Pops stayed silent while we talked, but Vasily came over to butt in. "The O'Malleys might have one of the smaller territories, but they've been getting their share of shit happening over there, too. Nobody is safe, Joey. As for who's coming? The Salvatori and Stanislav families both agreed to be here as well. We didn't hear back from the Chen triad, so whether or not they show remains to be seen."
Joey shuddered, his fur rippling in the breeze. "I don't know if I'll be more relieved if they show or if they don't, if the rumors are true."
Pops chuckled, the low rumble echoing through my head. "The dragon thing? Oh, it's true, I can verify that for you. Yes, dragons exist and that’s a much more, shall we say, fiery, reason to respect the triad than their knife fighting skills."
Vasily and I looked at each other in shock but kept our thoughts to ourselves. Joey, of course, not so much. "Seriously? Holy shit, Pops. How could you keep something like that under wraps? What do they look like? And more importantly, how do you know their big secret when nobody has been able to prove it in all these years?"
"Your papa was good friends with Li Chen, the alpha's mate. He was trusted with their secret after he saved Li's life. They were young kids at the time, no older than twelve or thirteen. Some racist punks at school attacked Li and your papa ran them off. After he found Li clinging to life under the bleachers, he started to go for help when the kid whispered for him to stop and said he just needed water. Your papa gave him a drink and the kid told him to step back."
We were all riveted. This was not a story any of us had ever been told. Joey pawed at the ground like an excited puppy. I mentally rolled my eyes at my kid brother, but truth was, we were all vibrating with an excitement over this new revelation. "Then what happened, Pops?"
"Petr said the air felt magical and warm as the boy shifted into a dragon with beautiful red scales that glittered like gemstones. He said if he'd blinked or looked away, he would've missed it because Li shifted right back in a heartbeat and was perfectly healed. And even better? The dragon shifters can apparently bring their clothes with them through the shift, because he was fully dressed in ripped and bloodied clothes—yet didn't have a scratch on him."
I sucked in a breath. It was silly—especially when I knew my papa had survived the incident—but I found myself worrying for the innocent kid who’d accidentally witnessed a dragon shifting. "What happened after that, Pops? Did Papa get threatened or something?"
"Not at all. Li begged him to keep it secret and your papa kept his word. Despite our mating bond, the rascal didn't even tell me the story until after he'd gotten Li Chen's approval." He grunted and let loose a wave of alpha pheromones so strong it nearly knocked me over. "And this story had better not leave this circle, either. Misha and Boris, I know you can hear me. That goes for you too."
I looked up as my brothers came lumbering back through the trees. Misha's eyes were glittering with excitement as they approached. "I won't tell anyone, Pops. But can I just say… mega props to Papa? That's some cool shit, right there."
"Da. Cool shit, indeed." Pops sounded amused. He paused a beat before turning back to the business at hand. "Did you find the O'Malleys approaching as I expected?"
"Yep. It was a skulk of foxes you heard. We nodded at each other and let them go on their way. So, are we ready for this meeting, or what?" Misha sounded like he was raring to go. "At the risk of sounding stupid, how did you know it was the O'Malleys?"
Pops started down the path, knowing we would all fall in line. "Isn't it obvious? I heard small animals. The Stanislav wolves would not tread as softly. And we would never hear a Salvatori lynx unless they wanted us to, yes?"
Fair enough. Our conversation ended abruptly when we reached the tree line. Pops led us onto the moonlit meadow where the meeting was to take place. As soon as he stepped onto the grass, other groups of animals came out of the trees from different directions.
The Italians came in a small group of five lynx. The medium-sized cats moved sinuously in the moonlight, moving confidently like the predators they were.
The Stanislavs had brought a pack of a dozen or so wolves while the O'Malley's skulk was such a cluster that I lost count after the first dozen.
The tension was thick in the air as we met in the middle, mirroring a compass, with each family at a different point, as our four groups stopped with as perfectly spaced gaps as we could manage given the differing sizes of both our animals and amounts of members represented.
Pops shifted first and took a step forward as if showing his willingness to trust them not to attack him in this vulnerable form. He held up a hand, curling his fingers and beckoning us to join him. I took a deep breath and shifted. If Pops could trust these fucks not to attack, I would give my support. My brothers did the same and we all strode forward to form a semicircle around Pops with me and Vas taking point on either side of him. The other families shifted and mirrored our position around their own Dons. Nudity might be normal for us shifters, but being surrounded by several dozen naked men all looking around as if they expected to be attacked at any moment had to be weird for anyone.
Denys Stanislav was the first to speak. "Hello, Francis. Thank you for calling this meeting. It is past time we speak face-to-face." He nodded at my father before turning to greet the others. He inclined his head toward Don Salvatori first. "Enzo, I have questions for you." He turned toward the O'Malleys without waiting for Don Salvatori to respond—and with far less respect. "Seamus O'Malley. Perhaps you and your lads can explain the rash of car bombings that seem to be going around lately?"
"My lads?" Boss O'Malley barked out a laugh. "No. Don't do that, Denys. Don't pretend to speak our lingo. If I hear you drop the words bollocks or arse, I’ll lay you flat. Do not confuse my good humor with weakness. Aye, it would be interesting to see how your sons and mine compare in a good old-fashioned fist fight, don’t you think?”
He paused, then dropped the smile for a second. “And that'll be quite enough talk about car bombs, thank you. What, a few cars blow up, so it must have been the Irish behind it?" He shook his head, laughing as if he couldn't believe the amount of stupid that had come from Don Stanislav's mouth.
Before things could get heated, Pops intervened. "Okay, Seamus. You've had your fun. And Denys? A word of advice, if you will. You'd be wise not to confuse the O'Malley family's smaller stature with the strength of their blows. I've seen these bastards fight. Trust me when I say, they get brutal." Pops grinned at Boss O'Malley. "The bloodier the better, right?"
Boss O'Malley grinned proudly. "Fuckin’ A. It's not a fight until someone's bled."
After a few seconds passed, Don Salvatori cleared his throat. "Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, perhaps we could get down to business? Francis, thank you for checking into the snitch last month and finding the dickless shithead who turned my brother Gino in to the feds. Even though they didn't find anything—Gino’s solid—it was a pain in the ass to deal with that hassle. That being said, I believe you when you say the man was no longer affiliated with you at the time."