There was something about Wynter Olson that riled up males everywhere she went. Most hated her. Some wanted her. She challenged and defied them all and seemed to enjoy every moment of it.
“How many of you saw the battle up close and personal?” Wynter said as she walked into the bar, hips swinging. Caleb saw a veritable army of women behind her. They were wary but determined and most led small children by the hand.
The children were mostly boys.
Caleb inhaled deeply and recognized that the children were wolf shifters. These were the mates, then, the women whose wolf shifters had been killed. Judging by their expressions, they weren’t in the frame of mind to forgive that easily—or to stand aside and let others take vengeance.
Just what they needed in this war: two dozen well-intentioned but vulnerable women, each one with at least one young child. Caleb rubbed his brow.
Wynter Olson was making even more trouble than could have been expected. She’d brought these women from Alaska to New York, and they weren’t going to return home without a fight. He hoped at least some of them managed to return home at all.
Meanwhile, there was a rumble of assent to Wynter’s question.
“I saw Kirk’s murder,” Wynter said. “I saw that Fae warrior cut out his heart and eat it. My alpha, my brother, my leader! I’m not going to stand by and let anything like this happen again! Are you?”
Fists were pounded on tables and Murray glanced to Caleb.
Caleb didn’t like that the leadership of the meeting had been effectively stolen from himself and Murray. He raised his voice. “For those of you who don’t know, Wynter Olson is the sole surviving wolf shifter of the Alaskan pack.”
“I prefer to be called alpha of the Alaskan pack,” Wynter countered, her voice hard.
Caleb was startled. “But you’re the only wolf shifter left.”
“Which means there’s no one to remind me that I’m female and thus unqualified to be alpha,” she replied with a snarl. “No other wolf shifter left standing means I win.” She gestured to the women whose features were set with resolve. “And I have a pack already, the one you all insisted I didn’t deserve to lead.” The women gathered behind Wynter looked even more resolute than they had on arrival.
Whispers passed through the group gathered at the bar.
Caleb didn’t know what to say, so he shared the news with the Others. “Twenty-three of our kind were lost in Alaska,” he said. “And seven here in Manhattan.”
“They weren’t lost,” Wynter said. “We didn’t forget them in our shopping cart at Walmart.” She gave Caleb a hard stare as her words elicited a few chuckles. “They were slaughtered in our lair by the Fae.”
Caleb wondered whether Wynter meant to challenge him for authority over the New York wolf shifters, too. He glared at her and she took a step closer, shimmering slightly blue as their gazes locked.
“Fighting between ourselves is just what she wants,” Mel said, appearing between them and holding up her hands. “I think we should take a closer look at Wynter’s suggestion.”
“What suggestion?” Caleb asked.
“It’s shifters that the Dark Queen is hunting,” Mel said. “And those with some skill with magick.” She gestured to the women. “What about the mortals who have a stake in this battle, too? What about the mothers and mates? What about the allies you all have, the ones who aren’t listed in the Dark Queen’s inventory?”
“It’s too dangerous,” protested someone and an argument began again.
“While we’re all safe?” Micah asked suddenly, appearing suddenly in the shadows. Several Others in his vicinity jumped in surprise. The other vampires in his coven hovered behind him, shadows against the darkness—but shadows with glittering eyes. “We lost five vampires in that attack,” he said. “That never happens. We are the predators. It’s only when we hunt each other that there’s such carnage. No one is safe.”
“I’m now the last medusa,” the hostess of the bar said bitterly. “My cousin Hypatia is gone.” Many Others murmured their sympathy and several touched her shoulder.
“Plus four bear-shifters,” said the one who had ordered a beer. “It makes me sick to think of how our numbers have dwindled.” He drained the beer, and then another shooter, pushing the glasses across the bar in a silent request for refills. His companion did the same.
“One selkie,” Nyssa contributed.
“Three djinns,” said one djinn, who was rotating between his human form and that of a wisp of smoke in his agitation. Another djinn waved a sheet of paper, one that must have come from Maeve’s book.
“Another two demons,” Rosanne said, also holding up a sheet of paper. “I found this in my trailer after the attack at the Circus of Wonders.”
“Ivan, Natasha and their twin sons,” the bar shifter said, shaking his head. His companion slapped a sheet of paper on the bar and Caleb could see that there were names crossed out of a list. The bear shifters ordered another round.
“Yet no dragons,” Wynter said, her voice silencing the crowd once more. “How can that be?”
“We got lucky?” Niall suggested.
Wynter looked Theo up and down, her disdain clear. “They say you escaped Fae. How exactly did you manage that? What was the price you paid?”
“More than a month of captivity,” Theo countered, his gaze sizzling. He rose to his feet and Caleb could see the shimmer of blue that heralded his shift. The last thing they needed was a dragon shifter fighting a wolf shifter at Bones.
“Not enough for the Dark Queen I know and despise,” Wynter replied, apparently not as interested as Caleb in keeping the peace. “What else?”
“Nothing else, as far as I know,” Theo said.
“As far as you know.” Wynter shook her head then jabbed a finger in Theo’s direction. “I think you made a deal,” she accused. “You dragon shifters are late to this alliance and you have a reputation for wanting to play everything your own way. I think you made a deal and left us out of it, a deal that keeps the Pyr alive while the rest of us go down.”
“That’s not true,” Theo said calmly, even as there were nods of assent in the bar.
“Even though you were captured with her daughter?” Wynter asked, turning to face Mel. Mel stood a little taller, her hostility at least equal to that of the wolf shifter.
“Don’t expect me to defend my mother, or understand all of her choices,” she said.
Mother?
Caleb felt as if he’d missed a cue. Mel was Maeve’s daughter?
Murray caught sight of his surprise and nodded. He’d known then, but Caleb hadn’t.
“You have a deal with her, too, then,” Wynter accused.
Mel held up her hand, the one with the red string on her wrist. “If you count being cursed as a deal.”
“But you’re a shifter, too. Why hasn’t she killed you? She must be cutting you some slack due to blood ties.”
Mel paled but shook her head. “She’s just not done playing with me yet,” she said softly. “You could take a lesson from that.”
“Maybe you should explain,” Wynter challenged.