You’re going to be okay.”
He made it to the middle of the room, then hit his knees. “I’m sorry, Ronnie.”
A tortured whimper twisted free of her as she rolled to her knees. She wasn’t a small woman —she was taller than Julio and towered over Sera, but in that moment she seemed incredibly fragile, as if a harsh word could shatter her. “She was trying to protect me. They both were.”
“I know.”
“I wanted her to have a life.” Veronica thrust her hands into her disheveled hair, shoving it back from her face. Her fingers twisted, yanked, pulling her hair as her breathing sped. “If I’d been stronger, this wouldn’t have happened. Why am I so damn weak?”
“Stop.” He slid across the floor and pulled her fingers free. “She said—she told them to leave you alone. What were Dad and Uncle Cesar trying to do?”
“The money,” Veronica whispered. “When Derek Gabriel challenged my father, he didn’t take the money like he could have. After Diego and Cesar lost everything, they started eyeing my father’s estate. I inherited all of it.”
Of course. “They wanted to find you a biddable husband?”
“Or convince me to sign over the money to keep my mother safe. Or break me. Whichever they could accomplish.”
Julio scrubbed a hand over his face. “She didn’t want that for you.”
Veronica’s face crumpled. “I don’t care. I didn’t want—I didn’t—” Sera wrapped her arms around Veronica’s shoulders with a soothing noise. “It’s okay. We know. We know, honey.”
Her mother was gone. With her considerable fortune, she’d need protection, and every rich wolf across the country would expect it to come from Alec. But she was his family. “You’ll be safe, Ronnie. I’ll make sure of it.”
She slumped against him, burying her face against his neck as the first sob rattled her body.
Sera stroked Veronica’s hair as her other hand found his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Impossible to tell if she was speaking to Veronica or to him. Maybe both.
God knew they needed it.
Chapter Fourteen
Alec called the meeting of the Southeast council to order with his usual lack of ceremony.
“You all know we’ve had a death in the family, so I’m going to be blunt and get down to business. The Conclave has broken, and John Peyton has stepped aside as Alpha of the United States. From now on he’s the leader of the Northeast territory and nothing more.”
Alan Reed leaned forward in his chair. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me.” Alec crossed both arms over his chest. “The Conclave was a nice idea, but it’s a whole lot of wasted money and time, and it keeps the strongest of us busy bickering over bullshit instead of taking care of business.”
“So each council is on its own? Each territory?”
“Total autonomy,” he confirmed. “We govern ourselves. We make our own rules. We deal with problems the way we see fit, and organize those below us in whatever way we deem efficient. And we keep all the money that’s been flowing toward the top.”
Reed and William Levesque seemed to be taking the news well, so Julio drained his drink. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think this could be just what we need.”
William nodded, then showed an unusual level of thoughtfulness. “It does put our attention here at home. It’s exhausting to feel like I’m not doing my duty if I’m not trying to figure out a way to get to the Conclave. Not that I’ve been thinking of challenging you,” he added hastily to Alec, who snorted out a laugh.
“I should hope not. My job’s about as much fun as getting kicked in the balls on a daily basis.”
“Not anymore,” Julio reminded him. “Now…you can go home.”
“Soon enough.” When Andrew and Alan Reed remained silent, Alec nodded. “All of you have probably heard that Cesar Mendoza is dead.”
Levesque lifted an eyebrow. “I heard a more distressing rumor, one I hope someone can put to rest.”
“That he’s the one who killed his sister?” Julio asked, his throat raw. “It’s true.”
Shock. Disgust. Levesque and Reed might not have been Alec’s men, but they were decent enough. Even Reed, who had made hating Julio a dedicated pastime, murmured his condolences in a believable tone.
“This is the shit that has to stop,” Alec said, jabbing his finger against the table in emphasis.
“We have all these goddamn fancy rules, and all they add up to are a dozen ways the powerful can fuck over anyone who gets in the way. You can already do that well enough in the human world. I’ve had about enough of it in our world.”
Andrew spoke for the first time. “What are you going to do, Julio?”
“My uncle’s dead,” he answered. “My father isn’t, not yet, and he was part of it too. It’s justice, right? If I fight him?”
“It’s against the rules,” Levesque said without hesitation. “The Alpha’s rules. Conclave and council members aren’t supposed to challenge the people beneath them. Too many council members were consolidating wealth by challenging the rich members of their territory.”
“This isn’t a financial maneuver,” Andrew shot back. “It’s a score to settle, a personal one.
I’m not going to deny him that.”
Levesque didn’t back down. “How many of us could find reason to justify settling personal scores? No offense, Andrew, but you’ve probably got personal scores to settle with half of the old bloodlines in the Southeast. How can they be sure you won’t show up on their doorstep the next time one of them makes a comment about your heritage? Or your girlfriend?”
“Someone calling my girlfriend bad names isn’t exactly on par with murder.”
“He’s right,” Reed interjected. “But Will has a point too. If you lot are really concerned about trust and transparency, don’t make rules that only benefit you. If you truly want to revolutionize the system, take money out of the challenges across the board.”
Julio sighed. “I don’t give a shit about the money involved. If there’s no conflict of interest, leave it to the remaining family. If there is, like in my case, put it in a fucking fund to serve the territory.”
“Huh.” Alec tapped his fingers on the table. “Honor and justice, not profit. Not a bad idea.”
“Not at all,” Reed drawled before baring his teeth at Julio. “Of course, if this rule hadn’t been in place a couple years ago, I would have beaten you into the pavement for that stunt you pulled with my daughter.”
“You would have tried,” Julio corrected. “And failed. Just like your kid and your nephew did.”
Reed growled, his eyes fading to a glowing gold before Alec smashed a hand on the table.
“Enough, Reed. I’m not going to spend the next twenty years watching you pick at Julio because your daughter didn’t like the man she was supposed to marry. If you hadn’t chosen some personality-challenged bastard twice her age, maybe she wouldn’t have made such a public point of wrecking her betrothal.”
Julio shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Alec.” The man was bound to get tired of it eventually.
“We’re straying from the point,” Levesque said. “How do we do this? Hold a vote, wave our hands and change fifty years of tradition?”
Andrew shrugged. “I think we say…this is how it’s going to be here.”
“And then we make it happen,” Alec agreed. “Believe me, Levesque, once I get going, I’m going to be challenging traditions that have been around a hell of a lot longer than fifty years.”
Alan Reed rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “God help us all.”