Charlie frowned at me when I gave him a sarcastic smile. He asked where all the applications went, and I pointed to the shredder. Now he had to go through the emails and collect all of the details again because a response had to be given to each of them.

"You can't just outright refuse all of them."

"Pretty sure I can."

I flicked Jackie's application around to show Gus, who was giving me a frown as well.

"Besides, I kept this one."

Taking it, Gus read through it and handed it back.

"Why is Jackie Myers so different from the rest of them?"

"We spoke in the lobby during check-in. It was long before the fight. She expressed an interest in either Dark Claw or us because she's moving for a job."

"Do you realize that the fight might have helped her decision?"

I hadn't thought about that.

"You're right."

Standing, I walked over to the shredder, only to be stopped by Charlie.

"Please don't make more work for me."

Rolling my eyes, I handed him the application.

"Whatever. No lone females until it is clear that this is my pack, not Konrad's."

"But when will that be exactly? You're pregnant, and that means that once the child is born, you'll go on leave. The pack will go into stasis unless there is an extreme emergency. It's guaranteed that while you're on leave, you will get pregnant again. The stasis period will be extended and it will be years before anything happens around here."

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure that having a child doesn't mean that I become incapable of doing things. How about we all calm down and take this one day at a time? When I've had the child, I will see how I am feeling and we can discuss it then."

"You're too optimistic. We've seen life after a child has been born."

"But your mates weren't Alpha, were they?"

Gus paused with shock on his face. He soon realized that the statement was right.

"Yeah, okay. I'll grant you that one."

Sitting at the table, Gus sighed as he looked at the map.

"We'd be mad to pass this up."

"I know but there is no way that either of those clans check-in give up land to us, swap, or even let us pass through freely. Ezra suggested a few things but one stuck out as the most ideal. Sell the pack and territory to one of the surrounding packs, maybe even two."

Gus perked up as the other Betas sat at the table, eager to discuss this option.

"Blood Moon is seen as a strong pack. It could earn us a lot of money." Frank offered.

"It could. The risk that we face is that if we sell to a pack like Iron Fang, we could be increasing our issues in the future."

"Then you form an agreement that says they will not attempt to take over our territory. It might be wise to include Black Ridge in that as well."

Yeah. The amalgamation that really wasn't one. I fought so hard against Konrad to stop this from happening, yet here we were, discussing it as if it was already done. There was still a border. I was still the Alpha yet it felt as if he was going to walk in here and destroy everything that I cared about.

"You know," I began. "Dark Claw aren't as strong as what everyone thinks they are."

"Are you suggesting that we attempt a coup against Dark Claw?" Gus asked. "Iron Fang will arc up the second we step into Dark Claw land. They will see the writing on the wall, more so if we take Blood Moon land."

"They would do that anyway," Charlie replied. "If we take Blood Moon, both of those packs are going to start preparing for war. Why not give it to them? We could control the entire west bank of the river."

"We have an Alpha who is pregnant. We are still trying to educate her in the life of a leader, and now, we're also dealing with a new Beta. I doubt that we'd even have the wolves to take such a risk."

"What if we made a deal with Ezra?"

Everyone turned and looked at me like I'd lost the plot. I was beginning to think that I might have.

"I'm sure that we have the power, but nothing says fearsome like two packs coming together, especially after the weekend. We're the top two packs in this zone. Why not use that to our advantage?"

"So, what exactly would you propose if we agreed to this? What path would you take to ensure that this went as smoothly as possible?" Gus asked.

"Well, we'd form an agreement with Ezra. We could sweeten it with something, although I don't know what exactly. His pack would be granted free use of the land but that's not something that greatly benefits them. Offering them land would be a possibility. Perhaps a corridor of Dark Claw land that led into a portion of Iron Fang."

"And give him Blood Moon land?"

"Yes, we could do that. Or maybe a section of it so that we still control the river."

Gus tilted back in his chair. His eyes narrowed at me, but there was a smile on his face. Yep, I was like my father in every single way and Gus knew it.

"Once we have the agreement settled, we search for weaknesses in the two packs. It has to be quick because I think that the best approach is from both sides. Hit them both at once."

"If you're planning to take over either of those two packs during the council allocated week of free passage, then I would suggest that you think again. You'd be breaking a lot of rules if you did. The day after,"

Gus shrugged.

"Anything goes once the week is over."

"Good. That's what we'll do. We can sweep through Dark Claw quickly if we are smart."

"Their rank has dropped in recent months." Charlie interrupted. "I might have done a little research on it."

Curiosity grew as Charlie grinned. Flicking through the papers in front of him, he pulled out a folder.

"I make a habit of checking the statistics and information for all of the packs in this area so that when it comes to a time like this, asking about something doesn't raise any flags. Of course, that doesn't mean that it was easy. The Alpha was getting close to opting into retirement and training his Beta to take over. It was stalling because the elders refused to sign off on it until the Beta took a mate and produced a child. The Beta refused to take a female mate because he was not interested in the act or cheating on the mate that had already marked him. His father was furious that his son allowed another wolf to mark him without advising him or the elders. I don't think that the arguments were about the genders but the lack of information being passed. He'd spent years training his son to take over as Alpha, which he still could do. The biggest issue is the creation of the next Beta. Apparently, the son offered to utilize artificial insemination services. Still, I got the feeling that he wasn't overly interested in having children, as my source stated that nannies and wet nurses were being interviewed. The last of the information that I got was that the Alpha and the elders were considering it."

"So, the son is gay, won't sleep with a female wolf, didn't tell his father that he mated with another male wolf and is offering to use a surrogate to create the child the pack will demand of him?"

"That's the shortened version of the issue."

Gus hummed with delight.

"I like disharmony."

"It also sounds like the son is frightened of his father and doing everything he can to appease him. The father would have spent a lot of time preparing his son for the role while the son kept his personal life hidden. They've hit the crossroads, and the father is ready to retire from his leadership. It's not going to happen unless the son can produce a child. We need to get to the son before he finds a surrogate. All we need to do is say that we don't require him to have a child unless he wants one. We offer a choice in his life whereas his father and the elders of his pack won't. If we give him compassion and understanding with an offer of sanctuary within our borders for him and his mate, we could see an easy fall of Dark Claw."

I raised my hand, looking around the table.

"Those who agree?"

They all raised their hands, and I smiled.

"Excellent. I think that we should move on this quickly. Charlie, I'd like to know if Iron Fang has any weaknesses. Gus, can you attend to whatever the council requires for us to take control of Blood Moon land. Make sure of the dates that we are given free passage. We should not start any movement on the war during those dates."

Gus nodded, rising from the table. Charlie was already at his desk, searching through the cabinets for information.

"Stanley, can you contact Ezra and see if he is still in our territory? Ask them to return if it is possible. Frank, could you please start the draft of the agreement?"

Mick was the last at the table, giving me an appraising smile.

"When did you become your father?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe it was when I realized that I kept saying that this was my pack but never acted like it was. I'd like to start preparing for Konrad's initiation as soon as possible."

"You're worried that the child was created at the festival?"

I nodded with a lot of anxiety.

"Konrad detected the child, which means that I am further along than it appears. If that is true, then I could go into labor soon."

"We will assemble our wives to monitor your actions for any signs of nesting."

"Thank you," I whispered.

Mick reached out, gripping my balled fist.

"Everything is going to be fine, Megan. You have the advantage of a team of Betas rather than one. You have a pack that will stand behind you, and you even have the bonus of a secondary pack thanks to your choice of mate. We will get through this time together."