“Maybe with the monster dick you’re packing. Being more... streamlined, I am less likely to perform a colonoscopy on the downstroke,” Slade retorted.
“And we’re back to arguing about butt sex,” I said, smoothing the water from my face. “The circle of life.”
“Let’s save the jockeying for various sexual acts until after the meeting,” Finn said, his face grim. “We don’t get invited to these things often, and we need to make our position known. Leaving my dads, all of the men that have gone through the gate in the paws of the Volken is not acceptable.”
I took his hand, squeezing it, but the smile he gave me was strained.
Jack, Hawk, and Sylvan were waiting for us outside once we got dressed, hair slicked back and damp with fresh clothes on. Jack buried his head in the weight of Hawk’s hair when we approached, nuzzling his neck. He blinked, looking dazed and then stunned when Hawk stepped free and over to me.
“You OK?”
Was I? What the hell had happened when we were together? Why Brandon and Hawk? What the hell was that white wolf thing? I saw the slight glow in his chest in the slender gap between the buttons of his flannel shirt.
“I don’t know,” I ended up saying.
“Yeah, me too.”
“The car is arriving to take us all to the council building,” Ophelia said, arriving at the end of the hall. “Come along. We mustn’t be late.”
Were we? When we arrived, striding into the circular room as a group, the place was already packed with people. There were plenty of women in the seats, but the circular space in the centre was also filled with rows of men standing around. There was a lot of higher-pitched mumbling as we walked into the room that just got more excitable when people saw Ophelia. “Stay here,” she said. I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Kelly as we went to take a place in the crowd. “Ah, Sylvan, you look much improved.”
The black wolf was now clad in a business shirt and slacks, looking oddly debonair. I compared it mentally to the leather armour I’d seen the Volken wearing in the vision, but he seemed completely unfazed by the change.
“I’ll take a seat, shall I?” he said.
“No, no,” Nancy said, having just swept in. “You’re the guest of honour.”
He was something alright. People started to talk in earnest at the sight of him, men stiffening and stepping forward, eyes narrowing. Then, the big swinging doors slammed open, and soldiers strode in, taking up position around the central dais. They weren’t toting guns, but you got the feeling it wouldn’t take much for them to retrieve the firearms strapped to their sides. Almost as if timed, the rest of the matriarchs came next. Some wore trailing dresses like Nancy, others wore nice pantsuits and twinsets. It didn’t seem to matter. Each and every one of them exuded something I was yet to see in anyone else here, even the soldiers: pure unadulterated power.
“If I could have some quiet, please.”
Ophelia didn’t raise her voice, yet silence settled quickly over the room. She surveyed the inhabitants, supremely confident that she had their attention.
“Sanctuary is a small town. I know some of you are aware of the leadership change. My daughter, Kelly, has decided to step down in light of the most recent information, of which I will go into more detail presently. Sanctuary is about to enter a difficult time. All of you know of the incursion by Sylvan, the black wolf.” She held up her hand when the mumbling began again in earnest. “It has come to light that Sylvan did so to bring us useful information from the Volken, the black wolves. An attack on the gate, on Sanctuary, has been planned.” Even Ophelia couldn’t keep the crowd silent at that, but she sailed on. “The Volken are producing fewer and fewer sons. They blame our existence for this and think that by exterminating us, they can restore their previously exclusive patriarchal society.”
Well, that was it. The cat was completely out of the bag, and everyone was going to stand around talking anxiously about it, apparently. Finn shook his head. I took a step closer to him. There was something harder, more brittle about him, his usual easy-going nature taking a backseat. He looked down for a second when I took his hand, but then his eyes returned and remained trained on the proceedings.
He’s waiting, I realised, for some kind of mention of his dads.
Ophelia spelled it all out—what martial law meant, the closing of the gate, the way Kelly would maintain the business side of Sanctuary Metals with the stockpile of gold they’d kept for just this reason and keep the community ticking along. Ophelia, with the support of the matriarchs ringed behind her, created a calm and compelling response to the incoming threat.
By the time they opened the floor to questions, I knew Finn’s heart had to be breaking. I zoned out Ophelia’s cut-glass voice and Sylvan’s smooth one as they took questions. I watched Aaron edge forward when the soldiers began to try and get details about the potential attack, obviously wanting to be with them. I heard the rasp of Finn’s breath as it came, long and slow and rattling. I felt the fine shake of his arm when I placed my hand on it. There it was, down our bond, the anger, frustration, the fight to hold himself still. The grind of his jaw, the clench of his fingers. Finn held himself back by a thread.
Then, Jack piped up.
“So why are the...Volkmen?”
“Volken,” Ophelia corrected.
“Volken. Why are they attacking? They think we’ve stolen their male mojo, but why?”
Silence reigned within the room.
They’re not going to say it, I thought as I watched the matriarchs’ eyes dart around. Ophelia remained still and quiet, staring back at her grandson.
“Well,” one of the matriarchs said, stepping forward as the pause in conversation grew longer and longer.
“Because they’ve used the men we’ve exiled in a breeding program and proven they can have many sons, if fathered by our men.” Finn bit the words out, the implication of just who he meant clear in such a small community. I didn’t know the details of why Finn’s dads were banished, but they did. “We gave them the incentive to attack.”