Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 66 - IN WHICH ALL PRETENCES AT CIVILITY ARE GONE

I wiped my feet on the doormat as I went inside. It was smaller than I'd been expecting - big enough for a score of people to sit at most - which was probably why the humans had abandoned it. The decorations had been stripped out and taken with them when they'd left. The pews were gone. Now, there was just a big table in the centre of the room and a lot of chairs arranged around it. Most were already occupied.

Jace had stopped walking abruptly in front of me. There was a pair of fighters standing in his way. One from Riverside, the other from Lowland.

"It'll only take a moment, sir," one of them was saying.

"You want me searched?" Jace demanded. "Can I ask why?"

Those questions were directed at the Alphas already sat around the table. Vincent gave him an easy smile. "Oh, don't take it personally, Lloyd. We've all had to tolerate it. We thought it would be a sensible precaution to take, given that we don't have any humans around to keep the peace today."

Jace didn't argue again. It wasn't just him they searched - it was their entire group, Hayden included, but Jace was the only one whose search turned up any results. They took a gun off him, which didn't surprise me in the least. He had probably been planning to point it at my head when he slipped away with Hayden. But then again, Alphas seemed reluctant to leave home without one these days. Especially if they were away from their nice, safe territories.

It was our turn next. And I had been right in my assumption that no one's hand would go anywhere near my boobs while Liam was stood beside me, but I'd also overestimated flockies in general. They didn't even search me. Or Kelsey. But they did search Liam, and they did search Mal.

It was a fairly brief pat-down. I waited expectantly for them to be relieved of their weapons, but one of the flockie's hands passed over Mal's back without pause, and the other seemed not to notice the penknife in Liam's pocket.

Odd. Very odd.

It wasn't an accident, I didn't think. Mal's face had slipped into a wary, confused frown, and it didn't budge from that expression the whole time we were taking our seats. He knew they'd felt the gun, but for whatever reason, they'd pretended that they hadn't. Liam looked much the same way, although he was doing a better job of hiding it. Why were we allowed to remain armed when New Dawn wasn't? Was this some kind of trap to accuse us of threatening the packmeet?

We weren't the only ones who were worried. Hayden, who'd been present for that entire conversation in the car, was suddenly sitting up a lot straighter. He kept looking at Mal and then back at the flockies who'd been picked to search us, his forehead furrowed. But he didn't dare say anything.

The mystery only deepened as the other Alphas arrived. Vincent, Jaden Lloyd and Chris had already been at the table. Zach Lloyd was robbed of a wicked-looking sheath knife and a handgun upon entry, as were most of his men. Lewis Fletcher went through the same process a minute later. I didn't understand why we'd be the exception.

"Let's get down to business, yes?" Chris asked once Lewis had taken his seat. Ember's new Alpha was on one side of us, and New Dawn were on the other. Both allies, I supposed, even if Jace was a slightly unwilling one. "I understand that you tabled a re-vote on our most recent amendment to pack law, Jace. Why is that?"

Jace braced his arms against the tarnished wood. "Why not? We have two new Alphas at this table. They both deserve a chance to make their voices heard. We should ensure that our legislation reflects our beliefs properly."

"Well, it was only ratified last month," Chris said slowly. "And it has been incredibly effective so far. So I am loathe to disrupt that, and to spend an entire packmeet going over the fine print again, only to hold a divisive vote with no change in outcome, when there are much more important things we could be doing here today. Let's hear the nays."