Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

Maybe when Blackwood loses interest? A vampire never loses its sheep except to death.”
    He was scared for me. I could see that. It didn’t stop me from snapping at him anyway. “Look. I was out of options.” I didn’t tell them that Wulfe could sever the bond between Stefan and me. It had been told to me in confidence, and I really did try not to blurt out everything anyone told me in secret. Except, maybe, to Adam.
    He closed his eyes and looked sick. “Yes. I know.” “A vampire can’t take an Alpha wolf as a sheep,” said Adam. “Maybe we can work from that to free Mercy when it seems useful. What we don’t want to do is go off half-cocked and get rid of Stefan so the”—he gave me an ironic lift of his eyebrow—“Boogeyman of Spokane takes over again. I’m with Mercy. If you have to listen to a vampire, Stefan’s not the worst choice.”
    â€œWhy can’t a vampire take over an Alpha?” I asked.
    It was Samuel who answered me. “I’d almost forgotten that. It’s the way the pack works, Mercy. If a vampire isn’t strong enough to take every wolf in the pack, all at once, he can’t take the Alpha. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen—there are a couple of vampires in the Old Country ... no, most of them are gone, I think. Anyway there are none here who could do it.”
    â€œWhat about Blackwood?” I asked.
    Samuel shrugged unhappily. “I’ve never met Blackwood, and I’m not sure Da has either. I’ll ask.”
    â€œDo that,” said Adam. “In the meantime, that makes Stefan an even better choice. He’s not going to be taking over. I think I’m mostly bothered by the close ties between Blackwood and your friend Amber.”
    I’d lost my appetite. After scraping my plate clean, I put it in the dishwasher. Me, too. Killing Blackwood was the only solution to it I could see. I started to put my glass in the dishwasher but changed my mind and refilled it with cranberry juice. Its bite suited my mood.
    â€œMercy?” Adam had obviously asked me something I hadn’t heard.
    I looked at him, and he asked me again. “Blackwood has a relationship with both Amber and her husband?”
    â€œThat’s right,” I told him. “Her husband is his lawyer, and Blackwood is feeding on Amber and...” It seemed like something that I should hide. But I’d smelled the sex on her. “Anyway I don’t think that she knows anything. She thought she’d been out shopping.” Her husband? I didn’t want him to be part of it. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know his client is preying on Amber. But I don’t know how much else he knows.”
    â€œWhen did the hauntings start?” Samuel looked grim. “How long have they been having trouble with a ghost?”
    I had to think about it. “Not long. A few months.”
    â€œAbout the time that demon-ridden vampire showed up,” said Adam.
    â€œSo?” I said. That one had never made the papers.
    Adam turned to Samuel, his movement such that anyone watching would know that he was a predator. “What do you know about Blackwood?”
    Adam’s voice and posture were just a little too agressive for an Alpha standing in Samuel’s kitchen. Another day, another time, Samuel would have let it go. But he’d had a bad day ... and I thought that the vampires hadn’t helped. He snarled and snapped a hand out to shove Adam back.
    Adam caught it and knocked it away as he came to his feet.
    Bad, I thought, carefully not moving. This was very bad. Power, rank with musk and pack, vibrated through the house, making the air thick.
    Both of them were on edge. They were dominants—tyrants if I’d have allowed it. But their strongest, most urgent need was to protect.
    And I’d been recently harmed while under their protection. Once with Tim and a second time with Blackwood—and to a lesser extent with Stefan. It left them both dangerously aggressive.
    Being a werewolf wasn’t like being a human with a hot temper—it was a balance: a human soul against a predator’s instinctive drives. Push it too hard, and it was the animal in control—and the wolf didn’t care who it hurt.
    Samuel was the more dominant, but he wasn’t an Alpha. If it came to a fight, neither of them would fare well. In a few breaths, the pause before