Dark Blood(158)

He appreciated that she didn’t argue with him. He needed to do this tonight. He was a man who could stay in control—and he would—but he didn’t want to. He wanted the satisfaction of curling his fingers into a fist and punching Rolf in his pompous face.

He strode over to the small group of Lycans, the pack leaders with Rolf and Randall. Randall broke into a smile the moment he caught sight of Zev.

“As always, you pulled us through. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” He held out his hand.

Zev took it almost reluctantly. He couldn’t blame Randall for Rolf’s decision. “I’ll miss working with you, Randall,” he said quietly.

Instantly all conversation ceased and the pack leaders turned to face him, shock on their faces. Rolf scowled at him.

“I don’t understand,” Randall said. “Of course you’ll be working with us. You’re our enforcer. Our elite hunter. You’re invaluable. This wasn’t your fault. No one could have predicted such a thing. Hellhounds. An army of Sange rau. Poisonous frogs.” He shuddered. “And to think all this time Rannalufr was really this evil mage.”

“His plan was to bring about the downfall of the Lycans. His brother Xavier tried with the Carpathians, and Xayvion has nearly destroyed the Jaguar species. I think they came close to their goal. We nearly allowed a war between Lycan and Carpathian.”

“Have those remaining traitors, Xaviero’s Sange rau army, been taken into custody? I saw them leaving with Daciana and the others,” Rolf demanded.

Zev shook his head. “Xaviero took their free will from them. They fought against him, but he gave them the blood to become mixed bloods. He murdered their families and tortured them when they went against him. In the end, he took their will because it was the only way he could get them to cooperate. They are innocent.”

“That’s not your place to judge,” Rolf pointed out.

Zev smiled at him. “I’m resigning. I will no longer aid a council who do not serve all their people or have their best interests at heart. As for the twelve men who need support and won’t get it from their own people, they’ll have it here with me. If you wish to pass judgment on them, you’ll have to talk to their pack leader as is the way of all Lycans.”

“You can’t resign. We don’t accept your resignation,” Randall said.

“I’m sorry, Randall. You’re a good man. But I gave my counsel to Rolf and he refused to listen to me. He didn’t go to you and discuss it. He made an arbitrary decision to put his pack leaders and you in unnecessary jeopardy.”

Randall’s eyebrow shot up. “Is that true, Rolf? Why? That goes against everything the council stands for.”

“You would have sided with Zev and my vote is the tiebreaker. There were only two of us,” Rolf defended.

The other two council members who had come for Arno’s ceremony looked at one another with raised eyebrows.

Rolf waved his hands dismissively. “Why waste time arguing? Zev, think what you’re doing. If a mistake was made here, and I concede I may have been wrong, that doesn’t mean a resignation is in order.”

Zev spread his hands out in front of him. “The prejudice against mixed blood is so strong in Lycans, Rolf, that even you wouldn’t listen when I told you what would happen here.”

Rolf shook his head. That’s not true, Zev.

“It is true. In all the long years I’ve been the council’s leading elite hunter, every time I’ve given you advice based on my knowledge and my instincts, you’ve followed it. You didn’t this time. Arno was very conflicted about those of us who are mixed blood because of his belief in the sacred code, but at least he admitted it and struggled with what was the right thing to do. You didn’t listen this time because you found out I’m a mixed blood and you no longer trusted my judgment.”

Rolf shook his head but he didn’t deny it aloud.

“The thing is, I’ve always been a mixed blood. My mother was of Carpathian descent. All those centuries I served this council, you had a mixed blood giving you advice and fighting your battles for you. I protected all of you. Even knowing that, you would have sentenced me to death. Rolf, this could have been a slaughterhouse. We were fortunate that the four Carpathian women here with us today could defeat the mages. You should have listened to me. I hope you listen to whoever is chosen to take my place.”

Once again he touched Randall’s hand, lifted a hand in salute to the pack leaders and turned on his heel to walk away from them. He didn’t belong with them anymore. Not until they figured it out and changed their policies. He was mixed blood—both Lycan and Carpathian and he would never turn rogue or vampire. They had seen Dimitri, Fen and him fight for them and still, not one of them had given their condolences on his grandfather, or made a comment on how appalling it was that Xaviero had used silver to torture a man for years. It hadn’t occurred to them that he was a man. Or a Lycan. Or a Carpathian. Or all three. Hemming was simply Sange rau to them and that was all they saw.