We elbowed and shoved each other, striving to be in front and dominant. In the end, Braxton sent Tyson and Jacob sprawling, and with growling laughter rumbling his chest scooped me up over his shoulder and charged through the crowd into the massive town hall. Faces turned toward us but quickly looked away again. When Braxton dropped me, I wiped a hand over my heated forehead. It was hot in this room. I was already sweating.
Tyson appeared right behind us. "You're a dick, you know that, right?" His jab landed cleanly on Braxton's biceps; the dragon shifter barely moved. "You better sleep with one eye open tonight."
"I sleep with both eyes wide open. No one gets the drop on me." Braxton was cocky. He called it confident. It was a bit of both.
The five of us found seats in the center of the room. We were some of the few that broke race grouping and sat together. Seated in a higher dais before us were the council leaders. Besides my father who led the shifters, and Kristoff of the magic users, there was also Julianna Medow, a six-feet-tall and stunning red-haired vampire; Galiani of the Greenlands – male fey – with long silky yellow hair, feline features, and a graceful stride that made me feel like an elephant shifter instead of a wolf; and the demi-fey leader, Torag of the Eastland trolls. He was four feet tall and the same width. His skin resembled a newly formed tree, a smattering of skin and hard 'bark'. His nose was long and thin above beady eyes. He was a good troll. I'd grown up with him; he was a long-time friend of my father and had spent a lot of time in my home.
Wiggling to get comfortable in the padded chair, I kept my eyes locked on the leaders. They seemed to be discussing something serious amongst themselves. Jonathon caught my gaze and gave me a warm smile, but there was unease in his rigid posture. Was this just about my mother's return? Why would that be influencing any of the other council members' behavior? Unless they all hated her too. Wouldn't surprise me.
And speaking of…
I stood and looked around the mostly-seated crowd. I didn't remember Lienda. Funnily enough, no one I talked with really remembered anything specific about her, but I'd seen a photo of her once. I knew I could pick her in a crowd. We looked similar, but she had very blond hair. God knows where I got my hair color from.
It took no time for me to sight and scent that she wasn't in the room, unless she was cloaking herself with the help of a magic user. I slumped into my chair, and suddenly I was crushed by Braxton and Maximus sandwiching me in. The brutes always stole my space, their long arms invading my territory. I was contemplating whether it was worth starting elbow wars when my stomach decided to make its presence known in the form of a loud rumble that echoed throughout the hall. I groaned, dropping my hands to my belly, which of course the boys took advantage of. Now they had much more of their person on my person, squishing the hell out of me.
Surely the meeting was due to start soon. The hall had been pretty full when I'd been looking for Lienda. It sat over two thousand, so about a third of the community attended. I glared up at the council again. Dammit, hurry up and start the meeting, I was freaking starving. I'd missed lunch because I was late for weapons class, and dinner was looking like it'd be too far away. The way my stomach was protesting, there was no hiding it in a room full of supernaturals.
And then the ribbing started.
Jacob the jackass was first. "Shit, batten down the hatches and guard your limbs, Jessa's hungry – every man for himself."
"Them there are fighting words, fey," I said as I released my wolf a little and dived across Braxton. Jacob was going down.
Jacob held both hands up in mock distress. "Damn, she's coming at me, Brax! Hand me the emergency snacks." I let free a growl, followed by a solid thump to his chest – which probably hurt my hand more than his body – but I was semi-satisfied with my act of dominance.
My stomach growled again, louder than ever. At that point Braxton, Jacob, and Maximus were practically on the floor they were howling so loudly. Tyson had started flirting with the witch seated next to him and wasn't paying attention anymore.
It's safe to say I copped a fair amount of shit over my love of food. When it came to dinnertime I could hold my own with any one of these six feet plus men. What can I say, I love food. And I'm a shifter – we have a fast metabolism. I wasn't fat at all, but I had plenty of curves and I liked having curves. I wanted them to stay exactly where they were, so I figured it was my duty to eat. The male supernaturals liked my curves too. I might not have many friends, but I was popular in some ways. What can I say, wolves are friendly.
The boys were still laughing their butts off so I decided to give back as good as I got. I rarely acted like a chick around them – sometimes I think if it wasn't for the boobs they'd forget I wasn't a man too – but right now some fake tears were in order.
"You guys are right," I said in a subdued tone. I even lowered my eyes a little, which rankled my wolf, but she understood. "Maybe I could stand to eat less. You know … lose a few pounds." Their laughter died instantly as they eyed me with something close to astonishment.
Braxton was the first to recover. "You're fucking kidding me, right?" His eyes flashed as he straightened in his chair. "You do that and I'll follow you around with a goddamn steak … day and night." His voice lowered on the last of his threat.
"And ice cream," Maximus added. They knew I loved dessert of any description. Sugar was my weakness. "You lose one inch off that delectable ass and we can't be friends any longer." He crossed his arms over his chest, which at least freed up some space on his side.