In the evening Tabaqui came and told him that the wolves wanted him at the meeting. Mowgli laughed, and went. When he arrived, he saw that Akela’s place. Shere Khan was there, too, with all the fire-pot between his legs. Bagheera lay beside him.
Shere Khan began to speak and Mowgli jumped up.
‘Free People, is Shere Khan your leader? Does a tiger belong in the Wolf-Pack?’