Page 19 of Black Moon

“They’re right,” I finally said, and they both looked up at me confusedly. Which was fair, since we hadn’t been talking about a “they” at all, let alone something “they” might be right about. I sighed and set my fork down. “Birch said that some people in the pack might be thinking about backing Skip as alpha because we’ve gotten lazy and complacent. Because we’re trying to live in the past instead of changing things. And they’re right. This problem isn’t going to solve itself with enough patience and carrying on as usual. Things need to change.”

Juniper’s lips scrunched into a disgusted frown. “And the great ‘they’ think Skippy Chadwick’s gonna change anything? The little jackass is lucky if he remembers to put his pants on right-side-out in the morning. He couldn’t lead his way out of a wet paper sack.”

If I hadn’t already heard half a dozen people say similar things, I’d have dismissed it as Juniper’s way of supporting me, but no one whose opinion I valued seemed to think Skip would make a good leader. Part of me wanted to go talk to his mother, Wanda, and see if she, at least, would say something about her son’s better qualities. Something about being good under pressure or caring about people.

Anything, really.

I wasn’t sure I had a political fight in me, and I didn’t want my incompetence at politics to land my pack with a bad leader.

So get your ass to work and prove that you’d make a better alpha than him, an irritated voice in my head demanded. I wanted to blame it on Dad, or Aspen, or literally anyone, but...nope. It was just my own voice. My own psyche, tired of waiting for me to get my shit together.

I needed to handle this. Now. I looked back down at my pie, and suddenly wanted it very much. It was the special kind Rowan made for the family, with a piece of cheddar cheese on top. Shrugging, I picked it up and took it with me, heading for the door.

“Linden?” Rowan called after me.

“Be back in a while,” I answered through a bite of pie. “Got to talk to Claudia. Great pie, Ro!”

I still had half a slice of pie on my plate when I rang the Wilson doorbell—it was just a few houses down from Grove House, after all.

Claudia answered the door, one eyebrow raised. “Since that’s half gone and your fork is currently in your mouth, I’m assuming you did not bring me pie.” Still, she gave the remaining pie a speculative look.

I held out the plate like an offering to an angry goddess, and surreptitiously tried to swallow the bite that was still in my mouth. “Of course I did.”

She grinned at me and snatched the plate. “Come on in, Linden. We were just finishing dinner, so your timing is perfect.”

Sure enough, their dining room smelled...well, it smelled like greasy takeout burgers, so not too bad. Claudia had never been much for cooking, and Birch had been raised by an old-fashioned family where the alpha never would have been asked to cook. I suspected sometimes that they survived on a lot of takeout, because as much as he’d been raised to think that way, Birch would never in a million years have expected Claudia to become a housewife. He’d have been more likely to teach himself to cook, because he adored her just as she was.

She waved to an empty chair at the table, then vaguely into the kitchen. “Tea in the fridge if you want. I’d offer you a soda, but I know you hate it. Then sit down and tell us why you’re here, and why it’s dire enough for you to offer up your pie.”

I ignored the offer of a drink, something I wouldn’t generally have done—werewolves take offers of hospitality seriously. But this was too important. She was right; it was dire. “Claudia, you know the pack better than anyone. Everyone I’ve talked to thinks Skip is useless, and his leadership will hurt us.”

She nodded, and so did Birch.

“But no one else wants to be alpha.”

They both nodded again, Birch wincing and Claudia stuffing a bite of pie in her mouth.

“So there isn’t a choice.” I turned and met Claudia’s gaze. “You have to help me become the alpha we need.”

10

Colt

From everything Juniper Grove had said, Claudia Wilson was the woman to talk to first. Since I’d gotten to Grove pack lands, it seemed like I was stepping in shit every way I turned, but supposedly, Claudia was the woman in the know. Before I went to bother the Morgans, who were “going through some things,” I definitely needed to get my bearings.

So color me surprised when I returned to my motel room the night after talking to Juniper and pulled out my laptop to find an email from none other than Ms. Wilson. She wrote:

Hey Colt,

I got your email from one of your articles. Nice work, by the way—I really enjoyed your take on the dangers of only having alpha wolves in national politics. Got to say, it gave my alpha husband a good snicker. He said to tell you you’re spot on with that.

Anyway, hope that’s not too stalkery for you, but we’re a small town with a tight-knit pack, so you’ll have to forgive my snooping.

I would LOVE if you’d join me for coffee tomorrow. About ten?

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Claudia

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