Chapter 64
Chapter
Sixty-Four
COLTON
Iwas nervous, to say the least. The last thing I wanted to do was meet Ebony and her family.
They didn’t deserve to even have a meeting.
Still, I would not let them go without me.
If she tried anything, I would simply bite her head off and be done with it.
I wasn’t playing games anymore. My family depended on it, and I wouldn’t allow her to take everything away.
Grabbing my phone, I answered the silent ring. “Mike.”
“I’ve got eyes in the air. You want me to listen too?”
“Please.” I tucked my button-up shirt into my jeans. “I’ll have you in my back pocket. Make sure you record. I’m going to do my best not to shift, but if she tries anything…”
Mike clicked his tongue. “I know. As much as I don’t agree with how she said it, my mate is right. This needs to end. You can’t hole up in the lair forever. Though you could. You’ll outlive all of them now.”
“Yes, let me tell Kayla when she is older that she can’t leave the lair until she’s in her forties. Just in case our enemies aren’t dead yet.” I snorted. “I would never and could never do that to my pups.”
Pulling my hair up into a messy bun, I turned to look in the mirror.
I looked normal. My weight finally hit normal and even a couple of pounds over.
I had also built back some of the muscle I had while working at the docks.
It had been over a year now that my weight had dropped below where it should have been.
As I managed my weight, I was still struggling to get my size right. I thought I did, and then today, I ran into two pairs of pants that didn’t fit anymore. It probably didn’t help that I’d been stress-eating everything Candice was stress-cooking. Chuckling, I shook my head.
A year. An entire year since Marcus stepped into my life and changed everything.
We had a daughter, went through the seven rings of hell, only to end up here.
It felt like we were finally going to be free of Ebony and Dylan.
The Council was finally on our side, most likely because they knew the Alfords had deeper pockets than the Dark Night pack and the Red River pack combined.
“If your pups get even an ounce of your stubbornness, you wouldn’t be able to hold them back, anyway.”
I scoffed. “You’re such an ass.”
“Yeah, well, how about you focus? You don’t know what tricks they are going to pull. If you need to run…”
Letting out a long sigh, I nodded. “I know, Mike. I know.” I stepped into the nursery and picked up a few of the toys that were lying again. “How is the house?”
“It’s coming along. We got confirmation on most of the countertops being finished, and they just need to be shipped. Cabinets are still in progress. Electrical is done in the walls, and they are doing their best with everything getting shipped and delivered at different times.”
“I’m working on the interior furniture, though!
” Sabrina called from somewhere behind Mike.
“There are so many rooms; I need to confirm with you and the plans what you want where. The kitchen, bathrooms, and all that are easy. I have set up the kitchen and bathrooms, but I need to know your preferences for the guest bedrooms and other spaces.”
I opened the door and headed down the stairs. “I’ll talk to you about it soon.”
“Have you talked to Marcus about it? That you’re doing all this?”
My lips thinned as I stopped my descent. “Not yet.”
“He might want to know you’re building an entire house behind his back.”
“I’m not doing it behind his back! I just don’t know what he planned on doing after all this was over. We went to the other house, but…there was nothing left. He seemed lost. I just…haven’t been able to talk to him about it.”
Mike let out a sigh. “Talk to him, Colt. Especially as this all comes to a head.”
“I’m putting you in my back pocket now. Enjoy the sound of my ass.”
I pulled the phone away and shoved it in my pocket, making sure I had the speakers up. Taking the rest of the steps down, I joined Tyson and Lauren by the front door.
“Are we ready?”
“I think so. Beau, Eva, and Candy, with Kayla, already left for the cabin. Marcus is out with everyone else.”
Tyson opened the door, and there were a few people gathered on the front lawn. There were quite a few I didn’t know, and I wondered if they were from the flight. I walked over to Dean and shook his hand.
“You look better, Colton. Are you sure you want to do this, though? No one would blame you for staying back with your little girl.”
“No. I need to come. She did this to the both of us. Plus, if anyone is going to bite someone’s head off, it might as well be me.”
Dean tossed his head back and laughed. “Well spoken.”
“I think this is everyone. Let’s fly to the meeting place.”
My first instinct was to walk over to Laila, but Lauren grabbed my shoulder. “Maybe…go with your mate?”
I looked back at Marcus, who was stripping down on the side nearest the field.
We hadn’t really talked about any of this, but I could feel his nerves all throughout yesterday and today.
Slowly, I made my way through the crowd of naked shifters to him.
His eyes caught mine, and he reached out, pulling me to him.
“No matter what happens, you know I love you, right?”
“I do. I love you too, Mar.” I kissed his lips. “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”
He snorted. “I’m supposed to say that to you.”
Shrugging, I picked up his clothes and put them on my arm. “We never really did things traditionally, have we?”
His hum turned into a deep growl as he shifted into his full dragon form.
As his wings unfurled, I took him in. He was gorgeous, and I loved how his scales caught the sun.
A murmur went through the crowd of people, some of them seeing Marcus as a black dragon for the first time.
Stepping up, I easily climbed up and onto his back.
I felt a comfortable warmth from the scales beneath me. Grabbing onto one of his spikes, I held on as he lifted into the air. It was so different from how Laila flew. She was much wider and had a different center of gravity. Marcus was larger and thinner, being far more fluid in the air.
Hold on, Colt.
I am Mar. I’m just marveling at you. Every time I see you, I can’t help but marvel at you as a dragon.
He chortled, banking a little in the air as we waited for everyone to get up and into some kind of formation. Thank you for the compliment, my little mate. It was his dragon that spoke in my mind.
I’ve wanted to ride you for so long without you being afraid because I was pregnant. I smirked. As a dragon. I know what you were going to say.
Smoke enveloped me as he snorted. Next time, we will take a long flight. Just you and me.
No Kayla?
Maybe one day. She’s still so little. I’m concerned about her getting too cold. I think I let Mason and Ellen ride we when they were at least two.
I didn’t reply as we moved together as a group.
The meeting spot set to meet the Blackfells wasn’t too far, but it was down the mountain.
It was a wide-open space, and the Council had actually been the one to choose it.
They also would show up to make sure nothing happened during the talks.
Even though they couldn’t really do anything to stop it if it got out of hand.
My hand splayed on one of Marcus’ scales. It was too big for my hand to cover, and I wondered how sensitive he was. Dragons were sturdy and their scales were like armor plates, but I didn’t know how much they could feel. Could he feel me on him, or was it just the weight of my body?
Deciding to test the theory, I grabbed the spike tighter before grinding myself against his scales. Marcus let out a loud growl, plummeting out of formation and literally dropping in altitude immediately. I bent over and laughed, shaking my head.
Colt, what the hell are you doing?
Just testing a theory.
With one massive flap, he pushed back into the formation as I continued to laugh.
I wanted to do it again, but Tyson, who was at the head of the ground, started to bank and drop lower.
My hand tightened, seeing the open land that we were planning on meeting.
There were also quite a few people who were already in the clearing.
The ground shook as multiple dragons landed in their full forms. As Marcus got closer to the ground, I slid off the side of him.
Colton!
Landing lightly on the ground, I brushed myself off. What?
He shifted and landed on the grass a little way ahead of me. Stalking over, he grabbed my head in his hands.
“Don’t do that! Wait till I’m down before you jump off!”
“Why? I’m a shifter, Mar. I’m not pregnant anymore. I’ll be okay with a light drop. Don’t treat me like a baby.”
Handing him his clothes, he pulled them on, glancing at the group of people on the other side. “She’s there.”
I nodded and swallowed hard. “She is.”
“Will you be okay?”
Snorting, I shook my head. “I’m not the one she wants, Mar. It’s you. Dylan is the one who wants me.”
“Yeah, but…”
Putting my finger to his lips, I stopped him from speaking. I gave him another kiss, this time deeper. I brushed my thumb over his freshly shaved face. He pulled me closer, pressing me up against him and lifting me slightly off the ground.
“I love you.”
“I know. Now, come on. Let’s get this over with so I can get back to dreaming about biting this she-bitch’s head off.”
He chuckled, settling his hand on my back. We walked together to Tyson, who got dressed and rallied everyone. A little bear shifter jogged over to us, dressed in the Council’s uniform. I pressed closer to Marcus as I glared at them.
“Alford and others, correct?”
“Yes.” Tyson put his hand out and shook the representative of the Council. “Tyson Alford. My son, Marcus Alford, and his mate Colton Alford are here as well.”
We stepped up, and while Marcus shook the representative’s hand, I didn’t. They held it out to me for a moment, but I didn’t move. Eventually, they cleared their throat and moved back to Tyson.
“So, the representatives of the Dark Night pack are here already. Obviously, I don’t need to say, but this is to talk about any alternatives or working out any trade agreements between the two parties.
There are five council members here in order to oversee the talk.
I don’t think I need to explain what happens if the peace is broken. ”
“We understand. We are only here to talk,” Tyson glanced at me. “Really, this is for them at this point. I know what we were leaning toward, but we wanted to give Dark Night an option to speak with us.”
The representative nodded and motioned forward. “Then shall we meet in the center? We can get started and then everyone can go home.”
We made our way forward, everyone tense as we watched the other side also step forward.
Marcus’ finger snuck into my belt loop of my jeans.
I touched my back pocket, just to make sure my phone was still there.
My entire body was on high alert while my mind tried to figure out how they would try to plead their case.
What kind of underhanded tricks they would use to save their own skins.
Tyson stopped behind the representative, and we watched as, I assumed were, Mr and Mrs. Blackfell stepped forward as well.
My eyes roamed the group, trying to see if I could spot the shifter who tried to ruin my life.
Further back in the crowd, I caught her stare.
She wasn’t looking at me, though. Her eyes were glued to Marcus.
“Alpha Alford.” Mr. Blackfell stepped up and shook Tyson’s hand. “It’s good to meet you.”
Tyson shook his hand. “I wish it were under better circumstances, Alpha Blackfell.”
“Yes, as do we all. It seems our children have made a mess of things.”
I wanted to growl and shout at him. The only ones who made a mess were Dylan and Ebony. We had done nothing wrong. They thought they had rights to our lives and our hearts. They didn’t. It was unfortunate that he had to birth such a selfish and crazy she-panther.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that, but we can agree to disagree at this point.” Tyson smiled, but it wasn’t warm or inviting. “We may be doing a lot of that in the next few minutes.”
Mr. Blackfell nodded. “We received the request the council provided. Really, we ask to spare our daughter’s life and the lives of our pack.”
My fingers curled into fists. I did my best to keep my face passive as I kept my anger from boiling over. Marcus rubbed my back, pulling me closer to his side.
“Flynn, understand that isn’t how it’s going to work.
Your daughter tried to break the mate bond.
She actively poisoned, drugged, and used magic against my son’s will.
Marcus endured torture and remained trapped for months, unable to escape.
The pain and anguish that caused his mate, my son-in-law, was excruciating.
We had to watch, for months, as he fell apart repeatedly. ”
Mr. Blackfell swallowed nervously. “If you had agreed to the original request for them to mate…or even the request of the Council for the New Year…”
I let out a deep and loud growl. All eyes turned to me as I stood tall next to Marcus. Mr. Blackfell looked shocked, and he took a step back as he glanced at the Council representative.
“You dare say that? Your daughter was rejected, and I think the fact that we are here now is the obvious answer as to why. But you couldn’t take no for an answer. You continued to push, and he continued to fight, even though he was already mated. You dare try to strip me of my mate?”
He cleared his throat. “I understand, young man, that you may think you lay claim on someone like Marcus Alford. However, he is an Alpha-10. In order for Alphas to continue, sacrifices must be made.”
I tried to take a step forward, but Marcus held me back and spoke up himself.
“I think you are forgetting, Flynn, that I am my own person. I decide who I will mark and who will be my mate. I did not choose Ebony for multiple reasons. Even if I am an Alpha-10, that does not give anyone the right to dictate my life. If anything, being an Alpha-10 means no one can force me to do anything.”
“Are you saying that you have already decided that my daughter’s life means nothing?” He snapped at Marcus.
“She put her life on the line the moment she decided she was going to break our laws!” Marcus snapped back at him, his dragon coming forward.
Mr. Blackfell took a deep breath, and I steeled myself. Whatever he was about to say, it was going the final card they planned on playing. Behind him, the crowd of panthers and even a few wolves moved and parted.
Ebony stepped forward and stood just behind her father. “Even if it would kill your own hatchling?”