There was a grim triumph in Chastel's face. The French wolves-including Michel, bruises and all-looked stolidly supportive. They had no choice.

Quiet settled over the room, an uncomfortable quiet as they focused on Chastel. The Beast couldn't keep the Marrok from bringing the wolves into the open. But he could keep him from helping the European wolves cope-and in the end that might be disastrous for everyone.

Chastel ruled the European continent when he chose, and he'd just marked it as his territory, leaving Charles the choice of letting Chastel's claim stand or challenging him outright.

"Yes," said Dana in a motherly voice. "Thank you for that, monsieur. You have been heard." The fae smiled congenially at Chastel, then raised her eyes to the rest of the world. "On behalf of the Emerald City Pack, I have an invitation to all of you who have gathered in Seattle for this conference. As a part of our hospitality, we have organized a hunt tonight on the pack's own hunting grounds. There will be no blood-the Marrok asked me to extend his apologies. But since there is more than just one pack hunting, we felt that no blood would keep the threat of violence down..."

Charles might not be comfortable or particularly good at public speaking, but Dana was. When his father had asked her to moderate, Charles had worried because she didn't know wolves. His father had smiled. "She knows men," he'd said. And he had been right.

Everyone already had the information about the hunt. She was robbing Chastel of his limelight-and his power-and everyone knew it. Without her, Chastel could have taken the meeting over, leaving Charles... and maybe, just maybe, Arthur to face him down or back off and let him run with it.

And if they had challenged him and killed him, Dana would be honor-bound to destroy them. He wasn't sure she could manage it, not if he and Arthur were working together. But he didn't know that he and Arthur would be working together either; Arthur could be very difficult to predict.

And none of it would have worked if she hadn't already proven herself more powerful than Chastel before them all. The Frenchman let her take over because he was afraid to challenge her. And as she droned on with information everyone already had-Charles had e-mailed them all the details of the hunt a week ago-every wolf in the room understood what she was doing.

Chastel stood up and stormed out of the room, leaving his papers behind. Angus took a step to the side and blocked the door.

It was a foolhardy thing to do. If Chastel chose not to remember that Angus was under the Marrok's protection, Angus's life could be forfeit. And maybe, just maybe, he counted on it. If Chastel spilled blood first... But the Frenchman held his temper. Just.

"Madame?" Angus said diffidently.

The Beast turned his head toward the fae. "I need fresh air. Something stinks in here."

Dana's smiles were weapons, even when they were gentle. "By all means," she said. "Leave."

Angus stepped aside and opened the door for him.

And the Beast retreated. But he retreated triumphant. None of the foreign wolves would challenge Chastel's right to make this decision for them. And, just as when the Marrok revealed the werewolves, it would reflect on Europe -so, too, would the failure of the European wolves to persuade the human population that they were no threat reflect upon the Marrok's territory.

Charles couldn't help but wonder if matters would have been different if his father had been here.

ANGUS had over a hundred channels on his TV: sports channels, news channels, comedy channels, cartoon channels, science channels, and about fifty shopping channels. The only thing either Anna or Ric could stand to watch was a South Park marathon.

The kids were being chased by the Nazgul fifth graders-and the station switched to a commercial for male enhancement products.

"So," Anna said to distract herself from the silly grin on the face of the man on TV, "you think entering the hunt will be useful how?"

The man must have bothered Ric, too, because he jumped up from the couch and turned off the television before settling back on the desk again. "I don't think that my Alpha understands the difference between submissive and Omega. Now that I do, I would like him to also. I think the hunt will help-a game where I can face down the dominants with impunity."

"You think that would work? Charles would just strangle me and put me out of his misery."

He leaned back and waved his hands. "Hello, psychologist, yes? Or almost. Of course I don't know. I believe it will help me-and I think that participating in the hunt will help you with this issue you have with dominant wolves."

"Like throwing the kid who is afraid of water into the deep end to sink or swim?"

He grinned. "Not so bad as that. I think that if you have something to do, some task-like finding this bait that the fae lady and Angus have hidden in the pack's hunting grounds-I think you won't be so afraid. And if you are not afraid, they will not crowd you. And by the time you have a moment to worry about them"-he snapped his fingers-"they will have been surrounding you, hunting with you, and it will seem silly to be afraid."

She looked at him. Charles had suggested something similar, she remembered. Though he hadn't intended her actually to participate. "The ocean. Like throwing a two-year-old into the ocean. With sharks."

He laughed. "Look. I am not long a wolf, but I observe. My mentor at the uni-university to you-he says I am a genius. I will give you his number, and he will tell you so." He paused, and he grinned a little self-consciously. "Of course he will also tell you I died tragically in a skiing accident. Anyway, it means this: you should listen to me.

"We wolves are more resilient than when we were human. The wolf is always in the present, it does not worry much about past or future. Your wolf will keep you from panicking if she can. The hunt will give her the help she needs. By the end, you will be better because she will help you."

"Unless they do kill me," Anna said.

"No blood," Ric said. "It is in the rules. Did you see the way that fairy made the Beast shut his mouth yesterday, or was that after you left?"

"Before," Anna said. "And they prefer fae. A fairy is a specific kind of fae whose actual form is about twelve inches high-and I'm pretty sure that Dana is not one of those."

"And she will be on hand to keep things safe: they will behave themselves."

She knew Charles wouldn't be happy if she chose to be in the hunt. Accidents happen. Especially when they are on purpose. Charles had enemies, and it would do her no good to be avenged after she died. She didn't want to make Charles unhappy with her.