Mason My wolf, Colt, finally had enough of being suppressed.
His growl ripped out of my throat as | felt my canines lengthening. One nipped my bottom lip, and | tasted. blood. | couldâve restrained him, but | let him show himself as much as | could without actually shifting.
âBro. Impressive as f uck,â Xander thought to me while aloud, his wolf, Hunter, also snarled.
We were both on our feet, fists on the table, leaning toward the ancient vampire. Malachi turned his face. and waved a hand in front of it.
âBoys, settle yourselves. | can smell your wolves all the way down here.â
Xanderâs wolf rumbled in his voice when he replied.
âMock if you want, but you will not dismiss us.â
âNot when it comes to our Luna,â | added with Coltâs growl edging my tone.
Charlotte stood and waved her hands at all of us.
âLet's have everyone just calm down. Please. Xander and Mason, donât make me have you removed from the room. We value your contributions to the leadership council, and | understand your concerns about your mate, but this is not the place for antagonism!â
âTell that to him,â | muttered with a point of my chin at Malachi. The old bas tar d was smiling at us both. | reeled Colt back in by promising to take another long run with him. Outside, if we could manage it. | sat back in my chair.
Xander followed me after a few seconds, but his wolf kept blazing in his eyes. He bared his teeth and shook his head like a wolf shaking its ruff. For a minute, wasnât sure he was actually going to stop his I change.
Finally, he faced Charlotte with no signs of Hunter in him at all.
âLook. We get it. We're new here, and you donât have many wolves at all, much less Alphas like us.â
âI've never even heard of Alphas like you,â Charlotte said. âYour entire family is unique.â
It could have sounded like she was just sucking up, but the smile on her face looked sincere. It settled me down alittle. Xander, too.
âBut you canât just keep tossing out all of these bombshells and not expect us to get upset.â | finished Xanderâs statement for him. âYou all arenât used to wolves like us, but we arenât used to any of this at all.â
âFair enough,â Malachi said in a tone that sounded genuinely sorry.
Charlotte shot him a fond look. âVampires are well known to have a flair for the dramatic.â
for all to get along and appreciate our differences.â
âSo how about instead of being all dramatic about it, then, you just tell us what we should be worried about for Lanie,â | said.
âYeah. Is she in danger of getting sick? Or ending up in a coma? What?â Xander demanded.
Malachi leaned forward in his chair. âUnfortunately, much as with everything else relating to my granddaughter in particular, we simply cannot be one hundred percent sure. There have been cases of hybrids. who, for some reason or another, have been unable to access their full strengths, even with a lot of training. Some with a lesser m ental capacity, for example.â
âLanieâs one of the smartest women Iâve ever met.â | defended her boldly.
Malachi inclined his head. âI agree. | have no doubts that she will be able to learn everything she has to. The problem lies within the scope of what that means.â
Xander shot me a look and a thought. âNow what the hell's he talking about?â
âYou're not entirely sure what sheâs fully capable of, so you canât be sure you can teach her everything she needs to know. Am |
getting that right?â | asked Malachi, who nodded.
Xander picked up where | left off. âSo then what?â
âThe solution to that, fortunately, is a simple one. We teach her every skill we can think of. It will be quite intense. And first, of course, she has to be tested to see if she inherited the skills. So if the only way the two of you overprotective lunks will allow it is if you can be in charge of the safety protocols, then by all means, please set them up. But do it quickly. By the end of the day, if possible, so she can get started first thing in the morning.â
My brother and | exchanged looks. He nodded, and | returned it. Xander gestured at Malachi.
âWe'll need a list of the potential skills you'll be testing and how you plan to do it. If there are people you be asking to help you out, we need their names.
Background information. Anything like that.â Xander sounded confident, and d amn, | did admire the way he was able to step up like that.
Not for the first time, | wondered what it would be like to really rule the Constantine pack beside him.
The longer we stayed here, the less confident | was that weâd ever have the chance.