Fox Fate by Robin Roseau Page A

dealt ourselves. I move we send a delegation to attend Carissa's party."
    There were about six calls of "second", and then immediately several calls to "call the vote". They were tired of the discussion. The vote was ten to three with two abstaining.
    "Motion carried," Lara declared. "Michaela and I will be going with six enforcers, including Elisabeth and Serena. Carissa also extended the invitation for up to two more members of the council with their mates."
    "Who are the other four?" Ron Berg asked.
    Elisabeth answered that. "Karen and Portia for sure. I haven't decided on the last two yet, but I'm leaning towards Angel and Eric."
    Ron frowned. "One male."
    "Emanuel is needed here," Elisabeth explained. "And Rory lacks subtlety."
    "Angel Greene is very young," Violet pointed out.
    "She is, but she has been taking lessons in discretion from our alpha," Elisabeth replied.
    "The same alpha that appears to be at the center of why we're dragged into these politics at all?" Albert Stein asked archly.
    "I will take who I believe is best," Elisabeth said firmly.
    "That's not why I asked," Ron said. "Of course you will. I was only thinking of gender balance. Do we want to send an entire all-female delegation? Or should we send two of our male council members? The demographics of the pack leadership have been shifting over the last several years, but we are not yet entirely an all-female council." He said the last with a wry tone.
    Ron looked around, his eyes settling on James Bent. "Jim?"
    "Hanna would enjoy it," he said. I smiled. I had liked Hanna.
    "Dominick?" Ron asked.
    "I think perhaps someone a little more spry," Dominick replied. "Brady?"
    "Violet is a better choice," Brady said immediately. "She has her fingers in more of our pies." He looked at Violet. "I will go if you don't wish to, but if we're sending someone to represent our business interests, and it's not Ron, you're our best choice. Gender balance be damned." He looked around. "This pack accepted a female alpha many years ago, and I for one do not regret that choice. Screw the balance." Then he looked at me. "Nor do I regret inviting a female fox as our co-alpha."
    I nodded my appreciation to him.
    He spawned another debate, but in the end, the council agreed to send James and Violet.
    "I will ask Teddy if he wishes to travel with us, but he will probably decline," Violet said partway through. "He wouldn't be able to handle it."
    Teddy was Violet's mate. I'd only met him a few times, but he struck me as the most submissive wolf I'd ever met. I'd once asked Vivian about it, wondering if Violet's choice of mates said something about her.
    "She loves him to pieces," Vivian said. "Violet has mellowed, but in her younger years, she didn't handle competition well. They are well-suited to each other."
    "I would like to know what politics you intend to play," Albert Stein asked.
    Oh joy, another debate. I finally sighed and said, "We won't be playing politics at all." I hadn't even picked a lull in the conversation. I threw it out there, talking over everyone else. Fourteen pairs of eyes turned to me.
    "I thought that was the entire idea," Lenora observed.
    "We're going defensively, right? To avoid being on the losing side of politics played by others. Well, we should pick our battles and avoid the rest. We're not interested in those games. We should remain aloof." I looked at Lara. "Unless you intend to push our perspectives on the other packs."
    "No," she said. "Maybe someday, but we need to let time work on them for a while. American society is just becoming accustomed to the concept of equality, but most of the pack alphas are older than I am, and they are likely to be somewhat fixed in their antiquated beliefs."
    And so, we had a plan.
     

Flight
    We flew ourselves, although we toyed with chartering a jet. We took three aircraft, with Lara, Angel and me as pilots. Madison to New Orleans is just over a thousand miles, and I'd never flown further than Bayfield before.