Rafe ran his wary eyes around the packed community room. The tension within the room was so high, it was almost tangible. He could equally feel their suspiciousness as wary gazes met his and then slid quickly away. Lacey sat at his side, her body practically humming with tension. He reached out and gently stroked her thigh under the table in an effort to settle her.
They were sitting at the head table, the rest of the pack sitting in chairs directly facing them. They were all waiting for Jared and Millie to arrive. Everyone else was in attendance with the exception of Luke, Aaron and Jen. The doctor had been filled in with what the meeting was about when it became apparent that he would need to stay with Aaron, who was insisting on attending. Jen had opted to stay too, in an attempt to keep Aaron in bed where he currently belonged.
Jared and Millie were late and that was making the pack restless. Rafe continued to stroke Lacey's thigh as he eyed the obvious division in the pack. Bill Shepherd was sitting on the left side, choosing to sit in front when he usually opted to sit at the back in meetings. This didn't bode well; neither did the number of people who seemed to be gravitating towards him.
Rafe's brown eyes locked with Mitch Fielding's. The other Were didn't look away, his own brown eyes staring intently at Rafe. By rights, the other man should have lowered his eyes in deference to Rafe's status within the pack. The fact that he did not, but merely grinned insolently at him, spoke volumes.
If a challenge was to come today then it would be from Mitch. Rafe sized him up as a possible opponent. He had no doubts Jared could take Mitch, but it would be stupid not to err on the side of caution and take this opportunity to take his measure while he had the chance.
The two men's gaze was finally broken when Bill leaned to the side to say something to Mitch and the other man looked away. Rafe watched him for a second longer and then turned his eyes back to the room. Loretta met his gaze and raised an inquiring eyebrow as her gaze flickered quickly to Lacey and back to him. She had a slight smile on her face.
Rafe returned her smile with a brief nod, silently communicating the fact Lacey was his mate, and also relieved to see Loretta sitting on the right hand side of the room. The more he examined the dynamics of the room the more he noted that the Weres sitting to the right were all people he knew fairly well. The betas were all on that side, as was Cedar, her sister Willow, their three brothers and their parents. The divide seemed to be almost evenly split, with perhaps a smidgeon more on the right than the left.
Rafe felt his own tension level start to rise. If this meeting turned as ugly as it was looking like it was going to be, then there was a good chance some serious fighting could break out. He hoped Jared had something up his sleeve to stop that because the children were present. If things turned ugly...he didn't even want to think about that. He wondered where the hell his Alpha was. Jared was never late for meetings. He really needed to get his ass here and do it quickly before Bill decided he was going to open the meeting himself.
He had no time for Bill. He didn't care how old the Were was, he was nothing but trouble and didn't deserve any respect just because he was one of the eldest among them. If he was Alpha he would have kicked him out of the pack months ago, but he wasn't and so it wasn't his decision to make.
The door suddenly opened to Rafe's right and Jared walked in with Millie close behind him. Rafe frowned slightly when he spotted Luke reaching to pull Millie back and whisper something in her ear. He saw her tense slightly and immediately wondered what was wrong with Aaron. He didn't have time to ask as Millie slipped into the seat beside Jared, her face composed and giving nothing away as to what Luke had said to her.
Millie was quite literally stunned about what Luke had just told her. She didn't know how to react or whether or not to talk with Jared about it. They were already late with the start of the meeting as it was. Her cobalt eyes slipped to Jared's as he turned to raise an eyebrow at her, sensing her distraction. One look into his eyes and she knew she had to tell him.
"Honey, you need to not react to this at all but it is something that you need to know before the meeting starts,"
she said mentally.
"Luke has just told me I'm pregnant."
Jared stared at her and struggled hard to keep his face devoid of all emotions. His heart started pounding hard and it was an effort not to drop his eyes towards her stomach.
"Jesus, Millie,"
he groaned inside her head.
"Baby, I so want to pick you up and take you home and show you just how happy I feel about this news. But I can't right now for obvious reasons but we will discuss it later,"
his tone was warm, his love shining through their mutual bond as well as his excitement at the news.
"You do understand what this means, love? You're going to have to evacuate with the children. Our heirs cannot be risked. They are the future of the pack as well as being our precious babies."
Millie allowed herself a little half smile as she shifted slightly in her seat.
"That's why I told you now instead of waiting until the meeting was over. I would have preferred to have told you, and been told the news myself, under much different circumstances. You needed to know to amend what you're going to tell the pack."
He did need to do that. It was originally his intention to tell the pack that Millie would be leading the female warriors after she had blatantly refused to leave his side, which he had expected her to do. Now that she was pregnant, everything was different. If he was challenged he had to win. Not only for the pack's sake and Millie's but also for his unborn children's as well.
Millie would have to evacuate and would need to be protected too, while she was apart from him. Rafe had already discussed with him the possibility of sending Jen away to get Aaron to leave and he had agreed. Add in Millie needing a protector, and his errant beta would have no choice but to leave. He would need some help though, because he would only be at around ninety percent fitness level. His shrewd eyes quickly scanned the room and settled on Cedar. He had planned on asking Aaron's sister to fight because she was one of their more skilled female warriors but it would be more prudent to place Millie and Jen in her capable hands along with her brother.
His eyes then caught Loretta's briefly and he watched the dark haired woman sit a little bit straighter, her entire body language signalling she was at the ready for whatever her Alpha was going to ask of her. She was the natural successor to lead the females, having done so before Millie joined the pack.
The silence in the room stretched on as Jared took his time mulling over his options while he scanned the room slowly. Everyone was waiting for him to open the meeting and all he really wanted to do was go home and celebrate with his woman. He stifled down a sigh and shot Millie a big smile, mentally letting his love and delight at becoming a father wash over her. He felt her own rush of love and support wash over him and he turned back to face the room.
He could see Bill Shepherd about to open his mouth and he impaled him with a steely glance before he stood up and faced the pack. All eyes were on him and he dug deep inside himself, letting his wolf prowl quite close to the surface.
"No doubt you are all aware of the two human women among us and the presence of certain vampires within the compound," he began, his voice strong and decisive. "I will now explain what is happening and I expect each and every one of you to hold your comments until I have completed the explanation." His eyes once more went to Bill and the older man glared at him , but lowered his gaze.
"Two nights ago, Rafe met his mate at Wicked," he smiled at Lacey as she sat close to his beta, her expression tense. "It was quickly apparent that Lacey was in some kind of trouble and Rafe had Aaron escort her home. There were two human men waiting for Lacey at her apartment and while she called Rafe for his help, Aaron went to investigate. I'm sure most of you are aware that Aaron is now recovering in the medical building after two bullets went through one of the humans and struck him in the chest."
He paused to allow the information to sink in and listen to the quiet murmur which went around the room. The fact that Rafe had found his mate was bringing smiles to quite a few faces in both camps. Someone finding their mate was always something to smile about. Aaron's injuries caused some concern because he was extremely well liked within the pack. It would have been amusing under other circumstances to see the pack's confusion. They didn't know whether to smile or frown with the news they'd just heard.
Jared took a deep breath and continued. "Lacey and her friend Jen were brought back to the compound for protection until we could figure out what was going on. It was at this point we discovered who Lacey was in danger from and I called in Caleb and Annie for their advice on the matter. I had a suspicion about the man who was hunting Lacey," he admitted, "and I needed Caleb to confirm that suspicion for me so I could work out how best to protect the pack in general and Lacey in particular . That man is Richard Graves and he is a very ancient and powerful vampire. He is not a vampire like Caleb and Annie. He is cruel and vindictive and he is coming for Lacey and is ready to go through the entire pack to get her."
