"Power" in Specials

In the book I’m reading, Specials, by Scott Westerfield, the clear person who has power in the text is Shay. The most interesting thing is that Shay was completely powerless in the last book, Pretties, and now she is clearly the alpha dog. The other people in her group, notice her group, call her Boss and always wait for her signal and do what she tells them to do. The surprising thing is she seems to know what she is doing as well. I think she has changed her ways because she was being casted out in Pretties and she became smarter and more intelligent on her own, and she created a new group that everyone wants to be a part of.

     Shay also seems to have taken the power spot from Zane, who had a ton of power over the main character, Tally, in the last book, and now that power has been handed over to Shay. I think part of the reasoning for that is that Shay is the leader of a huge Special group, while Zane is still an average pretty. Tally needs the powerful person in her life to be of the same species as her, not below her.