“He hurt your heart, bullied you into doing things for him just like he tried to do now, and you kept coming back for another serving of hurt instead of slamming the door in his face,” Nadine said.

Simon studied the Sierra. He’d seen this behavior once before when he’d attended the terra indigene college to learn how to work in, and run, a Courtyard. A young female Wolf had been besotted with one of the males. She did everything she could to win his approval—brought him food, brought him gifts. The male had paid attention when he wanted something, made promises to become her mate if she could do just one more thing. Other males, Simon included, had tried to befriend her, but she ignored them—just like the Sierra ignored the brother who didn’t put a price on his love.

The young female died trying to bring down prey that was too big for a lone Wolf to handle because the male had told her that would prove her love for him. The male was expelled from the college but stayed on the fringes of the college’s land, fully expecting to be allowed to return. Then he disappeared and was never seen again.

Simon had never caught a whiff of an Elder’s primal scent—a scent he remembered from the time he’d run with the juvenile pack in the Northwest—but he had wondered if the instructors had killed the male to prevent more trouble, or if something larger and less merciful had passed judgment.

Now, comparing the Sierra with that young female Wolf, Simon had a better appreciation of why the Elders wanted to see what happened when a male like that Cyrus entered a successful working pack of humans. The man hadn’t been in Lakeside a full day and the pack was already fighting among themselves.

He stepped forward, drawing everyone’s attention.

“There are two Montgomery packs,” he said. “One pack is Lieutenant Montgomery and Lizzy. The other pack is that Cyrus, his mate, and their two pups. While they came from the same family, they are now separate packs, are adversaries. That means the other pack members can be loyal to one or the other but not both. The rest of the family now must consider what each pack has to offer.” He looked at Miss Twyla. This would hurt her, and he was sorry for that. “Choose.”

She stared at him, the tears still flowing. Then she took tissues out of her pocket and wiped her eyes and nose.

“Guess I always knew it would come down to this, but I can’t choose between my children. Not that way.” Miss Twyla straightened her shoulders. “Crispin asked me to come here and help him with Lizzy, and I’d like to keep on doing that. But even if I have to turn away from one of my children, I don’t want to turn away from any of my grandchildren.”

“You have to choose,” Simon said with regret.

She nodded. “I choose your pack, Mr. Simon.”

“What?” Simon gave Montgomery a look that said, Does she know what she’s doing?

“Mama?” Montgomery’s look at Simon said, She knows.

“I’ve put my hand to different kinds of work over the years, Crispin,” Miss Twyla said quietly. “There is plenty of work to be had, and I could find a job in this city. But this Courtyard feels more like the neighborhoods your daddy and I lived in when we were newlyweds and when you and Cyrus were young—a place where people looked out for each other. Haven’t lived in a place like that for the past few years, and I’ve missed that. I’ve done what I could for all of you, but my children are grown, so I’m making a choice for myself first.”

“All right, Mama.” Montgomery didn’t sound happy. “If this is what you want.”

Simon looked at the Sierra. “Now you. Choose.” He held up a hand and noticed the patches of fur on the back. Damn. What else didn’t look completely human? “Understand the choice you have to make.”

“I know the choice,” the Sierra said bitterly. “I have to choose between Jimmy and CJ.”

“No, you have to choose between that Cyrus and your pups.”

He heard several gasps. He suspected those had come from all the females in the room, including the female still standing just inside the door.

“If that Cyrus is so important to you that you’ll crawl for his approval, that’s your choice. But your pups would be the lowest members of that pack, considered orphans if that’s what he wanted, and pups in that position don’t often survive if food is hard to find. Odds are one or both of your pups would die of hunger. So if you want that Cyrus, you can live as another female in his pack. But your pups won’t go with you. They’ll be transferred to another pack that will be able to care for them.”

“You can’t take my children!” the Sierra cried.

“Yes, we can. And we will. Or you can swear to the members of the Courtyard who are here and to the human witnesses that you will not give that Cyrus food or money that you need for your pups. No excuses.” Simon bared his teeth. “And know this: if you steal from us, we take a hand the first time. The second time we take a lot more.”

“CJ?” The Sierra turned to the brother who gave his love.

Montgomery shook his head. “Sissy, if you want to find another job and another place to live that isn’t under Mr. Wolfgard’s jurisdiction, you can do that. But I’m guessing you’d have to do it soon.”

“We would give her a week,” Simon said. “Then we would drive her out of our territory.”

“Even if you found a place you could afford and work to support you and the girls, who would stay with them?” Montgomery continued, then added when the Sierra slid a look at Miss Twyla, “Mama has a job and her own bills to pay.”