Dante's Dream

by Jana Leigh

  Standing before the new head of his family and the new head of the New Council Senate, Dante felt proud of his accomplishments. Strong and buff from working in the fields when he was young, Dante was in the same physical shape as the day he was changed. The only difference being that his long, black hair, though used to be tied back to stay out of his eyes, now hung gleaming and smooth down his back. It never grew unless he cut it, to return to its former length. By all rights, it drove him nuts sometimes, during a battle it got into his face. But Caterina, the new Vampire Queen, had ordered him to leave it down when she was around because it was sexy.

  His leader had frowned and growled at him, so Dante left it down on purpose to bug his master. They had been together long enough that Orfeo knew he had a strange sense of humor; he tolerated it because the two men had grown up side by side. Neither given special treatment by Orfeo’s father.

  It was good Dante was actually called in here this evening. He had been having strange dreams lately. Not that it was unusual. He had been having them since he was turned; only the leader of the family knew of his gift, and Orfeo’s father had told him when he took over the job.

  Orfeo told him sooner or later he was going to have to quit being the Leader of the Guard and take his place at his side. A Vampire that had visions of the future was rare and powerful. For the leader of a family to have found one was unusual. Orfeo’s father knew of only one other Seer, and they were part of the New Council. Long ago, he agreed to keep his secret, knowing that one day it would be needed and Dante would take his place at his son’s side. Dante had dreamt it. It seemed the day was growing closer than he thought.

  His Master hung up the phone and turned back to him. “Dante, we need to have some of your guards get to Blackpool as soon as possible. The daughter of the Pack that was attacked turned up in Brin’s office, Jaden said.”

  “I know; I am ready with twelve of our best Guards,” Dante said.

  Orfeo frowned and looked at his friend and said, “Not you.”

  Dante sighed and folded his hands behind his back and stood tall. “Master, I resign from my post as the Leader of the Guard, I have a replacement in mind, and I will be glad to make sure she is trained when I return. Until then, the other three Leaders will be ready to take up the slack.”

  Orfeo’s eyes grew wide, and he looked at Dante closely. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard him, dear,” Cat said as she walked into the room, she had been there longer than he realized. “He's quitting; you should have known it was coming. His restlessness of late.”

  The Queen paused by him and pulled on his arm until he bent and allowed her to kiss him on the cheek, much to his Master’s displeasure. Orfeo growled and pulled his sassy acting mate to his side before turning back to him.

  “My mate spent too much time with the Alpha in the States obviously,” his leader said and then smiled. “Dante, what exactly are you saying?” Orfeo asked.

  “Sire,” Dante said out of respect. Although Orfeo did not sire him, he hated it when anyone called him Master. “The time has come.”

  There was really no need to actually explain what he meant. Orfeo knew, and his mates knew. He was finally going to be taking his place by his side as the family Seer. “I have seen what I need to. I am to go to England with my men, my destiny and yours is tied with this female.”

  “She's your mate?” Cat asked curiously.

  Orfeo looked at his mate with exasperation, “C…”

  Cat held up her hand to one of the most powerful Vampires in the world and said, “Listen, oh exalted one; I am the Queen, you told me I had as much standing as you. I can ask my Lead Guard questions.”

  Orfeo hung his head, and Dante thought he must be thinking before he spoke, which was good, since he has seen his Queen in action lately. She had truly become the leader of the Vampire Clan.

  Dante, wanting to run interference for his Master–although it would be fun to watch him squirm–but the plane was due to leave shortly. “I am not sure whether she is my mate or not, I do know that she needs protection. I also believe she is your next Senate member, from the wolf shifters.”

  Orfeo swore and then pulled out his cell and began barking orders in the phone. There were already a few of his Clan close that would help guard the woman until Dante got there; he knew that. The question was, what the hell was he going to do when he got there?

  ***

  “Mate?” Brin said and stepped closer to the woman. He felt a pull towards her, had since she had fallen through his door. But mates? He was a human; Brin wasn’t so stupid to think that it made a difference. Quin and his brothers explained to him a long time ago what finding their mate meant. He witnessed it himself. The joy a shifter felt to find the one who was destined to be theirs, but by the look on the woman’s face, she was not exactly thrilled.

  “My father and mother were killed. I don’t know how many got out and went into hiding. I was going to go back when one of the bastards caught me. I escaped before they could take me to whoever the fuck leads them, and hid. It took me a few days to get here; my father had the human’s card. Now, I plan to go back and take up where my father left off. I will not let them destroy his legacy. I was being trained to be the Alpha, and that is what I am now. The Alpha of the Credence Pack,” Jax said and handed the phone back to Brin and looked at him warily.

  “Quin?” Brin said into the receiver, never taking his eyes off the beautiful woman.

  “This is a cluster fuck. Orfeo is sending Guards to help. We need to find out if there are any other survivors. Jax has just claimed herself Alpha, which means they will all be searching her out,” Quin said and Brin knew when a wolf claimed a leaderless Pack to the ruling Council Alpha, they were the new leader of the Pack until someone tried to take over. Looking at Jax, he knew they would have a hell of a time doing it. She may be small, but she was strong; he could feel the waves of magic and power flowing off of her. The Pack would seek out their Alpha. If she stayed in one place long enough they would find her.

  Jax stepped back but never took her eyes off him. “What the hell do I do about the situation?” He was referring to the mating thing; Quin would understand, at least he hoped, Brin needed a little guidance.

  “Well, she says she's your mate. I would assume she isn't lying. So if I were you, I would get to know her, find out what the hell is going on. If she is going to trust anyone, it will be you. You said she looked like she was in bad shape, get her cleaned up and clothes. Feed her, and then if she needs to talk to a female have her call either Cami, or Caterina. They would both be more than happy to talk to her,” Quin said, and he heard Cami in the background. She must have just come in because she was demanding to know what was going on. Jaden was talking on the other phone, and she was getting pissed. “Listen, do what I said, we'll work from this end. Cami will probably be bugging you when I give her the scoop. But for now, just get her comfortable. You need to stay in the office until help gets there.”

  “Got it,” Brin said and hung up the phone and looked at Jax warily. Talking to her, he said, “I have a bathroom, just through there, fully stocked. You can borrow a t-shirt and shorts until we can get someone to bring some in. I have food in the icebox. Basically, we can stay in the office for a few days before we have to go out. The door is enforced with steel and magic. Quin set it up. I have wards all around this place. Being the New Council attorney put a large target on my back for the Rogues.”

  Jax’s eyes grew wide and Brin held up his hand. “No, they won't come here. So far, they have not been able to actually find the office. It's a spell that a witch put on the building. I don’t really know how it works; all I know is that so far the Rogues have not been able to find me.”

  Jax relaxed a little and then said, “I will take you up on the shower and food. I, um, was wondering though, Quin said you would be able to get in touch with the New Council Senate. I need to declare myself the Alpha of the Pack with them, so we will be recognized. My father was
getting ready to do it himself. He said it was important the Pack be involved in the future. I plan on doing just that.”

  Brin noticed the determined look on her face. She had been through hell and was thinking about what she had to do. The strength was pouring off her. He was amazed; she was still standing after the beating she looked like she took. He wanted to ask her about it but was hesitant. He had no clue how to ask the questions he needed to. Shit, he had to call Cat; she would know what to do.

  “Why don’t you get the shower, and I will warm up some food. We can talk then,” Brin said softly and Jax looked at him for a long moment. He felt like a bug under a microscope for a second. She was trying to decide if she could trust him, he could feel it. Damn, he was feeling all sorts of her emotions, it was fucking weird. How did he know all this shit? He was a human. Finally, she nodded and then turned toward the door he had pointed out a few minutes ago.

  “You are not going crazy, you know. That is something I have been able to do since I shifted for the first time. My mother said it was a gift from the Gods; I wasn’t sure. Hearing so many people's shit sometimes drives me nuts. I can read people's thoughts. It has served me well, and my father. That's why I know I'm the next Alpha, my father thought told it just before he died,” she said softly, turned and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

  Well shit, he thought, and then closed his eyes. Don’t think, he thought, and he heard her laugh in the bathroom. He shook his head and walked into the small kitchenette, pulling out food he had prepared this morning for himself. Thank goodness he always made extra just in case someone came in.

  While he was heating up the meal, he picked up the phone and called Orfeo and his mates. He needed to ask Cat what the fuck to do. She answered on the first ring like she had been waiting for his phone call.

  “Hello, Brin,” she said softly.

  “Cat, I need a little help here,” Brin said softly, like that would stop Jax from hearing him. She was a fucking wolf shifter; she could hear him over the shower, no doubt.

  “How is she doing?” Cat asked.

  “She's showering. I need to know what questions to ask, shit, I have never been in this situation before. And she says that we are mates. I'm not sure what to do with that.” He said warily running a hand over his face as he looked over the kitchen.

  He loved his office. When he first found the space in the older part of town, he had been a little wary of taking it. But the space was amazing. He had four rooms total. His office, the secretary’s office, the small kitchenette, which was fully functioning, and a conference room. He had changed the conference room into a bedroom for when he was busy and needed to get some shuteye. His apartment was across town in the nicer area of town. But this gave him the freedom to have his clients come and go without any questions. In a larger commercial building, he would have had to explain to the security what the hell he was doing staying all night and having clients come in and out. This way, his security was a shifter agency that specialized in his type of needs. The witch that put the wards over the office offered him a bit of advice. She said using the back entrance for his clients would completely keep his client's identity safe.

  Brin, of course, had taken the advice and called the building manager and asked for access to the back stairs. It was locked and only he and the manager had the key, so he could unlock it during his business hours, and then lock it when it was not needed, or if he wanted to make sure that the clients had privacy. The front doors were locked at six o’clock at night, so he was safe. Thank the Gods, he unlocked the door earlier.

  Brin had also had a shifter come in and decorate the office space to make it comfortable. Brown leather furniture adorned the entire office, and the tan walls had pictures of the outdoors. His desk was his only vice, a heavy, rich, oak desk, which he had picked out the day he graduated from law school. His chair was the same color, and a dark-red leather cushion made him feel like he was finally a lawyer when he sat in it for the first time.

  At least, the bathroom was stocked. His secretary, a Fae woman, who usually worked with him, was off tonight because she was visiting family. As luck would have it, Jax walked through the door with only him there. Heta, his secretary, would have been awesome in this situation. She seemed to be able to put the clients at ease right when they walked through the door.

  Chapter 2

  "What the fuck do you mean the daughter got away?” Roarke ground out.

  Diavolo shrugged his shoulders and looked around the office; he was getting bored with the man's dramatics. His bitch of a sister was sitting on the arm of his chair again. He hated the woman. Tina thought she actually had a say in what Roarke or Diavolo did. She was a slug, a leech on the Rogues, one he would die to burn off.

  “I told you what happened. Your idiot lackeys thought it would be okay to have a few Guinness since they were in the area. The chick slipped away from them when they were passed out. Do you fucking know how much those dipshits had to drink to actually have passed out? I was gone for six hours, and they went through what looked like three kegs. All they had to do was watch her, make sure she was drugged and unable to move,” Diavolo said and shook his head.

  “Where are they?” Roarke said quietly.

  “Dead, do you think I would let that go? I left them with the rest of the Pack we killed as a lesson to everyone. We will not tolerate mistakes. Now, there was more of the Pack that escaped. I brought back the ones who lived through the attack. About ten of them, they are in the new cells. We should be able to get some information out of them. Besides, it sent a message to that asshole Orfeo, he is not going to escape the wrath he has brought down on him,” the Vampire said and stood pacing in his anger.

  Roarke narrowed his eyes as he looked at him. Diavolo didn’t like the way he was looking at him, like he had lost it or something. Little fucker thought he was in charge still. He wasn’t, Diavolo did all the dirty work. It was him who the dipshits looked to when they needed something. Roarke was so interested in making money and gaining power among the humans that this part of the operation was on his shoulders, and now the little fucker was questioning him?

  Right, like the secretary he was abusing didn’t just vanish and leave with a lot of secrets. This was just bullshsit and he was going to let the bastard know.

  “You do not control me,” Diavolo said with a hard tone. “I think maybe it is time to have a small discussion about what the fuck you think is going on, as opposed to what is really going on. I am out in the damn field while you sit in your nice, comfortable office playing Lord and Master over all you survey. Well, that is not the case. Your wolves are responding to me now; they are following me. So if I suddenly decide that I am gonna leave this little partnership, you will be fucked. Are we clear? I am just coming back to fill you in a little before heading back out. I kinda thought I was supposed to.”

  Tina laughed and said, “Brother, I say we kill the bloodsucker now and be done with it, there are plenty more where he came from.”

  “Don’t play with me little girl, you are as much a bloodsucker as I am, and I believe you would not want the twisted, little games you two play put out in the public. I think you will do exactly what I say, and we'll be good. Partnerships built on blackmail have a certain way of working out nicely,” Diavolo said and stood up. “I think I will be going now. Remember, I will check in, but I don’t give a flying fuck what you say. It would be best if you got your own house under control before you start pointing fingers,” the Vampire said and then began walking out the door.

  Roarke stood and moved his half-sister out of the way. “Diavolo, it works both ways, you know. I happen to know of a nice little recording the Vampires would all like to see about what you actually tried to do to their leader. If you thought you were hated now, how would you like to go on the most hunted list? I'm sure they would gladly stake you just as soon as look at you.”

  The Vampire turned and glared at Roarke, then he nodded and left the room. Roarke let
out a sigh of relief. He was not nearly as stupid as his sister, who just kept pissing people off. He felt her come to his side, but before she reached him, he turned and threw his arm out, back handing her across the face and yelling, “Bitch, you will not ruin what has taken me years to do!”

  Tina was flown across the room by the sheer power of his hit. She fell on the floor in a crumpled heap and laughed as she stood up. Tina wiped the small trail of blood that came from her lip. She held it up to her brother as she walked toward him. When she reached him, she rubbed it on his lips until he opened his mouth for her.

  “Brother dear, we need to have a lesson,” Tina said and grinned.

  Chapter 3

  Jax walked out of the bathroom with his clothes on, and his cock was instantly hard. She was fucking beautiful. Her long, curly hair was now clean and dried; it hung down her back, almost to the curve of her amazing ass. Brin was thinking of ways he could run his hands through it and hold her head while he fed her his cock, when she cleared her throat.

  He had heard her crying a moment before. Her sobs drew him to the door. He wanted to go to her and wrap her in his arms and comfort her. She was grieving; she would be grieving for a while. He had to keep his hands off her until she was ready.

  “Shit, sorry,” Brin said with a grimace.

  “Someone told you how to block me,” Jax said with an amused tone.

  “Yeah, I had a nice, long conversation with the Queen of the Ambrosetti Clan,” he said and walked her to the table. “Sit. We can talk and eat. They are sending people out to help us, but I'm not sure when they will be here. I think they may have been some close, but they are not here yet.”

  “Vamps?” Jax said and sat down.

  “Uh, yeah,” Brin replied. “Do you have a problem with Vampires?”