He didn't like admitting to it, but this situation was tugging at some long-dormant instinct. To protect his people, to keep Faith and Kaylee safe. And, more: to destroy whoever threatened his clan. And Aldric had the bad feeling that the threat was bigger than they yet knew. Someone was determined to have all three of the Latham ladies, and right now all that stood between them and whatever dark fate their enemies had planned was the Frostwalker clan.
"Aldric," Marc raised an eyebrow at him. "There will always be something more to do. Some detail to see to. Some plan to polish. You have had meetings with all of your enforcers and briefed them on what is happening in more detail than they need. There are extra patrols out and more security, and several new guards and enforcer applicants. Some of them might even be reasonably decent. I saw some of the wolves that came in to talk to you about it."
Aldric nodded. That was true. After he had formally introduced Faith and Kaylee at the meeting, Marc had explained in greater detail about the attacks against the clan.
That had set the whole clan talking, loudly. It was the first serious incursion into their lands since they had reformed themselves, evolving from pack to clan when Aldric's own family asked for asylum just over eight decades earlier.
"True. If they all work out, and I see no reason why they won't, I will have another full team of enforcers at the end of their training. And how is the situation with the Goldfang Stalker Pack?"
Marc sighed. "God, that Alpha is ridiculous. Posturing and puffing. How they ever got to be feared at all is beyond me. Must have been thanks to his dad or something.” Now it was Marc's turn to scrub a hand over his face. "Basically, he's threatening us with a pack war if we don't hand over Kaylee. He's barely even mentioned his buddy over in our holding cells."
"Let him try to take her. I doubt very much that anyone will regret the loss of that pack," Aldric smirked and Marc chuckled his agreement.
"Leo got back to me about David Leja He’s the wolf that was with Honeyford at the lodge and then petitioned for membership with us. It seems that his story checks out. He was swept into the Goldfangs sort of by accident in a raid on a motorcycle club a few hours south of here. Guy was still a kid back then and was locked in the basement, and the wolves could tell he was one of them so they took him with when they left. Leo found the missing persons report for the kid and his mom, and about the destruction of the MC when the cops found it, but then nothing ever came of it, and the mom was killed in the raid.”
Aldric nodded. "He did a reasonable job tracking the group that took Crissy, and I saw him fighting before I took on the vampire threatening Faith and the kids. He can fight well enough that he won't need much guard training there. I was thinking that I would assign him to Rod for enforcer training if you approved his probationary period."
"Good thinking. Leo said he's got some more information for us about all sorts of things he wouldn't elaborate on. We're going to all talk to him tomorrow. Now that's sorted out, go to bed. Get a shower maybe, you smell like office work," Marc laughed as he stood up. "Don't make me get all Alpha on you, you know I’ll do it. Let me leave it as the strong suggestion of your friend. I should also tell you that Faith sounded like she was pacing up a storm in her room, muttering something under her breath. Sounded frustrated.“
Aldric took a deep breath and looked around his desk, then sighed. "Very well. You are likely right. Continuing with this work will not prove productive if I am too tired. And Faith needs support as well. This has been extremely stressful for her.“
Marc laughed again, then grinned at him. "Just take your shower before you go check on Faith, hmm? And maybe think about shaving."
Aldric glared at his friend, who only laughed.
"Enjoy life while you can, Aldric," Marc said, the humor falling away and a grim determination replaced it. "Don't lose sight of what matters, because that's what we're going to be fighting for. And we will be fighting. After this last week it's clear. We're going to war."
If you want to find out what happens next, read on for an unedited excerpt from Magaestra: Loyalties, the next book in the Magaestra Trilogy!
Excerpt from Magaestra: Loyalties
Faith paced in her room, still feeling guilty about bringing this mess to the Frostwaker's doorstep. Now, however, she was more frustrated as hell at the lack of clues about Crissy’s kidnappers. She understood that the vampires they had killed at the lodge were useless, since their identifications were all fakes and they had all withered when they died. They’d been largely unrecognizable by the time Leo asked for photos.
It was maddening, this lack of knowing, and now she was trying very hard not to be angry at Marc and Aldric and the rest of the Frostwalker Clan. After all, they had only known her for a little while. Not quite even two weeks, she grumbled to herself. It made sense that they would be more focussed on the pack war than on her sister.
But Faith was feeling like she was unravelling a little. Sure, she had gone days, weeks even, without talking to Crissy in the past, but even then they checked in with each other. Text messages or photos of whatever had them too busy to call. A comment or a tagged post on social media. There was always something to connect to each other, even when they didn't
