Simon turned his hand in order to hold hers. “I don’t think the Sierra’s pups will survive if she’s allowed to keep them.”

Whether the Sierra’s pups survived would matter to Meg—especially after the discovery that the humans who “owned” blood prophets had been killing the girls’ unwanted puppies.

“I’ve been thinking about my friend Jean, who was brought to the compound when she was a small child,” Meg said. “She had a mother, a father, and a brother. She never forgot she’d had a family once or that she’d been taken from them. If we start breaking up families because we decide something bad might happen to the children, are we any better than the Controller or the other men like him? In the beginning, they had claimed they were taking children away from their families for the children’s own good.” She paused, then added, “Give Sierra a second chance.”

“Coming to Lakeside was a second chance,” he argued, “and what did the Sierra do? Called that Cyrus and told him where to find her.”

“Then call this a last chance. One last chance to break free from Cyrus’s hold and build a life for herself and her daughters.”

“What if she doesn’t want to break free?”

Meg looked so sad, he wondered if she was thinking about the cassandra sangue who had chosen to stay in the compounds. They chose to remain a commodity that would be used up in exchange for someone taking care of them so they wouldn’t have to take care of themselves.

“Then that’s her choice.” She sighed.

“It’s also Steve Ferryman’s choice, as well as the terra indigene on Great Island. No one settles on the island without their consent.” Simon ran a hand over Meg’s head. “Your hair is growing. It doesn’t look like puppy fuzz anymore.”

Might not look like puppy fuzz anymore, but he couldn’t resist petting it whenever he thought she wouldn’t growl at him.

<Police car just arrived,> Nathan reported. <It isn’t howling, but all the lights are flashing.>

Meg and Simon stepped into the front room just as the passenger door opened and a dark-haired man got out.

“What did you tell Steve Ferryman?” Simon asked.

“That we needed to talk to him and that it was urgent,” Meg replied. “But it’s time for that meeting, and it’s better if I stay here.”

Trying not to look too happy when they had serious things to discuss, Simon vaulted over the counter and went out to greet the mayor of Ferryman’s Landing.

“You got here in a hurry.” He smiled as he walked up to where the Intuit waited by the patrol car. The sharp look he received from Steve Ferryman told him that his ears hadn’t shifted all the way back to human yet.

“Meg said it was urgent,” Steve replied. “What happened? You don’t usually look this pleased to see me.”

Meg said “we.” We were talking and we were deciding. Partners in running the Courtyard. And that means you’re not a serious rival anymore.

Not that Steve Ferryman had ever presented himself to Meg as a potential mate. But Ferryman was human and didn’t have to adapt to things that weren’t a natural part of himself.

“Do you mind if Officer Czerneda pulls into the employee parking lot?” Steve asked.

“No, but if he wants food, he’ll need to go to Meat-n-Greens. There is a discussion going on in the coffee shop. That’s part of the reason you’re here.”

Steve gave Simon a long look. “I’m here as the mayor of Ferryman’s Landing?”

“Yes.”

They waited until Roger Czerneda drove the car down the access way before they headed for A Little Bite. Simon told Steve about the Sierra and the choice she had to make. He told Steve about the two cards Meg had drawn in answer to the questions about the Sierra and her pups, and about Meg’s concern for the girls if the Sierra died.

He hadn’t equated the girls with his nephew Sam. What would have happened to Sam if Daphne had died anywhere else but the Lakeside Courtyard? Simon had reached his sister moments after she died, had been there to take the traumatized pup back to the Wolfgard Complex, where he and Elliot had done everything they could to take care of Sam.

Just as Lieutenant Montgomery and Miss Twyla would take care of the Sierra’s pups if they were orphaned. But would that be true of a human pack if the Sierra lived somewhere else?

“I’ll listen,” Steve said. “I can’t promise to do more than that.”

“Captain Burke also wants to talk to you.”

“If Burke wants Roger to transfer to his police station, forget it,” Steve growled.

Simon grinned, appreciating the human’s possessiveness of his own pack. “He bought the Stag and Hare and thinks having an Intuit as a manager would be a good idea.”

Steve stopped at the back door of A Little Bite. “How would you feel about that?”

“Emily Faire claimed one of the apartments for her den, so the Intuits are already overlapping our territory.”

“One young woman is hardly an invasion.”

“The female pack was the invasion,” Simon grumbled. “Exploding fluffballs. Bunnies with teeth.”

Steve burst out laughing. “I enjoy talking to you, Wolfgard. You face challenges that make my mayoral duties look easy.”

<Simon?> Vlad called. <It’s time.>

Simon opened the door to the coffee shop and went in first as a courtesy to his guest. If Tess and Nadine were still in a dangerous mood, he could warn Steve, who would have a chance to run away.