by Kate Wendley
**
Torin watched in irritation through the tinted glass door of the foyer as a woman made her way from the parking garage to their building. He reluctantly stepped outside while she was still across the driveway, opening his senses to make sure no one else was around and waiting to do something nasty to her.
The girl was pretty enough, but she was human, and worse, she dated a vampire. He shivered in disgust and was then unable to stop thinking about how cold Anthony must be. Vampires were always cold, right? He rolled his eyes. He actually had no idea. They were dead, he knew that much. They died every day when the sun was up and were only alive at night. That meant they were technically dead, right? Hell if he knew, he just knew he didn’t like them.
The woman got closer and finally looked up at him on the step. She instantly stopped walking and he realized he was curling his lip at her. He tried to stop. “I assume you’re Kaia?”
She looked startled and he heard her heartbeat pick up its pace. She questioningly said, “Yes.”
He bobbed his head to the side, gesturing for her to come in. She looked uncertain, but finally walked up the steps.
His temper rose the closer she got to him. He wasn’t an errand boy for vampires and humans, he was an alpha.
She tensed, then surprised him by actually talking to him. “I’m sorry, have we met before? I’m terrible with names.”
She was slightly frowning at him, and her words didn’t match her lying scent. She wasn’t sorry in the least. She knew she was looking at someone powerful, and she was stupidly standing up to him. Submissives shouldn’t be looking him in the eye like she was. It was a challenge to his authority.
He indignantly looked her over as his temper turned into full blown anger. Her eyes went a little wide and she immediately glanced away. She headed further into the foyer and towards the door that led down to the club as she said, “Sorry, I know better than to look into a vampire’s eyes.”
She abruptly stopped when she got to the door that would lead her down to the club. “Wait, it’s still light out.” She looked back at him, then shook her head as if to wave the thought away.
He snarled under his breath and quickly ran up behind her, clamping his hand over hers on the doorknob. She let out a small shriek as she tried in vain to step back from him.
He gruffed out in disgust, “I’m not vampire. My name’s Torin. I’m−”
She said in surprise, “You’re Alpha Wolf.”
He startled at that. This human knew who he was? His temper cooled… slightly. He let his hand fall away from hers, though he was still mad. “I’m not the alpha.”
“Maybe not technically.” There was a slight tremble in her voice now. Good.
He cocked an eyebrow and openly studied her. She knew who he was and she could feel how outmatched she was, yet she still looked him in the eye. She was either stupid or not a natural submissive. He preferred to think of her as stupid.
“I’m being rude. Nice to meet you Torin, but I really need to get going. I have some work I need to get done.” She quickly turned from him and started down the stairs, and he immediately followed. He could feel her heightened emotions as he trailed her. She reeked of mostly nervousness that wasn’t quite fear yet. She was definitely stupid.
He barked at her, “Wait. I’m supposed to escort you until Anthony’s up.”
She tensed, but stopped and turned around, looking quizzically at him. She seemed mad for a split second, then tiredly nodded. Torin kept pace with her down the stairs and was by her side through the club. He felt like everyone’s eyes were on him while he was forced to be a nanny to this woman. She could shove Zach’s earlier command to get some food for her up her human ass as far as he was concerned. He was no one’s servant.
He growled as they walked across the large room to Anthony’s office, and didn’t at all care that she tensed at that.
They got to the closed door and she reached for the doorknob, then stopped and looked a question at him. His temper flared. She couldn’t even open her own goddamn doors?
He felt humiliated and pissed off as he stepped forward and flung it open, the room empty, though the overhead light and a computer were on.
She looked dumbly at him and stumbled over her words. “I wasn’t sure if someone was in there or not. I didn’t want to disturb them.”
He scoffed, “Of course you couldn’t tell. You’re human.”
Her temper flared as she narrowed her eyes at him and he dared her to do something. He stood tall in front of her, forcing her to have to look up at him. She wearily turned away, though, and he watched her closely as she went into the office and got set up at one of the two desks.
It was stupid of her to have her back to him. He could attack her so easily… He supposed it didn’t matter if she saw him coming or not. She was no match for him either way.
Her hands trembled and he smirked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door jamb. She quietly sighed as she got on the internet and then got absorbed in logging into some website.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“What you’re logging into.”
“It’s a remote connection to my work files. Thank you for escorting me, Torin, but I’m ok now. I’ll just sit here and work until Anthony comes up. If you feel better, you can close the door behind you.” She turned and looked at him, and with a little more emphasis she said, “Since Anthony’s not one of us disgusting humans, he’ll be able to feel that I’m here.”
He narrowed his eyes and growled at her. Anthony wasn’t human, but he was still disgusting, and how dare she tell him what to do? If she were wolf he’d kick her ass right now. Maybe he would anyway.
He snarled, “You’re not safe here, human, even behind a closed door. I’ve been informed I need to watch over you like a child until your boyfriend comes for you.”
She tried to stare him down again, but finally broke eye contact and turned back to the computer.
He couldn’t help needling her by wickedly asking, “Would you like something to eat?”
Her muscles tensed and she stopped typing for a moment, anger with a bit of fear finally emanating from her. She didn’t answer him, though, and eventually started working again. He quietly chuckled at that, then boringly watched her for a while. That was even worse than actually working, so he let his gaze wander around the club. It looked pretty boring out there, too. He smirked when he thought about working off some of this angry energy with Suzanne later. She knew how to calm him right on down.
His thoughts wandered for a time and he started daydreaming about what his life had been like when he was alpha. People looked up to him and he felt like he was on top of the world. He flicked a glance at the human’s back and curled his lip. Things were different now. Now he was bossed around by an inferior animal and forced to be a servant for a vampire’s human.
She stopped typing and was doing something with a ruler across one of her reports.
“Why do you date a vampire?”
She flinched, yet bravely turned to him in irritation. “What?”
“I said, why do you date a vampire? Aren’t they cold? Don’t you want someone warm in your bed?”
She looked incredulously at him. “It’s none of your business what happens in my bed.”
He smirked. “You’re one of those girls that goes for the weird stuff, aren’t you? You have to be or you wouldn’t be here.”
She shot back, “Then what does that make you?”
He bared his growing fangs at her and snarled, “It makes me top of the food chain.”
Her face paled as her heart raced, and it made him smile. He kept his eye on her as he leaned back against the door jamb, watching her like the prey that she was. She stared wide eyed at him for a time, then slowly turned back around in her chair and started working again. Her loudly growling stomach made him chuckle in smug satisfaction.
**
Anthony went upstairs for the nigh
t, happy to hear that Zach convinced Kaia to come do her work here rather than go home or work late at her office again.
He frowned as he got closer to his own office door and heard Kaia say, “I don’t have time for any more of your mind games tonight. Maybe you can find someone else in the club to play with you. Please just leave me alone.”
Anthony opened his senses wider, his blood running cold when he felt Torin using his dominant wolf power on Kaia. Dominant wolves could use their natural magical abilities to intimidate anyone who was submissive, not just another wolf. It was too bad Torin wasn’t a vampire or he’d currently be bloody and begging for forgiveness for his actions. As it was, Anthony was frustratingly between a rock and a hard place since he needed to keep peace between the vampires and shifters for the entire family’s sake.
Torin was forever a pain in his side, though. He’d been alpha for only a few short years before Sebastian unwittingly ended up in a fight with him and actually beat him. Their physical power was probably fairly equal, but Sebastian’s ruthless cunning far outranked any shifter in the family by that point. His anger at the world expressed itself through his wolf, and it surprised everyone, including Torin. And since Torin hadn’t willingly surrendered the alpha position, he still liked to make Sebastian’s life hell, always acting like an unwilling martyr. Having such a powerful martyr in the family, and one who hated Sebastian and all the vampires, didn’t exactly help Anthony sleep well at night.
He forced a fake smile and walked into his office as he casually said, “What games are we playing?”
He kept his back to Torin as he stepped towards Kaia, but he could feel the wolf’s power retreat.
Kaia seemed instantly relieved. “Hi baby. I hope you don’t mind. I’m behind at the office. Zach said it’d be ok if I did my work here.”
Anthony gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Of course my sweet. You’re welcome anytime. In fact, if you’re comfortable here, you can always work on one of these computers. I would much rather see you than not.”
There was a shaky tenseness in her that he didn’t like, but she smiled and said, “Thank you.” Her stomach growled fiercely then.
“Are you hungry?”
She wearily said, “Yeah, I didn’t have a chance to eat lunch today.”
Wanting to know what happened before he got here, but not wanting her to be in the middle of it, he turned to Torin, who looked both nervous and mad. “Thank you for escorting Kaia tonight, Torin. You may go.” He turned back to Kaia as she lightly scoffed. Torin left and Anthony asked, “Do you know what you’d like to eat or should I get you a menu?”
She tiredly smiled. “Do you guys have grilled cheese? Maybe some tomato soup with it?”
“Of course my sweet. I’ll put your order in.”
**
Anthony let Kaia eat and get some work done while Torin occupied his thoughts. He didn’t want to stress Kaia out any more than she obviously was tonight, but he decided he needed to know exactly what happened between them.
When she took a break from her reports, he wheeled his chair over to hers and put his arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed.
“You look tired.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Did Torin behave himself earlier?”
She snorted and curled her lip in disgust.
He flatly asked, “What happened?”
She shrugged. “He’s just a jerk. Nothing happened other than that.”
“Exactly how was he a jerk?”
She waved her hand in weariness. “It was nothing.”
He pulled back and looked directly in her eyes. “Let me determine how inconsequential it is. Tell me.”
**
Anthony was furious and needed time to think about his response. He left Kaia with Zach in his office while he took a mental break to go get some papers he was hoping were in the mail in the wolves’ office upstairs.
**
Torin sullenly decided to apologize to Anthony for growling at and being rude to Kaia. He’d never taken the step to directly insult Anthony before, and it felt like he’d maybe pushed things too far this time. He reluctantly resolved to smooth things over with him no matter how much the man creeped him out. He didn’t want to talk to him in front of his girlfriend, though, so he waited in the club, hoping he’d leave his office at some point.
Almost two hours later, he finally emerged. Anthony made a beeline to the stairs that led up to the apartments, so Torin followed. When they were at the top of the steps, he said, “Mr. Foster, can I talk to you?”
Anthony barely looked at him, the disdain plain on his face. Torin sneered at him when Anthony gave him his back again and dryly said, “What can I help you with Mr. Blankenship?”
“Can I talk to you in private?”
Anthony startled him by stopping and turning all the way around to look at him. “Yes. I think that would be a good idea.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. He was hoping to give him a quick apology, not have a long, drawn out dialogue with the man.
He followed Anthony to the wolves’ business office, which was empty this time of night. He stepped inside the room, tensing as power built in the air.
Anthony closed the door, his face expressionless as he said, “I’ve put a sound barrier around us. This will be a completely private conversation.”
Torin fought a sneer. He’d love to have a go at Anthony someday, not be forced to grovel at his feet, as if only Anthony could possibly lead this family.
Anthony unceremoniously said, “I commend you on your impeccable job of making yourself into a martyr. You hold quite a lot of power in this family even without being alpha. Your mere mention of dislike of someone turns the whole family against that person. You’ve very succinctly torn Sebastian’s life apart and continue to do so, you do your best to tear me down, and you’ve instilled fear in the rest of your pack to do as you say or suffer the same. You very neatly bend everyone to your will. It’s so successful, in fact, that I’m now giving serious thought to giving you what you desire.”
He openly sneered this time. “And what’s that?”
Anthony’s expression remained bland. “You want nothing to do with vampires and you want the rest of the family to feel the same way. Congratulations. I’m seriously considering cutting ties with most of you. The financial support I give to people like you, your parents, your grandparents, your neighbors and their children, well, perhaps it’s time for that to come to end. I’ll consider stopping and leaving this place for you to take over all the care, maintenance, and expenses for everyone’s upkeep.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You don’t support everyone here.”
Anthony scoffed. “Don’t I? Who does then?”
He gestured around himself. “This office.”
Anthony caustically chuckled. “And where do you imagine the money comes from for the office to be able to spend it?”
Torin furiously tried to reason it out. He’d never given it much thought before. He finally spat out, “Property. Shifters own property. Rent money comes into the office and then they pay everyone’s bills.”
He wanted to brutally knock that condescending smile off Anthony’s cold, dead face.
“Shifters own property? Well, yes, some do, that is true. But the ones that own property do so for their own profit, I assure you.”
“Bullshit.”
Anthony half-heartedly smirked and Torin wanted to rip into him. He hated vampires, mostly because they creeped him out.
“Feel free to ask around. Find out for yourself.” He waved a hand like he was bored with the topic. “You’re distracting me from my point. I bent over backwards to let one of your wolves save face recently, allowing people such as your mother and other gossipy women spend an hour doing something they most assuredly regularly dream of, and that is beating on me, a vampire. However, I won’t be doing that again. You’ve appointed yourself leader of the w
olves even though Sebastian is their alpha, so you can assume the consequences for your unquestionable influence the next time a situation comes up. You can watch as yet another young wolf has their life torn to pieces due to your hatred and ego, and live with it forever on your conscience.”
“What are you talking about? You don’t make any sense.”
Anthony cocked an eyebrow and said, “Don’t I? Surely you’re aware Marissa lied about Les attacking her. You are a powerful wolf. You could not have missed that.”
Torin’s temper was getting confused with his head wondering what the hell this excuse for a man was talking about. “What do you mean she lied? Why would she lie?”
That condescending look came back and Torin wanted to rip his face off again.
“Why do you think? If she were to admit she was playing a sex game with a vampire, you’d have torn her reputation to shreds. She’d become an outcast, just like Sebastian.”
“That’s not what happened to her.”
Anthony’s silence as he slowly turned his back on him and stepped over to the wall with the mail slots pissed Torin off. He pulled a stack of mail out of one of the cubbyholes and started looking through it as if Torin wasn’t standing here having a conversation with him.
His attention still on the letters in his hands, Anthony finally said, “Believe what you like, you’ve never been one to seek out truths when lies and gossip were more entertaining.”
He turned his attention back on Torin. “Imagine what you could do with your life, with your power and position, if you actually worked cooperatively with myself and Sebastian. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones and hire you for a much more prominent role in the family, one where your leadership skills would get much more respect as well as considerably more compensation. You’d be such an asset to this family, to the community, to the entire territory, if you weren’t always fighting against it.”
Anthony got a far off look in his eye, looking like wheels were spinning in his mind for a brief moment before his expression turned to that of disappointment. “It’s such a shame. A waste really.” He turned his attention back to the mail in his hands and said in a blasé tone, “If you’re interested you need only come talk to me when you’re ready.”