“Isn’t this the reason those idiots are in that cell?”
“The general public as a collective is generally stupid.” He glanced at the two slumbering werewolves as I sat next to him and took one of the heavy glasses. “We have this law specificallyto prevent what these two did. I drink for pleasure and taste, not to make an embarrassment of myself and the town.”
He uncorked the bottle before filling both glasses halfway.
“I thought you’d be threatening me again, not drinking with me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Maybe it has to do with the cursed lighter that keeps appearing in my pocket.”
“You have to admit, it is rather effective,” he said casually, half-lapping at the alcohol in his glass. “And don’t think you’re innocent here. Driving without a license and then going into the woods. I expected more from you.”
I dug into my pocket to pull out the lighter. “So you have been watching me with this thing.”
“Yes and no.” He pointed to my glass. “You’ll really like that. It’s over a hundred years old and worth around two grand.”
My eyes went wide. “Hopefully it’s not taxpayer money.” I was only half-joking there.
“Please. You think Norwich has the kind of revenue to satisfy my lifestyle?”
I shrugged and took a sip. It was so smooth, the flavor so complex I couldn’t quite place it. “I don’t know. It’s a nice town for being out in the middle of nowhere.”
“When you’ve got a healthy population of happy citizens, things get done. Buildings get remodeled, roads repaved, water pipes and sewage lines maintained. We have good schools, clinics, and services. Not a dime is wasted on frivolous bureaucratic nonsense. The failures of society start from the bottom but are facilitated by failures at the top.”
We sat in silence for a moment, me sipping on the whiskey while the mayor stared as if expecting me to say something.
“Um… so, am I going to be allowed to take them home?”
“Not a chance.”
“What’s going to happen to them?”
“That’s up to you,” he said, finally glancing at the unconscious werewolves. “I can’t have drunk werewolves with no self-control breaking the laws. So I will give you one last ultimatum, and I’m going to break my word to someone in order to tell you some useful things.”
“You’re still gonna force me to live in your dungeon?” I asked, finishing off the glass.
Mosavi snorted. “That possibility isn’t off the table. Neither is me kicking those two out of town. They can live among the Whasha like wild animals.”
“Norwich isn’t Pleasantville. Austin is—”
“Your problem that you’ve allowed to be my problem,” the mayor interrupted. “That know-it-all wife of mine will eat her words when she hears of this.” His grimace warmed to a slight smile. “That lighter I gave you—it’s a little more than just a means of surveillance. In the half-turn state, you are prone to uncontrollable outbursts. The kind of power you possess, however small, becomes dangerous and unwieldy, as I’ve already mentioned.” He clenched his jaw while baring his teeth. “And it is exploitable.”
“Is that whyyoulured me here? To exploit me?”
“I tried a soft-handed approach in the past, but all that resulted was wasted potential.” He swallowed the remaining scotch in his glass. “I will not be as lenient with you.”
“You did this to someone else?”
“I’d prefer not to discuss my failures.” He shifted, turning his attention all the way back to me. “There are as few as three million werewolves in the entire world, and those with the vironoct make up a tiny fraction of a percent of that. When an elder dies, their power manifests in a random human male in early adulthood. It changes us. Turns us into leaders.”
“Like alphas?”
Mosavi wrinkled his snout. “Never use that word again.”
“O-kay,” I said, nervously clearing my throat, not wanting to anger him further by asking why.
He pointed to the lighter in my hand. “You are already familiar with the kuu. They are not just enchanted jewelry to bond werewolves. They can be much more than that.”
