The kid knew better. He hunkered at me, then leaned forward to touch the tip of his human nose to the little dog's.
"Better," I said, just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I frowned at it, picked it up, and raised a brow at the unregistered number. "One second, Sadie."
Without waiting for an answer, I turned and left the room. I walked across to the bathroom, shut the door, and answered. "Hello?"
"You wolves never answer your phones," sighed a dark, smoky voice filled with disappointment.
I returned the sigh. "Eskal. Why are you calling me before the Meet? The rest of your flight finds out and you're toast."
"I never worry myself with the emotions of those beneath me," the dragon sneered. "Lillian is pushing for a dark moon Meet. We told her no. I rather thought you would be pleased with the opportunity of another week and a half of existence before the unicorns wipe your worthless pelts from the world."
I struggled to maintain my calm. While we'd never had personal problems with the dragon flight that lived in the neighboring town, we'd never exactly been friendly, either. Wolves and dragons weren't legendary enemies, but there was enough drama between the various packs and the numerous flights that we kept our distance from one another to be somewhat polite.
But it was a cool politeness, the sort you have with rude co-workers who borrow your stapler and never give it back.
"Are you threatening my pack?" I asked, finally, mastering my want to go see if dragon ribs tasted the same as that lizard I crunched once.
Eskal purred into the phone. "It's more like a promise. You illegally turned a human into one of yours. That's a threat to our flight and the security of the rest of the supernatural community. Unless she's an impressive creature, smart and clever enough to get all of you out of trouble, I'll be glad to roast you. Personally."
The phone hung up, as if he were punctuating the remark. I rolled my eyes at it and shoved it away, but I had to admit that it rattled me a little. We'd all seen the occasional problem member get fricasseed. I didn't want to see Lillian's satisfied gaze as we were led to the platform and-
...No. No, she'd save Tommy. She'd take him under her wing and demand clemency for the kid. He was just a puppy, he couldn't have known what was happening or what he was doing. She'd blame Hudson and the rest of us, making it some kind of sexual thing. And, sure, we enjoyed our time with Sadie. Mating was a natural, wonderful thing to partake in. And being with her felt more like love than anything I'd ever experienced before.
Sadie understood us. She got us, as individuals and as a pack. More than that, she cared about what happened to us. How many omegas would have just turned themselves over to the judgment of the supernatural community, hunkered, and begged not to be killed? Instead, Sadie was dedicating as much time as she could to learning about the culture and what would be expected of her.
In the past week, she'd already come to shift under her own willpower. She knew what not to say, how to react to fear that begged her to shapeshift, and ways to manage the scent she left everywhere she went. We had to deal with some dogs not liking us, but there were ways to mask that scent. Considering that she was so passionately involved in rescue, it was a necessity that she mastered it.
But she had. She'd done it in a day, passing by strange dogs without so much as them turning their head to look at her. We were giving her our A-game, and she was, too.
I slipped out of the bathroom and headed back downstairs. Carrie Ann was fast asleep with the other Dane, Matilda, both of them flopped on a mattress the size of a queen bed. I went to Her Majesty, removed her boots and jacket, and hung them up by the door as I left to speak with Hudson.
...Who was still busy hammering his hands. I climbed the ladder, walked up the icy roof, and turned on my phone. Then I scrolled to the unregistered number and showed it to the rest of the alphas. "Eskal called. Said he wants us all dead. Real friendly conversation, the son of a bitch."
"Think he's in Lillian's pocket?" Leo asked.
Hudson put the hammer down and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If he is, we're fucked. If he isn't, one of the judges might be. She keeps calling all of us. I think she wants to brag."
"If we run now, we never have to face them," I said, but I knew I was dreaming. None of us were cowards. We weren't going anywhere.
The hammer began to slip. I caught it with my toe and sat down with the others. Hudson took my phone and scowled at it. "We need a better plan."
"We can't plan if we don't know what we're up against," Gabe said. "If you'd just talk to Lillian, she'd probably screw up and say something to you. She's too stupid to brag without giving the game away."
"What game?"
I jerked and looked over at Sadie, who'd climbed the ladder as we talked. Silent, our sneaky little omega crept onto the roof and came to sit on Leo's lap. He wrapped an arm protectively around her stomach but I could see the worry in his face. The roof was pretty high up and we'd told her not to come up unless she had to. Better if we got hurt trying to help her than if she fell and busted something.
Gabe shook his head. "Lillian keeps calling. And a
