So was it the human side of her or the wolf side that felt intense pride that this werewolf prince wanted to be her mate? Which side felt an equal amount of despair about where things stood with Trick?
“I know you’ve got a yen for that human boy,” he went on, and she had to turn away to keep herself from shouting the truth. Trick was not a human boy; he was the very creature they were going off to placate, to beg not to destroy them.
“Hey,” Justin said, “alpha.”
“Kat,” she ground out.
“Kat, then,” he echoed. “That’s good.” He sounded very happy.
Alarm bells went off. Had she just said something she shouldn’t have by telling him to call her by her nickname?
“So you’re saying we have to make sure none of our fighters attack any of the Gaudins,” she said neutrally.
“I’m saying we can’t trust the Gaudins farther than we can throw ’em, but we can’t strike first. But if the Gaudins take down one of us after you have ordered us not to fight, your next battle might be a challenge to the death for leadership of the pack.”
It was very complicated being an alpha.
Trick, Grandpa, can you hear me? I’m the Fenner alpha. We aren’t going to fight. We’re coming to you.
She had no idea if they could hear her. Did her grandfather know about her? She didn’t know if she should send out thoughts to him, either. She dug her hands into her pockets and hunched her shoulders, wondering why Trick had let her go . . . and hadn’t contacted her since. Was he testing her?
“What’s our best strategy?” Katelyn asked Justin, and pride washed over his features. He liked being asked. Being taken into her confidence.
“We need to get the message out the way wolves always do,” he replied. He threw back his head as if to howl. “The easiest way would be for as many of us as possible to call out together. But there’s just one problem. The people in Wolf Springs have no idea how many wolves there are around here. If they heard all of us, those hunters would be on us in a heartbeat sure as I’m standing here. And yes, we could take ’em out, and no, we have sworn not to take human life.”
“What about making it sound like it’s from the Inner Wolf Center?” It was difficult for her to even mention the name. She wondered what her uncle was up to. Why he hadn’t followed up his bombshell revelation with some other action; and if he’d told her grandfather that he’d shared his deepest secret with Katelyn.
She caught her breath.
Does Jack even know that Grandpa is the Hellhound?
Justin considered. “I don’t think hill people will mistake those city folks for howling wolves, no matter how drunk and spun up Jack Bronson gets those poor suckers. Best thing would be for you and a few of your most trusted pack mates to send out the word.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t know who her most trusted pack mates were.
“To do that, I’d have to be able to shift at will.” She could, but she hadn’t told anyone except Wanda Mae, who’d seen her.
Once upon a time he would smirk at her for that. Now he was polite, deferential. It was like meeting a different Justin Fenner. He wasn’t insincere, or playing a part. It was as if he had completely shifted gears without even noticing it himself. Their positions in the hierarchy had changed, and his behavior along with it.
“I can speak for you,” he said.
“No. I’d rather not remind any werewolves that I’m new at all this.”
She thought she heard Trick’s voice and she visibly jerked. Justin looked at her expectantly.
It had been Trick who had whispered to her in her dreams . . . scary, almost stalkerlike. She looked at Justin, who was waiting for her to say something, just as she was waiting for Trick.
Some distance away, the Gaudin alpha was frowning, practically tapping his toes in impatience, while Cordelia looked white-faced, worried. Katelyn moved away from Justin and headed for her friend.
Cordelia met her halfway and gave her another hug. Pressing her lips against Katelyn’s ear, she whispered, “Dom won’t keep the peace. I heard him talking to his highest-ranking warriors just before we came to you. He wants the silver mine for himself, and he’ll do anything to get it. He said he would pretend to stop warring against us, but he’ll wait until our guard is down, and wipe us out.”
“Us,” Katelyn said.
“You’re my alpha, Kat,” Cordelia said quietly.
Then she stopped and let go of Katelyn; her sharp ears had picked up Dom’s approach. Katelyn worked hard to hide her suspicions as they turned to face Cordelia’s husband. For so long, Cordelia had insisted that Dom wanted peace. He’d even met with Cordelia’s father and Justin at the bayou, and told Lee Fenner that if only he would forgive Cordelia, the Gaudin pack would cease hostilities. Mr. Fenner had refused, and Katelyn had assumed it was because he was too angry and unreasonable. But maybe he had known all along that Dom was lying.
“Let’s take a couple of hours to inform our people that the fighting’s done,” Katelyn said. “We need to make sure we really
are
at peace before we go to the Hellhound.”
“Is your pack in such disarray?” Dom asked her. “One word from me and my pack stops.”
“Then give the word,” she snapped.
“I can’t allow them to become defenseless against your pack,” he said. “If you can’t guarantee their safety . . .”
Katelyn had had enough. She made a mental
push
to begin her transformation. Bone-cracking pain throbbed in her bones and she saw the world in platinum and fire. Brute satisfaction compensated for the agony as Dom registered surprise, maybe even a bit of fear. Good. Let him be afraid. Let them all be afraid.
She pulled herself back from changing and glared at him. “Stop messing with me,” she said. “My pack is
fine
. Go deal with yours. We’ll meet at my grandfather’s cabin in three hours. Then we’ll go to the Hellhound’s lair.”
Justin opened his mouth but she flashed him a look to stay quiet. Seething, Dom studied her long and hard, then turned his back on her and walked away. Cordelia moved to Dom’s side and together they disappeared into the forest.
“So now you know,” Katelyn muttered.
“Can you shift all the way? Kat, why didn’t you tell me?” He looked abashed and tucked down his chin. “I’m
glad
you can shift. But why did you lie to me?”
She didn’t have to explain herself. But she still felt awkward that she’d outed herself. Instead, she said, “I don’t trust Dom. He’s lying to us. But if we strike against him, the Hounds of God and the Hellhound will come down on us.”
He was thoughtful. “I agree. I’m not getting the ‘peace and love’ vibe off that ol’ boy. Maybe Lee was right to detest him.”
“So we don’t want to fight but we also don’t want the Gaudins to massacre us,” she said, and he nodded. “And if they start a forest fire . . .”
“Maybe we should send the pack down into Wolf Springs. Not into the town proper, but a sanctuary.”
She thought of Trick’s vast property. His parents weren’t home.
“We’ll send them to the Sokolovs’ land,” she said. “Trick’s out with the hunters and his parents are in Europe. There’s lots of space, it’s out of the way, and if there’s a fire, it won’t touch them.”
“It feels like retreating,” Justin objected. “Letting the Gaudins have the upper hand.”
She gave him a look. “Not you, too,” she said. “This isn’t about fighting or not fighting. This is about surviving. Because the Hellhound
does
have the upper hand. It will give the Hounds of God the go-ahead to take us out. And help them do it.”
“Something else has happened,” he said suspiciously. “Something you’re not telling me.”
“When you need to know, I’ll tell you,” she replied.
His face clouded over. “But if you don’t trust me—”
“You need to trust
me
,” she said. “Now who can we trust to make sure they go to Trick’s property? Not Arial.”
He thought a moment. “Regan, maybe.”
Katelyn was startled. “But her husband just died. By Gaudin hands.” Luc Gaudin, Dom’s younger brother, had loaded the bayou with silver just before the battle. Doug had fallen in and died of silver poisoning.
“Tonight when she and Arial began their challenge, her posturing was only half-hearted. You saw that, right? She would have lost. The fight’s gone out of her,” Justin said. “But she needs to have some role in the hierarchy. This would be a good job for her.”
Katelyn hadn’t noticed any of that when the two sisters had confronted each other. But she wasn’t about to let Justin know that. Where once he had been her mentor, now he was her follower.
“I’ll talk to her,” she said.
She and Justin returned to Justin’s family’s house. She explained to the pack that they needed to get out of the forest. It was the first test of her power as pack leader, and they were unhappy about it, but she stood her ground.
“You put me in charge. You promised to follow my orders,” she said. “In return, I’ll keep us strong and safe. The best way to defend our territory is to leave it for just a little while.” She looked at Regan. “You’ll head up the move.”
“Sounds like a plan, alpha,” Regan said. “Could I speak to you a moment about logistics?”
Katelyn tried to detect animosity in Regan’s attitude but could find none. Though Regan had lost her husband, her father, and her chance to become alpha in short order, it was as if she had put her grief and hatred in a box to be opened later. Her alpha — and her pack — needed her.
“All right,” Katelyn said. “Justin, start organizing the move.”
Justin dipped his head and Katelyn and Regan took the stairs that led to the second story of Justin’s home. Katelyn wanted to see the place where he had grown up. Justin and Jesse had only moved in with the Fenners that year, but the house seemed as if it had been abandoned longer than that. It felt forlorn, and sad.
As they reached the landing, they turned into a room whose window was filtered by moonlight. The room was heavily padded and there were bars on the window. A twin bed was pushed up against the wall, and leather restraints stretched across the mattress.
“This was Jesse’s room,” Regan said. “They used to do that to him.”
“Oh, my God,” Katelyn said. “That’s just . . .”
“. . . inhuman?” Regan filled in. “A generation ago, they would have killed him. Lucy was the one who suggested they try medication when Justin and Jesse moved into our house.”
“Is it working?” Katelyn asked, thinking of the terrible maulings that had occurred, the first one two weeks before she’d arrived in Wolf Springs.
“I think so,” Regan muttered. “It’s hard to tell. He’s so . . . well, he was an added strain on my daddy, of course. I mean, we’re supposed to be a pack, not a special needs daycare center.” Her lip curled in distaste.
“Nice,” Katelyn drawled.
“Oh, just wait,” Regan sneered. “You really think you’ve pulled something off, don’t you?”
Katelyn took a menacing step toward her. Regan took an automatic step backward. The backs of her legs hit the bed and she sat down.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” she said childishly. “Things weren’t supposed to happen this way. I mean, I knew that someone would challenge Daddy sooner or later if he didn’t name one of us.”
That he would die
, Katelyn translated.
“It’s just . . .
Doug
.” Regan studied her hands in her lap. “You tried to save him.”
“I did,” Katelyn said. “There was an alligator in that swamp. I risked my life to save your husband.”
Regan grew quiet. Then she nodded. “Thank you. They were so mean to him. Called him a ‘bit-in.’ But
my daddy
bit him in.” She took a deep breath. “I have to tell you something. Arial’s plotting against you. She’s got werewolves scattered in the forest who haven’t declared allegiance to you, and they’re going to try to kill you.”
“That was fast,” Katelyn said, shaken but trying not to show it.
Regan shrugged. “That was always. You know she’s sent others.”
Like Wanda Mae.
“She wanted me to join her,” Regan said. Then she leaned forward, curling her body in a gesture of submissiveness. “I owe you. And I pledged my loyalty to you in front of the pack. I’m reaffirming my allegiance.”
“Good,” Katelyn said. “Glad to hear it.”
“The situation for our pack has changed,” Regan said, as if Katelyn hadn’t spoken. “It’s not just the Gaudins anymore. And I think you know more about what’s happening than you’re letting on, and that you have a plan.” She peered up at Katelyn through her eyelashes. “But if you blow it, I’ll take your throat myself.”
Katelyn was startled by the depth of her fury. Aggression, pure and simple. She wanted to growl and pull her lips away from her teeth, but she controlled the impulse. It was considered immature to display wolf behaviors while in human form.
“I don’t plan to blow it,” she retorted, “and you’ll never get anywhere near my throat. Meanwhile, don’t let anyone know you told me about Arial, and I won’t tell, either.”
Regan looked monumentally relieved, and Katelyn could feel herself softening toward her. Katelyn reminded herself that the sisters had jockeyed for favor with their father without any regard for anyone else, and both of them had hated and mistreated Cordelia — and Katelyn herself.
“Go deal with the pack,” Katelyn said. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
After Regan left the room, Katelyn walked to the window and looked out at the jumbles of cars, and beyond, the tips of the pines and the jagged shapes of the mountains beneath the moonlight. She knew these woods, knew their smell and the feel of the snowy earth under her paws. The taste of blood in her mouth. She knew how to howl.
This was so crazy. How did she get to be the alpha of a werewolf pack?
“Trick, can you help me out?” she murmured. “I’m trying to stop the war. It just doesn’t want to be stopped.”
She blew on the glass and wrote
T.S
. Trick Sokolov. Also known as Vladimir Mordecai Sokolov, the Hellhound’s apprentice. How had that happened? Had her grandfather bitten him? She wondered if Trick had been his apprentice when he killed her father. Had Trick been there? Watched? He would have been young, like her.