"Thanks for that heart-warming speech," Clara said. "But I'm not much of a leader either way."

"That's not true."

"I like being in the background, not much for attention. Or participating. I'm a loner." Clara let out a laugh.

"Not anymore," David said. "Anyhow, the council also controls the money and distributes it to each pack. I don't know how they hell they figure it out. We just get an amount deposited into an account each year. If I wanted some more I could petition, but they've also given way more than I would spend. When our pack got permission to split I scouted the land and they brokered the...