Page 72 of So I Won a Werelion

“Wendy has a bad reputation. My job is to show the world who she really is, even if she’s afraid to do it herself. And if that means pissing off a bunch of shifters with sticks up their asses about traditions they’ve all but forgotten, I’m willing to do it.”

“You’re a brave wolf.”He stopped when we came to the top of the crest.“I’ve seen you fight. Your bark matches your bite. What do you have to prove?”

“Hey. She’s your boss. Don’t forget that,”Bjorn rumbled behind us.

Lars stopped and turned to face the bear. Only a shifter of his stature could make Bjorn look reasonably sized.“She asked me to defend her humans against possible shifter threats. I need to know what I’m fighting for.”

“I’m not afraid to answer the question. The traditions are broken,”I growled.“Think about how things have changed in your lifetime. How those old beliefs no longer serve you in this new world. If a pack expects to thrive, it must adapt.”

“We’re more human than animal now,”Lars grumbled.

“That doesn’t bother me. I prefer my human form. Much more sparkle.”I shook out my fur. Even though I’d dragged them out here for what turned out to be nothing, it still proved my point. I wasn’t letting anything get by me. “I heard a howl and I took it as a warning. I’d rather make sure it was nothing than find out too late it was something.”

“What happens if Wendy finds what she’s looking for? Are you prepared for the consequences?”Lars asked.

“She’s already found the Scepter, and I’d rather it was in our hands than someone else’s.”The moon was barely a sliver in the sky. No wonder my senses were dull. But that little canyon with the ancient, abandoned settlements that Wendy led us to had energy. The spirits that Lars talked about were very much still alive.

And they were playing with me. Seeing how far I was willing to go to run the Montana pack out of my life. To make my contestants’ dreams come true.

“Once the word gets out, shifters will come from all over the world, begging for us to cure their ailments. To heal their wounds. Others will start war to gain control of it. You can only fight so hard, Bibi, and for so long.”Lars huffed.“You haven’t seen how far a beast will go to live forever. I have.”

“Do you recommend it? Living forever?”I asked.

“No,”he grunted without a moment’s hesitation.“So it’s a good thing Wendy hasn’t found the Sempiternal Scepter.”

He stopped me dead in my tracks.“Then what does she have?”

There was no denying whatever it was, it had power. Ever since Wendy found it, her attitude toward Gabe had done a one-eighty. After seeing its effect on Gabe, I hadn’t touched it. I’d tasked Marissa with locking in safely in my office.

“Let her do the research and come to her own conclusions. She’s buying you valuable time to clean up this Montana mess.”

“So you have been in contact with them.”

He nodded.“They’re on their best behavior around me. Say they want to help you. Form an alliance. And I have to be honest, Bibi. You need them.”

Not many statements could make my mouth drop, especially in my wolf form.

“No. They don’t get to be part of what I’m building here.”I would not let them steal my sparkle.

“Soon, your human will discover information that will give her many more questions. She’ll need answers, and when she’s ready, I’ll have them for her. If she digs up these artifacts, Montana’s antics will look like child’s play. They’re in your head. They want land, but these other shifters have been watching you. Some of them like the changes you’ve been making. Others will do anything to put a stop to it.”

“Didn’t think you got Wi-Fi this far out in the mountains.”Every time I asked Hugo to text Lars he said the big guy didn’t do modern technology.

“Don’t need it.”He motioned to the sky.“The spirits tell me everything I need to know.”

“You are a very complex individual, Lars. You’re warning me of doom and gloom, but you filled in so many blanks for Wendy earlier tonight. Which outcome are you rooting for?”

“The best possible one,”he said.

It wasn’t often that anyone, shifter or otherwise, could leave me flabbergasted, but Lars had done just that.

“What are you?”I asked.

“I’m a myth, a legend. As old as the spirits we’ve talked so much about tonight.”

Okay, so he wanted us to figure out the answers on our own. But who else was he playing this game with?

And what else did he want?

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