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Jason said nothing as he followed her down the stairs. “And if you’re in wolf form who decides if we need to surrender?” he asked finally.
She looked at him with a half-smile. “We don’t surrender, Jason. Period.”
She had them bring all the men inside the house, filling the living room, and spilling into the entryway — which said something about the size of the place that they could all crowd in. She briefed them on the situation— most of it. She didn’t mention that Ryder had been shot. Those who were pack probably felt something when it happened. But the rest of them? They were shaky as it was.
“We haven’t really met yet,” she said, pitching her voice to carry. She’d watched many leaders in the last few weeks, she realized. It had been like a senior seminar in leadership styles. She’d suck it up and do the best she could. “I’m the wolf who had Ryder’s back.”
There was a murmur at that. They’d all seen her last night, but they hadn’t realized the wolf at Ryder’s side was female. Now they did. It was telling that some didn’t even blink at that — those were the recently-human, she thought. Probably about half?
“I’m pack Second Jessie Nickerson,” she continued. “And yes, this pack now has a female Second. Just as the Northwest is now home to three female Alphas, it’s also home to a female Second —we’re always the early adopters, aren’t we?”
She doubted that meant anything to the older shifters, but it got laughs from the recruits.
“So there are those who don’t want Ryder to be Alpha of this pack. They want the pack to continue being a traditionalist pack where the men get rich and the women get battered. And they know Ryder’s not going to allow that to continue. So this morning one of the rebellion got the shifters from the lodge and headed into town. They’re coming here, we think. They want to overrun this house, kill anyone who stands in their way, take the women, and then make you all fight for them. And we’re not going to let that happen —we’re going to hold this place.”
“How?” someone asked. “I was up at the lodge. That’s a mean son of a bitch running that show. No offense, ma’am,” he added hastily.
Jessie grinned at him. “Phrase sounds different when you’re talking to a shifter, doesn’t it?” she joked. The men laughed and relaxed a bit more. “You’re right, he is. He’s been starving them, turning them feral. He knows that they’ll do as he commands because they’re too hungry to do anything else.”
She grinned. “So we’re going to feed them.”
There was a murmur at that. Jessie laid out the strategy for them, and there was a thoughtful silence. At least she hoped it was thoughtful, and not just incredulous. “But I don’t expect you to fight that SOB,” she said. “You may have to fight some of the wolves who are too far gone to listen to the offer of free barbeque. But the SOB in charge? He’s my job.”
“You?” said that same man, someone with enough dominance to be able to question. She needed to identify him and put him to work. “Can you fight?” he added.
“My wolf can,” she said confidently. “My wolf challenged Bjorn Hansen and won. My wolf has fought two challenge fights since then and won. And my wolf will win against the SOB who leads those wolves into this place that I’ve sworn to protect. We will fight. And we will hold this ground.”
“And Ryder? Will he truly make us his pack?” someone asked wistfully.
She smiled at him. He was a slight young man who looked vaguely familiar. “He will,” she promised. “But more than that? I will make you mine. You don’t have to be alone any longer. It’s not good for wolves to be alone. Wolves need pack. You need pack —to belong. And you belong to me! Do you hear me? You aren’t alone anymore. You’re mine!”
She was all but shouting that last bit. And she felt them teetering onto something. What had Mei done that pushed them over, she wondered. And then she knew. She’d fed them. She’d provided for them.
“So go eat,” she ordered. “My wolves don’t need to go hungry. My wolves don’t need to be nearly feral to fight for what’s right. You’re my wolves, and I will take care of you. Tonight, and always.”
Jason swept up beside her and escorted her toward the back door. “I think you might have done it,” he said, wonder in his voice. “But just like with Mei, you have to be the dominant. You eat first.”
He was walking at her side; Duncan McKenzie was at her back, and to her surprise, Miles McKenzie walked next to him. Jessie just nodded. She could feel the wolves behind her, feel their need, not just for supper, but to belong. So she marched through the house, and out the back door to where the women were setting up the big buffet of grilled meat and sides. She picked up a plate and smiled at Cass. “I’m hungry,” she announced. “We’re ready to eat.”
Anyone watching the crowd would suspect something wasn’t human about them, she thought, as she leaned against the end of the buffet table and watched the wolves. Watchedherwolves, she amended. They weren’t warmly dressed for one thing, and it had to be below freezing out here. And they were sitting on the ground! Or the smarter ones were crouching down to eat. They were in clusters of six to eight men, with one of Jason’s men as their leader. Their sergeants, she thought amused. Jason had squads of the men doing exercises along the sides of the space, more to keep them busy than to accomplish anything. She wondered how much of boot camp was the same way.
A lot,she heard Ryder say in her mind.
She smiled.You’re better!
I am,he said.They finally decided I was going to live and they carried me to the back of the Expedition and laid me down on a pile of blankets. We’re headed in to town. We have some of the Hat Island security guards riding behind my Wolves on bikes, I hear. We’ve got eight of the shifters with us —shifters who were left to die.He sounded grim about that.One of them is Sharon’s father, by the way. Might reassure her that he’s OK and he’s coming home.
Jessie:Benny with you? Everyone OK?
Ryder:Benny went out after the sniper, and he wasn’t back yet. So Ken stayed back with two of the Hat Island wolves to wait for him. They’ll follow us when he’s finished. But Titus wants me back to see a doctor as fast as he can get me there. But we’re still over two hours out, Jessie.
Jessie considered that. They weren’t going to be back in time to take charge of this unfolding situation. It was on her. She told him what was going on, what she’d done, and what she thought was coming.I’m going to fight as wolf,she said.But I don’t know if I’m dominant enough to fight wolf-to-wolf, Ryder. I win by surprise. And by fighting wolf-to-human. He’ll be prepared for that.
Ryder:You need to pull on my dominance, merge the two of us just like we did when I challenged McKenzie.
Jessie:What! No! You need all the energy you have, and all that I can give you, just to heal. You don’t have any to spare to send to me.
Ryder:Dominance and energy are two different things. I think anyway. What the hell do I know? But it felt different. You were sending me energy in the challenge fight, but then he blasted me with dominance, and we... merged. Not for long, but long enough for me to push back and get the job done. And you need to do the same thing.
