by Roxy Mews
“You’re right on time,” Doc said. He had some gravel to his voice, but at least he could form words around that scent. Two points for Trevor.
“Good. Thought I wouldn’t make it. I didn’t have time to shower. Hope you don’t mind?” Shelly crossed her legs and hopped up on the halfwall surrounding the small pond and hot tub.
Her scent piqued. I shook my head and turned to Trevor.
“I don’t mind at all, Shelly.” He grinned at me before he turned back to the conversation. Either he wasn’t as affected as I was, or he had better control of his wolf at the moment. “I always enjoy the scent of a woman who has had an eventful evening…alone.”
Now that got my attention. Head slightly clearer, I realized he was right. There was no masculine to complement the feminine. The diminutive vampire before us had been pleasuring herself before she came over. What had been on her mind? My dick hardened again thinking that I might have had a part in her need.
Wolves tend to hunt in groups, and that was exactly what this felt like—a hunt. She immediately hopped from her perch. Both Trevor and I took two steps forward for every one Shelly took back. She had given herself to each of us once before. I knew how she tasted, and how her pussy felt around my dick as my Beta watched. Ever since that night, the three of us had been trading innuendo and double entendre like hungry children in the lunch room sharing chocolate pudding and ho hos.
I didn’t have much time for introspection. She wasn’t just aroused…she was on the move. Prey. I kept pace, but when my shoulder bumped Trevor, I realized this was not going to work. An Alpha and a Beta couldn’t share a woman. Especially this one, and I wasn’t about to make a woman choose again.
We were close enough that I could look down at her. My voice reverberated with far more animal than I liked, but I was done playing.
“Sit.”
Her butt hit a nearby bench. I looked at Trevor and he backed off giving me space. “Now. Quit fucking with my under-appreciated libido. You’ve pushed enough for tonight. You’re playing with fire. And vampires burn.”
“Laying it on a little thick aren’t you, Rick?” Trevor was still close enough to elbow me as he spoke. “Although that was puntastic.”
I growled, and he just chuckled as he backed off a few steps with his hands up in surrender.
“What is going on that we need to know?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk about the extra work the Matheo gave me as punishment.” Shelly took a deep breath. “Along with all the new financial responsibility, he’s got me working to supply extra blood for neighboring Families. I’ve got a handle on all the transfers. We’re missing units, and he’s not having me track the blood. You know why they are missing.”
She waited until we agreed. The bastard was making hybrids. A controllable army.
Not that I wanted to know, but I had to ask, “How much is missing?”
“Too much.” She took a breath she didn’t need. “I think he may be working an angle to frame me for the blood theft.”
That threw an ice bucket on the libido. I wasn’t as well-versed in vampire politics as Trevor, but even I knew that stealing from the Family stash was an offense punishable by death. I had been trying not to think about the danger Shelly had put herself in with the Matheo by helping my daughter’s Clan. I felt compelled to fix the situation. The first step was understanding the problem.
I could have sat with her and tried to make her feel comfortable enough to share what was going on. I wasn’t going near her when one touch of her skin would let my wolf loose and have me bending her over the bench. Trevor or no, I wouldn’t stop once I started.
“Talk,” was all I said.
She wiggled. I growled. She continued.
“The miasma has memory of a Matheo drinking extra blood to frame a Protector he wanted out of the way. A bit of especially fragrant blood spilled on the Protector, and the rest of the Family took care of the problem.”
“What do you need our help with?” I knew where my thoughts were. I wanted the leader dead. He was only alive right now because his Family was large and taking him out could have the entirety of the vampire population coming to avenge an interspecies crime.
“I don’t have enough evidence of anything. I need extra eyes. The Matheo has to be doing at least some of the transactions outside our home.” Shelly wiggled again. “I would know if the transfers were happening on site.”
“Eyes out for vampires buying blood. Got it.” I waved for Trevor to do a round and make sure we were still alone. This meeting needed to end. The more Shelly moved, the more I could smell her. To say my wolf was restless was an understatement. “Anything else?”
She huffed. Her cheeks puffed out, her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ and I knew I needed her to leave. My body refused to calm down. Her lips were plump and it took no imagination to think of her head lowered and her mouth opening for me. Dammit. I adjusted myself under the band of the underwear I was thankfully wearing this time.
“I wanted to let you know that a certain group of hybrids is on their way back into town. I don’t have much information yet. But there must be something else they know. Jake wouldn’t put his Clan up for slaughter unless they had something very important to come back for. Even with Mary’s head popping powers…”
I wasn’t the only one that shuddered remembering that one.
She straightened her spine and continued, “All I got was a text that said they would be home within the week. Prepare your Pack.”
I was digesting the information so Trevor chimed in to finish the conversation.
“We are always prepared. Unfortunately, we have a lot of new members who aren’t going to be very keen to deal with vampires anytime soon.” Trevor knew the people who we had rescued from the Chicago Pack needed a serious break from being taken advantage of. Asking them to go to war again with the very people they had been working with might be a stretch on a still-evolving Pack dynamic.
Amber was coming back. Trevor was talking, but my head wasn’t in it. I had to think about the feasibility of confronting the Matheo. No matter what battle strategy I worked through, it wasn’t enough. I needed to recruit, or at the very least take stock on who was in my territory and see if they’d be willing to help. I felt for the connection to my Pack. Council would have to begin tomorrow. I’d call the meeting as soon as we got out of here. Ready or not, I knew that Amber and her Clan returning meant they were ready to confront who’d pushed them away in the first place.
Something my Beta was mumbling about obviously had tweaked the diminutive woman because she straightened. I tuned back in, but it wasn’t in time. I had missed something.
“I’ll get going then. I can’t stay unaccounted for at this time of night. The Family will begin to trickle back in. I’m usually the first one home. At least I have this.”
Shelly pulled a small bag of—yes, that was blood—from her purse.
The things women keep in their purses.
“Do vampires not have the same sense of smell we do? Aren’t you worried about returning home smelling like us?” I really should keep my mouth shut, but it wasn’t in any Alpha’s nature to stay quiet.
“Our sense of smell isn’t as strong as a werewolf or hybrid’s, but we are enhanced from human levels.” She pinched her brows at me. “But you already knew that. Why do you ask?”
I took another deep breath and leaned toward her. I could smell her from where I was, but my wolf wanted to gather more of that tang of hers to think about later. He also might have been trying to prove something to me. She got wetter as I got closer. “Because, sweetheart, you don’t have to let a soul know where you’ve been. They’ll know you’ve been a busy little bee by the luscious honey scent you’ll bring home. You’re getting wetter and wetter, and unless you want them to smell a werewolf scent mingled with it, I suggest you leave now.”
Heat rushed through me, and I felt the burn of my eyes change. I kept my gaze on her as she struggled to stand without touching me and ran off like a rabbit.
Trevor chuckled at her retreat, but I just walked away. Watching her pupils pulse wide for me and smelling her heady dew had me twitching for something. I was poised for sex or violence. The way I felt at the moment, they didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Chapter Five
Trevor
I had to let Rick go. He was brutally undersexed. That much testosterone in a werewolf was going to cause some damage, and I preferred it not be at my expense. Besides, there was something I needed to take care of. I’d let part of my deepest secret slip. By the way Shelly reacted, I couldn’t help but worry she’d caught it.
My Alpha knew I had turned him, but he didn’t know much about my life before then. We talked in general terms. He didn’t ask and I didn’t tell. The small leather pouch burned in my pocket. Like I always did when I needed my wits about me, I stroked the worn animal hide. A long time ago a woman had given it to me. I knew what was inside, and I knew someday I would take it out and let it go. But right now, I needed some of Lily’s courage. Because a secret I’d kept for nearly as long as I had existed might be in danger.
My target had slowed her pace. It was a swift jog to catch up. I kept a step behind and allowed her to sense me.
“I was under the impression our meeting was over, Beta.”
“I was under the impression we were keeping honest lines open.”
“You are one to talk of honesty.” Shelly stopped. We were on a path behind the school that got very little traffic, but we were still in the open. “There were rumors, not terribly long ago that reached vampire ears. It was said a wolf was trying to bring a woman into his Pack without changing her. Without claiming her. He wanted her to be protected, but not turned. The rumors were true, weren’t they?”
I took a deep breath. Automatically, I scented the air. No one around for miles. Closing in on three AM, and because the bars were still open and finals were weeks away, the campus was empty.
“If you are trying to accuse me of something, let’s do as you say and talk.”
She regarded me for a moment. “Rumor has it a pack Beta defected because he was not to keep a human mate. Years later, when Jake’s mother was found, she’d attacked what she thought was a werewolf killer. She told us the scent of wolf on the woman was so strong that she assumed her hand had taken a Pack member’s life. But Amber’s mother hadn’t killed a werewolf had she, Trevor? She had simply been sleeping with one.”
The air rushed out of me. The words hadn’t been spoken out loud. I had always wondered if my relationship with Lily had contributed to the attack. My scent had been not only involved, but the cause. A blade from neck to nuts would have been more pleasant than this.
Her small hand cupped my shoulder. “I have way too much information in my head. A part of you had to know I would put the pieces together soon enough. Maybe a part of you wanted me to? How is it even possible that you kept something so close to you from your Alpha?”
“He doesn’t discuss her. He knew there was another man. He knew that Lily wasn’t only his. He knew she wanted…” I shook the thought from my head. “It doesn’t matter. He knew enough to not want to know more. He doesn’t look for the information, so it won’t find him. I did my best by Lily. I did my best by my Alpha, and I will do my best by Amber. I might not have fathered that girl by blood, but I fathered her beast. I helped her grow. How long until they are home?”
“You know it’s not their home anymore, don’t you, Trevor?” It was the softest Shelly had ever spoken to anyone that I had heard.
It made me uncomfortable. I didn’t need pity.
It was true, two Alphas would never occupy the same territory, but I wanted to see them both. I might never have a family beyond the Pack, but I would damn sure keep tabs on those I cared about.
“They may not be Pack.” I straightened. “But they are still a part of me.”
“Does they mean Amber and Jake, or Amber and Alpha.” She looked at me. “You’re a lot more than your decisions in life, Trevor. You can’t have everything if you never ask for it.”
This was a bad idea, but at least it seemed she wasn’t going to run around shouting my secrets. “You need to get home, Shelly.” I shouldn’t have started this conversation. She had enough of her own problems to care about mine. “And I need to keep going and keep taking care of all those I care about.”
Ghosts started dancing in front of my eyes. The campus wasn’t there anymore. When I turned from Michelle Meyers, the years began to drain from the buildings and landscaping around me. The young well-groomed trees faded into dense maple and oak.
The leaves had been particularly heavy that fall. The rains had blessed us with a great crop. All around, people greeted you with feasts and treats. Neighbors laughed at the abundance. Children played in the fields and no one yelled to be careful of the crops. Lily had a talent with apples. She invited everyone over to pick her orchard. Pies and cider were laid out on her tables. Sweet tea to drink, and plenty of smiles for all who attended. She had a smile for me as well. But I enjoyed watching her cheeks warm for me when they didn’t for anyone else.
A lanky body draped across her apron and looked up with wild hair and begging eyes.
“Momma! Can I go with Adam? We are going to climb trees!”
Some of the surrounding women scoffed. Climbing trees was no activity for a young lady, they’d say. She should be in the kitchen learning her place, the others replied. But dear Lily ignored them all. Her smile broadened for her little girl. Young Amber was her reason for everything.
“Of course, baby girl. But I tell you, if you tear your dress, you will mend it on your own.”
The little girl smiled. She was missing a tooth, and her tongue pressed through the opening as if her face couldn’t contain her spirit.
“I can fix it! I’ve done it before. See?” Amber held up her dress, a little above what was considered decent. Lines of stitches peppered the fabric. “I love you, Mommy. Bye!”
Her feet dug divots in the ground as she and a few of the local boys took off for the rows of apple trees. Their laughter drowned out any condescending chatter, and my heart ached. I wanted children of my own, but I couldn’t have them with any of the women here. I was born into a different world. Werewolves didn’t have the warmth Lily had. No one I had ever met before held that kind of light.
A man entered the party. Fresh with sweat from the fields.
A part of me hated this human. He was the reason I didn’t try harder with Lily. Not because she didn’t have room in her heart to come with me, but because she was human. I would never ask her to give that up. She needed to shine as the mother she was. Even those who disagreed with her could not deny the love she showed to all around her. Turning her would change that. I couldn’t risk her soft heart with such a harsh transition.
And I watched that love flair with the arrival of her husband. Her human husband. As I had been doing for the past ten years, I faded into the background.
A gust of wind and the smell of alcohol-coated coeds tore me from the vision. I rubbed a thumb over the leather pouch in my pocket. I missed Lily, but I honored her. I served the man she loved. I protected the daughter she treasured. I didn’t have as many moments as they did with her, but what she’d given me was the strength to leave a Pack that didn’t understand humans. She’d given enough love to propel those who survived her to greatness.
If I was pushed, I would tell you that there was a revolution beginning. Understanding and equality had advanced more in the last hundred years than in any of the centuries before it put together. Humans weren’t the only ones who had to overcome prejudice. Amber and her father could lead the supernatural community forward. I just had to make sure they lived to do so.
Chapter Six
Shelly
Well, that explained a lot. Our Family had often wondered why the wolf who had changed Alpha and his daughter had become a Beta instead of their leader. He felt he owed them. Then again, Trevor wasn’t an Alpha. He had power. He just didn’t have the urge to use it like an Alpha would.
My brain brought up pictures of the woman he and Rick had shared. It was obvious from his story and the fact that Richard wasn’t aware of any of it, that they never shared her together. Back then…well, it isn’t surprising. Would they share a woman now? They didn’t mind sleeping with the same one, obviously.
Even though Amber’s mother was gone, they both still loved her.
And why the hell was I thinking about love? Ugh. Petty human emotion was creeping into me. I was spending too much time with wolves and witches.
Then I entered the mansion and it became clear to me why I was doing so.
An argument was going on over who was going to drink from a thin-framed man. The morsel’s shirt was opened. His neck lay reclined on the back of the sofa and his legs moved restlessly. The human had fair freckled skin and bright red hair. Steven seemed to be partial to marking up porcelain skin. Drinking from him was not all they were doing. The young man had an impressive erection straining through his tight jeans.
Steven and Matthew both enjoyed the taste and kiss of other men. They were a couple who had been together for one hundred and thirty-six years this December, but somehow I doubted it was love that kept them sharing partners. Both men, like most of our kind, were very attractive. Put that much sexy in front of a target—male or female—and the poor human stood no chance. The men were excellent at mind alteration, as well. I never had to clean up their mess. But a lovers’ spat was not what I wanted to witness. Particularly when it involved a ménage.
“Leave now.”
All three heads turned toward me. Although the human was enthralled, my command broke through that of my Family members’. The little redhead with twin sets of puncture wounds stood and wobbled out of the house like a zombie. He was a zombie with a hell of an ass in his skinny jeans, but I was still glad to have him gone.