"A very close friend," Max said. Her voice was soft, but with an undertone of menace that Gio thought Nacio would do well to heed.
"Why are you back, Max?" Nacio, utterly failing to heed the threat in Max's voice and body language, laughed again. "I hear that you came seeking sanctuary, but you must know this place isn't safe for you. Are you here to challenge me again?"
"Yes," Max said.
The smile fell away from his face. It was only for a moment, but Gio actually saw him look afraid.
That, more than anything, made Gio realize that Max must have come very close to winning before. Nacio had defeated her and driven her off. He was actually scared of her. For an instant, it was clear on his face before he managed to become guarded.
"Really," Nacio said. His gaze flicked to their jaguar honor guard, and Gio realized that Nacio was just as trapped as Max. With some of his clan watching, he couldn't back down without risking his place as alpha. "And when do you want to try this ill-considered challenge?"
"Why not now?" Max said.
MAX
After all thistime of being afraid of Nacio, Max found that now that she had actually come face to face with him, her uncertainty fell away. This was where she was meant to be and what she was meant to do.
She had the pleasure of seeing Nacio caught completely off guard by her suggestion. "Right now?" he said.
"Why not? What point in waiting? Neither of us is getting any younger." Struck by a sudden dramatic urge, Max carefully plucked the yellow flower from her hair. She turned to Gio and solemnly held it out to him. "Hold my flower for me, please."
"At my lady's command," Gio said, with courtly grace as if she had presented him with something far more precious, and took the daisy.
There was a bright spark of humor in his eyes, but also something more serious. He looked at her intensely, and seemed to be asking,Are you sure?
Max knew that if she asked for it, Gio would step up in a heartbeat and fight this battle for her. He would certainly prefer that to sitting and watching her do it. And there was almost no chance that Nacio could beat him. Nacio was just a flesh and blood jaguar; he had little hope of defeating a stone lion. If nothing else, Gio could just sit on him.
But that was why Gio's victory could not be accepted by her clan. Allowing Gio to fight Nacio would prove nothing. She couldn't imagine Gio ever being taken in by the clan as their leader; he would be faced with nothing but resistance. He could defeat Gio, but then he would have to fight everyone else in the clan. In fact, Nacio could back down from such a challenge with no loss of face; it was clearly unfair.
Max's challenge, however, could not be put off without weakening his position. And it was clear that Nacio knew it.
"Don't you need time to prepare?" he asked.
"Are you saying that you do?" Max retorted. She smiled and took a step back, giving him a little bow. "Of course, if the great alpha Nacio needs some time to gather his strength before a fight, then by all means, I think he should have it—don't you?" she asked the attendant jaguars.
That did it. Nacio couldn't back down in front of his people. His dominance of the clan was based upon enforcing his will by force. His predecessor, Uncle Tomas, had held the clan's quiet respect, but Nacio only had their fear.
"Of course," Nacio said, smiling at her with a humorless show of teeth. "Let us go tell the village. We must have spectators."
"I'm sure we can wait here while the patrollers do it."
Nacio gritted his teeth, but he turned and gave the jaguars a brief nod. They sprinted off.
Max went over and sat on one of the bottom ranks of seats. She began to calmly braid her hair to keep it out of her face. Nacio stood at a distance, clearly unsure what to do. Max found that she was enjoying throwing him off at every turn. Unfortunately it couldn't last. Soon enough, she would have to fight him for real.
Gio sat beside her. He was still holding the daisy. Absently he tucked it behind his ear to get it out of his hands, making Max smile.
"That looks very fetching on you."
"I'm only holding it for you," he reminded her. His brief flash of a smile faded. "Let me fight him."
Max shook her head. "No. It has to be me."
"Why?"
She tried to think how to explain. Any shifter would have known instinctively. But Gio had grown up as a human; he didn't understand. "He can't beat you, Gio, and he knows it, so there's no threat to his place in the clan from your challenge. No one would accept his defeat as fair or legitimate. The entire clan would rally on his side against you."
"Do you think you can defeat him?" Gio asked quietly.
