Way of the Wolf: Shifter Legacies 1 (41 page)

Pederson snarled, “Not unprovoked! That’s the entire point of this conclave!”

“Shut it!” Jonas snapped. “You’re out of order and I’ll decide what the point of the conclave is. That’s my job. You’ll get your turn to put your side. Go on Stephen.”

“When the
Alley Dogs
attacked my House unprovoked I was angry as anyone would be, but I knew that I could bring my grievance here and see justice done. Now what do I find? I can already sense you leaning toward leniency. Why, because I’m not one of you? Because I’m vampire and not shifter, I should be treated the way the humans treat us all, with contempt? Think about what you’re doing. Our laws don’t prevent conflict. We still have our little spats, our broken alliances and feuds, but they do regulate them. We are, mostly, successful at keeping them out of the human world and their notice. Mostly. Do you want to be in a position where that regulation has no power?

“You all know what has been happening in the city. I have an unknown vampire making newborn vampires and releasing them rogue onto our city streets. I have OSI sniffing about. I have police officers attacked and others poking into things we all need kept out of the media!
I do not need this shit!
” he roared making them all jump at its unexpectedness. “I need you to reign in the idiot
Alley Dog
Alpha and let me get on with the job you gave me!”

“Finished?” Jonas asked dryly.

“Yes, thank you.” Stephen replied calmly.

“Raymond, your turn.”

“The fight at Lost Souls was an accident,” Pederson said and flushed at the laughter the statement caused. “I went there to convince Ronnie to come home, not fight. If not for the newbie on the door, I would have succeeded. Because he’s new, he challenged me... I’ll make allowances now and not challenge him for the insult done earlier.”

David laughed. “Of course you will.” Jonas gave him a warning look, and he shrugged an apology. “What can I say, Jonas? I kicked his arse and it was disappointingly easy.”

Laughter up and down the table made Pederson flush red with rage. Jonas sighed and shook his head. “I can see you’re going to be trouble. You just can’t help yourself can you? You’ll want to watch that mouth of yours in the coming years. Either that, or you won’t live long enough to settle in here.”

David shrugged again.

“Raymond, you done?” Jonas asked.

“No.”

“Of course not. Go on then.”

“Forty years might not seem a long time to a vampire, but it’s longer than I’ve been alive. A decision made back then doesn’t have the same relevance to me as it does to him; maybe not to any of us. It was a different time. I don’t think we should automatically assume that because our people decided to turn a blind eye to Edmonton’s doings back then, that we should continue that policy.”

“A blind eye?” Stephen said. “There was no blind eye! The packs of LA have left me to clean up their messes for decades! Who but I hunt down the rogues? Who but I take in the loners visiting before they become rogues, or see them safely removed from our streets when they’re rejected by the packs they seek to join?”

“Who but you poaches our people, luring them away with your promises and offers?” Pederson sneered and looked around at the other alphas. “All of us have lost people to this blood sucker. Are you going to tell me you’re okay with that? Are you going to pretend that if Ronnie had been one of yours you wouldn’t have tried to get her back? Fucking hypocrites, all of you. I’ve heard you all bitching about losing someone to him over the years.”

The shifters looked guiltily at each other and Stephen. David noted the reaction and wondered how bad the so-called poached shifters lives had been, that they felt leaving everyone and everything they knew for a life with vampires was preferable to staying. Stephen’s people were amazingly loyal to him. It said something about their situations before they gave themselves to him. Something pretty bad he would judge.

Pederson went on. “I never had any intention of attacking House Edmonton. You can taste the truth of that. I had every intention of claiming what is mine.”

David frowned.
Is he telling the truth, Mist? I can’t quite tell.

Yes,
Mist said,
and no. He never intended to fight at all, but would have stolen our She without fighting. That is what he means. It was a raid still, but not one where he expected the need to fight.

Tricky bastard. They’re falling for it.

Indeed the others were nodding at the truth they sensed in his words and looked surprised they were able to. Pederson smiled smugly. Jonas looked surprised too, but then narrowed his eyes as he caught on.

“What I want from this conclave is a new direction,” Pederson went on. “It’s time to look again at House Edmonton’s status as a pack. It’s not a pack and never was. Our laws do not fit, and bastardising them to fit any vampire House is ridiculous.”

Many of the Alphas were nodding now. Lawrence looked uneasily toward David, and he got the feeling his friend was willing him to do something, but what could he do? Lawrence’s eyes were saying
“fix this!”
but how? He wracked his brain for an idea as Stephen took up the challenge.

“And how precisely will you revise our laws?” Stephen asked. “I have broken none. Which of them would you change?”

“Treating you as Alpha of a pack that doesn’t exist is custom not law,” Pederson snapped. “That first.”

“Would you prefer to treat me as what I am? Would you prefer I treat you as others of my kind do yours outside the safety of LA?” Stephen said ominously. “You would not enjoy the experience.”

“Don’t threaten us.”

“Dear, Raymond, I do not threaten anyone here. You speak out of ignorance. None of you has experience of what it’s like living the way you so cavalierly speak of. I have. Shifters are treated as animals, not people; pets at best if you’re lucky enough to be a favourite of one of my kind. None of you would do well in such a life. Being the strongest, you could possibly avoid the worst abuses, but to do that you would have to feed your people to mine. I use the word feed not by accident.”

“We’re strong enough to drive every vampire out of LA entirely!”

“Oh, yes? And do you think it coincidence that there are only four Houses left in LA and not a dozen or more like the old days? Do you think it’s your threat, the threat of shifters who my people consider mere animals to be subjugated, and not ours that keeps them away? If you do, I feel sorry for you. They stay away because Gavin, Michael, Rachelle, and I keep them away. Gavin more than the rest of us in truth. His reputation is enough of a deterrent for all but the most determined. LA has a fierce reputation among my kind, but don’t think for a moment it isn’t looked upon as a prize by envious eyes.”

Jonas intervened. “We’re straying far from why this conclave was called. I think we’ve heard all we need to. Raymond Pederson, Alpha of the
Alley Dog
Pack of LA stands accused of raiding House Edmonton—vampire House of LA—against the customs and laws we all abide by. I will now hear your words before making my decision.”

Leon Pullen went first as Alpha of the second strongest pack. “I don’t like what he did, but he spoke the truth when he said he didn’t plan to attack House Edmonton. To me that means he isn’t guilty of anything except stupidity. I mean, anyone with an ounce of sense could guess what would go down at the club. Raymond Pederson is a bloody idiot, but that’s not against our laws. Maybe it should be.”

“So, innocent of the charge then?” Jonas asked.

Leon nodded.

And so it went. David listened with growing dismay as each Alpha responded with similar sentiments. In different words, they made excuses for Pederson’s idiocy. Each time his stupidity was brought up, he flushed angrily, but it meant nothing. He had them all on side and bamboozled, but if he thought that would help him, he could think again.

He had promised himself and Mist that he wouldn’t let Ronnie be taken. He exchanged looks with Stephen, and nodded to let him know he was ready to kill Pederson and take his pack. Stephen’s eyes narrowed just a trifle as he caught on, and nodded back his permission. David didn’t need permission, not for this. Ronnie would be his one day even if she didn’t know it yet. He would woo her, but in the meantime, he needed to fix her current situation.

“...innocent of the charge. I would like to see some kind of punishment. A tithe maybe?”

The Alphas rumbled agreement.

Jonas nodded his thanks. “So, the consensus is that Raymond is a frigging idiot who should have known better, but one who is innocent of a premeditated sneak attack upon House Edmonton. I’m advised to levy a tithe as punishment.” He grimaced unhappily. “I see no option but to comply with the conclave’s wishes. A tithe of twenty thousand dollars is levied, and will be given to House Edmonton in lieu of damages.”

Pederson yelped. “What damages?”

“It’s a figure of speech you moron,” Jonas snarled. “For the inconvenience of you and your cretins attacking his people at the club, and for disturbing the peace. You have a week to cough up the cash before I send my boys round to take it out of your hide.”

Pederson snarled silently, and then nodded reluctantly.

Stephen’s face was cold and hard.

“Before I call it done,” Jonas said. “Any other business?”

David hesitated a moment too long.

Pederson spoke first. “I wish to propose that we deal with the vampire’s status among us once and for all. He’s not Alpha and his band of misfit rogues are not a pack. It’s time we cleaned this up.”

Jonas hesitated.

“Seconded,” Leon said. Jonas shot him a look of surprised betrayal. “Sorry, but it’s better to get it out of the way. Stephen is a friend to the packs of LA, all the remaining vamp Houses are, but they aren’t pack. Maybe it’s time we recognised that. We need to figure out exactly what they mean to us and begin treating them as what they are, not what some of us think they are or should be.”

* * *

23 ~ Blood Drinkers

“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.”