She knew how tricky that part was. Others had been on their own for so long, they really hated to take direction from anyone outside their group. Plus, there were so many alpha males that it was difficult to tell them they needed to be protected.

Still, before Lex became the Alpha of Cascadia, he’d been his brother’s Enforcer for years before Cade went on to lead National, so she hoped that gave him perspective from her side of the table.

“Within three minutes of the end of that speech Hayes made, the first official death threat came in. Senate, House and White House servers went offline due to the overwhelming traffic. The phone lines were choked. Not all that was negative, I want to underline that. It is not our belief that a majority of humans feel the way Powers does. But there will be movement after this latest stuff. Our leaders need to be kept safe. Every public appearance should include a team that goes to the venue first and does a sweep and then locks it down until arrival. If they don’t like it, too damned bad. We can’t trust anyone else to keep us safe.”

“You’re right. I’m happy to start out and set that example. Tegan has been on me to up my guard anyway. I’ll get the news out to the rest of the Packs.”

Gibson agreed to do the same for the other shifters. She was meeting with The Gennessee right after this so she’d tell Rebecca then.

“The Vampires will do as you ask.”

Okay then.

“I’m working with Owen and the other Clans to make our people available to send to Others who need them for their security teams. The new enclaves have begun to consolidate our populations, which is helpful on many levels. But for areas that may not have a lot of Others of different types, we want to be sure they’re being protected. My assistant, Sasha, is keeping the list so please have your people contact her directly and we’ll get on that. Lark will continue to work on cross-training programs. The wolves and cats are particularly good at tracking and we have a great deal to learn from them. Faine and Simon Leviathan have graciously volunteered to continue to help train on all things battle and combat.”

She went over a few more things before everyone signed out and went their own way.

Lark stayed on the line. “Excellent job.”

“Yeah, maybe. Let me know if you need anything. I’m sending some people up to Oregon later today. They’re going to hook up with folks from Pacific. Are we covered in Idaho now?”

“Yes. We’re good. Cascadia land includes Idaho and they’re pretty organized. Most of their people already lived in close quarters and we were able to connect them with contractors and security people to get the place walled and hooked up to cameras and all that. We don’t have many witches out that way, but about seventy percent of them have opted to move into the enclave with the wolves. The rest will stay where they are, but have acknowledged the dangers and volunteered to call to check in twice daily. It’s the best we can do with Others in far-flung places who decide to remain out of the enclaves.”

“Don’t you dare feel guilty for that. People are making their own choices for all sorts of reasons. We cannot make everyone safe. We gave them options, they will take them or not, but in the end it’s up to them.”

Lark laughed. “Seems to me, missy, I’ve had this exact conversation with you.”

“Yes. Well.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow to fill you in on what I learn tonight. Molly is doing a bunch of interviews. We installed some nifty new tech here so she can do sat feeds and doesn’t have go to the studio every time.”

“Good. I feel better knowing that. We’re having dinner with Mom and Dad tonight. Faine insisted so he can announce his intentions or whatever.”

“Mom’s gonna love that. When are you going to Lycia?”

“He wants to go as soon as possible. But right now things are sort of crazy and I’m not ready to do the binding thing yet.”

“Binding thing? You didn’t even tell me!”

“I didn’t? I just figured. Well, you said you knew he’d set his sights on me. How can you not know?”

“Well, the Ne’est thing is a whole different level! Jeez. You can take your time. He’ll wait. If he’s declared you’re his Ne’est, he’d wait forever for you. It’s not something more than ten percent of them do. It’s rare and it’s forever and it makes me so happy!”

“It’s sort of weird. Two sisters. Two brothers.”

“It makes sense I guess for them both to have that connection to us. Partly it’s at the DNA level, or so Simon tells me. We’re related.”

Helena closed the door and came back to sit in front of the video conference set. “So what’s it like? The binding I mean.”

“I was worried. That it would be too much, or that I’d feel trapped. But really? Do you sort of feel like when you enter a room he’s in, there’s like a cord of energy between you?”

“It draws me to him. If he’s around it’s like I know it on some level. But I can’t read his thoughts. He’s cagey.”

Lark laughed. “They all are. But the binding, it sets that connection. It amplifies it. I can think about it and know where Simon is right now. It doesn’t hurt that since all this got worse he makes an effort to be near me all the time. But still. I don’t need to be near him. But I know where he is. I can sense great shifts of emotion. If he’s angry or happy or hurt. They’re rebuilding Heart of Darkness right now and he was putting up shelves in his office and suddenly I just know he’s been hurt. And he’s pissed off. Given our current circumstances I flipped out and rushed over there because he’s not answering his phone. He had driven a nail through his hand and he’d done it stupidly and that’s why he was pissed. But I don’t know his thoughts. And he’s a man, so. It’s not like chances are it won’t be about food or sex at least eighty percent of the time.”

Helena laughed.

“It ties your life force to his. That’s a clumsy way of explaining something that is . . . well, it changed my life. It didn’t take anything away from me. I’m still quite able to be annoyed with him. I can still look at Gage’s butt and recognize it for the masterpiece it totally is. I’d love Simon just as much without the binding. But Leviathan now sees me as one of their own. I made a commitment to him and his family both here and in Lycia. That meant a lot to Simon. Family and pack means a lot, you know?”

“Do you think I should do it? It seems so fast!”

“It’s been months since you’ve known him. You have been through some hard-core stuff with him at your side. You know how he’ll act in a crisis. You know he’ll have your back. Do you love him?”

She thought about it carefully. This wasn’t a question she should take lightly. But the answer was inescapable and she was totally, utterly sure. “Yes.”

“And he loves you. More than that, by undertaking the binding he’s declaring you’re it. Forever. He wants to cleave himself to you. Which sounds old-fashioned, but gods, it makes me so happy. It calms me and sustains me that I have someone who commits so wholly. That’s what he wants for you. You are, as long as I have known you, the kind of person who commits to something with everything she has. You are his match. He is yours. So yes, I think you should do it. I think you deserve that kind of connection to someone. You deserve that commitment and happiness.”

“I’m so afraid of failing. Of failing him. Of failing everyone.” She grabbed a tissue from a nearby box and tried to dab her eyes without messing up her makeup. “See, this is why I hate to cry. It’s too hard to keep my liner and mascara from running.”

“Shut up. You look like a freaking model even after you barf. And look, everyone is afraid of failing. What is the point of having important things in your life if you don’t care enough about them to worry you could mess them up? I know we were raised to believe failure is unacceptable. But that’s bullshit. Failure happens because no one is perfect. And because very few things in life are totally in your control. So all you can do is your best.”