Then she gave Sula a fond, knowing look and Sula frowned, because that was always a sign that Lisbeth had something up her sleeve.
“You just showed your hand.”
Sula frowned some more.
“You just told me what you don't know, Sula. You mother did not tell you much of anything. So how do you know that we can't be a pack? Maybe that's why your mother was lonely, she never found the right shifter friend to live with, to help her.”
“That, I think she would have mentioned.”
“No.” Lisbeth started pacing again, warming to her cause. “No, because she didn't want you to be a shifter at all, you've told me that. She would not tell you anything, because it might, I don't know, encourage you somehow.” Lisbeth nodded to herself, a fierce look in her eyes.
“Of course she didn't want me to be a shifter! It's nothing but trouble for us; mother only registered twice in my whole life, once because she got caught by the cops as unregistered and once because some guy was crazy enough to want to marry her.”
Lisbeth frowned. “You never told me that.”
Sula felt her story rolling out of her, uncontrolled and angry. She and Lisbeth had been friends for years, traveling together as sisters and vagabonds, but she had never said this much to Lisbeth about her past before. But Lisbeth was leaving, she had found a pack, and Sula felt like she had nothing to lose. “She registered for him, so she could get a legitimate job and settle down. The wolf pack who ran the territory, they were terrified of having a bear around, even one licensed and married and with a kid. They ran us out, and killed the guy she was in love with to make sure she didn't come back. It was bad.”
“Shit, Sula. I—”
“I was ten, I think. Twelve? Somewhere around there. Those wolves killed a part of her soul. Then I hit puberty and started changing, and she just gave up. She committed suicide when I was sixteen but I really think she died that night. “
Lisbeth sat down on the bed, pale and shaken.
“So yeah, I don't find much joy in this whole thing, and I'm pretty sure Mama didn't live a miserable life just because she never found a good friend like I got with you. You've got a pack, and I know you hate your family but in the end that's okay, because you can make a new pack, or go home and mend fences. There's not a place I go where I'll be allowed to stay, and I made peace with that a long time ago.”
Lisbeth's expression narrowed. “You think if Tony marks this territory I'll let him run you out?”
“I'll leave.”
“Damn it! I told you—”
“He won't be able to consolidate any power with a bear running around free, Lisbeth. People won't trust him because he's not keeping his own house clean. Bad enough he's got the queer thing working against him; having me around would just destroy any credibility he has.”
“Look, it doesn't have to be like that! He's already broken with tradition, just like I did! Together, we are going to stake out a new kind of pack. And you're in it, Sula, whether you accept that fact or not.” Lisbeth stood up, walked out and slammed the door behind her. Sula shook her head.
~*~
While they were on the road, Cal and Tony hustled pool and darts for money, even though Cal knew Daniel did not really approve. It was easy to fleece drunken idiots when skipping town was the plan from the start, but it was not something they could do anyplace they intended to stay in for a while. They had, over the past four years of being a rogue pack, settled long–term in very few places, and usually those places were held territories where Tony was friends with or related to the local Alpha. Unlike the mythology that surrounded their kind, the truth was that in general most Alphas got along well together, which helped when a rogue pack like Tony's came into town. Tony still tried to keep most of their stays to a couple of months at most, which was the polite thing to do.
And also because he knew it bothered Cal to
“You just showed your hand.”
Sula frowned some more.
“You just told me what you don't know, Sula. You mother did not tell you much of anything. So how do you know that we can't be a pack? Maybe that's why your mother was lonely, she never found the right shifter friend to live with, to help her.”
“That, I think she would have mentioned.”
“No.” Lisbeth started pacing again, warming to her cause. “No, because she didn't want you to be a shifter at all, you've told me that. She would not tell you anything, because it might, I don't know, encourage you somehow.” Lisbeth nodded to herself, a fierce look in her eyes.
“Of course she didn't want me to be a shifter! It's nothing but trouble for us; mother only registered twice in my whole life, once because she got caught by the cops as unregistered and once because some guy was crazy enough to want to marry her.”
Lisbeth frowned. “You never told me that.”
Sula felt her story rolling out of her, uncontrolled and angry. She and Lisbeth had been friends for years, traveling together as sisters and vagabonds, but she had never said this much to Lisbeth about her past before. But Lisbeth was leaving, she had found a pack, and Sula felt like she had nothing to lose. “She registered for him, so she could get a legitimate job and settle down. The wolf pack who ran the territory, they were terrified of having a bear around, even one licensed and married and with a kid. They ran us out, and killed the guy she was in love with to make sure she didn't come back. It was bad.”
“Shit, Sula. I—”
“I was ten, I think. Twelve? Somewhere around there. Those wolves killed a part of her soul. Then I hit puberty and started changing, and she just gave up. She committed suicide when I was sixteen but I really think she died that night. “
Lisbeth sat down on the bed, pale and shaken.
“So yeah, I don't find much joy in this whole thing, and I'm pretty sure Mama didn't live a miserable life just because she never found a good friend like I got with you. You've got a pack, and I know you hate your family but in the end that's okay, because you can make a new pack, or go home and mend fences. There's not a place I go where I'll be allowed to stay, and I made peace with that a long time ago.”
Lisbeth's expression narrowed. “You think if Tony marks this territory I'll let him run you out?”
“I'll leave.”
“Damn it! I told you—”
“He won't be able to consolidate any power with a bear running around free, Lisbeth. People won't trust him because he's not keeping his own house clean. Bad enough he's got the queer thing working against him; having me around would just destroy any credibility he has.”
“Look, it doesn't have to be like that! He's already broken with tradition, just like I did! Together, we are going to stake out a new kind of pack. And you're in it, Sula, whether you accept that fact or not.” Lisbeth stood up, walked out and slammed the door behind her. Sula shook her head.
~*~
While they were on the road, Cal and Tony hustled pool and darts for money, even though Cal knew Daniel did not really approve. It was easy to fleece drunken idiots when skipping town was the plan from the start, but it was not something they could do anyplace they intended to stay in for a while. They had, over the past four years of being a rogue pack, settled long–term in very few places, and usually those places were held territories where Tony was friends with or related to the local Alpha. Unlike the mythology that surrounded their kind, the truth was that in general most Alphas got along well together, which helped when a rogue pack like Tony's came into town. Tony still tried to keep most of their stays to a couple of months at most, which was the polite thing to do.
And also because he knew it bothered Cal to
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