“He’s offering you a place in his Pack, Ben. Us a place in his Pack.” Tegan looked at his face to see his reaction. Surprise and a rejection of the idea. He hadn’t begun to think about his place in Cascadia, she’d wager. It wouldn’t be anything he’d contemplate. How would he even have that frame of reference?

“Honey, you’re an incredibly powerful man. You were before you changed. But now that the Alpha of National was the one who changed you, you get aspects of your sire so to speak. With Cascadia, with you as a human, it wasn’t an issue. But everyone in the Inner Circle will be threatened by you and your power and you’re far too strong to be happy at my rank for long. There’s no place for you at Cascadia.”

“Bullshit. I don’t care about this ranking stuff. I have a job already. I don’t want to take anyone’s rank in the Pack.” Ben shoved the last bite of steak in his mouth and began to attack the greens.

“How many detectives are werewolves in Seattle, Ben? Here in Chicago it’s zero.

Many police departments say they don’t discriminate but you and I both know people still have a lot of prejudices about werewolves,” Maxwell said. “And how long will you have your job once people find out?”

Tegan closed her eyes. Maxwell had no way of knowing about Ben’s mother but the point hit the bullseye as Ben’s shoulders slumped a bit.

“And when war begins in earnest, there will be a Council of War appointed.

Everyone of power will be needed in the best place he or she can be,” Maxwell added.

“War? What the f**k?” Layla exploded.

“I’m sorry. I expected you’d know by now but I didn’t think to tell you.” Lex pushed a hand through his hair. “Tonight war was declared. National will lead. Cascadia, Pacific and Great Lakes are all aligned. Templeton will call a vote to see where the other Packs fall.”

“What does this mean? Will there be a draft? Will there be battles? How the hell does war work between werewolves?” Ben shifted uneasily. “Humans are not going to be pleased and I can’t see something like werewolves savaging each other in the middle of the street being kept secret.”

“We haven’t had inter-clan war in a hundred and fifty years so it’s not like we’ve got modern experience with it. But at first there’ll be posturing. A show of strength. I imagine most Packs will align with National. The two biggest Packs are aligned together as it is with National. The Packs are already freaking out over what happened at the Palaver. Siskiyou lost members and they’d already voted against Pellini, my guess is they’re with us.” Maxwell paused.

“Yellowstone helped Pellini. Their guards helped the attack.” Tegan remembered seeing it happen and the helpless rage that burned through her.

“There’ll be an accounting. Anyway, Ben, first comes the posturing. Politics. The bigger faction will offer to let the smaller surrender. This goes on a while. Growling, snarling, small fights will break out especially in areas where two opposing Packs have territory in contact. Most of the time, after some skirmishes, the smaller faction will surrender without full fledged war breaking out.”

Tegan watched Ben take it all in before he asked Lex to follow up.

“Two things—what happens if they surrender and what’s full-fledged war?”

“If they surrender, their territory will be taken from them and re-distributed. Spoils of war. Full fledged war means lots of dead wolves on all sides. In Europe, thirty years ago, there was war between Packs in Spain. They lost half the werewolves in the country in pitch battles and surprise attacks. Here, we’d have to deal with drive by shootings and car bombs from the likes of Pellini. Assassinations. That kind of thing.” Lex sighed heavily. “It won’t be pretty.”

“If they surrender and territory is redistributed, what happens to the wolves from the losing Packs?” Ben asked.

“They’re given amnesty.” Lex’s voice was flat.

“Most of them,” Maxwell interrupted. “There will be trials in this case if there’s a surrender. I won’t allow anything else. Warren Pellini will stand trial or be killed in war.

He cannot be allowed to live and get away with what he’s done.”

“I hear that. Okay, I’m in one way or another. That bastard can’t be allowed to be free after this.” Ben moved closer to Tegan. His energy vibrated from his skin. She brushed her lips over his shoulder, snuggling into his body. She needed him as much as he needed her.

“Does that mean you’ll consider joining Great Lakes? We need an Enforcer and I think you’d fit the bill. Our Third doesn’t want the job and none of the guards are capable of holding the spot I don’t think.” Maxwell avoided looking at Lex and Tegan was torn between a host of competing concerns.

“I need to think about everything you’ve all said. Tegan and I need to talk and weigh a lot of stuff. I can’t answer you now.” Ben looked to Tegan. “We can’t answer you now.”

After the discussion, everyone left to rest or clean up. Tegan turned to Ben and hugged him.

“Want to go for a run?”

“Jogging? Now? It’s three in the morning.”

She laughed. “No, not jogging! As wolves. I need the change to help chase the last bit of stiffness from my body. You’ll feel better after a run too and it’s selfish of me but I want to see you, want to be at your side as a wolf. I didn’t see you the first time and I don’t remember when you changed at the lab.”