understand why we have to intervene,” Jameson said. “So tell me, what did you learn?”
I told him about the huge gypsy camp and the nearly equal number of humans to werewolves living there. I told him that it seemed like something out of a fairytale; everyone appeared happy and safe. I also told him that everyone looked a little too happy, almost to a creepy degree.
“Yeah, Tollis has one of those smiles,” Kyle said with a nod, pulling the rest of the label off his bottle. “You know the kind of smile that says, ‘No, the Kool-Aid is grape-flavored, not arsenic.’”
“Kyle,” Jameson said.
His voice sounded normal, but I felt the power in it creeping up my arm and touching something inside me. Kyle dropped his eyes.
“He’s not wrong,” I said, drawing Jameson’s eyes back to me. “Tollis is so charismatic. I’ve never been around someone like that before. He’s like those human religious leaders who can pack thousands of people into sporting arenas.”
“I am aware,” Jameson said.
“So how is he a Beta? I don’t get it.”
“Charisma and power are not the same thing,” Jameson said.
“Right,” Kyle jumped in. “And not every Alpha can be a Pack Leader either. A true Pack Leader is something entirely special. Sure, it’s a level of power, but it’s more than that. The pack has to know that their Pack Leader can and will do everything possible to keep them safe. A Pack Leader has abilities that no other can understand.”
Not being a Were myself, that shouldn’t have been enough for me to understand the difference, but having felt Jameson’s power, I did. When I’d had to give Malachi the antidote to the love spell he’d consumed, Jameson’s power had calmed the wolf inside him. It was Jameson who had kept me safe and Malachi sane. I had never seen nor felt that before.
“Tollis thinks you rule your people with an iron fist.”
Kyle and Jameson shared a look, but I couldn’t be sure what it meant.
“He has to,” Kyle said, lifting one shoulder and letting it fall. “He leads an entire city’s pack of werewolves. Can you imagine the difficulty in that? What do you expect him to do? You rule Weres by showing no throat. If he did, then any number of jumped-up pups would try to challenge him, and we would have deaths and banishments every week.”
“Mattie, what you don’t understand about werewolf packs and what it takes to be a Pack Leader is that a lot of my power comes from my pack,” Jameson said. “If I lost the love and respect of my pack, then my powers would fade. I would be like any other Alpha. If my pack wasn’t happy with me, it would be obvious.”
“You get your power to lead from your pack?” I looked from James to Kyle and back again. They both nodded, so I said, “Wow. Then Tollis really does have it wrong.”
Jameson shook his head. “He knows this. All Weres know this. He just didn’t tell you. Now just imagine what lies he has been feeding to those humans who know nothing about Weres.”
“They probably have no idea what they’re risking,” I whispered, my throat tight.
“Exactly,” Jameson said. “But now we know where they have gone. We know we’re right in thinking that Tollis took them.”
“He might’ve lied to get them to stay, but I’m telling you, they all think they’re there of their own will.”
“The police won’t care about that, their families won’t care about that, and the rest of the world won’t care about that,” Jameson said. “They will only care that underage teens were turned, and they will certainly care about the ones who do not survive.”
“And you’ll be blamed because you’re the Pack Leader.”
Whatever Jameson was about to say was lost in a sudden burst of noise from the front of the bar. The door slammed into the wall as a group of men rushed in. Some of them were half-shifted, their faces elongated with fuzzy muzzles and mouths full of razor teeth. Their hands were three times their
I told him about the huge gypsy camp and the nearly equal number of humans to werewolves living there. I told him that it seemed like something out of a fairytale; everyone appeared happy and safe. I also told him that everyone looked a little too happy, almost to a creepy degree.
“Yeah, Tollis has one of those smiles,” Kyle said with a nod, pulling the rest of the label off his bottle. “You know the kind of smile that says, ‘No, the Kool-Aid is grape-flavored, not arsenic.’”
“Kyle,” Jameson said.
His voice sounded normal, but I felt the power in it creeping up my arm and touching something inside me. Kyle dropped his eyes.
“He’s not wrong,” I said, drawing Jameson’s eyes back to me. “Tollis is so charismatic. I’ve never been around someone like that before. He’s like those human religious leaders who can pack thousands of people into sporting arenas.”
“I am aware,” Jameson said.
“So how is he a Beta? I don’t get it.”
“Charisma and power are not the same thing,” Jameson said.
“Right,” Kyle jumped in. “And not every Alpha can be a Pack Leader either. A true Pack Leader is something entirely special. Sure, it’s a level of power, but it’s more than that. The pack has to know that their Pack Leader can and will do everything possible to keep them safe. A Pack Leader has abilities that no other can understand.”
Not being a Were myself, that shouldn’t have been enough for me to understand the difference, but having felt Jameson’s power, I did. When I’d had to give Malachi the antidote to the love spell he’d consumed, Jameson’s power had calmed the wolf inside him. It was Jameson who had kept me safe and Malachi sane. I had never seen nor felt that before.
“Tollis thinks you rule your people with an iron fist.”
Kyle and Jameson shared a look, but I couldn’t be sure what it meant.
“He has to,” Kyle said, lifting one shoulder and letting it fall. “He leads an entire city’s pack of werewolves. Can you imagine the difficulty in that? What do you expect him to do? You rule Weres by showing no throat. If he did, then any number of jumped-up pups would try to challenge him, and we would have deaths and banishments every week.”
“Mattie, what you don’t understand about werewolf packs and what it takes to be a Pack Leader is that a lot of my power comes from my pack,” Jameson said. “If I lost the love and respect of my pack, then my powers would fade. I would be like any other Alpha. If my pack wasn’t happy with me, it would be obvious.”
“You get your power to lead from your pack?” I looked from James to Kyle and back again. They both nodded, so I said, “Wow. Then Tollis really does have it wrong.”
Jameson shook his head. “He knows this. All Weres know this. He just didn’t tell you. Now just imagine what lies he has been feeding to those humans who know nothing about Weres.”
“They probably have no idea what they’re risking,” I whispered, my throat tight.
“Exactly,” Jameson said. “But now we know where they have gone. We know we’re right in thinking that Tollis took them.”
“He might’ve lied to get them to stay, but I’m telling you, they all think they’re there of their own will.”
“The police won’t care about that, their families won’t care about that, and the rest of the world won’t care about that,” Jameson said. “They will only care that underage teens were turned, and they will certainly care about the ones who do not survive.”
“And you’ll be blamed because you’re the Pack Leader.”
Whatever Jameson was about to say was lost in a sudden burst of noise from the front of the bar. The door slammed into the wall as a group of men rushed in. Some of them were half-shifted, their faces elongated with fuzzy muzzles and mouths full of razor teeth. Their hands were three times their
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