“If you’ve looked around at all since you got here, then you already know everything there is to know.” He gestured around them at the mass of Ironborn gathered behind him and at his sides. They were all accustomed to living on high alert, waiting for any possibility of an attack from the Council, and so everyone was armed at all times. They were an imposing sight. “We’ve stood against the Council once to get back one of our own.” He hoped, with a part of him, that Aura was still close enough to hear him call her that. “But to stand against them for good, whether it’s us or anyone else, we could do with some friends.”
Since everyone was paying close attention to the Earthborn pack, they didn’t really notice Zara work her way through. She stood at a distance from Nick but not far enough away that he couldn’t see her expressions and hear her words easily enough. “I am a former servant of the Council. I know what we would need to take them down, and we certainly need you.”
Janna was uncomfortable with seeing a Heartborn in their midst, but everyone was, at first. She enjoyed hearing that they might have the upper hand. They desperately wanted to destroy some Council forces, and anything that could help make that destruction even more devastating was something she was a fan of. She looked over at Nickel, though, with a raised eyebrow. “Do you trust this Heartborn?”
He looked over at Zara, then back at Janna. “Her vows were once to the Council. Now they are to me. Her kind is as much looked down on by the Council as our pack or yours.”
Janna looked a little more convinced with Nick’s approval, but then she looked at the Heartborn again. “How likely do you think it is that we will succeed? You said you know the Council’s forces.”
Zara looked around and then back at the Earthborn pack. “Well, it’s certainly much more likely with you here. There are also two Stoneborn packs coming this way, as well as a Forestborn. It will take a lot of organization, but the Council has made some enemies that they ought not to have overlooked.”
“We intend to reach the full spectrum of our people.” Nick said quietly, as he stepped up closer to the two in front of him. He didn’t want Council spies to hear that particular intention, but if they did, so be it. “As even the Council never has. There are a lot more where we came from. But we all have to be together to pull this off.”
Janna looked back at her mate and then looked over at Nick again. “What makes this plan any different than what the Council set up so long ago? Trading one Council for another doesn’t sound appealing.”
“You mean besides the fact that we don’t have a stick the size of Denmark shoved up our collective asses?” Nick snarked right back.
Osvald actually grinned at that, and started chuckling as he folded his arms. “I think we’re going to be friends, young master Nickel.”
“I hope so, master Osvald.”
“We don’t want to become like the Council.” Janna said seriously. She had to be one of the few in the pack that thought things through. It was how they survived. “But perhaps we need more time to think.”
“Take whatever time you think you need.” Nick said just as seriously back to her. “What I want to create here is a court of Alphas that can work together as equals, no matter what color our eyes are.”
“And the Turned?”
“If they shift on the Fulness and run on four legs like the rest of us, then there’s no reason they shouldn’t be protected under the same laws as the rest of us.”
Janna gave a nod of approval and just as she looked back at her mate, Zara spoke up again. “The Fulness is near. Perhaps we should all enjoy a Fulness and then reconvene afterwards?”
Osvald’s eyes flicked distrustfully over at Zara for a moment, then back at Nick. “She might be a turncoat, but she’s sensible enough. The day after the Fulness, we’ll talk again.” He looked back at the house behind Nick for a moment. “When will your mother’s funeral be?”
“Tomorrow. Before the moon rises on the first night. You are welcome to attend, though I doubt our funerals are much like yours.”
“Funerals do not need to be the same for all to mourn the loss of a strong wolf.” Janna said with a look of sympathy. “We would like to come to show our support.”
Nick nodded and put out a hand toward Osvald. “A pleasant Fulness to you then, and we’ll talk again afterward.”
A few of the Iron Guard members moved up closer to him instinctively when he put his hand out. It was a common saying among wolves to never shake hands with an Earthborn. There was always a chance the wolf who did so wouldn’t have a hand left afterwards, they were just that strong.
Osvald grinned at the offered hand, and shook it more or less gently for one of his kind, only leaving Nick’s hand nominally bruised afterwards. “Do you know what they’re calling you around the rest of Europe, young master Nickel?”
Nick shrugged nonchalantly
