Dead as a Doornail

almost certainly a scrape from the metal of the door. “Not a bite,” I said, my voice faltering on the last word. The tension left me in a rush.
    “Nope. No she-wolf in your future,” he agreed, and flowed to his feet. He held out his hand. I took it, and he had me on my feet in a second. A piercing yelp from the cage yanked me back into the here and now.
    “Tell me something. Why the hell can’t they just vote?” I asked him.
    Quinn’s round eyes, back to their purple-brown color and properly surrounded with white, crinkled at the corners with amusement.
    “Not the way of the shifter, babe. You’re going to see me later,” Quinn promised. Without another word he strode back to the cage, and my little field trip was over. I had to turn my attention back to the truly important thing happening in this building.
    Claudine and Claude were looking anxiously over their shoulders when I found them. They made a little space for me to ease in between them, and wrapped their arms around me when I was in place. They seemed very upset, and Claudine had two tears trailing down her cheeks. When I saw the situation in the cage, I understood why.
    The lighter wolf was winning. The black wolf’s coat was matted with blood. He was still on his feet, still snarling, but one of his hind legs was giving way under his weight from time to time. He managed to pull himself back up twice, but the third time the leg collapsed, the younger wolf was on him, the two spinning over and over in a terrifying blur of teeth, torn flesh, and fur.
    Forgetting the silence rules, all the Weres were screaming their support of one contestant or the other, or just howling. The violence and the noise blended together to make a chaotic collage. I finally spotted Alcide pounding his hands against the metal in futile agitation. I had never felt so sorry for anyone in my life. I wondered if he’d try to break into the combat cage. But another look told me that even if Alcide’s respect for pack rules broke down and he attempted to go to his father’s aid, Quinn was blocking the door. That was why the pack had brought in an outsider, of course.
    Abruptly, the fight was over. The lighter wolf had thedarker one by the throat. He was gripping, but not biting. Maybe Jackson would have gone on struggling if he hadn’t been so severely wounded, but his strength was exhausted. He lay whining, quite unable to defend himself, disabled. The room fell completely silent.
    “Patrick Furnan is declared the winner,” said Quinn, his voice neutral.
    And then Patrick Furnan bit down on Jackson Herveaux’s throat and killed him.

Chapter 16
    Q UINN TOOK OVER the cleanup with the sure authority of one who’s supervised such things before. Though I was dull and stupid with shock, I noticed he gave clear, concise directions as to the dispersal of the testing materials. Pack members dismantled the cage into sections and took apart the agility arena with efficient dispatch. A cleanup crew took care of mopping up the blood and other fluids.
    Soon the building was empty of all but the people. Patrick Furnan had reverted to his human form, and Dr. Ludwig was attending his many wounds. I was glad he had every one of them. I was only sorry they weren’t worse. But the pack had accepted Furnan’s choice. If they would not protest such unnecessary brutality, I couldn’t.
    Alcide was being comforted by Maria-Star Cooper, a young Were I knew slightly.
    Maria-Star held him and stroked his back, providingsupport by her sheer closeness. He didn’t have to tell me that on this occasion, he preferred another Were’s companionship to mine. I’d gone to hug him, but when I’d neared him and met his eyes, I’d known. That hurt, and it hurt bad; but today wasn’t about me and my feelings.
    Claudine was crying in her brother’s arms. “She’s so tenderhearted,” I whispered to Claude, feeling a bit abashed that I wasn’t crying myself. My concern was for Alcide; I’d hardly known Jackson Herveaux.
    “She went through the second elf war in Iowa fighting with the best of them,” Claude said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen a decapitated goblin stick its tongue out at her in its death throes, and she laughed. But as she gets closer to the light, she becomes more sensitive.”
    That effectively shut me up. I was not about to ask for any explanation of yet another arcane supernatural rule. I’d had a bellyful this day.
    Now that all the mess was cleared away (that mess