Knox nodded and guided me to the room we usually reserved for church. Raven had seated himself at the head of the table. Luckily for him, it was the opposite head of the table to where Knox usually sat. We took our normal seats and waited for him to start.
“Most of the claw was gone when we got there. It appears they packed up in a hurry too. They left behind some wounded stragglers to throw us off the trail. I have more men on it, hunting them as we speak. They will pay for what they’re doing to our females. Those women were to be someone’s mate.” The disgust he spat out with each word was something we all felt. It made me wonder if the woman who had been meant for me had been one to meet her fate at the hands of men like them. Not that it mattered now, because I had Chantal, but I hoped for her sake that she was still out there, safe and sound somewhere, waiting on the second chance she was about to gift to another male. After learning what was happening to the females captured by this pelt-thieving ring, I wondered how many men had lost their mates.
“The council is taking Jake back to face repercussions for not following my directives in encouraging Chantal Piper to come home to us where she belonged. She was meant to sit upon the council of females with her sisters.”
I started to tell him that if he hadn’t been such a pussy bitch and farmed out the claiming of the woman he thought of as his, that wouldn’t have been a problem for him, but he seemed to understand just by the look on my face. Raven held a hand up in the air.
“Yes, I know. This was in part, my own failing. I thought the work I was doing was too important to have to sacrifice the time, and I never thought a female would deny coming for an audience with the council. Of course, I also didn’t realize that my assistant wasn’t going to give her the option first. I take responsibility for that. I would still like the opportunity to speak with Chantal about this situation.”
“No!” I declared as Knox spoke.
“That is her decision to make.”
I glared at Knox for even entertaining the idea, but after everything Chantal had been through because of men attempting to take her decisions from her, I had to hand it to my president. He was offering her something no one else had in all of this. Knox took a moment to send a message out via his cell phone. I assumed he had texted either Bomber or Brace with the request.
“We will also be taking the leopard you have in your custody. He might give us necessary information that will lead to this vulture you spoke of, where the panther claw has moved to hiding, or possibly a bigger picture. I have no doubt that the claw was a small part of whatever was happening with their breeding and pelt-stealing operation. Someone had to be buying the pelts, and a panther’s claw has no use for them. They’re a mystical black market item that non-shifters acquire. We can’t allow it to continue. Imagine, rogue shifters with no animals behind the form to bring to heel?” He shuddered at the musing. It was incredibly dangerous to think that there were an unknown number of faux shifters out there who couldn’t be controlled by an alpha.
“As much as I want to wash our hands of this and allow you to take the leopard and your failed lackey, I don’t think it’s such a good idea.” Knox glanced at me while Raven silently fumed.
“Why’s that, Gray?”
“I understand that he seems sincere in what he actually wanted to happen with Chantal, but the fact is, the person he hired to get that done fell in with the same group who was stealing pelts and breeding women in some heinous attempt to force the birth of shadow cats. How do we really know this plan doesn’t just circle back to you?” I asked Raven, pointedly.
“You don’t,” he answered honestly. “You also don’t have to trust my word, and I understand why since you’re worried your woman will choose the man who has more going for him in this scenario.” He flipped his hand back and forth between himself and me, with the hand ultimately pointing at himself in the end. It was clear, he thought Chantal would choose him because of his station.
“You’re right,” she told him, having come through the door with Brace during the exchange. “I absolutely would choose the man who had more going for him.” Raven’s smug smile made me want to do horrible things to the man. That was until Chantal came over and sat her ass down right in my lap as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “I did choose such a man,” she reiterated. “A man of integrity and worth who wouldn’t pass off his responsibilities to others. A man who came for me, saved me from a fate worse than death, and didn’t think twice before accepting my claim on him when he didn’t have to. That is the only thing that matters about the man I chose.”
“Your sisters,” he started.
“You can tell them where I am, and they can come see me whenever they want.”
“You would give up your sisters?” he asked while looking around the room we held church in and the men who now occupied it. “For this?”
“Pretty sure she just told you her sisters were welcome here, and I second that,” Knox informed him.
“Unless you’re telling her that you’re the type of cunt who would keep her sisters from visiting out of spite because you couldn’t handle your own shit?” I queried.
“You’re going to learn to watch your mouth here real soon,” he threatened.
I stood, gently settled Chantal behind me, and threw my hands out
