Chapter Five
By Tuesday afternoon, everything was in place for the guests.
Which was a good thing, because some of the guests showed up early, at my invitation.
Just because I’d chosen to combine the arkhons and alphas for the gathering didn’t mean I couldn’t have a few of the arkhons show up to meet before the rest of the horde descended.
The first to show up, just after Seth reported to me that all of the guest rooms were ready, was one of the people I most wanted to see.
Zane Wolfskin had held the rank of Arkhon of the Northeast Region for less than two years, with a few months’ break during the time I’d taken the rank to prevent one of Hezekiah’s puppets from destroying the region.
He was incredibly competent after decades as an Alpha in New York, and I considered him one of my closest friends.
Here at the hunt house, I’d bought enough land from one of the neighbors to construct a small airfield, complete with a hangar large enough to hold several small planes since I owned one and so did each of the country’s twelve arkhons.
Kyle and I met Zane there and were surprised to see him disembark from his plane with Lara Jameson, a member of City Pack—who, we believed, was Chal Torres’s mate, though Chal had never mentioned having a mate and Lara hadn’t confirmed anything after Chal’s death.
Which, as Chal’s guest at that regional gathering, she had unfortunately witnessed.
During the time I’d served as Arkhon of the Northeast Region, Zane had taken my place as Alpha of Boston North Pack.
Apparently he and Lara had connected. They couldn’t be mates, of course.
As far as anyone knew, each werewolf had only one true destined mate.
But they definitely appeared to be together.
I didn’t begrudge either of them. Zane had spent most of his life as a werewolf alone, though I suspected he’d had companionship from time to time.
Lara was new to Boston when Chal was killed, and although some in the pack had supported her, some had simply overlooked how Chal’s loss impacted her.
The entire pack was grieving then, and the few who knew that anything was going on between her and Chal probably assumed she was just someone who’d shared Chal’s bed occasionally.
She and Zane both deserved happiness. I approved of them finding it with each other, but others might not.
I went toward the plane, arms out to my side with my palms facing outward. “Zane Wolfskin, Arkhon of the Northeast Region, you are welcome at my home. May no harm come to you here.”
Zane grimaced, and I bit back a laugh. He had never been a fan of the ceremony and protocol that existed in our world. “Tobias Rogan, Anax of the United States, we appreciate your hospitality. May we bring no harm to your home.” He nodded to Kyle. “Kyle.”
“Arkhon.” Kyle smiled as Zane made another face. “It’s good to see you.”
“Likewise,” Zane said.
With his hand at the small of Lara’s back, he guided her down the steps from the plane and brought her over to me. I smiled as she, looking flustered, lowered her gaze. “Lara, you’re welcome here too.”
She jerked her head up, eyes wide, but quickly looked down again. She knew me, as all of the Boston wolves did, but evidently she wasn’t quite sure how to treat me on an occasion like this. “Thank you, Anax.”
“Nope, we’re not doing the title thing right now.
” I took Kyle’s hand. In front of Zane and Lara, I had no concerns about showing affection to my mate, something I would have to be frustratingly cautious about in front of some of the others who would attend the gathering.
“Things don’t officially get underway until tomorrow. Tonight, we’re all just friends here.”
“Good,” Zane muttered. “Ceremony can wait.”
“Yes.” I gestured toward the plane. “Your pilot can park in the hangar, unless you’re sending him back to Pennsylvania for the duration.”
“I am sending him back,” Zane said. “I’ll be here a couple of extra days. I don’t see a need for him and the plane to stick around that long.”
“Understandable.” He would be here until Sunday, two days after the full moon. The day Kyle and I would finally speak our wedding vows.
I turned to Xavier, who had accompanied us to the airstrip. “Please make sure the Arkhon’s and his guest’s luggage are brought into the house. Zane, Lara, I don’t want to make assumptions here. Do you want to share a room, or should I put you in adjacent rooms?”
The adjacent thing would take some doing. As Arkhon, Zane was assigned one of the largest guest rooms, and the smaller rooms like Ren’s were in a different wing of the house. But things could be rearranged if necessary.
“We’ll share, if that’s all right by you.” His expression softening, Zane put his arm around Lara. “I’m sorry to spring this on you, Tobias. We weren’t certain how our relationship would go over.”
“Better forgiveness than permission?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Old friend, if the two of you are happy, I’m happy.
You’ve nothing to worry about with me. Justin, though?
” The City Alpha had held the rank of Beta for decades under Chal’s rule, and he had considered Chal his closest friend.
I wasn’t sure how he would feel about Chal’s…
lover? Mate? Whatever Lara had been to Chal, I was uncertain whether Justin would accept her becoming Zane’s partner.
“Justin and I have spoken a few times,” Zane said smoothly. “This isn’t an entirely new development, old friend. We’ve just escalated it a bit. Justin is making peace with it.”
“Well, you’ll face no opposition from me.
” I waved toward the house, visible about a quarter of a mile away, as Xavier and Zane’s pilot started moving luggage from the plane onto the small golf cart we used to get around the property.
“I’m hoping you won’t mind a walk. I can summon a car if you’d rather. ”
“Yeah, if by summon you mean sending me back to the house to get one,” Kyle said. “We need radios out here, Tobias.”
“Or, you know, we could just yell, since the guards will hear us.” I snorted. “Radios.”
Zane laughed, and Lara let out a small chuckle. “We’ll walk,” Zane said. “The flight wasn’t long, but after sitting for over an hour, stretching our legs will be welcome.”
Zane had seen the hunt house before. As Arkhon, he could travel freely within the Northeast Region, and because of his friendships with Justin and me, he’d made a fair few trips to City and Boston North territories over the past couple of years, both before and after his stint as Boston North Alpha.
And of course Lara had been here only four weeks earlier, when Kyle and I and our guards hunted on full moon night with the two Boston packs.
But it was different, somehow, when they were here as official guests for the gathering.
At the house, I showed Zane and Lara to the second-floor room they would occupy for the next few days, while Kyle went to the kitchen to alert Chloe and the other humans that we would have company at supper. Which, Chloe being Chloe, she already knew and had begun prepping for.
The next to show up, after a flight across the country, was Paul Drake, Arkhon of the Northwest Region.
Paul had become a friend and ally a year ago, just before the national gathering at which I’d challenged Hezekiah.
I had needed an unbiased person to determine whether Kyle should be put to death for killing a human, and Zane had recommended Paul.
The fact that the human had a silver-loaded gun aimed at me across the desk in my office didn’t erase the fact that Kyle had killed, and while I had the right, as then-Arkhon of the Northeast Region, to pass judgment and sentence, I would have been heavily biased.
I couldn’t sentence Kyle to death, but if I let him live, I would have been accused of protecting my mate at the cost of our laws.
Thankfully, Paul had agreed with my assessment that Kyle had killed the human to defend my life, and he had quickly allied himself with me when we arrived at Hezekiah’s for the gathering.
Paul arrived alone. He had no mate and rarely even a partner, as far as I knew.
That saddened me, to be honest. Before I met Kyle, I’d had sexual partnerships with women in my pack, and that had allowed me to delude myself that I wasn’t lonely.
Now that I had my true mate, I wished everyone could find someone who brought them joy and love.
But of course, not everyone wanted that.
To the best of my knowledge, Paul was completely fine with his situation.
He looked weary but content as he exited his plane and listened to my ceremonial greeting, though he did accept the offer of a ride to the house.
His flight from Oregon had kept him sitting for far too long, and while he wanted to stretch his legs, they weren’t quite ready to cooperate with walking across the property.
Just before supper, I asked Zane and Paul to join me in my office.
They were my allies and, sometimes, my backup in dealing with the werewolves of the United States, spread out as we were.
That was why countries as geographically large as the U.S.
had arkhons. To help the Anax rule, since it was impossible for an Anax to cover millions of square miles and monitor thousands of werewolves alone.
The two of them sat in the chairs in front of my desk. Since this was official business, meaning protocol dictated that I remain physically higher than them, I stayed on my feet, though as a nod to our friendship I leaned against the desk.
“I’m glad you’re both here,” I said. “All of us have been through the national gatherings before, but as this is my first as host, I’ll appreciate any suggestions or advice you have for me.”