by Lucy Lyons
“Maybe, but probably truer. Don’t worry. I’ve got this. I just wish there was a way to vote her out and install Clay or the wonder-wolf duo of Dirk and Rae into the alpha position.
I stared down at the mug as my tongue throbbed inside my mouth from the accidental burn. I might not have blamed her for wanting to protect her own people first, but the council now knew, as did the hunters, that shapeshifters existed. They also knew that those shifters were under our protection. It was a lot harder to protect them, if they wouldn’t let us.
“You’re wearing a serious face, considering you’re about to see transcripts of ancient vampire texts, on top of getting to assert yourself to the alpha werewolf,” Nick said gently. “Just focus on getting us what we need to be safe in England, and I’ll handle the rest.” I hugged him, pressing my face against his almost silent chest.
His heartbeat was so quiet that I had to even quiet my thoughts to hear it, which was fine by me. His arms around me still made me feel strong and safe, ready to face whatever lay ahead of us, because we were together. It took a moment to realize that he was using his glamor on me, making me feel like I had to stay with him, and I punched him lightly in the shoulder as I pulled away.
“Knock it off, lover boy. I need all my wits about me for this heist, kidnapping, super-secret-agent extraction, thing…whatever.”
“You’re awfully excited to see the professor, considering how much you hated him growing up.” He sounded petulant, but his face was set to ‘vampire neutral’ which was categorically inscrutable. I wanted my privacy, but sometimes I hated that I couldn’t read him without intruding on his thoughts.
“He’s intimidating, not evil. But he went to the mat for me when it counted, and that’s all I care about.” Nick nodded and bent down to kiss my forehead.
“And that’s why people follow you. Because you judge them on their actions, not gossip or how they can serve your ambitions.”
I didn’t answer, but felt embarrassed heat climb up my neck to my cheeks. I glanced at the clock and went up on my toes for one more kiss, my heart fluttering in my chest as if it was the first time. His eyes, a green so dark they looked black sometimes, were lit behind with a soft glow that meant he needed to feed. I stood, mesmerized, until he sighed and broke my reverie.
“I love that you still look at me like that,” he murmured, and I blushed harder.
“What do you mean?” my voice cracked as I spoke, husky with the need to feel his skin against mine.
“You look at me like I’m a miracle, and it makes me feel invincible.” He kissed me on the lips, a soft, chaste whisper across my mouth that instantly stoked a fire low in my body. “Now go kick some alpha ass, little one. I have a feeling we’re going to need the power of the wolves in the coming days.”
I thought about the power I felt when I focused on the Night Mother, who stirred at the mention of her name, or even when I thought of her, despite being thousands of miles away. If she was that powerful while locked away and dreaming, could we afford to risk freeing her for any reason? I rubbed my hands over my goose-flesh covered arms to warm myself as I rode the elevator up to the bar for the meeting.
Everything hinged on the texts the professor was carrying, which meant everything hinged on getting him to us safely. I heaved a deep sigh of self-pity as the elevator jerked to a stop. Nick was right. It was far past time to make Ashlynn toe the party line, and it was my job to make her do it, or I’d just look weak in front of the entire clan.
Damn supernatural creatures and their penchant for the dramatic, I thought at Nick, and felt his laughter inside my head.
Somehow, I’m sure you’ll manage. I felt the teasing in his tone, and it made me smile despite my irritation with him. The goofy grin stayed plastered to my cheeks until I saw Ashlynn’s long hair as she sat at the bar. My smile melted away as she felt my presence and made a slow turn to face me.
Drama queen has arrived. I’ll find you when I’m done here, so you can get me up to speed on how it’ll go down. I wasted the energy to speak to him telepathically in full words and sentences, so Ashlynn would feel the thread of power that connected me to the master she still couldn’t get an audience with. Her face creased in a quick scowl, and I added an imaginary tick to my side of my mental scoreboard.
“Ashlynn, welcome to our humble home,” I forced a polite smile back to my face and approached her with my hand outstretched. She ignored it and I fought the urge to reach up and slap her with it. Something in my expression must have registered with her that she was not starting our meeting well, and she looked down at my hand in confusion.
“You are still very human, aren’t you?” she asked, finally taking my hand in hers and jerking it up and down in an awkward motion before releasing it.
“Educate me, Ashlynn. How should I great you when you visit my home?” I folded my arms and measured my breathing by my heartbeat, which was picking up speed as we faced off in the center of the bar.
“As a visiting leader, you should show respect and bow to me.”
“You forget that I outrank you, Ashlynn. That’s a dangerous mistake to make.” I saw her jaw clench and lightning flashed in her amber eyes before she replied.
“You’re the servant of a vampire. I’m the ruler of my people.” She drew herself to her full height and looked down at me. It was meant to intimidate, but I was long used to being the smallest person in the room. Instead of cowering or backing off, I took a couple of steps toward her so that I had to crane my neck to meet her eyes.
“This is pack business, and I’ve proven the superiority of my magical strength every time you’ve challenged me. Perhaps the others were right, and it’s time for me to honor the challenge and assume leadership of the pack, since you aren’t even able to defend yourself from a mere servant when your power is tested.”
So much power started to rise off her in waves that I was sure it would scorch off my eyebrows if I didn’t shut her down. Pete, the bartender, made a sound of concern, reminding me that even the humans at Pulse were too psychically sensitive to continue our little showdown out in the middle of the floor.
I gestured Ashlynn to towards the VIP lounge that overlooked the dancefloor, and smiled reassuringly at his worried face. I managed an eyeroll and a wink at her retreating back, and Pete snorted and stifled a grin, suddenly hyper focused on drying the glass in his hands as Ashlynn’s head jerked around.
I motioned for her to continue, my heart rate strumming and a familiar ache gathering into a ball in my stomach. With the vampires, my power was a cool breeze that gave or took life. With Ashlynn or the wolves, it was explosive; the hot flame of the sun, of bonfires and an ancestry of men and women who had performed rituals under the moon by the heat of the fire they had only begun to learn to harness.
I could hear her heartbeat layered over mine, and the earth magic in me began to pace in my mind in the form of the wolf, urging me to break her neck from behind and take her place as queen. But I was already a queen in my own right, my place by Nick’s side and the respect of my people earned through the battles wed fought together and my loyalty to them.
I quieted the wild magic and the wolf seemed to accept my reprimand, rubbing herself against the raw lupine power that pressed against my skin and made the air I breathed hot and dry in my lungs.
I shut the door behind us so we couldn’t be interrupted by my people, or the wolves I assumed were waiting nearby. She backed away from me, her fingers extending and curving to end in black, sharp claws.
The partial shift was meant to impress me with her power, and it worked. It took an incredible amount of control over herself to change one part of her body without having to go through the entire change and recovery period.
“Are you done?” I smirked at her and pushed a little at her power, adding to it with my own, instead of trying to prove I was stronger. Her face was an ashen mask of shock as I overloaded her control and she fell to her knees, the change taking her over.
&nbs
p; “Stop. You can’t do this. I’ll kill you,” she hissed as I pushed again, and her face started to lengthen into a muzzle. She gnashed her teeth and I stood close enough to her that she had to crane her neck to see my face from her crouched position.
“You are brash and lack diplomacy, Ashlynn. You can kick my ass every day for the rest of eternity in a physical fight, but you will never outrank me, because with almost no effort at all, I can force you to your knees.”
I released her, but kept my power coiled in my gut, ready to blast through her with sheer force if she moved wrong. She drew the wolf back inside her the way I did with my own magic while I tried not to show how disconcerting it was to watch her gather herself and reform her humanity.
“Now, I’ve let you best me physically in front of your wolves because the fights were for show, and I’ve no desire to sit on your throne.” I reassured her. “Don’t forget, I have one of my own and don’t need yours.” I let my power trickle out over her skin and she shivered. “But you pull another power trip in my house, and I will make you my bitch in the very literal, very permanent sense. Am I clear?” I waited for her to respond, feeling concern from Nick at the rage I fought to keep in check.
I need you, I’m sorry. I’m inches away from starting a war with the wolves, and I just threatened the alpha. I don’t think I can fix this. Do I want to fix this?
“Is it nice, having everything?” Ashlynn asked. I didn’t answer right away because I was focused on Nick. He promised to hurry, and I felt his reassuring presence in an almost physical weight at my back. I shook my head to clear it and asked her to repeat herself. “I said, is it nice to be a little princess with everything you ever wanted?” Her tone was more hurt than sarcastic, and she sat down on one of the red leather couches and hugged her knees to her chest like a child who’d just been punished.
I opened my mouth to ask what the hell she was talking about, when the door opened behind me and instantly her face went from sullen to distraught. But, it wasn’t my sweetheart that made the room fill until I was almost drowning in her longing.
My back was seared by the animal fury that pounded against us. Understanding finally broke through the inch-thick concrete that I called a skull. Ashlynn wanted Clay. Because of course she did. Maybe she loved him, maybe it was just alpha-strength lust, but her anger at me, had nothing to do with me at all. As usual, I thought, and wracked my brain to find a diplomatic solution that didn’t include the words “Maybe he’s just not that into you.”
Chapter 6
I glanced back at Clayton, who had burst through the door ahead of the cool wind that I knew was my vampire lover. Clay growled low in his throat and Ashlynn flinched before unfolding herself and standing, her hands loose by her sides and her feet settling in a fighter’s stance.
“Don’t you dare, you two. Nothing is going to happen here, and we are all going to lay off the antics and behave like adults.” I chastened Clay with a look and he relaxed so he was standing at ease with his hands clasped behind his back. Nick glided into the room behind him, his movements graceful and fluid, and slid his hand around my waist as he surveyed the room.
“I’ve asked everyone else to wait outside, unless they hear screaming,” he said with a predatory smile. Ashlynn shuddered, and I realized he was using glamor to make himself appear more frightening to her.
“Stop it, Nick. I want to keep the peace, not irrevocably break it,” I sighed, rubbing my temples. Ashlynn was glancing furtively at Clay between long stares at my fiancé until my neck hurt from watching her.
I knew I could effectively end all rebellion on her part by completely breaking her now, humiliating her in front of my friend and within hearing of vampires and shifters alike. I pushed out with my power, treating it like a dampener, muting both Nick and Clay and creating an eye of calm with us inside it and everyone’s power swirling around us at the edges of the room.
“Okay, that’s a nifty trick,” gasped Ashlynn as she pressed her hands to her chest.
“No kidding,” I laughed, surprised. “You learn something new every day, I guess.” I took a seat across from Ashlynn, the tempest of our power behind me, tickling my spine. “Please sit, gentlemen. I’m not sure how long I can keep the peace with both of you fighting me.”
I felt the cool breeze recede from the pooling, swirling mass at our backs as Nick propped himself up on the cushioned armrest of the couch, his black jeans making my hand even paler by contrast when I rested it on his thigh. He didn’t show it, but I felt the question in his mind at my public display of our relationship, when I’d been trying so hard to avoid too much physical lustfulness.
He was right. I wasn’t comfortable sharing anything special to me with the alpha, but I wanted Ashlynn to see that I truly belonged to Nick, before she did anything else stupid in the name of claiming Clayton as her own.
I moved over, and Nick obliged me by sliding down onto the cushion next to me, his thigh pressed in a long line against mine as he slipped his arm around me and softly traced a finger up and down my bare arm.
Ashlynn glanced up at Clay, who stood just inside the heat of his power, as I struggled to keep it at bay. His lack of physical reaction to Nick and I seemed to confuse her, and I felt her power dissipate. I spared a thought for where it went if she didn’t have to pull it back into her like I did, but filed it away for a friendlier conversation.
“Clay, you’re the only holdout. Why don’t you sit with your alpha and we can talk this through like allies, which last time I checked, we’re supposed to be.” Clay shot me a look, but took a seat next to his alpha, who instantly noticed the distance he put between them. She was pretty when she pouted, but I needed her on board, not acting like a petulant teenager who was being ignored by her secret crush.
“Clay, maybe you can impress upon your pack leader how important it is for us to ensure the professor’s safety,” Nick suggested, and Clay cocked one knee up on the deep couch as he turned to face her.
“The professor isn’t just our friend, Ash. He’s the man Henny loves, and he practically raised all the Venatores kids. We owe him a safe escape from the people who want to use or kill him.” She glanced at me and I shrugged.
“Don’t look at me. My clan would never put my happiness so far down the list of priorities. I’m just wondering why Henny chooses to stay with a pack that disregards her and sees her as just a servant.” Clay bristled and I tingled with perverse pleasure at how pale Ashlynn blanched at his displeasure.
“In our clan, the master’s servant is a position of the highest honor. I will not protect a pack who doesn’t understand the importance of our connections with one another.” Nick’s voice was thick with the threat of removing his protection, but Clay held up his hands in supplication.
“Hold on now. Let’s not make any hasty decisions. Enough wolves have volunteered that you have plenty of ears on the tarmac to help pull off the kidnapping. You don’t need the blessing of the alpha.” Clay interjected. I glanced at Nick, but he just shook his head.
“No. The wolf pack has benefitted from our relationship far more than the vampires have. I’m not running a charity for wolves. Your people work here, some live here, and train under vampires who have mastered fighting styles over hundreds of years, all at no cost to you.” He stood and I quickly jumped up behind him. “It ends tonight. Either your people serve next to the wererats and our sorceress with your express command and blessing, or we may not be available when the Venatores come for you, forcing you to serve them or die.”
My jaw hung open and I shut my mouth with a snap. Nick stroked my cheek with his finger and left without another word, as Clay and I turned our twin shocked stares to his alpha.
“I will not be a slave to the vampires,” she said weakly, and I rested my face in the palm of my hand.
“Who do you know who’s a slave to the vampires? Seriously. Jeremy is the king of the wererats. He leads them, and we counsel together as a triumvirate when a decision for everyone nee
ds to be made.” My fingers curled inward as I envisioned gripping her by the throat and shaking her, but I took a breath and lowered them to my sides. “If you would honor your pact to us, the wolves could be represented at the negotiation table, instead of being handed whatever is left over after we’ve divided power, wealth, and responsibilities.”
“You bonded with Dirk behind my back,” she spat, fuming.
“You’re right, I did. But, not without his permission, or Rae’s, and last time I checked, they weren’t your slaves. You may be the leader, but you have a piss-poor way of showing it.”
She recoiled and glanced at Clay again, who shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “You know you’re missing out on power from the wolves’ connection to Caroline’s power. She could kill you where you sit by lifting an arm, and you still think you’re limiting her power? The only one you’re hurting is you.” He thought for a moment before continuing. “Actually, the ones you’re hurting, are those of us in your pack.” He took her hand and her too-pale skin became flushed in a rush of crimson to her face. “Please rethink your pride. Take your place at the table and ensure our pack’s survival.” His eyes met mine and I sat down on the couch while I watched him work the magic he was still unaware he had.
Her shoulders lost their rigidity and she relaxed back into her seat, unaware that Clay was using a glamor on her. The intimacy of the moment made me want to run, so I coughed and cleared my throat to remind them I was still in the room. Clay smiled unconcerned, but I watched the alpha wolf’s eyes clear and focus, as though she’d been in a trance.