“Two, even without the ring, I am the Curana.” Emma’s expression turned fierce. “Let Becky go. Now .”

There was a weird quality to Emma’s voice she’d never heard before, the command running through her like an electric shock. She felt Livia stiffen above her, a small, almost unnoticeable shudder wracking her body. She watched wide-eyed as Livia whimpered, her claws slowly, reluctantly withdrawing from Becky’s stomach. She crawled on all fours off her, her shoulders hunched as Emma’s command somehow pulled the shaking blonde to her. “Kneel.”

How the hell are you doing that? And can you teach me?

Livia knelt, trembling, at Emma’s feet. She tried to sit up, wincing, when a pair of hands reached around her and gave her a helping hand. Max , thank God . She looked up to say thanks and gasped.His normally sunny blue eyes were gold and they glittered like…a cat’s.“Oh, hell, not another one.”

The angry scream of another big cat rent the night. Three of them? What did I do, stumble into some freaky werewolf convention?

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a streak of black land on Livia, knocking her to the ground. “I should kill you where you lay,” Simon growled over her, digging his claws into her stomach in the same exact spot she’d wounded Becky. Simon leaned down, his canines extending. Becky felt her jaw drop open as his black Zorro cape partially obscured Livia’s body. “I could rip your throat out right now.”

Oh. Oh, shit. Simon? Hot, hunky Simon, the man she’d secretly been in love with for years, was like Livia ?

“Uh, Simon?” Golden eyes blinded by rage met Emma’s. “You’re scaring the crap out of Becky.”

His head swiveled towards her; whatever he saw seemed to calm him down a bit. “Becky.” Becky jumped at the sound of his voice, moaning as her stomach protested sharply. “What would you have me do to her?”

Max’s gasp was audible; his hands tightened on her arms. She’d have to ask what that was about some other time.

“Simon?” She knew she sounded pathetic, but the thought that hewas like Livia was just way too much to deal with.

“Tell me, Becky. What should Livia’s punishment be for injuring you?” Simon’s voice was rough and growly, hitching slightly on the word injuring . He sounded supremely pissed off.

Becky blinked back sudden tears (damn, her stomach hurt) and stared at Livia. “What is she? What are you ?”

“Pumas. Werecats. I’ll explain more later. Right now, you need to decide her punishment.”

Becky looked at Emma, who flinched with guilt. “I didn’t know until Max bit me, then I didn’t know if you would believe me or not. But I planned on telling you tomorrow, if Simon didn’t do it first.”

“You’re a…” Becky swallowed hard at Emma’s slow nod. “And they’re…” Emma watched her, her expression pleading for understanding, which Becky gave. Emma was, after all, her BFF. Although Lucy still has a lot of esplainin’ to do . When she blew out a hard breath, Emma visibly relaxed. “This is going to cost you a fortune in Tidy Cat.” She laughed shakily, still trying to absorb everything that had happened.

Emma grinned, obviously relieved. “What would you like Simon to do with Livia?”

“What can he do with Livia?” Becky asked, glaring down at Livia’s terrified face.

“Well, let’s see: she was willing to kill you to get the Curana’s ring, so Simon is well within his rights to rip out her throat.” Emma shrugged. “Wouldn’t be all that big a loss as far as I’m concerned.”

She turned back to Emma, her patience just about at an end. She was bleeding all over herself, her stomach and shoulder hurt, and she still had no idea what the fuck was going on. “What the hell is the Curana’s ring?”

“It’s the ring Emma now wears that proclaims she’s my mate and queen,” Max replied, gentling his grip on Becky’s arms.

“Whoa. Wait, so I was bait for Emma?” That bitch is so dead .

“Becky, the longer Simon smells the blood the harder it will be for him to not kill Livia. Decide her fate quickly.” Max’s voice cut through the mental fog surrounding her, focusing her again on the woman on the ground.

She looked at Livia one last time before staring straight at Simon. Something she saw in his face let her know that he would do whatever she asked of him, up to and including murder. The patient way he waited for her to pronounce sentence reassured her. Somehow she knew Simon would sit there all night if she needed him to. “What is the lowest status a Puma can hold? If Max is king and Emma is queen, is there a lowest of the low?”

“No!” Livia moaned, trying to break free of Simon’s hold. Simon merely dug his claws in deeper while his other hand held her down by her throat.

“Outcast, someone who’s been made Prideless. She’ll hold no privileges, no responsibilities. She will no longer be welcome at Pride functions or homes. Kits will be taught to avoid her. If she wished for status again she would have to leave, find a Pride willing to take her in and earn it.”

Becky nodded. Bye-bye, Senorita Psychopath. Have a nice fucking life somewhere far, far away from here. “Since the whole damn thing was about status, I think that would do nicely.”

Simon nodded with a slow smile of approval. He bowed his head formally to Max. “My mate requests a casting out of the one named Olivia Patterson.”

Max eased Becky gently back down to the ground before stepping up beside Emma. He positioned himself so Becky could see everything happening between them. “The Beta of this Pride has requested a formal casting out. My Curana witnessed the unprovoked attack on our Beta’s mate, Rebecca Yaeger.”

Becky shot Simon a narrow-eyed glare. Mate? She’d read enough werewolf romances to know what that meant. So if she was his mate, why was Belinda all over him like white on rice?

“The attack was motivated by greed rather than self-defense. In light of these allegations I ask you, Olivia Patterson: how do you plead?”

“Fuck you,” Livia growled, trying once more to buck off Simon, who didn’t budge an inch. Becky smiled, hoping she was digging Simon’s claws in just a little bit deeper.

“I’ll take that as a guilty.”

Becky watched from her place on the ground as Max’s stare turned icy cold. A strange, barely there mist seeped from the ground he stood on. Something about that mist seemed alive. His right arm rested around Emma’s waist, unconsciously snuggling her close to him, the gesture sweetly protective. “As Alpha of this Pride, for the unprovoked attack against the Beta’s mate, I hereby declare Olivia Patterson outcast.”