by Thorne, Elle
Let’s roll.
Chapter Two
I’m going to need more chocolate.
Tigress shifter Veila Tiero grimaced at the thought of her curves and how tight her dress had been before she’d shifted into her tigress form. She was a white tigress, which many of the Tiero tigers were, taking after their father, currently the most notorious tiger shifter in Europe.
She was going to need a lot more chocolate if her father was coming to town. Word had it their father and an uncle or two were flying in from Europe to attend the shifter council meeting her brother Vax—Vittorio—Tiero had called.
Veila got up from her favorite boulder in Sanctuary, stretched, and craved more of the chocolate her half-sister Lila kept them stocked with. She’d have to shift and leave Sanctuary to get some. Since her apartment was out of her favorite chocolate, she’d have to raid Lila’s stash. She used to just roam in and out of Lila’s apartment without asking permission or knocking—hell, they all did—but Veila couldn’t do that anymore. Lila was busy with her new mate, a massive Siberian shifter she’d met while helping out with a territorial matter.
Veila shifted into her human skin and tugged her outfit into place. Shifting was a surefire way to make her clothes look like she’d been playing a sport—or having sex. Jeez. Yeah, right. She didn’t know how long it had been since the last time she’d had sex. It was too damned hard to find the right man, it seemed.
“You’re too picky,” her sisters all told her. She laughed that off.
Veila had been sure she and Lila wouldn’t be finding mates any time soon. She’d enjoyed the good times they had together. Sure, things were still good, but now she had to share Lila with Cy, her Siberian mate. Veila had to admit he was hunky, just not her type.
She wasn’t interested in love right now. She had a career to worry about. She wanted to take over a territory of her own. She had a lot to prove to her father, a man who didn’t seem to favor treating his daughters as equals to his sons. She scoffed. She could handle anything any male could.
She slipped out of Sanctuary and down the staircase into After Dark, the club her brother Vax ran.
Partiers from far and wide made After Dark a must-see on their visits to the Dallas. After Dark was known around the country as one of the more high-end nightclubs, rivaling those in Europe. Sanctuary was the largest draw of their customer base at After Dark. All those humans just had to come see the tigers. Though Veila didn’t understand the mystique and the draw, she was more than happy to make bank.
Cutting across the club, she had one objective—chocolate, preferably dark, with a dash of tiny crystalline particles of sea salt.
She took the elevator down to her apartment, passing Lila’s on the way. She closed her hearing off, choosing not to let her supersensitive tiger hearing catch any X-rated sounds Lila and Cy might be making.
Her phone vibrating on her hip pulled her up short. It was a text from Vax asking if the executive boardroom was ready. She made a quick U-turn, her stomach in knots. The thought of having their father visit put everyone on edge, but mostly Vax since he had broken Tiero code and taken a human as a mate.
She sighed. She was close to Vax, so if something bothered him, then it bothered her. She fully supported his choice in a mate, and if someone asked, she wouldn’t be shy about voicing her opinion. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Voicing her opinion wouldn’t bode well for her.
She’d check the boardroom herself because everything needed to be perfect. The Tieros needed the shifter community in America to take this branch as seriously as the European Tiero branch was taken by the European shifters.
Hell, while she was at it, she’d also check on the visiting shifters and make sure their needs were being taken care of. Deep in thought, she walked across the uppermost glass walkway that spanned Tower One and Tower Two.
The visiting shifters were all staying in Tiero Towers Two, all of them in floors below the boardroom, where the shifter council meeting would be held. Tiero Tower One housed the Tiero siblings, as well as Sanctuary and After Dark. Her phone vibrated again. She looked at the screen. Lila.
Without a greeting, Veila jumped right in. “Bring chocolate,” she told her little sister. “Lots of it. I have a feeling we’re going to need it at this meeting.”
“Mind if I take a pass? I think you and Vax can handle this. I was going to go with Cy to take Petra back to school and get her situated.”
“What? You can’t leave me. No. Dad could be coming—” Then Veila got it. “You little witch. You’re going because you want to avoid Dad. Aww, come on. That’s not fair. You’re leaving me, Vax, and Sophie to deal with Dad. That’s so messed up.”
Chapter Three
In the executive boardroom on the top floor of Tiero Towers Two, Veila stood at the windows, looking out over the city. The setting sun showcased the beauty of Dallas. Greenery overflowed in a city that boasted technology and money.
She turned toward the door when she heard it opening. Vax closed it behind him. He was alone, his face serious. Veila wondered if he had the rumor of their father’s visit on his mind. She couldn’t let it go. Being sent a continent away from their domineering father had been just what they’d needed. Vax had been near a breaking point until their uncles Tito and Federico had suggested the two move to America and secure some territory there for the Tiero family.
Having their father so close to them again was bound to bring up old wounds for Vax. And what hurt Vax, hurt Veila.
“Where’s Lila?” Those were the first words out of his mouth. “And Sophie?”
“Lila’s going with Cy to return Petra to Chicago.”
Cy’s sister Petra had spent a month recuperating in the Tiero Towers. She was the victim of a kidnapping and had been destined for a cage fight until she was rescued last month. Now she was ready to go back to college and resume her life.
Vax nodded, as if he wasn’t surprised he’d have to fight the battle with one less ally. “And Soph?”
“She’s not answering her phone. I’m sure she’ll be here.” But Veila wasn’t really sure at all.
The door opened again.
Lézare Arceneaux held the door open for his sisters, Alexa and Evie. Veila hadn’t met either of them, though she’d heard a lot from Callie. She had met Lézare once, in passing, about a week ago. It still flabbergasted her to learn she and Vax had cousins here in America—from their mother’s side—that neither she nor Vax had ever known existed.
The most their father had said was to stay away from the New Orleans Arceneaux. She’d never thought to question her father. Then again, she’d never questioned her father, not about anything, and she tried too much to be an ideal child, hoping one day she’d measure up in his eyes, knowing that being a female was an automatic setback.
Her cousin Alexa had dark auburn hair like Veila. She was easy to pick out, based on Callie’s description. Callie was particularly close to Alexa. The two spent a lot of time together while Vax and Lézare were talking business. Evie was typically out of town when Callie had been at the Arceneaux home, so Callie hadn’t shared much about her with Veila.
Lézare didn’t have a chance to close the door before he was followed in by the Bear Canyon Valley shifter, grizzly Jake Evans, typically referred to as Doc. Mae Forester had accompanied him to the meeting.
Veila didn’t know many shifters who weren’t acquainted with Mae. Mae was the widow of grizzly shifter Brad Forester, killed by other shifters many years ago. Mae held the Bear Canyon Valley shifters together, bringing new shifters in, trying to keep her husband’s dream for Bear Canyon Valley alive. She was a stunning beauty, though more than a hundred years old in shifter years. Her mate’s couple-bond mark had kept her young, and she didn’t even look thirty.
Vax had certainly made connections since coming to America. Veila had been so busy with numbers and running her part of After Dark, she’d missed out on meeting these shifters. She looked at her older brother, a glow of prid
e warming her body. He was the perfect choice to build the Tiero interests here in America.
Mae hugged Veila. “Your brother has said so many good things about you. He’s ready to watch you take your own territory.”
Veila glanced at Vax, knowing his tiger hearing enabled him to hear what Mae just said.
“Where were you planning to send me?” She softened her question with a smile. She didn’t want to leave Vax. He was her best friend the way Lila and Sophie were best friends.
And even though Vax had Callie now, the two of them were still as close as they’d ever been. If anything, Callie augmented the siblings’ solid relationship.
A pair of wolf shifters walked in, identical, muscular, with short blond hair. She knew who these two were—Rory and Reese Nielsen, but she didn’t know which was which, and wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell them apart even after she was introduced to them.
They gave Vax a shoulder hug. One of them leaned closer to his ear. “The Raffertys are taken care of.”
Vax cocked his head, a question in his eyes.
“Nuff said,” the other Nielsen wolf twin said.
Vax nodded.
The Rafferty shifters were the ones who had kidnapped Petra, and later, Lila. Whatever “taken care of” meant. Veila hoped it was a death sentence.
Wondering if Sophie would make it to the meeting, she checked her phone again for what might have been the thirtieth time to see if her sister had texted. Nothing. Not a word. Was she that busy getting things set up at After Dark?
Veila looked around the room. This should be it as far as out of town shifter attendance went. Oh, hell, except for the rumor her father and two of his brothers would be coming in.
Veila and Vax hadn’t told the European Tieros they were having a shifter council meeting, or that they wanted to make it a regular occurrence. The European Tieros—translation: the old-school Tieros—would not have liked that. They didn’t like intermingling with other species of shifters, whether as friends or mates. They were totally against taking humans as mates.
Veila wondered how she’d managed to deal with growing up in such a restrictive, close-minded society. She credited her mother with giving her and Vax an easy acceptance of diversity of all kinds. Veila hoped she and Vax had managed to rub off on Lila and Sophie, since they had a different mother. Veila’s father had re-mated right after their mother had died. That union had produced Raphael, usually called Rafe, and two girls, Lila and Sophie.
The shifters all took a seat at the large mahogany table.
“Thank you for coming to what I hope will be the first of many meetings while we all work together to—”
The door opened. Opened was an understatement. Veila flinched at the force with which the door was flung aside.
In the entrance stood a handsome, if arrogant and hard, face, and a broad set of shoulders leading to a wide chest. The chest tapered to a waist that boasted a lot of time in a gym. The striking stranger was a lion shifter; that was evident. Black hair, ebony eyes, a dark tan, and a strong jaw. Veila tried not to stare at the perfectly sculpted set of lips offsetting the hard look on his face.
Something in her stirred. Her tigress. She purred deep within Veila, reacting to the man’s lion. What the hell? Veila had never been the lion type.
Like you’ve had any experience with lions or any other shifters, her tigress scoffed at Veila.
Veila bit back an urge to tell her tigress to shut up.
The man locked eyes with her. Suddenly, it was as if no one else was in the room with them, as if no one else was in the world with them. Her breathing slowed, synchronizing with his. The lion’s pulse sped up, matching hers.
She couldn’t tear her gaze from him. She knew Vax was saying something, but it sounded like distant thunder, indistinguishable and faint.
A second lion shifter joined the first. A brother, she could tell, even if she couldn’t see it in their features.
From what Veila understood, everyone who should be here was already seated at the table. And she had no doubt her information was accurate and up-to-date. Vax would have told her if he’d arranged for anyone else to attend.
So who were the two lion shifters? Actually, who was the first one?
A loud gasp tore Veila’s attention from the lion shifter.
The gasp came from Lézare’s sister, Evie. She stared at the lions, her face having gone ashen. Her eyes were wide and tear-filled.
Veila looked back at the lions. The second lion’s face had gone from stoic to concerned to pain-filled, his eyes glued to Evie.
The first lion’s grasp on her attention lessened as Veila brought herself back to the situation at hand.
“Was my invitation lost?” Her lion’s voice washed over her, leaving gooseflesh behind.
Had she really just thought of him as her lion?
Chapter Four
“Martinez,” Lézare said with a frown.
“Arceneaux,” the lion shifter replied. Evidently, his last name was Martinez, a name that meant nothing to Veila.
“This is an interesting turn of events,” the second lion shifter added. Like the first lion shifter’s, his accent held a Hispanic hint to it. “A meeting without the Martinez tribe. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me, Lézare.”
Lézare rose. Though his pulse indicated he wasn’t agitated, she wondered if he was extremely adept at hiding it.
“And if you’d had an invitation?” Lézare’s accent was clearly American, but so very different from the ones Veila had become accustomed to in Dallas. “Look what would have ensued—drama. Such as the drama we have now.”
A pulse raced in the room. No, Veila decided, two pulses raced. She glanced about at the occupants. Tears streamed down Evie’s face, silent tears that emphasized her beautiful blue eyes.
Veila surveyed the rest of the shifters. The other racing pulse belonged to the second Martinez lion.
Then Evie managed to blurt out, “Excuse me,” and slipped out through the second set of double doors.
The doors didn’t close behind her. Gavin, head of Tiero security, strode in, his predatory eyes taking stock of the situation. Eight shifters followed him, and Veila glimpsed more waiting in the hallway. How the hell had Gavin known to appear, and so quickly?
The first lion gave Gavin a once-over, took note of the number of reinforcements he had, and made a wise choice to stand down. “Looks like the party’s over.” His eyes locked with Veila’s again, and she felt that tunnel feeling happening once more, sucking her into a place where only the two of them existed.
“For you, it is.” Vax’s voice was cold. “Detain them. We’ll deal with them later.”
Veila was happy the lion shifter didn’t put up a struggle. The idea of Gavin’s team hurting him or even killing him bothered her.
The lion shifter walked out, no argument, not another word. Watching the muscles bunch up in his arms, Veila was certain he’d have inflicted his share of damage on Gavin and his team. She found herself even more relieved he hadn’t objected to being detained. If he’d maimed or killed a Tiero tribe member, then he’d never have a chance to be—
To be what? Her tigress interrupted her thought process.
I don’t know. All she knew was she wanted to know him better.
Her tigress purred in agreement.
No! Veila wanted her tigress to take control of herself. Surely this wasn’t her mate. He was a lion! She shook her head.
“You okay?” Vax put a hand on her shoulder.
“Fine. Just curious about who those two are.”
“I’m going to check on Evie.” Alexa rose with a pointed look at Lézare. “How did they know we’d be here? Did he know Evie would be here, too?”
“No clue.” Lézare resumed his seat, running his fingers through his hair.
They all took their seats, but the room was quiet while everyone absorbed the scene they’d just witnessed.
Lézare cleared his throat. “Evie and Mason Martin
ez used to be together.”
Vax nodded.
Veila wanted to say that was obvious. It was also obvious they still cared for one another. Curiosity would normally have risen in her about them, but, at the moment, there was only one thing that piqued her interest.
“What’s their beef with us?” Veila asked. “Why do they care enough to barge in on our meeting?”
“You don’t know the Tiero-Martinez history?” Lézare cocked his head, a surprised look on his face. “Does your family make it a practice to keep everything from you? First that we are related, now this?”
Veila glanced at Vax. They were in agreement; this all stemmed from their father. Why did he hoard information?
“Your great-grandmother jilted a Martinez. This was back when the Martinez were looking at an expansion from Spain into Greece and Italy. She fell in love with a Tiero.” Lézare laughed.
Veila wondered what about that struck Lézare as funny. Vax had told her that if there was anything worth knowing among shifters on the American continent, Lézare knew it. It looked as if he was well acquainted with shifter history in Europe as well.
Lézare continued. “Long ago, the blood feud was exactly that. The Martinez tribe sought to avenge their pride by killing the Tiero. The Tieros retaliated. They almost caused a shifter civil war before the Tribunal set forth rules, the primary one being that revenge couldn’t be the kind that drew blood. The Martinez made it a goal to thwart Tiero business interests. End of story.”
“Why the hell don’t we know about this?” Vax’s jaw was clenched, his words forced. “Where are the Martinez now?”
“The American ones are in Florida and Puerto Rico. The rest are mostly in Spain.”
Veila and Vax had known about the Martinez when they’d lived in Europe; they just hadn’t known about the history. Why did their father keep so many things from them?
Vax adjusted the collar on his shirt, running his finger along the inside. “Enough about this. Let’s get on with the meeting.”