“Okay,” Jonas said. “If the shit is going to hit the fan no matter what I do, let’s wind the fucker up to full blast. State your case, Raymond.”

“There are four vamp Houses in LA, but only House Edmonton is treated like pack. Treat Edmonton no different from House Lochlain or the others, like the vampire House it is.”

“That’s all?” Jonas said in surprise. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Wait!” David said noting the flash of victory on Pederson’s face. He was sure he’d seen it. “Wait, wait, wait!”

“What?” Jonas said in annoyance.

“What does that mean?”

“What does what mean?”

“Treating Stephen’s house as a vampire House and not a pack.”

“It means what is says!” Jonas said in exasperation. “Basically, it means we acknowledge him as a vampire master and head of his House with the power and authority to rule his vamps and territory. It means he has the authority to make binding decisions and alliances, treaties and deals on behalf of his House. It’s a meaningless change, just terminology.”

“Is it though? Can a vampire master be a pack leader?”

“Of course n—” Jonas turned and glared at Pederson. “No, of course he can’t be a pack leader. Nice try.”

“But he isn’t a pack leader,” Leon said unhappily. “That’s part of the problem. We treat him like one, but it’s not real.”

Stephen just watched, stony faced.

“So if he can’t be a pack leader, where does that leave me and the others,” David said, waving a hand at Lawrence and Ronnie.

Stephen answered. “I believe it will mean I must turn you all out. Isn’t that your goal?”

“Not necessarily,” Pederson said. “You can employ whoever you like, but you can’t pretend to pack status. Any shifter wanting to stay in LA must join one, leave, or be killed. Those three choices are all there have ever been.”

“I warned you,” David said quietly, ominously. “I warned you what I’m prepared to do. Think very carefully before you push this further.”

“I will have an explanation for that threat,” Jonas said sharply. “Now.”

David kept his silence, his eyes boring into Pederson’s.

“Now!” Jonas barked.

Stephen chose to explain. “David has expressed an interest in Ronnie’s welfare. He has threatened to challenge Raymond for his pack before allowing her to be forced back to them.”

That startled Jonas. “Really? How interesting.”

“Rogues can’t challenge anyone,” Leon said reluctantly. He obviously would not have minded a change of leadership within the Alley Dog pack. “Sorry.”

“I’m not a rogue, I belong to Stephen,” David said, managing not to stumble over it. He must have been convincing, because they didn’t call him a liar. Maybe he really did think of himself that way? Damn. “I’m not going to allow Ronnie or anyone I call friend—and that means everyone currently under Stephen’s protection—to be harmed.”

“But Stephen’s status is in question,” Leon said looking around at the other Alphas. They all nodded. “If we revert to treating House Edmonton as the vampire House it truly is, all of the shifters including you will revert to loners needing a pack. Fail to join one, and all become rogues.”

He’d known that was coming. He glanced at Stephen, but there was no help there. He looked to Ronnie. She shrugged. Lawrence shook his head. There must be an out, but he couldn’t see it. He tried to stall.

“Is this what you really want?” he said, catching the other Alpha’s eyes. “What you really want? Stephen has been cleaning up your messes for decades. The city is a better place for it, you must see that. If you do this, if you force this issue, you’ll have to take over from him. You’ll have to hunt the rogues, take in the loners. Is that what you want?”

Jonas snorted. “If that’s what they wanted, they would never have abrogated their responsibility in the first place.”

“Theirs? You don’t do the same?”

“I run my territory my way and it’s not in the city. No one but me or mine hunts here.”

David looked the question at Leon.

“Same, but I’m also not in the city. Policing our territories,” he waved a hand at Jonas and back to himself. “Is a different proposition. We can hunt in full beast form easily. Coyotes are a pretty common sight in these parts.” He grinned. “Big suckers a lot of ‘em. Ask the humans. They swear they’ve seen some twice the size the text books say is normal.”

Chuckles swept along the table.

Jonas nodded. “A giant wolf or lynx running through the streets of LA isn’t something anyone can pretend is normal. It was easier to let Stephen handle it.”

“Then don’t change things and he can keep handling it.”

“No,” Pederson snapped.

Jonas sighed.

Suddenly he had an idea. It wasn’t something he was exactly eager to do, and he hadn’t discussed it with Stephen at all, but he knew Mist would prefer it to taking over the Alley Dogs. He wasn’t sure how to do it, but maybe Jonas would be receptive.

“I have a proposal. Will you hear it?”

“Why the hell not? Might as well get all the crackpot ideas out in the open. My night is already shot.”

“Create a new pack. There must be a rule or something covering new ones? Make a new one and let us all join it.”

A rumble of surprise swept the Alphas. Leon nodded; he liked the idea. Pederson didn’t of course, but it was to Stephen that David looked to for approval. The vampire seemed intrigued, not supportive exactly, but not against either. He was turning over the connotations in his mind, racing along paths to find the downsides. And there were downsides. His House was strong primarily because of the numbers he could call upon to defend it. All of his shifters were loyal to him, and all of them were food at need. All of that would go away in an instant unless he could make other arrangements.

“Just like that?” Jonas asked. “Make a new pack and revert House Edmonton to its actual status of a vampire House?”

He nodded.

Jonas grinned and glanced at Pederson. He pursed his lips and surveyed the other Alphas. “Before we vote on it, let’s be certain we know what we’re voting upon. House Edmonton reverted, a new pack created to continue handling the loners and rogues?”

David hesitated. He should have considered that. It meant he would have to kill any loner who wouldn’t join his pack or leave. He didn’t want to do that. He knew Stephen and the other vamps handled rogues of their own kind themselves, like the Ghost so recently put down, but Stephen often had to handle rogue shifters too. He rarely handled that himself, preferring to send people like Lawrence. He could do that too, but he knew he would feel guilty if he did. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but sending others felt somehow worse. Cowardly. Maybe he wouldn’t have to. Maybe he could just force them out of the city. No one said he must kill them, only that they must die if they wouldn’t leave or join a pack. Yes, he could do this. He could have them brought to him, and if they wouldn’t be persuaded, he could transport them a long way from LA.

What do you think, Mist?

We must do this. We are alpha. Protect the pack and Stephen. He will need us. He will be weak without us.

Yes. We have to do something about that. Alliance?

Yes. Our den need not change. Nothing needs to change except how these outsiders think of us.

He nodded to himself. That was very insightful and true. They could live and work as before. As long as the Alphas here were happy, what business of theirs was it where and how they lived?

“That’s about the size of it,” David finally agreed.

“Well,” Jonas said. “It’s certainly a neat solution. Objections, Ray? I suppose I should warn you that the other option is still open.”

Pederson frowned.

“David can apply to join any pack to get around the rogue thing. It doesn’t have to be any of us, a small family pack would do. I’m sure if he offered them money, one of them would sponsor him. Once he’s a member in good standing he could register a formal challenge, kill you, and take over the Alley Dogs.” Jonas turned to David. “You sure you don’t want to do that?”

Pederson spluttered angrily and David smiled. He liked Jonas. He shook his head and Jonas shrugged.

“Very well,” Jonas went on. “If the vote goes your way, you can’t just kill Raymond you realise?”

He frowned. “Why not?”

“Because as Alpha of a pack, a challenge to another Alpha is a declaration of war. It would be your pack against his. There are a lot of Alley Dogs. I would strongly advise against it. Besides that, wars are frowned upon. The whole point of conclave is to settle disputes of that sort. Little spats and feuds are one thing; open war on the streets is something else. Keeping the humans out of our business is a big part of what we do.”

Stephen broke in, “And we have OSI sniffing about.”

“Yes,” Jonas said frowning at the reminder. “We need to talk about that later, but first let’s get this new pack business squared away. All in favour?”

The vote wasn’t unanimous. Pederson was against, and one or two others, but more than ninety percent voted for it including Stephen. Leon took over the meeting for a while in his capacity as clerk to register the new pack on his computer. It was all very organised, more like setting up a business than a werewolf pack.

“Name of pack?” Leon asked. “And don’t say Justice Lea—”

“—ice League?”

Leon sighed. “Goddess save me from people who think they’re funny. Seriously? You seriously think that no one else has tried that? I bet you think using something like my password on your comp is a good idea too don’t you?”

David shifted uncomfortably, and decided to change his password when he got home. “Of course not.”

Leon snorted. “Nice try, and don’t change it to 123456 either. That’s just as popular.”

Damn! This guy was good. Now he needed to think up something else. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said and Leon rolled his eyes. He thought for a moment. Something appropriate, something that would resonate with Lost Souls and the shifters loyal to Stephen. “How about... Blood Drinkers?” He looked at Ronnie and Lawrence. Both nodded.

Stephen smiled briefly.

“Blood Drinkers?” Leon muttered and ran a search on his computer. “It’s available. Name of Alpha?”

“David and Mist,” he said.

“Your second?”

“Lawrence and Farris.”

“Female Alpha?”

“Ronnie and Callia,” he said and Ronnie gasped. Pederson snarled curses, and she grinned widely at him.

“Your second, Ronnie?” Leon asked.

Ronnie hesitated. “Can I think about it? We don’t have many bitches at Lost Souls.”

“Call me when you know.”

“Okay.”

“Sponsor?” Leon asked.

“Me,” Stephen said.

“Objection!” Pederson squawked. “He’s not a shifter.”

Jonas raised an eyebrow. “Does that matter?”

Leon hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ll check.” He typed a search query and began reading. “It says a sponsor cannot be human because he or she must be a member in good standing with our community, but that’s all. Stephen qualifies.”

Stephen inclined his head.

“Lastly the big one. Territory claimed?”

David was at a loss but Stephen stepped in again. “I offer the Blood Drinkers pack formal alliance and hunting rights throughout the territory of House Edmonton. My territory is also theirs with the stipulation that I do not cede my ownership or any of my rights over that territory. Moreover, I reserve the right to terminate the arrangement at any time. I hereby release all shifters in my service to join David’s pack if they wish, but I do not release them from my employment unless they give a month’s advance notice.” He turned to David. “I’ll need to make arrangements to replace them. I can’t disrupt my operations.”

“I understand and it won’t be an issue. Mist agrees. We don’t want things to change, not this soon at any rate. Maybe later, but we can discuss it.”

Stephen nodded.

“House Edmonton controls a huge territory,” Jonas said.

“Your point?” David asked.

“There are quite a few family sized packs resident in that territory. You’ll need to make some kind of arrangement with them. I don’t think Stephen bothered with formal alliances?”

Stephen shook his head.

“I’ll talk with them,” David said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Jonas nodded. “Then I think we’re done here. This meeting is closed.”

“I challenge Ronnie Burdett for her position as Alpha of the Blood Drinkers pack!” someone shouted.

“Accepted!” Ronnie shouted back instantly, and turned to confront Georgie. “You’re dead, bitch!”

“Oh bloody hell,” Jonas sighed.

David shot to his feet, already snarling and lunging toward Georgie, but he slammed bodily into Lawrence. His friend grabbed him, and forced him to back away.

“You can’t!” Lawrence hissed. “You can’t challenge anyone but another Alpha now!”

He couldn’t take his eyes off the smirking woman. She grinned at him, and his rage turned into an inferno, but Mist didn’t even twitch. He was so angry, Mist should have exploded out of their body, but he didn’t, the wolf just watched.

Lawrence was a big guy, bigger than him. He worked out constantly, but he was having trouble holding his position. There was strain and panic on his face, and David knew, he knew, that he could easily overpower Lawrence. That realisation brought him up short, and he realised why Mist wasn’t helping. They were Lawrence’s pack leader now and should act like it not some kind of mad rogue.

He stopped struggling. “Explain, and make it fast,” he growled.

Lawrence relaxed a little, but he didn’t let go. “Challenges are for dominance and rank in the pack. No one can challenge anyone ranked below them, and no one is ranked higher than the Alpha. You can only challenge your equal now, and that would mean another pack leader. It prevents abuse of those less dominant than us.”

It made sense, but now he couldn’t avenge himself. Where was the justice in that? It wasn’t fair. Georgie had killed the old him and stolen his life. He had lost everything—his career, his girl, his friends. Everything. He took a deep breath and nodded. He had Mist and a new life now. He had new friends like Stephen and Lawrence, and he had a new girl though she hadn’t figured it out yet. A career? Well, he had the beginnings of one. His new pack might be a full time job for all he knew, and he had some ideas about changing how shifters had to live. Ronnie insisted there was no changing things and survival was all that mattered, but he hadn’t accepted that before and didn’t now. He wanted to help all shifters, not just his own pack.

The human world was incredibly tough on non-humans. A simple thing like getting a loan to start a business was almost impossible, and stuff like insurance and medical care was out of reach. Just getting a job with human run companies was hard because they had trouble with their insurance premiums if they hired non-humans. Many businesses were closed to shifters; places that produced, packaged, or served food to humans for instance. It was not only illegal to hire non-humans to work in such places; it was illegal to serve them as customers.

He had so many ideas about how to make things better, a lifetime of work ahead to fill his time, but he mourned the loss of his past dreams. In his heart, he was a healer still, but his patient had changed. He only had one now—society itself—and to heal it, he needed to change it.

“I’m okay, you can let go.”

Lawrence studied his face warily, but he did step back puffing a little. “You’re damn strong, and I’m not talking about just the physical. You nearly squashed me like a bug.”

David frowned at that, but realised immediately what Lawrence meant. He had been pushing with more than muscle. He had been using his Presence to push too. Lucky for his friend he hadn’t been aware of it and hadn’t pushed very hard. Mist hadn’t helped at all, though Lawrence seemed to think he had. Interesting.

Everyone was watching him. He grimaced. “Sorry. I’ve just realised I can’t kill Georgie for changing me.”

Jonas nodded. “Understandable but easily remedied. The challenge was delivered properly and accepted. Ronnie will fight in your place.”

“No!” he snapped but then he realised he couldn’t stop it. “I mean...”

Georgie laughed. “You’re going to be such fun.”

“You won’t live a minute against Ronnie,” he said staunchly, but he had his doubts. That night was emblazoned upon his memory. Georgie had gutted Callia that night; had literally eviscerated her. “If by some miracle you win, I’ll see you challenged every day until you go down for good. I swear it. Do you want to withdraw the challenge now?”

The Alphas murmured among themselves and turned to regard Georgie speculatively.

She glared at them. “I’ll take my chances. Maybe after I become Alpha, I’ll arrange something special for you. Maybe your second would like to be Alpha in your place.”

“I’d sooner gnaw my own arm off than mate with you!” Lawrence said.

Jonas laughed. “Enough of the funnies. I have to get up early for work. Let’s get this thing done so my boys can bury the body before dawn.”

David looked at Jonas in appalled silence.

“What?”

“Nothing I guess.”

Both women stripped for the fight to make shifting faster and not risk getting tangled. The sight didn’t move David at all. He was too worried to think about how beautiful Ronnie looked, or how muscular Georgie seemed in comparison. He couldn’t get the image of a half-dead Callia dragging her broken body away the night he hit Ronnie with his car. By the goddess, what was he going to do? He couldn’t let this happen! Georgie was too powerful.

This is The Way, and our She will win. She is strong.

You can’t be sure. You didn’t see Georgie that night. She’s a vicious fighter.

I see everything. I know what you know. I see what you see. We are one.

That distracted him a moment. You can see my memory of that night?

All.

All? You can see all of my memories?

Of course. We are one, as it should be.

But... if so, why can’t I see yours?

You have tried?

Well no, I didn’t know to try.

Try, but not now. They begin.

Jonas’ coyotes gathered to watch the fight edging the arena but not so close as to risk crossing the chalk line. That was forbidden apparently. Pederson’s wolves had also gathered to cheer on their wolf. The coyotes seemed more interested in watching for interference than in watching two naked women fight for their lives. David was grateful, but not for Ronnie’s dignity; she didn’t give a damn. Shifters were inveterate exhibitionists, every single one of them. No, it was that they were alert for cheating. He didn’t know how anyone could with so many witnesses present, but if there was a way, he was sure Georgie would know how and employ it.

“Don’t worry. She’s got this,” Lawrence said.

“You didn’t see the fight that night.”

“No, but I’ve seen Ronnie fight before.”

He looked at his friend in surprise. “When?”

“When she first asked Stephen to take her in. You don’t think the others just welcomed her and let her take over without challenging her do you?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.”

“We haven’t got very many females at Lost Souls, but those we do have aren’t pushovers. You’ll need to recruit more for balance. A healthy pack needs a decent mix of male and female betas.”

He nodded; it was another thing to add to his growing list of things he had to take care of.

“Anyway, Stephen has a rule about fighting. He knows it would be pointless to ban challenges, but he does insist they’re not to the death. He needs us; he can’t afford to have us killing each other, so our challenges are always to submission. Ronnie took all of them apart in minutes.”

“Martina too?” he said feeling more hopeful. Martina was a werelynx and a formidable woman.

“Yeah. Martina was one surprised kitty that day I can tell you.”

“What do I do about her and Darrin? I don’t like the thought of Stephen turning them out.”

“They can join us. You need to stop worrying about the whole wolf with wolf and kitty with kitty thing. Oh sure, that’s the best way when it can be managed, but sometimes it can’t. I mean, how many werelynx or weretiger groups do you think are even in the country let alone LA? Sometimes a loner can’t find an animal group in the area to join, so they become affiliate members of a pack like us. That’s just the way it is.”

He nodded and watched as Ronnie and Georgie circled each other, feinting and lunging but never striking a blow. They were pushing power at each other, grappling invisibly using their Presence alone. He wondered if perhaps Ronnie might win without even drawing blood, but no, Georgie had to die. He couldn’t imagine she would ever feel safe until that was accomplished, and he wanted Georgie dead too. A short time ago, that realisation would have appalled him, but it no longer did. Ronnie wouldn’t be safe with Georgie still breathing, so she must stop that annoying habit and do them all a favour by dying.

Georgie lost patience with the dance first and began to shift, Ronnie stayed in human form and took advantage. She rained kicks and punches into the shifting form as Georgie went furry. It was a vulnerable time for any shifter. When they were between forms, they couldn’t do much but concentrate on the Change, which was extremely painful. Ribs snapped as Ronnie viciously stove them in, but David couldn’t see any advantage in doing that. Georgie was healing the damage instantly as she shifted to her wolf form. Sure it must hurt, but the process of changing form hurt worse.

Ronnie didn’t let up, if anything she forced herself into a frenzy, burning energy in an almost berserk fury of blows. She smashed her fists into Georgie’s face, obliterating the semi-wolf features. Blood flew and splashed upon the concrete. Georgie howled and bit, ripping Ronnie’s hands and arms to shredded ribbons.

“Go for it,” Lawrence growled under his breath, willing Ronnie on as she mauled her opponent.

“Why isn’t she changing too? She’ll be on the receiving end of this when she shifts. She should have changed at the same time!”

“That’s not what this is about. Georgie is healing all the damage as part of her shift, but that takes strength and energy. Healing and shifting are two sides of the same coin. They both work exactly the same way. Exactly the same. By ripping her up and forcing her to heal the damage, Ronnie is making her use up her strength. It will be as if Georgie shifted twice not once. This is going to come down to stamina, and Ronnie is conserving hers.”

“That’s... that bloody brilliant!”

Lawrence shrugged. “Challenges aren’t all about strength. Well they are, but there’s more than physical strength involved. There’s your Presence as well, and tactics in the arena too, but strategy relies upon cleverness. A clever opponent can win against a physically stronger one sometimes. A super strong alpha doesn’t necessarily make a good pack leader. He needs to know how to lead people, and persuade them to do what’s good for the pack a lot of the time, not beat them into submission.”

He nodded; there was another lesson in there. Lawrence was good at telling him things without appearing to do that, and it was no accident. A pack leader’s second could suggest and advise but he couldn’t be seen to be giving his Alpha orders or challenging him. Lawrence was a natural second; he’d slipped into the role as if he’d been doing it for years. It was no wonder Stephen had relied upon him so much.

Georgie was the stronger physically, it was obvious naked as she was, but Ronnie matched her in Presence, and now over matched her in cleverness. She was winning.

Georgie finally completed her shift to full wolf form and attacked. Ronnie backed off, bloodied but still very strong. Her hands and arms were shredded, but she let the blood spatter upon the ground not bothering to use her energy on healing. Georgie’s wolf charged and ripped into Ronnie’s leg in frenzy. David paled at the sight thinking something was wrong, but no, Ronnie wanted her enemy in close. She reached down almost casually and grasped Georgie around the neck, heaving her into the air and throwing her contemptuously across the arena. Georgie rolled back onto her feet and charged back in the blink of an eye, absolutely furious and raging with no thought in her head but blood lust and a need to kill.

Ronnie was ready.

David might have missed it, but Lawrence had seen it before and was waiting for the move. He hissed in excitement as Ronnie shifted her arms and hands. Suddenly they were no longer bleeding or human either. They reached down below her knees now and wicked claws sprang out as she flexed alien fingers. She stood her ground as Georgie leapt and David cried out an involuntary warning.

Ronnie caught the wolf easily in her new powerful arms and said almost gently, “Goodbye, Georgie.”

Her wonderfully sharp claws sliced the wolf’s throat open and ripped its trachea away. She threw the disgusting mess on the floor, and before the dying wolf could begin to heal, twisted its head all the way around and pulled with all her strength. Flesh tore and the head came free in a fountain of gore. The twitching body fell away. Ronnie held the head up before her, staring into its face until the still glowing eyes dimmed and flickered out, glazing in death.

Jonas’ coyotes yipped and barked in that spine-crawling call of theirs.

David shivered. They were all in human form, and that sound coming from ordinary men and women’s throats was just plain unnerving. Alien. Ronnie threw the head and Jonas caught it. He lobbed it like a football to one of his boys who caught it with a laugh. David felt his gorge rise as it shifted back to Georgie’s human head, but the coyotes continued playing catch with it and laughing all the while.

“Keep it together,” Stephen whispered. “Show no weakness here or anywhere if you can avoid it. This is your new reality. Embrace it, or learn to fake embracing it. I would advise the former for your own peace of mind.”

He swallowed bile keeping his expression neutral as the shifters had their fun tossing the human head from one end of the arena to the other in a sick game of catch. Georgie’s body had turned human too now, and Ronnie stepped over it, not giving it a glance. She was untroubled by the coyote’s antics. He watched her approach. She was so damned primal, bloody hands and naked body splashed with gore. She was so beautiful to his hot eyes, but how would he ever understand her or his new people?

Georgie had needed to die. It was necessary and he was glad Ronnie had won, but it was obvious she had no qualms about anything that had happened. Survival was all that mattered to her, and she was full of her victory. How could he live that way even with her? The answer was he couldn’t, but he would have to or change the reality they had to live with. He was determined to try, but it would take time.