top of his head. “Would you just shut up?”
“I mean, seriously, this getting exhausting. Half the city is either burned or chopped to shit. Because of the battle, we're still trying to rebuild. It's gonna cost millions of dollars to get everything corrected. All the packs are working together with the mages and the Mage Council. There haven’t been this many Kumbaya moments in our fucking history in quite some time. When was the last time we actually felt like real Mafia men?”
Dominic punched Romano in the mouth. “I said shut up.”
“Well, he does have a point.” Arturo shrugged. “We’re operating much differently from the way we used to. Nowadays, people are looking to us to keep them alive and safe. They’re no longer paying us protection dues, but they see us as the only way to keep Encantado from falling into some evil fucking clutches. It feels like I haven't shot my gun in forever. Those were the good ol’ days.”
The other wolves around the table grunted in agreement.
“Well, I can't say you're wrong. The world is changing. Encantado doesn't look like it used to, but that could be for the better. Maybe it is time we operate more smoothly without having to worry about inter-pack wars or district wars when we're going to have enough from the outside,” Adonis added. “You know I'm all about making money. Couldn't be the worst thing in the world to create some kind of group to answer to these roles and pull resources in as much as possible. Fighting Skuld is going to take all of us.”
“Well, I agree. I know I'm the newest one to the group,” Alexi leaned forward and folded his hands on the table, “but I've spent plenty of my life on the run with my rules. It's time the Renegades had a home.”
“Maybe.” Adonis smiled, apparently catching his drift.
“Exactly.”
“Good.”
The two men were confusing, and Carlo wanted it clear. “What are you saying?”
Adonis nodded in acknowledgment. “You are now the King of History, from what I understand, and that might mean you cannot reside in Encantado. Is that true?”
“Yes, but we'll have to deal with that later. For now, I will be in Encantado to help stabilize everything.”
“Well, we'll table that discussion for the moment.” Dominic cleared his throat. “What are we going to do to keep the other cities safe? We cannot assume Skuld is not going to stop attacking. We stopped her this time, but the warning she gave Nanshe means she will return eventually. She just may be taking time to regroup. We have to be prepared and can't be caught unaware again.”
Kalinda took a sip of water from the glass in front of her and adjusted herself in her seat. “Agreed. I need to get the mages more prepared. More time with Silva and the other wolves so they can learn proper self-defense to use in conjunction with their magic will help with the Hollows. We did notice magic worked just fine against the golems, however, as well as the dragon.”
“I'm still in awe of the fact there was a damn dragon in Encantado,” Silva jumped in. “Like, how did I miss that? That was such a perfec SpellBook post. It would have been like … hashtag, everything is cool but it’s not. Hashtag, this girl is on fi-yah. Hashtag, wings give stings. Hashtag, angel in the wind, and–”
“Cut it out, Silva. It wasn’t that awesome.” Dominic hid his laugh behind a cough.
“Chill out.”
Silva scrunched her face at Torin. “You're such a spoilsport stick in the mud.”
“Yes, I might be that, but I did save your ass.”
The tips of Silva’s ears turned red. “It wasn't my ass, exactly. You just sort of showed up at a good time to get those Hollows off my back. By the way, I was kind of busy trying to protect Zoey and Rosemary’s Baby. All you did was keep one measly Hollow from getting me from behind.”
“Try ten.”
“What?”
“There were ten of them behind you. You just didn't see me come in,” Torin added.
Silva gripped the arms of her seat, sitting forward, but Arturo lifted a hand to stop her from getting into any further argument. “That's enough. We need to focus on the matter at hand. So do we agree to create a group?” He looked to the others in attendance for the meeting.
The Alphas of each pack, Kalinda and her Mage Council, the Fae, and the Renegades all sat around the table.
“This is one of the most