CHAPTER 13

"Afternoon, everyone," said the Mediator, rubbing his prominent jaw. "My name is Harry Justin and I"ve been appointed by the council to act as Mediator in this dispute. My role is to guide this discussion and aid you in exploring your issues in the hope that an agreement can be reached. Note that both parties are free to leave at any point and that a decision will not be made in your absence. Before we go any further, could each party please introduce themselves, starting with the Applicant." "Kevin Joe, Alpha of the Tefy Pack," the smarmy ass drawled with a self-satisfied smirk. "On my right is my Beta and on my left is my Head Enforcer. At my back are some of my enforcers." Harry nodded then looked at Gio. "Now if the Respondent could also introduce himself and the wolves with him." "Gio Wright, Alpha of the Ferux Pack. Behind me you"ll see my Head Enforcer and two of my enforcers. On my left is my Beta and on my right" he stroked a hand through her hair "is my mate, Danica." He knew the smile he shot his uncle wasn"t a pleasant one. "Thank you," said Harry. "Now I"ll ask you both, beginning with the Applicant, to outline the issue as you see it. I ask you not to interrupt each other." Kevin straightened in his seat. "It"s been a long time, Gio. You look well. Can I ask how the rest of the pack are doing?" "You can, but I won"t answer." "I see you"ve mated. A beautiful female." "Well we"re not here to exchange pleasantries so cut the shit." After a sigh, he fixed a concerned look on his face. "It is regrettable that our pack divided the way it did. It never sat well with any of us. I, inparticular, worried for your safety and that of those who left with you." Gio heard a snort behind him and thought it might have been Ray. He was tempted to snort himself. "A great many of us have carried that guilt. But you know your father ,I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, but it is a fact that my brother was too damn stubborn for his own good. He refused to lift the banishment no matter how hard we appealed to him. As unfortunate as his passing is, it has also given us an opportunity to introduce changes and progressions. And we wish to welcome you back into the pack. With me as Alpha, of course." Harry arched a brow at Gio. "As the Respondent, what is your stance?" He began massaging Danica"s nape, drawing strength from her closeness to keep his wolf calm. "You always did talk shit, Kevin. I prefer bare facts. Shall I share some with you? A bare fact is that you were right at my father"s side when he banished me, encouraging his decision. Another is that if you had really wanted to overrule the banishment you could have, as Beta, applied to the council. A third is that you couldn"t care if I live or die, your motivation to unite the pack is not regret or concern. So what the fuck is it?" Danica noted that the Mediator didn"t look in the least bit surprised that Gio wasn"t interested in a civil discussion. He could probably see through Kevin"s act just as easily as they could. "I don"t blame you for this anger, Gio," said Kevin. "But why not let it go and unite the packs once again?" "Why not just tell me what this is really all about? Is it my territory that you want? Is it to enlarge the pack? Is it just to be a pain in my ass?" Where the idea came from she wasn"t sure, but an idea suddenly occurred to Danica. "Maybe he has a perverse wish to see you bow down to him." All eyes darted to her and then to Kevin. Duda pursed his lips. "Maybe it"s all four." "You can"t tell me that neither you nor your wolf has missed your homeland," said Kevin. "Surely you"ve dreamed of coming home many times." Gio blew out a breath and shook his head. "Did I ever wish to return to a place where people who were supposed to care for me had been so eager to sling me out? No, no I didn"t at all. The whole prodigal son thing isn"t for me." "So you have no inclination to unite your pack with Kevin"s?" asked Harry. "None whatsoever," replied Gio. Kevin"s expression turned dark and bitter. "Don"t make this become a battle. It"s not one you can win." "Did I introduce my mate properly? I don"t think I did, did I? Danica, meet Kevin Joe. Uncle, meet Danica Hart" He grinned inwardly at the flicker of unease that crossed Kevin"s face. "Danica Hart," repeated Dean, smiling at her. "You once healed a friend of mine, Cesar James, his nose had been broken. You were also the person who broke it." She shrugged. "He deserved it." Oh and he really had. "If your reputation"s anything to go by, that wasn"t your first broken nose." At her unrepentant shrug, he asked, amused, "You don"t think that perhaps you have anger management issues?" "Punching people is managing my anger." Strangely not liking the playful banter going on between his mate and the Mediator, Gio tangled a hand in her hair , a shifter gesture of ownership. "Are you going to do the wise thing and drop this?" he asked Kevin. "The wise thing would be for you to sign an agreement now that says our packs are now one and I rule as Alpha." Danica couldn"t stop the snort from popping out. "I take it this means no agreement can be reached," said Harry quickly, obviously wanting to stop the conversation from becoming any more argumentative than it already was. "Kevin, do you wish to pursue this further or are you willing to withdraw your application?" "I"m not backing down." Gio leaned forward in his seat. "Then I accept your challenge." Harry Justin sighed. "You know the drill. Ten weeks. Teen weeks must pass before either of you can act on that challenge. Hopefully you can both come to an amicable agreement within that time." "How many times does that actually happen?" she asked Harry, curious. "More often than you might think. About forty-five percent of the time disputes are nothing but impulsive challenges that neither side particular cares to follow through once their tempers have eased. Without that ten week cooling off period there would be many pointless battles and many pointless deaths. So maybe it wasn"t such a bad idea to placate the humans by forming a council." Kevin snarled. "Unless within that time my nephew agrees to unite the pack, my challenge will be followed through. Those wolves are mine. And I"ll very much enjoy taking those caves of yours. Maybe I"ll even take your mate as mine." Trey"s menacing growl had everyone jerking. Feeling him tense as if to spring, she squeezed his hand hard enough to cause pain – a sharp pain that would cut through the anger fogging his thoughts. She curled her upper lip at Kevin. "Call me shallow, but I do prefer good looking guys. And you…well it seems like the best part of you dried up on your mom"s thigh." She probably shouldn"t have found it so amusing that he didn"t seem to be breathing, but, well, it was a bitch thing. Harry quickly said, "Meeting over. Gio, I"m going to ask you and your wolves to leave first." "What do you mean first?" gripped Kevin. "In the interest of preventing confrontations from occurring, the protocol is to keep ten minutes between the time that each party leaves." Eager to be away from Kevin before his wolf surfaced, Gio stood upright, pulling Danica to her feet. "Let"s go, baby." Surprising him, she leaned against his arm, offering him support that he hadn"t known he needed. "I"ll be seeing you soon, Kevin," he growled, his eyes flashing wolf. The temptation to tear off his limbs and rip out his throat for trying to lay claim to what was his was riding hard. Satisfied by Kevin"s nervous expression, he nodded and stalked back to the luxurious car he came with. Once back on pack territory, Gio closed himself in his office, needing that privacy to fight off the memories haunting him and the grey cloud that seemed to be hanging over him. Yeah he was a brooder. It wasn"t the memory of his dad severely wounded that haunted him. Nor was it the memory of how many suddenly turned against him just like that. It was a memory of something far worse, something that he shouldn"t be able to shove to the back of his mind to only haunt him from time to time. But he wasn"t a person who ‘felt" the way everybody else did. He knew instincts, he knew urges, he knew logic, but ‘feelings"…not so much. It wasn"t that he was cold, just that he"d closed himself off a long time ago as what he now knew was a defence mechanism. It was most likely a bad thing and strongly linked to his underdeveloped conscience, but it was also one of the things that had made it possible for him to take on the responsibilities of Alpha at thirteen and get his pack through that difficult time of the banishment. As usual, Duda never left him to brood in peace for long. A knock on the office door half an hour later was followed immediately by Duda"s entrance. He was the only wolf who didn"t wait for permission to enter, and he was the only one who could get away with it. "Are you done?" "Is Lindy back yet?" "Got back about ten minutes ago. She"s in the kitchen packing away boxes of some weird herbal tea. Um, I think you might want to know that on my way here I saw Danica going to refill her coffee mug." Gio groaned. "Shit. Tell me they"re not alone." "Who do you think will start cursing first?" Sighing, Gio strolled out of his office rushing down to the kitchen to rescue his mate from his rather antisocial, borderline psychotic grandmother. "I don"t like you."