Chapter 15: A Threat

[Max’s POV]

If it weren’t for this council meeting, I could be with my mate right now. I know the moon goddess knows best though, and we are exactly where we are meant to be. It is just that I and my wolf, Dom, have not been able to concentrate without her with us.

All the North American leaders are in attendance here. We received notice of this urgent and mandatory meeting a few days ago. The only way Sam and I were able to get Damen out of this meeting was to get emergency permission for him to stay with our mate to keep her and her son safe. Thankfully, the council elders granted us the request. I fully trust my pack warriors to keep her safe, but it is just not the same as one of us mates doing it.

Sam’s General and my Beta and Gamma have been in hammering out the protection details for the past six hours now. We have also made plans for the tri-circle mansion renovations and move details for Gia and Dante to move in swiftly and smoothly.

I registered Dante at the pack school for now. Although he is human, he will be treated as royalty as he will be known as mine, Sam’s, and Damen’s son, or stepson in human terms. We don’t use those terms in our world. When a mate has a child from a previous relationship, our kinship traditions automatically make the child like our own flesh and blood.

There are only a few species of supernaturals that use the prefix of “step” when referring to children born from a mate and someone who is not their mate, but that is not how shifters, fae, angels, demons, and vampires operate. I am so excited to have a son to take care of!

Sam knocks on my room door before opening it. We are all going to have to get used to a lot less privacy between us four. “Is it time,” I ask Sam as I stand up from my chair and grab my suit jacket. “The sooner we do this then the faster we can get back to our mate,” Sam exclaimed with eagerness.

We both exit my room and are met by Jason, Chris, and Sam’s General, Vinny. The council chose to have this meeting in Jade City’s Lotus temple, which is a city cloaked with magical wards to hide it from the human world.

Jade City is located near Red Lake Reservation in Northern Minnesota, which is deep in the beautiful north woods. The downside is that it is a good four and a half to five-hour drive from the Twin Cities.

The Lotus temple is a huge complex that sits in the heart of Jade City. It has a giant circular meeting hall in the center of the temple complex. Oddly enough, the entire complex is in the shape of a lotus flower.

The walls are made of actual Jade and the floors are of white marble. Fragrant Jasmine vines up the large columns that are marvelously placed around the temple.

A large arrangement of diverse plants and flowers decorate the entire city. I must bring Gia here someday, as I know she will love the flowers, architecture, and smells.

The five of us walk to the main meeting hall, which has a huge dark mahogany round table for all the leaders to sit at. A large spread of charcuterie, fruits, wines, blood carafes, and edible plants line the table for us to indulge upon.

Commanders, betas, gammas, and royal guards sit in seats behind their respective leader. We take our seats and chat with the other leaders who are seated near our chairs, while we snack and drink together. There are seven chairs at the head of the table for the seven appointed council elders. Those chairs are each fitted in design for the realms upon which each elder represents.

As soon as the pleasantries adjourn, the elders walked in and took their seats. This century the appointed elders have representation from humans, werewolves, vampires, fae, warlocks, elves, and witches. Silence engulfs the room as the elders take their seats. Elder Aeon of the Fae begins the meeting by thanking us all for being here and that he wishes it was under better circumstances, then nods to Elder Luca of the Warlocks.

“We have been receiving reports of kidnappings of men and women of each of our lands. The council has been investigating these crimes thoroughly and persistently, as we do not take these matters lightly. We have not found the perpetrators yet. However, we have found evidence and multiple witnesses who have reported that a distinct smell has been left to linger in many of the places where the kidnappings have taken place. With the help of Elder Bella Thorne’s coven of witches, we have determined the smell to belong to hunter demons,” Elder Luca explains, and a gasp is heard around the room.

Hunter Demons? They have not been reported on this Earth plane in centuries. “What is the smell so that we can put our warriors on alert,” the high warlock of Saint Paul, Trinton, asks. “Yes, the smell is a mixture of burning flesh and Hawthorne tree,” Elder Romero of the vampires informs us.

“There is something else. These hunter demons are working for someone or something that possesses powers to portal or cloak in a way that we have not been able to figure out yet. We were able to track the smell from a kidnapping of one of our females, to the Anoka Nature Preserve, but the scent abruptly stops a short way into the eastside of the preserve near Rum River,” Elder Anastasia of the shifters stated while nervously clenching her fists.

“We are advising all of you to protect your borders and inform the council of any suspicious activity near the borders. We are adding another layer of wards around Jade City to repel hunter demons. If you would like for wards to be put up around your territories, please send an immediate request to Elder Braden, of the humans, as he is helping our warlock, mage, and witch communities with protection logistics,” Elder Amaria of the Elves suggested.

As soon as the meeting adjourned, Sam, our crew and I raced to our rooms to pack. “I will send in the request for wards for all three of our lands,” Sam said with haste. We exchanged a few more plan ideas, while packing, and then met Chris, Jason, and Vinny at our vehicle to get back to our mate as quickly as we could.

I mind linked Chris to inform our warriors to heighten the border security. Sam informed Damen of the situation and instructed him to move Gia and Dante now. I hope we can get her and Dante to the mansion safely and get the borders locked down before anything bad happens.