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Frustration nipped at her. “Why?”

“BecauseItold her not to.”

Regan whirled around. Caleb stood in the doorway, naked except for a pair of faded jeans, the button unfastened. She stared at his chest for long seconds before raising her head to meet his eyes. They were cold.

“I told you we weren’t going after Ethan,” he said.

Suddenly, she was angry. It felt good. “No, you told meyouweren’t going after him. I never agreed. You might be able to sit back while the world goes to hell, but I can’t.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just personal revenge? He got the better of you, and now you have to go kill him.”

He was being purposefully obtuse, and her anger rose a notch. “You know there’s more at stake than that. You told me so yourself. Do you really believe you can sit on the sidelines and do nothing?”

“I don’t need to do anything. Your friends at the Council are sorting it out. I don’t think they want any help from a werewolf.”

“Half-werewolf,” she snapped.

He shrugged. “Half-animal according to them.”

He actually sounded offended on behalf of the wolves, which surprised her. “The werewolves aren’t animals—you know that. Whatever they are, your father has molded them. Take him down. Give the rest of your people a chance to try a new way of living. Let them join with the Council and fight this thing.”

“What’s the Council?” Jason spoke from his bed. He’d raised himself up on one elbow and was watching them.

“I’ve heard of them,” Kelly said, swinging her legs round and going across to Jason. She smoothed the hair from his forehead, inspected him closely. Then she turned back to Regan and Caleb. “Ethan told us that the Council would destroy us, that they looked on us as little better than animals.”

“Well, there is that,” Regan said. “But on the other hand, if they wanted you dead, they would have done it a long time ago.”

“Ethan said this new ally would protect us from the Council.”

Regan gritted her teeth and took a tight hold on her temper. “Was this before or after he killed your friends and Caleb’s mother?”

“She was not my mother.”

Regan ignored him. “The Council has never done you harm—can you say the same for your so-called leader?”

“At least Ethan is one of us.”

“Better the devil you know? Don’t you see? He’s cut you off, isolated you all. Isn’t it about time you stood up to him? Help me find Ethan, and I promise the Council will protect you.”

“Do you know that for sure?” Caleb asked. “You heard what Kael said. He means to make the werewolves pay for what happened to his sister.”

Regan remembered, but she didn’t believe Kael would take his revenge out on innocents. “He was hurting,” she said. “But he’s a fair man.” A flicker of doubt flashed through her mind. Caleb must have seen it.

“You don’t trust him entirely either,” he said.

“He’ll do what’s best for the Council.”

“Which doesn’t necessarily mean good for the wolves.” He turned to Kelly. “I’ll send you away somewhere. Somewhere Ethan or the Council won’t find you.”

Regan ground her teeth in frustration. “And is that what you plan to do as well? Run away and hide? And when this ally of your father’s takes over, you’ll keep your heads down and hope he doesn’t notice you. Like the wolves have always done.”

“Why not?”

She shook her head in disgust. “Hey, you know what—I don’t actually need your permission, and I don’t need your help.”

His eyes narrowed. He took a step toward her, then stopped, and his gaze wandered over her slowly. Regan held herself up straight.

“No,” he said after a minute’s silence. “You don’t need anyone, do you, Regan? So tell me, why is that? You know the secrets of my past, you’ve seen my scars, but what happened to you? What made you the way you are?”