by E. Blix
“I-I-I don’t have a p-pack,” Freddy stammered. Technically. “I’m not Were.”
Analie nodded, though she didn’t entirely agree. Freddy may not be a werewolf, but she still, at least privately, considered him part of Goliath.
Non-werewolves had no place in Goliath—literally. They held no rank, never went to pack meetings, rarely went to any pack gatherings, and generally stayed out of the way.
Amelia raised Freddy, but not within Goliath. Being another kind of shifter, he was not considered part of the pack now that he was old enough to shift and fend for himself.
Analie felt dizzy and realized she’d been holding her breath. She started to breathe again, glancing between Freddy and Royce.
“Don’t lie to me,” Royce said, radiating cold and anger. “You reek of Were. I’ve never known any of you to travel alone. Least of all one so young. Someone somewhere is taking care of you. Who is it, and which pack are they with?”
Unspoken lay the obvious. If he was with Goliath, the shit would well and truly hit the fan.
Royce was hoping he’d say as much. It would mean sanctions against them, and the possibility of raising enough uproar that any more of them to cross the state line would soon find themselves hard hunted. Perhaps enough so as to bring the war back to the West coast.
Technicalities were saving the day for Freddy.
“I did travel alone,” he squeaked. “I’m not Were. Someone is taking care of me, but they’re not here. They didn’t come with me.”
“He’s not lying,” Analie spoke up, clenching her hands into fists. “He’s not Were! Leave him alone!”
I need to grow a pair, Freddy thought miserably. He had to swallow a few times before his voice started working. It cracked as he spoke. “I’m telling the truth. I’m not a member of G—of Analie’s pack.”
Saying “Goliath” out loud might cause all sorts of trouble he and Analie didn’t need. He sat and shook and stared at Royce, wishing he looked a little more dignified. A cocoa-stained Linkin Park shirt was not what he wanted to die in.
Royce eased back, considering. Frowning severely, he looked back and forth between the two, eyes narrowed.
Eventually, he came to a decision, his voice now flat and decidedly unamused. “If I find out that either of you are deceiving me, I am going to be very displeased.”
Like he wasn’t already.
“Analie, you’re way out of line sneaking around without somebody with you. I’m responsible for your well-being. What would you have done if hunters followed you, hmm?”
He withdrew, folding his arms across his chest and waiting for her answer, ignoring Freddy for the time being. He certainly hadn’t forgotten him. He just wasn’t sure yet exactly what he was going to do with him. It was possible that Freddy hadn’t yet undergone the change and didn’t know what he was. That and his sincerity when he swore he was not Were was the only reason Royce wasn’t going to destroy him out of hand.
Analie ducked her head slightly. Crap, he was right. She hadn’t thought about the White Hats. As for being out of line, she didn’t really care. Well, didn’t care until she was caught.
“I guess I didn’t think of that,” Analie admitted, fiddling with her crumpled cup. She had a lot to add to that. I’m stuck in a leech pit, surrounded by vampires twenty-four-seven, running through tunnels reeking of mildew to work off my energy, and barred from running the streets or in the park because the Weres here are all uptight about territory and are a bunch of weenies because I’m bigger than all of them. I can’t see any of you, but I live in your reek and I can’t even smell my own pack anymore, not even in Gavin’s coat.
Okay, definitely not something to say out loud. Deep breaths. You’re not food. You’re not dead. You’re not locked in a cell somewhere. You have it good, girl.
She looked up at Royce. “And we’re not lying. Seriously.”
Royce made himself relax further, letting his arms fall to his sides and taking a deep, unneeded breath. The tension in his shoulders gradually loosened, and he took a far more “normal” tone of voice.
“I understand you don’t like being cooped up. You can always ask Isabelle or Mouse to take you out. Just don’t wander around the city alone. Consider how your alpha might react if you were injured and he thought I was responsible. I don’t want to have to restrict you any more than I already do, but I will if I have to.”
Therein should lay enough of a threat to keep her from thinking about taking off without an escort again. He pulled out a chair and sat down, Analie to his left, Freddy to his right, clasping his hands before him on the table as he considered what to do with the two of them. Eventually, he looked at Freddy again, dubious and speculative, but silent. Unnervingly so.
Freddy was trying not to stare at Royce. He’d never been this close to a vampire before, other than times when Analie would grab his arm and usher him faster past some normal-looking man or woman on the street, her jaw set and her eyes downcast. This was totally different. They weren’t hurrying away from him; they were sitting with him. And this guy was just staring at Freddy.
He was trying really hard not to think of all of the gruesome, cautionary stories he’d heard about vampires as he gawped at Royce.
“Where are you staying?” Royce finally asked. He didn’t want to have to deal with more pissed off Weres blaming him for the loss of a cub.
If the kid didn’t have anyone watching over him, which the vampire doubted, he’d take him in until Analie was returned to her pack. If Freddy was staying with somebody, Royce would see to it that he was returned to his parent or guardian with some stern admonitions. He, too, was now in danger if any White Hats had spotted him with Analie or Royce.
Either way, the kid probably wouldn’t like it. Royce couldn’t find it in himself to care.
It took Freddy a full minute to realize that Royce was talking to him and asking him a perfectly reasonable question rather than telling him exactly how he was going to peel the flesh from his bones.
“Pennsylvania,” Freddy answered. “Over in—”
“He knows the way back, you can let him go now,” Analie broke in. She shot Freddy a warning look. Telling enemies the location of your home was one of the stupidest things you could ever do.
Royce shot her a withering look. “He’s underage and alone in one of the largest cities on the continent. I would be remiss to send him out on the streets by himself. The least I can do is see that he doesn’t come to harm on his way.” Irritated once more, he frowned severely at Freddy. “Unless you’d prefer to wait here after you call the people you’re staying with to come pick you up.”
Analie gritted her teeth, looking straight at what she hoped were Royce’s eyes and not his forehead or just past his ear. “He. Can. Take. Care. Of. Himself.”
Freddy couldn’t help but smile at that, and he even felt a little braver.
On the other hand, Analie was feeling more nervous with each passing minute. True, Freddy was not officially part of Goliath now, but someone cared enough about him (or more likely Amelia’s nerves) to put him into cub-hide. And while the high-ranks and even Gregory would most likely roll their eyes if Freddy was breaking cub-hide, not concerning themselves with a shifter, he was breaking Analie’s. Freddy needed to get back to his hiding spot without fuss.
“Oh, really?” Royce was once again dry and sarcastic. He leaned back in the chair, throwing one leg over the other as he gestured at the throng in the packed coffeehouse. “Can you tell me which one of the people inside this room is a White Hat, then?”
His gaze slid over to Freddy, his voice low. “Tell me, boy, are you confident you could save yourself if they attacked you once you were out of the crowds? If you were ambushed by ten or fifteen more?”
Without waiting for an answer, he quickly rose and strode toward the exit. He
didn’t bother looking back. “Good luck getting home alive. Analie, let’s go. We need to have a little talk, you and I.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait!” Analie grabbed Freddy’s arm and hauled him to his feet, almost knocking the table over. She hurried after Royce, dragging Freddy along with her, speaking in an urgent whisper. People were still staring at the three rather curiously. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe there’s a White Hat in here. You’re lying.” She cut in front of Royce and faced him. “You’re bluffing.”
Freddy butted Analie’s shoulder with his own, the Goliath equivalent of tapping her shoulder. “Are there White Hats in Pennsylvania?” he murmured almost inaudibly.
“He’s not human, he can hear you,” Analie snapped, on edge.
Freddy flushed, embarrassed. God, Royce looked scary. He’d rather not be standing in his way right now. He’d rather be sprinting back to Pennsylvania.
Unless, of course, he was now going to be gunned down on some dark street by a bunch of yahoos with cowboy complexes.
Royce stopped when Analie jumped in front of him. His gaze flicked between the two, black eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Do you presume to accuse me of lying?”
Oh, wouldn’t that be bad for her if she was.
“Keep your voices down,” he admonished. He kept his own voice low and pleasant as the people around them started whispering about the weirdos. “Analie, turn around, and look to your left. Just beyond the counter, the girl sitting by herself with the laptop. Don’t stare. What do you see on her shirt collar?”
Analie turned and looked. Her sharp eyes spotted the small pin and she instinctively, protectively, tightened her grip on Freddy’s arm.
“Ow, arm,” Freddy winced.
She loosened her grip and turned back to Royce. “Okay, look, it was just too unbelievable. It’s not like I’m used to looking out for those psychos.” She looked at Freddy, who was shaking in fear. Not unusual, but the situation was. “Can we work something out? Something that doesn’t involve causing a kerfluffle or silvery death and gets Freddy back to Pennsylvania?”
Royce gave her a withering look that probably would’ve been more effective if she could’ve seen it. “Are you sure you want my help? After all, he’s perfectly capable of finding his own way back, and I’m such a terrible person for offering some measure of protection in the first place.”
He was being petty on purpose. If she wanted to play games, he’d play games. Like rubbing her nose in the fact that she’d been just as petty and callous only a minute or two before. Moving around them, he continued on toward the door, seeming uncaring whether they followed. He knew they would. They couldn’t afford not to.
God, you’re such an idiot. Analie hauled Freddy after her as she hurried after Royce. Such a big, flaming idiot. You are throwing everything he’s ever done for you in his face. Real freaking nice of you.
“Maybe we should just head on out—” Freddy began.
“Freddy, no,” Analie said tersely.
Royce was still walking, now moving easily through the crowd. Analie followed in his wake, and Freddy kept a hand on her shoulder. If Analie had a tail, it would be between her legs. This was not what she intended at all. Now Royce was angry with her. Not exactly upsetting, but it certainly didn’t make her feel good. I could be locked up somewhere. He didn’t have to get me schooling, job training, nice clothes and digs. Damn it, I screwed up.
She reached out and caught part of the back of his coat, hanging onto it as they walked. She had to grab for it a few times, judging where exactly it was by the light from street lamps, and she accidently thumped him in the lower back when she misjudged the distance. Once she managed to grab some of the material, she noticed she could actually see a bit of it, right by her fingers. Elsewhere there was a haze, fading away from her hand.
Hanging onto the person ahead of you was a typical thing for a cub to do when following someone, though usually it was holding onto the other’s shoulder or arm. Analie had a brief mental image of her grabbing Royce’s shoulder only to be thrown judo-style into the path of a taxi.
“Analie, what are we going to do?” Freddy whispered.
“Follow him back to the house,” Analie whispered back, clasping her other hand over Freddy’s as it rested on her shoulder. “I owe him an apology at the very least.”
“He’s a vampire,” Freddy hissed.
“He could have left us back there with the White Hat,” Analie snapped, keeping her voice down. “But he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did. He just walked away.”
“I’ve seen him move. Like, really move,” Analie whispered. “Trust me, if he wanted to leave us behind, we’d be alone right now.”
“So let’s get the hell out of here,” Freddy pleaded.
Analie looked over her shoulder at him, tightening her grip on Royce’s coat. “No. I owe him.”
Royce had stiffened slightly when he felt her fumbling at his coat. Though he heard what the two said to each other, he was put off by her accusations and attitude and wasn’t about to relax because she was clinging to him.
It didn’t sit right with him to have anyone, least of all some… some child show him such disrespect. He was miffed over that more than anything else. He’d been called far worse things than a liar, but to have it done in front of another, particularly after already defying his orders, got under his skin.
He’d have to reconsider whether he wanted to keep her at the apartment now. Obviously she wasn’t appreciative of what he had done for her. Even if it had all been done in cold calculation, he didn’t like that she wasn’t showing the slightest appreciation for what he had and could do for her. Maybe he had erred in showing her kindness from the start. If she knew what the alternatives were, perhaps she wouldn’t be so ungrateful after all.
So he stayed silent, brooding, thinking about how to handle her and what to do with her after this little fiasco. They were not accosted by White Hats on the way, and he didn’t stop to speak or send her or Freddy away when they turned onto the walkway leading to his apartment building. Once inside, he went directly for the stairwell at the end of the hall, making no effort to order Analie around one way or the other. She could find her own way, he was sure.
Analie let go of Royce’s coat once they were inside the building. She wasn’t sure what to do with Freddy now. Holing up in her room and hiding like a miserable pup in her den sounded like the best choice.
Right, hide. Very brave of you. Very responsible. Call yourself a Goliath?
She was not about to follow Royce. What could she possibly do now that she was in this much trouble? The worst of it was she didn’t know how much trouble “this much trouble” was. She assumed it was Big Trouble. Then again, Big Trouble with a high-rank and Big Trouble with a vampire were likely very different things.
Analie leaned against the wall, running her fingers through her hair. It was a nice haircut, better than anything she’d ever gotten at SuperCuts or had done at home. She gritted her teeth. She had it good. Crap, she should have noticed earlier. Should have said something.
“What do we do now?” Freddy asked, his voice thin. He was pale and his eyes were wide.
“I don’t know,” Analie answered. “I honestly don’t. Hell, I don’t even know where to take you.”
“You have a room, right?”
Analie nodded. “I don’t want to freak out Mouse, though. We have to walk through part of her space to get to my room.”
“Who’s Mouse?” Freddy asked.
“Vampire. She’s nice.” Analie remembered the bear. She could go for some serious teddy bear snugglies right now. “My room is technically in her apartment.”
Freddy looked toward the stairwell. “Where’s that go to?”
“Royce’s room.”
Freddy m
ade a face. “You wanna go up and apologize?”
“How?” Analie demanded.
Freddy shrugged. “I dunno. Do a Goliath apology.”
Analie gave him a dead stare. “You want me to go up there and flop over on my back, exposing all my vital points, and say a Goliath apology? Freddy, he’s not a Were. He’s a vampire. He doesn’t know the response!”
Freddy nodded slowly. “Oh, right. You’re right, that’s a terrible idea.”
Analie sat down, her back to the wall. Freddy sat next to her.
“What do we do now?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Analie repeated.
Royce wasn’t intending to stop on his way up to his room, but a couple of people talking in the hallway on the second floor spotted him. Jessica abruptly cut short the joke she was telling John to turn with concern to the angry vampire stalking up the stairs.
“Alec, are you okay?”
He paused, foot on the next step, before replying. “No. Not really.”
John frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Analie.”
Royce didn’t say anything else. Jessica and John exchanged worried glances.
“Do you need me to do anything about her?” John asked tentatively.
Royce growled softly, then continued up the stairs. “No.”
Jessica and John exchanged worried looks again as Royce moved out of sight. John rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose I should check if she’s still in one piece.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“Sure,” he said, grateful. He hated dealing with kids, so it was nice to have Mouse there most of the time to help him out when Royce wasn’t dealing with Analie directly. Mouse was across town at La Petite Boisson with one of her prospective donors, and considering how much John disliked the Weres, he was very happy to have Jessica tag along.
The pair headed down the stairs together, Jessica sliding her hand into John’s to give a reassuring squeeze.