in and have everything under control. There’ll always be random shit to deal with, but I mean settled into our life. I’m also a bit young, just twenty, and already alpha. In fact, I’m kind of surprised no other alpha shifters have come here to challenge me yet. Those spare heirs, with a lot more experience.”
Tiffany snorted, and pointed at me, “Angel mate. He might not be able to interfere in the challenge itself, but taking your place has horrific political consequences. If you had to leave the city, he’d come with you as would I, and the new alpha would have three very annoyed leaders of the other races up his or her ass. Not to mention my mother would be extra pissed that he’d chased her own child and heir from the city.”
Ginny tilted her head, then nodded, “That may be it, I just hadn’t thought it through fully like that before. Just that this is one of the top five sought after cities. Is it wrong I’m a little disappointed, I feel cheated out of challenging myself.”
“Yes, violent woman. But cheer up, there’s bound to be a power-hungry alpha or two out there that hasn’t thought it through. Would we really have to leave though?”
Ginny winked, and nodded, “It’s customary. I could deal with working for a new alpha, say back in my old position, but it’s not healthy for the pack and would blur the lines of loyalty.”
I grunted, that made some sense I supposed, “We could always go independent, and move in with the coven so Tiffany and I could stay with our coven.”
Ginny asked, “What would I do?”
I shrugged, “You could be our tabby ca…” I cut off as her napkin violently slammed into my face, and I broke down in chuckles, “I don’t know, what would you do if we left. Not sure what the difference there would be. We’d still be independent unless you took over yet another pack in a smaller city?”
Tiffany said, “A shifter to accompany our teams would be just as valuable as I am to you when you decide to take the family out rogue hunting.”
Ginny sighed, “Good point. Also, I’m not overly worried about it. Since you mated with me, I’m very strong, as strong as the strongest alphas out there.”
That was true enough, our witch had gotten a good boost to her power as well.
We all got back to eating our second plateful. That time I had one pork and one beef sandwich, and the macaroni salad. Even witches ate a lot after using their magic, and Tiffany was chowing down.
Chapter Four
The conference room table in the large office next to Ginny’s accommodated all eight of us. Ginny sat at the head, with both Tiffany and I flanking her in the closest chairs along the long side of the table. The other four chairs on the sides were taken up by the team leads, and Kari was at the foot of the table with a laptop to take notes or look things up on the fly if it was necessary.
The four leads were two males and two females. John, Carmen, Mark, and Serina. All four were good people, and they’d taught me a lot and had made it as difficult as possible for me to resist my instincts during a fight. All on the theory that if I could handle that, I could easily handle it in real world combat.
John had brown hair and eyes, and he was built like a brick wall. He was an inch taller than me at six foot three, and all muscles. He didn’t take much seriously except our calling to protect humanity and the less powerful in the pack. Carmen was a short and curvy Hispanic woman who was tougher than nails in a fight but extremely nice otherwise and a good teacher. She had long dark brown hair and brown eyes. Mark was as tall as John and me, but he was all wiry strength and faster than either of us. He had short black hair and gray eyes, and he was the most serious of the four but not unkindly. Serina was tall and willowy like my witch, with light brown hair and blue eyes, and was the sneakiest fighter of the four. Honestly, Carmen and Serina had taught me the most, and had been the most challenging to fight, but not by a marked amount. John and Mark weren’t slackers by any stretch, and they’d all done