* * *

Ari stopped to scan the area. She was fifteen minutes early by design. Time to get the feel of the place, filter out the normal sounds and smells. The kidnapper had chosen the east shelter in Riverdale’s Goshen Park, 5:30 a.m. Since the park didn’t open for ordinary traffic until 8 o’clock, they had plenty of time to conduct their business. The location was an odd choice for a stranger. How did he know they’d have privacy, that the area was restricted to Otherworlders at night? If Steffan had made the suggestion, it would mean her friend was not only alive but interacting with his captor. An encouraging fact. Or maybe she was grabbing at straws.

All the way to the park Ari had struggled to make sense of this case, but she’d come up with more questions than answers. Wasn’t kidnapping a strange way to influence the vote? It seemed like a poorly conceived last minute act of desperation. Yet, their access to inside information would seem to require a certain amount of pre-planning.

Why had no one been harmed? Despite the threats and dire warnings, nothing bad had actually happened. The kidnapper grumbled and yelled every time his demands weren’t met, but he ultimately accepted everything. That didn’t sound like any hardened criminal or terrorist type she’d heard of.

So maybe they were normally law-abiding wolves who were trying to make a statement and had gotten overly zealous. Genuine believers in a cause. Not hired killers. Not pros. Would that make them more or less dangerous? What about a coalition could rouse that kind of passion?

Ari sighed. Fitting the right pieces together wasn’t an easy task, and her judgment might be impaired. Her head was in two places, her loyalties divided. Andreas. Steffan. She had responsibilities to both. On the way over, Lilith had tried to convince her that Andreas wasn’t in immediate danger, but she couldn’t be sure. How could she leave him to face the challenges alone? Whatever they were to each other, she belonged at his side. If she didn’t get there in time, she would have let him down.

Damn, she was tired. Ari massaged her temples and forced her attention back to the present scene. She needed to get this over with quickly, so she didn’t let either man down.

She slowly turned around, releasing tendrils of magic into the surrounding woods. The only being she found was Lilith, hidden about fifty yards away. Ari had done a masking spell to cover the lioness’s scent and given her a vial of the cloaking potion. The potion was about eighty percent reliable. Not perfect, but hopefully it would be enough until Ari needed her.

Gilbert and his pack waited at a local bar two blocks from the park. No one had heard from the two weretigers who were tracking the first splinter group of nine wolves. A man bundled in a cloak and the remaining wolves, another eight or nine, had left the farm, with Steffan—or someone covered in a blanket—nearly half an hour ago. They had piled into two vans and disappeared into a traffic snarl on the freeway.

She tapped her watch. Still running. The kidnapper and Steffan were nine minutes late.

She was poised to call Gilbert and discuss the situation, when her witch senses roared to life. Werewolves. Five distinct scents, and she recognized one of them. The hairs on her arms quivered. The wolves were approaching from two separate directions. Three from behind her; two in front. One of the two was Steffan.

“Ari?” It was Lilith on the open cell Ari held to her ear. “We’ve got company. I’m behind three, headed toward you, and they’re armed with sawed off shotguns.”

“Did both potions work?” Ari whispered.

“Yep. They seem oblivious.”

“Atta girl. Steffan and another wolf are approaching from the south.” Ari turned to face the direction where Steffan should appear. “You know what to do.”

“We should be with you shortly.” Lilith disconnected.

Less than three minutes later, a heavily cloaked figure appeared at the southern edge of the clearing. In the dim moonlight Ari saw a reddish-brown wolf with an uneven gait trotting beside him. Ari stiffened, smothering an angry protest when she saw the muzzle, collar, and leash. Rope hobbles restrained Steffan’s front paws. The kidnapper wasn’t taking any chances. Although Steffan didn’t appear to be in pain, the humiliation was infuriating to Ari. She locked down her temper, knowing losing it would give her opponent an advantage. The situation demanded a clear head.

She strained for a glimpse of the man’s face, but the long cloak covered him from head to foot. The hood was pulled up and over, keeping his face in shadow. An effective disguise. Her witch senses and nose confirmed he was a wolf, with a significant power aura.

“Guardian, are you satisfied?” It was the male voice from the phone.

Actually, she was very satisfied. She’d guessed right. He hadn’t trusted anyone else to handle the meeting. She noted his earthy scent, the feel and strength of his energy. She’d recognize him if they met again.

Ignoring his question, she spoke to Steffan. “Are you all right?” Even though he couldn’t speak to her while in wolf form, he could understand her words.

Steffan nodded. His intelligent brown eyes were clear of pain.

Ari finally addressed the cloaked figure. “OK, I’ll report to the others that he’s alive. Is there anything else?” When he raised his head to answer her, she caught a momentary flash of intense, steel-gray eyes before his features were once again shadowed by the hood.

“There is something else you can do.” His voice held a smile. “Place your weapons on the ground. The knife, the gun. Then lie down on your stomach while your hands are bound.”

Ari kept her voice expressionless. “What makes you think I’m going to do that?”

“Look behind you,” he invited.

She twisted enough to look over her shoulder. Approximately ten feet away, three wolves in human form pointed very business-like shotguns at her. She’d heard them arrive, but knowing Lilith was right behind them, she’d let the game play out. Ari gave a furtive glance at her watch. If Lilith had used the cloaking potion when they last talked, it should be wearing off about…now.

Nothing happened.

That wasn’t good. She had miscalculated. Now what? Thinking rapidly for some way to stall, she looked at the kidnapper. “I guess you got me.”

“Not quite.” Lilith suddenly spoke aloud. “I’ll shoot the first wolf that moves.”

“What the hell?”

At the gunman’s startled words, Ari turned to look. Lilith had appeared a dozen feet behind the three wolves. One of her automatics was pointed at the closest wolf’s head; her other handgun moved between the other two. The wolves froze, looking to the cowled figure for guidance.

“Guns on the ground,” Lilith ordered.

When their leader nodded, the wolves complied. Lilith stepped forward to kick the guns out of reach, and one of the wolves lunged at her. Lilith shot him in the head; a second bullet hit another wolf in the shoulder. Ari knocked the third wolf on his haunches with a stun as the wolf leader shouted, “Stop or I’ll kill him.”

Ari spun to see the kidnapper holding a pistol against Steffan’s head.

“Tell your lion to disarm.”

“She has a touchy trigger finger,” Ari warned. “Steffan has value to you. Your men mean nothing to us, dead or alive. Your choice.”

His grey eyes met hers. “A standoff then. I may not want to kill your friend, not yet, but I wouldn’t hesitate to shatter his spine.”

“Shall we stop this useless game?” she snapped. “Let Steffan go. Holding him won’t help you. You’re fighting a lost cause. The negotiators will never meet your terms.”

“Does Steffan’s life mean nothing to them? Or to you?”

She heard his growing irritation but ignored the threat. She wasn’t going to let him make this personal for her. “You can still stop this. Right here, right now.” She pointed to the dead wolf. “There’s no help for this one, but no one else has to die.”

The kidnapper lashed out in anger. “Talk, talk, talk. I’m sick of talk. Go back and tell them he’s alive, but his blood will be on their hands unless they abandon this unholy alliance by the five o’clock deadline. No later. I will call for their final decision on whether he lives or dies.” He raised the pistol. “We’re leaving now. My wolves are coming with me. All of them.” He moved the gun barrel toward Steffan’s rear haunches. “I can make his waiting most painful.”

Ari heard the truth in his voice. He might be reluctant to take a life, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t carry through on this threat. She’d heard enough to know they were facing a zealot, a man with a cause. She hated dealing with fanatics.

“I’ll deliver your message, but don’t expect it to change anyone’s mind. Lilith, let them go so they can tend to their dead and wounded. There will be another time.”

The kidnapper’s laugh was short, without mirth. “I almost hope you’re right, Guardian. It would make an interesting match.”

Chapter Twelve

“Then we’ve accomplished nothing,” Robert said, throwing up his hands. “You made a mess of it. Now what do you propose?” He turned an angry look on Ari.

She tried not to take his words personally. Not that she didn’t want to. A punch or two in his face might have made her feel better. But they were all frustrated, and fighting among themselves wouldn’t help. He was right about one thing; they needed a new plan.

“Let’s just vote the way they want,” Vita said. “The coalition can wait. What’s the rush anyway? A few months, a few years. Maybe it really doesn’t matter.”

“I know I said that earlier, but I was wrong. It does matter.” Jena confronted the other female leader. “The coalition matters for the future of all wolves. We’ve been over all of this a dozen times, and I thought we had reached an agreement. Now you’re changing your mind again?”

“It’s not worth Steffan’s life.”

“Actually, it might be,” Jena said. “Don’t look so shocked. I don’t want anything to happen to Steffan, but this coalition is an incredible breakthrough. The humans came to us—the wolf nation—for help. Isn’t this exactly what we’ve wanted, waited for? To be accepted? Respected?”