Chapter Six
Kaden's POV

She was on the phone again. Her voice saturated the room, rising above the arguments at the table. She was striking up a deal with the company that supplied the hotel soap.

Her words were mesmerising, but I didn't see how she was benefiting from their negotiations until she placed down her final offer. She'd made them feel like they'd won their talks, but it wouldn't be until their accountant ran their numbers that they discovered that she'd sweet-talked them into the palm of her hand. Her voice was sugary sweet, and I could picture the secret smile she gave the empty lobby as she swindled them.

'Is there something you find amusing?'

I glanced up sharply, caught under the eye of Tim Thomms. Sitting stiffly across the table, Tim turned his nose at the sight of me, sneering angrily as he jammed his finger against the file in front of him.

I didn't doubt that he was about to try and humiliate me for my inattentiveness, but I'd studied the files over the week, and I could slam his defence in my sleep.

I didn't take it personally. We may have been thrown down the end of the table in a separate discussion from the council members, but we were still on display, proving ourselves to our parents.

Tim couldn't stand the thought that the Alphas held us to a lower standard than themselves. They had handed us the scraps of their meetings tonight, and he couldn't handle it.

I didn't mind because it meant I could listen to her.

It was usually easy to zone in and out, but tonight our pack leaders had selected five dispute cases and resource requests, asking us to negotiate them. Our solutions were more suggestions than anything, to be looked over by our parents, but Tim acted as though each case was life-or-death.

His punishments were unrelenting, usually demanding that we strip our resources bare to help the Umbra Pack. Like his father, he would lead with an iron fist and always be a thorn in our negotiations.

'One of your pack member filth disrespected an Umbra Pack member today.'

I slid my eyes down the table to Lachlan, who cowered behind his brother. I let the anger flush through my nose when I felt the edge of my seat crack in my grip. Lachlan shied away, and I flicked my eyes to the file. Her name stood out like a golden beacon of light, and I wanted to burn the file to remove all traces of her from the meeting.

Rylan stiffened beside me, he could sense that I was hiding a festering anger behind my blank expression, and he knew I was near the breaking point. 'How did my pack member disrespect yours?'

He hadn't gotten the response he wanted, and his top lip curled back into a snarl. He clutched the file in his fist, crumpling the page as he waved it. 'The human girl lives in neutral lands. You can't claim her as part of your pack unless she is mated to one of your members.'

I sucked in a quiet breath, pulling the words that wanted to spill from my mouth safely away from their ears. I wasn't like Tim. I knew rash words only made me vulnerable. 'Jacobi Whetts defended a friend after your pack member was asked in no uncertain terms to leave. The human in question,' I leaned over the paper for pretences, my heart drumming in my ears, 'Elliot Clarke, spends more time on Vermiculo lands than anyone else's, but let me be very clear, Whetts wasn't claiming her as our own, he was defending her.' I'd managed to avoid her name in council for years. From when I'd discovered she was my soulmate to now, I hadn't mentioned her name.

She'd come up once before, but even then, I swallowed my anger and let the alphas lead the discussion. 'How about we talk about the fact that your pack is slowly encroaching on neutral territory.'

'As you just said, it's neutral territory. What we do on that land is none of your business.'

'That's where you are wrong. Humans govern that land, but we protect and uphold their laws. It is meant to be a safe space for them to live, unencumbered by the unnecessities of pack life. It's written into the bylaws-'

'Pack members are allowed to live on neutral territory. Those bylaws are outdated and lack creativity. W-'

I silenced him with a glare. 'Do not interrupt me when I am speaking. The bylaws are in place for a reason. They hold us up in equal regard and place expectations and responsibilities on our shoulders that the humans cannot be expected to regulate. Your pack members can live on the neutral territory, just as long as it is not a ploy on your behalf to snatch the land out from under the humans.'

Tim leapt from his chair, the metal legs screeching against the hardwood floors. 'Jacobi Whetts must apologise to the Umbra pack for his disrespect.'

I buried my anger beneath the reality of the case. This wasn't about her, this was about his fear of losing grounds, and I needed to respond accordingly. I straightened the case file, letting him simmer under the curious eyes of the leaders at the other end of the table.

He realised what he had done, shuffling awkwardly on his feet, his shoulders dropping. When he started to feel humiliated, I looked up slowly, pausing to examine the emotion that played over his face like a movie screen. 'I didn't want to bring it up, but I will. Jacobi Whetts will apologise once Lachlan Thomms does the same to the human girl for approaching her and causing clear duress. Remember that your brother was never put to trial when he broke pack law, which could be seen as another infringement.' I turned my eyes sharply towards Lachlan, revelling in how he squirmed. My voice was stern, leaving no room for argument. 'Humans, unless linked by a soul-line, are untouchable. You have let too many transgressions go in the past, and it is time to end them. If Lachlan, or a member of the Umbra Pack, or any of the other three packs who reside in this council, decides to engage with a human in inappropriate ways, consensual or not, they will face trial. The laws are in place for a reason, and we are unwilling to stand by and watch them blatantly be broken, time and time again.'

'There was no proof that Lachlan did anything wrong.'

'Regardless, there should have been an investigation, and it should have gone to trial.'

'The girl in question is downstairs if you are so invested in having a trial. We could call her up now and have a trial of the council.'

My heart thrummed in my chest, and my breath caught in my throat.

It was barely a second's reaction, but I glanced down the table to see if any of the alphas had noticed. 'If you think a human girl has any place at our meetings, then, by all means, go and get her. But you are sorely deluded if you think bringing her up here is like going to trial.'

The room fell silent, and the steady beat of her heart vibrated through the floors, calming my erratic one. She was still, completely unaware that we were talking about her. I pictured her face in my mind, letting the anger simmer away.

Tension crackled in the room, the anger and frustrations slowly collapsing from the point of explosion. Benson tugged on my sleeve, pulling my attention away from Tim, and fanned his files out on the table. He presented one to me, and I riffled through my documents to find it. 'Can we talk about the deer shortage on the Viridi pack-lands?'

'Sure, kid.' I mumbled, peering down at the report.

Reeling from the embarrassment he'd just suffered, Tim dropped his finger onto the file, turning his slitted eyes to the kid. 'Your pack has overhunted. It's your fault that you've run the deer off your lands. What do you expect us to do?'

Tim had lost his footing, and he knew it. His plan to reduce the Viridi Pack to the weakest in the council would backfire if he weren't careful. He was heading down a dangerous slope towards causing unrepairable damage to their pack relations.

Benson was only six, so he was still too trusting. Tim would chew him up and spit him out, showing only disloyalty and a lack of support. It would stick in the mind of the young alpha. He didn't see Tim's fierce loyalty to his pack. Bensen just saw Tim's self-anger and thought it was aimed at him.

He was right, though. The Viridi Pack had depleted their resources by overhunting and reckless abandonment. Their mistakes would be irreversible if no one helped, and what Tim didn't see was how the roll-on effect would impact his lands and all of our territories.

The Viridi Pack would become bankrupt trying to export goods, and the loss of their revenue would damage our local economy. The shift in the ecosystem would be seen across the four packs, and we'd all suffer for their mistakes.

Rylan turned towards me, bowing his head. 'Whatever you think, Kaden, do it. Show your father and aunt that you deserve a seat at the big table.'

I already knew the results of this negotiation wouldn't change my father's mind, but it would strengthen our relations with the Viridi Pack. I wasn't naïve like Tim, we may have been one of the most powerful packs in the country, but I knew that my pack wasn't invincible to a well-orchestrated attack. We needed the strength of the packs around us to help when we came across enemies that wouldn't hesitate to destroy us if given a chance. They were the only reason we were protected against such an attack.

I angled my body so Tim knew he wasn't involved in the negotiations. He'd pulled himself out of this one, and I would ensure he knew it. Benson offered me a timid smile, his fingers fluttering over the new case files. He reminded me of myself when I was his age, so I extended an olive branch, giving him a friendly smile and drafting my notes as I spoke. 'How about this. The Vermiculo Pack is willing to offer a two-year rehabilitation program for introducing deer back into the area. But we have two conditions.'

Benson's excitement deflated, and he sunk into his seat. 'What are they?'

'Until the completion of the program, the deer will be considered the property of the Vermiculo Pack. As such, the members of the Viridi Pack cannot harm them. A two-year ban will be placed on deer hunting, and regulations will be put in place to keep you accountable. Anyone found to break the ban will face a trial in front of the Viridi and Vermiculo councils.'

He wasn't as sure this time, hesitancy undermining his authority. 'And the second?'

'What do you have to offer?'

Benson's hands trembled, and he glanced down the table at his father. We still had their attention. Their eyes turned to the young boy, interested to see his strategy. His little look at his father was enough to tell me he wasn't confident in his words. Alpha Meniok pursed his lips into a thin line, unimpressed by what he saw.

I hunkered down to his level, pressing my hand against the back of his chair. 'Don't think about what your father would do. You're not him. You'll lose your voice if you're always trying to imitate him. This is just a discussion. I know exactly what you have to offer, but I'm letting you start our negotiations. Please don't take me for a fool, Benson. I've been studying the packs since I was five. I want you to remember something for me, never take their first offer. It's always bogus, and never show your full hand to someone willing to take much less. The game is in the negotiations. If you can master that, you'll take long strides towards success.'

His voice was small in the room full of silence. 'What if I get it wrong?'

'If you have your pack's best interest and remember that inter-pack relations are often more important than time and money, there is rarely room for getting it wrong.'

I hadn't lied to him, but there was a lot of grey area surrounding pack negotiations. I would never do anything to hurt my pack, but sometimes you had to lose a battle to win the war. Tim hadn't figured that out yet, so he burned through his energy with every case, fighting through his teeth until he had no more fight left.

Benson's eyes lit up, and he snapped the lid from his pen. 'We can offer you seeds. Your gardens were destroyed in the storm three weeks ago. Luna Delossa put it on the agenda two weeks ago, but they never got around to it. I've read all the transcripts.'

***

The meeting had run over.

I hadn't thought to watch the time until Elle started to get antsy downstairs. She rapped her fingers against her desk when she didn't have guests and paced the length of the room when her nerves got the better of her. Her heart accelerated every couple of minutes, and her breathing quickened.

We were late, which meant she was late.

Jacobi's report that afternoon included a third-hand recount of the grandmother's disappointment when she found Elle in her gardens. Jacobi explained that Elle knew she had to go home, but she wasn't looking forward to the wrath of her grandmother.

It was partially my fault. I'd been so run down dealing with pack concerns, and hiding away with Elle in the forest, that listening to her steady breaths as sleep took her captive had lulled me into my own captivity. I hadn't wanted to leave, it was the only time I could safely spend time with Elle, and she'd been coming to the forest less and less over the years. Before she had to work and school built up with higher expectations, she spent every waking moment in the trees with me. I wasn't faultless, either. I had been picking up more and more responsibilities within the pack, preparing myself for the inevitable shift of power that seemed to loom over us now.

I wasn't ready to take over. My dad and I were on the same page, but our reasons differed. He thought I needed more time to learn and build my authority, but I was ready. I needed more time for her. I couldn't keep Elle safe while she was at school, and her anonymity gave her a blanket of security that I couldn't afford to lose. I wasn't even set on telling her when she graduated school. I wanted to hold onto the protection I'd built around her. She was too precious to place in harm's way.

I was powerless to change the course of the meeting. I still played at the kid's table, rearguing solved cases from years ago and settling petty disputes. We were done, but the current Alphas and Lunas still argued a point. In the past, we'd watched them spend hours batting the ball back and forth, arguing until their voices rasped and their eyes dropped.

I watched the time now, watching the seconds roll by as she grew more and more anxious to get out. I was the first to my feet when the meeting was called to an end, snatching my case files from the table and stalking towards the doors.

The elevator ride was filled with idle talk as the alphas discussed trivial things we'd had no time for in the meeting. I slipped through the opening doors first, and for a half-second, I got to look at my soulmate unimpeded by the moving bodies. She disappeared as Alpha Meniok stalked past, and I turned my gaze away. I distracted myself by listening to Rylan's argument with the Umbra's training beta, forcing myself to keep my eyes forward.