We had been talking for less than an hour, though it felt like days to me. And in that time, we had been completely unable to reach a decision. The packmeet was split four to four.

Alphas Keith, Cornell, Chris and Jackson were being naïve idiots, in my opinion. They wanted to reclaim Lowland and Ember Packs, then leave the ferals alone in the hope that they would go west or south eventually. I didn't agree — if the hunters were using them to destroy our species, they wouldn't back down.

Alpha Jace and I both wanted to put an end to the ferals before they got any more powerful. Jaden and Zach supported us just because they trusted Jace to do their jobs for them. That was the Lloyd family for you — not always the brightest, but loyal to each other.

So the four of us had argued that to remove a weed, you had to kill the root as well as the stem. Which would mean the hunters too, but hey — one thing at a time, right? And there was a good chance Rhodric was already doing that.

Thankfully, the others didn't see the benefits of their stance. They could simply refuse to fight and leave it all to us. We couldn't exactly force them to participate. Chris and Keith's packs were far enough away to be safe for another month at least, and Cornell and Jackson's packs were already under feral control. They had very little to lose.

But without the brains to realise that, they argued stubbornly for leaving the ferals alone, without ever putting much effort into convincing us it was a good idea. No doubt they thought I would drop dead of poison before the meeting was over and leave them with a majority. We weren't getting anywhere.

"In times of indecision, the council takes a vote," Jace reminded us. "But if we're split equally, that obviously won't work. Come on, Chris. Surely you can see that the ferals are dangerous."

Alpha Chris, the most reasonable of our opposition, simply shook his head.

Jackson saw a chance and swooped in to point out, "The girl isn't an Alpha. Her vote doesn't count."

"Neither are you," I snapped "And if both of our votes don't count, it's still a tie."

"How do we solve a tie?" Jaden asked his brother.

"We have an odd number of packs, so I think it's unprecedented," Jace said wearily. Oops. My bad.

My sister had stood silently for the entire hour, but now she cleared her throat. "Well, actually, it's not. In the war when Stormhaze Pack was destroyed, there were only four Alphas present at the packmeet, and they voted in a tie."

Goddess bless Fion and her perfect memory. Only she could remember such random historical facts, especially ones which were left out of the stories. Who wanted to hear about political inconveniences when there had been bloodshed?

"How did they solve it?" he asked, looking impressed.

"They each voted for an Alpha whose judgement they trusted. Whoever wins the vote has supremacy over the council to make any decision they want. It doesn't always work, though — sometimes still ends split, but it's worth a try."

Keith actually seemed interested. "Can you vote for yourself?"

"Yes, or not vote at all. But please, let's not go Brethren Court here. There's actually just one rule: no conferring." Fion smiled slightly at that point, and I wondered if she had made it up. It would certainly help our side more than theirs — we had a clear choice.

Zach happened to be my favourite Alpha. He had experience with fighting but no interest in the political side of his position. He had spent most of the packmeet cleaning his fingernails with a knife. I didn't even consider Jaden, who looked to his younger half-brother for guidance as often as he could. The by-blow of New Dawn's last Luna hadn't been raised to lead and was only an Alpha because of his mate.

And besides, both of them would pick Jace anyway, so I had to as well. So when Fion produced a scrap of paper, I scribbled Jace Lloyd in messy letters, and handed it back to her. There wasn't any point voting for myself — I wasn't accepted as an Alpha, let alone the Alpha of Alphas. But it was tempting.

Rhys pestered the mind-link until I heard him say, "I've thought up your campaign slogan."

"Go on then. It can't be that bad," I sighed. I was wrong.

"Skye — believe in better."

"I'm not a broadband company," I protested, but couldn't help smiling. "And I'm not trying to win."

"You should," Rhys grumbled, before withdrawing to let me concentrate on the results.

Fion was counting up the votes, as she had suggested this in the first place. Several Betas watched on to make sure she didn't falsify it. I sighed. They didn't even trust rogues to count pieces of paper, so how the hell were we going to fight ferals together?

There was a tense silence as Fion sorted the scraps into piles. Finally, she looked up, and I released a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.

"It was close," she admitted. "Cornell had one vote, Keith had three, and Jace wins with four."

It amazed me how quickly the silence changed to furious shouting. Half of the Alphas were happy, the other half were directing a torrent of abuse at whoever was closest. The oh-so civilised packmeet descended into a blame-game.

It quickly became clear what had happened. Keith had proved the popular choice as leader for Team Spineless Douchebags, but his pack had been feuding with Pine Forest since its creation. So the Pine Forest Alpha, Chris, had picked someone else just to be difficult.

And we were left with chaos. Keith was screaming at Chris, Jackson had decided that I was somehow responsible, and Cornell was cussing out Jace loudly. And of course, Rhys jumped in to defend me, and Zach and Jaden were only too happy to get involved, which left everyone shouting or being shouted at.

It went on for over ten minutes. I yawned, glancing at Jace, who was just sat there. He seemed mildly annoyed by the noise, but that was about it. Not too thrilled about being the most popular kid in class, by the looks of it.

My eardrums weren't enjoying the noise levels, so I nodded at Ryker. His genius way of restoring order was to smash the closest window with a candlestick. The sound of glass breaking proved loud enough to shock everyone into silence. I took the opportunity to stand up very slowly.

"Shut your bloody mouths," I snarled, "and listen for a minute. The vote was fair. It's not Chris's fault if he doesn't love you, Keith. Maybe if you took your head out of your arse, you'd realise that you wouldn't have voted for him either."

"I—" Keith started angrily, but Jackson put a hand on his arm.

"Hold on. How do we even know that the ginger girl was telling the truth? The vote seems far too convenient for my liking..."

Fion scowled at him. "Look it up if you don't believe me. Any Elder would tell you the story. There's nothing to prove."

"And while I'm sure that's what you would want us to believe, it's just not trustworthy," Keith said, finally picking up his friend's argument. "Rogues are known to be liars."

And that was the limit of my patience. I flicked out Leo's knife and slammed it into the table, where it stood quivering. That attracted their attention ... and their anger.

"I wonder what happens," I began loudly, "if an Alpha dies at a packmeet. Could the murderer really be held responsible, if said Alpha was being a judgmental prick? And suppose half the people there said it was self-defence? There's not much chance I — no, they — would even be punished."

That shut Keith up — he gulped loudly. But just as I had hoped, Jackson's eyes shone as he noticed such an easy opportunity to look clever. "Yes, I wonder. The same would go for a rogue pretending to be an Alpha, wouldn't it?"

I nodded warily, but made sure to let my breaths come fast and shallow. "I suppose so."

He took the bait like a greedy fish. "Are you feeling alright? You sound a little breathless."

His friend had just 'poisoned' me, after all. And he didn't think I knew that. It was almost too easy to play along.

"Actually, no..." I gave a throaty cough. "I can't really breathe."

Keith didn't bother hiding his smile, obviously hoping I'd hurry up and die so he could declare the vote void and call a new one. That smile only grew as I began to wheeze, grabbing at my throat the whole time. I stood up, only to collapse dramatically and make a show of choking on the floor.

My rogues reacted exactly as I wanted — with shock and concern. Some of them tried to move, but Ollie held them back, insisting that I needed space. He knew it was faked. I was making that clear through the mind-link. For the same reason, Leo, Rhys and Fion crouched down and worried over me without really doing anything to help.

Finally, I ended my performance by making one last violent spasm, then suddenly lying slack. My breathing slowed to almost nothing, and the room erupted into pandemonium around me. With my eyes closed, it was all too easy to slip into Leo's thoughts and see the Alphas' reactions. Because I wanted to know exactly who wanted me dead, other than Keith, of course.

Zach was the only one looking concerned, and even then it was more curiosity than worry. Unsurprising. I had hardly expected tears. Jaden and Chris were equally shocked and not obviously happy, so I counted them out. But Keith, Jackson and Cornell looked ecstatic. Three out of seven wasn't bad, I thought grudgingly.

And Jace just sat there with his arms folded, eyes on the ceiling. He knew exactly what I was doing, and he disapproved. Probably because the packmeet was becoming a display of theatrics rather than a tactical discussion.

I withdrew into my own mind, opened my eyes and sat up. "Dammit. That certainly wasn't heaven. Oh well — can't say I'm surprised."

Their reactions came in definite stages. First the confusion, as they blinked at me and struggled to take it in. Then came the constipated expression of people who didn't use their brains often enough trying to think (okay, maybe that was an exaggeration). Finally, anger or annoyance or both, depending on the person.

"Did you save me a spot down here?" Rhys asked anxiously. "Because you know what the queues are like..."

"I didn't need to. The devil's got a lava pit with your name on it, ready and waiting."

My brother's eyes lit up, and he wore a genuine smile. "Sweet of him."

Zach didn't bother to contain a snort, while his cousins made a point of rolling their eyes. With the game over, I braced my arms on the table and looked straight at Keith. "If I were going to assassinate myself," I began loudly, "personally, I'd use a gun. Poison is just so ... unreliable. Take notes for future assassinations."

Keith caught the pointed accusation, and to my amusement, bristled like a hedgehog. "That is a preposterous, unfounded—"

"—fact?" I just couldn't resist the temptation. Winding people up, watching them snap.

"Lie!" he bellowed.

I held out a soothing hand. "Alright, alright. I'm not accusing you of anything. It was just some friendly advice. But if for some reason — and I hope that reason isn't me — you feel you need to prove your innocence, drink this."

And I pushed the cup of juice towards him, smiling in an oh-so-innocent way.

Keith realised it was still full and scowled. "I don't like orange juice."

"Of course not," I muttered sarcastically.

"Nothing she says can be believed, you know." The Silver Lake Alpha stared at his peers, willing them to side with him. "Rogues are all liars."

We had come full circle. He wouldn't — couldn't — see past my lifestyle. And as several other Alphas nodded along, I realised they felt the same. Or maybe this was just an excuse to duck out of fighting ferals without looking like cowards.

There wasn't any way to make progress with Keith here. Jace knew it too, by the look he gave me. We were just bickering amongst ourselves. Give him a reason, he seemed to say. Get rid of him. So I did.

"I'm getting really tired," I said sweetly, "of your bullshit. Rogues are liars. Rogues are savages. Rogues are animals. There comes a point when I'm tempted to be all of those things just to prove you right."

Leo's knife was still jammed into the table, so I wrapped my hand around the hilt and tugged. It slid free reluctantly, then I took to tossing it up and down in increasingly daring ways. Useless, of course, but Keith couldn't take his eyes on the shining metal. Not even when I slowly stood up and smirked at him.

The knife took an impressive leap into the air, the hilt landing between my thumb and forefinger with a dull sting.

I caught Rhys's eyes and winked. Not Leo, not Fion, because they didn't have the same deprived enjoyment of violence as we did. And because I had noticed how Keith's glares featured Rhys as often as me. He left my shoulder to approach the Alpha bastard.

The Silver Lake guards took a step forwards as if to intervene. My female fighters were on them before that could happen — Tally and Sophie blocking their path. So my brother strolled right up to Keith and stood directly behind him, leaning against his chair. I watched the Alpha begin fidgeting.

The Beta opened his mouth, only to close it just as quickly. He averted his eyes — pretending not to notice for whatever reason. Cowardly and despicable, but convenient for Rhys, who clearly felt safe enough to ignore the guy.

I continued, "I'm going to give you a very simple choice. Shut your mouth and nod along to everything we say, or get the hell out of the packmeet."

Please the latter. Please. I couldn't stand seeing his smug face for another second.

"I am an Alpha," he spat, obviously not grasping the situation. "You have no right to—"

Rhys wrenched the top of Keith's chair and stepped clear. The Silver Lake Alpha fell backwards, his head cracking painfully against the floor. Then my brother's shoe took up residence on his neck, holding him in place. It didn't look like a comfortable position—he was sat horizontally on the fallen chair.

"Last chance," I warned him absent-mindedly.

He tried and failed to rise. His hands were prying at Rhys's foot, but it was futile. "Stop this, right now!"

I shrugged — not my fault if he was being a stubborn idiot. So there wasn't anything left to do except close the distance to Keith.

And I looked directly down at him, considering the pinned Alpha. The knife tumbled and span still, and I made Keith very aware that a single slip, one failed catch, and the knife would end up buried in his flesh.

"You're supposed to stop her!" he snarled at Ryker and Emmett.

"And we're really trying," Emmett said slyly.

Ryker reached out slowly towards me, making it seem like a great effort. "Trying, tryyying. Damn this is difficult." His hand dropped. "Looks like you're on your own, man."

I tossed the knife high — the biggest throw yet — and thrust my hands into my pockets. Let him see the blade coming, flashing end over end. Keith flinched horribly, his body visibly shaking even under the pressure of Rhys's boot. Then he closed his eyes.

The knife bit the floor a hair's breadth from his ribcage and stood upright, quivering.

I smiled down at it. "Get out."

Rhys finally stepped away to let him follow that order. But when Keith stood up, he didn't show any signs of leaving. Instead, fuming and red with embarrassment, he addressed the other Alphas. Particularly Jace.

"None of you have a problem with this? None of you felt like helping?"

"You're a big boy now, Keith," Zach drawled. "Can't you fight off the teenagers on your own?"

Keith ignored him. "You, Jace. You let rogues into the packmeet. Worse — Llewellyns." He threw a hateful glance at Rhys, who couldn't have looked more confused if he'd tried. "Expect me to sit here and take it. Well, I won't. And I don't think you would either, if you were in my place."

What the hell did you do to him, Rhodric? What kind of feud could leave someone so angry? I resolved to dig the answers out of my adopted father ... if I ever saw him again.

Jace blinked lazily. He regarded me with a slight frown, then looked directly at Keith, who couldn't find the willpower to return that stare. "Maybe not. But we can't afford to pick and choose — can't afford to turn down anyone who offers to fight with us, whoever they are, whatever they've done."

"Fine," he hissed. "Fine. Fight with her for all I care, boy. But I won't be there, and when you're done with the ferals you'll be fighting my pack too."

Keith pushed past me to get to the entrance, and his Betas and guards hurried to follow. We watched the door swing open and shut — watched an entire pack turn their backs on us.

And then there were six.

Next was Jackson, who had relied almost entirely on Keith's support to present himself as a legitimate Alpha. He bent down to retrieve my knife from the floor, and handed it back with a sneer. "There. Use it for killing ferals, girl, not threatening your allies. Bullying doesn't make people want to help you. When you've learnt that lesson, come back and try again."

He left too. Another pack gone.

The last remaining opposing Alphas shared a meaningful glance. Jackson's words had hit their mark. Maybe he was right. I knew I was young, and that I could come across as ... violent. And maybe they were well within their rights to hate my kind. But there was no excuse — none at all — for refusing to fight the ferals.

I had stood in bloodied snow last night, seen the shredded bodies of children. So however much I hated working with the Alpha douchebags, I would do it. Rather than walk amongst the dead again, knowing I'd failed them, I would play nice with people who wanted to kill me.

Cornell stood almost immediately, throwing me a pointed glance. "We've fought the rogues longer than we've fought the ferals. I'll take my chances alone."

Chris seemed more apologetic, but he too uttered a feeble excuse and followed the others out. Just three Alphas left, out of seven. What chance did we stand now?

I slid back into my seat and tucked away Leo's knife. Rhys picked up Keith's chair and sat in it, not baulking at claiming an Alpha's spot at the table. Even if he didn't care to take any part in the discussion which followed — instead choosing to balance the chair on two legs, careless and bored.

"That went well," I commented to no one in particular.

"No, it didn't. We lost four packs to gain yours," Jaden pointed out icily.

Zach yawned lazily. "And a fat lot of use they were. At least Last Haven will fight. Besides, if I'm being honest, a rogue might be worth four reluctant pack wolves."

Jaden regarded him with something close to disgust.

"Hey, I'm not apologising. It's true. Vicious bastards, yes. But they don't half fight well."

The Shadowless guards grinned — they were rogue descendants, along with the rest of that pack. Shadowless, at least, didn't hate us rogues on principle. But I was sure Jace and Jaden's packs would, so I still needed to tread carefully.

"Is every packmeet this frustrating?" I asked suddenly.

"Yes." Jace didn't even have to think about it. "Getting Alphas to work together is nearly impossible."

I looked between them, an unasked question in my eyes. "You three manage it."

He accepted that with a shrug. "We're family. And this is a good day — Jay and Zach are normally at each other's throats by now."

Now that, I'd love to see. Watch the annoying Riverside Alpha get his ass kicked by a rogue's son. I would be able to kick back and bring out the popcorn. It might even make working with Alphas worth the effort.

"Don't worry, cuz. It's only twelve — there's still time," Zach said seriously.

Jace rolled his eyes. "Moving on, we have a small army to defeat. Any suggestions about that?"

"Hold the Silverstones," Rhys said without hesitation, and we all turned to look at him. He frowned almost defensively. "It's what Dad would do."

"Yes, because we all strive to follow in Rhodric Llewellyn's footsteps," Jaden snorted, yet his half-brother raised an eyebrow.

And I felt a burning pride as he said, "Rhodric's still alive, isn't he? Despite the best efforts of every single pack. I wouldn't spit on that sort of example, Jay."

So it seemed like the rumour Brandon and I had started about Rhodric's death hadn't lasted long. Oh well. At least the flockies were still afraid of him ... and would be for years to come, if I had my way.

"The Silverstones are a good choice," I continued as if I hadn't heard them. "We know that terrain well, and there's no chance of being outflanked."

Jace and Zach nodded along, although Jaden huffed loudly. So we went from there — discussing the various locations and routes to blockade. The aim, after all, was to keep the ferals on this side of the mountains. That way, the only danger was to Shadowless, who could look after themselves, and to Last Haven, which the ferals were resolutely ignoring.

Rhys and I exchanged grins. This, we could do. This was what Rhodric had spent eight years drumming into our heads. He would be proud to know that some of it had stuck. The battle plans fell into place effortlessly. Flanking, wedges, supply lines, trenching and reserves.

None of the three Alphas were strangers to strategy, but they didn't have quite the same raw experience which came from a rogue upbringing. So the details were left up to me, once the others' input was taken into consideration.

"I can give you ninety trained fighters — maybe more, maybe less, depending on the outlying rogues. Wait on the western ridges, and they'll find you," I decidedly finally.

That provoked the reaction I been looking for. Wide eyes and confusion. There were several hundred wolves in every pack, but only a fraction were young males, and not all wanted to or could fight. So even the bulky New Dawn couldn't muster more than sixty fighters. But Last Haven, where both males and females of every age could defend themselves at the very least? We were in a different league.

"So we'll meet you there in a week?"

I shook my head. "No, not me. Ollie will be leading them."

"And where, can I ask, will you be?" Jace asked with no small amount of suspicion. Maybe he thought I would invade his pack while his back was turned. Actually, that wasn't a half bad idea... Why hadn't I thought of that earlier?

"If you approve, your Supremacy" —a mocking bow— "I'll be at Ember."

At the very least, I succeeded in surprising the packmeet. Frowns and alarm rippled through every flockie and rogue left in the room. Because I hadn't shared that idea with anyone, not even Leo. The reason being that it had literally only just occurred to me.

"Ember Pack," Jace repeated coolly.

Everyone was waiting for an explanation, so I gave them one. "From what I've heard, most of Ember are still alive and sane. But every day that passes, a few more of them are turned feral. I'll take a dozen fighters and put a stop to that before any more of our neighbours have to die."

Silence fell and stretched for a minute before Jaden spluttered, "Let me get this straight. You think you can take on the feral garrison at Ember with a dozen fighters?"

"I think she can do it alone," Rhys said nonchalantly. "We'll just go along for the entertainment."

I looked at him with raised eyebrows. "We? Who said you're coming? I'm taking fighters, not annoying little siblings."

He scowled at the word little, just as I knew he would. Because the three months between us had always been a sore spot. "Stand up then, and we'll see who's really littler."

"No need. Our birthdays say it all," I said innocently. The eternal argument: height against age. Until now, I had never been entirely sure if my age was right. If Rhodric had put my birthday in November just to annoy his son. But Leo's presence at my side proved it. He'd known the whole time.

"Screw that," Rhys growled. "It's dangerous, so I'm coming. Much more fun than trudging through snowdrifts day after day."

He knew I was winding him up, and didn't particular care. Both of us enjoyed the bickering.

"Forget the army — I was going to leave you to babysit the castle. Everyone's favourite job."

I was vaguely aware that the Alphas had carried on talking heedlessly — now finally coming to an agreement about Ember. So I shut Rhys up with a mental flick and listened again, trying to pretend I hadn't just been squabbling with my brother.

"This plan of yours," Jace began slowly, "it's daring, I'll give you that. They won't expect it. So go ahead, if you're sure you can pull it off."

I scoffed. "You forget who you're talking to. If you wait here with your fighters, we'll do all the rest."

His nod settled it. After all, we had voted this guy as the 'Alpha of Alphas,' or whatever the hell ancient rule Fion had invoked.

He looked at me appraisingly. "If it wasn't against pack law to work with rogues, I'd suggest an alliance. It might even shut Keith up. So when this is over and you validate Last Haven as a pack, come find me."

I couldn't help the spark of pride. Despite the feeling that this packmeet had destroyed more than it accomplished, at least I could leave with something. Even if Last Haven would never be an 'official' pack, not if I got my way. No, we were better off as rogues. What I'd seen here today made me more certain about that than I'd ever been.

"We'll stay in contact and meet here when you're finished with Ember," Zach said dismissively. "Until then..."

I knew I was being dismissed, but I didn't budge. There wasn't any hurry. In fact, we'd brought a picnic for lunch. So while the Alphas looked mildly irritated, I sat there and made arrangements with Ollie. How many fighters would guard the castle and so on.

We were playing a waiting game, and I won. Zach, Jace and Jaden eventually moved their asses out of the church, leaving my rogues alone. I debated pulling out my lunchbox and digging in, but it didn't quite feel right. This was a place of packs, where wars had started and ended. My kind weren't welcome here. Not now, not ever.

And it was a church, which made me distinctly uncomfortable. We hadn't been raised with any religion, so I hadn't been in a church in my entire life. Not even a 'sanctuary,' where the priestesses of the Moon Goddess held their sermons.

I stood up and jerked my head at the door. "Come on. We've waited long enough for our food."

The female fighters agreed loudly and moved through the door in a ragged bunch, falling in with the males who had waited in the cold. I was aware that Leo had remained unusually quiet the whole time, so I caught his hand and tugged him after me. We got outside and trudged up the mountain, ankle deep in fresh snow.

"You're good at keeping your mouth shut," I said pointedly.

Leo snorted, immediately dismissing my worries. "There were enough loud-mouths in that room without me chipping in."

"And I was one of them."

"Well, you weren't quiet," he said, impressively tactful.

Grinning, I shoved him with my free hand.

"Leo-whatever-the-hell-your-surname-is," Rhys shouted from behind us. "What did I tell you about touching my sister?"

Ah. So he'd noticed. I just held Leo's hand even tighter to spite him.

"Not to do it." Leo smiled slyly. "And I didn't. She touched me."

Rhys, stumped for once, was left to glare and mutter to Fion about smartass little upstarts. After calling my mate every offensive word in the dictionary, their conversation actually got interesting. My wolf honed in on every quiet word.

"Why are all the hot guys such jerks?" she asked.

Odd — very odd. Fion, who had used to be so open with us, hadn't said anything like that since Brandon. So I had a suspicion that this was some kind of test. A jealously test, if Rhys's reaction was anything to go by.

"What? Are you talking about the Alphas?" my brother demanded.

"Well, yeah. Not the older ones, mind. But those Lloyd boys..."

Something close to disgust filled his voice. "You're kidding, right?"

Fion laughed. "Wrong. They're the enemy, I know — I get that. But hell if I can't admire from a distance."

There was an amusing sound of teeth grinding together. "How would you feel if I told you the Lunas were hot?"

"Pissed off, as you very well know. Is it true?"

Well, that was open, I thought dryly.

"Of course not. Well — I mean, I don't actually remember." Rhys harrumphed loudly. "Because I wasn't looking at them. Besides, why's it okay for you and not me?"

"Because I'll admit I care, and you won't, obviously," Fion explained.

That successfully stumped Rhys. And me, too. It was quickly becoming apparent that they had been playing this game for a long time. While I had been completely oblivious. How infuriating.

Leo jerked a thumb behind us, and I guessed he had also been listening. "How long have those two liked each other?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think... I think eight years."

"So since they met?"

I nodded and shrugged at the same time. The enigma that was Rhys and Fion kept talking in quieter voices, now bickering over who was more stubborn. The answer was obviously Fion. That girl wouldn't budge until doomsday if she set her mind to it.

Half a mile up the mountain, one of my fighters called out. She had spotted a collapsed cliff, where the fallen rocks made perfect seats. Except, as we discovered, there weren't quite enough for everyone. And I had been a little slow off the mark.

Fortunately, Owen-the-chatty-patrol-pup had found a wonderfully flat shelf with a backrest. He hopped up and down anxiously and called out until I came over.

"I saved you a seat," he said, beaming.

"Owen, you didn't need to—"

But Owen was already gone, having scampered off to do some other chore. I looked between his retreating back and the rock indecisively. It didn't feel right, but my legs were burning from the slope. So I brushed snow from the stone, only to be left with a damp patch where the snowmelt had beaten me. I was faced with the classic dilemma of standing or getting a wet bum.

Leo solved that problem for me by spreading his jacket on the rock...

...and then taking my seat and smirking at me.

"Hey! I had dibs," I whined, then gave him a shove which sent him sprawling onto the ground.

I didn't see Leo get back up, but I definitely felt it when strong arms caught my waist from behind and threw me over a shoulder. Nothing — not even kicking and hitting at every body part I could reach — stopped Leo throwing me into the deepest snowdrift he could find.

It was like landing on a giant cushion. The snow collapsed beneath me, and I sank several feet. But that depth just hid the blow that I aimed at Leo's vulnerable legs. He fell heavily right next to me. Despite the cold and the audience, I pulled him on top of me and kissed him.

My wolf came out in an instant. She was clamouring for control. I shoved her away thoughtlessly, unwilling to share even with another part of myself. The mark on my neck hummed with approval and sheer rightness, distracting me from everything except the feeling of his lips on mine. In hindsight, that was probably a mistake.

We were interrupted, not by snowballs or screams, but by my brother. Rhys dragged him off me by the collar, landed a punch in his stomach in the struggle, and—

And stopped. Stopped to let Leo get a hit in. Because Rhys liked to fight fair, and he could afford to. When my mate didn't move to take the opportunity, he released him with a frustrated snarl. "You're not a coward, I know that. So why?"

Leo was doubled over, but he found the air to say, "I won't make her choose. You shouldn't either."

"Son of a bitch," Rhys spat, and stepped towards him again.

Snow slid off my clothes as I stood up, and said angrily, "Don't you dare—"

I stopped talking. He had no reason to listen to me. All I had done, both now and in the past, was ask him to quit, and that proved nothing to anyone. I needed to show I could look after myself, and that was something only could be only achieved with physicality.

Rhodric had been fond of telling me that rogues never listened, but they did watch. And that meant actions, not words. Easy enough.

Rhys had put his back to me with that instinctive trust, so I took full advantage of it. No point fighting fair if you wouldn't win. And I wouldn't — or at least, I hadn't before. My knee slammed into an area which would definitely be considered 'below the belt,' and I slammed into Rhys. We both fell down in a tangle of limbs and swearwords.

I picked myself up first, since I had been expecting it. Before Rhys could do much more than curse (and Leo could do much more than laugh), my knife was out and pointed at the body part I knew would alarm him the most.

Rhys eyed the blade, wide-eyed and alarmed. "Whoa, Skye. Easy there. We can talk about this."

"I didn't see you talking to Leo," I growled. "I saw you punching."

"That's a good point, but..." he admitted. I watched as his gaze flicked to Fion, who was ignoring us to eat an apple without a care in the world, then all too suddenly, a mask of pure arrogance slid across his face. "You wouldn't dare."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and the knife moved an inch closer. "Oh really? How much are you willing to bet? Your favourite body part?"

Rhys narrowed his eyes but didn't reply. I pushed the blade closer still and leant forwards to speak in any icy undertone. "Here's how this is going to go. You're going to leave Leo alone or  I'm going to start hacking bits off. Only next time I won't stop to warn you first."

A very, very slight nod. But still I felt the frustration, the unspoken words. And the mind-link conveyed it all whether he intended to or not. After watching Fion suffer under Brandon's thumb, without her ever admitting there was a problem, he now had to watch me shack up with Brandon's second-in-command. Would I say something if I wasn't happy?

The answer was no, of course. I would beat Leo's ass to oblivion and maybe, if I was feeling generous, I'd let Rhys hide the body afterwards. Fion and I had very different ways of handling bullies — neither right nor wrong, just different. So the situation wouldn't — couldn't — repeat itself.

He heard all those thought as well, because I wanted him to. And the nod changed to a half-smile.

"I get it, Skye. Don't expect me to like it, but I get it."

"I get it too. You're just trying to look out for me. So is there any way to do that without being a raging pain in my ass?" I asked aloud.

Rhys grinned. "I can give it a go."

A peace offering. Not a very substantial one, but it was something. I flicked the knife away and stood up, leaving him free to do the same. Leo was still smiling as he wrapped an arm around me. "That's my girl."

Rhys actually made a genuine, albeit obvious, effort to control himself.

I flashed my brother triumphant grin and leant against Leo, enjoying the warmth after two snow baths. It only took another few minutes of squabbling before we settled down to share the rock. I was half sitting on him, while trying to pretend I wasn't.

Owen did the rounds to hand out lunchboxes. As a new recruit for the fighters, most of the grunt work would be delegated to him until he got big enough to tell the old-timers where to go. It was a gruelling process I had experienced first-hand, though younger, at fourteen.

Rhys had 'persuaded' one of his friends to budge so Fion could sit down, then noticed Owen hovering and did the same for him, despite the boy's shy protests. But my brother remained on his feet, shifting his weight from leg to leg as he resisted the urge to strangle Leo. It was amusing to watch.

"It's been a whole day since we marked each other," I pointed out, maybe to wind up Rhys. "You know what happens next."

"Geez, girl. I've known you two weeks and you're trying to get freaky with me?" Leo teased. At least, I hope he was teasing.

"I'm serious," I said seriously. "My wolf is impatient, so we kinda need to get a move on."

He raised his eyebrows, smirking. "What, right now?"

"No, you idiot." I unwrapped an egg sandwich and thanked the Goddess for Maggie. "I don't think any threat could stop Rhys killing you if that happened in front of him."

Rhys's furious stare backed up that guess.

"So we'll just make out?"

I smacked his chest with my free hand. "Just eat your food, alright?"

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Leo muttered as he picked up his lunchbox.