Jennifer’s blond bodyguard, Brandon, the one who’d mouthed off to me on the bridge, tried to follow her. Barabas blocked his way. Brandon backpedaled. Barabas followed him out and shut the door behind him.

“What can I do for you?”

Jennifer licked her lips. “I came to talk about Desandra.”

Right. The People and Hugh d’Ambray were practically on our doorstep. Now was the perfect time to bug me about her problems. “You want to have this conversation now?”

“Yes.”

I leaned against the wall. “Okay. What about Desandra?”

She swallowed. “I want you to expel her from the Pack.”

Umm. “On what grounds?”

“She threatens the stability of Clan Wolf.”

“Do you have evidence of this?”

Jennifer bared her teeth. “She’s trying to force me out.”

I sat down on a bench next to the window. “You are not synonymous with Clan Wolf. She isn’t threatening the clan. She’s threatening your leadership of it.”

“A change of leadership right now will destabilize the clan. We’re still grieving over Daniel.”

Daniel had been dead for over six months now. She was still grieving and I understood that. But the clan had moved on.

“You’re asking me to interfere with the selection of the alpha for an individual clan. I have no authority to do that. Not only would the other clans scream bloody murder, but even if I could somehow influence the process, I won’t. It’s not my place to tell your people whom they should support and choose to govern themselves.”

“They support me.”

“Then why are you here?”

She struggled with it for a second. “I am the alpha. She is . . .” Jennifer squeezed her hand into a fist. “She’s vulgar. One of her sons is a monster.”

Desandra was right. Jennifer had no intention of letting a baby lamassu grow up in her clan. If I were Desandra, wild horses wouldn’t be able to drag me away from fighting Jennifer for the alpha spot.

“Desandra’s child is an infant and a member of the Pack.”

Jennifer kept going. “What happens when he grows up?”

“We’ll burn that bridge after we cross it.”

“I won’t let her push me out. It’s my place. I’m doing it for my child. For Daniel’s child. She’ll grow up to be the daughter of an alpha.”

She had that half-desperate, half-determined look in her eyes. Right. No intelligent life there. “Why is it so important to be alpha? Why not just step down?”

“Because it’s where I belong. Daniel chose me. He chose me out of all the other women in the Pack so I could stand by his side. Daniel didn’t make mistakes. He died, and now I have to lead the Pack in his memory, because otherwise he would’ve died for nothing.”