Impulse

you’re not referring to the coyote.”

He probably expected a snarl, maybe even a bolder show of temper. Julio gave him neither.

“Her name’s Sera. Her father just helped set up a clinic in your town, didn’t he?”

Reed’s jaw tightened. “Beside the point. He’s being paid to provide a service. But the three of you—” His teeth snapped together.

“Have all chosen dangerously inappropriate women?” Andrew asked with deceptive casualness, his hands curling into fists on the tabletop.

The wolf tensed, but he didn’t back down. “It’s going to be an issue,” he said flatly.

“Levesque and I have gone along with the three of you. We’ve played nice. I’m not even against what you want to do—for the most part—but you can’t keep brushing this aside. You may not like it, but it’s simple fact. People grumbled over a halfbreed and muttered over a psychic, but some could outright revolt if one of their leaders takes another species as a mate. Are you prepared for that?”

Julio leaned forward, close enough to meet the man’s eyes directly. “What is it you really want to know, Reed?”

“I want to know if you’re a man in love with a hard row to hoe, or a man who found a convenient way to tell the old guard to go fuck themselves.”

He was neither, and wouldn’t that just confuse the hell out of them? “I’m a man who’s used to not being told what to do, and that isn’t about to change.”

Levesque snorted. “So you’re a pain in the ass. Good. Maybe you can handle Atlanta after all. If your…lady agrees.”

“There you go,” Alec said blandly. “Try choking out the word lady with less doubt next time, Levesque, and we’ll all be the best of friends.”

Julio rose with a growl. “Baby steps. A little at a time.”

Reed snuffed out his cigarette. “How soon do you expect to issue this challenge, Mendoza?

Should we stay in town?”

The longer he waited, the worse it would be. “Yeah, I think so. Unless you’d rather not be there, which I’d understand.”

Alec shook his head. “I wouldn’t. I want everyone here as witness. The last thing we need is for this to stay all in the family.” A sigh. “Speaking of which, your sister’s going to murder me.”

“For something you did, or because of this?”

“What do you think?”

Julio choked back a laugh. “Honestly, at this point, I don’t even know anymore.”

“That’s why life married to your sister is such an adventure.” Alec smacked his hand on the table. “If we don’t have any other pressing business?” He paused. When Reed and Levesque stayed silent, he nodded. “If you gentlemen and your wives would like to attend the funeral, I’m sure your presence would be appreciated.”

Levesque stood and clutched his hat to his chest instead of dropping it on his head. “We’ll be there, just call us with the details.”

Alec nodded, and Levesque and Reed departed, undoubtedly to have their own private meeting. Alec swung the door shut behind them and turned to face Julio. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The truth. “No. But I’m tired of watching the people I love get hurt—or worse.”

Sighing, Alec glanced at Andrew. “You’ve been quiet. You handling this okay?”

“I wish Kat was here,” he answered quietly. “I don’t like her being away while things are unsettled. I know she’s safe with Nick and Derek, and she needs to be there for them right now, but it’s still tough.”

“A few more months, and Nick’ll pop that kid out. Let’s make a better world for that baby to grow up in.”

Making a better world. Not exactly the way Julio would have thought he could describe having to kill off his own family. “I want it straight, Alec—is Carmen going to forgive me for this?”

“Is Carmen—” Alec looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “For God’s sake, Julio. You know your sister better than that. If she gets mad at you, it’ll be because she’s worried about what this fight will do to you, win or lose.”

“I’m tired,” he confessed. “That’s all, I’m just tired.”

His brother-in-law studied him in silence for a moment, then dropped a hand to his shoulder.

Strength and power washed over him, acceptance and trust and pride all tangled up in the wordless something that was pack and family rolled in one.

Julio closed his eyes for a few seconds and then straightened his shoulders. “I should see if Carmen and Veronica need any help finalizing things for the funeral.”

“We’ll come with you. We’re family, Mendoza. Don’t forget that. You’re not alone with this.”

“I know. Thanks, Alec.”

With Alec and Carmen standing fierce guard over Veronica, Sera felt no guilt about slipping her hand into Julio’s and following him away from the crowd of people lingering after the graveside service. “Do you need some quiet?”

He gripped her hand. “I have something to do. Come with me?”

“Anywhere.”

He led her away from the open grave, the black-draped chairs and the people milling quietly about. Just past a towering oak tree, he pressed his hand to a weathered mausoleum. “Hector and Araceli. My dad’s parents.” He kept walking and stopped by a bench set before a white marble headstone. “My mother, Elena.”

Aching for the pain and sadness in him, Sera tugged him toward the bench. “Do you want to sit for a bit?”

“You sit. I want to stand. I need to talk to you.” He stared at the grave. “My mother never wanted me to be part of this life. She tried her best to keep me out of it. Carmen and Miguel too, but they weren’t the ones my dad really wanted.”

No, a shapeshifter with ambitions wouldn’t have wanted the children who couldn’t easily carry on his legacy. Even Carmen’s value as a wife had been manufactured hype, all of it resting on Julio’s shoulders. He was the proof that the Mendoza bloodline was strong. “She wanted to protect you.”

“Yes.” He turned to face Sera. “You know, it was the only time she ever tried to change the future she saw.”

Sera fought a shiver. “What did she see?”

“This, I guess. Power, politics. A fight to death. She never really told me.” His eyes unfocused, as if he was looking at something far away, or just long ago. “She spent years trying to teach me that God has a plan and, try as we might, we can’t change it. This…was her one exception.”

Sera reached out and took his hands. Not to pull his attention back to her, but to give him the anchor of touch. “She raised a strong, good son. She made you into someone who could never fit in their world. She couldn’t have known that you’d have the chance to fight that world. To beat it. You’re not betraying her, because you’re still the man she raised.”

“I’m not betraying her,” he agreed. “I’m learning my lesson. When I challenged my way onto the council, I saw this, Sera. I saw myself fighting again, maybe even dying. It was over so fast I can’t even be sure. But I always argued with my mother, told her anything could be changed.

And I haven’t changed this.”

“You don’t have to do it.” Maybe he needed to hear the words. “No one who loves you wants you to.”

“I know. But if I don’t, it’ll come around again, honey. And who’ll have to die next time? My brother? You?” He shook his head with a muffled growl. “Not in this lifetime.”

The weight of it settled on her shoulders, and she bit back her first instinct, the cowardly plea that he take it back, make it about anything but her. If he had to struggle under the burden of it, she could carry her part. Give him someone to protect, someone to fight for instead of things to fight against. “You’ll always do whatever you can to keep me safe, I know that.”

Julio exhaled. “You said she raised a strong son. I hope it’s true. But she also taught me to fight myself, what I am. She meant the best, and that habit dies hard, but I can’t do it anymore.