Once all the Alphas and Enforcers in their Alliance had gotten on the line or connected via computer screen, they got started.

Cade, as the Alpha who’d declared war initially, took the meeting in hand. Ben and Lex had both briefed him thoroughly and he’d studied everything Jack brought. It hadn’t been a pretty picture.

“I’m just going to cut through all the bullshit here and get to the point. There have been more bodies. This time in Rhode Island. Adding the number to Nashville, here and New Orleans, we’ve got a total of forty-eight. I hope, Agent Benoit, you’ll keep this as confidential as possible, but we have every reason to believe this is related to Warren Pellini.”

“What makes you think so?” Benoit made direct eye contact with Cade and held it.

“They’re partially transformed. Caught between human and wolf. Some burned, some disfigured with chemicals. He did the same thing here for some months. Given the state of the lab we busted a little over two weeks back, Pellini has some nasty tech up his sleeve.”

The crack in Benoit’s jaw sounded as he tightened. His anger radiated and every wolf in the room scented it. They’d expected it. Benoit had no real idea just how much they hadn’t shared.

“And you didn’t feel it was necessary to share this information with us until now, why?” Caldwell, the other agent with Benoit asked.

“Until recently, we’d deemed this a Pack issue, best handled between wolves.” Cade would not apologize for putting his people first.

“Bullshit. Why now then? Why tell us now?” Benoit’s anger remained like a bitter stink.

“The bodies are racking up. We can’t ignore it. If we didn’t come to you now, if we didn’t agree to this task force, we’d be placing our people in more danger. Our people aren’t the threat, Pellini’s people are.”

“And we don’t want humans to be targeted or to target us either,” Ben smoothly interrupted Cade. “Look, I know you’re pissed. And you have a right to be. But all we can do from this point is to move forward. We won’t be sharing everything, we can’t and it’s not necessary. But as it concerns humans and anything that could harm human populations, we want to help.”

“Start with this Declaration of War,” Benoit said flatly.

Ben cut his eyes to Maxwell and then to Cade, who sighed and nodded. Best to just cede this to Ben as he had the closest tie with the FBI at that point.

“When Pellini came into that meeting and attacked people, he broke a very old law. Palaver, or that type of cross Pack meeting is sacred. Everyone involved has been granted safe passage. By killing wolves there, by attacking, he’s made himself an outlaw. More than that, he attacked and nearly killed Tegan, a highly placed Cascadia wolf and the Enforcer of the strongest Pack in the US. War was declared against Pellini and any Pack who affiliates or aligns with them.” Now it was Ben’s anger that clung to the back of Cade’s throat.

He carefully filled them in on what had been happening without going too deeply into details. Cade knew it had to be difficult for Ben; the man was a cop, he’d want to deal honestly with the authorities and in this case, this was Pack business and not the concern of humans.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. There will be a task force. Human authorities, as in us at the FBI and some key local law enforcement and wolves of your choosing. I’d like to request Ben and Lex because I’ve worked with both men and trust them both with my life. We’ll need to be kept abreast of things. No more bullshit secrets. I’m willing to keep as much of this war crap out of my report as I can, but in return, I expect to be informed.” Benoit sat back in his chair and challenged them to argue.

Cade didn’t and neither did Maxwell. It was a good deal.

“Ben, looks like you’ve got another job,” Maxwell said with a shrug.

“Lex, I trust you’ll get in touch with Agent Benoit?” Cade hadn’t told anyone of Nina’s pregnancy just yet. She didn’t want anyone to worry and she’d tell everyone herself in a week when she got the all clear.

“Right. And Cade, you and I need to speak when you’re finished there.” Lex’s voice was tight. Cade knew how he must be itching to know everything, to control what was happening from afar. It was almost amusing, thinking of how his brother must be dancing around in his seat.

Almost.

They set up a time for the next conference call and Benoit and Caldwell were escorted to the front gates after Ben had a quiet conversation with them at their car.

He came back in just a few minutes later and sat. Now it was on to wolf business.

“Ben and Tee, I want to congratulate you both. I wish…well, I wish we could have made a comfortable place for you here but I know you’ll do a great job with Great Lakes. Don’t let Tegan rip the heads off anyone though, those redheaded sisters of mine have hair-trigger tempers,” Lex said.

Tegan snorted quietly and Cade heard Nina snicker in the background.

“Things are what they are. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.” Tegan spoke from her perch across the table.

Ben filled everyone in on the new information and the possible informant. He didn’t give any specifics, although they knew they could trust every wolf on the line, they didn’t want to take a chance with such a sensitive subject.

“Now that the humans are gone, I need to report some border skirmishes. Pellini-allied wolves from Yellowstone ambushed four Grand Teton Pack members, including a child,” Jack Meyers interrupted.