Gifted: A Holiday Anthology by Kelley Armstrong Page A

weak.
    The Australians have amassed an army of allies from smaller Packs, mostly third-world and developing countries who’d love a piece of the American dream. On our side, we had the Russian Pack. That’s it. Other Packs—French, German, Italian—support us in theory, but in practice, if we’re invaded, their troops are staying home and cheering us on from the sidelines.
    The biggest problem is the Brits. They’re a big Pack and they’re spoiling for a fight, and they haven’t yet decided whose side they’d take. Parker has said there is a way to secure his help. Just let him deal with the real Alpha: Clay. And if my leadership isn’t a ruse, then I should make Clay the Alpha and step the hell down. I don’t dare tell him what I think of that suggestion, so all I can do is show up here without Clay in tow and try to prove I’m the real deal. So far, I’m failing miserably.
    Noon the next day. Back in a meeting with Parker and struggling to hold my temper.
    “I want Marsten,” Parker said. “Antonio Sorrentino has a better reputation as a fighter, but he’s old.” Beside me, Nick stiffened at the insult to his father. Parker smirked. Lord Asshole indeed.
    “Karl Marsten has a wife and three-year-old daughter. He’s not moving to California for the school year.”
    “Are you saying you can’t make him? That you would allow a Pack member to claim family responsibilities and ignore a direct order?”
    That barb hit home. Of all my Pack, Marsten was the only one not completely under my control. I can boss him around better than Jeremy could, but if I was to order him to California for eight months? I’d fail.
    “I could send Morgan Walsh for a month, to help Kevin get settled in.”
    “Who?” Parker’s face screwed up. “Oh, yes. The Canadian .” He added a derisive twist to the word, knowing full well where my own passport came from. “He’s a nobody. I want someone with a reputation.”
    “Reese, then.”
    Parker sputtered. “Send my son to school with the Aussie brat at the center of this whole crisis? Not unless I want him to major in rape.”
    I struggled to keep my tone steady. “Reese was seduced by the Alpha’s mate when they were in college together, because she wanted to secure her position by handing over Reese’s parents. Which she did. And the Australian Pack slaughtered them.”
    “So Reese says. You believe him because he’s a confused young wolf and you’re a mother. It makes you susceptible.”
    “Excuse me? If I had absolutely any doubt—”
    Nick’s hand tightened on my leg. I had to calm down, and what made that even harder was knowing that if Clay was here, he’d go for Parker’s throat—figuratively and perhaps even literally. And Parker would respect him for that. If Clay snarled and raged, he was a proper werewolf. If I did, I was a hysterical woman.
    “You can have Morgan or Reese for two months,” I said. “Or you can have Karl for one. Your choice.”
    “Karl for the entire school year. September to May.” He smiled, showing his teeth. “Of course, he’ll get the holidays off, to visit his family.”
    “If he goes for one month, his family will go with him.”
    Nick murmured, “I’ll do it. Two months.”
    I looked over. He nodded.
    “All right,” I said. “Nick for two months.”
    Kevin—sitting beside his father—snickered. “The omega? I’d rather take the retard.”
    Nick shot to his feet, his face hard. “Don’t you—”
    “—call you the omega?”
    “I don’t give a damn what you call me, boy. But you don’t use that other word for anyone . Presuming you’re talking about Noah, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but he’s in college with an IQ of a hundred and ten, which I’m going to guess is about twenty points higher than yours.”
    “Enough,” I said. “Noah has school, so he’s not an option. Nick is, and considering he sent Malcolm Danvers running, I don’t think you really want to call him the omega. Let’s cut