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Ghost slapped him across the face so hard that Finn went to his knees on the deck He stood over Finn, waiting for him to try to rise, but instead the sailor curled into a fetal ball and began to whi, utterly humiliated

"You’ll have to try me eventually," Ghost told him "Either that, or you have to live with your cowardice eating away at you, gnawing at your guts until it drives you an to walk away, leaving the sniveling Finn on the deck, but then Ghost paused and glanced around at his pack Their faces betrayed their disapproval, but none of thee hilancing at Huginn and Muninn, the two he trusted most of all Then he turned to Jack "It’ll be you, Mr London"

"What?" Jack said, feeling the pack’s hateful, violent eyes upon him "You can’t--"

"You’d put a man--and barely a man at that--above the rest of us?" Kelly asked

Ghost arched an eyebrow "Are you about to tell your captain what he can and cannot do?" he asked, turning from Kelly to Jack "Either of you?"

Jack hesitated He was not one of them, not a part of the pack His presence as a e capricious whi uninterested in their philosophical dialogue The pack would never accept hilances, and he saw the bitter, resentful, al at their captain

And Jack thought… I can use this If it doesn’t cost me my life first

"No, sir Of course not," he said

"No, Captain," Kelly added

"Excellent," Ghost said, grinning "De, Mr London See to it And then finish your doctoring I notice Louis never joined us on deck He’ll be needed before long"

"Yes, sir," Jack agreed

Ghost returned to his cabin, leaving his new firstwith fat De hi for the loo therileaed in his eyes, too, when he was in pain, and patches of fur sprouted on his dark flesh

"Talk to me, Jack," Louis said, his voice a snarl "Best you distract et we are friends and let the pain ret"

So Jack told hi that had unfolded up on deck with Finn and his knife and the decisions Ghost hadwith lad I have a sense of humor"

Jack had to probe deeper for the last bullet, widening the wound so he could get to it He thought Louis ed color and grew larger, he only groaned and clenched his claws into fists

"It’s no joke," Jack replied

Taking deep breaths to cal to noran to heal, Louis looked at him worriedly

"No, I don’t suppose the crew finds it funny one bit," Louis said He shook his head in bewilder the shadowed corners for some way to make sense of what he’d been told "This bodes ill for us all"

Jack glanced at the entrance to the galley, listening for the telltale creak that would give away the footfalls of anyone whoThen he turned back to Louis, wondering if this ht not be his enemy

"Their faith in him is shaken," Jack said "I saw it Hell, I felt it"

"Ghost is toying with Finn," Louis said "He will never let him leave this ship alive Finn knows it, and he will have to try to kill Ghost eventually Surprise is his only chance, and a very thin one Ghost will tear him apart But Finn killed Johansen, and the punisharou, a wolf, for three years, but the laws of the pack are taught to us in our first days We kill each other, but face-to-face A challenge is followed by combat, and the winner takes his place in the ranks above the loser And if the loser should be killed, there is no retribution It is the law"

"Butthere between the on their hooks

Louis nodded "Murder is different The punishaht even wonder if he is getting soft"

"Is he?" Jack asked

The question troubled Louis--Jack could see it in his eyes--and it was precisely the reaction he had hoped for The pack had begun to doubt Ghost His savagery was expected, but they would obey only hiun to deteriorate Jack had seen it Now he needed to push it a little further

"He has been different since you cahtfully "We wondered at first why he kept you apart … kept you alive The others have all seen it before, most recently with me"