Fox Fate by Robin Roseau

another perspective?"
    The other business people on the council shook their heads, and Ron Berg said, "Violet states it well."
    "Thank you. I have another simple question. Why do we care about the politics of the other packs?"
    "We don't," James Bent said after a nod from Lara. "Not their internal politics. But from time to time, a group of packs will loosely consolidate and try to exert influence over other packs. To some extent, we would want to be involved before that happens so we can make sure we don't get caught in a crossfire."
    "We are a moderate sized pack," Lenora James continued. "There are two ways for a wolf pack to remain safe within its own territory. They can be too inconsequential to notice, or they can be strong. We are strong enough to deal with our immediate neighbors, due in no small thanks to you, Michaela, but we would not be able to withstand aggression from one of the major packs or a from a consortium of packs."
    "That happens?"
    "Territory is territory," she stated. "And greed is greed. I believe you are familiar with the baser instincts that drive many wolves."
    I looked around the table. "Those who don't want us to go, is that because you don't want the attention?"
    That turned into a fifteen-minute discussion confirming, more or less, my guess. Finally I said, "Well then. I have two words. Too. Late."
    "Excuse me?" asked Albert Stein.
    "If you didn't want to be noticed, you perhaps shouldn't have a female alpha. You shouldn't have invited a werefox into your pack," I said. "You really shouldn't have invited me, given who I am. You definitely shouldn't have made me an alpha. We shouldn't have let word get around what happened to the Chicago pack."
    "And perhaps we should have worked harder to keep you out of Iowa," Vivian added.
    I nodded. "Just having a female alpha is going to garner attention. If you don't want to be noticed, then you need to stick to safe, traditional choices. That doesn't seem to be the nature of this pack. So, I say again. Too. Late. Everyone in North America knows who we are. They know who I am." I shrugged. "I can only guess what they think." I looked around. "I don't know the politics. But I understand about being visible, and I understand about being hidden. This pack is not hidden."
    I couldn't tell if Lara was upset I said all that, and I couldn't believe it wasn't obvious to everyone else. Maybe it was, but no one wanted to say it. Maybe they were afraid of offending Lara. Maybe they were afraid of offending me. But if they thought they could remain invisible, they were deluding themselves.
    My words spawned a fresh debate, trying to decide if I was right. A few of the staunchest isolationists wondered whether there were steps to take to negate the effects of the things I'd said. Violet muttered something about stuffing genies back into bottles at about the same time James Bent just said, "Barn doors".
    I decided not to take that metaphor too far. I was not a horse that had escaped.
    It was Dominick who said, "Our co-alpha is correct. For better or for worse, we have made non-traditional choices, and some of those have become exceedingly visible."
    "I want to remind everyone," said Ron, "that we should not shoot the messenger on this. Michaela did not pursue a position in the pack; it was thrust upon her. I also want to remind everyone that we have been exceedingly well-served by both our alphas."
    He received assent from a few corners of the table, although I knew I still had detractors on the council. I didn't have a problem with that. Said simply: yes-men don't keep you from doing something stupid.
    "Carissa told me that everyone in North America knew about what happened in Iowa," I added. "And Johnny Mack knew about Chicago. So did Portia; she asked about it during her interviews."
    "For a fox, you're awfully direct," Lara said.
    "Wolves don't respect subtle," I said.
    "And so," inserted Dominick, pulling the attention back to himself. "We have to play the hand we