by Bianca D'Arc
“So for bird shifters, what you’re saying is that size really does matter?” She smirked and he had to laugh with her. He loved his mate’s irreverent sense of humor. Hell, he loved everything about her.
They didn’t have time for more conversation because at that moment, he pulled up in front of the old family homestead. While he hadn’t grown up in this house, he’d lived there while his mother was alive. In fact, she’d been murdered in the back garden she’d loved so much. They’d had her ceremony there as well—the one that had sent her body to dust and her spirit into the next realm.
There were a lot of memories in that house. Good memories and some bad. Lots of happy times and some of the most difficult days of his life. His mother’s death had impacted them all in different ways. Mag had taken it hard—as had all his brothers.
Their little sister—the only surviving female of their bloodline—had taken it hardest of all. Grif was working with her, as was the priestess, to lessen the trauma. Poor little Belinda had been the one to find their mother’s body and it had left her scarred emotionally.
Grif was the best with Belinda. He had been more of a father figure to her than an older brother for a long time. They’d lost their dad years ago, when Belinda was just a baby. Grif had stepped up and more or less raised her. He’d been her big brother and her Alpha all wrapped up in one, which wasn’t the normal order of things. But it worked for them.
Mag couldn’t even imagine what the poor kid had gone through when she’d found their mother’s body, but he’d done his best to be supportive, in his way. Mag was the quiet one of the family, but he’d held Belinda while she cried and been there for her when the rest of the family went off, running around trying to catch the bad guys without much direction.
After Slade had shown up and organized them a bit, Mag had been able to join the hunting parties. Belinda had been left with their cousin and his mate, who were wonderful with her, and the brothers had done their part in hunting down the perpetrators. It was at the beginning of that hunt that he’d found Miranda.
Since then, he’d been very distant from his family. It pained him to have to do it, but his mate had to come first. Tonight would be key in deciding their future. Would he have to cut ties with the Clan and keep the chasm between himself and his immediate family, or would they find a way to move forward together into a new, closer relationship that included his mate? Mag was nervous to see how it would all turn out.
He pulled up to the house and Mag got out of the Lamborghini. He moved around the car to Miranda’s door, taking a deep breath, still wondering how this evening would turn out. Miranda got out and stepped right into his arms. He’d almost forgotten how easily she could read him now. Although they weren’t communicating in words through their connection—though she assured him that was something that would come in time—they definitely felt each other’s emotions.
Miranda hugged him, reaching up to place little kisses on his cheek and jaw. “I love you, my One. I wish I could ease your worry.”
“You do, Miranda. Just by being here, you make life worth living.” He whispered, not even realizing how deeply he meant the words until they were uttered into the darkness of the night around them.
“Come on, you two. You’re the last to arrive.” A voice came to them from out of the darkness and Mag looked up to see Joe walking toward them in his human form. He was buttoning a shirt he’d retrieved from somewhere. Shifters had to plan ahead so they didn’t end up bare-assed naked all the time. Apparently the owl was a planner and Mag had to approve. He looked as if he’d just stepped out of some fancy fashion ad or something. No doubt about it, the owl was a snazzy dresser.
Mag reluctantly released Miranda, turning to face the newcomer with her at his side. He had to be polite. While they were both Alpha, Mag was third in command of the entire Clan while Joe was the leader of all the bird shifters in the Clan. They’d never actually figured out where that put them personally. Which was higher ranked? It was hard to say.
But tonight of all nights, Mag didn’t want any conflict. Or at least, any more conflict than he already expected. If Joe was offering the hand of peace, Mag would take it. Gladly.
“Joseph Nightwing, may I introduce Miranda van Allyn. Miranda, this is Joseph, Alpha of the fliers in our Clan.” Mag had to hold back his beast’s instincts to protect his mate. The cat didn’t like watching her touch the other man, even to shake hands. Thankfully, it was a brief handshake and Joe stepped back right away, seeming to understand.
“I wanted to meet you before the gathering,” Joe declared, speaking directly to Miranda, surprising Mag a bit. “I’ve had good dealings with your Master. In fact, I spoke with him about your situation yesterday and he convinced me to give you my support—or at least reserve judgment until I’d met you and learned more about you.”
Mag knew Miranda was a little taken aback by Joe’s words, but she hid it well. She gave him a tentative smile and nodded. “Thank you for being open minded,” she replied cautiously. Miranda was good at being diplomatic when necessary.
Joe seemed to like her answer, nodding again and stepping back. The front door had opened and Mag saw his brother Bob looking out at them.
“Guess we’d better head inside,” Mag said and the three of them began walking up the path toward the door.
Chapter Eleven
The gathering of Alphas was intimidating to say the least. Each of these men and their mates were top of their particular food chain, and it showed. Each was dominant in a way that should have frightened Miranda, except for the fact that she had Mag at her side. He was easily the equal of any man in the room. His steadfast presence both physically and within her mind, reassured her in so many ways. His support allowed her to relax a bit and not react badly when a few of the more abrasive personalities challenged her.
There were a few moments before the meeting started where they mingled and Mag introduced her to a few new people. She got to say hello to the few she had already met, who were mostly members of Mag’s family. After everyone was gathered, Grif signaled for the group to be seated in the great room of the house, which had been cleared a bit so that extra chairs could be brought in from the dining room and elsewhere.
Mag motioned her over to sit between Steve and his mate, Trisha, and Bob. Apparently there was a hierarchy even in the way these shifters sat around a room. Miranda wasn’t too surprised by that. Vampires followed similar rituals and were probably even higher sticklers for formality. From what she could see, even though everyone had a prescribed place in the seating arrangements, they were mostly at ease, even casual in the way they spoke as the meeting started.
“All of you probably know by now that my brother Mag has been keeping company of late with Miranda van Allyn,” Grif nodded toward her and she felt the scrutiny of every eye in the room fall upon her. Mag held her hand and gave it a little squeeze, which she appreciated. “They are old friends, and as you are all Alphas and leaders within the Clan, I think it’s important for you to know that they are true mates.”
Miranda tried not to gasp. She had never expected Mag’s brother to broadcast the truth about their relationship to the Clan’s leadership. Panic almost gripped her, but Mag’s reassuring warmth in her mind helped her remain calm. He seemed to feel that nothing was amiss. She only hoped he was right.
A few of the gathered Alphas fidgeted at Grif’s pronouncement as she looked around the room. She met one or two hostile gazes, but most were curious and a couple were downright shocked.
“For several reasons, the vampire Master has asked us to keep the true extent of their relationship under wraps. There are cultural taboos to such unions, as you all know. We’ve devised a plan that I think has merit. Miranda is going to be the new liaison between the Las Vegas vampire community and our Clan, and my brother Mag is going to be our liaison to the bloodletters. Now, we’ve never had liaisons before, but both Tony and I feel that this could benefit us all. The Master has pledged aid to us up
on request and I’ve done the same.”
“Help bloodsuckers?” That came from a woman near the edges of the room. She’d been introduced to Miranda as Shelley, mate of the badger Alpha. Apparently there was a small group of badger shifters working for Redstone Construction, mostly on earthworks.
“There is precedent,” Grif replied. “I talked to the Lords about all this at length and have their full approval. There have been all kinds of signs lately, but I’ll defer to Kate for that part of this discussion.” Grif nodded to the priestess who sat at his side. Both Kate and Slade sat opposite the Redstone family, on Grif’s left. From the placement, Miranda knew the priestess and her mate held high rank in the Clan.
“Recently, there has been at least one other vampire-shifter mating that we know of. It was a true mating,” Kate emphasized. “We believe the Lady Goddess may be preparing us all for a dark time to come. We all know the Venifucus has been hard at work, trying in many places, and in many ways, to restore Elspeth to this realm. If that happens, we’ll all need powerful warriors to fight her.” She paused, probably to let that concept sink in a bit.
“When a vampire drinks from a shifter, they gain shifter strength and magic, making them stronger than a vampire feeding solely on human blood,” Kate went on to explain. “When a shifter mates with a vampire, he or she gains vampire speed and psychic abilities they don’t normally possess. Together, they are stronger than either would be alone.” Kate smiled, her entire manner easing this difficult conversation, and Miranda could see the priestess had the attention of every last person in the room.
“Only the pure of heart—those tested in ways that can seem cruel, but are ultimately strengthening—are chosen.” Slade picked up the tale. “I’ll be blunt. Miranda has been through hell. She was imprisoned by the madman who murdered the Redstone matriarch. Miranda was tortured, kept in a cage with silver bars, and repeatedly bled near to death, drained of magic and life. And yet, she survived.” Slade paused to let his words sink in. Not many knew the full story of how Miranda had come to be with Mag.
“When I broke the magical circle in which she’d been held,” Slade went on, “she attacked. I won’t lie. She did some damage, and probably would have killed me. But all Mag had to do was call her name, and she came out of the blood frenzy that had gripped her. I’ve never seen an enraged vamp able to pull it together merely at the sound of her name. That she could do so after all she’d been through says something for her character. Miranda impressed me that night, as did Mag. Their bond is true and strong. He is her anchor, as she is his. And together, they are stronger than either one of them is alone. In the future—if the worst happens and Elspeth is freed—we’ll need their strength.” Slade sat back and let that sink in.
“Mag suffered too,” Kate said softly after a moment of silence. “He found his true mate more than two years ago, but because of the taboo, Miranda left him. Who among you wouldn’t be insane by now if you’d found your true mate, only to have her leave without a trace?” Kate eyed every person in the room before continuing. “And none of us even knew it. Mag hid that soul-deep pain from us all for two years, and continued to be the dependable, hard-working man we all know and love.”
Miranda could see the nods of approval and the fact that a lot of the listeners were impressed by what the couple had said. She would have preferred to keep her ordeal private—and she knew Mag felt the same—but if it helped their cause, she could live with it.
“I’m letting you all in on this information because you are the Alphas everyone looks to in the Clan for leadership.” Grif took over the lead again. “I promised when you signed on with Redstone that there would be as much transparency as possible, whenever possible. I’m asking you to keep this information private for now. The Master and I both know that we won’t be able to keep this secret forever, but we are buying as much time as we can for him to get his people in line. I’m not privy to all his plans, but I got the impression there’s going to be a bit of house cleaning in the local bloodletter population soon.”
That was news to Miranda. She’d assumed Tony would do something about Cassie sooner or later, but she didn’t think beyond her sister. She should have. She knew the Master played deep games. It sounded like he was using this situation to do more than merely rein in her sister. Miranda hoped it wouldn’t get too violent before it was all over, but when vampires went at it, blood was always spilled.
She almost dreaded what she feared was coming. Hanging out with the shifters, safe with her mate was probably the coward’s way out, but if she was able, she would be doing exactly that until things settled down again.
“Because of that,” Grif went on, “I’m advising you to keep your people close to home for the next few weeks. Especially the youngsters. The last thing we want is for stray shifters to get caught up in what should be a wholly vampire operation. I’ve agreed to aid the Master if asked. If we are called in, only a select few of our soldiers will be sent. I don’t want innocents getting caught in the crossfire—and if news of Mag and Miranda’s relationship gets out, the Master is well aware that any and all shifters could be hunted by unscrupulous bloodletters. Allowing them to dine on our blood indiscriminately is the last thing any of us wants.”
Nods of agreement came from every corner of the room. That, at least, was something all the shifters could agree on. Miranda was glad to see the expressions of the few hostile shifters had changed over the course of the conversation. If they weren’t exactly welcoming, they were at least thoughtful, which was a good start.
“I also expect you to minimize any hostility toward Miranda from the people under you,” Grif added. “I’ve given you all the facts because I hope you’ll see the need to accept what the Goddess has done in bringing a tried and tested vampire into our midst. I also expect you to lead by example and quell any misunderstandings about Miranda and her presence among us before they can turn into problems.”
Miranda saw why Grif was such a popular leader. He didn’t order his people to blindly follow his edicts. Instead, he explained things and gave his subordinates solid reasons for his decisions, encouraging them to help him implement his ideas. Even the stubborn faces she’d seen earlier had softened and were listening intently, nodding here and there when he made a good point.
The meeting went on for a few more minutes with every Alpha being given the opportunity to ask questions and speak their minds. It was a lot more democratic than Miranda had thought a shifter leadership meeting would be. She wasn’t sure why she’d imagined they’d all be growling and pissing on each other to prove who was more dominant, but that’s not the way the Redstones ran their Clan. She realized that was very likely the real key to their success.
Griffon Redstone hadn’t amassed one of the largest and most successful collections of shifters in the United States around him by dominating every other Alpha in the group. He was a charismatic leader, it was true, but he also allowed each of the Alphas that had brought their various groups to the Clan a role in the leadership, and continued dominion over their own people.
It made sense. Otherwise, how could he manage such a diverse and populous group? While it was true the Redstone family was big, there was no way all the brothers—even if you added in their extended family—could be everywhere, and in charge of everything. It was a much smarter use of personnel to utilize the expertise that came with each new Pack, Tribe or Clan that came under the Redstone banner. Very smart indeed.
The meeting ended a short while later and everyone moved toward the back of the house where there were sliding glass doors that led to the big backyard. A grill was already lit and some of the folks carried platters of meat from the kitchen with them as they went outdoors. The barbeque was in full swing only minutes later and tubs of ice with beer, soft drinks and other choices were already waiting for everyone to serve themselves.
Mag pulled Miranda aside to a patio table where an ice bucket had been set up to cool a waiting bottle of wine. It was a bottle
of one of Maxwell’s finest vintages and Miranda had to smile at the Alpha pair’s thoughtfulness.
“Lindsey ordered a few cases of wine when she heard we were mated,” Mag explained, speaking of Grif’s mate, a magical human who had been transformed into a cougar shifter in an unprecedented act of magic and faith. Miranda had liked her when they’d met, and her opinion only rose at the kind gesture of ordering wine just for Miranda.
That set the tone for the rest of the evening. Mag and Miranda sat on the patio and people came and went, speaking with them and learning more about each other. Miranda met everyone and started to form friendships with a few of the more open-minded shifters. Joe Nightwing, in particular, sat with them for a while, eating a huge, rare steak while they talked in low tones about the possibilities for upheaval in the vampire community.
He knew a lot more than most about the bloodletter power structure and was on a first-name basis with a lot of the key players. They compared notes on some of those he didn’t know as well and discussed strategies for who could and could not be trusted. They speculated a bit on who might remain in the hierarchy after the dust had settled, but Miranda was glad that he didn’t seem to be pushing for information she could not, in good conscience, reveal. She still owed some loyalty to her people, just as Mag did to his.
Grif and Lindsey joined them, sitting around the large patio table and joining in the discussion as they ate. Shifters could certainly pack away a lot of food, but Miranda was content with her wine. Occasionally she still missed being able to enjoy certain flavors, but bitter experience had taught her to not even try to taste things. Since becoming a bloodletter, everything tasted bad except the few things she could ingest.