The glare of the late afternoon sun bounced off the snow, but Victoria saw the wolf loping down the pine-covered slope to the Clan’s winter camp. Uncle Sky. People said wolves all looked alike, but that wasn’t true. She knew every wolf in the Lakota Wolf Clan and could recognize them on sight, whether they were in human form or wolf. She turned from the dormer window of her bedroom and rushed downstairs.
“Whoa,” her mom said, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the rush?”
Victoria slammed to a stop in the hall at the bottom of the stairs, two inches from her mother. Her mom was one of the very few women as tall as she was. “Uncle Sky is coming down the ridge.”
The eyebrow lifted another fraction of an inch. “We just saw him a month ago at the Mayor’s New Year Gala in Kearney. I wonder what brings him here now?” The eyebrow settled into a tiny frown. “Rose. I hope everything is alright.”
“Uncle Sky wouldn’t leave Aunt Rose if she wasn’t alright.” But her mom had a point. It was a four-hundred-mile trek, and it was February, and most of her family had been in Kearney at the end of January. “Maybe he’s brought mail.”
Her mom turned her head sharply at the hopeful note in her voice. “Are you expecting something important in the mail, Vic?”
Victoria almost lied. Instead, she kept her tone casual. “I was hoping to hear from Marty Madison. And Olivia,” she added. Her cousin had just gotten married two months ago. Her handsome bridegroom might be keeping her too busy to write. A pang of envy stabbed Victoria. She shoved it away. “I’d love to know how Olivia and Kit are doing.”
“Marty Madison is a handsome young man.” Her mom sounded carefully neutral.
Yes, he was, but that wasn’t why Victoria was interested in him. “He’s the younger brother of Eddie Madison. Eddie is a friend of the Clan.”
“I know who he is. And, yeah, Eddie is a friend, but what does that have to do with you and Marty?”
“A friend of the Clan is a good choice for my husband.”
“Vic.” Her mom sighed, raking a hand through her silvering blond hair, and looked at her with pale blue eyes. Seeing a lecture coming, Victoria grabbed her coat from the hook by the door and went out on the porch. Dozens of her uncles and cousins were howling a welcome to Sky. Her uncle trotted into the center of the camp, and Victoria’s spirits lifted when she saw the small leather satchel around his neck. Her father came around from the back of their house, trailed by four of her five brothers.
“Sky!” he shouted, as his younger brother shifted from wolf to human. “Welcome!”
Sky stood naked in the packed snow and lifted the satchel over his head before being crushed in his brother’s embrace. At an inch over six feet, Sky wasn’t not a small man, but his brother was five inches taller and nearly fifty pounds heavier. The brothers broke apart, grinning.
“I have mail from the den and the House,” Sky said, opening the leather bag. “Glory? Three for you.”
Her mother strode down the porch steps to give her brother-in-law a hug and take her mail. If her mother had embraced a man who wasn’t Clan, her father would have killed him. “One from Carla, one from Connie, and one from Lisa Madison,” she announced, pleased.
It was clan custom to let everyone know who had written. Later, the letters would be read aloud so the entire clan would know the news. The recipient could choose to read only parts of the letter for privacy’s sake, but there was very little privacy in the Wolf Clan. If Marty had written, Victoria silently vowed she would keep the whole thing private.
“And two letters for Victoria.” Her uncle held them out to her with a smile.
Victoria gave him a hug too. He was one inch taller than she was. “One from Olivia, and …” Her heart sank, but she forced a smile. “One from Aunt Marissa.”
Uncle Sky had a letter for Aunt Sherry and one for Aunt Sara. He handed them out, then looked around the circle of relatives. “I didn’t come just to deliver mail. I have news from Omaha.”
Her father straightened. “Omaha?” He sent his brother a quick look. “You have nothing to do with that place anymore.”
Sky slipped his legs into the jeans his brother Raven tossed him. “Omaha is under pressure from Kansas City to join them in a treaty. Omaha’s mayor, Ryan McGrath, is calling for all settlements with fifty or more adults to send a delegate to the legislative session that starts in March. He wants to hear everyone’s thoughts on this.”
Her father jerked a hand in dismissal. “We have nothing to do with Omaha or Kansas City.”
Uncle Stag, the clan’s holy man, folded his arms. “This needs to be discussed in council.”
Her father nodded. “Call the clan together. We meet in one hour.”
As Victoria hurried back to the house, she heard Uncle Sky say, “You’ve added on again. The second story is new.”
Her father replied, “Glory wanted an art studio with good light. And we put Victoria’s bedroom up there.”
Victoria ran up the stairs to her bedroom and closed the door. Marty had promised he would write. They had danced together four times at the Gala, and would have danced more if her male relatives hadn’t monopolized her after that. The look in his eyes as they danced made her hope he would ask her to marry him. But he hadn’t written, not even once. Had she imagined it? No. She’d seen that expression a thousand times on the faces of her male relatives when they looked at their mates. It wasn’t just the look on his face that made her believe he wanted to court her. It was the way he leaned close when she spoke, as if he was eager to hear every word. It was the way a smile would break up the cool lines of his face when she said something that amused him. Marty wasn’t like her loud, emotional family. He was quiet and steady. He made her feel quiet and steady too, and she liked that.
She sat on her bed and tore open Olivia’s letter first. It was full of breezy news of newlywedded life, centering on how good it was to be mated to a mountain cat. Victoria smiled. Her little cousin was so happy, and Victoria was happy for her, even if her happiness was tinged with melancholy over her own lack of a husband. She set Olivia’s letter aside and looked at the one from Aunt Marissa. Strange. She and Aunt Marissa weren’t close. What was she writing to her for?
She carefully opened the letter and took out the single sheet of paper.
Dear Victoria,
I ran into Lisa Madison at Martin’s store this morning and she asked if I could pass a message on to you from her brother-in-law, Marty. He says he apologizes if he overstepped and mistook your interest. If you should ever change your mind and want to contact him, he will be in Omaha for the legislative session for all of March and the first week of April, and then he will be back in Kearney. Nothing would make him happier than receiving word from you that he has your respect and affection. He also says that if he doesn’t hear from you by May first, he will come looking for you.
Does that mean what I think it means? Were you and the mayor’s brother courting, but you turned him down? Are you crazy? I think it would be wonderful for you to marry Marty Madison. His brother is the mayor of Kearney, he is Kearney’s representative in Omaha, he has a good furniture business, and he’s handsome! Write him a letter today!
With love,
Marissa
Clutching the letter, Victoria closed her eyes. She hadn’t imagined Marty’s interest. He hadn’t been only flirting with her. Where did he get the idea that she didn’t like him? Her eyes flared open and then narrowed.
Dad. She ground her teeth. The over-protective Alpha must have warned Marty off. Had he and her brothers disappeared for a while at the Gala? Eyes still narrowed, she thought back. Yes, they had, while she’d been dancing with Tommy, Uncle Quill’s eldest son. She could just imagine what they had said to Marty. Curse them.
She carefully slid the letter back into the envelope, tucked it under her pillow, and went downstairs to go to the council. She loved her dad. She even loved her brothers. But they had to learn that she was a twenty-six-year-old woman, not a six-year-old girl. She had a few things to say in council.
Councils were held in the open area in the center of the camp. They were open to every member of the clan, and every member of the clan was expected to attend and participate. As Alpha, her father had the final word in all decisions, but he rarely made a big decision without the input of his clan. The clan didn’t have a lot of laws like the towns did, but tradition ruled them.
Victoria stepped into the center of camp where the clan was already assembling. The Council attendees sat in a circle around a fire. Since over two hundred people lived in the winter camp, the circle was four layers deep. Her father and mother, as Alpha and Lupa, were in the innermost circle. The two dozen women of the clan, always revered as their most precious members, sat in the first circle, along with her father’s betas and the holy men. The second circle consisted of the clan’s greatest warriors. The third circle was made up of the lesser warriors, and the outermost circle was filled with the younger members of the clan. Victoria moved through the Council to the deer hide laid over the snow at her mother’s side.
Council was not the place to chat or giggle. People came, unrolled canvas or leather mats, and sat down in silence. They were probably wondering what the Council was about, and why Sky was here. Sky sat beside her father, silent and solemn.
Victoria stifled her impatience. It was cold. She wanted to say her piece and get back indoors. She glanced over to the tall conical lodges pitched beyond the circle of wooden houses. Most of the unmarried men preferred to live in their lodges even in the worst of winter. Until her mother had insisted on four walls and a roof for winter, the clan had lived in canvas or skin teepees all year around. She shuddered.
Her father rose to his feet and waited until everyone was looking at him before he spoke. “My brother, Blue Sky At Midday, has come with news from Omaha.” He spoke in English so the women, some of whom were not very fluent in Lakota, could understand. He nodded to Sky and sat down.
Sky stood up. “I am Blue Sky At Midday, of Taye’s den north of Kearney.” Everyone knew who he was, but he was following the traditional format for Council. Victoria listened carefully. “The man who calls himself President Todd of Kansas-Missouri has sent emissaries to Mayor McGrath of Omaha. He offers an alliance.”
There was an almost imperceptible flutter through the circles of people. No one spoke, though. To interrupt the standing speaker was the height of rudeness. They waited for Sky to continue.
“Mayor McGrath knows President Todd has offered such alliances before, and two out of three times he has become not an ally but an overlord. McGrath wants neither an overlord nor a war.”
Another tiny ripple went through the young men in the outer circle. War appealed to them.
“A defeat in war would result in Omaha being subjected to Kansas-Missouri authority, heavy taxes, and conscription of men into their army and women taken to marry their men.” Sky’s voice was grim. “An acceptance of the alliance could have the same result.”
He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and withdrew a grimy piece of paper. “Mayor McGrath is sending messages to all the settlements in the area.” He unfolded the paper and read. “To all those living in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, greetings from Ryan Thomas McGrath, Mayor of Omaha. Gerald Todd of Kansas-Missouri has approached me with an offer of alliance. If this alliance is successful, it will open safe and easy commerce between our regions and give us a strong ally to our south and east. If this alliance is not trustworthy, it puts all of you at risk. Omaha’s legislature is meeting on the tenth of March. I urge all settlements to send a delegate to represent their interests to Omaha to help us decide what our course of action should be. The delegate may be escorted by two others from his settlement, no more. All will be housed in Omaha at the city’s expense for up to two weeks, or two days after the legislature has heard all the delegates speak on the topic, whichever is sooner.”
Sky folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. “That is the news I bring.”
He sat down and her father stood up. “We must decide if we’ll send a delegate to Omaha. If we decide to do that, we must discuss who should go.”
He sat again and discussion began in its usual, tedious fashion. Starting with the youngest of the men, each person stood and spoke his concern. No one interrupted and no one stood until it was his turn. Her youngest brother, sixteen-year-old Young Bull, said they should not send a delegate and wondered why the matters of Omaha should affect the clan. They weren’t subject to any town. Quiet Water, her next youngest brother, stood. At eighteen, he had fully mastered his wolf and always weighed his words carefully.
“I say we send a delegate to Omaha. This concerns the wellbeing of the clan. If this president from Kansas-Missouri wants war, he will follow the river through our lands and find us.”
The discussion dragged on, each person either speaking or holding their hand palm out and moving it from side to side to signify they had no words to say. Most of her aunts had nothing to add. Neither did Victoria, since it seemed most were in favor of sending someone to Omaha. That fit with her plans perfectly. Her father boomed in his outdoor voice that the clan would send a delegate, and the discussion started all over again about who should go. Victoria listened as various people were suggested. Her eldest brother, Gray Eagle, was put forth many times, as were Uncle Stone and Uncle Stag. When the discussion finally made it to the innermost circle, Victoria stood up. She looked around at the two hundred faces turned to her.
“Jumping Stag is too important to the clan to go. We cannot afford to have our holy man gone so long. Spotted Stone Wolf has children here who need him. Gray Eagle is ruled by his passion. I am the best choice to represent the Clan in Omaha. I will go.”
She observed shock on nearly every face. Her brother was halfway to his feet before he remembered they were in council, not their mother’s house. Victoria suppressed a smile. He had just proven her words true. His black eyes glowered at her as he lowered himself back down.
“I am the daughter of our Alpha,” she went on, projecting all the confidence she had. “I know all of us, so I can represent our interests to the Omaha legislature. As a woman, I will have instant attention and respect. I know how to listen. I am the best choice for delegate.”
As soon as she sat, Eagle leaped up. “You only want to go so you can see Marty Madison!”
Victoria smiled serenely. Nothing irked her brothers more. She saw her father’s big hands clench into fists on his knees. She caught his black gaze. Her smile faltered slightly. He was unhappy. Really unhappy. At her brother for nearly breaking tradition? Or at the mention of Marty’s name? She tilted her chin up to a challenging angle. It was risky to challenge the Alpha, even if he was the father who doted on her. However, to back down would make her look weak. No weakling could represent the clan.
“I am the best choice for delegate,” her brother argued. “I am the second beta of the clan. I know the clan and I know what we need.” He glared around at the council before sitting.
More of the men stood to vote for either Gray Eagle or Stone, but no one spoke for Victoria. She held her back perfectly straight and kept her face confident.
There were a few gasps when Aunt Sherry stood. She was a foot shorter than Victoria, and a more than a hundred pounds lighter. Victoria could not remember Jumping Stag’s tiny mate ever speaking in council before.
“Jumping Stag is needed here,” she said in her quiet, delicate voice. “I think Victoria should go. She is right, people will listen to her. She is tall and beautiful. We can send two escorts. I think Stone should go. He has been to Omaha before, so he can advise her. He will know if people are lying. And I think Gray Eagle should go. He is very strong and brave, so people will give him respect.”
Amid utter silence, the tiny woman sat down next to her mate, who put an arm around her. Victoria closed her gaping jaw and looked at her father. He and her mother seemed to be talking to each other with their eyebrows. After a long pause, her mother rose.
“I vote for Victoria to be our delegate. In the Times Before, plenty of women represented their people in government. She will be safe with Gray Eagle and Stone as escorts.”
Her father’s jaw bunched and smoothed a dozen times. His was the final decision. Victoria held her breath. He sighed and stood up.
“Victoria will be our delegate. Stone and Gray Eagle will escort her.” He looked down at her and muttered very softly, “Don’t make me regret this, Vic.”