Hyena Moon by Jeanette Battista Read Free Book Online Page B

could. Unfortunately, she didn't have that luxury anymore. It was almost easier when Sekhmet had been chasing her. She never wanted to go back to that time in her life--the fear, the running, the upheaval--but at least he took care of the clan. Now there was no one but her to do it.
    "And you can't assume that everyone is just going to get along," Cormac continued. He got up to pace too, so Kess altered her own route to make room for his. "You could have were conflict just because different species are trying to share territory."
    "We've got three different species sharing a roof right now and we seem able to get along."
    Finn stretched hugely. "That's because we all knew each other beforehand. We're friends. Well, except for Rafe. He's a late addition. But he's not real into conflict from everything I've seen." He paused, and then asked, "And where is Bro 2.0?"
    She looked at Finn sharply. He was pulling this now too? "What's that supposed to mean?" Had Cormac been talking to everyone about his idea that she was substituting Rafe for Sek?
    "What?" Finn seemed truly shocked.
    "Never mind." She tamped down on her irritation. Half the time, Finn didn't even know what came out of his mouth. Still, it bothered her that two people thought she wasn't being objective where Rafe was concerned.
    Kess saw Cormac frown. She wasn't sure if it was the mention of Rafe or if it was Cormac's continued unhappiness with the way she was dealing with the werehyena. He'd made it clear that he thought she was too close to the situation to make solid decisions, and she knew he thought she wasn't acting enough like an Alpha. She was trying to look at it objectively, that Cormac only had her best interests at heart but it was difficult sometimes. Like now, especially when it felt like he was talking about her behind her back.
    All he said though was, "Finn's right. Our situation is probably not the best example for something like this. You can't count on the different species being able to get along."
    "Yeah, it's not like we have a were United Nations or something like that," Finn added.
    Kess froze. A were United Nations? She stayed still, letting her mind work at it for a moment. Usually you could dismiss most of what Finn said because it was flip or off the cuff, but occasionally he came up with good ideas. He might be on to something with this. What if they established a were council, something that encouraged buy-in from all of the different were groups out there? They already had the leopards represented, and the wolves. Mebis was still in town and he could speak for both the jackals and the Keepers of Divine Order--if they wanted to have a say.
    There was still the problem of Samara, but Kess already knew how that would have to end. She and the werehyena leader were going to have to resolve their territorial dispute permanently and in the very near future. All of Kess' planning might turn out to be useless if Samara had her way, but she knew she had to try. Her clan needed a better solution to their problems going forward.
    Her clan's numbers were not getting any larger. They had not had a wereleopard born into the clan since Kess and she knew that it was only a matter of time before Samara or some other were struck at them. She needed to get her clan back into a position of strength. Finn's idea may just be the way to do that.
    "Kess?" Cormac's voice shook her from her reverie. She looked at him and smiled.
    "Finn may have actually had a good idea." She gave the other werewolf a grin.
    "I did? What did I say?" He pulled out of his laze on the chair and sat up straighter.
    "The were UN. Why couldn't we do something like that here?"
    The two of them looked at her like she had announced she was going to take up naked parasailing. Cormac cleared his throat. "Um, probably because something like that wouldn't work."
    "Has anyone ever tried?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Finn and Cormac a hard look.
    The two of them just