Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [901]
“Are you saying Richard dumped me because I’m going to be a wereleopard?”
“No, I’m saying that the pack won’t accept you as his lupa.” Micah glanced down, then up. I could see him trying to put his thoughts into words. “My understanding of what’s been happening with your local wolves is that your Ulfric has taken them from a monarchy where his word was law, to a democracy where the majority rules. He gets a decisive vote, but not the last word.”
I nodded. It sounded like what Richard had wanted for the pack. “It sounds like something he’d do. I’ve sort of been out of touch for the last few months.”
“He has succeeded too well. The vote went against him, against you. The pack will not accept you as lupa when you’re wereleopard and not werewolf.”
I looked past him at the others. “Is that true?”
They all nodded. “I’m so sorry, Anita,” Cherry said.
I shook my head, trying to concentrate and not succeeding. “Alright, fine, fine. Richard can’t make me lupa. I never wanted to be lupa, just his girlfriend. Fuck the wolves. But what have they done with Gregory?”
“Richard went ape-shit when he found out what Gregory had done,” Zane said. “He thought Gregory had done it on purpose, because we were all afraid to lose you as our Nimir-Ra.”
“He accused Gregory of doing it on purpose?” I asked.
Zane nodded. “Oh, yeah, then they took him.”
“They, who?”
“Jamil, Sylvie, others.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Didn’t anyone try and argue with him about this?”
“Sylvie tried to tell him it wasn’t right, that you wouldn’t like it. He hit her, told her never to argue with him again, that he was Ulfric, not her.”
“Shit.”
“Do not blame your leopards for not fighting the wolves,” Micah said. “They are sorely outnumbered.”
“They’d get their asses kicked, I know that. Besides, it’s my job to deal with Richard, not theirs.”
“Because you are their Nimir-Ra,” he said.
“Because I am his girlfriend, sort of.”
“Of course,” he said.
I waved a hand at him. “Look, I can’t deal with all of this right now, so I’m just going to concentrate on the important stuff, I mean the immediately important stuff. Where is Gregory, and how do I get him back?”
Micah smiled. “Very practical.”
I looked at him and felt my eyes go cold. “You have no idea how practical I can be.”
His eyes did change, but it wasn’t fear in them, it was more interest, like my reaction intrigued him. “The situation is complex because you are the lupa that was injured. In effect, you must persuade yourself that Gregory meant no harm.”
“That’s too easy,” I said. “I know he meant no harm. So why do I get the feeling that I can’t just call Richard up and say, ‘Hey, I’m coming to get Gregory’?”
“Because you must convince not just Richard, but the entire pack, that you have the right to Gregory.”
“What do you mean ‘right to Gregory’? He’s my leopard. He’s mine, not theirs.”
Micah smiled, lowering long lashes over his eyes, as if he didn’t want me to read his expression at that moment. “The Ulfric declared Gregory rogue for, in effect, killing their lupa.”
“I’m alive, what . . . ?”
Micah held up a finger, and I let him finish. “You are dead to the pack—as their lupa. In effect, being a leopard makes you dead to them. You may share Richard’s bed again, but you will never be their lupa again. They voted on it, and Richard has destroyed his own power structure to the point where he can’t force a vote on them.”
“You’re saying that he is Ulfric but he doesn’t really rule them,” I said.
Micah seemed to think about that for a second, or two, then started to nod, stopped in mid-motion. “Yes, in fact, very well put.”
“Thanks.” A thought came to me, and I gripped his arm. “They aren’t going to kill Gregory, are they?” Something passed over his face that tightened my grip on his arm. “They haven’t killed him?”
“No,” Micah said.
I let go of his arm and leaned back against the wall. “What are they doing