnir pack of Hemlock Hollow?

  People began to murmur about what he said. Slowly, the idea spread through the crowd, sparking more ideas, more conversations. Despite my distaste for the man, I couldn’t deny he had a natural charisma that could move a crowd.

  From the dais, Ayra gave me a nod, her expression turning from enraged to solemn as she indicated two empty chairs beside her. The crowd parted for Ty and me as we made our way to the steps. Once atop them, we faced the crowd, four united against so many. But we had allies among them.

  “All right. Let’s hash out the details of how this is going to work.”

  Four long hours later, we had the beginnings of a system worked out. It had taken all four of us to debate the details, defend our points, and keep the arguments from erupting into all-out fights. Ty and Vidar held back admirably, having Ayra and I do most of the negotiating. But they did speak up and support us when necessary, which scored them mega points in my book. More than once I saw Ty struggle with the urge to leap to my defense before I had a chance to stand my own ground. For the most part, though, he refrained. I counted it as progress with him controlling his overprotectiveness.

  The Alpha Council of Hemlock Hollow listened to us, supported us, and argued for us. They spoke of the support of the varúlfur who sat on the Shifter Council, which swayed a lot of people. I didn’t believe for one second that their reasonings were agenda-free, not for all of them at least. But if it kept the peace, I wasn’t going to look a gift wolf in the mouth.

  All through the deliberations, I kept an eye on the Caninus ma’ii councilors, making sure they didn’t slip out early. Our return flight was booked for tomorrow morning, but I wasn’t about to leave without talking to them about the missing women. I didn’t dare do it here in front of everyone else. The chances of them taking it as me questioning their ability to handle their own problems diminished if I could get them alone. And considering how good things were going with everyone talking, listening, and compromising, the last thing I wanted to do was threaten that.

  More and more, people started to watch the clock as dinner time came and went. Conversations grew short along with tempers. Hungry shifters were not an amiable group, I was discovering. Even Vidar and Ty were growing snippy. The energy in the room snapped and popped, nothing like when I’d first arrived, but it was heading back in that direction. Ayra caught my gaze and raised a pale brow at me. I nodded. She stood.

  “We have the beginnings of an accord. We can work out the remainder of the details via video conference.”

  The finality in her tone left no room for argument. Several looked like they wanted to disagree, but their growling stomachs ruled them. People said farewells to one another, and even to us, then began filtering out of the room. The varúlfur of Hemlock Hollow lingered the longest, wanting to schmooze with the four of us and show their support. I might have been flattered if they didn’t block my view of the retreating backsides of the ma’ii Caninus Council members. Muttering apologies, I started to push my way through people. By the time I made it to the hallway, Halona and Bidziil were stepping into the elevator. After a quick glance down the hallway to make sure no non-shifters were around, I kicked it into high gear.

  In a split second, I covered the thirty feet to the elevator and stuck my boot in the closing door. It bounced slowly back open and I slid inside. Halona’s dark eyes narrowed at me. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and found something fascinating to stare at on the wall.

  Bidziil nodded to me with one black brow raised. “Leitar,” he acknowledged.

  The elevator door slid shut, cutting off the view of Ty’s worried face. I didn’t even have time to give him a reassuring smile.

  “Councilors,” I responded, my tone as diplomatic as I could make it.

  A smile split Bidziil’s lips, but Halona ignored me with renewed vigor. “I need to talk to you about some missing Diné women,” I went on.

  Halona finally turned her head, fixing me with a pinched glare that looked painful. “Unless they are newly bitten on the edge of madness, they aren’t your business.” The harsh words made me swallow a growl. I couldn’t let her bait me into getting angry. She thought I was Cherokee, not part Navajo. Well at least that part hadn’t made it around the rumor mill yet.

  “I have reason to suspect they are newly bitten, and against their will,” I said in a carefully controlled tone.

  Her eyes cut to me like daggers, slicing just as quickly back to the wall. “Like that mixed blood you sent the Rapidriver pack?” she demanded in a cold voice.

  My proverbial hackles thrust up. “Excuse me?”

  The full weight of her furious gaze hit me. “Did you think we wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care, that she was a skinwalker before she was bitten in?” Her venomous tone made my claws spring forth.

  “Why the hell would you care?” I snapped back.

  Top lip pulling up in disgust, she looked down her nose at me, which didn’t quite have the effect I was sure she was going for since I had two inches on her. “Because supernatural creatures can make for volatile, unpredictable shifters. It is forbidden to bite them in. If you weren’t such a pup, you would know that.”

  The holier-than-thou stench wafting off her made me want to step back and check the bottom of my shoes. Instead, I let out a growl and moved into her personal space. “If anything happens to her, I will—”

  She held a hand up and interrupted me. “Please, we aren’t savages. She is being brought through the change. But once she is clear of it, she will have no place among the ma’ii. Again, something you would know if you did your research.”

  The ding of the elevator cut off any reply I was considering. The car slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. Halona left without a backward look. A warning growl tore from my throat as I moved to follow her. The gentle touch of a hand on my arm stopped me before my foot could interrupt the elevator door. I looked into Bidziil’s apologetic brown eyes. “We don’t all feel the same way she does,” he said.

  The bright red ear buds he had in coupled with his silence had made me think he hadn’t been listening. The door slid closed and he pushed the button for the top floor. “I care about every Native American woman who disappears, whether she is shifter, skinwalker, or human. They all matter,” he went on.

  Tension eased out of me. “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Thank you for caring about them even when they aren’t your calling.”

  “You don’t think the missing Diné women were bitten in against their will?” I asked.

  “I do, but that isn’t the question you should be asking.”

  I raised my brows and tilted my head in a gesture telling him to elaborate.

  “You should be asking why someone is biting in and kidnapping skinwalkers.”

  “Okay, why is someone biting in and kidnapping skinwalkers?”

  He cocked his head like a confused canine. “That I don’t know. Like Halona said, it is expressly forbidden, under penalty of possible death for both the maker and the newly bitten.”

  I fidgeted with the zipper pull of my jacket while I thought. “So, the ma’ii don’t know anything about it,” I gathered from what little he had given me.

  He shrugged. “At least not through the legal channels.”

  That drew my attention. Bidziil’s curious brown eyes stared at me.

  “You suspect someone knows. Who?” I pressed.

  “Don’t know that either, but I suspect you may have better luck finding answers among the skinwalkers.”

  The elevator slowed and came to a jarring stop as it reached the top floor. He gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry I can’t help you more. I hope you find them and bring to justice, whoever took them.”

  The doors slid open and he strode out. After a moment of stunned silence, I called after him. “Wait! What—” The door cut me off as it started to close. I thrust a hand out and stopped it. But Bidziil turned to no more than a blur of black hair as he kicked his ma’ii reflexes into high gear and disappeared around a bend in the hallway. Realizing he’d given me all he could—and maybe a little more than was safe for him—I dropped my hand and let the door close.

  This wasn’t like the last time rogues had started biting in people against their will. A line had been crossed between supernatural kind. I wasn’t sure what it meant yet, but I had a bad feeling it could end up disastrous.

  CHAPTER NINE

  One bag slung over my shoulder, the other surrendered to Ty, I turned my back on the receptionist desk and started out of the lobby. With my varúlfur strength, I could more than handle both my bags, but Ty insisted on being gentlemanly, and I was working on being okay with accepting help. Besides, arguing would delay our departure, and I couldn’t get off this island fast enough. I itched to meet up with Ayra and Vidar outside, the only two people in this entire country I could trust besides Ty. Though we had accomplished a little, we had been threatened, attacked, and threatened again, and it felt like doom balanced over our heads, ready to drop at any moment.

  What waited outside only solidified my resolve to flee.

  Sitting on the edge of a colorful, three-tiered stone fountain was an athletic, dark haired man in designer jeans and a dress shirt that probably cost more than everything I’d brought put together. He looked damn good, but that just aggravated me more. A woman with shoulder-length black hair and blue lowlights peeking through sat beside him, hand grasping his. She wore black BDUs and a navy blue hoodie—an interesting contrast to his choice of clothing. Though their backs were to me, I knew who the guy was instantly.

  Rather than be a coward and slip away while they weren’t looking, I stood straighter and walked right toward them. “Raul Anderson, I take it you’re waiting for us,” I said.

  With all that self-assured charm that I couldn’t forget no matter how I tried, he stood and nodded. A cautious smile parted his lips. He let go of the woman’s hand and slid his arm around her back. “We are. I hope you’re well, Sonya,” he said in that ruggedly silky voice of his that made women want to throw their panties at his feet. His eyes hardened a touch as they slid to my right. “And you, Tyler.”

  “Why?” I asked on a long sigh. Every part of me wanted to be aggravated, but after the way he’d supported us in the meeting, I couldn’t bring myself to. That in itself kind of made me mad.

  My harsh tone didn’t even wilt his smile. “Because we want to offer you the support of the Draupnir pack.”

  I had no idea what I’d been expecting, but that definitely hadn’t been it. They were the alphas of that pack now, a pack that was two hundred and fifty members strong last I checked, so the words carried a lot of weight. “In exchange for what?” I asked.

  The woman at his side gave a slight shake of her head. “Nothing. This isn’t a quid pro quo, or an attempt to make up for what he did to you—though he knows he has a lot of making up to do for that. We came to show our support for you because we believe in what you’re doing for our kind.” She spoke with confidence and held herself in a manner that made it clear she wasn’t just a groupie who had fallen for Raul’s charms. No, she was definitely her own woman.

  Seeing us looking each other up and down, Raul nodded in her direction. “This is Elexis Sandalius, my mate and co-alpha of the Draupnir pack.” Surprisingly, the pride in his voice was for her, not himself. The devotion in his eyes when he looked at her laid his feelings bare and shocked the hell out of me. I’d gotten past my anger at him for biting me in, but I was a long way from liking the guy. So it surprised me to see him act this way. But a part of me had liked him once, a lot. Maybe that part hadn’t been all wrong about his character.

  I inclined my head in the customary show of respect from one alpha level varúlfur to another. “It’s nice to meet you, Elexis.”

  She cocked her head at me, expression curious. “You mean that.” She sounded surprised.

  I grinned. “Of course. I’m happy to meet the woman who is busting Raul’s balls.”

  A throaty, full-bodied laugh, the kind most women were too self-conscious to allow themselves, issued from her as she threw her head back. “Oh I like her,” Elexis said to Raul before turning a plump-lipped smile on me. “You and I could be great friends.” She sounded so genuine it made me smile back at her.

  “You might be right,” I admitted.

  Beside me, Ty’s energy seethed and burned like a volcano near eruption. Steeling myself for the heat, I took his hand. After a searing moment, the scorching of his power cooled to a tolerable level. The entire time his expression remained stoic. For a long moment, the trickling of water in the fountain behind Raul and Elexis was the only sound. When Raul looked from Elexis to me, Ty’s hand convulsed around mine.

  “Thank you for showing the leitar your support. We have a plane to catch,” he said, starting to turn, tugging my hand.

  I wanted to go, I really did, but I was sick of the unfinished business between Raul and me, and his expression told me he had more to say that might be important. I hesitated.

  “Sonya, wait, please. Can you and I chat for just a minute?”

  Claws sprang from Ty’s fingers, poking the back of my hand. A low growl rumbled from him as he stopped and turned around. I laid my free hand on his arm. Pulling him to face me, I cupped his cheek and looked deep into his eyes.

  “This needs to be done. I’m okay,” I told him, maybe too firmly, but I hoped the gentle touch helped.

  His beautiful blue eyes bored into mine. “If he starts to bother you at all—”

  “I will handle it. I’ve got my big girl panties on,” I interrupted.

  An almost-smile tugged at one corner of his lips. Mischief filled his eyes. My face heated as I realized why. “Yes, you do,” he said in a quiet tone that dropped an octave to a sexy, bedroom voice.

  This morning I had opted for a black thong—cotton, not lace because masochism wasn’t my thing. It had resulted in a later checkout time than we had planned, but I had zero regrets. I rose onto my toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

  “It won’t take long,” I told him when I pulled away.

  He nodded, let go of my hand, and stepped back. After a long glare at Raul, he picked up our bags and walked over to stand at the curb by the motel entrance. Elexis shot me a genuine smile, then went to join Ty. Her confidence and complete lack of jealousy made me like her even more.

  Without looking at him, I walked past Raul and continued down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the others. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted them to overhear. It was way too personal.