We passed the same endless arrays of greenhouses that I had passed on the way to the emergency congress. We saw a phalanx of soldiers in training, led by their commander, all of them dressed in the same black fatigues.

We arrived at the enormous pair of wrought-iron gates that led to the inner sanctum. I hadn't paid much attention to them last time, but now I watched intently as they slowly swung open. I assumed they were automatic; I saw no sign of an operator's booth.

As we rounded the fountain and pulled up at the front portico of the pack house, I noticed for the first time that there was a three-car garage, on the left hand side of the house, Into which the aide was already stowing my car.

Adlai led as we entered the cavernous foyer. Wide, ornate staircases on either side led upwards. The last time, we had gone straight down the corridor to the grand meeting hall. This time, Adlai led me into a doorway on the right, leading into a light-filled sitting room that looked out onto lush sprawling gardens which reminded me of the botanic gardens in Corviston. In the centre of the garden was a small pond, filled with koi.

Right next to the window there were two armchairs around a round coffee table, which seemed to been arranged for the occasion. Adlai gestured for me to sit.

A maid entered the room, carrying an enormous bowl heaped with a bewildering array of fruits, and a plate filled with similarly diverse selections of biscuits. She placed the items on the table and left as discreetly as she had come.

"Help yourself." Adlai motioned at the bowl.

"I'm not hungry." I stared at it, mesmerised for a moment by the droplets of water on the fruit. He picked up a plum from the middle of the bowl and bit into it. "I had this all picked fresh from the orchards this morning. Please." He gestured towards the bowl once more.

I shook my head. Adlai moved on. "Now, where were we? You wanted to know my motivations behind all of this. Well, that's very simple, Jim. Just go into the Industrial Zone, Jim. Go into the rogue settlements. Look at the filth and the misery and the wretchedness around you. How can you look at that every day on the way to work and not want to change it for the better?"

Adlai continued. "It's a shame, really, because the Special Industrial Zone was a brilliant concept. The rogues would be able to settle in a place where they could live and work in dignity, and you would be able to prosper beyond your wildest dreams off the back of their labour. But then you Alphas became too greedy. Cameron with his get-rich-quick schemes. Alphonse with his wheeler-dealing. Clayton with his excesses. And people like you and Wethermore and all the others, who just stood in the corner and watched. And soon we got to where we are today.

"My intention, Jim, is to take over the Industrial Zone and run it the way it was intended to run. Stop the corruption and graft that has permeated every inch of our society. Uphold the rule of law and the dignity of everyone, regardless of their rank or affiliation."

"But why would you target the East Side if your goal is to uplift the rogues?" I asked.

"We'll get to that," Adlai replied, an slight edge appearing in his voice. "All in good time."

Outside, a gardener was skimming the pond with a net. "What's going to happen to the packs?"

"I assure you, Jim, it has never been my intention to harm any of the packs, despite the suffering that they have caused. Many of my advisors have quite the opposite view, but that is their opinion."

"They will never accept you taking over their property." I stated.

Adlai looked at me as if I was a petulant child. "I think you will find, Jim, that very soon they will have to. My men have already secured most of the Industrial Zone. Very soon we will have all of it. And they will have to beg with me for a compromise, because they are too weak to fight back." "So what was that squad you sent out to Salmon Creek all about?"

For a moment his face bore an expression of genuine surprise. Then as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished behind the facade. "That was Stevenson's idea," he replied.

"Stevenson?" I noticed, suddenly, that Stevenson was standing in the shadows of the room, behind Adlai. I had not even noticed that he had entered.

"He is fully loyal to me, even though we don't see eye to eye on some topics." One of Stevenson's eyes twitched slightly, but he stayed stock-still in the background. "I've been trying to move him out of that freezing worker's hut for a very long time, but he insists on staying. Isn't that right, Stevenson?"

Stevenson did not answer to that.

"Have you talked to the Zirconians?" I ventured. "What do they think of this?"

"Why do you refer to them by that name, Jim? I've always found it rather comical. I've always thought that New Carinthian rolls off the tongue much better. In any case, I don't think they'll mind at all." Adlai finished the plum and carefully placed the pit in an ashtray on the table between us. "In fact, I think they'll relish the change in proceedings. There are going to new opportunities on the horizon, Jim. Opportunities that you can't even imagine."

"So why are you telling me all this, Adlai?"

"I know you think the same way of these things, too, Jim. In many ways we're exactly the same. We're both tired of this whole stupid charade and we want to change this place for the better. I brought you here, Jim, because I'm offering you a chance to join me. You and me, Jim. We're going to change the game. We're going to bring back the glory and make this land the greatest in the wereworld. We're going to be the People's Alphas."

I could see the glint in his eyes. There was something strangely sinister swirling in those dark pupils, something that chilled me.

"No. We're not the same, Adlai. I'm not a cold-blooded killer who slaughters his own people." I spat the words out.

Adlai appeared unperturbed. "As I said, Jim. All in good time. Do you know the history of our pack, Jim? Do you know how we came to be the way we are today?" He reached for a peach and bit into it. I watched a rivulet of juice trickle down his chin, to be promptly wiped away by a lace napkin. "Not the stuff they tell you in the papers. The real history."

"It started with Sefton, didn't it?"

Adlai nodded. "Sefton had been experimenting with some occult stuff. It started off innocently enough. Drinking blood. Animal sacrifice. And then he discovered our little secret."

"Werewolf flesh."

"Now we're getting somewhere, Jim." He was speaking of all this in a perfectly normal tone of voice, as if he were describing a past business trip or a grocery run, and it took a moment for the gravity of what he had said to fully register. "It's the secret to our overwhelming success. It unlocks our potential, Jim. It makes us fight longer and stronger. It makes our minds clear. It is why we have been able to do so much in such a short time."

"You took rogues. From the East Side. That's why they had to be eliminated."

"We could hardly eat our own pack. And who would believe a bunch of rogues?"

"And Granite Peak?"

"They were always very interested in Sefton's teachings. They partook in a great many of his rituals. They also documented a lot of them, apparently. They were going to hand it all over to the authorities, the hypocrites. They tried to blackmail me, Jim. I'm a very forgiving person, you know, but you mustn't cross me."

"You killed Sefton too, didn't you? And Grayson."

"Sefton wanted power. Pure, undistilled. He wanted it all for himself. He wanted everyone to bow to him. Grayson was the same. I couldn't let that happen, Jim. I've always believed in taking only what you need and nothing more."

"Taking the lives of innocent people is taking only what you need, Adlai?"

"This has been a long time coming, Jim. I've spent over two decades painstakingly building our self-sufficiency, shoring up our business connections, keeping our name out of the limelight. This is my life's work, Jim. I've always thought that we could be something greater. And now I am extending to you an invitation to join me on this journey. A spot on the throne."

"Thousands of people are going to die, Adlai." I gritted my teeth. "You monster."

"Aren't we all monsters?" Adlai cocked his eyebrows.

I tried to hold back the disgust welling up inside me. "We might be corrupt, but we would never do anything like this."

Adlai sighed. "I knew it would be difficult to convince you, Jim. But I accept the challenge. I'll give you four days. Four days to make a decision, Jim."

"Stevenson." He waved to the shadow in the background. "Show him to his room."