Master

by R Phoenix

  “Be good for… for him, Pup.” Letting Caleb nuzzle his hand one last time, Zain rose and glared at Liam with a hatred he’d never seen from the ‘wolf’s eyes. “I refuse to let you keep my possessions. I’ll leave as soon as I’ve packed up my things.”

  Without waiting for a reply, Zain turned and headed for the house.

  All Liam could do was helplessly watch him walk away.

  “Good,” Isaiah said. “Honestly, Liam. We have more important things to do than fuck mutts.” He cast a look down at Caleb full of utter disdain.

  It didn’t sit well with Liam, who was proud of his pup. “The problem is solved, Isaiah. We will speak no more of it.” He didn’t think he’d ever spoken to his sire that way, but he’d never expected this. If anything, he’d have thought it would be a private conversation — and if it had been, it would’ve gone so much differently.

  Maybe Zain wouldn’t even hate him.

  And that thought got to him more than he’d expected.

  Chapter Two: Zain

  Stomping his way down the dark streets, Zain let his anger and frustration carry him forward. He didn’t give a fuck if he looked ridiculous carrying all his possessions in an overstuffed duffel bag with the rest wrapped up in the fucking bed sheet because he hadn’t been able to find another suitcase for the rest of his clothes. If someone wanted to give him shit about it, he’d be glad to explain to them how little he cared — and he might even get to do so with his claws if he was lucky.

  The anger that flowed through him was worse than the confusing dark times after he’d first been changed, but he embraced it. It was easier than accepting the more painful emotions or trying to understand what had happened.

  “Asshole vamps who think they own the fuckin’ world,” he muttered.

  Shifting the bundle in his arms, Zain finally slowed long enough to see where he was.

  Fuck.

  “Wrong damn direction.” Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Zain pulled up a mental map. “Okay, no more fits. If that asshole wants to let the old asshole win, that’s fine with me.” No more talking to himself, either.

  Crossing the street at the next intersection, he started making his way toward the pack house. He wasn’t sure if it was the best option or not, but it was the only place he knew to go. He had a feeling they’d want to know about the new fuckin’ vamp in town anyway.

  Part of him wanted to scream out that he should have known it wouldn’t work out with Liam and Caleb, but there was a little part of him that was desperate and confused.

  Shoving it away deeper into himself, he forced himself to hold on to the anger and look at things logically. He’d had a plan before the vamp had turned his life upside down. He wasn’t useless or a creature. He was a fuckin’ werewolf with a pack and plan.

  Just because everything had come crashing down around him didn’t mean it was the end of the world. Just because he’d lost his family and his pup in one cruel turn didn’t mean he was alone. Just because he’d trusted the goddamn vampire to tell him the truth didn’t mean he was an idiot.

  Well, maybe that last one was true.

  As some of the anger faded, Zain wasn’t sure what was real or not. Had Liam lied to him? Had he known it would all end that quickly? Why had he even let Zain move in if that was the case?

  “No,” he rebuked himself aloud.

  He was not going to do that to himself now. He wasn’t some lovesick moron who was going to pine after someone who didn’t want him, but Caleb was another matter altogether. Liam had proven that he couldn’t take care of the pup without someone there to point out when he was being a controlling asshole.

  Caleb was happy. He was playful and relaxed. He was more of a pup and had been for longer than Zain had expected, but he was happy. What would happen to him?

  As Zain made his way across town, he couldn’t keep the images about what could go wrong out of his head. Would Caleb even survive? Liam’s boss hadn’t even seen him as an animal to be cherished. He’d just been an abomination.

  Something to throw away.

  Something to use.

  Something to destroy.

  Zain stopped in the street, but he forced himself not to look back. He couldn’t do anything right then. Liam had made it clear he wanted Caleb, even if it was just to prove to the asshole that he was in control of the pup. Zain had a feeling pushing for Caleb right then would be a death sentence for both of them.

  When Zain finally stepped into the communal hall, all eyes shot to him. He shifted, aware that he looked like a total bum with his makeshift packing. He knew, too, that gossip had to have traveled. They’d all know he’d gone to live with a vampire and some sort of human pet, and no one had reached out to him during that time.

  In retrospect, he should’ve tried harder to keep up with the pack, but he was still too new to them. They’d welcomed him readily enough, but they hadn’t trusted him — and he had a feeling that moving in with Liam hadn’t helped.

  At all.

  Aggie immediately abandoned what looked like a heated conversation, standing up and veering toward Zain. “This way,” she said without inflection.

  The woman was a small bundle of muscle, and he’d learned almost everyone in the pack thought she’d more than earned her position as pack leader. It had been a few years since she’d been challenged, at least, and apparently, she’d left a bloody smear on the floor of her challenger.

  There was something about the whole situation that Zain hadn’t been able to figure out yet, but he didn’t have the feeling they were going to confide in him any time soon.

  “Can I drop my stuff off?” Zain asked, still feeling awkward.

  “Just bring it,” Aggie replied shortly as she led him down one of the hallways.

  “Are you…” Zain swallowed hard, his anger replaced by very real fear. “Are you going to kick me out too?”

  Aggie softened slightly to him, shaking her head. “Pack is pack, Zain. With everything that comes with that.”

  Now what was that supposed to mean?

  He wasn’t sure if asking was a good idea or not, but he was at the point where it didn’t really matter. As long as she wasn’t going to kill him, he didn’t have much else to lose. “What do you mean?”

  “That means that even if you do something ridiculously stupid like move in with a vampire and his human pet, we’re still going to look out for each other.” She gave him a pointed look as she closed the makeshift door of the room. “How that happens, though, depends on how much heat you brought to the pack. Last thing we need right now is a pissed-off vampire to deal with.”

  Zain gave a half-hearted shrug. “I don’t think anyone is pissed off with me. The asshole threw me out because a bigger asshole showed up. Isaiah. Evidently I’m dangerous and the pup is an abomination, but as long as I left, that seemed to be all the old asshole wanted.”

  Liam had kept saying there was plenty of time for him to explain things, and Zain had been too focused on Caleb to put up much of a fuss about that. The old expression of hindsight being twenty-twenty flickered through his mind.

  He should have known better than to trust a vampire.

  Aggie flashed him a grim smile, showing teeth, as she flopped into a chair. “Because you are dangerous, whether you think you are or not. And the pup…” Her smile faded. “That was a person. It is an abomination, doing that to someone,” she said, her voice drifting into something much softer.

  “But he’s not unhappy.” It seemed like Caleb had become an abomination just because he was happy like he was. No one had seemed to care what Liam had done when the human had been fighting against it. That had all been normal enough. But once that had changed, so had everyone else’s perception of it. “Caleb isn’t unhappy,” he repeated.

  Didn’t that make a difference?

  Aggie’s eyes narrowed. “How much of a choice do you think the vamp gave him?” she countered. “What do you expect, for him to just fight forever? Vamps are good with mi
nd-fuckery.” She gave Zain a once over, pursing her lips.

  “None in the beginning, I guess… But you didn’t see him. Once Liam stopped being such a dick about it, Caleb admitted that he liked letting go.”

  Zain had liked watching him let go.

  “It’s not like you’re imagining. Caleb could have left at any time.” Sure, there’d been the whole tail thing, but he obviously hadn’t fought to the point that the vamp might get too frustrated and just kill him. He’d never asked to leave when Zain had been there either.

  Aggie sighed, running her fingers through her short hair. “Look, I know being just turned makes you a little biased when things look pretty. Hot water, food, clothes…” She listed each off on her fingers. “But just remember what humans are giving up for that, Zain.”

  Zain shifted uncomfortably. If someone heard her talking like that, the Enforcers wouldn’t exactly be gentle with her.

  “Anyway, things aren’t great with the vamps these days,” Aggie continued before he could think about it too much. “So someone’s gonna have to check you out for compulsions before you get settled again. Gotta make sure you’re not a ticking time bomb.”

  “Huh?”

  Compulsions? Liam could talk him into a lot when they were naked and he had Zain pinned down to the bed, but forcing him to do something?

  Aggie took in a deep breath, leaning back more against her chair. She finally gestured to the one opposite of her for Zain. “They’re insidious fuckers. Liam’s a real wild card, Zain.” She fixed him in place with a piercing look, making him hesitate to sit down.

  Zain kind of thought that was an understatement, but he had a feeling that comment might just piss her off.

  Moving slowly, and feeling a little like a deer in the forest instead of the hunter he was supposed to be, Zain awkwardly sat down in the chair. “He seems like he prefers to do things his own way.”

  “He does,” Aggie confirmed. “Now, I want to explain something to you, Zain, and I want you to listen to me very closely.” She leaned forward in her chair, still giving him that look. “Are you paying attention?”

  Of course he was, but he still had no idea what the fuck was going on. “Yes, Pack Leader.”

  “Good.” Aggie paused for a moment, her hands smoothing down her worn jeans. “You run to the Enforcers with this, I’ll have your throat ripped out before you finish a sentence. Got me?”

  How in the hell did he always get himself into this shit?

  Wanted to run a business? He gets involved with a fuckin’ vamp and his pet.

  Wanted to get in good with the pack again? He gets involved in some kind of spy shit that could get him killed.

  “Yes, Pack Leader.” Unless she was doing something beyond crazy, Zain wasn’t stupid enough to go to anyone with it. “You have my word.”

  “I’m sure you probably figured out Liam’s an arms dealer,” she said, which suddenly made a whole lot of things make sense. “He deals to both sides. Vampires, humans, he doesn’t care. If they have the payment, he’s got the product.”

  How did humans even afford weapons? It wasn’t like they would be cheap, and most of them lived in poverty or below even that.

  Zain probably didn’t even want to know. He nodded anyway, though, refusing to look like an idiot who hadn’t even demanded the vamp’s profession before moving in with him.

  “He’s also a sociopath, or damn near it,” Aggie said, giving him another pointed look. “He’s pretty neutral, so I’m not going to try to isolate you from him, but you need to be careful who you’re fucking. Keep in mind what you’re dealing with. He’s a walking, talking corpse with no loyalties to anyone but that other asshole you mentioned. Man introduces himself as ‘childe of Isaiah’ every damn time — and yes, we work with him sometimes.”

  Because he hadn’t had enough shocks, he had to deal with the fact that his pack was also dealing in weapons. The vampire he’d been fucking had dealt them, and his pack did… something with them. And all of that was so illegal that he couldn’t even wrap his mind around it.

  “Why are you telling me all of this?” he asked weakly.

  “Because I need to know if I can trust you,” she said simply.

  He’d fallen for a sociopathic arms dealer with no loyalties and a boss who was straight out of some kind of horror story. Hell, Zain wouldn’t trust himself. “Um, I’m not going to do anything stupid and get myself killed. But let’s face it. My judgement sucks.”

  His pack leader actually cracked a smile at that, some of the tension dissipating and leaving her shoulders relaxed. “Not arguing.”

  “So what happens next then? I’m not going to talk to the Enforcers about anything you’ve told me, but I don’t know if Liam put a compulsion on me or not.”

  Could he have?

  Zain’s first response was no. Liam hadn’t needed to force him into anything. Even if he’d known that Zain would have to leave when Isaiah had arrived, he’d seemed honestly surprised to have the older vamp show up at the door.

  Evidently no one told the guy that calling first was good manners.

  Aggie drew in a deep breath, then let it out, watching Zain for a long moment. “I know someone who can take a close look at you and see if your mind’s been screwed with. Don’t think so, but we gotta make sure. Already had one mole in here…” Her eyes went a little distant at that, and she gave a quick shake of her head. “Just can’t risk it.”

  He was going to have to ask a stupid question. “What are they going to do?” Zain mentally pleaded that she’d actually give him enough information for him to know what it entailed. Would it hurt? Would they see all the crazy shit in his head? Would they see what he’d done with Liam and Caleb?

  Fuck.

  Amusement briefly flickered across her expression. “Don’t worry. They can’t read your thoughts. They just…” She considered. “Check for tampering. Make sure your brain reads like a normal werewolf brain. Compulsions would alter the brain chemistry, make you act certain ways.” The amusement was gone by the time she finished speaking. She paused again before adding, “It’s not painful, it’s not scary, and I doubt you have anything to worry about. All right?”

  It sounded like she was extending a peace offering.

  “Thanks.” Was there a way to say thank you for not making me look like an idiot even though she already realized he was a moron? Probably not.

  “Can we do it now or soon? I don’t want to… I need to know if he did something to me.” Zain found the words painful to even think about, much less say out loud. Could Liam have done something like that to him?

  The logical part of his brain said no. Surprisingly, so did the emotional part. The asshole might be a sociopath, but he liked it when Zain didn’t give in too easily. Liam didn’t want brainwashed. He wanted to win so he could claim he was the better supe.

  “I’ll give my friend a call,” Aggie said. “Just grab one of the empty rooms. I think the one you were using’s been claimed. I’ll find you when he gets here.”

  Chapter Three: Liam

  Isaiah glared at him every time he brushed his fingers along Caleb’s floppy ears.

  Liam ignored his disapproving looks. It was something glorious, something beautiful, and yet his sire could not appreciate the living art before him. At least his sire wasn’t attempting to command him like he was a fledgling, even if he was acting as though he had a right to.

  He was still humiliated from the last time his hand had been forced. The fact that it had been in front of a man he dominated and a human he had turned into something else entirely made it that much worse.

  Caleb trembled next to him, occasionally emitting a soft whine and looking longingly to Zain’s room — to the now-empty room that stood almost like a monument to his absence. He’d already set up another room for his sire, even though he hadn’t thought he’d need it so soon.

  He hadn’t thought his sire would treat him like a child, either.

  “Here,” Liam said, t
apping his stylus against the tablet’s screen. “This is as far as I have been able to expand.”

  “Only that far?”

  Liam pursed his lips. “I have competition on both sides. Abel Boucher, who is called the Butcher, has a solid hold on these neighborhoods.” He pointed them out, circling them with the stylus. “Perhaps it is worth coming to an accord with the man instead of engaging in a turf war.”

  Liam had briefly thought of gathering evidence of the half-witch’s double dealings and getting rid of him as competition. It was risky, though, and the idea of bringing it to the Enforcers didn’t seem worth it. If they even did investigate — and he was sure the other man had them as thoroughly paid off as Liam did — they might look too closely at his own enterprises.

  “Perhaps.” Isaiah nodded.

  Relieved that he wouldn’t have to fight his sire on that, at least, Liam showed the man his other accomplishments and plans. At the very least, the other vampire was easier to deal with now that Zain was gone and Caleb was a mere background note. But he was oddly devoid of the feeling of wholeness that should’ve come from being near his sire again, and he didn’t like it.

  Noting the time, Liam patted his pup’s head again. He’d have to go out, and Zain wasn’t there to take care of it for him. One more responsibility added to him, but it was hardly like he was going to get rid of the creature they had crafted.

  They.

  It was almost enough to make him laugh, the way his mind drifted to a werewolf when he should have been subsumed within his sire’s presence instead.

  “I require rest,” Isaiah said. For the first time, he didn’t glower, but the disapproval in his voice was marked. “Please do not tell me I will be sleeping in the room you were allowing the mutt to sleep in.”

  Liam shook his head, though he petulantly wished he was going to be putting Isaiah in there. It would serve him right, to be surrounded by Zain’s—

  What was wrong with him?

  He rose, murmuring to Caleb, “Stay.”