The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 52

"Now," I said and sat down beside my mate and faced the other kings and queens that were gathered before us. "Has everyone looked over the new treaties?"

It had been an hour or so since they had arrived, and we were in the meeting room where I had given each member a copy of the new treaty I had worked on with Carver and Trevor a few days ago.

I had gotten too anxious while I watched them read the treaties that I had to step out for a bit because they had been too quiet. I had no idea if I had stepped over my boundaries, especially since I was a new queen while they had been doing this since before I was born.

"To be quite frank, I thought you would have shortened some of these," King Edmond said and looked at me over his glasses. Amusement filled his eyes while he placed the treaty down and folded his hands on the table in front of him.

"I agree with my father," George said and shifted through the treaty. His hair was a mess, and I had to bite back an amused smile because it looked like reading this had taken a toll on him. "Who knows that you know a lot of big words."

I held back an eye roll and scowled at the Vampire Prince before I cleared my throat. "I had a lot of help," I admitted and gestured to Carver. "He helped me a lot with writing this treaty."

They looked at each other before they looked at me and stayed silent.

The silence in the room grew thick, and I slowly shifted to one side because the silence was slowly starting to kill me, but that didn't relieve any of the anxiety that I felt.

My mate glanced at me from the corner of his eye and reached under the table to grab my hand. He stayed silent while he squeezed it, ignoring the fact that my hand was shaking.

King Edmond nodded slowly. "It makes sense then why it didn't sound like something you would have written," he said. He looked down and flicked through the treaty while he cleared his throat. "My advice from now on is to take what your advisor says with a grain of salt and follow your instincts," he said and looked at me again. "It is ok for some changes to happen in this century." He winked and smiled.

I didn't respond and looked at Carver, not knowing what to say or do. I was surprised that they wanted me to change the way the treaties were written and whatnot since it had been custom for... forever.

Carver didn't respond and shrugged. He gestured for me to respond to the king and say something that would show that I had listened and paid attention to him.

I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat while I looked at the Vampire king. "But... he is my advisor," I said hesitantly. Again, I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "I'm still... new to all of this, more or less, and... ya." I shrugged and grimaced.

King Edmond's gaze grew softer, and he dipped his head closer to his chest. "I know, Dear," he said softly. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his seat. "But as I said before, times are changing. Some traditions can change too."

"Your father had started that when he decided to set an alliance with us," King Paul said, and I looked at him. He smiled sadly before he slowly nodded. "It was new to us and the whole clans."

"That is why it is ok for some traditions to change," King Phillip said. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat while he looked at everyone before he looked at me.

The room grew tense and serious, and the kings looked at each other before they looked at me.

King Phillip cleared his throat again and placed his hands on the table while he stared at me. "So, why have you called this meeting?" he asked, changing the subject. "Besides having us look at the treaties." He gestured to the papers.