The Woofers cheered, woofed, and stomped their feet as she made her way back to Kate. They exchanged another tight hug, and then Penny walked back down the center aisle. She paused to embrace her grandmother before leaving the ballroom.
The Howlers sat there as if they’d all been shot with a stun gun. For that matter, Kate didn’t look much better. As she took a deep breath, her body quaked in reaction. Duncan decided enough was enough. She could barely stand, and he couldn’t in good conscience continue this debate.
He no longer cared whether he was following protocol or Neil’s schedule as he spoke into his microphone. “I don’t care if you’re a Howler, a Woofer, or someone who’s in between—you have to be touched by Penny’s story. To me, it illustrates the complexity of this issue and the problems Weres face, especially female Weres, when they choose to mate with a human. Forget the slogans and the sound bites. We need to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm real-life solutions, not just concepts that sound good on a blog or in a book.”
Kate walked back to her lectern and spoke into her mike. “Does that mean you’re conceding this debate?”
She was one plucky lass, all right.
“You can’t concede,” Neil said. “From my perspective, Penny’s touching story put you way ahead of Kate.”
Duncan shook his head. “No, it did not. That’s what I just tried to say. This issue is not as simple as I’ve made it sound, or as simple as Kate’s made it sound, for that matter. Let’s lay down our weapons and just talk to each other.”
“But…but we still have time left.” Neil waved his stack of index cards. “We still have questions. I’m sure everyone would like Kate to respond to her sister’s heartfelt plea for openness and sharing. I’m sure—”
“I concede.” Duncan turned to her. “I concede because I have nothing more to say until I’ve considered the matter more thoroughly. The debate victory is yours, milady.” He hadn’t meant to add that last endearment, but she tugged at his heart as she struggled to cover her vulnerability with righteous indignation.
Her blue gaze challenged his. “You’re not deliberately taking a fall, are you?”
He lied with a clear conscience. “No.”
“Because if you think that surrendering in this debate will make up for that blog, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“I know it won’t.” He was afraid nothing would. She might listen to the Wallaces if they came up with proof that he wasn’t guilty. But once Kate got an idea into her head, she didn’t let go easily. It was one of her best traits, but also one of her worst.
“Then I accept your concession,” Kate said. “Any Howlers who care to come are invited up to my suite for a victory celebration.” She gathered up her notes and started down the aisle trailed by Heidi and a group of Weres in purple shirts.
Elizabeth stood. At first Duncan thought she might go with Kate, but instead she walked up the side of the room toward the front row and took a seat. A few other delegates left, but most of the Woofers stayed in the room. Duncan didn’t have a suite to invite them to, so he was about to suggest buying a round of drinks in the bar.
Before he did that, the Wallace contingent arrived through a door at the front of the room, the same one where Duncan had intercepted Kate earlier when he’d hoped to have her listen to his story. Howard led his two sons, Aidan and Roarke, and their mates, Emma and Abby, inside.
The cavalry had arrived, but they were too late, at least for this round. Kate and her followers were on their way upstairs, and he wasn’t going to chase them down, especially when he didn’t know what Howard had to say. He and Aidan might have found nothing at all.
Elizabeth came to join the group at the front of the room, too. “What’s going on, Howard?” she said. “Looks like you have the whole family here.” She smiled at Roarke and Abby. “Good to see you two. I’ve been so busy we’ve barely talked.”
Abby smiled back. “No worries. We’ve been well taken care of.”
Howard gestured to Aidan. “My son did most of the work on this, but we all did some digging, background checks, Internet searches, anything we thought would help. As you can imagine, this issue is dear to our hearts, and we didn’t like the ugliness that developed today.”
Aidan stepped forward. “First of all, Duncan, your blog is ridiculously easy to hack. I could have put up anything I wanted in a matter of seconds. You need to fix that, and I’ll give you some suggestions about it later.”
“Thanks.” Duncan wished to hell Kate could be here for this, but surely she’d get the information eventually.
“Anyway, the short answer is yes, someone hijacked your site and posted that unauthorized blog. With a little more time, I should be able to identify the hacker or hackers, depending on how well they covered their tracks.”
“I’d be very interested to know that information,” Duncan said.
“I’d say it’s likely to be one or more of the Howlers,” Neil said.
Duncan himself had suspected Jake, but something in Neil’s attitude made him study the blond Were more closely. “Why would you think that?”
“Makes sense. Howard was elected president and the mission statement leaves plenty of room for the Woofer agenda. The pendulum’s swinging that way. I even wondered if my cousin might have done it.”
Duncan’s instincts sharpened. “You think Kate would post up a picture of herself in bed with a human?” That was so far removed from the Kate he knew as to be laughable. Yet Neil was offering the possibility with a straight face.
“Why not? She looks like an innocent victim and you look like a jerk. Great for her, lousy for you.”
Except that Duncan knew that Kate didn’t play the game that way. She wasn’t a double-dealer. Neil was, though. He wouldn’t trust Neil further than he could throw him, which wouldn’t be far, because the guy was packed with muscle.
Then everything clicked into place, and he felt like an idiot for not seeing it before. Neil, who wanted to steal the pack alpha position from Kate, would do whatever it took to rattle her this weekend and make her look bad. Neil surely knew about her favorite TV actor. And he had all the information on Penny, too.
“It was you, wasn’t it? Or you and some tech-savvy delegates, because I doubt you have the brains to pull off something like that without help.” Rage began to bubble deep in his gut.
Neil gave him a wary look. “That’s ridiculous. Of course it wasn’t me.”
“That’s a strong accusation, Duncan,” Howard said. “You might want to retract it until Aidan does some more sleuthing.”
“I don’t care to retract it.” Duncan held Neil’s gaze and he could see guilt lurking there. “I know who it was sure as I’m a Scotsman.” The rage filled his chest now, demanding release. He swore he could hear the pipes playing.
Neil sneered. “You don’t know a damned thing, MacDowell. You’re bluffing.”
“Nay, I’m not bluffing. And to prove it, I challenge you to settle this the traditional way, as Weres.”
Elizabeth sucked in a breath. “Let’s not be hasty.”
“She’s right, MacDowell. Don’t be hasty. You’d have no chance against me. I outweigh you, and I can outfight you.”
He was probably right. Duncan was a lover, not a fighter, and he could well get beaten to a pulp. But although the MacDowells lived at sea level these days, the blood of brave Highlanders ran hot in his veins. By all that was holy, he would be Kate’s champion and defend her honor. Whether she wanted him to or not.
He faced Neil and imagined all those ancestors standing behind him, urging him on. “Meet me outside in fifteen minutes.”
Chapter 18
WERECON2012:
WOLF FIGHT!!
Exclusive report for Wereworld Celebrity Watch
by Angela Sapworthy
DENVER—A stunning development took place Sunday afternoon following the scheduled debate between HOWL leader Kate Stillman and WOOF leader Duncan MacDowell. MacDowell accused Kate’s cousin Neil of hijacking his blog and posting the incriminating picture of Kate in bed with a well-known TV actor!
Neil, great-nephew of pack alpha Elizabeth Stillman, denies the charge. Security expert and certified hunk Aidan Wallace is hot on the trail of the culprit, but MacDowell refuses to wait for confirmation. He’s challenged Neil to a traditional battle, Were to Were!
This reporter expected philosophical battles this weekend, but she had no idea that the fight would become physical! Pack alpha Elizabeth is understandably concerned about potential bloodshed and the effect on WereCon2012’s reputation as a peaceful venue. “I’ve known Neil all his life,” she said. “And he’s been a fighter all his life. He’s big, and he’s brutal. I think Duncan MacDowell made a tactical error. He should have engaged Neil in a battle of wits.”
For another viewpoint, this reporter caught up with Nadia Henderson, a young but confident leader for the Henderson pack in Chicago and Duncan’s fellow council member. “I haven’t known Duncan MacDowell long, but while serving with him on the council I’ve been impressed with his intelligence and creativity. I never did believe he was responsible for that terrible blog. But I can’t speak to his fighting skills. I hope he uses his intelligence out there, because Neil looks as if he could make mincemeat of Duncan.”
Dear reader, don’t make the mistake of thinking Duncan MacDowell is small. He weighs in at 210, according to his profile on the Were Web. But Neil Stillman is listed at 250! His profile names more than twenty Weres he’s defeated in wolf-to-wolf combat. Duncan MacDowell has no list at all! Will he survive? Follow me on Sniffer @newshound to find out!
Kate submerged herself in the welcome chatter of Howlers enjoying one another’s company. None of the male Howlers had shown up, as if they’d known this would be a female-centered event in Kate’s suite.
She had considered making a special point to personally invite Jake Hunter as a goodwill gesture, but he’d slipped out of the ballroom before she could do that. And frankly, she was too exhausted to care. If the mission statement was adopted when the votes were counted and posted at five this afternoon, which was only thirty minutes away, Jake would abandon ship anyway.
Heidi raised her wineglass. “Down with Woofers!”
Someone else raised hers. “Up with Howlers!”
A chorus of loud howling followed, and Kate joined in. She’d had one crappy day, and she was ready to unwind with her supporters. She wanted to forget about mission statements, Photoshopped pictures, lectures from her grandmother, surprise visits from her sister, and, most of all, Duncan MacDowell.
Of course he realized now that he should never have posted that blog, and he was trying to get back in her good graces by handing her the victory in the debate. No matter what he said, he’d done it to try to mend the rift between them. Howard must have told him he had to because they were both on the council and needed to work together.
She would work with him, though, despite hating his guts. That’s what a leader had to do, and she understood that far better after this weekend. She’d had a real object lesson in leadership. Yes, she’d made a couple of mistakes, maybe more than a couple, but she’d learn from them and go on.
She’d have a chance to demonstrate her new understanding tonight at the gala ball to mark the end of the conference. In an hour or so she’d leave this private party and go check on the preparations for that. Once she knew everything was going according to plan, she’d come back upstairs and get into her red sequined dress.
She’d rather not go at all, but a leader didn’t sit up in her room because she didn’t feel like making an appearance at the final event of a conference she’d helped organize. A leader put on her big-girl panties along with her sparkly clothes and attended with a smile.
“How do Woofers get human females into bed?” shouted someone on the far side of the suite.
“I don’t know,” someone called back. “How do they get them into bed?”
“They spike their drink with woofies!” That was greeted with more enthusiastic howls.
The noise became so deafening that Kate didn’t hear the doorbell until whoever was out there leaned on it for several seconds. She raised her voice. “Hey, everyone! Pipe down a minute! Someone’s at the door.”
Carrying her wineglass, she went to the door still laughing about the woofies joke. Maybe this was just a late-arriving Howler who’d decided to join the party. She opened the door, and her smile of welcome faded.
Her grandmother stood on the other side looking upset. She wore a coat and boots over her elegant conference outfit. “I called your cell, but you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry, Grandma.” She stepped into the hall so she could hear. “What’s wrong?”
“You have to get downstairs. Duncan’s going to fight Neil, Were to Were.”
“What? Why would he do that?” She tried to make sense of her grandmother’s hurried explanation. It seemed that the Wallaces had confirmed that Duncan’s blog had been hijacked, and Duncan was convinced Neil was the culprit.
The moment her grandmother said it, Kate saw the situation clearly at last. Neil would have known about the TV actor, and he certainly knew about Penny. Neil wanted to throw her off her game and the blog was one more way to do it.
“Go get your boots and coat,” Elizabeth said. “We’ll take your elevator.”
“Right. Open the bookcase. I’ll be right there.” Kate turned and ran back into her suite. “Everyone! Duncan and Neil are going to fight. I want everyone down there so we can stop it.”
“Why stop it?” Heidi sounded mystified. “We hate Duncan, and we don’t much like Neil, either. Sounds like a great fight to me. I’ll bring popcorn!”