Rex got into the vehicle and closed the door. “What was so important we had to meet in person? I have important business—”
“Our business is important,” the man said with a biting edge in his voice. “Your business is running drugs.”
“My profits underwrite your agenda,” Rex snarled.
“And we don’t need your people drawing unwarranted attention to us.”
“Everything is under control,” Rex said.
“Is that why the Were Alpha made a personal visit to the waterfront to dispatch a pack of rogues?”
“I can hardly be responsible for every rogue Were in the city.”
“She’s asking questions. It’s only a matter of time before she discovers where your drugs are coming from. And where the profits go.” “She’ll soon have something bigger to worry about than a few rogues overdosing on DSX.”
“We can’t risk further exposure.” The man leaned forward, his dark eyes glinting like a cobra’s in the half-light reflected off the nearby water. “Your lack of control over your underlings has forced us to escalate our plans. She has to be eliminated.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Rex said, inwardly reveling at the chance to finally destroy his enemy.
“Do it soon, and don’t make any mistakes.”
Chapter Twenty
At dusk, Drake followed Roger down a narrow path through the forest to a clearing by a small, mirror-surfaced lake. She straddled a fallen log and put her back against a pine, giving her a view of the lake on one side and the forest on the other. Roger, a quiet-spoken male with shoulder-length thick brown hair, milk chocolate eyes, and a wiry build, settled onto a large rock a few feet away.
“I take it you’ve been tasked with keeping me out of trouble?” Drake said.
“Not exactly. I am a magister— a guidance counselor of sorts,” Roger said with a wry grin. “I work with the adolescents, mostly.”
“Because they’re volatile?” Drake asked.
“Volatile, unpredictable, hormonally hyped, impatient, aggressive, thrill-seeking—your run-of-the-mill healthy young Weres, pretty much.”
“But I’m not an adolescent,” Drake pointed out. She wasn’t being argumentative, just realistic. “And I might not be healthy.”
“You’re not an adolescent, that’s true,” Roger said mildly, “but we have no indication that you’re not healthy. In fact, you seem extraordinarily strong for someone who’s just been rearranged at a cellular level.”
“Can you tell me more about that?” Drake asked.
“It’s not really my area.” Roger shrugged apologetically. “I don’t want to misinform you. We have scientists and medics who can explain it all better than I can. But of this I am sure—everything about you signals you’re a Were.”
“Everything—meaning what?”
“Your scent, most importantly, and your natural dominance. But also your instinctive behavior. You just positioned yourself so you can detect any aggressor who might approach, while your back is defended by the barrier of the tree. You just act—Were.”
“How long before we can be sure I won’t become rabid?”
“I don’t know. None of the Packs have very much experience with turned Weres.” Roger met her eyes briefly before glancing away. “The Alpha wants you indoctrinated, so she believes you’re safe.”
“And that’s that?” Drake said mildly.
“The Alpha is law.”
“I understand.” And on some innate, deeply primal level, Drake did understand. She felt a connection to all the other Pack members, the hundreds she’d never met and might never know, and at the center of that expansive, intricate network of connected spirits, she knew the guiding unifying force. Sylvan. The Alpha. “What does indoctrination entail?”
“Making you aware of Pack rules you would have learned growing up with your Packmates—except you haven’t had that chance. You will learn, one way or the other, but it will be safer if you know how to behave before you have to be taught.”
“Safer.”
“You’re an adult Were,” Roger said gently. “It doesn’t matter that you don’t understand the rules. Your behavior will be taken at face value and Pack members will respond instinctively.”
“Okay. So give me the critical lessons first.”
“You already know the most important one. The Alpha protects us and unites us, and for that, we give her our absolute loyalty. Every member of the Pack will fight to defend her, so you must be careful not to imply any challenge to her. Don’t sit until she sits, don’t touch her, don’t meet her gaze directly.”
“And she rules for life?”
“Unless she passes the title to a successor.”
“No one ever challenges?”
“Sometimes when an Alpha is very old, a younger dominant will challenge, but it’s rare.” Roger looked away, his expression pained.
“What?”
“All Weres are territorial and aggressive. Ours is the largest, most dominant Pack in North America, and there are other Packs who would like to see our power diminished. They’ve warred against us.”
“Literally? Attacked your Pack?”
“Our Pack,” Roger said gently.
Drake nodded, but she knew her acceptance into the Pack wouldn’t be as simple as Roger made it seem. She’d grown up human, she knew nothing of Pack politics or hierarchy, and she might not even be a normal Were. And right now she could do nothing about any of it except learn as much as she could and be ready to fight if necessary.
“When was the attack? What happened?”
“A decade ago our Alpha and her hunting party were ambushed. She was murdered.” Roger sighed. “Some fear the war is not yet over. There are always skirmishes along our borders, but no full-scale attacks in years.”
“But if there were, Sylvan would be the target,” Drake said, the pressure in her chest erupting on a rough growl.
“She has her centuri to protect her.” Drake had experienced firsthand the ferocious power of Sylvan’s guards when Niki had pinned her to the wall in the ER. She respected their ability, but she couldn’t shake a sudden fierce desire to protect Sylvan herself. She’d never been a warrior and had no idea what prompted the compulsion, but it was so strong she wanted to return immediately to the Compound and find Sylvan.
“How do you feel right now?” Roger asked.
Drake frowned, not following the change in subject. “Considering that I woke up in a body that doesn’t quite feel like my own, not too bad.”
“Do you need to tang—have sex?”
“I know what tangle means.” Drake grumbled in frustration, because he was right. Until a few minutes ago, the pounding in her loins had been bearable, but now the urge for sex was painful. “I would assume you already know the answer to your question.”
He nodded. “I’ve been aware of your call all day, but you’re broadcasting much more powerfully right now.”
Drake dropped her gaze down his body. His awareness was evident. “Sorry.”
Roger grinned. “I’m mated, so it’s no hardship for me.”
“I’ve already been told this is normal, more or less,” Drake said.
“Your situation is unique.”
Drake glowered, changing positions in an effort to relieve some of the pressure on her swollen, aching groin. “I’ve been hearing that a lot.” Roger looked sympathetic. “With adolescents, the urge builds gradually around the time their wolf ascends. Their wolf wants freedom but the adolescent can’t shift voluntarily, despite the pressure to do so. The result is a great deal of physiological tension that is dispelled most effectively through sexual release.”