Gideon shrugged out of his clothes then stepped into his shower, letting the hot water pound down his back. His muscles ached from the fight and the tension of the unknown.

He closed his eyes and spoke loudly over the hum of the water. “We’re going to talk about plans to come out to the public. Or at least, plans to make plans. Then we’re going to make sure our underground tunnels are in shape since the connection between the two packs is relatively new.”

No one knew what would happen once the humans found out about the existence of shifters, and demons. They’d been planning for years, though, on the eventual outcome where they’d have to protect themselves from people who didn’t understand and feared what they didn’t know.

He let out a breath and quickly soaped up, knowing he was running late. Between the lone wolves trying to find a way to stay alive, his Pack watching him more than usual for some reason, and this meeting, he needed a damned weekend off.

He was the Alpha, however, so he knew that would never happen.

He shut off the water and got out so he could get ready for the meeting. Walker had left him alone, thankfully, and he quickly pulled on a long-sleeved cotton shirt and jeans. With any other Alpha, he’d put on something a little more formal, but this was Kade and his family—Gideon could go with a little comfort and be okay.

When he walked out to his living room to pull on his boots, he sighed. He knew they were there of course, but his wolf wasn’t in the mood to deal with his entire family in one room.

“I suppose just meeting me at chambers would have been too much for all of you?”

“You love us, brother dearest,” Brynn, his sister and the lone Brentwood female, teased from her perch on the edge of the couch.

Gideon pinched the bridge of his nose. “No seriously. Why are you all here?”

“Because you need us,” Brandon, his youngest brother and the Talon Omega, said from the couch.

“Do I really need you here?” he asked, knowing he was fighting a lost cause.

“Of course,” Max, his cousin, answered. “We’re all going to the meeting anyway, why not go together?”

“We’re one big happy family,” Mitchell said dryly.

“What they aren’t saying is that we’re worried about you,” Kameron, his brother and Enforcer, added in.

Gideon growled while Ryder closed his eyes and cursed.

“Really, Kameron?” Ryder put in. “I thought we had a plan.”

Gideon stiffened. “A plan? Why the hell would you need a plan to deal with me? Why are you
here
?”

Brynn stood up and walked toward him. She brushed her long, dark brown hair—the same color as the rest of the Brentwoods—behind her shoulders and blinked up at him with the Brentwood blue eyes.

“You’re our brother and you’re hurting,” she whispered. They were all wolves so they could hear her clearly. “You had to kill a lone wolf who threatened the border and wouldn’t back down. Now you’re having to make decisions that, as we see it, won’t have an easy outcome. So, Gideon, brother mine, brother ours, we’re here for you. Even if we annoy you to no end. We’re here.”

Gideon narrowed his eyes, even as his heart warmed at her words. Yeah, his siblings and cousins were there for him, but some things were meant for only the Alpha. If he had a mate, he’d be able to lean on her just a little, but since the goddess hadn’t blessed him, he didn’t have that option.

At this point, he wasn’t sure he ever would.

On that depressing thought, he led his family out of his home and headed toward the meeting room. He wanted to get this over with. It wasn’t like they were going to get anything done anyway. They couldn’t. Not with the rest of the Packs in the US keeping silent. Parker, the Voice of the Wolves, was on a mission at the moment searching for the other Packs and trying to convince them to talk to Gideon and Kade, but Gideon didn’t hold out high hopes. Parker was a Redwood, the biological son of a mass murderer, even if he’d been adopted into the Redwood family.

Some wolves just couldn’t see past that, and Gideon was worried that might hurt their chances of finding a way to make all of the Packs work together. However, he could only work on one problem at a time.

They made their way as a group to the other side of the den where the Redwoods would be entering the woods. They had to go past the sentries at the wards to be let through, but most of them had done it before. Actually, Gideon wasn’t sure who Kade was bringing.

The Redwoods were in the middle of a shift in hierarchy. The younger Jamensons were taking over for their parents slowly but surely. That meant that Kade would be bringing any number of his powerhouse to the table. It didn’t really matter since Gideon had met most of them and liked those he’d met. Not that he’d tell them that. No, he was still the grumpy, badass Alpha to the outside world.

It worked for him.

Kade come up first, a small smile on his face. With so many people and coming into a different den, the ceremony of walking to a meeting was a little ridiculous, and both of them knew it. It had to be done though.

Kade had brought his mate, Melanie, as well as both sets of Betas, Omegas, and Healers with him. He’d left the Enforcers at home to protect the den with countless other wolves apparently. Interesting, but it made sense. As the younger generation came into their powers, they were learning from the older generation. It would be interesting to see how they reacted in the future when the older generation, Kade’s brothers, had to step down fully.

He’d also brought his Heir, his son Finn, with him, which made sense.

He’d also brought another wolf with him. A younger woman who, from the look of her, was a Jamenson, but Gideon wasn’t sure he’d ever met her. Her long chestnut brown hair flowed over her shoulders, blowing slightly in the wind. She wasn’t small. No, she was at least of average height, but where most of the wolves in front of her were all muscle and strength, her body held curves and a softness he didn’t see in most wolves.

Odd, he thought he’d met most, if not all the Jamensons.

Her cheekbones angled high and her plump lips thinned into a line when she looked at him. She tilted her head and blinked up at him with bright green eyes and he froze, his wolf howling.

Shocked, he almost took a step back, but it was only because of his strength as Alpha that he didn’t.

Mate
.

That scent, that pull on his wolf.

Mate
.

“Gideon, Brentwoods,” Kade said, his voice deep. “I think you’ve met most of us before. Probably not Brie, though. Brie, these are the Brentwoods. Brentwoods, this is Jasper and Willow’s daughter, my niece, Brie.”

She smiled softly, but her eyes were only on him, not on the rest of the Pack or her family. In fact, he was only looking at her, not at Kade or the others.

Holy shit.

He’d just found his mate and she was a fucking Redwood.

And from the way her wolf reached out to his, she was a submissive as well.

A Talon Alpha and a Redwood submissive?

Yeah, fate royally sucked.

Find out more in
Tattered Loyalties
, coming Feb 17th! You can pre-order now. The Talon Pack series is the spin off series to the Redwood Pack series which is now available. The latest release,
Wicked Wolf
, is part of 1,001 Dark Nights and out now!

About Julie

Author Photo by Kathy Whittaker

A
New York Times
,
USA Today
,
Publishers Weekly
, and
Wall Street Journal
bestselling author, Julie Kenner (aka J. Kenner) writes a range of stories including romance (erotic, sexy, funny & sweet), young adult novels, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter,
Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
, was selected as a Booksense Summer Paperback Pick for 2005, was a Target Breakout Book, was a Barnes & Noble Number One SFF/Fantasy bestseller for seven weeks, and is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures.

As
J. Kenner
, she also writes erotic romance (including the bestselling Stark Trilogy) as well as dark and sexy paranormal romances, including the Shadow Keeper series previously published as J.K. Beck.

You can connect with Julie through her website,
www.juliekenner.com
,
Twitter (@juliekenner)
and her Facebook pages at
www.facebook.com/juliekennerbooks
and
www.facebook.com/jkennerbooks
.

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BOOK: Find Me in Darkness

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