Trench was enjoying this quiet time with his mate when a knock interrupted them. Her head sprang up, and eyes gold with her Tigress blinked up at him.
“It’s time,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb down her cheek.
Bria nodded and rose off his lap. He hated the chill that hit him the second they weren’t touching, but Trench needed to have his head on straight for this.
The Shifter Council of New York City had grown in power over the last year. The moniker no longer worked since they handled Shifter affairs in all the tri-state area. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut now falling under their purview. But business was business, and their reputation was such that they were loath to change it.
Bria was quiet as they rode the elevator down to the waiting convoy of cars that would take the Island Strip Pride Neta, acting head of the SCNYC, his Nari, Trench, Bria, and some guards. Whenever you had groups of Shifters, especially those who would be enemies in the wild, it was wise to have numbers on your side.
The Wolves certainly would. As he mulled it over in his head, Trench could not shake the feeling that this entire thing was a setup. It made no sense, though. Bria was a normal, or had been before the Puspa. What did she have to do with a Wolf Pack from the big city?
“Are you alright?” she asked, her brown eyes so trusting and sweet.
No matter what happened, Trench swore then that he’d kill the whole fucking lot of them if they threatened her in any way.
“Yeah, I’m alright, kitten,” he replied, squeezing her hand. “How about you? Nervous?”
“I mean, a bit. What are they going to ask me?”
“Not sure. They will want reassurances from you that you deleted the footage.”
“But I did. You saw me,” she said earnestly.
It had been a surprise, actually. Last night, after they’d made love over and over again, Trench had gone to the kitchen for a drink of water.
Worry was keeping him from sleeping. He could’ve taken it out of her hands, took her laptop that was even then charging on the counter, and he could have smashed the thing. But that wouldn’t help. Plus, she’d be pissed.
He'd turned around the second he’d heard her join him. Silently, she smiled and, as if she knew exactly what he’d been thinking, Bria went to her computer. She motioned him over, started opening files and deleting them while he watched.
“I’ve taken screenshots of the email with the video, as well as proof that I’ve deleted it from my hard drive and clouds.”
“Bria, I didn’t ask---”
“I know, but I’m a Shifter now, too. It’s my secret as well as yours and I would never let anything bad happen to you, Trench. Not if I could help it,” she’d replied.
Fuck, if he didn’t love her already, he would’ve fallen right then. His heart burned with emotion, and he lifted their joined hands and kissed her palm.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered, echoing the same sentiment she’d pledged to him the night before.
Bria nodded her head, and he knew she believed him. Proof again that gods existed. This sweet, trusting woman had shown more faith in Trench than anyone else ever had.
The ride over to the meeting place was relatively short. But only because they were not responsible for parking. Carter, the same Tiger whose ass he’d kicked the day before, nodded at him and exited the passenger seat.
He would act as a second guard for Bria, just as Trench had requested. The man scouted the area, using the slightest change of expression to relay it was safe to move from his standpoint.
“Shall we?” Bria asked.
She sucked in a fortifying breath, and Trench nodded. He didn’t like it, but what choice did they have?
Dean and Violet Romero were already inside. Unlike the other meeting, this was not open to the general public. Only a few Shifter leaders were gathered, and their personal guards. Which is why Trench tensed when the entire McLeesh Pack walked in scant minutes later.
“Well, well,” their Alpha sneered. “I see you’ve brought the traitorous human. Hand her over, and we will take care of her.”
“McLeesh,” Dean replied. “You’ve come with quite the show of strength, but what for? This was to be a friendly meeting---”
“Friendly? This human has threatened our kind! She must be dealt with, but if you cats don’t have the stomach, we Wolves certainly do!”
McLeesh spat the word human like it was dirty, and Trench’s Tiger growled in warning. His Wolves stirred behind him, some partially shifting, others snarling and flexing their claws. Trench felt his fangs descend. He noted Carter moving to flank Bria on the other side, and he approved. His mate trembled a little, and he couldn’t blame her.
There had to be almost forty Wolves against twelve Tigers. Enough for them to do some serious damage, but the Tigers outweighed the Wolves, some of them three to one. It would be an almost fair, if bloody, fight.
“McLeesh? We talked about this,” Blake Nero, the Vampire representative, spoke. “First, we must hear out the female.”
The Vampire gestured to a chair, but Bria did not move. Smart woman. He shook his head slightly, and Blake’s eyes raised in surprise. Since Vamps were notoriously hard to kill, Trench knew he wasn’t worried about the less than friendly energy in the atmosphere of the meeting room.
“I see things have changed. I shall remove myself from this meeting, as it is now an entirely Shifter matter,” Blake announced, surprising McLeesh.
“What?! How can you say that?” McLeesh began, but the Vampire had moved so quickly, he was gone by the time the old Wolf was done speaking.
“Bloodsucking fool,” McLeesh growled. “It is of no consequence, we are here now, and we are the ONLY ones that can protect our secret. Now, it is time for you to step down, Dean. My Pack demands the right to act in our best interests. Destroying this human and that video is our top priority!”
“Your Pack? You mean the entire pack you brought here? Unacceptable, McLeesh. In fact, this show of force is a threat to all here and as the acting Chief of the Council, I am in my rights to find you in contempt,” Dean said, replying to the Wolf’s aggression.
“Fuck this. Give us the girl,” McLeesh’s son and Beta stepped forward.
The Wolves were getting antsy, and they hadn’t even discussed anything yet. Fuck. This wasn’t a meeting about how to proceed to protect the Shifter secret. This was a plot to take over the Council. This was an act of war.
Grrr.
“You might want to step back, pup,” Carter advised.
Trench was holding onto his Tiger by a thread. Every protective instinct he’d ever felt multiplied by a million. He needed to get her out of there now. The demands the Wolves were making were unthinkable. McLeesh was going to pay for this. Even if Trench had to hunt him down and gut him like the dog he was.
Of course, he had no desire to take over a Wolf Pack, but maybe after he killed him, he could send the rest of them elsewhere. Planning ahead wasn’t exactly a strong suit, but now that he had a mate to protect, he would have to start.
Unaware that he’d been growling the entire time, Trench looked down, stopping that rumbling sound as soon as Bria placed her soft hand on his chest. She looked at him once, her brown eyes clear and determined. He saw only a hint of her Tigress, which meant she was lurking there, ready to protect her human half, but only when called.
Good. That was good. After all, he was there, and Trench would not let one hair on her head come to any harm as long as he drew breath. That was a motherfucking promise.
“If I can address the Council and the Wolf Pack?” Bria asked, surprising McLeesh and Dean into silence.
The two had been arguing hotly. But when the tiny female stepped forward, uncowering in front of both dominant males, Trench thought with more than a hint of pride in his mate, they stilled.
“Please,” Dean invited, cordially.
“Mr. McLeesh, my name is Bria Grotto---”
“Your name is of no consequence. You are a normal, and you have no--”
McLeesh stopped when Bria, to Trench’s horror, moved closer to the Alpha male. The man leaned forward.
Sniff. Gasp. Sniff sniff.
“Sh-she’s been mated! You had one of your tom cats mate her,” McLeesh snarled, accusing Dean.
“If you would stop your snarling,” Bria tried. “I can explain.”
“It does not matter. Even a mate who violates our trust---”
“QUIET!” Violet stepped forward and yelled, hands on her hips. “Geez. Let the woman speak!”
Dean’s eyes twinkled, and he winked at his typically quiet mate. The female winked back, gesturing for Bria to continue.
“I have been running my vlog for a long time searching for proof of the supernatural,” Bria began.
She addressed not just the Wolves and Tigers, but the Dragons, the Cougars, the Druid Priestess, and other representatives who’d just arrived to witness this meeting at Dean’s invitation. Trench had known about it, but he was unprepared for the level of angst his Tiger would experience. All he wanted was to scoop his mate up and take her home.
Keep her safe and warm- and mostly naked, forever, in his den. Yeah. Good plan.
He rolled his eyes at his Tiger’s thought process. Typical besotted male. Good thing his human half knew better. And he stood beside her, ready to pounce on any threat, while she spoke so eloquently about what she did.
“I never considered the consequences of my search, and for that I must apologize. But this video of the Wolf shifting was sent to me anonymously. Now, I’ve brought my laptop to give to the Council’s tech experts, but I already deleted the footage from my hard drive and my clouds---”
“Are we to take the word of a human?” McLeesh bellowed, but Bria just rolled her eyes.
“McLeesh,” Dean snarled in warning.
“And you, ha, we should trust you? What kind of leader forces one of his own to mate with a normal?” the Wolf Alpha continued, trying to persuade the crowd.
“Maybe you need an allergy pill or something, Mr. McLeesh, because I am no longer human,” Bria said, shifting only her eyes and staring at the suddenly pale Wolf.
“True, I have found my mate among the Island Stripe pride, but we weren’t ordered to get together. It was fate, as I believe some of you might already know. As a result, I’m a Shifter now too, and your secret is now mine,” she said, smiling now in the face of all those predators.
Fucking hell.
The woman was astounding, and Trench couldn’t help but admire her bravery. She continued to explain about her new status and her vows to keep the paranormal world under wraps.
“This is all well and good, but what about her vlog? Is she going to continue to skirt our laws and hide behind her mate’s tail?” McLeesh tried a new tactic.
Shit.
This was something Trench had already anticipated. He would never ask her to give up her work, but it was going to be tricky. Still, he’d leave New York, the Pride, all of it, so she could keep doing what made her happy. Crazy how that was the most important thing to him, after her safety, of course.
“Actually,” Bria said, surprising even him. “My vlog is temporarily undergoing reconstruction. You see, I will never stop being interested in the supernatural. I mean, now more than ever,” she said and snorted adorably. “Being a Tiger has only made me more curious, but my new vlog is called Once Written: Interviews with Paranormal Fiction Authors. I already have my first guest booked,” Bria announced, nodding at Violet Romero, who was a well-known paranormal romance author.
“Well, that is something,” Noemi Donato, the Druidess representative, replied with a warm smile.
“Thanks,” his sassy, brilliant mate replied.
“Will you be happy with that?” Trench asked, uncaring about anything else.
“Are you kidding? I’ve read everything the Nari has written under her pen name, V.R. Stripes. She is brilliant!”
He wanted to kiss her. But of course, some soon to be dead asshole interrupted.
Grrr.
“Wait. Wait! This is no guarantee that whoever sent the video won’t try again. She has contacts. We must interview her to get their names,” McLeesh spat and stuttered, clearly losing his grip.
The Wolves started shifting around and Trench’s eyes narrowed. Something smelled funky. And it wasn’t just the scent of dog in the room.
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Bria said, nodding at Violet.
Just then, the Pride’s Nari lifted her finger, and Carter, who’d been standing on the other side of Bria, nodded. He placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A moment later, a she-Wolf was brought into the room by one of their Tigers.
“Nancy?”
Bria growled, and he could tell his mate was pissed.
“Everyone, this is one of my former roommates. Her name is Nancy McLeesh.”
The room erupted in outrage. Everyone tossing accusations and name calling, but the Nari whistled loudly, bringing everyone to attention.
“OMG! You people need to act like adults, and let her finish,” she growled.
“Thank you, Nari,” Bria said, smiling at the powerful female. “As you can guess, she’s related to Alpha McLeesh, his niece, in fact. She sent the tape under his orders.”
“Why?” one of the representatives asked.
“Well, she was always a bit of a bitch, but I had no idea until this morning how true that was. Wolf female and all,” she added, with an extra pinch of sass.
“Nancy,” Violet stepped in. “Tell everyone here what you did.”
“I was only following orders---” the she-Wolf began, clearly frightened. “My uncle made me do it! He found out my roommate was a vlogger and researched her. He was just mad the Council chose a Cat over a Wolf to lead them---”
The McLeesh Pack started growling and chatting nervously. Some had already fled, others were starting to confess. The girl was sobbing, but the Alpha didn’t seem to care for his niece. He lunged forward, and whether it was to get at Bria or Nancy, Trench could not be sure, and he did not give a fuck, either.
What kind of lowlife attacked females? Within a blink of an eye, Trench had the old dog by the throat. His claws unleashed, Trench snarled. Enforcer that he was, his beast demanded justice, but the newly mated Tiger in him also wanted blood. He looked at Bria and saw what she needed from him.
Keeping hold of his bloodlust, Trench flipped the Wolf over and locked him down before the prick could do any more damage.
Then Trench roared his outrage, and the whole room stilled.
“Good job, Trench,” Dean said, approaching with the Council’s own security team.
They cuffed and tied the Werewolf up, using magically enhanced silver handcuffs and chains. He started to protest, so the guards added a muzzle. It was a good look on the traitor.
“Lock him up and gather the rest of them into a detention cell. Then call Rafe Maccon. We will ask the esteemed candidate for the next High Alpha of Wolves to determine what happens to the McLeesh Pack going forward.”
Everyone agreed, but Trench didn’t give a fuck about Wolf politics. He just wanted to get his mate back home.
Bria was safe and sound, and his. So very his. Nothing else was as important to him as that.
Mine.