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that she thought was named Istal rose to his feet. “I challenge what you say. The Beta’s wife isn’t one of us. I won’t treat her like Pack when she’s a vampire. You know how they are. Can’t trust them not to bleed you out while you sleep.”
    “My wife would never steal blood, and certainly not from the likes of you.” Viggo surged forward, until he was inches from the other man. “She prefers clean skin.”
    Before Ellie had time to attempt a logical explanation for the information gleaned from their exchange, Istal growled and leaped forward. One moment, he was an overweight man with a hairy chest and dirty hair. The next, in mid-air, he became a large wolf with greasy fur, snapping at Viggo.
    Reflexively, she rubbed her eyes, blinking several times. She wished she wore contacts. That might provide a reason for the hallucination.
    Viggo jumped out of the way, not losing a second before transforming. His pants and shoes fell from his changed form as he leapt at Istal. They met in mid-leap and crashed to the ground, with Viggo on top. Their bone-chilling growls carried through the clearing.
    Ellie expected one of them to kill the other at any second. Her heart raced with fear, although she couldn’t precisely identify the origin. Fear of the unknown, fear of Viggo being injured, and even fear of the Pack itself mingled together to form an overwhelming onslaught. She dropped to her knees, not even noticing the snow seeping into her jeans.
    Rica pushed between the two of them, still as human as he had ever been, she noted thankfully. With what seemed like no effort, he separated them, tossing the combatants several feet away from each other. “Change back. Now.” His tone was steady, but the anger in it resounded throughout the clearing and up the hill.
    Viggo and Istal changed, both retrieving their clothes without looking at the other. Rica waited until they had taken up posts on opposite sides of the fire before continuing. “Marriage has joined Viggo and Davinia. She is part of our family now. You will accept her.”
    “I won’t,” Istal said. Several members nodded their agreement.
    Rica whirled to face him. “Then you will challenge me for leadership of the Pack, if you defy my word.”
    Istal shuffled his feet, looking down. “I’ve no wish to usurp you, Alpha, but I can’t accept that woman.”
    “Then leave.” Rica said the pronouncement viciously. “Any who won’t follow me and won’t challenge me, will walk away right now.”
    Ellie held her breath, awaiting their reaction. To her surprise, no one made a move to leave, and no one stood up to challenge him. She slowly regained her feet, wondering at the sense of detachment she felt. On some level, she knew she was in the presence of werewolves, and that she had befriended a vampire, but she couldn’t accept it. It wasn’t possible.
    Rica allowed the silence to grow before nodding his head. “Then you accept mates of Pack members are part of the Pack.”
    There wasn’t a murmur of protest among the assembly, although plenty of hot glares focused on Rica. He remained impervious. “I have one last thing to tell you. Ellie Adare will join the Mating Moon Ceremony.”
    Her mouth dropped open, and she barely resisted screaming the questions circulating in her mind. What did that mean? What was Rica talking about? What was the Mating Moon Ceremony? And what part was she expected to play in it?
    Belia getting to her feet distracted her. She switched her attention to the older woman, even as her mind tried to process all she had learned.
    “You can’t mean it, Alpha. She isn’t one of us. It’s bad enough to taint our bloodlines with a vampire, but to add a human…it’s unthinkable. She doesn’t know anything about us or our ways.”
    “She’ll adapt. You would have me waste a perfectly good female when there is a shortage?” His eyes swept the group, pausing to rest on a few members of the Pack. “How many girls do we have for the