Chapter 38 #2
Austin hesitated. This guy was really on board.
He wasn’t just helping, he was re-emerging.
He was stepping back into the world of the shifters, and he was doing it under Jess and Austin’s umbrella.
Holy hell. The little Barazza black sheep, the kid who would never amount to anything, was currently having a meeting as an equal with Yazanth Golden Fang.
Was this real life?
“Fine,” Austin said, playing it cool “We’ll go with the special force and say you need to be brought up to speed. It’s true, after all. Your power and posturing will make that a no-brainer. You can tell people who you are in your own time.”
“At the Alpha Conclave,” John said in a firm voice. “Armendale is going to be gunning for you. He won’t like the power you are amassing. He won’t like someone trying to take his place as the king of the mountain, a position he only has because no one is contesting him.”
“My brother doesn’t have the power.”
“No, your brother doesn’t have the wildness to attempt it, and in so doing, upset the status quo.
No one does. Except me. And now you. My time is done.
It’s your turn to knock that jackass down a peg.
But it won’t be just brawn. It’ll be political.
He’s going to amass his followers and throw his weight around. ”
“He was always going to do that. I never thought he’d join, but I have always intended to shove my power in his face and give people a new voice to listen to.”
John nodded, his eyes twinkling. “I can help. I will step forward as part of the convocation and Jessie’s team.
My sisters and former pack will step forward with me, and by then, so will their pack friends.
I’m going to fly one of them out to meet the team and give them some talking points.
You’ll have me, my old pack, and their network.
Plus, what you’ve already amassed. We’ll give Armendale a little shock and some much-needed opposition. ”
“And I assume you’ll get even for how he’s treating your sisters.”
John laughed. “If we can’t be petty, what even is the point?” He sobered up. “But I will caution you—an Alpha Conclave will be incredibly dangerous. Chaotic. It might be mayhem with all that power. There’ll be deaths, and you might end up worse than you started, if you make it out at all.”
Austin huffed out a laugh. “It’ll be more than that because we’re not just inviting shifters. And we’ll manage it because we must. We have no choice but to succeed. Failure is not an option.”
John was quiet for a long time, studying Austin as he sipped his drink. Austin let him, knowing the other man was sizing him up.
“In this, as with the convocation, I think you and Jessie are uniquely suited to see it through,” he finally said, shaking his head.
“You deal with chaos and danger on the regular. Sue took me through the town on the way here. You’re primed, and you already seem to handle a lot of power.
” He blew out a breath. “Well, I’m on hand to help, as I’ve said.
” He held up a finger. “I’m not going back on my word.
I’m not joining a pack. I am joining the Ivy House crew and corresponding convocation. ”
“It’s the details,” Austin said with a grin. It slipped away slowly. “I’m sure you know that this is…beyond helpful. This’ll push us forward an incredible amount. Your help is a blessing I never would’ve dreamed of. This is all highly unexpected.”
“For myself, included. Yours and Tristan’s teams are inspiring. You’ve done incredible things with them. But Jessie’s team is special. Odd. Horribly so. But very special. I find that I fit in there, and I’ve been told it’s the beginning of the end for me because of it.”
Austin laughed. “Very likely.”
“I’ll independently talk to Jessie about all this, of course, but I know she’ll say yes. She’s gone out of her way to help me. I see now why Sue and Tristan think she is the glue. Because she is.”
“Yes. I couldn’t do any of this without her.”
“No, you couldn’t. What is it Jessie keeps saying as a mantra? If we can help, we should. She’s right. And this time I don’t have to do it on my own. It’ll be nice to join a team rather than create and lead one for once, I’m not going to lie. I would like to ask a favor, though.”
Austin sipped his drink and waited, still prepared to offer the world.
“My sisters are too…humble, apparently. I hear you know your way around being a showy bastard. They might need your help. I was always more focused on being a scary bastard. I never really worried about flaunting my money and looking like a peacock. My sisters didn’t get any training on that front. ”
“I know something about that, definitely.” He laughed. “I was the black sheep younger brother, after all. Nessa and Sebastian are also excellent. Tristan. We have a few divas in this outfit.”
John smirked. “I’d appreciate it.” He nodded and started to rise but hesitated. He clearly didn’t want to, finding himself just as relaxed as Austin was.
“Please.” Austin gestured at the plate. “Have a sandwich. Mr. Tom would be all too happy to give you abuse about it while he brings in another couple.”
John laughed gratefully. “I’ll take you up on that, thanks. Despite the house’s antics this place is comfortable. I might take Jessie up on staying here for a while. There’s obviously plenty of room.”
“Plenty, yes. She’d be happy to have you. She likes to make sure people are fitting in.”
“The glue,” John murmured with a little smile.
Later that night, with Jess sleeping soundly and the darkness laying heavy across the backyard of Ivy House, Austin sat at the little table in their room and called his brother.
“This better be urgent,” Kingsley answered in a sleepy voice.
“You will never believe who has just moved into Ivy House.” He was going to let John declare himself on his own terms, but some things you had to share with family just to make them real. “You’re sworn to secrecy.”
He heard the shuffle of the phone as Kingsley moved around.
“Who I shared a meal with in the little study,” Austin continued. “Who I talked about pack politics with and who I am bringing into our crew as a specialized unit.”
“Who?” Kingsley asked. “It better be someone good after all this build-up.”
He paused for a moment. Butterflies filled his stomach. “Yazanth Golden Fang.”
The silence stretched. And stretched.
“Fuck off,” Kingsley finally said. “No way. No way! Are you serious? It’s really him?”
“The legend in the flesh.”
“I studied everything that guy did. I owe a lot of my early enforcer strategy to him. And you shared a meal with him?” The breath went out of Kingsley.
“Unreal. How did this all come about? I heard he was exiled, though that didn’t make much sense.
That he was dead, too, but no body ever turned up, obviously, so that was highly suspect. ”
“I heard of a rogue, went to offer him a place to live, and that ferocious beast came bursting out of the trees. Jesus, Kingsley, the stories don’t do him justice. I had a moment of panic before I got my senses together. He has a…way about him. People gravitate to him.”
“Power?”
“A little less than mine. I could take him, but it would be a knock-down, bloody, ear-detaching sort of fight. He’d give me a run for my money. He is what we’ve always heard.”
“And he’s with you?”
Austin shook his head, looking out at the grounds. “Yes. I can hardly believe it myself. He’s going to smooth things out with his former pack before he declares himself. He wants to help. He’s in it for the same reasons you tried to start this thing. For the reasons I am doing this. He’s legit.”
Kingsley swore. “That is great for the cause, and I am also unreasonably jealous.”
Austin laughed quietly, hearing the respect and teasing in his brother’s voice. “Don’t be. It wasn’t me that swayed him. It was Jess and her crew. He wants to be slotted within her team.”
He told his brother the particulars.
“That’s a good idea,” Kingsley affirmed. “Maybe he’ll bring a little order to that motley crew.”
“I’m not taking bets on it.” Austin grinned.
“Well, it’ll at least give her clout in the shifter world. That’s what she sorely needs. It’s really the best place he could’ve gone.”
“That’s what I was thinking. After I’d fallen over myself accepting his help, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Kingsley said, and laughed.
“Also—and I won’t announce this yet either—I’m going to put on an Alpha Conclave. That’s where he’s going to announce himself and that his sisters are joining the convocation.”
Austin laid out his plan, summarizing most of it. When he was done, the pause was longer this time.
“No,” Kingsley said. “That’s too far, Austin. Don’t let having Golden Fang join your crew go to your head. With that much power amassed, a conclave is suicide.”
“I decided before him, and it’s happening. Clear your schedule, because you’re going to help us plan it.”
Kingsley let out a string of curses, a prayer, and then acceptance. Austin’s brother would always be there for him.
And now they had a secret weapon, but it wasn’t Golden Fang. These shifters liked to show off? Then Austin would make sure their efforts paled in comparison to the wonder that was Ivy House and its mistress.