Xavion snorted. "More likely that we'll see heads roll if he's the deciding factor. I think he's in Lil's pocket."
Hudson nearly clipped a tree. Gabe glared at Xavion but I moved between them, shushing them. I understood why they were so irritable. Not only were they taking me in for potential execution, but the kid strapped to his car seat was under investigation, too. And it felt so wrong to trap him in a seat, drag him out into the woods, and threaten his tiny life.
I had to remind myself that my favorite fantasy books often bound children only a little older than Tommy to oaths and wretched futures. And those books killed those kids without a second thought, too. Still, it was different when it was a child I loved rather than words on a page. If we didn't all make it out of this, I wondered if I'd ever be able to read those books again.
A clearing deep in the woods had other vehicles already in it. The moon was a bright, full circle above our heads as Hudson parked and we got out. I took Tommy in my arms and kissed the top of his human head. He yawned, nestled into my chest, and caught the moon out of the corner of his eye. He went rigid, his pupils widening like dinner plates. I stroked his back and followed my silent pack mates... my... no, they were. I followed my silent pack mates to whatever future lie before us.
We walked across a bridge that crossed a small brook, pausing only to let a silver-haired young man run some sort of burning herbs around us. He smiled sadly at Tommy and placed his hand atop the boy's head momentarily, mouthing a mantra or a prayer. Then he looked up at me and said, "May you only find joy in these coming hours."
"A-and you?" I said, confused.
He bowed his head and let us through.
If I hadn't spent the past month among werewolves, I would have ended up on my knees at what I saw.
Dragons walked past us, the size of motorhomes, as varied as a jewelry case. Unicorns galloped by in groups, tossing their manes and all but glittering beneath the moon. Big cats that belonged on the savannah lay together in a pride, each with their paws wrapped around a chunk of meat the size of my head. Their faces were covered in blood, the occasional droplet falling from their chins, but they didn't seem to notice.
The trees were alive with griffins, their heads tucked beneath their wings as they waited for the night's problem to be solved. I hadn't considered that there would be diurnal creatures at the Meet, but I supposed not everything could be the kind of stuff that went bump in the night.
Maybe they were right to ban people like me from their secret society. I could barely cope with the understanding of what I was seeing, but my alphas looked as if they had expected even more visitors of a supernatural nature. I reached back and took Gabe's hand. He squeezed it in turn and pulled me closer to the pack’s protection.
"Aunnie!"
Tommy squirmed in my arms, wiggled out of them, and scampered over to Lillian. She was dressed all in crimson, looking like she'd been rolling in blood. She gasped and grabbed the boy, picking him up and hugging him tight. Hudson was there before I could stop it from happening. He snarled at her and stole his son back, his eyes changing to that of a wolf in a second flat.
The clearing was as silent as the grave, all eyes on the two of them. I beat a path over to them and, carefully, extracted Tommy from Hudson's arms. Then I hurried back to the safety of the rest of the pack, leaving Hudson to do whatever it was he felt was necessary. I sure wasn't about to intrude on a family matter.
"If the wolves in question will come to order," sighed a baritone voice.
In those few moments, the moon had risen enough to illuminate a long, flat stone shelf upon the ground. There, a dragon sat nearly as tall as the trees, staring down at us. His scales were as dark as the night sky, picked out with pinpricks of light. He was a mirror image of the stars above, with a crescent moon upon his brow. Molten pools of gold gazed down at me in particular and the wind left my lungs.
I turned so Tommy wouldn't have to deal with the power bearing down on us. Instead, my puppy flailed for his aunt and completely ignored the dragon.
"Mmnph," said the dragon. He snorted, then addressed the rest of the clearing. "I, Eskal of the Nightflight, bring this Meet to order. If I may have representatives of our communities to act in judgment join me, please."
While it wasn't a request so much as a command, at least someone had drilled manners into his head at some point. A griffin floated down to land beside him. A lion padded up to flop down beside the griffin and I watched as a unicorn, all regal majesty, meandered up to the stone.
Standing there like that, looking down at my werewolves and I, I got the impression that the lion couldn't have cared less. Maybe they were werecats and they'd experienced the same sort of problems in the past. The unicorn seemed only to want to come and visit us.
I worried about the griffin and the dragon, both of which focused directly on me.
"Proceed," the dragon said, tilting his head at Lillian.
Lillian stepped forward and spread her hands. "All I want is to clear my
