Free Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Collection 6-10 by Laurell K. Hamilton

argue, but I didn’t. He was right. Not because I was female. Small men get their asses kicked, too. Size matters if both people are equally well trained.
    “Why don’t the female alphas have to duke it out to win the top spot?”
    “Because the Ulfric and his lupa are a mating pair, Anita. He doesn’t want to get stuck with a woman he can’t stand.”
    I looked at him. “Wait a minute. You’re next in line to lead the pack. If you succeed Marcus, do you have to sleep with your lupa?”
    “Technically, yes.”
    “Technically?” I said.
    “I won’t choose one. I won’t sleep with someone just so the pack can feel secure.”
    “Glad to hear it,” I said, “but does that jeopardize your standing in the pack?”
    He took a deep breath, and I heard it sigh outward. “I have a lot of support among the pack, but some of them are bothered by my morals. They think I should pick a mate.”
    “And you won’t, because . . . of me?”
    He glanced at me. “That’s a big part of it. It wouldn’t be only one time, Anita. An alpha couple binds for life. It’s like a marriage. They usually marry each other in real life, not just in the pack.”
    “I can see why the pack leader gets to pick his mate.”
    “I’ve picked my mate,” Richard said.
    “But I’m not a werewolf.”
    “No, but the pack considers you a dominant.”
    “Only because I killed a few of them,” I said.
    “Well, that does tend to impress them.” He slowed down. There was a line of pine trees along the left-hand side of the road, too regular and too thick to be natural. He turned down a gravel driveway in the middle of them.
    The driveway curved downhill, and at the bottom of a shallow valley was a farmhouse. Hills thick with trees poured out around the house. If there had ever been fields, the forest had reclaimed them.
    The driveway opened into a small gravel lot that was crowded with cars, at least a dozen of them. Richard jerked the car into park and was out the door before I could unbuckle my seat belt. I had to run to catch up and was at his back just as he flung open the barn door. There was a thick wall of cloth hanging inside the door, not a curtain but more a barrier. Richard pulled it aside, and light flooded out around us. He stalked into that light, and I trailed after him.
    There were lights everywhere, hanging from the rafters like large, ugly fruit. About twenty people stood around the open interior of the barn. Two cameras were trained on a set, made up of two walls and a king-size bed. Two cameramen were sort of draped on the cameras, waiting. A long table thick with take-out bags and cold pizza was set near the entrance. Over a dozen people were clustered around the food. They glanced at us as we entered. A handful of humans looked hurriedly awayand began inching back. The lycanthropes stared, their eyes almost motionless, intent. I suddenly knew what it must feel like to be a gazelle near a lion pack.
    At least two-thirds of the people in the barn were shapeshifters. Probably, they weren’t all werewolves. I couldn’t tell what animal they might be by looking, but I knew they were all shapeshifters. Their energy burned through the air like a hint of lightning. Even with the Uzi, if things went wrong, I was in trouble. I was suddenly angry with Richard. We shouldn’t have come alone like this. It was too careless for words.
    A woman stepped out of the group. She had what looked like an industrial-strength makeup kit on her shoulder. Her dark hair was shaved close to her head, leaving a very pretty face open and clean, without a drop of makeup on it.
    She moved uncertainly towards us as if afraid she’d get bitten. The air vibrated around her, a tiny shimmer, as though reality was just a little less firm than it should be around her. Lycanthrope. I wasn’t sure what flavor, but that really didn’t matter. Whatever the flavor, they were dangerous.
    “Richard,” she said. She stepped away from the watching crowd,