Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,73
taking Lucy Christmas shopping Wednesday, and I don’t think she’d cotton to waiting in the car while I teach you how to howl,” he said. “Me, I like to order things online. But you know how the female of the species is — always on the prowl for something shiny.”
“You’re so sexist,” she said.
He raised a brow. “Is that the way they talk in Santa Monica? Here in the hills, them’s fightin’ words.”
Katelyn sighed. In some ways, she and Kimi had been right about calling Wolf Springs “Banjo Land.” Around here, women still tended to cater to the male ego, and so far, in the pack, the alpha-male held sway. But with three daughters and no sons, Lee Fenner had been planning to hand over leadership of the pack to a female.
Had been. Until Cordelia was banished. Now she figured it was anyone’s guess who was going to get control of the pack.
“Hey,” Justin said, jostling her. “I’m just teasing you. Sorta.”
“Is it a problem that Lee doesn’t have any sons?” she asked. “Are there people in the pack who are unhappy about possibly having a female alpha?”
“Yes,” he said, losing his lightness. “But the female of the alpha pair holds a lot of power. She can boss around the other males.”
“Just not her male,” she said, and he nodded. “Would you be okay if the alpha was a female, maybe even Lucy?”
“It won’t be Lucy, but I’ll play along with your question. My alpha is my alpha,” he replied. “Once the alpha’s declared, my loyalty instinct kicks in.”
Loyalty instinct. She had never heard of such a thing.
He must have seen her confusion. “As far as I can understand it, humans have to work at being loyal, and staying loyal to each other. But we have a natural impulse to figure out the chain of authority and respect it. It makes life a lot easier.”
“But you’re bucking the system,” she argued.
He winced as if she’d hit him. “Here’s the thing, Kat. ‘Alpha’ means the highest-ranked, based on being the most dominant. And ‘dominant’ means exerting the most control. Our alpha is our king, and he’s on the throne only as long as he guides and protects the pack. In the old days, there was a lot more fighting to become alpha. A lot of challenging. But that was before civilization encroached on us.”
“Or vice versa,” she said. “You encroached on civilization.”
“Even out here, there are a lot fewer wild places,” he said. “We used to run for miles and miles and miles. We’re too bunched up now. It puts added pressure on everyone.”
“So why don’t you spread out?” she asked. She took a chance. “Some of us could move to L.A.”
To her surprise, he reached over and tousled her hair in a friendly, big-brother sort of way. It was a side of him she hadn’t seen, at least where she was concerned. He was like that with Jesse.
“L.A.,” he said. “We’d be like the Beverly Hillwolves, gawkin’ at them big-city folks.”
“You’d do great,” she insisted. A fleeting microfantasy raced through her mind in which she and Justin headed a pack that moved to L.A. Or maybe even Montreal. She could get a job in the Cirque du Soleil and just not work on full moon nights.
But that meant a life with Justin, not Trick. And though Justin affected her in a physical way — wolf to wolf — Trick was the one she wanted to sit on the couch and watch movies with. Or maybe that was just as farfetched as imagining Justin without Lucy beside him.
“Kat,” Justin said seriously, interrupting her reverie. “Don’t get ideas. I don’t see a move to L.A. in anyone’s future.”
“It’s not up to you,” she snapped. Then she jerked. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, backtracking. Because if he challenged Lee and assumed leadership of the pack, it would be up to him. He could give her back her life. Could she talk him into it?
“Listen, the packs are what they are and we don’t split off, make new ones. Us, the Gaudin pack, the Hounds of God, and the others, we’re all vying for territory while trying to survive in this world. So, tomorrow after school,” he pressed.
“If you say so,” she replied.
“I say so.” He bent forward and offered his cheek. As she rose on tiptoe to kiss it, he swiveled his head, as if he was going to try to kiss her on her mouth. Then he stopped himself and, sighing, accepted