“What?” Albert snapped.
“Are you going to welcome them into your pack? Offer them equal status to everyone else? Accept who they are and their relationship? Recognize it as equal to those of different sexes?”
“Fuck, no!” The growling and snarling started again, leaving Bel to roll his eyes at the stars overhead.
“Then I don’t see why we’re having this conversation,” Bel snapped, tossing his hands up in the air. “Wyatt and River were exiled from their pack, removing them permanently from werewolf affairs. As such, I’m not interfering with shifter affairs by taking them in and offering them a place in my household. In my pack.”
“They’re still wolves. That makes them our problem to deal with, vampire. Not yours.”
Bel took one step forward but caught himself before he could charge right up into Albert’s flushed face. “They are not a problem. They are a gift. And as of right now, seeing as they are on my property, they are my gift. You and your pack will not be doing anything with them.”
A few of the wolves around Albert started to stalk forward, their heads down and teeth bared as they growled. He could feel a bubbling mixture of emotions coming off River and Wyatt at his back, but Bel couldn’t allow himself to worry about it. So long as they remained behind him, he was sure they were safe. The moment they stepped too close to the property line, Albert and his wolves would undoubtedly strike.
Luckily, Albert didn’t seem to know who the Variks were in the vampire world. The Ministry would likely thank him if he managed to take out Bel along with Wyatt and River.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told the last fanged fuck they hid behind—get them out of our territory in a week, or they’re not the only ones who are going to turn up dead.”
Bel forced out a laugh he didn’t feel and casually strolled forward a couple of steps. Wyatt and River started to follow, but he held up his hands, indicating they should wait. “What kind of a leader would sacrifice his entire pack for two wolves who aren’t any of his business? Who aren’t even in his territory?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Albert blustered. But anything else he was going to say was cut short when Ozzie cawed overhead and flew from one tree branch to another. His new perch was already weighed down by more than a dozen other large birds. A mix of owls, hawks, and other large raptors stared at the wolves in with their cold, unwavering eyes.
From the moment Bel had taken a step into the woods, he’d sent out a little trickle of magic, calling hundreds of birds to this patch of woods. They’d quietly landed on the trees around the wolves, and they’d gone unnoticed while everyone focused on their approach.
Bel narrowed his eyes on Albert, and the older man flinched. As if realizing what he’d done, he took a step forward and Bel smiled, allowing his fangs to slip below his upper lip. “You don’t know who you’re up against, Albert. So, I’ll give you this one warning. Stay away from my property. Stay away from my wolves. Or the consequences will be severe and far-reaching.”
With one last nod of his head, Bel turned and started to walk toward the house. When he joined Wyatt and River, he gently laid a hand on each of their chests and gave a little push, forcing them to break their own stares and move with him.
The second they turned, Bel sent out a new command to the birds. As one, they cried out and launched their feathery bodies from the trees. Bel couldn’t help the smile that formed at the yelps and startled barks erupting from the wolves, but he knew not a one was touched. The birds swooped down but rushed after Bel and his wolves. The thick flurry of wings and feathers created a wall between them and the pack, allowing them to slip away unseen into the trees.
With any luck, this would buy him some time and some breathing room. It would certainly make the wolves think twice about haunting the edge of his property and harassing his wolves. What he was going to do next, he didn’t have a freaking clue.
But after the night he’d had, Bel was certain of only one thing. He would not be threatened.
11
A day of sleep didn’t help to settle Bel’s mind. When he grew frustrated with thinking over the threats posed by Albert and his pack, his mind turned to worrying about his brothers and the Ministry. His thoughts swirled in useless circles until they drove him out of his bed and into the shower. The sun was setting again, but he didn’t feel as if he’d gotten any true rest.