Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

to do as well as Adam did. If you’d really objected, you could have stopped me before I left.”
    â€œMaybe I think Kyle is trustworthy.”
    I snorted. “Maybe the moon is made of green cheese. You don’t care. You think the werewolves need to come out in public like the fae.” Samuel had never been afraid of change.
    â€œWe aren’t going to be able to hide much longer,” Samuel said, confirming my guess. “When I went back to school, I realized just how far forensic medicine has come. Ten years ago, when it was just the military and the FBI labs we had to worry about, having a few wolves in the right places was sufficient. But there aren’t enough wolves to infiltrate every small-town police laboratory. Since the fae came out, the scientists are paying closer attention to abnormalities they used to attribute to lab equipment failure or specimen contamination. If Da doesn’t pick his time soon, it’ll pick him.”
    â€œYou’re the reason he’s considering it at all.” That made sense. Bran had always given close consideration to Samuel’s advice.
    â€œDa’s not stupid. Once he understood what we faced, he came to the same conclusion. He has a meeting scheduled for all the Alphas this coming spring.” He paused. “He considered using Adam—the handsome Vietnam war hero.”
    â€œWhy not you?” I asked. “The handsome, selfless doctor who has been keeping people alive for centuries.”
    â€œThat’s why Da’s in charge and you’re just a minion,” he said. “Remember, popular culture holds that all you need to become a werewolf is to have one bite you—not unlike AIDS. It will be a while before they’re comfortablerubbing elbows up close and personal. Better to leave them thinking that all the wolves are in the military and the police. You know—‘To Serve and Protect’.”
    â€œI’m not a minion,” I objected hotly. “Minions have to be followers.” He laughed, pleased at having gotten my goat again.
    â€œYou don’t mind that I told Kyle early?” I asked after a while.
    â€œNo, you were right. He has too much to lose by going to the tabloids, and he’s the kind of people we need behind us—to keep the mobs under control.”
    â€œEducated, well-spoken, well-bred lawyer?” I tried. Yes, that all fit Kyle. “But he’s not exactly mainstream.”
    Samuel shrugged. “Being gay has a certain cachet today.”
    I thought of the story Kyle had told me about his family and thought Samuel was mistaken, at least in some quarters. But all I said was, “I’ll tell Kyle he has a certain cachet with you.”
    Unexpectedly, Samuel grinned. “I’d rather you didn’t. He’ll just flirt with me some more.”
    â€œSpeaking of uncomfortable,” I said, “what had you and Warren so uptight?”
    â€œIt was mostly Warren,” he said. “I’m a stranger, a dominant wolf in his territory—and he was already upset because he thought he was losing the love of his life. If I’d realized how dominant he was, I’d have taken myself elsewhere for the night. We’ll manage, but it won’t be comfortable.”
    â€œHe’s Adam’s third.”
    â€œWould have been nice if someone had seen fit to tell me that,” Samuel groused good-naturedly. “With Adam wounded and the second not there, that sticks Warren in the Alpha role—no wonder he was so wound up. I was ready to go out and take a walk myself when you showed up.” He gave me a sharp look. “Odd how you showing up let him back down. Just as if Adam’s second were there—or his mate.”
    â€œI’m not pack,” I said shortly. “I’m not dating Adam. I have no status in the pack. What I did have was a longoverdue conversation with Kyle—which is what distracted Warren.”
    Samuel continued to watch me. His mouth was quirked up, but his eyes were full of things I couldn’t read, as he said, “Adam’s staked his claim on you before his pack. Did you know that?”
    I hadn’t. It made me suck in an angry breath before I realized why he might have done that. “He had to keep his pack from killing me somehow. Wolves kill coyotes who are in their territory. A formal claim of me as his mate would keep me safe. I understand that was something