Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews

Keelan, the plotter. Look how awesome things are when Curran’s in charge.

If Karter got it, he didn’t show it. They drank their beer. Two big cats, lounging about, pretending to be relaxed but very aware of where the boundary was, and a big wolf, cunning and clever, waiting to see which way the conversation would go.

“Ascanio Ferara is making a bid for the Beast Lord seat,” Karter said.

I did my best not to choke.

Ascanio used to be one of my shapeshifters. I’d known him since he was fifteen, and he was the proverbial twenty pounds of bouda crazy in a five-pound bag. Add in way too much testosterone, poor impulse control, and a heartbreaker’s face, and you had teenage Ascanio. Aunt B, the previous Alpha of Clan Bouda, had given him to me because although boudas cherished their children, especially males, Ascanio pushed even past their limits. She’d been afraid he’d piss off the wrong person and get hurt.

He had worked for me at Cutting Edge for several years, during which he received education, training, and a healthy dose of reality and experience. Eventually Ascanio chose to return to his clan, which was now run by Andrea, my best friend, and her husband, Raphael. I was sad to see him go, but I understood it. Ascanio wanted acceptance and respect from other boudas. He wanted to succeed on Pack terms.

Curran didn’t say anything.

“Ascanio is ambitious,” Karter said. “The Medranos are backing him. The kid is good at making money. It sticks to him the way it sticks to Raphael.”

But being a Beast Lord was about more than money. It was not a CFO position.

“And he’s good in a fight. Would’ve made a standout render if he’d chosen to go that route.”

Being a Beast Lord wasn’t about being the baddest fighter, either. I’d learned that firsthand.

“He doesn’t have the power base. The boudas are rich, but there aren’t enough of them. Still, they’re making moves, wheeling and dealing, trying to cobble a coalition together. However, there is one thing that Ascanio needs, and nothing they can do will give it to him.”

“And what is that?” Keelan asked.

“Integrity,” Karter said. “The boudas always look out for number one, themselves. They’re seen as cutthroat.”

“They honor their alliances,” I said.

“With you, Kate,” Karter said. “They are a rock when it comes to supporting the Lennarts, I’ll give them that. But when it comes to the rest of us, the saying is: before you enter a contract with the boudas, read every word of the fine print and then read it again. They always manage to get the lion’s share of the profits. We went into business with them a couple of times. Both times Clan Cat made money, and yet both times I came away feeling ripped off.”

Curran drank his beer.

“I don’t hold a grudge,” Karter said. “We did profit from the deals. If another one comes along, we’ll probably take it again, and we will make money again, but the feeling of having to watch your back with your business partner sticks with you.”

I knew that feeling. When Curran and I separated from the Pack, Jim used Raphael’s expertise to make a buyout offer for Curran’s shares. Jim had to do it, because as Beast Lord he couldn’t afford to have an outsider own a big chunk of the Pack’s businesses. Raphael had to do it because Jim ordered him to and he’d sworn loyalty to the Beast Lord, but the whole thing left me with an uneasy feeling that took years to pass.

“Clan Bouda bet on wealth to expand its influence and got all the problems that come with loaning people money,” Karter continued. “And no, not all of their reputation is deserved, but it’s the perception that matters. No matter how hard Ascanio tries, he can’t separate himself from the clan’s reputation. Jim has integrity and commands respect, but he won’t be endorsing Ascanio. The kid needs someone to vouch for him if he’s going to succeed in his bid for the Beast Lord’s chair.”

Curran glanced at him. “What is it you’re asking?”

“I’d like to know if Ascanio Ferara has asked for your blessing.”

“No. And if he had, I wouldn’t give it to him.”

Endorsing Ascanio’s claim to the throne would be signing the kid’s death warrant. Karter was right. Ascanio simply didn’t have the kind of Pack-wide loyalty needed to hold that spot. It was that loyalty, that mixture of trust, respect, and a bit of healthy caution that kept the shapeshifters from challenging their alphas.

If he somehow took the Beast Lord title, they would challenge him again and again, until someone killed him, and the Pack would be thrown into chaos. I ran that gauntlet when Curran had fallen into a coma. I had endured it, but only because stepping down meant being separated from the man I loved while he lay unconscious in his bed, and nobody had known if he would wake up. Ascanio was a smart kid. He understood all this.

“Why is he so desperate?” I asked.

Karter decided it was a great time to drink his beer.

Here was our chance to figure out what the hell was going on with the Pack. We needed to get Karter talking.

“I know the Medranos,” I said. “I know how Andrea and Raphael run their clan. They wouldn’t put Ascanio in harm’s way, and he wouldn’t disobey them. He worships the ground Raphael walks on. Last I checked, Jim was in good health and his position was secure. Why this urgent need to replace the Beast Lord?”