Chapter Eight
1185 Words
Haven
“It’s rude to interrupt people.” I hissed at Davidee as we hit the parking lot.
“He’s human. You’re not missing much.” He sighed. “Ven... Goo told me about your plan to take back our title as Apex Clan.”
“Let me guess; you think it’s suicide.”
“Actually, no. I think if you go about it the right way, you’ll be more successful than he thinks. He wanted me to talk you out of it, you know? Instead, I’m going to help you come up with a reasonable plan.” A savage grin split across his face as he hopped on the sleek black motorcycle he babied.
The ride back was short, but as beautiful as if I were just seeing it for the first time. There was something so captivating about the way we had incorporated our territory into the mountainside rather than around it. Shutting the door firmly behind us, I turned my full attention to my baby brother. “So, what do you propose we do?”
“Let’s go over logistics first. Do you have a map of our territory cluster?” He asked as he pulled the plush lounge chair to my desk.
“Of course.” I slid open the bottom drawer of my desk and rifled through the pages there. Finally, finding the rough drawing of Tetlin we had done just before moving here, I let out a satisfied sigh. “Here.”
“Okay, I’m a little rusty on my history. Why is it we have the largest territory despite being the smallest pack?”
“Meztli let us have the mountain range because Half Blood couldn’t do anything with it. He figured we’d be chasing our tails trying to figure out how to establish out territory within the mountains because they couldn’t. In their minds, our territory was bigger, but essentially useless. Salt Water has the smallest territory because despite having the most numbers, Calian isn’t interested in expansion. If I were to guess, I’d say his concern is what happens if war breaks out. Smaller territory, less area to defend.” I shrugged. “Green Claw and Blue Moon aren’t considered actual territories in the cluster since they’re Coyotes.”
“And Coyotes aren’t part of the Coalition since they can’t actually shift.” Davidee nodded.
“Right. Any territory they have isn’t officially recognized, so if Salt Water ever decided to expand, they’d move to the East toward Green Claw.” I grazed my finger along the paper as I explained.
“There’s so much unclaimed territory in Tetlin...” He murmured.
“As far as Tetlin is concerned, Half Blood doesn’t have much room for expansion since they’re boxed in the north-west corner by us and Salt Water. And honestly? We’re all at our cap for expansion outside of Tetlin’s borders, so any territory Half Blood wants to claim is going to have to be ours.”
“If we make new wolves and break our accord with them, there’s nothing stopping them from moving in on our territory. We can’t stop an assault from a pack that big. They outnumber us ten to one.”
“And Salt Water outnumbers them five to one.” I shook my head. “We have no way to grow our numbers and set ourselves above them without breaking our accord.”
“So... We have to keep it discreet. No one can no what we’re doing outside of the immediate Ranked.” He chewed on his lip, staring down at the page in front of us.
“The good news is, thanks to Half Blood’s idiocy, we don’t have to make any territory claims. Any expansions we do are absolutely feasible within the mountain range.” I smiled.
He nodded slowly. “Do we still own Red Moon & Co Architecture?”
“We do. We also own Red Moon Residential Construction.”
“We had to hire a lot of humans when our numbers were diminished, can we trust them with a project like this?” His eyes raised to mine, full of concern.
“They all signed nondisclosure agreements. If they talk about any ongoing projects, we can sue them.”
“Realistically, we could turn them to ensure they stay quiet.” He grimaced.
“No. Only the willing. We scout the bars where desperate, lonely people hang out looking for their life to change. Understood?”
“Understood.” He nodded. “Now, we need to call Frank and Margaret. Get them over here to start talking expansions, designs, and construction costs.”
We shared a dark smile. “Let’s do it, then.”
***
Nik
“So? What did she say?” Lawrence hissed as I walked back, rubbing my head and trying to process everything I had just experienced.
“Please don’t tell me Lawrence was right about the s*x cult thing.” Stanly chuckled, shooting Lawrence a sideways glance.
“No, she’s not in a s*x cult. She was... So weird, though.” I murmured.
“Thank god. We’re done with this, then? You’re going to forget all about the weird blood covered girl?” Lawrence sighed heavily, sounding grateful.
“She said it wouldn’t be the last time we meet.” My fingers grazed my cheek. “She kissed me.” A small smile spread slowly over my face as I thought about her lips.
“Oh, for f**k's sake...” Lawrence hissed.
“You’re an i***t, Nik.” Stanly sighed. “What about Myra?”
“He’s never loved her. He’s been waiting for something like this.” Lawrence laughed darkly. “He wants a crazy girl because he’s crazy.”
“I’m not crazy and neither is she. I think she’s being manipulated by the people around her.” I whispered.
“You can’t know that. Native American tribes are different from normal society.” Lawrence grinned like he had just made a revolutionary observation.
“Dude... No.” Stanly scoffed.
“You can’t really be proud that you just said that.” I laughed humorlessly. “Natives are the exact same as everyone else. They have different traditions and culture, but they’re still normal people.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He rolled his eyes.
“Alright, I can’t deal with that right now. I’m going home.” I shook my head bitterly.
“We haven’t even gotten a beer yet!” Lawrence called to my retreating back.
- Writer
