24. Smoke and Mirrors
24
Smoke and Mirrors
My head snapped to the right. A woman with dark eyes and silver-speckled dark hair was watching me with an unreadable expression, her teacup poised perfectly in her manicured hands.
I hadn’t noticed her when I’d walked into the room. From the way Bo’s ears flattened briefly, neither had he. Which was odd, considering the subtle hostility I could feel radiating off her.
Helen backed down grudgingly at the stranger’s tone.
Victoria addressed the dark-haired woman in a polite voice. “Priscilla, I’m glad to see your health has improved enough for you to attend the Council meetings again.”
“Thank you,” Priscilla said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m pleased to see you too, old friend.”
Her emphasis on the word “friend” wasn’t lost on anyone. Several of the elderly werewolves exchanged troubled glances.
I now understood what Victoria had meant when she’d said the Council was a flock of vultures.
Victoria ignored the tension in the room and addressed her peers. “Everyone, I would like to formally introduce the Hawthorne luna. This is Abigail West, Samuel’s mate. And this is her dog, Bo.”
“Hi,” I said guardedly.
“Sup,” Bo greeted with a hesitant wag of his tail.
The Council welcomed us with a series of curious hellos and a few judgmental nods.
“Why don’t you sit down and have some tea?” Camilla Lynch said timidly once introductions were complete.
“Do you have anything stronger?” I said bluntly.
A few of the elderly werewolves swallowed snorts. Some wrinkled their brows disapprovingly. The color rising in Helen’s cheeks indicated she was about to blow.
Priscilla Holt’s expression remained inscrutable.
“It was a joke,” I muttered.
Victoria shot me a warning look and guided me to a chair. I pulled it back. The top rail shattered in my grip. My stomach dropped.
A hush fell over the room. Victoria paled a little. Pearl sighed.
“That’s one way to make an impression,” Bo said brightly.
“You know, I don’t think that dog’s a familiar,” Martha Claymore, the elder with the fresh undies, hissed to a wrinkly counterpart.
“I think you’re right,” Felicity Newfield grunted.
I realized half the Council was studying me like I was one hot second away from turning rabid on them.
I swallowed. “Is this an antique?”
“Yes,” Helen snapped.
“No,” Victoria groaned at the same time.
I looked at Pearl.
“It costs as much as your clothes did,” the cat said.
My eyes glazed over a little.
Victoria wordlessly indicated the next chair, her movements stiff. I recalled my training with Samuel and handled it gingerly as I sat in it.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Camilla said in a brittle voice.
A waiter walked in with a pot of tea and a cake stand packed with sandwiches, cakes, and cookies.
“So,” Priscilla said politely once we all had fresh cups and had helped ourselves to something to nibble on. “Tell us about yourself.”
I watched her guardedly. According to Victoria, the Council of Elders had no official leader and all decisions were taken by a majority vote. Yet it seemed Priscilla had appointed herself the de facto head of the assembled werewolves. From the uncomfortable glances some of the other Council members were exchanging, not everyone was on board with her behavior.
“Yes,” Camilla added eagerly, trying to break the fraught silence. “We want to know everything.”
“Especially about that first pack run,” Isobel Lynton said coolly. “I heard it was quite spectacular.”
“Isobel,” Victoria warned in a low voice.
“What?” Isobel looked unrepentant. “It’s not every day the Hawthornes get a new luna, Victoria. Even if she is a human who was bitten by your wayward son.”
Victoria stiffened.
“And we all know why he turned out that way,” Helen added in a syrupy voice.
The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
I couldn’t tell if Victoria’s rigid expression was from Helen’s words or the general reference to Hugh.
“Now, now,” Priscilla said smoothly. “Let’s not dwell on the past.” She focused on me. “How are you finding life as a werewolf, Abigail?”
There was something about her perfectly pleasant tone that made my inner wolf uneasy. Judging from the way Bo was watching her, my dog felt the same.
Since Victoria had decided to ignore the thinly veiled insults directed at the Hawthornes, I elected to do the same.
“It’s been interesting,” I said calmly.
“Interesting?” Helen scoffed. “Is that all you have to say?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Would you prefer I describe my first transformation in detail?”
“Abby,” Victoria pleaded softly.
I ignored her. I knew I was playing right into the Council’s hands, but the way they were treating Victoria was getting on my nerves.
“The pain hit me like a brick wall.” I bared my teeth in what I hoped passed for a smile but judging from the way a few eyes widened probably came across as a threatening smirk. “Luckily, my alpha decided to dull my agony by kissing me. It was hot. And heavy. Tongue was involved?—”
Martha and Felicity choked on their teas.
Several of the elderly werewolves sucked in air behind their cups, their expressions a mix of shock and horrified interest.
“No need to be crude, dear,” Priscilla said with a tight smile.
Martha steered the conversation in a less confrontational direction.
“I must say, you seem to have adapted remarkably well for someone so newly turned,” the elderly werewolf said affably.
“Indeed,” Isobel said in a disapproving voice, steering it right back in the danger zone. “The pixies say you’re faster than any werewolf they’ve ever seen.”
My shoulders knotted. I could see where this was going and I didn’t like it one bit. Judging from the way Pearl’s eyes shrank to slits and Victoria’s knuckles whitened on her cup, neither did they.
“The pixies need to mind their own business,” Victoria said sharply.
“But it’s true, isn’t it?” Isobel arched an eyebrow. “Your new luna outran the entire pack during her first run.”
I shifted uncomfortably as all eyes locked onto me.
“I wouldn’t say the entire pack.”
“I was told even the proud Hawthorne alpha couldn’t keep up with you.” Isobel’s expression turned calculating. “When was the last time we had a white wolf in Amberford?”
“Not since my great-great-grandmother’s time,” Victoria replied reluctantly in the fraught silence.
“Hmm.” Isobel sipped her tea. “Fascinating how these things skip generations, isn’t it?”
I suppressed the growl working up my throat. Bo pressed against my leg, equally tense. Surprise jolted me when Pearl jumped from Victoria’s lap onto mine.
I could tell from the cat’s body language that she was telling me to stay calm.
“Speaking of fascinating things,” Helen said in an oily voice. “I notice Samuel isn’t here today. You would have thought he would have wanted to come, considering it’s the first time his luna is being introduced to our community.”
“He had meetings,” Victoria said coolly. “We weren’t exactly given a lot of notice.”
“Really?” Helen’s lips curved. “Or maybe he’s avoiding his responsibilities, like his father.”
Victoria’s teacup cracked. Some of the elders traded troubled looks. Even I could tell Helen had crossed a line.
Pearl hissed and arched her back. “How dare you mention Alexander!”
Bo thumped the floor irritably with his tail. “Should I rough her up?!”
I narrowed my eyes at Helen. “You seem awfully interested in the Hawthornes’s private business, Karen.”
The werewolf was oblivious to my deadly tone.
“My name is Helen!” she snapped, her face reddening.
“Oh, is it?” I cocked an eyebrow. “I would call you that if you stopped sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“How dare you—” Helen snarled.
“Now, now,” Priscilla intervened in a voice laced with a steely warning. “We’re all friends here.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I said coldly. I glanced at Victoria and decided I’d had enough of the Council’s attitude toward us. “You know, I’m not sure why you put up with this behavior. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t born a werewolf, but if humans acted this way, they’d get slammed against the wall and punched in the throat.”
Bo grinned. Pearl smirked. Victoria blinked.
Admiration glittered in Martha’s eyes. She leaned toward Felicity and hissed, “I like her!”
Camilla was staring at me in wide-eyed awe. Helen spluttered incoherently beside her.
I crossed my arms, leaned back in the chair, and scanned the Council. “Why don’t you people get to the point? It’s clear you have something you want to say.”
For once, Victoria seemed grateful for my intervention. I could tell the mention of her husband had rattled her.
“Perhaps we should move on to official business,” Camilla suggested. She glanced hesitantly around the table.
Priscilla fixed me with a piercing stare. “We are here to discuss your position as luna.”
Victoria stilled.
“What about it?” I said in a chilly tone.
“The Council has certain expectations,” Helen said with the expression of someone who’d been made to swallow a raw lemon.
“Such as?” I asked dangerously.
“Such as proper decorum and behavior,” Isobel replied. “Oh, and suitable associations.” Her gaze dropped meaningfully to Bo.
Pearl’s tail bristled. “Excuse me?!”
“What Helen and Isobel mean,” Priscilla said smoothly, “is that we want to ensure you understand the gravity of your position.” She paused and fixed me with an unreadable stare. “Especially given your unique abilities.”
I didn’t like the way she said unique .
“The Council would like to monitor your development,” Camilla concluded in a sickly tone. The secretary looked like she wanted to sink into the ground.
“Monitor?” I repeated flatly.
“For your own good, of course.” Priscilla said. Her smile made her look like a shark. “We wouldn’t want anything unfortunate to happen because you don’t understand your role.”
I saw Victoria’s fingers curl into fists on her lap.
It was clear the Council intended to put a leash on me. Whether this was because they feared the Hawthornes gaining even more power and influence than they already had, or because they didn’t know how to cope with the sudden appearance of a white wolf, only time would tell.
“Is it my imagination, or is there a threat buried in those words?”
Priscilla’s smile widened in the tense silence. “Oh, we would never dare threaten a luna. We only wish to help.”