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"Do you believe him?" I asked, watching Bayer's face carefully.

Bayer sighed, serving himself a generous portion of Bolognese, which delighted me. "I'm not sure. There's something he's not telling us, but I don't think he's behind the attacks."

"What about Ivan?" Ben asked, speaking for the first time. "He did a vanishing act."

"Dimitri promised to look into it," Phoenix replied, though his tone suggested he wasn't holding his breath for results.

I took a bite of my dinner, suddenly ravenous despite the serious conversation. "So, what's the plan now?"

"I've called a Gathering," Phoenix announced.

The table fell silent. Even Ben and Rhys looked stunned.

"A Gathering?" I repeated. "What’s that?"

“It’s a meeting of the four shifter species that live in these mountains. Bears, wolves, mountain lions, and jaguars.”

“Jaguars,” I echoed in astonishment.

"It's a formal assembly of all shifter packs in the region," Bayer explained. "Usually only called in times of great crisis or celebration."

"We present the threat and vote on a unified response," Phoenix said.

"That sounds...intense," I said, trying to imagine a room full of alphas agreeing on anything.

"It is," Kaylan confirmed, his expression grim. "And complicated by the fact that I'm technically no longer the Sierra Pride's heir." He glanced at Phoenix. "But I’m still expected to represent them."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the table as we all contemplated the implications.

"When will this happen?" I asked, breaking the tension.

"As soon as I hear back," Phoenix replied. "I think it will have to be at least five days for the jaguars. We need to get messages to them and get them back."

I choked on my pasta. "Five days? That's not a lot of time to prepare for a supernatural United Nations."

"The revenant isn't giving us the luxury of time," Phoenix said grimly.

I glanced at Bayer, seeing the weight of responsibility in the tight set of his shoulders. Under the table, I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers through his. He looked at me, surprise flickering across his face before his expression softened.

"Where will it be held?" I asked, still processing the magnitude of this gathering.

"Here," Phoenix replied. "We normally meet at Kaylan’s, but I’m not comfortable being so far away."

"And will I be allowed to attend, or am I being locked in a tower for my own protection?" I teased to show I wasn't picking a fight.

Bayer's thumb stroked across my knuckles. "You'll be there," he said, his eyes meeting mine steadily. "As my mate and the carrier of the next generation of our pack. But," he added before I could celebrate this victory, "with appropriate security measures."

I chuckled. “Like you aren’t enough.”

The conversation shifted to logistics—security protocols, formal declarations. I half-listened, focused instead on the strange new reality I was accepting. I was pregnant. With a bear cub. And in five days, I'd be facing a council of powerful shifters while a revenant (or possibly two) hunted us.

Just another week in the life of Danny Jacobson, apparently. Sometimes I missed Miss Anderson. Then I thought nope. I didn’t. I’d rather face an army of zombie vampires. Which reminded me I needed to call and hand in my notice. I blew out a breath. I was really doing this.

And talk to Mom. What on earth did I say?

After dinner, Bayer and I excused ourselves. There was more planning to be done, but everyone could recognize our need for privacy after the day's events. We walked back to our rooms in comfortable silence, his hand warm around mine.

Once inside, I turned to face him, suddenly nervous. "I really am sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't mean what I said."