A Generation of Vipers (Shifter Shield Book 2) by Margo Bond Collins Page B

the fact that he apparently had the werewolves backing him up on this.
    The wolf pack was fairly large, and I was worried that they might put together a voting bloc to keep the babies from being treated as full shifter citizens.
    "Don't worry." Janice, the Council leader, patted me on the shoulder as she ushered me into her living room, where most meetings took place. "Half the wolves, including their alpha, are headed out to Georgia soon. Something about a territory dispute with the hyenas."
    "They have hyena-shifters in Georgia?" I asked, startled.
    "No. That's just where the wolves and hyenas are meeting. The territory is right outside of Fort Worth." Janice's blue eyes sparkled behind her schoolteacher-style glasses. I knew that when she was close to shifting, particularly under stress, her eyes turned brown. I always took her eyes being blue as a sign that she truly had everything under control. "I might have suggested a few months ago that the Houston hyena clan look into relocating up here," she continued with a grin.
    I blinked. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
    "I told you werebadgers are badass," Kade said, having caught my last comment. He stood up from his spot on the sofa to greet me with a kiss. "What has our fearless leader done now?"
    "I'll tell you later," I said.
    From across the room, Hank sneered at me.
    I had to admit, my fear of his influence had lessened considerably when I discovered his other form was a squirrel. I had to remind myself that he had more intimidating allies.
    As usual, Hank jumped into the discussion almost as soon as Janice opened the floor for new business.
    "We have to decide what to do with the snake-brats," he announced.
    "There is a plan in place," Janice replied. I remained in awe of her ability to remain calm week after week.
    "I would like to call a vote," Hank said, again as usual.
    "You know the protocol." The entire conversation was falling into a routine. Hank had yet to put together a petition requesting a vote on the issue with the signatures of at least 20% of the voting shifters in the district. I hadn't had the nerve yet to ask how many that would be. I did know that most of the wolves had signed it.
    "Werewolves are arrogant assholes. Ignore them," Kade had advised the one time I mentioned it to him.
    It looked like I was going to be able to take that advice for another week, at least. Still, I was worried that a vote on the issue was inevitable.
    And shifters hated lamias almost more than humans hated snakes.
    I was afraid that fear would lead people to vote to treat a bunch of babies as outcasts.
     
    * * *
     
    After I left Janice's house, I met Eduardo for a training session.
    When Ed had spoken up for me at the Council meeting where they decided whether or not to allow me to remain a member of the were community, he had specifically requested that I join the Shields, the protective arm of the ruling group. It had been a strategic move, but apparently he planned to follow through on his promise to bring me up to speed as a shifter-style cop.
    So during the day, I worked as a counselor at the Children's Advocacy and Protection Center, or the CAP-C, and a few evenings a week, I got pummeled by my mentor.
    Sometimes my beatings took place when I was in serpent form and Eduardo was a werecoyote. Other times, like now, we sparred in human form in order to train me to fight under any conditions.
    Right now, my condition was exhausted, and Ed's last leg-sweep had knocked me to the ground.
    I lay there panting, unwilling to get up. "That's it," I said, wrapping my forearms across my eyes. "I quit. I'm wiped. I'm bruised. I'm all done."
    "You going to use that line the next time someone's out to kill you?" Ed circled around me, the slight smile on his lips never quite meeting his eyes. Truth be told, I thought Ed might be more cold-blooded than me, all things considered. I didn't know what it might mean that he had asked me to be on his Shield team—and had