Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson, #12)(32)

The wolves were all of them dangerous—to other members of the pack, to the community, and to themselves. A wolf without boundaries killed people that their human halves would not want killed. Auriele knew how far she could push the rules of the pack—and she was pushing beyond them. That wasn’t safe for her or the people around her.

Still, it struck me that Auriele and Adam were both acting a little out of character. I looked around the room and felt the tension in the air—but there had been something hovering in the meeting room since I’d first come in—before the Renny incident even. And I wondered, if Adam was locking down the bond between the two of us because he didn’t want to damage/pollute/scare me (or whatever excuse he was using), what had been happening with the pack bonds? He couldn’t shut those down—so what was he doing? And how was it affecting the pack?

Auriele hesitated for a heartbeat, then wrapped herself in righteous fury that I was not wholly unsympathetic with given Adam’s tone of voice, before she headed out the door. I wondered how much of her over-the-top behavior had been pushed on her by the pack bonds she shared with Adam. I’d had a few members of the pack make me act stupidly before. They had been doing it on purpose—but I knew that it could happen. For that matter, I wondered if Adam’s patronizing tone came from the same source that had made him act weird yesterday.

Adam watched her leave, then looked at Darryl.

“I would like to bring you into that conversation, too,” he told Darryl.

“My mate is passionate in defense of those she loves,” Darryl growled defensively.

Yes, but she wasn’t stupid, I thought, sitting back. Yesterday and today she had been acting entirely out of character. Something else besides Christy was going on. Something maybe like Adam’s struggles and the pack bonds.

“Her loyalty is one of her best qualities,” Adam told Darryl sincerely—though he was quite aware that the rest of the pack were listening. “And so is her intelligence. So when I’m done here, we are going to sit down with her and figure out what is interfering with her usual good sense. It isn’t that she suddenly decided she needs to take over the pack. If Auriele wanted this pack, I’d figure that out a few months after I’d agreed to take a twenty-year sabbatical in the Yucatán Peninsula and left y’all in her tender and competent care.”

The stress level in the room resolved into a wry wave of amused agreement. Darryl . . . Darryl kept a game face on. I couldn’t tell if he knew what was bothering Auriele or not. Adam, I thought, would know about what the pack bonds could do better than I did. He’d do his best to keep the pack safe and stable. But for how long?

Adam swept his gaze over the room again. And I saw how tired he looked, saw the weight on his shoulders—and I was the only one in the room who knew that there was a reason that had nothing to do with no sleep, Auriele’s dramatic moment, mind-bending escapees from Underhill, or invading werewolves. That meant that I was going to have to be the one who helped him out.

“So,” said Adam. “We have an invasion commencing and something of mostly unknown capabilities out creating havoc. Be careful out there. Watch your backs. Tell your families what’s going on and tell them to keep an eye out. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you think something is wrong. If you want to bring your families here to stay until matters clear up—we can do that. That they hit Mary Jo’s boyfriend—”

“Of two weeks,” said Mary Jo.

“Of two weeks,” agreed Adam, “implies that they are watching us. They have spent some time studying how we function.”

“What do you plan to do?” asked Elliot.

Adam smiled. “At its heart, taking over a pack is simple: kill the Alpha in a challenge. I plan on not dying. Go home.” He waved his hand.

There was a rumble of laughter as the mass exodus took place. Darryl wasn’t laughing. He stayed in his chair and stretched out his legs, his arms folded across his chest.

Adam caught my eye and nodded for me to stay where I was. Warren gathered Jesse and Aiden and exited with the rest. When everyone was gone, I shut the door.

Darryl glanced around to make sure the door was closed, then looked at Adam. “I don’t know what it is, either. She’s been upset—you know, the kind of upset that when I ask about it I get the ‘nothing is wrong’ answer.” He grimaced at Adam. “Which is highly irritating when she knows that I can tell she’s lying, but telling her that—something she already knows—will only give her an excuse to blow up at me. And she is looking for excuses to blow up.”

At least, I thought, Adam isn’t giving me that “nothing is wrong” answer anymore. I wasn’t entirely sure that it was an improvement. If he’d been lying to me, I could be mad at him. That might feel better than this lump in my throat.

“Let’s go see what we can do for her,” Adam said.

“Why am I here?” I asked him. “You don’t need me for this. She doesn’t even like me.”

“Sure she does,” said Darryl unexpectedly. “Why do you think she’s so mad at you about Christy?”

“That makes sense how?” I asked, flummoxed.

“As much sense as lying to your mate who is a werewolf,” Darryl answered. “She is smart, passionate, and loyal. In situations that draw on all three of those, logic flies out the window.”