Kate raced into her bedroom, yelling over her shoulder, “Duncan didn’t put up that blog! Neil did!” Throwing open her closet door, she pulled out her coat and a pair of short boots without laces. Carrying them, she ran back into the living room and over to the corner where the bookcase stood open, revealing the elevator behind it.
All the Howlers stared at the elevator except Heidi, who had seen it in operation. Kate clutched her coat and boots and followed her grandmother inside the etched glass cubicle.
“I’ll lead the charge down the stairs,” Heidi said. “Meet you there, Kate.”
“Thanks, Heidi.” Kate leaned against the glass and pulled on her boot as the elevator started down.
“He cares for you, Kate.” Elizabeth buttoned her coat.
“That doesn’t mean he should make this kind of sacrifice.” She pulled on the other boot. “It’s ridiculous!”
“Apparently he doesn’t think so.”
“Well, I do. Neil will crush him.” She shoved her arms into her coat sleeves. Riding in the elevator brought back memories of the late-night run with Duncan. “He’s not used to the altitude and Neil is. Besides being lighter, he’ll get winded faster.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Well, he should have. He found out when we raced last night. And I thought he was so smart. But he’s stupid, stupid, stupid! He should never have challenged Neil to a Were fight.”
“Maybe we’ll make it in time.”
“I hope to hell we do.” Her chest tightened with fear at the thought of Duncan ending up bloody…or worse. “What if Neil cripples him? He’s capable of that. He fights hard and he fights dirty. I should know.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I remember those days. You two fought all the time.”
“And he didn’t fight fair, either. If the fight wasn’t going his way, he’d grab a stick, or throw a rock, or pretend to give up and then turn around and slug me. I know his tricks, but Duncan doesn’t.”
The elevator slid to a stop. Opening the door, she glanced back at her grandmother with a silent question.
“Go ahead. Go! You can move faster than I can. I’ll be right behind you.”
Kate didn’t need any more urging. She pushed through the revolving exit door, and emerged into the sharp cold of late afternoon. To her right, a crowd formed a circle around a small clearing behind the lodge. She ran toward that crowd.
The site had been used for such challenges in the past, but Kate had never seen that happen. She knew the spot only as a place for playing lawn games in the summer and having snowshoe races in the winter. She did not want to remember it as the field upon which Duncan MacDowell spilled his precious blood.
It was precious, especially to her. As she pushed her way through the circle to the front, she admitted just how precious. The apparent betrayal of his blog wouldn’t have hit her so hard if she hadn’t already begun to care for him.
She would stop this fight. She had to. But the sight that greeted her when she was finally able to see what was happening inside the circle turned her blood to ice.
She hadn’t seen Neil in Were form in a long time, and he looked even bigger than she remembered. Even his blond fur puffed out and seemed to add to his bulk. Nothing about him was small—not his massive chest, his broad head, his powerful jaws, or his immense paws.
Yet Duncan faced him without apparent fear, his head held high, confidence shining in his gray eyes. His lustrous fur gleamed like polished ebony against the white snow. Kate imagined that white snow flecked with blood and shuddered.
“Stop it!” She walked toward the two wolves, her boots crunching on the snow. “I forbid this!” She wasn’t sure she had that authority, but it was worth a try. She stepped between the wolves, but she faced Duncan and looked into his eyes.
“I don’t want you to do this.” She knew he could understand her spoken words, even though he couldn’t respond. Telepathy worked only between Weres in wolf form. No doubt he was exchanging heated messages with Neil. “Please, Duncan. It’s not worth fighting over. Let Howard and the council decide what sort of punishment Neil deserves. It’s not up to you.”
Behind her, Neil snarled.
She glanced over her shoulder and her temper flared. “Don’t you dare snarl at me, you bastard.”
Neil snarled again and bared his teeth.
A low, rumbling growl told her that Duncan was ready to answer that snarl. She turned back to him. “Do not fight him, do you hear me?”
He met her gaze, and she thought she saw a twinkle of amusement in those gray wolf eyes.
“Elizabeth thinks you’re doing this because of me. That better not be true.”
He simply stared at her.
“So help me, Duncan MacDowell, if you challenged Neil because of some stupid Scottish code that says you have to defend my honor, forget about it!”
He backed up a few paces.
“Good. You’re rethinking this. That’s good. Just keep backing up and leave the circle. Physical violence solves nothing. It—No!” Too late she realized he’d backed away only so that he could dodge around her.
Turning quickly, she watched in horror as he launched himself at Neil. “Damn you, Duncan! I’ll never forgive you for this!”
He gave no sign that he’d heard her. The battle was on. Snarling, tumbling, struggling to use his sharp teeth, Duncan knocked his opponent down in a spray of white.
Hands pulled her away from the arena and into the protection of the crowd. She didn’t bother to find out who had done that. All her attention was locked on the blond and black wolves as she began pleading silently for Duncan to find the strength and the stamina to survive this fight.
No, she wanted more than survival for him. If she couldn’t stop him from fighting, then he had to win. Balling her hands into fists, she sent every bit of energy she possessed hurtling toward the black wolf with a heart bigger than she’d ever given him credit for.
But after that first lunge when he’d been lucky enough to catch Neil slightly off-balance, the fight went all Neil’s way. The blond wolf surged to his feet and threw all his weight at Duncan, who went sprawling. He bounced back up, but Neil hit him again, this time pinning him to the ground.
Kate’s nails dug into her palms as Neil strained his neck to reach a tendon in Duncan’s back leg. Woofers yelled encouragement to their leader, begging him to throw off his attacker and escape those powerful jaws. Even a few Howlers joined in.
Instead Duncan went limp.
Kate cried out, begging him to fight back.
Neil momentarily lost his balance when Duncan stopped resisting him, and in a lightning move, Duncan scrambled out from under the big wolf and leaped on his back, his jaws clamping down on his neck.
Yes! Use your brains, not your brawn! Kate’s pulse hammered as she recognized that Duncan was doing exactly that.
Woofers roared their approval of the clever move, but their joy was short-lived. Neil threw Duncan off his back with apparent ease, sending the black wolf to the ground again. This time he didn’t get up quite fast enough, and Neil was on him immediately, still going for the crippling hold on his back leg.
As Neil’s jaws inched closer to that vulnerable spot, Kate started forward. She had to keep Duncan safe. Had to. But strong arms restrained her. She fought them as she watched in horror. Neil opened his jaws.
Drawing on some unseen reservoir of strength, Duncan wrenched free at the last minute and rolled. He came to his feet snarling, fangs bared. And there was something different about his stance this time.
Kate looked on in amazement as Duncan hunched his shoulders. A low, menacing growl rumbled in his chest, and he seemed to take on more bulk. He was no taller, no broader, and yet…she sensed the pride of his ancestors in every line of his body. So this was how a Scottish Highlander had faced the British army. A shiver ran down her spine.
The two wolves circled, never taking their eyes off each other. Neil was still the bigger wolf, and undoubtedly the stronger wolf. But Duncan was the braver wolf.
A hush fell over the crowd, as if they, too, saw that the contest was no longer lopsided. What Duncan lacked in size and strength, he made up for in valor. His eyes seemed to flash fire as he circled, and circled again.
The low growl sounded once more, and then he struck, sinking his fangs into Neil’s throat with such speed that the big wolf failed to dodge away in time. With a howl of rage, he tried to shake off his foe. Duncan held on.
Neil tossed his head and slammed the black wolf to the snow. Duncan held on. He held on as Neil rolled and tumbled, leaving drops of blood in his wake and smashing Duncan’s body to the ground over and over.
At last, Neil lay on his side, panting, as if he’d given up. Duncan braced himself above him, head down, still gripping his opponent’s throat. The blood didn’t gush from the wound, which meant the jugular had not been pierced. But if Duncan chose to, he could easily do it now.
With a wail of distress, Elizabeth ran into the center of the circle, arms outstretched in supplication.
Slowly, Duncan unclamped those powerful jaws and stepped back.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said as she knelt in the snow beside Neil. “I can’t let you kill him.”
With one last glance at Neil, Duncan turned his back and started to walk away.
In that instant, the blond wolf leaped to his feet, knocking Elizabeth over as he launched his big body into the air and drove Duncan to the ground.
Kate rushed to help her grandmother. “Stop him!” she cried. “The fight’s over! He surrendered!”
But Duncan had already squirmed out from under that crushing weight and both Weres were on their feet, circling once again. No one seemed inclined to get in the middle of wolves locked in a life-and-death struggle.
Kate pulled Elizabeth back to the shelter of the crowd.
Her grandmother’s gaze followed Neil. “He used my compassion. He used me.” Disbelief laced her words.
As he’s used you all along. But Kate couldn’t waste words or thought on Neil. She was too busy praying for Duncan. Incredibly, he was still on his feet.
But so was Neil. He might be bleeding, but he stalked Duncan with deadly purpose. Duncan’s flanks heaved from the exertion of breathing at this elevation. He was a courageous Were, but he was in a battle where the odds were stacked against him.
Then one of his Woofers began to chant—woof, woof, woof. The rest picked it up, filling the air with support for their leader.
Kate could see the effect on Duncan as the weariness left his body. She joined in, chanting with all her might—woof, woof, woof. Next to her, Elizabeth did the same. Kate glanced over at Heidi across the circle and Heidi followed her lead. Soon all the Howlers added their voices to those of the Woofers.
Then Kate realized Howard had arrived along with his family. They began chanting with the rest. She spotted Knox, Giselle, Nadia, and even Jake. Duncan had given them all a cause to support, regardless of allegiances. They believed in honesty and fair play.
The noise was deafening, and Neil paused, as if confused by the racket. That encouraged the crowd even more as the cry of woof, woof, woof rose into the cold mountain air.
Neil’s haunches bunched as if to spring at Duncan. Duncan coiled his body, preparing for the assault.
Woof, woof, woof! The chant rolled in waves around the circle, as if weaving a net of protection for the black wolf with the valiant heart.
Neil’s gaze darted from Duncan to the shouting crowd, as if he wasn’t sure where his enemy lay. At last, with a snarl, he ran straight toward the crowd, which scattered to let him pass. He ran up the ski slope as if yearning to put distance between himself and the endless chanting. Soon he was no more than a small smudge against the white snow of the ski run.
Tears streamed down Kate’s cheeks as Duncan stood on wobbly legs and accepted the cheers from a circle of Weres finally united by his unwavering courage. She started forward as his gaze met hers. She saw the warning there. Noticed the slight shake of his head.
He was telling her not to come to him. Whether that was for his sake or hers, she couldn’t know. Turning away from her, he walked unsteadily out of the ring.
Elizabeth came up beside her. “You didn’t go after him. Why not?”
Kate swallowed the tears lodged in her throat. “Because he didn’t want me to, Grandma.”
Chapter 19
WERECON2012:
SOLIDARITY HERE, THEN GONE
Exclusive report for Wereworld Celebrity Watch by Angela Sapworthy
DENVER—In a small clearing behind Stillman Lodge, Duncan MacDowell became a hero today. For the first time since the conference began, Woofers and Howlers joined forces in support of MacDowell’s courageous battle with suspected hacker Neil Stillman. Dear readers, the atmosphere was thrilling! This reporter had goose bumps!
Alas, the sense of cooperation didn’t last long. Delegates returned to the lodge and discovered that the mission statement crafted by MacDowell and Kate Stillman has passed. That news was cheered by some and booed by others. Supporters of the mission statement seem evenly split between Howlers and Woofers, as are the detractors.
“Middle-of-the-road delegates and compromisers like Howard Wallace think the mission statement is fine,” commented former Howler supporter Jake Hunter. “But you know what happens when you stand in the middle of the road? You get run over by oncoming traffic in both directions.”
Jake, whose rugged good looks still get my motor running, was observed in the bar trying to recruit disenchanted Howlers to his new organization, Werewolves Against Random Mating, or WARM. Jake says he’s already submitted his resignation to the Were Council, which he claims has “stacked the deck” in favor of Woofer principles.
When asked his opinion about Kate Stillman and HOWL, Jake was refreshingly blunt. “I respect Duncan MacDowell and Kate Stillman, but they’ve become too cozy for my tastes. Kate’s personal involvement with MacDowell renders her HOWL movement irrelevant. WARM is the new standard-bearer for the cause.”