Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Thank you for that display of leadership.” Margery clasped her hands in her lap. “I’d wondered how you could possibly control the power you’ve amassed. It seems that when the situation calls for it, you step up.”
“She’s very easygoing,” Austin said, “until she isn’t. It’s how our co-leadership works so well. She lets me handle things most of the time—or Mr. Tom, or another of her people—and steps in when she needs to.”
“And you.” The tall man squinted. “You seem to be easygoing where it concerns her. I never in my life would’ve thought Austin Baraza could share power. You’ve always had potential, but you were so…wild. Unpredictable. No balance whatsoever, and incapable of true leadership.”
“I was a kid,” Austin said, his tone almost bored. “I was spinning out of control until I finally challenged my brother. It was a dark time in my life, and I caused a dark time for my family. I realize that. I cannot apologize enough for it, and I cannot go back and change it. It scarred me to the point that I never imagined myself stepping into an alpha role. It was Jess who changed my mind. I’d already grown up, but she gave me the courage and stability I needed to reach for my potential. I’m still reaching. I’m here today because I’m not that spoiled kid anymore. Because I have changed and continue to evolve. There’s a need for unity, and I, with Jess’s help, can work toward acquiring it. Our goal is to provide a safe haven for all magical people from corrupt organizations like the Mages Guild. From destructive tyrants like Momar. It’s why I established O’Briens in the first place, and why I want to spread that ideology further.”
He fell silent for a moment. Everyone was still as they took that in.
“However,” he went on, “I am every bit as wild as that kid back in the day. I’m even more powerful now. More destructive, if I have reason to be. I made Kingsley’s territory nervous with my fighting prowess. With my darkness. Do not think, for one minute, that I’m a nice man. I’m reasonable, and I’m open, and I will do right by my people at all costs, but I’m just as vicious as I always was.”
I put my hand on his thigh, and he covered it with the hand not braced on my chair.
“I can attest to that,” Kingsley said somberly.
“Just so we’re clear,” I said into the following silence, “I’m no picnic in a battle setting either. I get a bit wild myself. As does my crew. Don’t get me started on the basajaunak.”
“In the battle for my territory, I was glad for it,” Kingsley said. “In the months to come, when Momar regroups and comes for his vengeance, I’ll be relying on it.”
“Austin, Jessie…” Kevin leaned forward. “What is this convocation? What do you have in mind?”
TWENTY
Jessie
I sighed wearily as I dragged myself to the main lobby to meet Niamh and Fred at the hotel bar. The meeting had run on for hours, Austin hashing out his plans for a company-like organization, with a CEO and board of directors and voting parameters for a ruling body. It wasn’t entirely ironed out yet. He’d wanted Kingsley’s help with the best approach, and the meeting had acted like a round table of sorts to do just that.
Everyone was interested. They’d been on board with the original attempt to unify, though they were nervous about Austin being the organization’s head. They wanted some assurance he really was a changed man, and they wanted to see him in action.
Apparently, they had a way to do just that. Margery had gotten word that a nearby pack was in trouble: a ruthless sort of character had challenged for power and killed the governing body. He’d become a terror to his people. He wouldn’t let pack members leave if he could help it, and the body count of those trying to push back was growing. The couple who had escaped were begging for help.
The alphas had agreed to let Austin and me handle it. They’d be watching, ready to step in if needed, seemed to expect they would have to, and probably planned to say, “I told you so.” They’d even offered us some of their people to fill out our ranks, which Austin politely declined. We didn’t need them.
They thought it was bravado. One of them had even smirked.
Shifters seemed to hold grudges—that was what I was noticing, anyway. Or maybe they’d just never heard anything good about Austin until recently. He wasn’t the boastful type, and for the longest time after leaving Kingsley’s pack, he’d lain low. They’d heard his name, that he’d wiped out whole hunting parties and others besides, but it had seemed like tall tales. That, or it had cemented the “wild” persona they’d stuck him with.