“What I mean is we have more political power than any other Inderlander species,” she amended. “Because of how we’re structured, everyone looks to someone else, the top vampires owing so many favors that they’re as effective as a political house member. It’s a tight web, but we generally get what we want. Humans would get itchy with their trigger finger except that our numbers are held static by only the undead being able to infect a human with enough virus to make it even possible to Turn them.”

I stole another of Jenks’s fries, wishing I had ketchup.

“Weres, though,” Nick said, “don’t have political power as a group because they won’t look to any but their pack leader. And their numbers can’t increase any faster than their birthrate.” Leaning forward, Nick tapped the table with a swollen finger, his entire mien changing as he became the instructor.

“The focus makes it possible for the number of Weres to increase very quickly. And the multiple packing you saw on the island is nothing to what will happen when it gets out that the focus is intact. Everyone will want a part of it, merging their pack into the one that holds it. You saw what they were like. Can you imagine what would happen if a vampire ran into a pack of Weres acting like that?”

Jenks’s half-eaten fry dangled from my fingers, forgotten. Slowly it was starting to sink in, and it didn’t look good. The problem wasn’t that the focus would allow Weres to pack up. The problem was that the focus would keep them packed up. Worried, I glanced at Ivy. Seeing me understand, she nodded.

The island Weres had been together for days, maybe weeks, and that had been with only the promise of the focus. If they had it, the round would be permanent. I thought back to the ring of Weres surrounding me on the island, the three packs united under one Were holding the strength of six alphas. Their cocky, savage attitude had been shocking. Walter had not only drawn his dominance from them, but also channeled it back into every member without the tempering calm and moral strength that all alphas had. That wasn’t even bringing up how fast they could Were if they muted each other’s pain. Add to that their new aggressiveness and a resistance to pain?

I set Jenks’s fry down, no longer hungry. Weres were fairly submissive in Inderland society, the alphas the only ones having enough personal power to challenge the vampires’ political structure. Remove that submissive posture, and the two species were going to start clashing. A lot. That’s probably why the vamps had hidden the focus in the first place.

Crap, if the vampires knew about it, they would be after me too. “This isn’t good,” I said, feeling ill.

Making a puff, Ivy leaned back. “You think?”

From across the bar, Jenks finished his song, immediately falling into a sleazy version of “American Woman,” gyrating his hips and making the three women and one of the truck drivers cheer and whistle. Jax was above him, making sparkles. I wondered if anyone had any inkling the world was changing, starting right here in this little bar.