“No bitches in the Cabin,” he said with a sneer.
I tilted my head and let a little ripple of my energy seep out. It wasn’t a threat so much as it was a warning. I didn’t give a shit about the Vinur. “No bitches, or no cursed bitches? Because let’s be honest here, you’re more offended by the streak than you are my genitalia.”
“You’re just as low class as your father was.”
I wasn’t sure what he thought bringing my dad up was going to do, but I ignored that part. “What? And here I thought I was being polite saying ‘my genitalia’ instead of my pussy.” His face turned red, and I laughed a little. I found it odd that the mention of female anatomy would upset an Alpha male so much.
“As much as I’m enjoying watching Ember take you down a few notches, Wallace, let’s get on with why you and Porter called us here,” Isaac said.
They didn’t say a word. They just stared at me as though I was a piece of shit on their shoe. I rolled my eyes. “You can speak in front of me. I have a feeling I know what this is about anyway.”
“If you choose not to speak with Ember present, we will cancel this meeting. She is the true Alpha of the Summer pack and deserves a position here,” Liam said.
I looked at Isaac out of the corner of my eye. He hadn’t even flinched at my being referred to as the true Alpha. Kudos to him.
“She’s a freak,” Porter said, finally finding his tongue.
He thought he was being cruel. Little did he know, ‘freak’ was one of the nicest things someone had called me. I gave him a pretty smile. “I may be a freak, but that has nothing to do with what’s been going on recently. We can keep going around and around with this curse bullshit or you can act like the Alphas you are and get over it and move on with the meeting you called for.”
Wallace sighed and his body relaxed. “Between me and Porter, we have ten missing shifters.”
Isaac, Liam, and I looked at each other before turning back to the other men.
“Why is this just coming out now? They couldn’t have all disappeared at the same time in some kind of Vinur Rapture,” I said.
Wallace sneered at me. “At first, I tried to solve it within my pack. Then I met Porter for drinks last night and I confided in him that six of my shifters were missing. He told me he had four missing, and that’s when we called this meeting. Have any of your shifters disappeared?”
“No, but someone assaulted some of our females,” Liam explained. “I’ve taken care of the culprit, but someone is still delivering the laced chocolates to seemingly random shifters in our packs.”
“Ours too. When you told us about those candies, we told our packs not to answer the door if they don’t know who it is. And to bring the boxes to us after. They are being couriered to your lab like you asked,” Porter said.
“I’m going to venture a guess that whoever is sending the chocolates is the same person behind the missing shifters.” Isaac’s voice was strained. He glanced at me to see my reaction. I didn’t give one. Not in front of the other two.
“I would say so,” Liam said. “Do you gentlemen mind if my crew searches the homes of the missing?”
“Well, normally I would say yes,” Wallace began, “but why is it you and Stephens’ packs are the only ones without missing shifters?”
“I resent your implication,” Liam said at the same time Isaac growled.
“It’s just strange that the two packs she’s associated with are the two that are unaffected.”
Liam’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and excused himself.
Isaac clenched his hands into fists. “We told you someone assaulted women in our packs, after they received that damn laced candy.”
“This conversation no longer matters,” Liam said as he returned to the room. “Stephens check your phone.”
Isaac did and about crushed it in his hand. “Fuck. Two missing from the Summer pack.”
“And I have three,” Liam said. “Have anything further to say, Wallace? Porter? No? Good. I will send crews to all the missing shifters’ homes. I will keep you informed of anything they find. You will contact me with any information you get as well.”
They nodded and said their goodbyes. Liam sent a message, presumably to whoever oversaw his ‘crews’ and Isaac sat on a chair with his head in his hands.
Liam looked up from his phone and noticed Isaac. “I’ll be outside,” he said, looking at me.
I mouthed ‘thank you’ as I sat next to my best friend. I put my arm around him and rubbed his back, giving him time to move through what he was feeling. After a few moments he sighed and looked up at me. I moved my hands over his hair trying to calm the curls he’d mussed. It was an uphill battle, but I did my best.
“How can Stella be involved in this?” he asked.