Savage by Nancy Holder

that passed could be bringing fresh dangers her way.
    And with every minute that passed her enemy’s body had a chance to heal just that much more.
    She reached out and shoved the woman in the ribs with her foot. The assassin groaned, then slowly blinked several times. Her eyes finally seemed to focus on Katelyn and she paled.
    Katelyn registered her reaction with a mild sense of shock. It was the first time another werewolf had been truly afraid of her. The unfolding of the next minute was completely crucial to survival for both of them.
    Her legs still felt shaky but she forced herself to sound calm, confident. “What’s your name?”
    “Wanda. Wanda Mae.”
    The name sounded vaguely familiar. She knew she had met the woman before, right after her first transformation, but there had been so many new names and faces.
    “Wanda Mae, I’ll let you live if you swear allegiance to me.” Katelyn stared directly into the woman’s eyes. She had beaten her, won fair and square. She told herself there was nothing to be afraid of.
    Unless there are more of them. If someone’s in my cabin.
    But she refused to give any sign of her own uncertainty. If there were any more werewolves skulking around they hadn’t chosen to reveal themselves or intervene in the fight in any way.
    Which meant that they didn’t want to get any more involved than they already were.
    “I swear allegiance to you . . . my alpha,” Wanda Mae said, lowering her head.
    A thrill zinged through Katelyn when Wanda Mae called her alpha. Was this what it had been like for Lee? What the new Fenner alpha would feel when others addressed him or her that way?
    She tried to give herself a reality check. She had a pack of two. That wasn’t truly a pack. And what did she gain by having Wanda acknowledge her as her leader?
    I need more werewolves to acknowledge me as their alpha.
    She was stunned by the turn her thoughts had taken. It was preposterous, unthinkable.
    But why shouldn’t I be the new Fenner alpha? After all, Magus told me to end this war. Me. Not Justin, or either of Cordelia’s sisters. What does he know that I don’t?
    “Alpha?” Wanda Mae whined very softly.
    Katelyn looked down and realized that the other woman was still huddled on the ground, bleeding from a dozen wounds even though they were starting to heal.
    “Who came with you?” Katelyn asked. “Call them out of my cabin now .”
    Wanda Mae took a breath, let it out. “You and I are alone, alpha. There’s no one here but us.”
    Katelyn heard the change in her voice — ingratiating, trying to please. Providing her superior with information.
    “The door was open,” Katelyn said.
    “I went inside,” Wanda Mae replied. “I could smell you coming. I went out your kitchen door and jumped up on the roof.” The hand that pushed her gray hair out of her eyes was shaking. “I swear I’m telling you the truth. Now that I’m yours, any other werewolves would be my enemies, too.”
    That was massively convenient. Katelyn was thrilled. Except for the lying about Arial being dead part.
    “Okay,” Katelyn said. “Listen, I lied to you about Arial.” The woman looked stricken. “If you see her . . .” She stopped. “If you see her, tell her that you haven’t seen me.” She wondered if her scent would be on the woman. Lucy had challenged her because her scent was on Justin after a hug. “You’d better lay low.”
    “Yes, alpha,” she murmured, her voice shaky. “I know you’ll look out for me.”
    Katelyn was taken aback. She knew that was the role of an alpha, but it hadn’t occurred to her when she’d forced Wanda Mae to declare her loyalty that she’d be assuming an obligation as well.
    “Try to avoid her as best you can, but if she asks you what happened, tell her that you tried to take me on, but humans arrived unexpectedly and you had to let me go. And if a new alpha is declared, pretend to be loyal. But you’re mine.”
    “Pretend . . .” Wanda said,