“And what,” Seamus asked slowly, “have you found out?”

“They’re trying to form their own Shifter communities,” Kendrick said. “Out from under the hierarchy imposed on them by the human government. Like we did.” His voice took an ironic note. “Only a little less civilized. They’re choosing their clan leaders based on dominance and want to run things by a council of clans.”

“That doesn’t sound too unreasonable,” Seamus said. “Optimistic, but not unreasonable. Shifter clan leaders don’t always get along.”

He shot Kendrick a look. A long time ago, Kendrick had been forced to challenge another Shifter, a Lupine clan leader, for control of their group, and Kendrick had won. Kendrick had killed the other Shifter and taken over, which had been one of the hardest things he’d done in his life.

The other Shifter had been, up until his betrayal, Kendrick’s closest friend. The pain of the man turning on him and forcing Kendrick to kill him had lingered for years. Still lingered.

Kendrick shook his head, pulling himself back to the present. “If it stopped at them wanting to form their own enclave, Dylan would simply keep an eye on them, maybe figure out how he could use them. But they’ve moved one step beyond. These Shifters want to remove their Collars, and then destroy the Collared Shifters. Shifters happy to stay under the yoke of human rule are endangering all Shifters, they say, and so must either be recruited or killed. They’re trying to recruit the cubs first, because many of them now don’t have Collars and never will.”

“Shite,” Seamus said, his slow anger rising. “Are they out of their minds?”

“Seems that way. I was able to infiltrate one of the groups, wearing a fake Collar and keeping a low profile. Unfortunately, at one meeting I saw Ivan Cranford. And he saw me.”

Seamus stared at him for a few heartbeats. “What?”

“I evaded Ivan when I left and told Dylan I couldn’t go back. I thought I’d given Ivan the slip, but next thing I knew, he was looking for me. A couple nights ago, he found me. He and his backup had guns and they opened fire. I’m guessing he meant it to look like a gang shooting—a tragedy, but nothing to do with Shifters.”

“Oh, holy . . .” Seamus put his hands on top of his head and walked a few paces away.

Kendrick was aware of Addison, listening hard, her arms tightly folded as though she were cold in the hot late-May night. Her eyes were filled with horror as she realized they were talking about the Shifter she’d watched Kendrick send to dust.

Kendrick drew a long breath. “He’s dead, Seamus. I killed him.”

Seamus kept his back to them for a long time. He let his hands drop and looked up at the stars, which swam thick and white across the black backdrop. The night was clear, no clouds between them and the heavens.

Seamus turned around again. He didn’t approach, keeping a distance between himself and Kendrick.

“Did ye give him a chance?” Seamus asked.

“Yes.” Kendrick’s body tightened with anger as he remembered. Ivan had aimed at Kendrick as he’d flowed out of the diner, a tiger, then cursed as Kendrick flattened himself to the ground just in time for the bullet to soar over Kendrick’s head.

Then Ivan had thrown the gun aside and shifted, meeting Kendrick as his wildcat. They’d fought savagely. Kendrick, filled with the rage of a Shifter protecting his cubs, hadn’t held back.

Ivan, lower in dominance than Kendrick, hadn’t stood a chance. Kendrick had tried to make himself ease off, give Ivan the opportunity to surrender, but Ivan was determined to fight on. Conquer or die. Kendrick, enraged and fearing for his cubs, couldn’t stop himself. He’d torn Ivan apart.