that.”
He turned back to Mouse. “If I ever get fuzzy, I promise I’ll do my best not to do anything to freak you out. You should have seen how Wesley and Thad reacted to Analie when she was full wolf.”
Mouse frowned at him, wondering if he was playing dumb on purpose, or if he didn’t know his own pack’s history. Considering she’d found that Analie had been ignorant of some things, and that Christoph was self-admittedly of middle-rank, she was starting to think that only the higher-ranking Weres from Goliath must be told about their true nature.
Considering Ashi’s attitude, it could be dangerous if he found out and was ever released from the collar. Even Christoph could be a danger. Though she debated on mentioning something about it, she finally decided against it, instead choosing a “safe” answer and shift in topic.
I would imagine so. I saw when Analie shifted the other day.
Most of us are happy here. We are given a place or carve one out for ourselves. The donor structure is something like that. The humans who live here are mostly the ones who are next in line to be turned, and all of them work for Alec in some way or another (except for Jessica, she’s in school). Everyone else gets to stay in their own homes, and we call on them when we need them.
Though some of the humans Alec contracts are shared between those of us who aren’t so good at getting our own donors, a few get claimed and only belong to one person, like you to me, Jessica to Alec, Joy to John, etc. Depending on who you’re the donor to, you also get seniority that way, too. Jessica is the most senior donor right now.
Clarisse has had a betting pool going for the last four months on when Jessica will cave and let Alec turn her. I put my money on two months after she finishes her internship.
Christoph desperately wanted to avoid the subject of getting turned into a vampire. It made him feel sick.
“In Goliath, you earn your rank by gaining the respect of others, either by beating up people or working to better the pack. For most it’s a combination of the two. Ashi has gained rank almost exclusively by pulverizing those a rank or two above him. He’s a very high-ranking Goliath, very close to the rank of deputy.”
He glanced toward Analie’s door. “Analie is one of the lowest-ranking pack members. She’s been trying really hard to rise, but for the lowest of the low, when you’re that young, it’s nearly impossible. She can be a real scrapper, but for some reason she’s trying to climb by learning all the ceremonies, histories and so forth of Goliath, and doing the jobs no one else wants. I’ve never seen anyone try to climb rank like that.”
Mouse seemed puzzled at this. She thought about it and then wrote down her response.
It’s not like that with us. The eldest is usually the most powerful and goes undisputed as the leader. Another elder/powerful vampire might try to take down the leader, but whoever the master is, they appoint their own following. Most of the time, they have a chain of eldest/most powerful down to the youngest/weakest. It’s a little different here. Alec appointed John as his second because he’s so good at figures and running businesses, even though he’s so much younger than, say, Angus.
We all have our own jobs, and answer up a chain of command, with Alec at the top. John doesn’t want Jessica turned because he thinks she’s going to replace him. I think he has good reason to be worried.
She smiled bitterly at that. No love lost between the two.
Christoph read the note and nodded.
“The alpha picks his own deputy, but you can gain rank right up to that point. Gavin’s the pack scholar—he knows everything there is to know about Goliath. Barry’s in charge of us at wartime and reports to the deputy. That sort of thing.
“Anyone can gain rank, get pretty damn high. And anyone can challenge the alpha for his position. It just comes down to if you live through it or not.”
Mouse nodded.
An interloper trying to take an already claimed city will be attacked by everyone who answers to the Master of that city if they find out about the attack beforehand. We do not sit back and let our own get hurt. It’s not done often, but when it happens, usually a lot of