Veronica reached a hand up to massage her throat and Logan glanced at her, worry seeping through his rage. "Are you alright?"

"Your bitch is fine," Elizabeth snarled, before Veronica could respond. "Unlike Gabriel."

Logan rounded on her and whatever the look on his face was, or however he felt to shifter senses, made the woman flinch back, cowering in the grass. "Gabriel was a sadist who abused and pimped out those he should have protected. He was thrilled to add someone as famous as me to his little harem. Told me he knew several fans of my parents who would love to take a piece out of me."

His voice was vicious and Veronica swallowed a shocked gasp, unwilling to undermine his authority. He hadn't told her that last tidbit. She knew he would have stopped Gabriel regardless, for what he did to the others, but she also knew just how many demons the now dead leopard had awakened with his stupidly spelled out plans.

Her boyfriend stalked forward, menace in every line of his body. "Did you even try to stop him, Elizabeth? Or did you enjoy watching him hurt the others? The way you hurt him when you infected him."

Elizabeth flinched again, true terror showing in her glowing eyes, so wide the whites were showing. Logan laughed, low and dark. "Yeah he bragged about it. Cheerful get to know your new Nimir-Raj factoid. My girlfriend almost killed me during sex and now I'm a leopard king, isn't that swell?"

Veronica stayed silent but stepped forward, just enough so that she could close the gate behind them. They were at the end of a cul de sac, as far from other neighbors as they could be and still be in a neighborhood, but it was best not to take chances. Especially as Veronica was getting the sinking feeling that they might have another body to deal with soon.

The leopard groveling in front of her boyfriend had clearly made some terrible life choices, assuming she wasn't one of the monsters. If she was guilty of the same crimes at the mate she was determined to avenge, then Logan could hardly spare her his fate. And if she wasn't, but refused to give up on the notion of justice? Well Veronica certainly wasn't going to allow her to kill Logan or herself. She didn't see any easy way forward. And she very much wanted to spare Logan the guilt of another death on his conscience, particularly one far more premeditated than the confrontation with Gabriel.

"You have a choice," Logan said, in a deadly calm tone. "You will accept my authority. You will follow my rules. You will be a good little pard member. And if you fuck up, even once, you're gone. Banished from my territory. Unless that fuck up involves hurting someone in the pard, or anyone else, in anything other than a genuine accident or self defense, in which case you're dead." He leaned down, balancing on the balls of his feet as he reached out and jerked her chin toward him. "Or I could just kill you now. Might be easier, all things considered. Not sure you have it in you to play nice."

Her dark eyes flashed gold, just for a moment, and then she bowed her head, rich brown curls swirling over her shoulders. "You are my alpha. I will obey you."

"And me?" Veronica asked, taking another step forward so she could rest a hand on Logan's shoulder, her pinky brushing against the warm skin of his neck. "I am Logan's mate, will you obey me?"

Anger tightened the woman's jaw as she looked up. "You are human. You are no Nimir-Ra."

Logan growled again, gripping that long hair and pulling the woman's face up to his. "Veronica's word is law. And you will never touch her again or you will wish I'd killed you tonight. Is that clear?"

For a moment Veronica thought the night was going to end in death after all, the air between Elizabeth and Logan thick with the potential for violence, for actions that couldn't be taken back, no matter how many wishes you made. But the moment broke, and Elizabeth slumped back to the grass, offering her throat in clear submission.

"Say it," Logan ordered.

"Your word is law, and so is your mate's."

Veronica didn't know if she was ready for that responsibility. Not that she hadn't acted as if her word was law since she was making students and teachers alike obey the slightest crook of her finger. But there was a slight difference between exposing sordid secrets and obtaining justice for the wronged, and bearing joint responsibility for someone's life. For many someones' lives. Lives that had not been easy, lives that had far too few legal protections and far too many enemies. At least in high school she got to walk away once the deed was done. There wouldn't be any walking away from this.

"Go home, Elizabeth. Go home and speak to no one in the pard or about the pard until I call you."

Logan stepped back, lacing his fingers through Veronica's as they watched Elizabeth rise to her feet and walk out of their backyard. When she was gone, Logan turned to her, his other hand reaching up to her neck, which she was sure was already dark with bruises.

His eyes were equally dark, and hot with anger despite the delicate touch of his fingers on her throat. "I should have killed her."

Veronica smiled. "No, you shouldn't have. You did good. Passed your second test of leadership with flying colors. And now we need to go inside so I can put on some of Mac's miracle bruise cream and check the lasagna before we burn our new house down, and you can get cracking on the third test of leadership."

Logan's gaze was still furious but his lips quirked with amusement. "And what test would that be?"

"Keeping the rest of them alive for the foreseeable future. It's not the kind of test with an end date."

His answering chuckle was a little bitter, but he pulled her close, kissing the top of her head and inhaling her scent as if reassuring himself that she was alive, and that he could find her anywhere she happened to go. She held him tight until she felt his muscles relax in preparation of letting her go, and then tilted her chin up, silently demanding a kiss. He obliged, soft and sweet with just the barest hint of leashed passion. When he pulled back, she reached up and tapped her finger on his chin.

"It's also not the kind of test you have to take alone. And I have no doubt you will ace it."

"Super Mars to the rescue again?" he teased, something off in his voice.

"Like you haven't saved my ass just as many times," she reminded him and he chuckled, low and rough with memories of the far too many times they'd both been close to death.

"Yes I have."

She grinned at him, pushing off his chest. "Isn't it nice that I'm not the one diving head first into dangerous situations these days, sugarplum?"

"I would debate that. And I'm just a little more durable than you, kitten."

"Oh no, you are the cat in this relationship. I am the pit bull. Especially since said cat," she said with a pointed frown as she led him toward the gate. "Prevents me from adopting one of Backup's children."

Logan shrugged, reaching back to close the gate behind them. "Of all the many, many things that are my fault, dogs not liking shifters is definitely not one of them." He smirked, sliding a hand under her shirt and around her hip, thumb stroking the sensitive skin of her stomach. "And I'm pretty sure you prefer me in your bed at night."

Veronica pursed her lips, pretending to consider it. "I don't know. You're both loyal, affectionate, occasionally slobbery. And, apparently, you both like to bring me your kills."

The left side of Logan's mouth lifted in a crooked grin. "I'm so glad we're the kind of people who make terrible jokes about our trauma."

"Do you know any other way, cause I sure don't," Veronica said with a bright smile. "Terrible jokes and obsessive mystery solving are basically my only go-tos. My therapist loves me."

"Your therapist charges you double, just like mine," Logan told her dryly, and Veronica laughed.

"Only because of the very thorough background check I put her through. You're not supposed to know more about your psychologist than they know about you."

"I definitely don't have that problem," Logan said with a bitter snort and Veronica turned to look at him, leaning back against their front door and pulling him flush against her body.

"Yes, you do. That stupid Tinseltown diary, the interviews, the what is it now, three movies made about Lilly and Aaron? None of them know a single thing about you. Nothing real, nothing true." His face softened, a real smile instead of a self-loathing smirk curving his lips. "And trust me. I know way more about your therapist than she knows about you. Unless you've been a lot more forthcoming in your sessions than I think you have."

"So you haven't been recording them? Somewhere Ms. James is frowning and doesn't know why."

Veronica rose up on her toes and kissed him. "Not recording my friends and loved ones is one of my therapy goals. Like twelve steps, but for pathological trust issues."

"I think asking about your other steps would lose me the rest of my nine lives," Logan said, after kissing her back. He reached past her and opened the door, pressing his legs against hers so she had to walk backwards into the house. "Check on the lasagna; I need to call Yasmeen back. I dropped the phone when I heard Elizabeth and she has to be freaking out right now."

"I love hearing you get parented. Go call her, and tell her I said hi. I'm going to break out the whiteboard, because we have some serious plotting to do, Wolfe."

"Whatever you say, Goodwin, just don't forget about dinner. We've only fed one of your insatiable appetites today, and despite the shifter metabolism, you're the one who gets cranky when your blood sugar gets low."

Veronica pouted. "I am not Kristina. I am not six and I do not get cranky. I get understandably vexed when my biological needs are not met."

"A sudden lie may be sometimes only manslaughter upon truth; but by a carefully constructed equivocation, truth always is with malice aforethought deliberately murdered," Logan said, in that taunting cadence he only used when he was quoting something. "And your little sister has definitely inherited your constant need for food, and the moodiness that results."

Veronica waved her finger at him. "No mocking of Teeny until she's old enough to give as good as she gets. Which should be soon, those Mars genes cannot be overridden by the inherent Fennel goodness."

Logan didn't bother retorting, just gave her another sharp kiss before disappearing down the hallway. Veronica veered into the kitchen, checking the timer on the lasagna, and then headed for the guest bathroom. Mac had the same inability to sit still that Veronica did, although she was better at hiding it, and that had extended to her witchcraft. Which meant there was always a surplus of poultices, balms, candles, and other things that made Mac bemoan her adoptive mother's crafting influence. Veronica appreciated the fact that she had one of the best stocked first aid kits in the city, including some things that were perhaps less than legal.

For now though, all she needed was the aptly named miracle bruise cream, invented just for Veronica after her partner and her boyfriend had both complained one too many times about how easily she bruised. She liberally slathered her neck, sighing in relief as the pain immediately lessened until it was a barely noticeable ache. In her line of work no one would question the injuries, but she'd still rather not be sporting a necklace of broken blood vessels for the next month.

Down the hall, in their bedroom, she could hear Logan's voice, rich with amusement and affection, and smiled. Yasmeen and Michael had been very good to Logan, to both of them, when he was attacked. Her boyfriend needed all the positive older adult figures he could get, and the pard leaders had happily adopted him as one of their own, even when he made it clear he wasn't staying in their territory. They would be invaluable resources as Logan learned to head a pard of his own, and more importantly, they could help him with the guilt in ways she couldn't.

It hurt, of course, that was how emotions worked, but she knew they couldn't be everything to each other. She had her dad and Wallace and Mac and Alicia to turn to, and did, for many things, some of which she also needed Logan for, and some of which she couldn't bring to him. And she was glad that he now had people to turn to, safe people. People with more depth than Dick and more loyalty than Duncan.

Hopefully, between the two of them, they could provide a safe person for each member of the pard.

Well, maybe not each member. Veronica had grown in a lot of ways, but she was never going to be the forgive and forget type and Elizabeth was definitely on her shit list.