A prolonged silence made Rue look up from the MacBook Pro on her lap.
When she had last taken a break from working on her company’s spring market exhibit about an hour ago, Kelsey and Danny had been curled up at her feet in their wolf forms, enjoying the afternoon sun on their pelts. Now their places beneath the porch swing were empty.
Had they gone inside to raid the fridge?
She mentally shook her head. If they had shifted back, she would have heard the pained growls, no matter how focused she was on work.
Frowning, she closed the laptop and stood. Her back muscles cramped from staying in one position for too long, and she massaged her lower back while she shaded her eyes with the other hand and searched the area behind the house.
At times, being the human alpha of a pack of wolf-shifters was like herding cats.
Something rustled in the hedges to her right.
Rue whirled.
Kelsey was stalking along the hedge, using it for cover. Her chocolate-colored ears flicked forward, and she kept her gaze fixed on her prey as she carefully placed one paw after another.
Rue’s adopted son, Danny, followed her, mirroring her every movement. He had started to fill out during winter, but his paws still looked as if they were a bit too large for his lanky frame.
They didn’t stop their stealthy approach as Rue stepped closer to get a look at their prey.
A gray pigeon sat on the lawn, grooming itself. Apparently, it hadn’t noticed the two wolves yet.
Danny’s tail started wagging. His hazel eyes gleamed against his black fur, glowing with hunting fever. An excited yip cut through the peaceful silence.
The pigeon stopped grooming and turned its head in his direction.
Kelsey paused with one paw lifted, nearly making Danny stumble into her.
After a second’s hesitation, the pigeon took flight with hurried flicks of its wings.
Kelsey pounced.
Feathers flew.
“Kelsey, no!” Rue let out a sharp whistle. “Leave the pigeon alone.”
For a moment, she thought the wolves, gripped by hunting fever, wouldn’t listen or even hear her, but then Kelsey ceased her attack and crouched, her belly almost touching the ground. Behind her, Danny whimpered and lowered his body too.
The bird used the opportunity to escape to the pigeon loft next to the woodshop.
Whining, Kelsey watched it fly away before she slunk toward Rue with her tail tucked in submission.
Danny followed her.
Rue bent, buried her hands in the thick fur of Kelsey’s ruff, and lightly shook her. “What did I tell you? No hunting the pigeons.”
Their gazes averted, the wolves licked every inch of Rue’s exposed skin they could get at.
“Okay, okay, apology accepted. Come on, you two.” She patted her thigh so that even Danny, whose wolf was as deaf as his human form, could understand that she wanted them to follow her. “It’s time to shift back before you get into even more trouble.”
Danny sat on his haunches and cocked his head. One ear flopped forward.
Rue laughed. “Nope. Playing the cute, innocent pup won’t help you. I want to go make sure the pigeon is okay, and if I leave you behind, you’ll probably try to get into Odo’s dog biscuits again.” She strode to the French doors, opened them, and led the wolves into the living room, not wanting them to shift outside. Even though her neighbors and the rest of the world now knew about the Wrasa’s existence, she thought it better not to rub their faces in it.
Mr. Whitley had already accused Kelsey of eating his cat, and Mrs. Baker was convinced that the “werewolves,” as she called them, were responsible for her tulips failing to grow this year. Having strange noises and sounds of pain drift over from the Hardings’ back porch wouldn’t help keep the peace in the neighborhood.
Even Rue still winced as bones crunched and joints popped. She hated seeing her son and Kelsey suffer. At least Danny had gotten better at shifting, and now his dark fur receded almost as fast as Kelsey’s, becoming shorter and shorter as if being absorbed by his skin. His muzzle shortened, dividing into mouth and nose, while his legs lengthened and leathery footpads separated into toes and fingers.
Rue looked away, giving them a chance to dress in privacy.
Finally, a floorboard next to her creaked, and Kelsey’s fingers entwined with her own.
For a while, Rue stood in silence, enjoying the touch and Kelsey’s warmth, her body temperature higher than Rue’s. When she turned her head, their gazes met. Once again, she marveled at how being with a woman who didn’t even belong to her species could feel so right. “Say aaah.”
Kelsey gave her a puzzled look. “You want me to…what?”
Rue chuckled and nodded. “To say aaah.”
“Oh, man. If you’re going to start playing doctor, I’m out of here,” Danny signed and ambled past them. Seconds later, his footsteps pounded up the winding staircase and then the door to his room banged shut.
Rue winced. “And here I thought wolves were supposed to be stealthy.” She shook her head. “Apparently not teenaged wolves. So, where were we?”
“Uh.” Still looking at Rue as if she doubted her sanity, Kelsey opened her mouth and said, “Aaah.”
Rue pretended to thoroughly check her mouth and throat. “Very good. No feathers. You get a kiss, then.” She intended to make it just a quick peck, but as soon as their lips touched and Kelsey eagerly opened her mouth, she couldn’t resist deepening the kiss.
When they finally pulled back, both breathing heavily, Kelsey buried her face against Rue’s shoulder and mumbled, “Feathers?”
Rue combed her fingers through Kelsey’s sand-brown hair, streaked with darker strands. “Yeah. While I was working, you and Danny went out for a little snack.”
Visibly paling, Kelsey scrubbed her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me I harmed a bird. Did we…did I…kill it?” Her eyes, exactly the color of warm African mahogany, filled with tears.
“No. The pigeon is fine.” She kissed first one eyelid, then the other and had to smile. For a wolf, Kelsey was such a pussycat. If only the human public could see her now—close to tears at the mere thought of hurting a bird. So much for the big, bad wolf that many humans thought her to be.
“Pigeon?” Kelsey covered her face with both hands. “Great Hunter. Don’t tell me it was one of Tala’s. She’ll have my pelt.” She peeked through her fingers, clearly afraid of the Saru assigned to keep an eye on her.
Rue wrapped both arms around her and pulled Kelsey against her body. “No, she won’t. No one but me touches your pelt.”
At the determined tone and the possessive embrace, a shiver ran through Kelsey, and she groaned contentedly, like a dog sleeping in front of a fireplace.
Wolf-shifters. Rue smiled to herself. They’re just too easy.
“So it was one of Tala’s?” Kelsey asked after a few moments.
“Probably. It flew over to the pigeon loft she set up.”
Kelsey groaned.
“Come on. It was to be expected. I don’t know what the council was thinking anyway. Having Tala keep pigeons is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.” Quite literally, since she was a fox-shifter.
“No. She knows her orders. Even in her fox form, she knows they’re not to be hunted.”
Rue tapped Kelsey’s nose. “Didn’t stop you and Danny from using the pigeon for hunting practice.”
Blushing, Kelsey tugged on Rue’s hand. “Let’s go check on the poor thing.”
* * *
When Kelsey opened the door to the pigeon loft, the birds began flapping their wings, trying to get away. She stepped back and sighed. Sometimes, being a predator was a major pain in the ass. She sent Rue a pleading glance. “Could you…?”
“Sure.” Rue brushed past her, opened the cage, and reached in. “I think it was this one.” She caught a gray pigeon and trailed her hands over its wings, searching for fractures or other injuries. The bird held still and cooed.
Kelsey watched Rue’s hands, fascinated by how gentle the intense woman could be. A tingle ran through her as she remembered how tender, yet at times also passionate and possessive, those hands had slid over her body last night.
“See? It’s fine. It’s missing a few feathers, but that’s all.” Rue set the pigeon back into the cage.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kelsey studied the bird one more time—and froze.
A small tube was attached to the pigeon’s left leg.
That could mean only one thing. Kelsey pointed a trembling finger at the pigeon’s leg. “Rue, did you see that?”
Rue followed her gaze. “You think someone sent us a message?”
“Not someone.” A lump formed in Kelsey’s throat. “The council.”
“How Harry Potter of them.”
Staring at the small tube, Kelsey shook her head. “They used owls in Harry Potter, not pigeons.”
“Still. Haven’t they ever heard of just sending an e-mail or picking up the phone and calling?”
“E-mails can be hacked and phones wiretapped. Now that the human public knows about us, this,” Kelsey nodded at the pigeons, “is the safest means of communication.”
“If the pigeon doesn’t get eaten by wolves first,” Rue muttered and reached into the cage to free the pigeon of the tube.
When Rue handed it over, Kelsey nearly dropped the message, her hands were shaking so much. Getting a letter from the council through the pigeon post couldn’t mean anything good. Carefully, she opened the tube, unfolded the two pages of thin, light paper, and sniffed them.
Her stomach twisted itself into knots.
Jeff Madsen’s scent—an unmistakable mix of alpha musk and apple pie—clung to the paper. The council speaker himself had penned this message.
Oh, no. Please no. Kelsey had feared this moment for the past twelve months, since Madsen had refused to accept her resignation. If she was still a Saru, a soldier under his command, he could order her to leave North Carolina and her unusual pack whenever he wanted. He, along with her family and all the other Wrasa, had never liked her living with Rue.
“Hey.” Rue touched her shoulder. “You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Wrasa aren’t afraid of ghosts,” Kelsey whispered. “I’m just afraid of losing you.”
“Losing me? Where’s that coming from? You won’t lose—” Rue squeezed her eyes shut. “Christ. You think these are your marching orders? That he wants you back in Boise?”
Kelsey nodded but was afraid to look at the letter and confirm her worst fear. “Could you read it?” She held the thin paper out to Rue.
Rue’s hands were steady as she took the two pages, but her jaw was clamped so tightly that Kelsey was afraid she would break a tooth. She pulled Kelsey down with her and sat on the doorstep of the pigeon loft. A wrinkle formed on her forehead while she read and then, as she reached the bottom of the first page, was quickly replaced with a wide-eyed stare.
“What?” Kelsey clutched her forearm. “What is it?” Had she been transferred to Europe or some other, faraway place?
Rue put the letter down and started to laugh. “You wouldn’t, by any chance, have a pair of leather pants or a pink feather boa in your closet?”
“Feather boa?” Was this some lame attempt to tease her because she had gotten a mouthful of feathers from the pigeon? Kelsey didn’t feel like laughing. “This isn’t the time to—”
“Read.” Rue pressed the letter into her hands.
Kelsey’s forearms started to burn as she slowly looked down and read the first line. “Oh thank the Great Hunter!”
The letter wasn’t even addressed to her personally, so it couldn’t possibly be her marching orders, could it?
Quickly, she scanned the first page.
Dear sisters and brothers,
A lot has happened since Worldwide Outing Day last March.
Rue, who was rereading the letter over Kelsey’s shoulder, snorted. “No kidding.”
Since the videotape of Kelsey’s shifting had been aired on television all over the world, nothing was the same anymore. Memories flashed in front of her mind’s eye like scenes from an end-of-year review on TV.
At first, a week-long mass panic had broken out, with people storming their local supermarkets to stock up on bottled water and canned food in expectation of a shape-shifter apocalypse.
Wrasa, of course, had done the same, fearing a siege of their dens.
In the end, it had turned out to be a good thing. With everyone holed up at home, not much had happened.
When the first panic had died down, some people had done what humans had always done—tried to make a profit off it. Clever companies started selling Wrasa home defense kits that included silver bullets, toxic plants such as wolfsbane, and a lunar calendar that indicated the days their neighbors might turn furry. Travel agencies sold vacations on guaranteed Wrasa-free islands, and the gun industry nearly doubled its profit. The only positive side effect was that Jorie’s paranormal romance novel, based on the Wrasa, had finally been published and instantly landed on the New York Times bestseller list.
Some Wrasa strongly suspected that big companies were trying to make even more money by researching how science, medicine, and the military could benefit from the shape-shifters’ special skills. Rumor had it that they had captured a few Wrasa and were now conducting cruel experiments on them in hidden labs.
Kelsey sighed. Mutual distrust and paranoia were very much alive. She leaned her shoulder against Rue’s, soaking up the soothing touch, and continued to read.
Humans passed a series of laws faster than you can say “discrimination,” each one taking away more of our rights.
Kelsey skipped the list that followed, already more familiar with it than she wanted. Each passed law and amendment had felt like a slap to her face. She had never been interested in human politics, but this was personal. Every Wrasa she knew had been affected one way or another. Her aunt Regina had been fired from her job as a teacher since humans were afraid Wrasa teachers would poison the minds of their young. Wrasa were banned from athletic competitions, so her youngest cousin had been kicked off his school’s track team. More changes and limitations were sure to follow. Kelsey worried that by the time Danny was old enough to go to college, universities would no longer admit Wrasa as students.
Already, congress had passed a new law defining marriage as the union between two humans, so even if North Carolina ever recognized same-sex marriages, she still wouldn’t be able to marry Rue.
The worst had come on Kelsey’s birthday just three weeks ago. Every Wrasa had been forced to register with the Bureau of Shape-Shifter Affairs. They had to update the BSA about their whereabouts and couldn’t move to a new city without permission.
How long until they lost their right to vote or until owning property would be forbidden to all Wrasa so that they had to give up their dens?
And it was all because of her.
The tag around her neck suddenly felt like a millstone. Groaning, she pulled it out from beneath her shirt and clamped her free hand around the piece of stainless steel. She hated the dog tag, as humans had immediately nicknamed the symbol Wrasa had to wear to identify themselves as shape-shifters.
“Hey.” Rue clutched Kelsey’s hand with both of hers, raised it to her lips, and kissed it.
The metal warmed beneath their grip.
“This won’t last forever,” Rue said. “Until then, wear it like a badge of honor.”
Kelsey sighed. “Not much else I can do anyway.”
“Well, actually, it seems you can.” Rue pointed at the letter.
Kelsey shoved the tag back beneath her shirt, out of sight, and glanced at the piece of paper in her hand.
We can’t allow this to go on. If we don’t stop them, they’ll strip us of our last remaining rights.
Acid pumped through Kelsey’s stomach. What was Madsen planning? Surely, he wasn’t about to call them to war—a war they couldn’t win.
I know there are some of you who think we should fight tooth and claw, literally, like our European brothers and sisters did in the Middle Ages. But that didn’t turn out very well back then, and it wouldn’t turn out any better now. We have to fight back with different means, so our PR advisers came up with a plan.
“PR advisers?” Kelsey muttered. “We have PR advisers?”
Rue shrugged. “Why not? I have a PR team on my payroll too, and it’s more important than ever. After all, I don’t want my Wrasa customers to think my company is deforesting their dens and lairs to build all this nice furniture.”
Kelsey had to admit that she had thought exactly that when she had first met Rue. Maybe Madsen was right. The Wrasa could use some good PR. She lifted the letter to see what plan they had come up with.
Most humans see us as something that’s not quite from this world. To them, we’re the monsters from their horror movies and fairytales, and that has to change. We have to rebrand ourselves as just one more minority that is fighting to get the same rights and the same protection under the law as everyone else. It might be a slow process, but it has proven successful before when humans of color or gay humans were fighting for equal rights.
So we will take a page from their book while we struggle to get the Wrasa Rights Act passed. Brothers and sisters, I’m asking all of you to join us on March 23, the first anniversary of Worldwide Outing Day, in the Wrasa Pride parades in every big city across the country and overseas.
What? Kelsey rubbed her eyes and then stared at Rue. “They want to have…?”
“A fucking parade. Yep.” Rue grimaced. “And not just that. Have you read the second page?”
A warning itch started beneath Kelsey’s skin as she pulled out the second piece of paper from beneath the first one. Unlike the first page, this one wasn’t a mass mail but a letter addressed to her.
Dear Kelsey,
You probably won’t like this, but quite frankly, I don’t care. We need you to join us in the biggest parade in Washington, DC. Don’t even think about trying to contact your father to get out of it. I’m not asking. You will attend this parade. In fact, I want you to march right at the front.
Since you were the first Wrasa to ever reveal herself to the humans, you’re the face of the Wrasa to the human public now, and it’s up to you to help show them that we can peacefully coexist with them.
I’ll send another pigeon with the details as soon as I know them.
Happy Wrasa Pride Day!
Jeffrey Madsen
Council speaker
The letter fluttered to the ground as Kelsey jumped up and started to pace like a caged wolf. Her heart clattered high in her throat, and cold sweat dotted her brow. Frantically, she scratched at her burning forearms. Since she’d been a pup, she had followed every order. Well, every order but one. She hadn’t deserted Rue and Danny as the council and her family had wanted her to, but she had done everything else they had asked of her. She couldn’t do this, though; she just couldn’t.
The mere thought of marching at the front of the parade, on display to the whole world, made the tiny hairs on her arms lengthen and her bones start to ache.
Rue stepped in front of her, interrupting Kelsey’s pacing.
A growl rose up Kelsey’s chest as she found herself trapped, but then Rue’s arms engulfed her, giving her the safety she needed right now.
“Calm down, or you’ll shift,” Rue said. “And I don’t think the pigeon would like to meet a wolf twice in one day.” She tugged Kelsey back down and combed her fingers through her hair.
Normally, the touch helped Kelsey regain control over her rising wolf, but this time, even that wasn’t enough. She fought against the need to shift and just run.
“It’s just a parade. Nothing to get upset about. You’ve been to a Gay Pride parade, right?”
“Yes.” Kelsey wanted to howl. “But it’s not the same.” When she had attended Gay Pride, she could blend into the crowd and just watch from the sidelines for a while, but Madsen wouldn’t allow that.
Rue’s fingers paused against her scalp. “Are you afraid?”
“No, of course not,” Kelsey said automatically, even though she was shaking like a scolded puppy. Then she realized that she was talking to Rue, her alpha, and didn’t have to pretend to be a big, bad, fearless wolf. She could show Rue her soft underbelly without fear of being bitten. “It’s more like full-blown panic.”
Rue frowned. “That bad?”
Of course Rue wouldn’t understand how the mere thought of marching in front of a parade could scare her so much. Rue was a born leader, used to taking charge. Kelsey, however, was the exact opposite. She bit her lip and nodded.
Rue pulled her closer. “Then don’t go.”
“I wish it were that easy, but this is something that I have to do. The council, my family, and every single Wrasa expect it of me.”
“Fuck their expectations,” Rue said, fire in her eyes. “They don’t know how hard this is on you. Let Madsen march at the front of the parade. He’s been on TV so often that humans know his muzzle better than yours anyway.”
“I wish I could do that, but if Madsen wants me to lead the parade…” She clamped her muzzle shut as a fresh wave of nausea rolled over her.
“Kelsey…”
Realizing she was worrying Rue, Kelsey tried to straighten her shoulders. “It’s okay. I can do this,” she said, even though she didn’t actually believe it. “At least then my family will be proud of me. I hope.”
Rue took Kelsey’s face between her hands and looked into her eyes.
Kelsey’s instincts screamed at her to lower her gaze in submission, but she fought the urge, knowing eye contact was important to Rue.
As if sensing Kelsey’s discomfort, Rue let go and curled her hands into fists at her sides. “Christ, Kelsey. Stop trying to please everyone else and do what’s best for you.”
“I can’t,” Kelsey whispered. “I’m a nederi. It’s in my nature.” Slowly, she stood and brushed her hands over the back of her pants. “I’ll go inside for a while.” She trotted toward the house without waiting for a reply.
* * *
From the time that she could walk, Rue had never missed the Clearfield Furniture Market, one of the biggest events for furniture companies worldwide. Even last year, after nearly dying at the hands of the Wrasa, she had made it back from New York in time to attend the trade show. She spun her leather chair around and looked across her desk at the photos on the wall. In one of them, six-year-old, pigtailed Rue held her grandfather’s hand as he cut the red ribbon at the opening of spring market.
“Dammit.” Rue hurled a silver letter opener across the room.
It crashed into the fax machine, ricocheted back, and hit a pen holder, which spilled its content all over her desk.
A hesitant rap came at the door, and her assistant, Reva Mulvey, peered into the office. “Everything okay, Ms. Harding? I thought I heard a crash.”
Rue shoved a handful of pens back into the holder. “Everything’s fine, Reva. I just dropped something.”
Reva eyed the pens spilled over the desk before nodding and starting to close the door.
“Oh, Reva?” Rue called. “Please call Richard and tell him he has to handle the opening of spring market.”
The door opened again, and Reva’s startled face appeared. “You’re not opening the trade show this year?”
“I wish I could, but I won’t be in Clearfield.” At least not if her plan was successful. “And could you get me Jeff Madsen on the line, please?”
“Uh, you mean Jeff Mattson from Mattson Furniture?”
Rue abandoned her attempt to get her desk back in order and rubbed her eyes. “No. I mean Jeff Madsen, the Wrasa’s…top dog.”
Reva swallowed audibly. “Right away, Ms. Harding.”
It took several minutes before the intercom buzzed. “I have Mr. Madsen’s assistant on line one for you.”
“The assistant?”
“He says Mr. Madsen is busy.”
Picking out a drag queen outfit for the parade? Rue amused herself with the mental image for a moment. “All right. Thanks.” She picked up the phone. “This is Rue Harding. I need to speak to Mr. Madsen.”
“The alpha is busy. I can take a message.” The assistant’s tone left no room for discussion.
No doubt Madsen was busy preparing his PR campaign and didn’t want to take the time to talk to a human. Rue didn’t have the patience to play phone tag, though. “All right,” she said. “Then tell him I will take Kelsey on some romantic weekend getaway to a remote island right around March 23 if he doesn’t call me back within the next ten minutes.”
“What? You—”
“Tell him,” Rue said and hung up. She swiveled her high-backed chair around and glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window to the town fifteen stories below. Everything looked as it had a year ago, but Rue knew that it was just an illusion. A year ago, she hadn’t known that shape-shifters existed, and now she was blackmailing their leader, a risky pastime. But if she wanted to help her partner, it was the only way. She couldn’t let Kelsey lead the parade. No one knew how the human citizens of Washington, DC, would react to Wrasa parading through the streets—or what the shape-shifters would do. After all, not all Wrasa were happy that Kelsey had outed them to the humans. If riots broke out, Kelsey would be a vulnerable target marching in the front row.
At the mere thought, her stomach folded itself into an origami wolf.
After exactly ten minutes, her phone rang. Madsen had waited until the last second to call.
Wolf-shifter power games. Rue spun her chair around and snatched up the phone.
“Do you have any idea what you just interrupted, human?” Madsen’s booming voice made Rue move the receiver away from her ear to avoid permanent damage. He was shouting, so she could still hear him. “I was on a conference call with the Office for the Equal Treatment of Wrasa, the Bureau of Shape-Shifter Affairs, and two congressmen who might support—”
Rue put the phone back to her ear. “The sooner you say yes to what I want, the sooner you can call them back. Let me make this short. I want you to leave Kelsey out of the parade. If you don’t, I’ll—”
A growl echoed through the line. “If you think you can blackmail me, you have another think coming. Kelsey is a nederi. Or, in case you haven’t read Shape-Shifters for Dummies and need me to spell it out for you, a submissive wolf. I’m the highest-ranking Wrasa in the world. If I tell her to march in the parade on March 23rd, she will damn well do it, no matter what romantic little love nest you offer her.”
Before Rue could think of something to say, Madsen slammed the phone down.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Rue leaned her elbows on the desk and bounced the receiver against her forehead. She had thought the only way to get what she wanted was to trump Madsen at his power games. But the wily old wolf had called her bluff.
No matter how much she wanted to take Kelsey to some remote island during the parade weekend, she knew she couldn’t. Offering Kelsey that out would put her into a loyalty conflict that would rip her apart. She couldn’t do that to her partner. There had to be another way to protect her.
She continued to tap the phone against her forehead as if that would help her think.
Her blunt, forceful approach hadn’t worked. In the world of wolf-shifters with their rigid pack structure, there was just one other way—one Rue didn’t like at all.
Do it. For Kelsey. She reached out and stabbed the intercom button. “Reva? Can you get me Mr. Madsen on the line again? We somehow got disconnected.”
“Of course.”
This time, it took even longer before Reva’s voice came through the intercom again. “I couldn’t get you Mr. Madsen, but his assistant is on line one. He’s rather…um…grouchy. He said if I call him again, he’ll take the next flight to North Carolina and snack on my intestines.”
Rue rolled her eyes. Apparently, the PR experts hadn’t gotten around to telling Madsen’s staff that threatening humans would be bad for the Wrasa’s public image. “Don’t worry. Just a bit of Wrasa humor. They’re all bark and no bite.”
“If you say so.” Reva sounded less than sure.
Rue made a mental note to give the poor woman a raise and then took a deep breath and picked up the phone. “This is Rue Harding again,” she said, this time forcing herself to gentle her tone, imitating Kelsey when she spoke to a higher-ranked Wrasa.
“What part of ‘don’t call again’ did you and your little assistant not understand?” Madsen’s assistant growled. “The council speaker is in an important meeting and can’t be interrupted.”
“I know. Would you give him a message from me?”
The assistant snorted. “No way. When I gave him your last message, he threw a stapler at me.”
“Sorry about that. Just ask him to call me.” Rue hesitated and then swallowed her pride. “Tell him I said ‘please.’”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Rue’s phone rang.
“Did you really say ‘please,’ or did my assistant make that up to avoid being hit with the hole punch too?” Madsen asked when she picked up.
Rue pinched the bridge of her nose. She should have known Madsen would want to witness her submission first-hand. Better to get it over with quickly. “Yes, that’s what I said. I have a favor to ask.”
Only silence answered her.
“A favor?” Madsen repeated. “You?”
Rue gritted her teeth. She hated asking for help and being indebted to anyone, especially Madsen, who had signed her death warrant once, but she’d do it for Kelsey. “You were right earlier. We both know Kelsey will do whatever you order her to do. So, please,” she emphasized the word, “tell her she doesn’t have to be in the parade.”
“That’s not debatable, human.”
“You don’t understand. She—”
“No, you are the one who doesn’t understand. Kelsey made herself into our first ambassador when she shifted on national TV. That was your idea, and now you have to live with the consequences, including her having to lead the parade. Period.”
Now they were back to butting heads. Madsen would never give in. Rue curbed her rising temper. “Kelsey hasn’t slept a wink since she got your pigeon post,” she said. “She’s scared. A dominant wolf like you might not understand it, but just the thought of leading the parade is giving her nightmares.”
“Whatever you might think, I’m not a total asshole,” Madsen said, his tone less harsh now. “I know this is hard for her. But I don’t have a choice. I can’t march at the very front of the procession. We need someone nonthreatening to be the face of the Wrasa, not a growly old alpha who will bite anyone stepping in the way of the parade.”
His last words ricocheted through Rue’s mind, making her heartbeat spike. Stepping in the way of the parade… What if disgruntled Wrasa or human protesters, religious extremists or another group willing to resort to violence, tried to stop the parade? Kelsey would be directly in the line of fire. “What if your nonthreatening face of the Wrasa suddenly shifts into a panicked wolf while thousands of human spectators and millions in front of the TV are watching her?”
“She won’t. Saru are trained to have better control than that.”
“Yeah, but even a Saru’s self-control only goes so far. You said it yourself. Kelsey is a nederi, a submissive wolf. It’s not in her nature to lead other Wrasa, much less a whole parade. Plus she suffers from claustrophobia.”
“Wrasa do not get claustrophobic,” Madsen said.
Why did having a discussion with an alpha have to be like trying to blow out a lightbulb? “Oh, no, of course not. She just starts to hyperventilate and shake every time she steps into an elevator, a car, or any other enclosed space. What do you think will happen if she gets trapped in the middle of a crowd? Do you really want a news crew to film that?”
Madsen growled like a dog whose bone had been taken away. “If you’re so clever, then maybe you have a better idea.”
“Yes, I do. Let someone else lead the parade.”
“I already told you no other Wrasa can—”
“I’m not talking about another Wrasa,” Rue said. “I can lead the parade.”
Madsen laughed. “You? You’re human.” He managed to make it sound like an insult.
“So? You don’t have to be gay to march in the Gay Pride parade either. If you want to show humans that you can coexist in peace, don’t you think it would be a good idea to include some human allies in your parade?”
Madsen didn’t answer for several moments; only his quiet grumbling drifted through the phone. “Maybe you have a point.” Before Rue could rejoice, he added, “But no Wrasa will accept a human leading the parade. Otherwise, I would have asked Jorie Price to do it.”
Rue groaned. More obstacles. Of course. Nothing could ever be easy when it came to dealing with the Wrasa. “What do I need to do to be accepted as part of the pack, so to speak?”
“Oh, nothing easier than that. All you have to do to be accepted as one of us is to drink a pint of goat’s blood on a full-moon night.”
Rue nearly swallowed her tongue. “What?”
Madsen howled with laughter. “It was a joke, human. Where’s your sense of humor?”
“I must have lost it in New York, when your people were hunting me,” Rue muttered.
“See? That’s exactly why the parade is so important.”
“Because I lost my sense of humor?”
Madsen huffed. “Because humans have these stupid horror-movie stereotypes about us drinking goat’s blood and howling at the moon.”
Rue had to give him that. Even she had thought for a second that he was serious about the goat’s blood. “All right. If the parade is that important, then let me march in front. You said it yourself—you’re the highest-ranking Wrasa in the world, and all the other shape-shifters will do whatever you tell them to do, whether they like it or not.”
Madsen grumbled some more. “We’ll tell Kelsey that you’re leading the parade and she’s just marching next to you while everyone else thinks Kelsey is leading.”
“No,” Rue said, not having to think about it for even one second. “Kelsey might be a submissive wolf, but she’s still my partner. I won’t lie to her.”
“Great Hunter! Dealing with you humans is like trying to skin a deer with a puppy’s teeth! All right. Then the two of you will lead the parade together.”
Rue released the breath she’d been holding. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, human. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will make you think drinking that pint of goat’s blood sounds appetizing in comparison.”
* * *
Kelsey blew out a breath when they finally made it out of the plane and the crowded airport. Her skin already felt raw and itchy, and they hadn’t even reached the parade yet.
Rue took her hand and held it as they headed toward the row of cabs waiting in front of the airport, with their Saru bodyguards hot on their heels.
When Tala wanted to squeeze into the backseat of the cab with them, Rue sent her a glare. “Give us some space. You know Kelsey is claustrophobic.”
“Let her. It’s fine.” This time, Kelsey wasn’t saying it just to be polite. Being surrounded by pack made her feel safer, and weird as it was, after sharing the house with them for the past year, her wolf now recognized Tala and even the chatty panther in the front seat as pack.
The cabbie glanced into the rearview mirror. “Where to?”
“Dupont Circle, please,” Rue said.
The cabbie started the car. “You do know that there’s a bunch of shape-shifters gathering there for a parade, don’t you?”
Rue nodded. “We know.”
Pulling away from the curb, the cabbie groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people.”
Tala stiffened next to Kelsey. A low, almost subvocal growl rose from her chest. “Those people?”
“Yeah. One of the people who believe in all that hooey.”
“Hooey?” Tala drawled.
“You know. People turning into animals and nonsense like that.”
The shape-shifters in the cab exchanged glances.
“Uh, didn’t you see the transformations they showed on TV?” Zoe asked.
“Oh, please.” The cabbie honked his horn when the car in front of them didn’t clear the intersection fast enough for his liking. “I admit the special effects were pretty good, but come on! You can’t believe everything you see on TV. These shape-shifters are as fake as my granny’s teeth.”
For a moment, silence filled the cab.
Kelsey had heard of the non-believers, but she had never met one. She found it hard to fathom that there were still humans who refused to acknowledge the Wrasa’s existence, preferring to dismiss it as a nationwide hoax akin to Bigfoot reports and UFO sightings.
“Why would someone go to all this trouble to make people think shape-shifters exist?” Tala finally asked.
“It’s a clever trick of our government to take the focus off the other problems going on in this country,” the cabbie said. “But they couldn’t even get this right. If they wanted it to look real, they should have used a more convincing image of a wolf. That thing they showed looked kind of puny, more like a coyote.”
Kelsey nearly choked on her own spit. Her cheeks heated. “Puny? Coyote?”
Rue squeezed her hand. “That wolf looked just fine.”
“Whatever. I just think they should have done a better job inventing a fake alien species.”
Now growling audibly, Tala leaned around Kelsey and stuck her head through the space between the seats. “Listen, you asshole. We’re not—”
Rue clamped her hand around Tala’s shoulder and pulled her back. “You know what? You can let us out at the corner. We’ll walk the rest of the way.”
The cabbie shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stopped the car, and Kelsey paid him. As they climbed out of the cab, he shouted after them, “You’d better be careful. There are a lot of lunatics out there today.”
Rue slammed the door closed before he could say more.
Tala hurled a curse after the cab.
Things definitely weren’t off to a good start. Kelsey was just glad Madsen had forbidden teenagers like Danny from attending the parade. His control over his wolf was still shaky. By now, he would have lost control and taken off the cabbie’s head—maybe quite literally.
Not exactly in a festive mood, their small pack walked north until they reached P Street.
The closer they got to the assembly area, the more Kelsey’s skin itched. She could practically feel her adrenal cortex pumping out mutaline, sharpening her senses even more. A barrage of smells and sounds bombarded her. Drums thumped along with her racing heartbeat. Sirens of police cruisers wailed as they cleared the streets, and the newest song of The Howlers, the Wrasa’s most popular rock band, blasted through the speakers overhead.
Kelsey’s eyes widened as she took in the contingents gathering along the assembly area.
Several Scirye piled into gleaming convertibles and held up signs saying “Jaguars in Jaguars.”
Other members of the Feline Alliance and the Allied Prides were dancing samba in costumes that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Zoe stared, slack-jawed, at a young, shirtless man who gyrated around her.
Tala nudged her. “Close your muzzle, kitten. You’re catching flies.”
They looked around for the contingent of wolf-shifters and found them gathering toward the front of the parade. Most of them were dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. The scent of hot dogs drifted up from the baskets they carried.
Tala grimaced. “For once, I’m not proud to be a Syak. Madsen is turning this into a carnival sideshow.”
Kelsey didn’t like this spectacle any more than Tala did, but she understood why Madsen was doing it. Anything to make the Wrasa look more harmless—more human.
The scent of coconut and feline musk swept over Kelsey seconds before someone touched her shoulder from behind. Her nerves already stretched to the max, she whirled around.
Rue stepped forward, between Kelsey and the newcomers.
“Whoa!” Griffin held up her large hands. “Great Hunter, you’re as jumpy as a cub on her first hunt.”
Jorie, Griffin’s mate, wrapped her hands around Griffin’s arm. “No wonder. Not everyone is cut out to lead a parade, Griff.” She sent Kelsey a commiserating smile. “I’m not eager to do it either, but I offered to take over for you. Madsen wouldn’t hear of it. He said humans need to see a Wrasa leading the parade.”
“I told him I could do it,” Griffin grumbled.
A smile darted across Jorie’s usually serious features. She gestured at her partner’s muscular six-foot-two frame and her left ear that had been partly bitten off years ago. “No offense, but you’re a liger-shifter. ‘Harmless’ isn’t the first word that comes to mind when someone looks at you. I’m the only human who knows what a pussycat you really are.”
Griffin snarled. “I’m not a pussycat!”
“No?”
Griffin towered over her much smaller partner. “No.” Another growl rumbled up her chest.
Anyone else would have jumped back, but Jorie just grinned. “What about last week when you—?”
Griffin shut her up by kissing her.
Ugh. Kelsey looked away. Watching her former alpha pair kiss was a bit like watching her parents exchange intimacies.
Rue nudged her and grinned, apparently amused by Kelsey’s predicament.
“What’s so funny, human?” Griffin growled at her.
Rue met her gaze without flinching back. “Oh, nothing. Are you here to watch, or will you be in the parade too?”
“We got a letter from Madsen, ordering us to participate.” Jorie sighed. “I had to cancel a book tour to be here.”
“You should have allowed me and the cats to eat that damn pigeon,” Griffin said.
Rue shook her head. “Kelsey tried. It doesn’t help, unless you eat the letter too.”
Kelsey’s cheeks warmed. “Will you march with the Puwar or with the Kasari contingent?” she asked, eager to change the subject.
Griffin looked toward the end of the parade, where the tiger-shifters and the lions gathered. “I don’t know yet. I’d like to join the Puwar, but my fathers’ pride expects me to march with them.”
Poor Griffin. Kelsey couldn’t imagine being so torn between two sides of her heritage. Was it like that for Tala too?
“We’ll march with the Puwar,” Jorie said. “We’ll just tell your fathers that it’s expected of me, since I’m a dream seer, and you, of course, would never dream of letting your mate march through half of Washington all alone.”
“I knew I married a brilliant woman.” Griffin kissed her again. “Then let’s go join them.”
Before walking away, Jorie squeezed Kelsey’s arm. “Be careful.”
Kelsey swallowed. “Did you have a dream vision about today?”
“No, but you could cut the tension here with a knife. Five hundred Wrasa who are all totally on edge…” Jorie shook her head with a grave expression. “Whatever happens, keep a cool head, okay?”
The responsibility settled like a weight on Kelsey’s shoulders. “I’ll try.”
Just as Griffin and Jorie disappeared into the crowd, Madsen strode toward them, wearing a suit. “Ah, there you are.”
“Just to make one thing clear from the start,” Rue said, fixing her intense gaze on him. “I’m not wearing a costume unless you do too.” She pointed at the red velvet skirts and the hooded capes most wolf-shifters, even the men, wore.
Madsen glowered at the costumes. “Our PR team came up with that. They say it’ll be a big hit with human spectators.”
“Yeah, but you’d better make sure they hand out the hot dogs to the crowd and don’t eat them all before the parade even starts,” Rue said.
“The hot dogs aren’t for handing out. They’re for the Syak. I figured if they have their muzzles full, at least they’re not growling at people.” Madsen led them toward the group of wolf-shifters who were gathering behind a dozen Maki straddling their Harleys.
“I thought the Syak, with Kelsey and me in the front row, would lead the parade?” Rue said.
Madsen sighed. “Our PR team thought it might be a good idea to put the Bears on Bikes first. Kind of like Dykes on Bikes, you know?”
Kelsey peered at the broad-shouldered bear-shifters, many of them wearing leather vests displaying “Bears on Bikes” on the back. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to have them so close to the front of the parade,” she whispered to Rue.
“Yeah, they look pretty scary.”
“Not just that. Our ursine brothers and sisters are not exactly known for their patience. If someone provokes them…”
Judging by the looks on their faces, many of the humans lining the streets already thought it was just a matter of time until the shape-shifters ran amok. Part of their fear was real and understandable. What if one of her fellow Wrasa lost control and hurt a human—or even killed one?
Rue rubbed her hand. “Don’t worry. We’re right behind them and can interfere if necessary.”
“Time to take our positions,” Madsen said. He handed Kelsey a rolled-up sheet of paper. “That’s the permit for the parade. You’re in charge now. Go and join the Syak at the front while I march at the back of our group.”
Willing her hand not to shake, Kelsey took the permit.
“Aren’t we riding in a convertible?” Rue asked.
Madsen shook his head. “We need Kelsey to be approachable and mix with the crowd.”
Rue looked around, eyeing the people lining the street. “I don’t like this. If anything happens, Kelsey will be a sitting duck.”
“Don’t worry,” Tala said. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”
Madsen glanced over his shoulder as if only now noticing Tala and Zoe. He made a shooing motion at them. “You two go join your own contingents.”
Without hesitation, Zoe trotted off and climbed into one of the convertibles to join the jaguars.
Tala didn’t move.
Madsen narrowed his eyes at her and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “The Rtar float is back there.”
Kelsey turned to see where he was pointing.
On a glassed-in float, three Rtar in their fox forms were skittering around while another one unsuccessfully tried to dig a burrow where he could hide.
Kelsey frowned. “I thought no one is allowed to attend the parade in nonhuman form.”
“No one except for the Rtar,” Madsen said.
Rue smirked. “Let me guess. Your PR experts said the cute foxes would be a big hit with the human spectators.”
Madsen just growled in response. He kept glaring at Tala and stabbed a finger at the Rtar float. “Go.”
The authority in his voice made Kelsey tremble, even though he wasn’t addressing her.
Any other shifter would have clamped her tail between her legs and followed orders, but Tala stayed where she was. “With all due respect, sir, I don’t belong on that float. I’m a Syak.”
“Says who?”
“Says your father’s paw print on the permission that allowed my pack to adopt me.”
“Great Hunter!” Madsen clutched his graying hair. “First, a human convinces me to let her lead the parade, and now a fox wants to march with the wolves. What’s next? Greenpeace and WWF joining us?”
Tala protested the word fox, but Kelsey no longer listened. She turned to face Rue. “You talked Madsen into letting you lead the parade with me? I thought he called you and invited you to join us?”
Rue rubbed her neck. “Yeah, well…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was concerned you’d think I didn’t have any faith in you. I know you could do this on your own, but—”
Kelsey wasn’t so sure. Without Rue, she probably would have shifted in panic before even making it to the parade. She hugged Rue, interrupting her midword, and buried her nose against her neck, greedily inhaling the soothing scent of pines and ocean air. For a moment, she was home, at the Oregon coast, far away from this circus. “Thank you,” she whispered into Rue’s ear.
Tala’s voice, becoming louder with every word, interrupted the momentary peace. “It doesn’t matter what your nose tells you, sir. I’m a wolf. I don’t belong in that petting zoo back there.”
Madsen and Tala faced off in the middle of the street in a silent battle of wills.
“For Christ’s sake, let her march with us,” Rue said. “People are already starting to look over.”
Sweat broke out along Kelsey’s spine when she realized that Rue was right.
Behind the barricades the police had set up, humans were staring at them as if they expected a fight to break out any second.
Still, Tala and Madsen glared at each other, each refusing to look away first.
A red balloon drifted away from the crowd. A gust of wind made it bounce against Tala’s head before it floated up.
A little girl, no older than six, slipped through the barricades and ran toward them. “My balloon!”
Even Tala and Madsen interrupted their stare-down to glance up.
Growling, Tala lunged for the balloon. Though she was barely more than five feet tall, she was lighter and more agile than the wolf-shifters, so she managed to grasp the end of the string tied to the balloon.
The girl threw her arms around her. “Thank you, thank you!”
Tala froze.
“Chloe!” A frantic-looking woman hurried over, her long hair trailing in the wind behind her like a scarf. “What are you doing? I told you to stay away from them and just watch.”
Chloe slowly let go of Tala’s legs and turned to her mother. “But she saved my balloon, Mommy. Look!” She pointed at the balloon still in Tala’s grip.
Kelsey took a second look and realized that the balloon was shaped like a fox, complete with a tail.
“Uh, here.” Tala pressed the balloon into the girl’s hands.
“Thank you.” She cradled the fox-shaped balloon close and looked up at Tala as if she had single-handedly cured cancer and achieved world peace. “You’re really pretty.”
Kelsey had to chuckle as Tala, the tough Saru commander, blushed.
The girl continued to admire her. “What kind of animal are you?”
“Uh, I’m a wolf.”
“She’s a fox,” Madsen said at the same time.
Before they could continue their stare-down, Kelsey stepped forward and knelt next to the girl to be at eye level with her. “She’s not an animal, Chloe. We’re people, just like you and your mommy. It’s just that we’re people who can turn into animals.”
“Ooh, cool. Can you show me? Please!” Chloe jumped up and down, letting go of her balloon in the process.
Tala snatched it out of midair again. “We’d better tie it around your wrist, or you’ll lose it for good.”
When she moved closer, the girl’s mother rushed forward and stepped between them, ready to defend her pup.
Tala held up her free hand. “Whoa. I didn’t mean her any harm, ma’am.”
The mother looked at her for long moments before finally moving out of the way and allowing Tala to tie the string around her daughter’s wrist.
“There.” Tala stepped back.
Chloe looked at the string around her wrist and then up at Tala. “Thank you. Can you show me how you turn into an animal now?”
Her mother paled. She took Chloe’s hand and tried to lead her away, back behind the barricades, but the girl resisted. “They’re busy, Chloe. They’re marching in the parade.”
Kelsey would have loved to invite the girl to march with them, but she knew it wasn’t a good idea. If there were protesters somewhere along the route, things could get out of hand.
“But it hasn’t started yet.” Chloe gazed up at Tala with a pleading expression. “I want to see how you look. Pleeeease.”
“Uh…” Tala shuffled her feet, looking like a fox caught breaking into the henhouse.
Come on. Help her. You’re supposed to lead the parade, so do something. Kelsey cleared her throat. “That’s not a good idea. Foxes are pretty small creatures compared to a human. If she shifts into a fox, she’s gonna be scared of you, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
Wide-eyed, the girl shook her head.
“Not my fox,” Tala said, her head held high. “She thinks she’s a wolf, so she isn’t afraid of a human pup.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes. Not helping, Tala!
Sirens wailed, and the horns of fire engines blasted, signaling the start of the parade.
“We have to go,” Madsen said.
Kelsey sent the girl one last glance. “Why don’t you and your mother go take a look at the Rtar’s float? They look exactly like Tala in her fox form.”
“Okay.” Chloe hugged Kelsey and then turned toward Tala, her arms extended.
“Uh, wolves like me don’t like to be—”
Before Tala could finish her sentence, the girl wrapped her arms around her.
Tala stood frozen to the spot. After a few moments, she sighed and put one hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“Chloe…” Her mother shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nervously eyeing the shape-shifters. “We really should go now.”
Finally, she let go and allowed her mother to lead her away.
As they walked toward the Rtar’s float, the mother looked back over her shoulder and gave them a nod.
“Come on,” Madsen shouted. “Hurry. Take your positions. I have to stay back.”
“What about me, sir?” Tala called.
Madsen, about to join the wolf-shifters toward the back of the contingent, turned around. His brows lowered until they looked like one thick bar. “Oh, for the Great Hunter’s sake. I don’t have time to deal with this. Join us.”
Grinning, Tala hurried toward the front of the parade.
Kelsey gripped Rue’s hand and followed less enthusiastically.
* * *
Blood rushed through Kelsey’s ears, almost drowning out the roaring of the Harleys in front and the thumping of drums behind them. She clutched Rue’s hand and the flag she carried, weakly waving the picture of a hand and a paw pressed together.
“Careful,” Rue said next to her. “I’m not a Wrasa. If you break a few bones in my hand, I can’t shift to heal the fractures.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Kelsey quickly eased up on her death grip.
Rue rubbed Kelsey’s fingers. “Calm down. Everything is going just fine.”
She was right. They were marching south on Seventeenth Street, almost halfway to the parade’s end point already. So far, everything had gone like clockwork. No Wrasa had panicked and shifted in the middle of the crowd. No protesters had shown their noses along the route. The police officers lining the streets were earning their money by doing nothing.
The farther they marched without any incident, the more relaxed the atmosphere became until it was almost carnivallike. Information booths had been erected on both sides of the street. When they turned left, back onto P Street, the smell of barbecues drifted over, making Kelsey’s stomach growl. Humans, at first hesitant to mingle among the Wrasa, were now crowding around the food stands.
“Well,” Kelsey said. “At least humans seem to like our food.”
“Not just your food. Look.” Rue pointed at a group of teenagers, mostly girls, shrieking and jumping up and down as if their favorite pop star had arrived.
“Uh, they do know Justin Bieber isn’t one of us, don’t they?”
Rue laughed. “Yeah. They know. Look at their T-shirts.”
Slogans such as “Furry Love” and “Dances with Werewolves” stretched across the teenagers’ chests. One of them, a pale young man wearing a studded leather collar, waved at Kelsey when he caught her staring and blew her a kiss.
Kelsey shrank back behind Rue.
Laughing, Rue wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Danny tells me they’re called wroupies.”
“Wroupies?” As she marched past, Kelsey was still peeking at the teenagers. Were some of them wearing leashes?
Rue nodded. “Wrasa groupies.”
One of the wroupies, a tall girl with pink streaks in her hair, screamed, “I love you, Kelsey!”
“Get in line, darling!” Rue called back and pulled Kelsey even closer.
A lacy bra sailed past Kelsey and hit Tala in the face.
Grumbling, Tala plucked it off her shoulder and hurled it back into the crowd. “Maybe I should have listened to Natak Madsen and marched with the Rtar. At least they’re safe behind glass.”
Kelsey shook her head. “This is all so surreal.”
The Bears on Bikes in front of them slowed as they approached the point where they were supposed to turn north onto Fourteenth Street, the final stretch of the parade. Then the Harleys came to a stop. Shouts and the sounds of engines being gunned by impatient riders drifted back.
Kelsey craned her neck. “What’s going on?”
Humans poured into the intersection in front of them, creating a barricade. A banner stretched over them, proclaiming, “America for Americans—Wrasa out!”
The bearded man leading the group held up a sign that said, “Protect our children. Stop the beasts!” He waved his sign like a sword. “What are you doing?” he shouted at the human spectators. “These…creatures should be destroyed, not celebrated!”
His followers shouted their agreement and began chanting hateful slogans.
“Dammit,” Tala murmured. “That’s Peter MacAllister, leader of the HASS.”
“HASS?” Kelsey asked.
“Don’t you watch the news? Humans Against Shape-Shifters.”
Kelsey had never heard of them. For the most part, she tried to stay away from news reports. If she didn’t, feelings of guilt and self-doubt made her lie awake and contemplate what her decision to save herself and Rue by filming a transformation had cost her people. “Who are they?”
“A bunch of extremists who’d love to put us on reservations—or, better yet, six feet under,” Tala said. “MacAllister tried to prevent us from getting a permit for the parade, but the DC Council voted him down. Seems he found another way to stop us. Kelsey, do something.”
Everyone’s gaze rested on her. A fiery itch flared along her skin and then developed into an ache that spread through her bones and joints. She looked around, searching for Madsen, but he was stuck somewhere at the back of the wolf-shifters’ contingent. He’d left her in command of the parade. Oh Great Hunter, I can’t do this.
Rue tightened her hold on Kelsey’s waist. “You stay back. Let me—”
“No,” Kelsey said, even though her instincts screamed at her to let Rue take charge. “I need to do this.”
“Kelsey…” Rue stared at her for several seconds. Finally, she nodded, grim-faced. “All right. I’ll be right behind you.”
When Kelsey stepped forward, toward the HASS, Rue plastered herself against her back.
Kelsey’s gums ached as if canines were about to sprout. She ignored the pain, ignored the expectant looks, ignored the chaos breaking out all around her, and focused just on Rue’s warmth against her back. “Let us through,” she shouted. “We’re not hurting anyone by being here, and you don’t have the right to call for violence against innocent people.”
Peter MacAllister paused in the middle of his hate speech. “Innocent people?” He snorted. “You’re not people. You’re wild beasts just waiting to kill Americans as soon as we turn our backs on you.” He raised his voice. “Don’t let this parade fool you, people. The costumes, the cute foxes, and the animal balloons are just a trick to make you forget what they really are—bloodthirsty monsters!”
A self-righteous fire burned in his eyes, telling Kelsey that trying to reason with him wouldn’t work. Even though her legs were trembling, aching with the need to shift, she took another step and held up the parade permit. “Sir, I ask you respectfully to move out of the way. We have a permit, and we have the right of free speech, just like every other American.”
“You have no rights!” MacAllister tried to whack her with the sign.
Kelsey ducked at the last moment.
Rue pulled her back and stepped between them. “Goddammit!” She waved her fist at MacAllister. “If you don’t put that sign down, I’ll shove it up your ass!”
The fine hairs along Kelsey’s forearms lengthened. Her clothes felt one size too small as her muscles thickened. Panicked, she looked around.
Why weren’t the police interfering? One officer was shouting into his shoulder microphone; another fingered his nightstick, but apparently, the order to clear the street didn’t come.
If no one stepped in, things would get hairy in a minute—literally.
The row of marchers behind Kelsey surged forward, crowding her from behind.
She couldn’t breathe. Out! I have to get out of here.
But the HASS blocked the intersection, and the police had cordoned-off the street. No way out.
She wanted to tip her head back and howl. An image of her wolf, running free, rose before her mind’s eye.
“No!” Rue shook her. “Don’t shift! If you shift, even if it’s just to defend yourself, you’ll only turn more humans against us. You’ll destroy any chance of the Wrasa Rights Act ever passing.”
Kelsey heard her as if from a distance. Limply, she hung in Rue’s embrace, all her strength going into her fight against the urge to shift.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another person stepping past the barricades and joining MacAllister’s group.
No! She couldn’t take one more human glaring at her, sending the putrid stench of hatred across the intersection.
“Let’s just break through and run them down,” one of the wolf-shifters behind Kelsey shouted. He howled, calling his pack mates to gather around him.
Kelsey’s instincts shouted at her to join in or to slink back and let others take the lead, but with Rue by her side, she managed to keep a firm hold on the urges. She whirled around and glared at the howling man, who was now throwing away his basket and ripping off his red cape. “Stay where you are!”
The man growled at her, revealing lengthening canines.
On trembling legs, Kelsey took another step forward, right into his territory. She wanted so much to look away, but she forced herself to keep eye contact. “We can’t be the ones to resort to violence, or humans will forever see us as monsters.”
“Didn’t you listen to them?” He pointed toward MacAllister’s group. Hair sprouted on the back of his hand. “They already do!”
“And you want to prove them right?”
His gaze sparked off hers, like two dueling swords hitting each other. Just when Kelsey thought she couldn’t take it anymore and would have to give in, he looked away.
Kelsey’s shoulders slumped. She didn’t have enough strength left to straighten them.
Rue wrapped both arms around her from behind, holding her up.
Madsen shoved through the crowd and stomped toward them, Wrasa hastily jumping out of his way. “No one lifts a paw against any of the humans!” he shouted, loud enough for the human spectators to hear.
The growling, howling mass of wolf-shifters calmed as the force of his authority hit them.
Kelsey turned back around and squinted over at the extremist group to see what they were doing.
Something was going on.
Her eyes widened when she recognized the small figure gripping the sign MacAllister held on to. “Please don’t hurt them. They’re my friends.”
Oh, no, Chloe! What was the little girl doing here? Had she and her mother followed the parade, maybe because she had begged to be allowed one more look at the shape-shifter who had rescued her balloon?
MacAllister towered over the girl, his face turning red as he stared down at her. “They’re no one’s friends, girl. They’re monsters. Now let go of my sign.”
“But they saved my balloon!” Chloe still held on to MacAllister’s sign.
Kelsey prepared to rush forward should he hit her or shove her out of the way.
Chloe’s mother freed herself of the police officers trying to hold her back and rushed over. Unlike the others in the group, she didn’t stink of hatred and self-righteous anger. Only fear and worry tainted her pleasant milk-and-soap scent.
“What do you think you’re doing, bringing her here?” MacAllister shouted at her. His face turned even redder, if that was even possible.
The woman ducked her head. “Chloe w-wanted to see the parade.”
“She’s a child, dammit, but you should know better! I told you to stay home, away from these beasts. Take her home, Faith. Now!”
He knows them? With her adrenaline-heightened senses, Kelsey could understand their conversation even over the commotion around her.
“Come on, Chloe.” Faith put her hands on her daughter’s small shoulders. “Let’s go home.”
The girl clung to the sign as if her life depended on it. “But Grandpa’s mad. He’ll hurt them.”
Grandpa? Kelsey blinked.
“Great Hunter,” Tala said. “That asshole is Chloe’s grandfather!”
“Damn right,” MacAllister shouted. “I’m gonna do what our government should have done and stop them!” He wrenched the sign out of the girl’s hands, nearly making her fall.
One hand holding on to Chloe, Faith held up the other, palm facing out. “Stop,” she said softly, but firmly. “This is not the way.”
“But can’t you see? They lived among us like wolves in sheep’s clothing, just waiting for the right moment to attack. We have to get them out of our country, or they’ll end up invading our homes and—”
“Please, Dad.” She put her hand on his clamped around the sign. “There are children around. Can’t you see that you’re scaring Chloe?”
Peter MacAllister stared at his daughter, who stood facing him.
For a few moments, Kelsey thought he would just push her out of the way.
But, finally, he turned around to face the members of his group and said, “This isn’t the place or time. But we’re not finished. Do you hear me, shape-shifters? We won’t allow you to infiltrate our society.” He wrenched his hand out of his daughter’s grasp and stomped off, his followers trailing behind him.
Within a minute, the intersection was empty except for Chloe and Faith.
Faith turned her head and looked at them, her expression unreadable; then she took her daughter’s hand and followed her MacAllister.
Chloe waved as her mother led her away.
“Wow,” Tala said, staring after them.
Kelsey sagged against Rue as her mutaline levels finally went down. “Remind me to never, ever march in a parade again.”
* * *
When the pigeon landed on their back porch, Kelsey wished she could shift and eat it—feathers, message from the council, and all. But, of course, she was too civilized for that. Sighing, she put her feet down from the porch swing, stopping its gentle rocking.
Rue looked up from her laptop. “Everything okay?”
Without saying a word, Kelsey pointed at the pigeon.
“Christ. Can’t we have some peace and quiet? What does Madsen want now?”
“Probably raking my pelt over the coals for not handling the situation in Washington better. If MacAllister’s daughter and granddaughter hadn’t interfered…”
Rue reached over and rubbed her hand. “But they did, for whatever reason. Don’t make yourself crazy with what-ifs. You handled the situation the best you could.”
Kelsey got up and slowly approached the pigeon.
With a panicked cooo, it flew off.
“I’ll get it,” Rue said.
Kelsey slumped back onto the porch swing while she waited for Rue to return with the council’s message.
Instead of a piece of paper, Rue returned with an SD card that the pigeon had carried. She sat next to Kelsey and shoved it into her laptop’s slot.
A window popped open, and Rue clicked on a document. Rather than adjusting the screen for Wrasa eyesight, she read the message aloud for Kelsey.
Kelsey,
You probably saw the news reports on TV after Wrasa Pride Day.
No, Kelsey hadn’t. She had purposely stayed away from reports about the events in Washington. After MacAllister’s hateful slurs, she didn’t want to hear anything else.
Just in case you buried your muzzle in the sand and hid out with your little human, here are some of the pictures that went around the world.
“Little human? I’ll show him little human.” Rue growled in a way that would have done any Wrasa proud, but she still opened the pictures saved on the SD card.
Kelsey braced herself, expecting to see photos of the banners MacAllister’s people had carried, of the Bears on Bikes bristling, their claws clutched around their handlebars lengthening, and of the wolf-shifters ripping off their red capes, ready to attack.
Instead, the first photo Rue opened was a picture of Kelsey kneeling next to Chloe, talking to her. The next picture showed Tala leaping to save the girl’s balloon and then, in the third photo, tying it safely around her small wrist. Finally, the photographer had captured MacAllister trying to hit Kelsey with his sign.
“Looks like Madsen’s PR people aren’t so stupid after all,” Rue said. “The Wrasa are the heroes rescuing Little Red Riding Hood in this story, and MacAllister is the big, bad wolf.” She closed the photos and returned to Madsen’s message.
I admit I had my doubts about whether you could lead the parade, but you did well, Kelsey. I’m proud of you.
“Patronizing asshole,” Rue muttered.
Kelsey couldn’t help it, though. She was a nederi, so she soaked up the praise of her people’s highest-ranking alpha. Her pleased smile faded away when Rue continued to read.
Since everything went so well, I suggested that you lead next year’s parade too, and the council unanimously agreed. Congratulations.
Again, happy Wrasa Pride Day!
Jeffrey Madsen
Council speaker
Kelsey took the laptop off of Rue’s lap, put it down, curled up in its place, and howled.
“Ssshh, you’re scaring the neighbors.”
For once, Kelsey didn’t care. She continued howling.
“Hey, it’s not so bad.” She combed her fingers through Kelsey’s hair. “Better than having to drink a pint of goat’s blood.”
“What?” Kelsey mumbled against Rue’s thigh.
“Nothing. We could take a trip to some unknown destination right around March 23rd next year. Somewhere remote and romantic, just right for a honeymoon.”
Kelsey stopped howling. Slowly, still lying in Rue’s lap, she rolled over and stared up at her. “Did you just…propose to me?”
Rue smiled, her hand still lingering in Kelsey’s hair. “Yes, I did. I know it’s not legal for a human and a Wrasa to marry right now, but once the Wrasa Rights Act passes, that law might change too. It might not be this year or even next—”
Kelsey pulled her down and kissed her enthusiastically.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” Kelsey said between more kisses. “Oh, yes.”
After several minutes, Rue’s lips froze against hers. “Oh, God. I totally forgot.”
“What? What is it?” Kelsey sat up, straddling Rue, and searched her face for the cause of her sudden panic.
“Should I have asked your parents for their blessing or permission first?”
Kelsey hid her face against Rue’s shoulder as she imagined all the growling and shouting that would occur during that phone call. Her father and Rue were evenly matched when it came to their stubbornness. She leaned back and peeked up at Rue. “Maybe you could send them a letter.”
“Mmm, good idea.” Rue bent and kissed her. “I’m beginning to see the advantage of pigeon post.”
###