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But not here Not now

Not ever

"After thisto Deceonna be there helping out later today" Lia deal about it

His heart jumped Like a randy cub, he couldn’t wait to see her Instead of co the ?"

Liaht here Connor, Ana, Ryan, Noah, and Erin are already there Most of the warriors are out patrolling right nohich is why it’s so small"

Jayce nodded The smaller the better The only person he was really interested in talking to was Connor anyway He was the Alpha and had the final say As pack leader, Connor had the alpha temperament times ten It hat made him the leader, the Alpha, not simply alpha in nature This pack was unique in that all the males arriors as opposed to simply alphas, and he didn’t need all that extra testosterone in the rooht now Warriors were alpha in nature but not all alphas arriors The warrior class were sier and badder than the rest of the shifter population and didn’tJayce could appreciate His animal side was more prevalent than even that of warriors It was a constant battle inside him His beast saw the world in black and white and ht in his huerous as a hu because it didn’t factor into the anih he was a different breed altogether, he usually connected better with his warrior brethren Didn’t h

Liam opened the door and entered first, out of respect If he’d been huht have see a roo on the possibility that an a Jayce there was no harh he was the enforcer and there on official business, he was still a guest of their pack Lia the issues he was having with Kat, he felt an odd connection They both had female problems

Lia and Jayce did the sa room As they entered the roo, rectangular table and Ana sat next to him

Connor stood and nodded "Jayce"

"Connor" Jayce stood stiffly as he glanced around the table at everyone When his eyes landed on Erin, the petite redhead Liam and his brother had found naked, beaten, and bloody behind a Duer than on the others

Connor had never reported they’d found Erin, because she’d begged them not to She also wouldn’t tell them where she’d come from or who had hurt her If she had, Liam and Connor and probably the rest of the pack would have lined up for a chance to kill the bastard or bastards who had dared hurt her Violence against females in the shifter world was rare and by the abuse she’d suffered, it had been obvious shifters had hurt her Huth to But when she hadn’t wanted to do anything about her attack, they hadn’t pushed her They’d taken her in and made her part of their pack and protected her the only way they could

It was clear to anyone in the room that Jayce’s assessment of her wasn’t sexual, but it was curious "You’re Erin Flynn" It was not a question but a stateht and Noah, who sat next to her, moved a few inches closer in a proprietaryto the Murphy pack?"

Her face paled and after flicking a nervous glance at Connor, she looked back at Jayce and nodded

"They listed you as dead at the last Council rily "Well, they rong," she said through gritted teeth

Jayce continued to stare at her, as if searching for soazes When Erin didn’t flinch away, Jayce finally nodded slightly "After this , we need to talk"

Erin sed hard but nodded

Liam watched as Noah’s canines started to extend, so he cleared his throat loudly and took the empty chair next to hi began to even out Noah and Erin weren’t mated or bondmates or even intimate as far as Lia her since they’d found her

Jayce focused his attention on Connor as he sat at the opposite end of the table "Before we start this , you should know that the Council cleared you in the death of Taggart"

Connor’s nod was barely perceptible "I wasn’t worried"

Lia of the actual killing That had definitely been justified Considering Taggart had kidnapped a defenseless cub and tried to rape Ana twice, that bastard deserved everything he’d gotten

"That’s not the reason you’re here, though, is it?" Connor spoke again

Jayce shook his head "The APL problery hu to ferret out their leaders, we’ll have a problem"