My phone rang while I was shaving. I grabbed it, missing the times when I wasn't the Alpha and could shut it off. Fantasy took me to the woods. I'd find my Este there, and we'd go soak in the hot springs all day, listening to the snowflakes melt and other glorious nonsense. In reality, I picked Mie's call. "Good morning."

"Nii chan, grab Celeste and come to the office immediately." It was a measure of Mie's distress that she didn't greet me and skipped the niceties.

Well, at least she called me big brother, as always, even though I was younger than Reed. Her insistence on that old joke heartened me.

"Celeste is away..." A glance at the nightstand confirmed she left her phone behind. "I can howl for her and my wolf, but if she is deep in meditation with the Goddess—"

"Do it," Mie commanded, cutting me off. "The faster you both are here, the better."

She hung up on me, another thing Mie would normally never do. The vision of snowflakes and other happy stuff evaporated from my mind. With foreboding knotting my stomach, I stepped out on the balcony.

The sun hadn't come up over the forest tops yet, but it was getting lighter by the minute, in a precursor to sunrise. Standing on the top floor to witness the majesty of the mountains and sense the movements of the wolves along the trails always filled me with calm. Today, the relief wasn't enough.

I rolled my head back and poured my loneliness into a long howl. Luna! Come back to me. If you see my mate, bring her to me. I need her. I need her. I need her.

My guiding wolf responded.

I kept my ears pricked for Este's call while I put on my suit. My movements became more jerky as her silence stretched, but I fixed my tie with the same care the knights must have adjusted their armor. If the emergency messed up with Mie's innate courtesy, I had to be at my most confident to get the situation under control.

Particularly, if I didn't have my Luna standing by me.

My ears pricked one last time—no, no sign from Este—then I strode through Olympian with a spring in my step, frown smoothed away, and my shoulders straight like it was an ordinary day.

***

"In there," Mie pointed to the boardroom, her eyes flickering with worry. "Nii chan, it's the Lupine Council, all of them, even Yukon. And they looked..." she chewed her lip, trying to find a word both accurate and respectful.

"Pissed?"

Mie nodded mutely.

"Thanks for the warning." My fists clenched by my sides. It couldn't be a coincidence that everyone on the continent got up extra early the day after we discovered Scarlett's mad plan. This emergency session was going to be interesting.

I almost stumbled upon stepping inside the boardroom—Steinar sat by the table in my usual seat. In front of him, was a croissant sandwich on Olympian's monogrammed plate and a glass of orange juice. If Mie brought him in, this emergency meeting had to be about Scarlett's island, but then... "Where is Harold?"

"Good morning to you too, Alpha Blake!" Steinar crooned his non-response, not only ignoring my question but also that I kept my voice down.

The background chit-chat of the teleconference subsided. We were live, so I had no choice but to reply with an even more chipper, even more loud, "Good morning, Steinar."

He was in my chair, but thirty-five stood empty, so I took a seat one over from Steinar. The cur beamed at me over the rim of his glass, slurping OJ in full view of the gathering, in HD. Why he flaunted this stereotypical human drink before the Lupine Council of North America, beat me. But Steinar was Steinar, so taking my chair and projecting the image of a human had to be a part of some scheme.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Alpha Blake," Mingan, the Lone She-Wolf of Montana said from the top corner of the screen. "We may now begin."

Her face was craggy, her voice was husky and her attitude—authoritarian, but that wasn't why my hackles raised. I was used to her grouchy, domineering presence, since she was the Chair of the North American Lupine Council for longer than I had been the Alpha-elect of my pack.

What truly alarmed me was the number of heads on the split screen. There were far too many for the Council alone.

My eyes quickly flipped between the squares on the screen, confirming that, yes, yes, every Alpha I could think of was there. The prairie wolves of Canada, the secretive forest dwellers from Idaho and Wyoming, all nine packs of Mexico, and even the snow wolves of the polar regions, who had much more in common with the bears than the wolves.

"Won't we wait for his new Luna, Madam Chair? Where is she?" It was a legitimate question, since each Alpha had their Luna with them. Rieka Beaumont, Louis' Luna, filled it with scorn.

If I mated her daughter, she implied, Scarlett would be with me right now.

I didn't doubt it, since Scarlett lived and breathed intrigue. She would be an ideal mate if that's what I wanted. But my deepest need and desire was a mate who lived for the pack and its honor. A mate who loved me. The Goddess looked into my heart and brought Este and I together. Luna Rieka would do well to remember that.

"My Luna visits the sacred places at the start of each day, to pray to the Goddess for me and my pack," I said, after Steinar unmuted us. Naturally, without asking for permission, but for once, I didn't mind it.

Rieka's golden eyes faded to tawny. That's right, Luna. Good luck expecting piety and kindness from Epsilon Scarlett. Despite the pang of satisfaction, Este's absence pierced me straight through. Why hadn't she returned yet? It was early, but not that early.

Harold wasn't in attendance either. He might be sleeping after fortifying our borders until the early hours, but he was keen to move against Scarlett yesterday. So was Este. What if they did something stupid while I slept, and that was why we had a full house?

"Esteemed Council," I said hoarsely. "The agenda wasn't shared with me."

"There's none," Mingan said, fixing me with a stern gaze. And yet, someone worked through the night to gather everyone. Even considering the time difference between the coasts imposed upon us by the humans, this was extraordinarily for a meeting on this scale. "But since you kept the Council in the dark about a matter with global implications, you wouldn't mind the secrecy."

So, it was about Scarlett. "The importance of the rogue conspiracy was exaggerated to you, Esteemed Council. I'm vigilant, and I'm confident all necessary security measures are in place." Unless Harold betrayed me.

I didn't have a chance for a private bout with paranoia, because multiple Alphas not on the Council spoke at once, demanding to know what was at stake and how it affected them. To be fair, I would yap like them too, were I in their place.

Chair Mingan obliged. "Epsilon Scarlett Beaumont has mated a rogue kingpin. They betrayed our secret to humans and gathered them to attack the Moon Arch and create a wild gang of lycanthropes. That's the news Alpha Blake neglected to disclose to the Council."

But someone didn't. Someone, perhaps someone I trusted as much as—or more than—I trusted myself, had rushed to the Council, despite my express order. My chest ached.

Predictably, the meeting deteriorated into a shouting match of questions and accusations, some of time still on mute. Someone had to put a stop to it, but the Council members let it happen. They were mad at me, and they didn't have the power to remove me. Hence, they wanted my reputation in tatters.

I gathered air to my lungs. "I learned of the threat yesterday. It's directed against my pack, so we dealt with it by securing the Arch. There is no need for any other Alpha to be concerned. The Pacific North-West pack does its duty."

"Your pack protects us all, Alpha Blake? What about the Moon Arch in my territory?" Mingan smiled thinly.

"Scarlett acts against me," I said. "It's a personal matter."

"You broke your promise to Scarlett and rejected her. That's a reason for any she-wolf to be scorned." Mingan nodded her head. So did Louis Beaumont, though he still maintained a tight-lipped silence.

I didn't like this sign of agreement between them, and I wouldn't have coached what happened between Scarlett and me in those terms, but it was private. Let them think what they wish, as long as I could convince the Council and my peers that I was doing what was right about the rogues. I exhaled slowly.

"Whatever Scarlett's grievances, she will only act against me, and I'm equipped to defeat her host, as is my duty to my pack, to the Council and to the nation."

"How very valiant. It deserves a round of applause." Mingan slow-clapped, but her voice was sour. She leaned forward. "Tell me, Alpha Blake, did you perchance spurn Colt Laratta's amorous affections as well?"

I didn't catch myself in time, so my brows creased. Laratta? The Brute who attacked Este and who, from what we had witnessed on the island, mated Scarlett in the most base way possible. I straightened. "I assure you, I don't have, and I've never had, any dealings with this filth. Of any kind."

"Oh, don't hold back your righteous outrage," Steinar muttered under his breath, "bigot."

I gritted my teeth, wishing I could simply fight it out with him, once and for all, but Mingan spoke again.

"Then Colt Laratta doesn't have any reason to limit his heinous attack to your pack, isn't that right?" she asked me.

My frown deepened. "Laratta is a thug. He doesn't move without Scarlett's say so."

"Enough!" Louis barked. Never it had been more apparent that it was he, not his tawny wife, who passed down both looks and temperament to his daughter. The veneer of dignity and charm covered his meanness just as they did with Scarlett. Both modulated their voice skilfully as well, to draw attention and to convince. Really, Alpha Louis shouldn't have thrown Scarlett out of his territory...if he did.

"Forgive me, Madam Chairwoman, but I won't sit here and listen to this man's delusions. I'll set the record straight," Alpha Louis said after clearing his throat as if he regretted his passionate outburst.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the opening of the door.

Este walked in, bringing a whiff of spruce needles. Her blond hair twisted up into a messy bun, in a hoodie and a pair of jeans, clean but obviously thrown on in a hurry. She closed the door and leaned against it, determined not to be seen like that by the entire werewolf elite. Me? I liked it so well, I almost forgot that Louis was speaking.

"I don't want to make excuses for my daughter. Her downfall rippled across the continent and wounded me as nothing else did..." Louis roved the space in front of him with a glance to the effect that he seemed to look directly at each one of us, at our end of the camera. It was uncanny.

"But," Louis said, and rubbed his forehead. Of course, there was a but. "But she's a victim here."

"No," Este breathed out through trembling lips.

"Of course, she should have handled a man's rejection better, rather than fall under the influence of a rogue. Maybe I should have been more patient. More understanding..." Louis sighed, and Rieka patted his hand. He grasped it, and the couple held together, like the parents stricken with grief and remorse. "I should have... but now, Laratta exploits her for her knowledge of our secrets."

"The villain," Luna Rieka hissed. "The abomination."

"My mistake, and I shall correct it." Louis lifted his head that started to droop and swiveled us again with his burning-red gaze. "Madam Chairwoman! Alphas and Lunas! For everyone's safety, and in penitence for failing my daughter, I beg your permission to put an end to Laratta and his cohorts, while Alpha Blake—and all other Alphas who have a Moon Arch under their protection—do their duty and guard the access with their packs."

He wanted to lead the attack on Scarlett's island. A member of the Lupine Council!

"They're based among the humans, filling their ranks with them," I said. "The raid would be against the law, which shouldn't be up to me to bring up."

"It's not." Mingan cut me off with a glare. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. The times are desperate, and Laratta has dispersed our secret to the humans. This ultimate betrayal of our laws and faith must cease, even at the cost of a lesser one.

"However, Alpha Louis, I can't grant your request."

Louis bowed his head, but a curved corner of his mouth was telling. He expected to win this. The back of my neck crawled with suspicions.

"I can't grant your request," Mingan repeated, "because it concerns the entire nation, therefore I ask every Alpha to send their best fighters, all they could spare, in uttermost secrecy, to Louis Beaumont.

"My wolves, you have three days to muster and plan. Then, root out this evil. Now, go. Urgency is paramount."

"Blake, do something!" Este screamed, dashing to me. She even shook me to draw my attention. "Blake!"

"My sweet daughter, he can't do anything," Steinar pointed at the emptying screen with the remote and shut it off. "Beaumont outplayed us for now. Hmm, I wonder how I didn't see this connection..." he started laying the cards out.

Este tilted her head, watching his deft moves.

Mingan gave me a public thrashing like I was some naughty pup; the Council sidelined me—and Este was more curious about her father's tricks, and that's after...after she...she and Steinar...

Anger boiled within me, eroding all restraints, as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together.

"You!" I thundered at Father and Daughter. "You two went to the Council behind my back! How could you do this to me!"

"Leave my daughter out of your ranting and raving, Alpha," Steinar said, without taking his eyes off the spreading deck. "Perhaps us was an unfortunate choice of a pronoun on my part—"

"What difference does it make who alerted the Council!" Este threw her hands up in the air.

"Because I said no to it."

"You got what you wanted anyway! Sitting tight, while Scarlett gets free out of jail card—"

"It's the right thing to do." It was.

The world was turning on me when I was doing what was right. I gazed at Este for understanding, but she rolled her blue eyes at me.

My insides strained to a breaking point. It was to lash out on my mate or... I growled and turned 180 degrees, kicked the door open and walked out of the office. My body moved like a robot, by memory, because my vision flooded with scarlet.

Behind me, Steinar said, "No, no. Let him go. The manly-men types are like kettles. Heat fast, cool off fast. And it's not like he's your husband, right?"

I didn't stop till I crossed the edge of the forest and could shed my humanity with an angry, wounded howl.