Reeve growled back at the black wolf, but Lydia could tell there was more confusion in the sound than anything else. He shifted back, and the black wolf followed suit.
She was right. It was Case. In his human form, he looked haggard, still pale and sweaty and obviously under a lot of strain, but he was far from the feverish, tortured man she’d left behind a few minutes ago. His new shifter strength was already flowing through him, keeping him on his feet when any ordinary human would have been flat on his back.
“You must be Reeve,” Case said. There was a weary humor in his voice that Lydia very much doubted anyone else would have had.
She’d caught her breath a while ago and had been too stunned by Case’s arrival to even think about joining the fray. She scolded herself for it now and shifted back to stand at his side.
That felt good. Natural. It had been a long time since she’d done something that felt both rightandeffortless.
“Hi,” she said to Case.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Hi yourself. Your bite packs a punch.”
“You—” Reeve sputtered, indignant and gloriously (if all too briefly) speechless. “Youturnedhim? Who evenishe?”
Lydia half-turned to Case. “You want to introduce yourself?”
He nodded. “Case Jackson,” he said to Reeve. “But I don’t think I’ll shake your hand. I know I got here late, but I feel like Lydia’s probably already told you to leave.”
“I have.”
“And then you attacked her,” Case said. The hint of humor that had been in his voice vanished completely at that.
Reeve ignored all of this to say belatedly, “I don’t care what your name is! What are you doing here? You can’t—” He wheeled on Lydia. “You can’t turn humans! They don’t have any right to join our world! And he can’t interfere in an alpha challenge. Don’t even think of getting him involved in all this.”
Oh, I’ve thought about it. I’ve thought all about it, and I’m going to enjoy it. Especially since it seems like now I’ve bowledyouover for a change.
“Your weird ideas about who deserves a wolf aside,” Lydia said, “it’s perfectly legal to turn a consenting human who knows what he’s saying yes to. The Overpack has never had a problem with that. Case signed a form and everything. It’s on file at Turner Lowe, and they can even show it to you if you’re curious.”
Of course, that wasn’t good enough for Reeve. Turner Lowe was a shifter institution that had been around for over a century, but the idea of writing down laws and abiding by them was still a little too “human” for Reeve, even if generations of his own ancestors disagreed with him about that. His way of looking at the world had nothing to do with wolf history. The tradition of self-important “savagery” he was ostensibly trying to hold on to had never actually existed.
She was pretty sure Reeve secretly knew that, too. Everything he claimed to believe in was just another way to get what he wanted.
She talked over his ranting explanations about how Turner Lowe and informed consent didn’t matter, all thatmatteredwas keeping the world of shifters secret and pure. She added:
“And you’re wrong about another thing, too. Case can get involved. If you come and challenge me when the time comes, hewillbe involved. He’s going to be my mate.”
The second the words were out of her mouth, she had the nightmarish realization that Case could have changed his mind. One look at him, thank God, told her that he hadn’t.
“You recruited and turned ahumanto fight me,” Reeve snarled at her. “And you think that’s fair?”
The answer to that was so clear that it legitimately took her a moment to realize he meant it as a real question.
“Yes! Obviously! If facing down co-alphas is too much for you, you’re more than welcome tonever come back here.”
Reeve’s whole face twisted in disgust. “You’re not getting off that easily. Not you, and not yourhuman.”
“I’m clearly a werewolf now,” Case pointed out. “You saw me.”
“This isn’t over,” Reeve said, spitting at their feet. He shifted and stalked off, the pack parting to let him through. The ones who had shifted indulged in growling at him before they turned human again.
It could be wishful thinking on her part, but Lydia was pretty sure that her people looked a tiny bit less cowed than they had earlier. They were certainly eyeing Case with open speculation, and at least some of that speculation was hopeful. It was hard to make a better debut than saving another wolf in a fight.
“So ....” It was Pam Delaney again. She looked back and forth between Case and Lydia. “Is this for real?”
Wolves believed in the power of gestures over words, and this seemed like the right time for a good one.
Lydia held out her hand to Case, and he took it.
