Blood and Chocolate

Vivian's mother saw the exchange, too. "Bitch," she muttered. She leaned across Vivian to complain to Renata Wagner, then looked over at Gabriel and licked her lips pointedly.

Renata laughed. "Stop it, Esmé."

Vivian turned away, embarrassed.

"Can we have quiet, please," Rudy shouted.

Jenny Garnier flinched and clutched her baby closer to her. She'd been as raw as a trapped rabbit since she'd lost her husband in the fire. Rudy reached out from his perch on the overstuffed arm of the couch to pat her shoulder reassuringly.

Everyone looked his way expectantly. Well, almost everyone.

Willem and Finn cackled and batted at each other to either side of Ulf, who dodged between them, a panicked look on his small, pale face. Rafe was telling the awestruck Gregory how big some girl's breasts were.

Rafe's father, Lucien, twisted around in the easy chair he slouched in. "Quit it," he growled, and raised a fist. Rafe glared at his father, but he waited until Lucien turned away before he gave him the finger.

"The insurance money's come through," Rudy said into the silence. There was a brief hiss of whispers. "We've got enough to do what we want now."

Vivian bit back a yelp of outrage. This was the news they'd been waiting for and Rudy hadn't told her. They had eaten breakfast together, for Moon's sake.

"And the funny thing is," Rudy continued, "we wouldn't have got the money if Sheriff Wilson hadn't spent so much effort covering up the evidence that the fire was arson so his buddies wouldn't get in trouble."

"Three cheers for Sheriff Wilson," Bucky Dideron called, to gales of laughter.

Rudy raised his arms. "Okay, okay."

The room quieted.

"My agents checked out some viable properties," Rudy said. "It's time to choose where the pack will go."

"And who'll lead us," Gabriel said. Vivian was irritated to see Esmé smiling. There was no mystery about who she supported.

On the floor in front of their oblivious mother, Gabriel's sisters  -  disturbingly similar eight-year-old triplets - were intent on finding out who could sit on top of the others the longest. Vivian itched to go over and smack them till they yelped. Before she gave in to the itch Gabriel leaned over and whispered something to them and they settled down.

Old Orlando Griffin spoke up in a quavering voice. "Rudy, you're the one who's pulled it all together. You took us in when we were homeless, helped us settle in an unfamiliar place, found the lawyers, and found the agents. You've been a good leader while we've been here." He pointed to Rudy with a burn-scarred hand. "I vote you leader for the move."

"I appreciate your support," Rudy said. "But I'm not going with you."

"Rudy!" Esmé exclaimed.

Rudy ran his fingers through his badger-gray hair. "My life's here. I was willing to help while I could and get things going again, but now it's time for you to move on, and for that you need a different type of leader than I have the strength or the will to be."

"You're assuming a lot," Astrid called from her window perch.

Rudy's brow creased. "What do you mean?"

"What if we don't want to go?"

Vivian was amazed when Astrid wasn't immediately shouted down.

"You've got to go," Rudy said. "This isn't the place for the pack. There are too many humans, too close together. With this many of us, sooner or later someone's going to make a mistake, and this time it might mean the end of us. Look at those boys." He pointed to the Five. "Don't tell me they've got the common sense to stay out of trouble."

"They're only being boys," Astrid said, smiling indulgently at the Five.

"And maybe they got a point," Lucien Dafoe said. "Maybe it's time to change the rules. Maybe it's time to hunt instead of be hunted. That's my opinion."

"We know about your opinions," snapped Aunt Persia, the elderly healer.

And your drinking, Vivian thought. He hadn't handled his losses well. If anyone was a menace, he was. What if he lost control and revealed himself in some bar one night? Rudy was right. They had to get out of the city.