Chapter 41
“You’re not really considering it, are you?” Ma Black asked Gary suspiciously. “Those people are cold-blooded killers. We can’t trust them.”
“I know,” Gary said, pensive. After Aubrey told him about the outcome of her meeting with Barry, he had called an emergency meeting to consult with the heads of each pack with hopes that they would come up with a clever plan to outsmart Luke Thompson and his pals in the CIA.
“There’s no guarantee that they would let Eric go, even if you surrender yourself to them,” Antoine Brown said. “This whole thing stinks. Either way, the poor cub is in danger.”
“He is no cub,” Darren White said gruffly. “He’s a full-grown werewolf and he can take care of himself. Let’s quit bugging, shall we?”
“Really?” Andrew Brown asked, his eyes blazing with unconcealed fury. “Would you be this nonchalant if it was your son, Ian, who is in captivity and injured?”
Darren shrugged indifferently but said nothing.
“What exactly do you have against my family, Darren?” Andrew wanted to know. “Spit it out now or I’ll rip you to shreds next time you so much as look sideways at anyone in my pack.”
“Don’t you dare threaten me, you second class werewolf!” Darren snarled back.
Andrew leapt off his seat and became a huge wolf, lunging directly at Darren who was expecting the attack and met him mid-air as a giant white wolf. The two knocked each other to the ground and tussled for a few seconds before Gary barked at them to stop. They sprang apart immediately, panting and fangs bared at each other. There was no mistaking the hatred that burned in their eyes for one another.
“In my humble opinion, I believe you two are way too old for these childish games,” Byron Golden remarked dryly. “Whatever the beef between you two is, I suggest that you both grill it and eat it right now because we face more pressing issues at the moment than that. One of us is in captivity and the rest of us face extinction if these lunatics succeed in hunting us down and killing us off.”
“That would never happen,” Gary said with a tone of finality. “I won’t let that happen. Meanwhile, the two of you are suspended from clan meetings until further notice. Fighting during a crucial meeting like this is unbelievably stupid.”
“And disrespectful,” Ma Black added bitingly. “To the rest of us seated here. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“I apologize,” Andrew said soberly.
“My apologies to everyone,” Darren said with his customary gruffness.
“Why do you always regard us with such malice, Darren?” Antoine asked him. “What’s your issue with my family.”
Darren glared at him and said, “I hate how you and your brother here act as if you are superior to the rest of us, always cozying up to the Chief and blowing up small issues just for attention. I hate that and it rubs mw the wrong way.”
“I know what your problem is,” Antoine said calmly. “You think my brother and I are trying to sweeten the Chief up so that he can choose me as his successor? Is that what you’re worried about?”
Darren said nothing, but his silence obviously meant that Antoine was right in his speculation.
“Have no fear, Darren. Neither I nor Andrew, my brother, are qualified to be Chief. You seem to have forgotten that we are not direct descendants of Vak Smallchief. We have fully human ancestors, one of who married a Smallchief descendant. As per werewolf hierarchy, you stand a better chance of becoming Chief than either Andrew or I.”
Antoine’s explanation seemed to calm Darren’s nerves because his defensive stance relaxed, and his tail lowered gradually.
“Now that we’ve straightened that snag, can we get back to the main issue at hand?” Byron asked. “So, Chief, what do you suggest we do now?”
“I suggest we meet with the kidnappers,” Gary began, ignoring the apologetic werewolves, especially Darren, the instigator. “Let’s reach out to them and arrange a meeting for this evening.”
“You can’t be serious,” Antoine said, surprised by Gary’s suggestion. “They don’t want a meeting; they want a surrender. Your surrender.”
“I understand that,” Gary said. “But hear me out. I could be a Trojan horse here. Go in there, see the scope of what is going on and see how to sabotage them from the inside.”
“It can’t be as easy as you make it sound,” Andrew piped in.
“Hush,” Ma Black silenced him. “You’re no longer a part of this meeting.”
“But it’s my son that is being held captive,” he argued.
“Eric is our son,” Gary informed him. “He may have come from your loins. But he is a son to every single one of us seated at this table and right now, I am going to take the same steps that I would take if he were my biological son.”
The Chief’s declaration humbled Andrew, quenching any further arguments he may have wanted to put up. “I apologize, Chief,” he said solemnly.
“What if I pose as you?” Antoine suggested. “You’re too valuable for us to lose.”
“So are you,” Gary said seriously. “Every member of the clan is too valuable to lose, and the more we sit here and banter endlessly, the more we risk losing each other if we don’t act fast. I say we go to those people, take them down and then set Eric free.”
“Let’s not be rash, Chief,” Ma Black cautioned him. “Those people would be armed and ready to take us down too. It would be unfortunate if our going there turns into a kamikaze. Let’s weigh our options first before making any decision.”
“I agree with her,” Byron said. “Those people have had years to prepare for whatever may happen tonight, while we haven’t. Let’s be cautious, I say.”
“Fine,” Gary conceded reluctantly. “What do you all suggest then?”