Hyena Moon (31 page)

Kess' face grew still, to the point where it almost looked like a mask. He'd only see her do that once before, when he had asked her about Sek. "A few of ours didn't make it."

He doubted she'd be so calm if one of them was her boyfriend, but he asked anyway. "Cormac?"

"He and all of his family are fine. Maybe a little banged up but nothing that won't heal." Her fingers twisted around themselves, coming together and breaking apart in an endless knot. "Mebis is in the hospital getting his hand worked on. Laila and Finn are there now."

Rafe watched her quietly for a few minutes. She looked like her mind was very far away. "So what now?"

Kess' head came up and she forced a smile. "Now," she said, getting awkwardly to her feet. It was odd seeing her move without her usual graceful slink. "You get all healed up. And I think there's someone who'd like to see you very much." She clunked over to the door and opened it.

Lenore was on the other side, waiting. "Hi." Her voice was shy, but the blinding smile she gave him was anything but.

Kess gestured Lenore inside. "He's all yours." She closed the door behind her.

Rafe watched the girl cross the carpet to his side and thought to himself that he was. He was hers and there was no one else he'd rather belong to.

**********

Rafe was busy doing what he'd been doing for the past few days when Kess and Finn came into his bedroom: staring at the walls and trying not to be crushed under the sheer weight of his boredom. Lenore helped alleviate it and she was with him as much as she could be, but even she needed to go out and do things with her family. He didn't blame her for wanting to get out of there; if he'd been able, he'd have left to, if only to have a change of scenery.

But he was feeling better with each passing day. His busted arm would still take weeks to heal, but the bite marks, claw marks, and various gaping wounds Teresa had inflicted were disappearing. He could turn his head without pain, which was something he hadn't managed in days. Now that he didn't feel quite so horrible, Rafe was getting antsy. He wanted to be up and around, even if his body still wasn't up to the task for more than a few minutes.

Lenore had gone out with her parents and Cormac for the afternoon and Rafe was starting in on his fifteenth session of Let's Count the Brush Strokes on the Ceiling when Kess knocked on his open door. He waved her in and saw that Finn followed after her. He felt his eyebrows lift in surprise. Finn hadn't been by but once to see him. Rafe couldn't blame him though; with Laila in town, Finn's attention was justifiably elsewhere.

"What's up?" he asked as they took seats around him. Kess perched at the foot of his bed while Finn dropped into the club chair in the corner. Rafe looked at both of them carefully. This was weird.

"How're you feeling?" Finn asked, ignoring the original question.

He managed a shrug with only a twinge of pain. "Kind of stir crazy, but otherwise okay, I guess."

"We wanted to talk to you about something, if you feel up to it." Kess glanced at Finn, but what she was trying to communicate to him, Rafe couldn't begin to know.

"Oookay." His voice was tentative. He had no idea why Kess and Finn would want to talk to him or what it could be about. He'd expect Cormac to be here rather than Finn. "Go ahead."

Again, the two older weres exchanged a look. Kess took a deep breath and began. "I'm opening Miami up to all weres."

Rafe stared at her, shocked. He floundered for something to say, but since the only articulate thing he could think of to say was something along the lines of
Durrrrr
, he decided to remain silent and listen to what else she had come up with.

"I'm instituting something a little different from now on. I'm forming a council to oversee the weres that would come and go in Miami. So long as everyone behaves themselves, the council would have little to do."

"Behaves themselves?" Rafe knew he sounded skeptical. He didn't come from a family of people who were known for their self-control.

Finn fielded this one. "Nobody in their right mind wants us exposed to regular humans. We'd be hunted, experimented on, the whole nine yards. So we all follow the unspoken rule of don't get found out. Same rule applies in this case. Don't get caught. Don't draw attention to yourself or other weres."

Kess continued. "We know we can't account for every were that might come through, but my clan couldn't handle that anyway--we're too few, especially after--" she glanced at Rafe and didn't continue that line of thought. "I'm going to ask that every new were notify the council that they are in town, but I'm not going to hold anyone to it, unless problems arise."

"Then what?" Rafe looked between Finn and Kess.

"Depends on the problem. The council would have final ruling, specifically the representative for that were-species." Kess stared at him.

"So someone of that species would pass judgment. Okay." That made sense. Kess was basically creating her own pack, albeit one of every kind of were there was. She'd still be the head, but there'd be voices for all other weres. He thought about what she hadn't said. "And who carries out the sentence?"

Kess didn't shrink from it. "The council would. And any other were in the area would be responsible for reporting location, sightings, or--if possible--bringing the offender before the council. Failing that, we'd hunt the offending were down ourselves."

The room was silent for a few minutes. Rafe tried to think of a problem with Kess' idea and, more importantly, a better solution for what to do about Miami and couldn't. He wasn't sure this would work, but it seemed like the best idea for the situation. Certainly no one had ever tried it before. "And anyone registering with the council would get what out of it?"

"Rights to stay in Miami indefinitely. Representation, a place to air grievances. But there'd be responsibilities too. They'd police their own, they'd be held accountable for any guests in the city, and they'd be expected to defend Miami in case of outside attack."

Rafe nodded slowly. One thing bothered him. He had no idea why Kess and Finn were telling him any of this. He highly doubted they cared about his opinion. "Sounds as good as anything else." He twisted the blanket beneath his hands. He looked from Kess to Finn before asking his next question. "But why are you telling me all of this? Is it because I need to swear to the council or something if I want to stay here?"

If possible, Kess' face grew more serious. She looked at Finn again, and then turned back to him. "Not exactly, Rafe." She hesitated, then took a breath and continued. "I was hoping that you would be part of the council. As the representative for the hyenas." She gestured toward the werewolf lounging in the chair. "Finn has already agreed to be the representative for the wolves."

Rafe felt like he'd been hit upside the head with his tire iron. "Me?"

"Yeah, you," Finn said, his voice conveying the unspoken
Well, DUH
easily. Kess nodded.

He blinked. Never would he have expected anything like this. "Why me?"

"Aside from the fact that you're probably the only hyena left in a 100 mile radius?" Finn grinned. "You're cute and you've got a perky smile. That's good enough for me."

Kess rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. Goodness knows, everyone else does." Finn's grin didn't fade. "We trust you, Rafe. That's why we asked you."

His eyes jumped from Kess to Finn and back again. "We?"

Finn nodded. "All of us, including those not staying here. You've got the goods, kid. And if you want it, the seat on the council is yours."

"We can give you some time to think about it." Kess stood up to leave. She beckoned for Finn to join her.

"Wait." Rafe called them back. "I don't need to think about it." He took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what he was signing on for, or whether he would be good at it or not, but he knew that this was what he wanted. This was home. "I'll do it."

"You sure about that?" Kess still looked serious. "It's not going to be easy." Finn was making faces behind her back. "And don't think I don't know what you are doing, Finnegan!"

"How's about you unclench a little, Kestrel?" He slung his arm around the wereleopard and threw a wink at Rafe.

"Maybe if you'd stop being such a raging jackass..."

"Blah, blah, blah. The kid said he's in. If you're going to do this much talking at council meetings, I'm going to show up with...."

"Ummm, guys?" Rafe broke in with a barb of his own. "Keep this up and Miami is doomed."

Kess grinned then, a rare thing for her. "You'll do just fine, Rafe." She smacked Finn upside the head. He tried to elbow her in the ribs, but she was already moving away. "Get some rest. We'll talk again later."

Rafe watched them leave, waiting until the door was closed before he settled back down into the pillows. Then he allowed himself a huge grin. What Kess and Finn hadn't said in words, but managed to convey regardless was the message he'd been waiting for almost all of his life: welcome home. Because he finally felt like he was.

Chapter Forty-Four

Finn picked Laila up at the hospital where Mebis was meeting with another doctor. Mebis had already had one surgery to try and repair his hyena mangled hand, and he was debating about undergoing another. Finn knew Laila was concerned for her brother, and his status as a Keeper, but she was pretending that everything was status quo. He was there for her if she wanted to talk about it, but she hadn't so far; she'd only shared the bare bones info with him. He was content to wait until she wanted to talk about it, if ever. It was her prerogative.

She slung herself into the car and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Away, Jeeves. Find me some food. I'm starving."

Finn pulled away from the curb and headed to their default restaurant. They'd stumbled upon it when Laila was here earlier in the summer and it had, what they both considered, a superlative Reuben sandwich. "How's it going?"

"Same same," she answered, digging in her bag for something. She came up with her phone after a few more minutes of digging and sent off a quick text. "I told Dad I would let him know what was up with Mebis."

"Anything new?" Finn flicked his eyes at Laila when he asked, so he caught the unhappy expression on her face.

"Not sure. He may never regain use of his hand, even with the operation. It's a wait and see game." She frowned, staring out the window.

Finn knew her well enough by now to read the signs of I don't want to talk about it. He let the matter drop, but kept an eye on her as he drove. She wasn't one to sit and brood if there was any other alternative; Laila was the type who preferred action to thought. They both had that in common.

He wasn't bothered by the silence. It was better than filling it with awkward conversation like most girls would have done. Laila wasn't most girls though. Finn never forgot that. Most girls wouldn't be able to take out a full contingent of hyenas with just a couple of swords and a gun. Yeah, Laila wasn't even on the same continent as most girls. It was one of the things Finn found so appealing about her. Laila was many things, but boring and predictable weren't among them.

She didn't say another word until they'd placed their order. Then she seemed to shake herself out of whatever mood she was in and smiled at him. "So are you and Kess still determined to go ahead with your crazy plan?"

"First, it's Kess' crazy plan. And second, you calling something crazy? That's something I never thought I'd hear."

She lobbed the wrapper from her straw at him. Finn counted himself lucky it hadn't been a knife; he knew she was packing one at the very least. "If you are serious about going through with opening up Miami, you should tell Kess that it's going to be even worse than before. If she thought she had eyes on her with the hyenas, that was nothing compared to the scrutiny all of you will be under now." She paused, her warm brown eyes locking on his with a terrible intensity. "And it won't just be the Keepers. Every were is going to be watching you. Nobody has ever attempted anything like this with any territory, let alone one as big as Miami."

Finn thought about offering a flippant comment full of his usual false bravado and then shelved it. He was nervous because Laila didn't get this serious often. "So any advice?"

"Watch your asses. Especially my brother's." She grinned then.

Finn swallowed the bite of his sandwich he had in his mouth with an audible gulp and coughed. "What?"

"Mebis has been given permanent assignment here and a seat on your new council." If possible, her grin got bigger.

Finn returned a watery one of his own. It was good that Mebis had been placed in Miami permanently; he was sympathetic to Kess and had already proven to be on their side in the fight with the hyenas. But it also meant there was a Keeper spy already in their midst. Still, better the devil you know.... He realized he hadn't spoken in a while because Laila was staring pointedly at him. "That's great."

Laila rolled her eyes at him, letting him know exactly what she thought of his prevarication skills. "Yeah, I can tell you're overwhelmed with emotion over there. Try to contain yourself. It's embarrassing." She took a huge bite of her sandwich. Laila had even mastered the art of eating angrily.

"Ha ha ha." Finn waited until Laila's glare had subsided back to reasonable levels, then explained. "I'm just kind of surprised, that's all. I would have thought that he'd be replaced after the hyenas."

Laila eyed him suspiciously, as if gauging if what he said was actually true. Then she relaxed back in her seat, apparently deciding to eviscerate him at a later date. It was what made their relationship spicy. "Why so?"

"I don't know." Finn took another bite of his sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. "Didn't he get a little too personally involved this last time? Aren't you guys one of those," he dropped his voice and intoned, "
We watch and we see all
kind of organizations?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Keepers believe in taking a more hands on approach." Finn got the reference; Laila had been the one who had killed Sek, Kess' brother, earlier in the summer. "We couldn't allow the hyenas to take Miami--they would have destroyed it. So my brother backed Kess' play. The Keepers approved, as they approve of this council venture. For now." Her voice held a note of warning in it.