stupid thing that allowing a coyote into a pack of wolves had accomplished - instead of what it should be, a recognition of Mary Jo's right to challenge regardless of her sex. I figured he was right.
"There are only three females in this pack," said Darryl. I don't think he forgot about me so much as he really meant three women werewolves instead of females in general. "That is typical for all packs. Most werewolves die before they have spent a decade as a wolf, but for women who are wolves, that life span is almost doubled because they do not fight men for dominance. And still they are so few. You are too precious to us to allow you to risk so much."
It took me a while to realize he wasn't talking to the whole pack, but to his mate.
Auriele crossed her arms. "That makes sense in a species where women are important to survival. But we aren't. We cannot have children - and so are no more valuable to the pack than anyone else."
It had the ring of an old argument.
"I vote no," said Darryl, snapping his teeth as he spoke.
"I vote yes," responded Auriele coolly.
"Damn it," said Warren. "Y'all are going to throw me in the middle of a marital spat on top of everything else?"
"Up to you," Auriele said grimly.
"Hell," said Warren, "if this ain't a whole can of worms, I don't know what is. Mary Jo?"
"Yes?"
"You sure about this, darlin'?"
It felt as if the whole pack drew a breath.
"This is my fault," she told him. "That Adam got hurt, that the pack has been in an upheaval. I didn't cause it all, but I didn't stop it either. I think it's time I make suitable reparations, don't you? Try to fix the damage?"
Warren stared at her, and I saw the wolf come and go in his eye. "All right. All right. You go fight him, Mary Jo - and you damn well better win. You hear me?"
She nodded. "I'll do my best."
"You do better than that," he said grimly.
"Mary Jo." Paul's voice was plaintive. "I don't want to hurt you, woman."
She kicked off her shoes and started pulling off her socks. "Do you yield?" she asked him, while she stood on one foot.
He stared at her, his body tight with growing anger. "I stuck my neck out for you," he said.
She nodded. "Yes. And I was wrong to ask you to." She tossed her second sock aside and looked at him. "But Henry used both of us to ruin our pack. Are you going to let him get away with it?"
It was very quiet in the garage. I'm not sure anyone was even breathing. Henry's name had been a shock. Heads turned toward Henry, who was leaning against the wall between the garage doors, as far as he could get from Adam's side of the mat.
Paul looked at him, too. For a moment, I thought it was going to work.
"Are you going to let some girl lead you around by your tail like I did?" Henry said, sounding miserable. "She wants Adam, and she's willing to throw both of us away to get him." It was a masterful performance, and Paul bought it - hook, line, and sinker.
"The hell with you, then," Paul said to her. "The hell with you, Mary Jo. I accept your challenge." He looked at Adam. "You'll have to wait. I guess I'll eat my dessert first."
And he strode to the far end of the mat, next to Henry. Mary Jo walked up to where Adam was standing.
"Reparations accepted," he said. "You remember he fights with his heart and not his head."
"And he moves slower to the left than the right," she agreed.
Adam left her. As he walked across the white mat, he left little traces of blood wherever his foot hit. Blood was better than yellow pus, right?
"Good job," he murmured when he came up to me. "Thank you. I couldn't tell if you could hear me or not."
Warren yielded Adam his place between Jesse and me, moving around Jesse so he could still help her if he was needed. Sam moved around to my side and lay down on the cement with a sigh.
"See if you congratulate me when she's lying dead," I said, very quietly. I'd have told him about her ribs, but I was afraid that the wrong person would hear, and Paul would find out. Henry knew, of course . . . but somehow I didn't