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CHARLES was most comfortable by himself or, if that wasn&039;t possible, with his pack in the wild Talking for hours in a crowded auditoriuood at At least no one had died Yet
The Gera had stalked off with offended dignity The Italians, for their part, did a good job of concealing their glee and got down to business Deals were hammered out
By two in the afternoon, Charles and the Finnish delegates were finally bringing to fruition a complicated dance of issues further confused by translation problelish He didn&039;t speak Finnish So they translated through a Norwegian ho spoke Finnish and Spanish, and a Spaniard who spoke English He suspected it was a ruse to give thereed to a no-interest loan for the Finns to use for positive publicity, fronted by the charitable arh Charles hie of the distribution and would expect results for the ood deal
The Finns weren&039;t the only ones s the negotiations closely,notes as they finally decided to believe that the Marrok had no intention of leaving theal contracts that could now be taken to courts just like anyone else&039;s: a benefit none of theressed, a spirit of cautious optireed?" Charles asked theas the Finnish lead
As the translation worked its way through the language barriers, and the Finn began to nod, Jean Chastel stood up, and said, "No"
The Frenchman waited until the Finn, who had cootiations, slowly sat down before he continued "We won&039;t accept guilt ned with the Marrok in which he agrees to keep his nose out of our business"
And damned if he didn&039;t open up a slick briefcase and start piling up paper-and parchht have been older than Chastel, and was ancient enough to smell of dust rather than lamb "We do not need the Marrok&039;s money We are not under his &039;protec tion&039; He has no jurisdiction in our territories"
There was a gri Michel, bruises and all-looked stolidly supportive They had no choice
Quiet settled over the room, an uncomfortable quiet as they focused on Chastel The Beast couldn&039;t keep the Marrok fro the wolves into the open But he could keep hi the European wolves cope-and in the end that ht be disastrous for everyone
Chastel ruled the European continent when he chose, and he&039;d justCharles the choice of letting Chastel&039;s claiht
"Yes," said Dana in a motherly voice "Thank you for that, enially at Chastel, then raised her eyes to the rest of the world "On behalf of the Emerald City Pack, I have an invitation to all of you who have gathered in Seattle for this conference As a part of our hospitality, we have organized a hunt tonight on the pack&039;s own hunting grounds There will be no blood-the Marrok asked ies But since there is , we felt that no blood would keep the threat of violence down"
Charles ood at public speaking, but Dana was When his father had asked her to moderate, Charles had worried because she didn&039;t knoolves His father had sht
Everyone already had the inforht-and his power-and everyone knew it Without her, Chastel could have taken theCharles and maybe, just maybe, Arthur to face him down or back off and let hied him and killed him, Dana would be honor-bound to destroy thee it, not if he and Arthur orking together But he didn&039;t know that he and Arthur would be working together either; Arthur could be very difficult to predict
And none of it would have worked if she hadn&039;t already proven herself more powerful than Chastel before them all The Frenche her And as she droned on with information everyone already had-Charles had e-o-every wolf in the roo
Chastel stood up and storus took a step to the side and blocked the door
It was a foolhardy thing to do If Chastel chose not to reus&039;s life could be forfeit And maybe, just maybe, he counted on it If Chastel spilled blood first But the Frenchus said diffidently
The Beast turned his head toward the fae "I need fresh air So stinks in here"
Dana&039;s sentle "By all us stepped aside and opened the door for him
And the Beast retreated But he retreated triue Chastel&039;s right to make this decision for them And, just as when the Marrok revealed the olves, it would reflect on Europe -so, too, would the failure of the European wolves to persuade the human population that they were no threat reflect upon the Marrok&039;s territory
Charles couldn&039;t help but wonder if matters would have been different if his father had been here
ANGUS had over a hundred channels on his TV: sports channels, news channels, comedy channels, cartoon channels, science channels, and about fifty shopping channels The only thing either Anna or Ric could stand to watch was a South Park raders-and the station switched to a commercial for male enhancement products
"So," Anna said to distract herself frorin on the face of thethe hunt will be useful how?"
The man must have bothered Ric, too, because he jumped up fro back on the desk again "I don&039;t think that my Alpha understands the difference between suba Now that I do, I would like hiame where I can face down the dominants with impunity"
"You think that would work? Charles would just strangle me and put me out of his misery"
He leaned back and waved his hands "Hello, psychologist, yes? Or almost Of course I don&039;t know I believe it will helpin the hunt will help you with this issue you have with do the kid who is afraid of water into the deep end to sink or swirinned "Not so bad as that I think that if you have so this bait that the fae lady and Angus have hidden in the pack&039;s hunting grounds-I think you won&039;t be so afraid And if you are not afraid, they will not crowd you And by the tiers-"they will have been surrounding you, hunting with you, and it will seeested soh he hadn&039;t intended her actually to participate "The ocean Like throwing a two-year-old into the ocean With sharks"
He laughed "Look I a a wolf, but I observe My enius I will give you his nurinned a little self-consciously "Of course he will also tell you I died tragically in a skiing accident Anyway, it means this: you should listen to me
"We wolves are more resilient than ere human The wolf is always in the present, it does not worry much about past or future Your ill keep you froive her the help she needs By the end, you will be better because she will help you"
"Unless they do kill me," Anna said
"No blood," Ric said "It is in the rules Did you see the way that fairy made the Beast shut his mouth yesterday, or was that after you left?"
"Before," Anna said "And they prefer fae A fairy is a specific kind of fae whose actual forh-and I&039;m pretty sure that Dana is not one of those"
"And she will be on hand to keep things safe: they will behave themselves"
She knew Charles wouldn&039;t be happy if she chose to be in the hunt Accidents happen Especially when they are on purpose Charles had eneed after she died She didn&039;t want to make Charles unhappy with her
"Look," said Ric seriously "Isaac, ree to bodyguard you with ine Alphas cooperating with each other? The three of us, we stand a better chance at winning And we can keep you safe"
"I had two people get hurt trying to defendtrip"
"Someone tried to hurt you?"
She knew Charles had called his Alpha last night to warn hi her because she was an Oa-rather than because she was Charles&039;s mate Apparently he&039;d decided not to pass on the news
"You should have been told," she said-and then she took care of it
"We are viewed as weak," Ric said grimly when she had finished They&039;d decius&039;s wolves, then found a secret stash of trailand took a couple pieces of dried peach Then he threw the them in his mouth on the way down in two quick snaps "Maybe it is not just my wolves who need to be told but everyone else as well It is not safe in our world to be seen as weak It makes us prey"
"If your Alpha didn&039;t look at you as some sort of super-submissive, he&039;d have told you about the threat of the vareed
He tossed her a couple of banana chips, and she snatched them out of the air without her hands as well
He saluted her "Though,even the submissive ones They are not children-they are olves"
He closed his eyes, tossed a cranberry into the air, and ate it on the way down "You say we are like submissive wolves who do not obey I wonder if there are dominant wolves who do not protect?"
"Yes"
Anna looked up, but Ric had to turn all the way around to see Chastel standing in the doorway
"They call us beasts" He sry "Are you afraid of ht as well not have been there for all the notice Chastel took of hiolden A faint flush over his cheekbones told her that he was excited-he looked just as Justin, the ho had Changed her, had looked before-
She sed that thought Thisfor prey And she would not be sport for hiain
She called up her wolf, not so e and let it settle into her bones When she was certain her knees wouldn&039;t shake, she stood up as the silence gained weight like a brewing stor-he displayed the patience of a good hunter
"You&039;re the one who should be afraid," she said finally, letting her ive him-that she wasn&039;t afraid of him Because she was afraid of him, she couldn&039;t tell him she wasn&039;t But she could lie with the truth and make it stick
"If you touch me, Charles will hunt you down and eat your marrohile you are still alive to screa classes and let her mouth turn up "I&039;ll be happy to watch" She licked her lips
The srowled
She wasn&039;t helpless, not like she&039;d been in Chicago when Justin hunted her down-or later, when the pack helped subdue her to his will Here, the only other person in the room was Ric-and he would help her, not Chastel Chastel would best her, probably best them both But she would make sure he was hurt-and then Charles would kill hi her balanced lightly on the balls of her feet and ready for blood and death
There was only now, between this breath and the next-and that left no time for fear
"Your vampire was lovely She died too quickly" Anna imitated the motion she&039;d used to snap the woman&039;s neck "Hopefully you&039;ll make a better show"
"My vampire?" He dismissed her words with an i, lacking in intelligence Nothing but his father&039;s lapdog, who fetches and kills on command"
She let her smile bloom "Is that what you think? How foolish of you"
With the hand that the Frenchet her to stop baiting the Beast She kneas stupid, but Ric couldn&039;t know that her alternative was cowering in a corner So she baited him
"Salope," Chastel snarled
She knew that much French "Thank you"
And suddenly, because she had neither seen nor heard hi directly behind Chastel "Be careful whom you call a bitch, Jean, mon cher," he said in a voice that was too calht feel it was an insult"
Chastel turned around, giving Anna his back so he could face the erous one "Ah, here he is Your woman tells me you will hunt me down and eat my marrohile I live"
"Did she?" Charles looked at her, and she saw the approval in his face She doubted anyone else would have read anything at all His voice was a caress, just for her "Would you like that, love?"
She clasped her hands under her chin in her best silent-filhed and, on the tail end of the sound, rounded on Chastel, using the motion to place hihing at all "Go"
She couldn&039;t see her mate&039;s face, but she saw Chastel flinch and drop his eyes His hands fisted, but it didn&039;t keep hi a step back With a low oath, he turned and stalked away
Charles tilted his head, obviously listening to Chastel leave
"While he was still alive?" he said
"Woet the reputation, but it is only because the women stand behind us, and say, &039;Kill it Squish it&039; "
Anna thought it was time for formal introductions "Charles, this is Ric-I&039;m sorry, I didn&039;t catch your last name"
Ric hopped off the desk, where he&039;d been crouched and ready to pounce if needed, and held out his hand "Postinger Heinrich Postinger"
Charles shook his hand "I am Charles Cornick"
Ric looked at Anna "Your defiance is ad I&039;ve ever seen anyone do He&039;s going to coist," Anna explained
"He was going to go after her no rinned "There&039;s a certain satisfaction in knowing that I deserve it, you know? Better than thinking he&039;s co after me because I ran like a chicken"
Charles kissed her "Yes," he said, pulling his o back- everyone is still in the auditoriu on me Would you please lock the door this ti open so anyone can walk in, O-Woman-Who-is-Not-a-Chicken"
"Of course" And with a sudden burst of confidence, she rose on her toes and kissed his chin-which was as high as she couldwhen she finished
"Good," he said, though whether to the kiss or to her agreement to lock the door he left deliberately up in the air
He&039;d reached the door when she re he should know "He didn&039;t know anything about the vampires"
When Charles looked back at her, she said, "I told him I killed one of his va about"