Pride (Shifters #3)(49)

I knew I should have taken time for a shower. I’d smell like Marc—and vice versa—until I did.
Though I nearly swallowed my waffles whole, Marc still finished eating first, and when he stood, I shoved my leftovers across the table toward Jace and made my way into the living room. Marc sank next to me on the couch and we faced my father as a united front.
We’d gotten back together just in time to be separated by politics. I couldn’t have had worse luck if I’d Shifted and broken a mirror on the underside of a ladder.
“I take it they’ve filled you in.” My father settled wearily into the armchair on my right, in spite of lumpy arms and a too-low seat. From his bearing alone I knew better than to expect an apology for being sedated. Hell, I was lucky they hadn’t knocked me out the old-fashioned way—with a solid blow to the head.
“Yeah.” I hesitated, forcing myself to swallow my anger at my father. He wouldn’t have made such a decision lightly. “They also said you had no choice.”
He nodded. “As much as it pains me to admit it…”
For nearly a minute, no one spoke, and the only sounds were the ticking of Michael’s watch and Jace’s chewing. And that was all I could take. “So, how’s this going to work?” I glanced from my father to my brother, then back. “Marc moves into the free zone for a while, then we find some reason to bring him back. Right? So how long are we talking? A few months?”
Michael suddenly became very interested in his loafers, and my brunch began to pitch within my stomach.
“A year? Surely it won’t take that long…”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” my brother finally said. “Malone and Blackwell are dead serious about this, and there are others on the council who will back them. If Dad goes back on his word—especially within just a few months—he’ll lose a lot of credibility with the council. And he really can’t afford that right now.”
My father frowned, as if he wanted to disagree but couldn’t. Not a good sign. But they couldn’t really mean to leave Marc alone in the free zone forever. Or even for a couple of years. That was too long.
“Come on, guys, there has to be a way out of this. The Territorial Council has more pointless rules and regulations than any governing body in history. I’m sure we can find a loophole. Michael, you get out all the old logs and records and search for a precedent, Marc and Jace can keep the wolves at bay, and I’ll…make some coffee.” 
At least that would prove that I was good for something other than getting people killed, concussed, or exiled.
“Faythe…” My father reached out to lay one hand on my arm, but I jerked away from him.
“No.” I shook my head vehemently and clenched my hands in my lap so hard my knuckles ached. “We can’t let this happen, Daddy. What did you actually agree to? Give it to me word for word. There may be some wiggle room in the phrasing. Did you happen to give a time limit for this so-called expulsion?”
“Stop, Faythe.” Marc’s hand landed on mine, and I didn’t have the heart to pull away from him because I wasn’t sure how long I’d have to wait to touch him again. “It’s done, and we have some important decisions to make.”
“Like what?” How long to make Marc pretend to be exiled before bringing him back? What to get him for a welcome-back gift?
He sighed. “Who to bring in as my replacement.” His focus shifted to my father. “It should be someone we trust, and someone with a few years’ experience. I was thinking maybe Brian Taylor.”
“What?” I whirled on him, and a sudden flash of fear left my nerve endings singed. “You won’t be gone long enough for that,” I insisted, clinging stubbornly to the resolve that I could get him reinstated. Somehow. “Some new flea will crawl into Malone’s fur and he’ll forget about you, and when he does, we’ll find a way to bring you back.”
“Faythe.” Marc took my hands and squeezed them, and his eyes held mine. Wouldn’t let them go. “It’s done. With any luck, it won’t be forever.” He glanced at my dad again, and on the edge of my vision, I saw my Alpha nod. “But it will be for a long time.”
“No.” I heard the plea in my voice and hated the sound of my own weakness, but couldn’t seem to squelch it. “Not now. Not after all this.” My voice broke, and when I paused to regain what little composure I had left, I saw that Jace was standing in the doorway, watching me in an agony all his own. “Maybe Marc could work from the free zone. You know, patrolling the boundary from the other side, or—” I choked back a sob “—chasing down rogues. Of course, he’d have to come home now and then to file a report…”
“Faythe, I tried that,” my father said gently. “I don’t want to lose him either, and I did everything I could to put limitations on this. But Malone’s a stubborn bastard, and Paul Blackwell’s firmly in his corner on this one. And we don’t have any leverage. Marc can’t come back onto Pride territory while he’s in exile.”
“Okay.” I nodded slowly, not because I understood, but because he’d just given me a solid obstacle to work around. A place to start. But I’d have to give it some thought. Come up with some leverage…
“And while he’s gone,” my father continued, shifting his gaze from me to Marc, “we have to bring someone in to replace him. Not as the top enforcer, of course. I’ll bring up either Vic or Ethan for that. But we’ll need an extra set of claws…”
I didn’t hear most of the discussion that followed; I wasn’t interested in replacing Marc. But ten minutes later, my father went into his bedroom and closed the door, behind which I heard him talking on the phone to my mother, probably calling in backup. We were shorthanded already, because of all the injuries, and it would only get worse when Marc left.
In fifteen short hours.On the front porch, Marc squeezed my hand and gave me a lingering kiss goodbye, then Jace herded me down the steps. Now pissed, I stomped toward the lodge like a woman with nothing to fear and everything to prove, Jace jogging at my heels.
When we were halfway there, Jace called out from behind me. “Faythe, would you wait? I need to talk to you.”
“So talk. But make it fast. I have something to say to the tribunal, and I want to get it over with before I lose my nerve.” And anyway, I’d forgotten my jacket, and it was freezing outside.
“Well, you need to hear this, so stop for just a minute.” He grabbed my arm and turned me to face him, returning my glare with a very grave expression when I jerked my arm free. “I sat with Brett for a little while you were sleeping off that tranquilizer, and he told me something you need to know.”
Jace was closer to Brett than to any of his other half siblings, but I couldn’t remember them ever sharing important information before. Or even much more than a greeting.
I frowned, set on edge by the urgency in his voice. “What’s wrong?”
Jace ducked his head for a moment, as if he was embarrassed to say whatever was coming. But then he huffed and met my eyes, new resolve shining in his. “I heard Marc tell you why your dad let him go—” which meant that wasn’t all he overheard “—and I’m afraid that if he finds out what I’m about to tell you, he won’t go, and Calvin will push for your execution. So I need you to promise me you won’t tell him.”
“Jace, if it’s that important, Marc needs to know.”
“I know.” His brow wrinkled as conflict flickered across his face. “But I’m not going to gamble with your life, even for this. So you have to promise, or I won’t tell you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You know I’ll find out eventually.”
He nodded. “But I also know you don’t have time to play snoop right now. Not if you want to stay out of trouble, or be any real help to that poor tabby.”
Okay, he had me there. “Fine, I won’t tell him.” Directly, anyway. “Spit it out.”
Jace sighed. “When your trial’s over, Calvin’s going to make a motion to have your father unseated as the head of the Territorial Council.”
Twenty-One

“Have him unseated?” I searched Jace’s face for some sign that he was making a massively unfunny joke. But he was completely serious, and evidently every bit as angry about it as I was.
“Yeah.” A cloud of steam puffed from his mouth with his answer. “Calvin claims to have the support of several other Alphas, though he’s not naming names yet. At least, not to Brett.” 
Yeah, well, I was pretty sure I could guess at least a couple of them.
I closed my eyes in dread, curling and uncurling my fists to keep my blood circulating in the near-freezing temperature. “On what grounds?”
“Withholding information from the Territorial Council. Because he went after Andrew, Manx, and Luiz—” the stray who’d slaughtered a series of human strippers in and around our territory “—without alerting the other Prides.” Jace rubbed my upper arms to warm them, and when I opened my eyes, he continued. “Cal’s saying Wes Gardner should have had the opportunity to participate. Rumor has it Wes is seriously pissed because we didn’t avenge Jamey’s death. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s one of the Alphas backing Calvin.”