<Can he make war on the terra indigene?> the male growled.

<No,> Simon replied reluctantly. <I don’t think this male is a big human predator—not like that Nicholas Scratch and the humans who followed him. But the humans who know this male believe he will cause trouble.>

<For them,> the female said. <Not for us.>

<For us too,> Simon argued.

<How?>

He tried to think of something big enough to be considered a reason to get rid of that Cyrus but small enough that the Elders wouldn’t attack all the humans in the Courtyard. <I don’t know.> A hard thing to admit.

<We must know,> the male said. <We must understand what makes this male a not-war-but-trouble human predator.>

<Why?> Simon asked, curious about their persistence.

<The smaller earth natives have left many human places unguarded,> the male said. <Now some of Namid’s teeth and claws must stay close enough to those places to keep watch. We must recognize the difference between a good human and a bad human. We must know what is a threat to the terra indigene and cannot be allowed to survive.>

<If this male is a threat to your pack, then his kind of human will be a threat to terra indigene in other places,> the female said. <The Elders will not allow humans to migrate through the wild country and den in the reclaimed places if we cannot recognize the ones that are dangerous. You saw many humans that are not members of your pack and did not howl the Song of Battle. We must learn why this one is bad, why he should be driven away.>

<What if he isn’t close by for you to watch?> Simon asked, feeling a trap close around him.

<We are not done thinning the human herds,> the male replied. <If we can’t recognize good humans from bad, we will kill all the humans who try to migrate through the wild country. We will do this to protect the land and the earth natives who survived the human attacks.>

Simon whined softly. The first group of humans from the job fair were already on their way to Bennett. If the Elders stopped all migrations, the train with the Simple Life humans aboard wouldn’t survive to reach Bennett. And the professionals who were supposed to take the train tomorrow would never leave Lakeside.

He wasn’t supposed to be responsible for more than the Courtyard in Lakeside, but the Elders were going to decide about every human place in Thaisia based on what they learned here.

How much human would the terra indigene keep? He knew it was risky to let that Cyrus stay so close to his Meg. But if Simon told her what was at stake, Meg would insist on taking the risk. She wouldn’t want to be the one who stopped a human like the Jana Paniccia from having a choice about the work she could do and where she could live. He couldn’t ask Meg to carry that weight, not when she was the Trailblazer who was looking for ways to help the rest of the cassandra sangue survive.

But he was still the leader of this Courtyard. If he was going to do this for the Elders, it would be on his terms. He wasn’t going to take unnecessary risks with Meg or Sam or the rest of his pack. His whole pack.

<We can let that male and his mate and young stay in one of the human dens across the street.> Simon pointed a front paw at the stone apartment buildings. <And we can allow him to shop in the Market Square so that you can watch how he acts around other humans—and around us. But in return, you must promise to help us guard the human female pack.>

He felt the Elders swell with anger. They were Namid’s teeth and claws. They were not used to having anything but the world telling them what to do.

Then Air said, <That is fair. Whatever trouble this male causes will distract the Courtyard’s enforcers, so others of us must help keep watch.>

Earth joined her sister, took on human form, and smiled at Simon. <We will help too, even though our Meg comes to visit us almost every day.>

<Meg?> the female said.

<The sweet blood howling not-Wolf,> Simon replied.

<Broomstick Girl,> Air added, referring to the song Charlie Crowgard had written about Meg and Merri Lee protecting Skippy from a bad human named Phineas Jones.

<We will help watch,> the male said.

Were they a little too interested in watching Meg? He’d have to warn Nathan to check for the Elders’ scent around the Liaison’s Office.

<One other thing,> Simon said. <Some of the humans who are migrating to Bennett left Lakeside this morning. Some are leaving tomorrow. You will tell the rest of the Elders that these humans are migrating with our permission and will not be harmed. The Lakeside Courtyard won’t help you unless you promise.>

He felt a terrible silence surround him, but he held his ground. He was leader here; they were guests. Not that such things mattered to Namid’s teeth and claws.

<That is fair,> Air said again.

<We are Elders,> the male snarled. <We decide.>

Earth smiled. <We could wake up Winter and see what she thinks.>

Wake up Winter during the last month of Summer’s reign? Wake up Winter and tell her the Elders wanted something that might pose a threat to Meg? Even the thought of how that Elemental would respond made Simon shiver.

Apparently the threat impressed the Elders too.

<We will allow this migration to Bennett,> the female said.

Having reached that much of an agreement, Simon hurried back to Howling Good Reads and whatever drama was taking place between Montgomery and that Cyrus. He wasn’t happy about this arrangement with Namid’s teeth and claws, but if the survival of the humans migrating to other parts of Thaisia depended on what the Elders learned over the next few days, he’d rather have them watch the female and police packs here than humans elsewhere.