Page 99 of Feral Werewolves

I pressed in close to Paladin. “Hey,” I said.

He caressed my face, all of his focus entirely on me. “Hey.”

Liam sighed. “I mean it. I’m going to start shooting into the air and yelling that people don’t have to go home but they can’t stay here. I don’t know where you want the new compound to be. Maybe you should just go occupy Red’s compound—Griff’s compound—”

“I don’t want there to be a compound at all,” said Paladin, but he said it to me, tracing the lines of my cheekbone. “I don’t think there’s any reason for people to live like that. It’s no good for us. We need community, yeah, but we need individual freedom, too.”

“So, then how does that even work?” said Liam. “Where will they all live?”

“There’s like fifteen huge houses in that subdivision,” Paladin said. “I mean, how many guys does he have in that monstrosity of a house he built onto now? They could spread out. Two or three of them to a house out there, and it’d be fine.”

“Sure, but they won’t organize themselves into that,” spoke up Lazarus, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Tell them that and they’ll just start fighting amongst themselves.”

“This is to say nothing of the fact,” said Liam, “that there are packs all over this area who still think they’re loyal to Griff and have no idea that Red staged a coup or that you just staged another one, or—”

“Okay, sure, but the problem right now is where everyone sleeps tonight, isn’t it?” I said.

Everyone looked at me as if they were shocked and horrified to hear my voice.

“They’re not sleeping here,” said Liam.

“Yeah, but if I jostle them around right after they defected from Red,” said Paladin, “then…”

“Then,” I supplied, “it will make them think you don’t know what you’re doing, and they’ll doubt that they’re supporting the right guy.”

“Exactly, sweetheart,” said Paladin, grinning at me. He looked at Liam. “We lose them. And we need to create an environment that is safe for our mates. You don’t want to be constantly on guard against someone coming to take Wendy, do you?”

Wendy buried her face against Liam’s shirt.

“Who’s left at the compound?” I said.

Paladin thought about it. “Well, when we left, Griff and Red were yelling at each other in the kitchen, but they weren’t trading blows. Yet, anyway. Madge and Noah were just watching. So, those four are in the house. We took four cars of people—two of them were full of the ten mates. There were twelve more guys that came and probably there are twelve more who’ve walked. That could mean we left five guys loyal to Red back there?”

“So, we go back and let them sleep in their own beds,” I said. “Because that many guys can handle five stragglers.”

Paladin scratched his chin. “I just made them leave, Clementine.”

“Yeah,” I said, “and now you rally them all up together with a big speech about how they picked the right side, and now, together, you’re going to go back and take what is theirs. You know, ‘You going to let Red keep you from your own bed tonight?’”

Paladin considered. “You know, that could work.” He kissed my temple. “You’re smart.”

“And I’m coming with you,” I said. “Because I have to make sure that you don’t fucking hurt Noah.”

“Who’s Noah?” said Lazarus.

“Red’s mate,” said Paladin.

“He has a mate?” said Lazarus, and now he was seething. “How could he havedonethis?”

23

clementine

BUT IT TURNEDout there was no resistance when we came back to the compound.

Paladin whipped everyone into a big frenzy, telling them that we were all together now, and that we had the numbers and we had the power, and we all trooped back to the compound together, Paladin, me, Kestrel, and Lazarus on foot and leading the charge. People brought the cars back, but they drove slowly behind everyone who was walking. When we drove up the driveway to the compound, the horns were beeping and everyone was yelling, and then we got to the doors and no one tried to stop us.

We went inside and Paladin sent everyone off to take back their bedrooms, and they went.

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