Kelley Armstrong - Frostbitten

The Alpha lit a second lantern, then turned to me. "Shift to human."

While that would certainly aid communication, right now, I was happy to keep my warm fur and sharp teeth.

When I made no move to start my Change, he said, "We would like you to shift to human."

He enunciated carefully, as one unaccustomed to such complete and formal communication, but wanting to accommodate a guest from a culture that valued such things. And that was how I think they were trying to treat me-as a guest. A captive guest to be sure, but they hadn't made any threatening moves. They weren't even blocking the exit, though I suspected if I bolted outside, I'd soon discover where the third elder had gone. Yet they seemed anxious to maintain the appearance of civility, and it seemed wise to go along with it for now.

"Over there." The Alpha pointed to the corner. "It is dark enough."

The young one-Eli-tried to follow me. A growl from the Alpha stopped him.

"I'm just going over here," he said, his speech surprisingly normal, like that of a second-generation immigrant. "To watch her."

The elder tending the fire chuckled and Eli blushed.

"To guard her, I mean," he said.

"Sit," the Alpha growled.

"Clothing?" the other elder said.

The Alpha grunted and nodded, then waved Eli toward a rough-hewn chest. I waited while Eli dropped clothes near me. When he'd retreated, I began my Change. Once finished, I pulled on the shirt and buttoned it, reached for pants… and found none. The shirt fell to my knees, though, and the reed-covered floor kept the cold from my feet.

When I stepped forward, the Alpha took one look at me and growled. "Eli… "

The boy only looked over, his face a study in wide-eyed innocence.

"Pants," the Alpha said.

"They're too big for her."

"Eli!"

He found me a pair of jeans. As he was bringing them over, he snuck a look at me.

"Eli… " The Alpha's voice was a low growl now. "Respect."

I thought he meant for Eli to respect him , but when Eli kept staring, the elder-the one I suspected was his father-cuffed him as he had in the woods and growled, "Respect, Eli. She is werewolf."

The look the boy gave me said this wasn't, to him, cause for respect. But I already knew that. He'd been the one Clay and I had encountered in the forest, and judging by the way that mutt-who-runs-with-the-wolves had acted, we weren't the only werewolves Eli had been terrorizing.

The Alpha pulled out a chair made from bound branches and draped with an animal skin-bear by the smell-and he motioned for me to sit. As I did, I looked around. The cave was a jarring mix of primitive and modern-furs and twig furniture mingling with parkas, winter boots and, beside the fire pit, a steel pail of water. Not primitive, I suppose, just old-fashioned wherever modern wasn't necessary, no different from humans who'd decided to live off the land.

When the Alpha followed my gaze, though, he said quickly, "This is only a hunting camp. We live a distance away. In houses," he added emphatically, lest I mistake them for cave-dwelling savages.

"Is that where the women are?" I had no idea whether there were women, but I had a sneaking suspicion these guys weren't strolling into Anchorage, picking up chicks in the local bars.

He nodded. "They come sometimes. Not this time."

"And they're… like you? They can… shift into… what you do?"

He looked confused. I don't blame him-my question wasn't exactly clear, but I had no idea what they called themselves.

"The women," I said. "They're like you. They… shift form?"

"Of course." He frowned, then nodded. "Yes, there are not women among the werewolves. Or that is what I have heard, but clearly you are… " He thought this through a minute, then said, "You are a bitten one, then."

I nodded. "Is that what your women are? Bitten?"

"No, it is not the same. We cannot… do that. We are born Shifters. Our women are, too. But they are rare."

Behind him, Eli grumbled. Not a situation to his liking, I supposed.

I turned back to the Alpha. They hadn't invited me here to exchange notes on our species, so anything I wanted to know, I'd better ask fast.

"And you live deeper in the woods? In a community? Are there many of you?"

Typical questions, particularly for someone with an anthropologist husband who'd drill her for details. But from the look on the Alpha's face, he didn't care to give those details. He hid his unease by quickly glancing aside and muttering, "Not important."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I just-I've never met… Shifters before."

"There are many of us," Eli said. "More than you werewolves, and all bigger and stronger than your best. If you come, we'll fight." He met my gaze. "And we'll win."

"Respect!" the Alpha snarled, wheeling on him.

"Why? Look at her. She's no bigger than a human. And she shifts into a normal wolf. Why should we be afraid of-?"

His father cuffed him. "Respect!"

"It's okay." I tried for a wry smile. "I can see how my questions could have been misinterpreted, but it was only curiosity. Your territory is yours. We have our own, and we're happy with it."

"The werewolves like cities," the Alpha said, in a tone that implied he pitied our preference, but was trying to remain politely neutral on the subject. "They have never given us a problem. Until now. These werewolves in the valley. The ones in the cabin… "

"If you mean the two brothers and their friends, they aren't part of my Pack. In fact, I just escaped from them."

"We know this. We have been watching them. They are… trouble."

That was putting it mildly.

"Did the others in your Pack come with you?" the Alpha asked. "You are not alone, are you?"

Eli had seen me with Clay, but from the nervous looks he was tossing my way, the others knew nothing of those encounters. Given their carefully polite behavior now, I suspected they wouldn't be happy to hear that he'd tried to run us off "his" territory.

"I'm with my mate."

"Good. You will bring him. Then you will get rid of these werewolves."

"You mean kill them?"

The Alpha met my gaze with an inscrutable look, like the one I'd seen so often from Jeremy. I wondered if it came automatically with Alphahood. I hoped so, because otherwise, I doubted I'd ever develop it.

"If that is what you think best," he said, as if leaving the final call up to me. Not that I had any problem killing Tesler. Hell, I didn't plan to get on a plane out of Alaska until I had. But being commanded to do so wasn't something I took lightly.

I demanded-well, asked for, relatively nicely-an explanation. Getting one wasn't easy. The conversation proceeded slowly as the Alpha searched for the right words. Eli kept sighing and fidgeting, clearly wanting to take over. But in this, the Shifters were like a were wolf Pack. While they made some allowances for his youth, he couldn't speak for the Alpha. When the Alpha is present, he must speak for his pack.

As he'd said, this was one of the main hunting camps for his community, as well as a way station between it and the city, where they went for supplies. While Dennis's cabin had been here for years, he'd never caused any trouble, so the Shifters treated him as a fellow predator-leaving him alone. Tesler and his boys were another matter.

If Dennis was the respected fellow hunter, the Teslers were like the rednecks who rent a cabin for the week just to get drunk and shoot stuff. They'd been running in wolf form not caring whether they were seen or heard, scaring the game for miles and preying on humans, then-worse yet-leaving their kills in the open.

Now, I'd already suspected the mutts of the killings, despite Dan's denials. When I expressed even the slightest skepticism, though, just a gentle "Are you sure it was them?" the Alpha got his back up.