Shiftless by Aimee Easterling

the system rather than being swept up by werewolf machismo.  Father had always been on a power trip, requiring interlopers to go through him first to prove the alpha's dominance, but I had a feeling Wolfie didn't usually greet intruders in this manner.  He was only being surly because of the potential for danger to me and Keith.
    "A pack leader doesn't have to ask permission to speak to his heir," Milo shot back, his eyes locking onto Wolfie's.   As much as I hated to admit it, Milo had a good point.  Werewolf society was dressed up with all kinds of complicated social rules, the point of which was to keep bloodshed to a minimum.  The relevant guideline in this situation was clear: no matter where a pack leader's heir wandered, the heir remained under the alpha's protection and control.
    I shivered, imagining my nephew being dragged back to Haven by my blood-thirsty cousin, and I could feel Milo's wolf rising in the extended silence.  My own wolf responded by pushing against her bars, but Wolfie didn't seem affected—his wolf had already been rampant, so there wasn't much further for it to go without fur sprouting out of the alpha's ears.
    Instead, the young alpha seemed perfectly calm as he responded for both of us.  "Keith isn't Wilder's heir," Wolfie replied.  "He's mine."
     
    ***
     
    Milo and I both stared at Wolfie as if he were crazy, and the alpha's lips curled up into a grin.  Yes, the bloodling really was enjoying this.
    "Brooke and I had an understanding when she brought the boy onto pack land," Wolfie explained, and I realized with a jolt that the man beside me was lying through his teeth.  Wolfie's pack hadn't lived on the mountain when Brooke first moved here—Wolfie had been the one moving into another wolf's territory, in part, I was now guessing, to protect my nephew.
    But my analysis of the situation simply didn't make sense.  Although our animal side was cunning, werewolves couldn't tell outright untruths when our wolf was in charge, and I couldn't quite figure out how Wolfie could be both the most wolf-like person I'd ever met, and still hold onto the human trait of deception.  No matter how Wolfie pulled it off, I hoped Milo wouldn't have enough facts to realize the alpha was lying.  If my cousin twigged to any inconsistencies, hopefully he'd get caught up in the same mental tangle I was currently pushing my way through.
    Wolfie ignored both of our shock as he kept spinning his enticing lie.  "The grandson of an alpha would present a threat to my status if the boy wasn't clearly kin, so Brooke and I took a blood oath and I accepted Keith as my heir."  He raised a challenging eyebrow at my father's enforcer.  "As you probably know, that supersedes any claim your pack leader may have on the boy.  So you can go home."
    Milo moved as if to obey the outright command, his face turning red at the involuntary reaction to another pack leader's order.  Then, with an effort, my cousin turned his attention away from Wolfie to speak directly to me.  "I don't know what the deal is with Keith, Terra, but Chief Wilder said to tell you these precise words: 'You or him.'"
    "It's only been two days!" I exclaimed, the sentence popping out of my mouth before I could think it through.  I could already feel my father yanking me back to Haven, and the tug of his command terrified me.  In fact, my father scared me far more than the alpha beside me did, I realized as Wolfie laid a possessive arm loosely around my waist.  I would have thought the contact would feel confining, but instead I relaxed slightly, my wolf retreating out of my eyes at the alpha's touch.
    I knew that my accidental words would have repercussions, but, wolf-like, the man beside me seemed willing to deal with the present danger first.  Wolfie kept his gaze trained on my cousin as he coldly bared his teeth in what would look like a smile to humans...but wasn't.  "You've delivered your message," the alpha said coldly.  "Now go."