Falling In Love With The King Of Beasts

Chapter 302: Let it Burn

To listen to my July Author Q & A, go to YouTube and search "Author AimeeLynn." There you'll find a voice-acted recording of "Reth" reading Chapter 2 of this book, along with my recent author Q & A about the Anima world, tribes, and history! All for FREE! Enjoy!

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LERRIN - Anima

An hour later, rage was at a low simmer in his chest. And frustration, too.

He'd been raised in the circles of power, attending security council since he was little more than an adolescent as part of his father's grooming. Under the Cat's rule those meetings could get heated, but were almost always measured, and usually very productive.

A meeting of minds and males applying their intelligence and strength to problems. Even when they disagreed, it had been with the joint intention to find the best solution.

What was lacking in his wolf council?

The passion was there. The strength. And the character. These men loved their families, were loyal to the pack.

So why did they insist on snarling at each other—and him—at every turn?

"…time to show our strength and put the fear of the Creator into them. This constant dancing at the borders of the city only risks showing our hand, and it allows them more time to prepare!"

Lerrin's stomach dropped at the echo of Asta's words. But he held his ground. "We will never overcome the Leonine through brute strength—they will eat us alive. We must play to our strengths—strategy, shadows, and patience. Or have you all suddenly discarded your patience since we left the Tree City."

"Patience got us nowhere!" Hern, one of the oldest members of the council snapped. He'd served Lerrin's father as well. He held great sway with the others. "We lost our grip on the Queen and now he's hidden her away."

"Patience got us out of the City with all these resources. And it won us the West Valley where the Queen was taken. We will find her," he vowed. "Patience almost won us the King himself. If he is that stupid once, he will be that stupid again. We would be the stupid ones to simply rush, howling, on the Tree City. But if you want to make it a suicide mission—"

"A surprise attack is the very best strategy!"

"It will not be a surprise if we do it when they are braced for it!" Lerrin snarled. "I cannot believe I'm listening to this from you, Hern. No one—no one!—wants to see that Cat dead more than me! But that does not mean we lose our minds to the hunt when we know the strength that exists in the Pride! You were one of the leaders to teach me that, Hern."

"The Cat's way of leading doesn't work—if it did, we wouldn't be here," the male spat. "Our people need to see strength, and unity of purpose."

"And they will. When the time is right—"

"By the time the time is right, our grand-puppies will be sitting in these seats."

Lerrin frowned. "It's barely been weeks. What is happening in your minds?! Did we really expect to leave the Tree City, then take it back in days?"

"A wolf can hope," another of the males, new to Lerrin, muttered from the other side of the circle.

"I want to see that Cat's throat cut," Hern growled.

"And I do not?! I have more reason to see him dead—or defeated and declawed—than any of you! But I also carry the weight of the pack. Would you have me throw wolves to the slaughter just to gain my vengeance?"

"There are ways to overwhelm them—"

"Which we will use when we have all the information we need. If we apply those wolves to the task and lose we have lost not only our chance at the Tree City, but possibly our own lives. This is not a decision to be thrown to the winds! Your recklessness disappoints me." He snorted the air from his nose to make the point. They all glared, shifting in their seats as he stared around the circle, waiting for another a challenge.

"I will avenge my family," he growled, low and dark a moment later when no one else spoke up. "My father, my sister… they did not die in vain. I will sit on the Cat's throne, and I will rip the belly of any Anima that stays loyal to him. But I will not waste wolf lives to do it."

When no one spoke for another moment, he was about to move on. To suggest a plan that would lead them to all-out assault within weeks.

But then Daryn muttered from three seats away, "If I had such… attractive service awaiting my furs each night, I might feel more patient, too."

Lerrin snapped his head to glare at the male as Suhle, who had taken a seat against the tent side and picked up one of his shirts that she was mending, froze.

Rage battered at his ribs—and not a small amount of fear. Would they try to remove her from him? Would he—no, he was Alpha. They couldn't. And he would not. No matter what they said.

"Speak. Your. Mind. Pup," he snarled. "Find your balls and do not hide behind passive-aggressive feints in the way of our enemies."

The male had been slumped in his chair, arms folded. But when Lerrin challenged him, he met the gaze levelly and pushed up, leaning forward in his seat. "I agree with you regarding patience," he said, low and hard. "But you can agree with me that this camp is not what we envisioned when we made this plan. This was always only a temporary solution. And yet I see buildings being erected. I see females nesting. And I see a King whose every need is met, and I wonder if he remembers the rest of us who are… far less comfortable?"

Lerrin's lip curled away from his teeth and he leaned forward to meet the male in stance. "Firstly, you will remember: My every need is not met. I have a single servant under my cover who sees to the details of my life so that I can more fully focus on the tasks at hand. But that. Is. All," he hissed. "I do not use my power to compel females." Daryn snorted.

Lerrin went very still. "You call me a liar, Daryn?" he said quietly, with all the darkness and authority of his Alpha state.