Lee was experienced enough not to show any outward sign of surprise. “I see. When did this happen?”
“Recently.” Viktor did not feel the need to elaborate on just how recent their mating was. That was none of his business.
“And it’s official?”
In answer, Viktor simply tilted his head to one side and pulled down the collar of his t-shirt with a crooked finger. His expression was fiercely proud when he showed off his mate’s bite.
Icy blue eyes locked on the juncture of his shoulder for several heartbeats before Lee let out a breath and cut his gaze away. One large hand came up to scrub at his jaw. “So Ruben not only tried to have you shot on Solbourne land, but he also went after your mate, the sovereign’s cousin?”
He wasn’t sure what Lee found more upsetting: that a mate had been targeted, or that one of his fellow alphas had brought the Alliance to the brink of war.
It was a cardinal sin to go after a shifter’s mate unprovoked. Losing a mate was the end. A done thing.
Once they were gone, a shifter had nothing left to lose. It didn’t matter that Andreas couldn’t have known who Camille was, nor that she would be with him when his would-be assassin tracked him down. That didn’t matter. Incidental or not, the man had aimed his gun at his mate. That was the end of it.
“Yes,” Viktor answered, releasing his shirt. The worn cotton settled over the mostly healed wound in a mildly irritating way. He would have preferred to strip and walk around in his skin, letting it continue to heal unbothered. He loved showing his bite off to everyone who looked, but only his fellow shifters would have been comfortable with something like that, so he politely refrained.
“Shit.” Lee pursed his lips and, just out of sight of the camera, appeared to prop his hands on his hips. His white shirt stretched over his barrel chest, emphasized by the two undone buttons at the top. “Well, what are we gonna do about this, then?”
“That’s entirely up to you,” Theodore replied. He dropped his balled fists on the desk and leaned forward to look at the screen from under the shadow of his brows. “This can go one of two ways, Alpha Seymour: either you condemn the attack on my land or I take this to the Congress floor.”
Lee scowled. “You want me to take this public? That’ll cause chaos.”
“It’ll be even worse if I lodge a complaint in United Washington, I promise you.”
“I’m not saying we’re taking Ruben’s side,” he pressed, arching a dark brow. “I’m saying we don’t need to take this to the public. If we do that, faith in the Alliance would take a hit and it could turn into a bloodbath out here — especially if upstart alphas get it into their heads that they can make a name for themselves during the commotion.”
Theodore narrowed his eyes. “That’s not my problem. He shot at my fucking cousin in my territory, where she should have been safest in the world.” His jaw clenched hard enough that Viktor could make out the sound of his fangs squeaking against one another. “And he very nearly killed my best friend. If you think I’m going to allow you to bury this and let him off the hook, you have no idea what kind of chaos I’m capable of.”
Viktor, though touched by Theodore’s furious defense, dropped his hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “There’s a middle ground here,” he insisted. “You don’t want to announce it to the public while we want justice. We can have both of those things.”
Lee eyed him skeptically. “Do tell.”
“Easy. You tell Ruben that it’s me and him, one on one, at Alliance Landing. I’ll take our justice, and you can say that it was an internal dispute settled in the circle.”
“It won’t look good.” Lee shook his head. “Either way it’s shit, but I mean it won’t look good for you.”
“Why?”
“Because we were going to call you and tell you that you’d been voted in today,” he grimly informed him. “Andreas was the only dissenting vote, which will be made public when we make the announcement. If you kill him in a fight, it’ll look like reprisal.”
Elation was immediately tempered by cold reality. Lee was right. That was a bad look for anyone, but most especially a fresh alpha just accepted into the Alliance.
Viktor sighed and dropped his hand from Theodore’s shoulder. There was never going to be an easy way out of this mess. So long as he could live to build a future with his mate, he’d just have to deal with the mess. “If it’s my reputation versus inter-territory bloodshed, then I’m going to throw my reputation under the bus, Lee. It is what it is.”
“As long as you understand how it could look, Vik. You want to do this, then I’ll support you.” The older alpha nodded, the skin around his eyes tight with anger, and shifted his gaze to Theodore. “And what about you, Sovereign? Would you be willing to accept the outcome of a fight and let the transgression go?”
“Sure, but I want a meeting with the Alliance in exchange.” Theodore straightened to his full height. His eyes, dark enough to obscure his catlike pupils, gleamed with challenge. “I want to discuss a formal alliance with your territory — really discuss it.”
“There’s a good section of the Alliance that doesn’t want anything to do with the EVP. I can’t promise that they’ll be any more open to hearing you out than they were yesterday, formal meeting or no.”
“All I ask is that they meet with me.” Theodore waved a hand in a deceptively casual gesture. It would have looked harmless if anyone else had done it, but with the light streaming through the windows at his back and his hands ungloved, his claws looked particularly menacing. “What they decide after that is up to them.”
“Fine. Consider it done.” His eyes, a shockingly pale blue that looked almost white in the early morning sunlight, moved back to Viktor. “When do you want to do this?”
“As soon as possible.” There was no way he wanted this hanging over them all.
“It’ll take a few days to get the other alphas on board and force his hand,” Lee cautioned. “He’s a damn coward. He’ll do everything he can to get out of stepping into the circle.”
Viktor nodded. “As long as you get him there, that’s fine. I have arrangements to make, anyway.”
Now that they were formally accepted into the Alliance, he had people to talk to, logistics to coordinate. Viktor did not dwell on the other plans he had to hastily put together — like what would need to happen if Andreas won. He was determined to focus on the future, and that did not involve his untimely death in the desert.
Hopefully.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“I hate this.”
Camille had been quiet ever since they left the Tower. They were alone in Viktor’s car, though they were escorted by Benny and Diana, as well as two Patrol cars that drove a discreet distance behind them.
“I know,” he answered, finding her hand on her thigh. He gave it a small squeeze, knowing it would do little to soothe the fear that made her look like a ghost. “I know, Cam. If I could do this any other way, I would. There just… isn’t.”
She blinked furiously. Her eyes were glossy with tears when she finally turned her head to look at him. Her expression was almost angry, though he didn’t feel that it was directed at him. “Did you ever wish that you’d said yes?”