“You can’t make me leave. I have every right—”

The wolf added his voice to mine, lending me some of his authority so that Woodbridge knew exactly how pissed we both were. “You will leave,” I ground out, my voice pure gravel, my eyes fading to the color of the wolf’s. “Or we will be petitioning for your removal.”

Woodbridge swallowed hard, forgetting himself for a second. Then he straightened, his cheeks red. “You have no grounds, no matter what Dr. Larsen said. None of this is enough to remove me from my rightful place. The bylaws are clear.”

“Perhaps,” I said, my words a predator’s glide through the forest. The wolf wanted to stalk Woodbridge badly. We hunted for words, searching for the ones that would hurt him the most. I grinned when I found them. “But if you keep this up, I won’t speak at another meeting. You won’t hear about any of my experiences. I will answer all of Mage Bhatt’s questions in private and you will get nothing. We may have to let you attend, but we will give you the bare minimum. Which means your research will be incomplete.”

Woodbridge’s face turned an almost purple color, his lips pinched and quivering. For a long, tense moment, we stared at each other.

Without another word, he turned and walked away. The wolf and I watched as he stomped his way through the park, finally stepping into the parking lot.

Lou reached out and touched my arm, and I realized I’d started growling again. I sucked in a steadying breath, letting the tension flow out of me. My pack was safe. The intruder had left.

“Thank you,” Juliet said softly. Savannah grabbed my cheeks, yanking on my beard. I really did need to trim it again—it was too easy for her to get a handful. “Good woof.” She leaned forward and put her forehead against mine, the deep blue of her eyes less than an inch away. Then she gave a little howl, like a wolf pup. “Awooo?”

I laughed, leaning forward and kissing her nose. “Yes, little one. Awooo.” I didn’t howl, but said the sounds back to her.

She clapped. “Good woof.”

We went home, Juliet and Savannah disappearing downstairs while Lou and I went up. I stepped into the house, greeting the ferrets as they bounded up, Van nowhere to be seen. I walked back to my room, stripping off my shirt as I went. Trick passed me in the hallway, giving me a friendly wolf whistle, which Dammit tried to mimic. Trick laughed, stroking the puff of feathers on the little bird’s chest.

“Stop treating me like I’m a piece of meat,” I said, pretending to clutch my shirt to my chest in outrage.

“I treat everyone like a piece of meat,” Trick said with a grin.

Lou folded her arms with a scowl. “Oh really? Where’s my wolf whistle, then?”

Trick touched his chest, his expression pious. “Right here, in my heart.”