“I received a call from the Duncan clan this morning,” he announced, pausing when everyone in the room gasped.
Aspen’s thoughts immediately went to her mate. He was in the woods alone. If one of them found him and saw her mark on his skin, they’d come after him, too. She was torn.
“What did they want?” Fury growled.
“They’ve requested a leader’s summit,” Nash stated, glancing at Mason as he cursed when he felt Nash’s power pulse. Aspen felt it, too.
“They want a meeting?” Aspen gasped. Nash was in full alpha mode, and everyone but Charlie felt it. He was on edge, and rightly so.
“Meeting…leader’s summit…whatever,” Mason snarled. “Why? Didn’t they get their point across when they shot my mate with their arrows?”
“They shot you, too,” Charlie reminded him. Mason started to argue, but he closed his mouth when Nash stood.
“I talked to their leader, Isaac Duncan. It seems that they have been on the front lines of the war against the rogue wolves.” Nash reached for his mate and pulled her close. “Apparently, they had a small pack of them in Anchorage, and had to travel from Fairbanks to help the government round them up. They’ve eliminated the threat, and they want peace.”
“The information online doesn’t help us much, but I did recently find something to back their claims,” Charlie announced as she pushed away from the wall. “I know a lot of the things posted on this website are made up bullshit, but there was something written by a resident of Anchorage.”
“What is it?” Nash pressed.
“Someone posted photos showing shifters using a plane out of Anchorage at the airport every other day about three months ago,” she began, reaching for her phone. “They are leading shifters onto this plane destined for Colorado and Montana, but the weird thing is that they are handcuffed. Here. Look at these leaked photos.”
Charlie turned her phone around and slid it across the desk so Nash could see. Aspen watched as he scrolled through image after image of shifters being escorted onto a small plane. Whoever posted those photos had to work for the airport.
“The guy in this photo,” Charlie pointed, “was one of the men who unloaded my plane at their new compound.”
“So, it’s true? They were helping to round up the bad wolves?” Harper noted as she came to Nash’s side.
“Did you tell him what we are?” Mason asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“We had a lengthy conversation,” Nash announced, holding up his hand when everyone began to ask more questions. Aspen took the phone from her brother when he started to pace behind his desk.
The images were good quality, and they even had a few that were close enough to tell the eye color of the men they were escorting to the plane. Their hazy yellow eyes were almost glowing, but what stunned her was the collar around one of their necks.
“Oh, gods,” she breathed.
“The leader of the black bear clan advised me that they were hired by the government to help apprehend some rogue shifters who’d started robbing businesses and dealing a new drug to the humans. They’d since captured their alpha, and the problem is gone. He wanted to know what our business was in Alaska, and I told him.”
“You told him we were white wolves?” Aspen asked, standing quickly. She tossed the phone on the counter. “Did they even know we exist?”
“Yes.” Nash paused to smile. “There is a lot I have sheltered us from, and some of it is good news.”
“Good news, meaning what?” Mason pressed, pulling Charlie closer. In fact, all of the males were holding their mates close, and Aspen ached to have Booker there with her. She was already on edge knowing he was alone at his cabin.
“In the last six years, a lot has happened in the south.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Other shifters have been outed to the humans, and because of that, the wolves have been coming for anyone who is known to the world. A male started causing havoc and built an empire of drug dealers and started a theft ring that came all the way up to Anchorage.”
“Anchorage?” Isabell gasped, tightening her hold on Aspen’s brother.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “You were lucky that you lived outside of the city.”
“I had no idea the drug problem was that bad,” Charlie stated. When she’d come to the pack as a new employee, Mason’s mate had told them the things that had happened in the lower forty-eight. Rogue wolves were causing problems, but they didn’t know it had come that close to home. “I worked in trauma. So, I didn’t see anything but injuries. I have no experience with street drugs. Then, I quit to start flying again. I guess I missed all of that.”
“So, they’re coming here for a meeting?” Aspen pressed.
“They are,” Nash nodded. “I asked them to come this evening. They’ve already left their new land on the other side of our territory. They’re coming on foot.”
“We should prepare for anything,” Mason advised.
“I agree,” Nash replied. “As much as I want to trust them, and Isaac has given me his word, I still want us prepared. Get our weapons secured, and we will meet them in the terminal. Fury and Mason, set up a few tables. They can enter the main building and we can be secure by the back door. Everyone will have a form of protection.”
Aspen stood when Nash dismissed them. Mason pulled her to his side, “Get the ammo cans, and be ready for anything. Call your mate and let him know what is going on, too.”
“He’ll want to come here,” she said, shaking her head
