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mother stood in Ashe's doorway, hands on her hips while she surveyed the wrestling match. Wynn and Dori stopped trying to hold Sali down and stood back. Sali pointed to himself and proclaimed his innocence, attempting to explain how he was getting the worst of the battle. Ashe worked harder to stifle the laugh.
    "Girls, we'll drop you off on our way home," Denise offered, after telling Sali it was time to leave. "Sali still has packing to do."
    Wynn flashed Sali a superior smile, flipped her nearly white ponytail in his face and followed Denise DeLuca up the stairs, Dori right behind her. "See ya later, dude. This is gonna be great." Sali waved and walked out of Ashe's bedroom.
    "Yeah. Great," Ashe breathed a sigh. A boy had died, an alien race still hunted him and it was likely there were a few Cloud Chief residents who weren't excited about moving. Ashe got up, unfolded another box and went to work on his dresser.
    * * *
    Ashe's fears were brought home the following day. Saturday, June fourteenth had arrived and his mother left him at home to continue packing while she went to Cordell to open Cordell Feed and Seed. Principal Billings and Larry Garnett, the werewolf English teacher, parked in the driveway and rang the doorbell. Ashe, pulling the kitchen window curtain aside, grumbled to himself when he saw who it was. He also considered pretending not to be at home. Instead, he squared his shoulders and went to lift the garage door.
    "Principal Billings, Mr. Garnett, I can make coffee if you want some," Ashe offered respectfully, leading the two men inside the house. Paul Harris, the former English teacher, had blown up the Evans and Anderson homes three years earlier. He'd led the Elemaiya to Ashe to begin with, but he’d been caught with his Elemaiya conspirators after several murders. The Pack had delivered justice. Ashe never knew exactly what that was; all he'd known was that Mr. Harris disappeared shortly after he'd been captured and the two Elemaiya had been destroyed by Nathan Anderson, Mr. Winkler and his father.
    "We wanted to get the phone number for William Winkler," Principal Billings turned his best frown on Ashe after refusing coffee. Mr. Garnett looked as if he'd like coffee but followed Billings' lead.
    "It's on the Internet," Ashe said as respectfully as he could. Winkler Security had a huge website.
    "That's the company number. I've left three messages and he hasn't called back."
    "He might be busy," Ashe suggested, thinking that if Principal Billings left a message for Winkler, the Dallas Packmaster might put off calling back as long as possible.
    "I know he has a private number that will get me right to him. Marcus is away so I can't get it from him, and Lavonna Anderson said that Aedan might have it."
    Ashe didn't like lying. Preferred not to do it if possible. He did it now, facing Principal Billings. "Then Dad may have it. You'll have to ask him." Ashe did have Winkler's private cell number—he'd had it for three years. "Call if there's trouble," Winkler said, handing a business card to Ashe before leaving Cloud Chief. "Don't give it to anyone else," Winkler grinned and slid into the company van he'd driven from Dallas. Ashe wasn't about to give the number to Billings now. Winkler's private cell number was a secret he'd kept for three years and he'd never had to use it.
    "Then tell your father we'll be by after sundown. This is your fault, you know. I don't appreciate being forced to move. Again ." Billings and Mr. Garnett stalked out of Ashe's house; Ashe followed to lower the garage door after them. Mr. Garnett gave a half-wave to Ashe while Principal Billings wasn't looking. Ashe lifted his hand in silent reply.
    * * *
    "I got everything in the living room packed up; the bathrooms too, except for what we can pack in suitcases," Ashe told his mother when she came home from work carrying bags of takeout. Ashe recognized the smell immediately; he was going to miss the chicken and dumplings from