by Jade White
“I don’t think so, I’m a tiger remember. My scent scares wild animals.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. If you scare a snake it will bite you.”
“Only if it only feels threatened and cornered.” Gregor corrected her. “I’m pretty sure that I could keep us safe from a few wild animals.”
Dom laughed a little. “I guess you know more about wild animals than I do.” She admitted. “What would you do if you were accidentally cornered by a rattlesnake?”
Gregor smiled that same old naughty smile. “Well I would hope to get bit in a place that would be fun for you to suck the poison out of.” He looked at Dom as she tried not to show the smile that was invading her face. “It’s good to see you smile again.”
Dom had to respond honestly. “It’s good to smile again.” Her voice was quiet, almost silent as she said the words. The truth was hard to say.
“Do I have to go to the meeting with you?”
“You know that your presence calms them. Now that you’re the mother my child, they want to impress you. It would insult them if you didn’t show up.”
Dom sighed; it was the same old story over and over again. “I know, I know.” She muttered, looking down at her hands. The conversation stalled, neither party really knowing what to say in a moment like this. She noticed how long her nails were getting now that she had managed to stop biting them. The amount of stress was getting less, but it wasn’t completely gone. She worried about her house, she wanted her life back; she wanted to go home and climb into her own bed, under her own covers; she wanted to use her own bathroom, and climb into the giant tub she had installed in the master bathroom. She dreamed about her home every night, tucked in next to Gregor, but the fact that she was so close to her own front door, but couldn’t go inside her own house, her own space, but she just couldn’t make it there. It wasn’t safe and she was sure that they were watching her house, looking for some sign of her to carry out on their threats.
They spent the day just doing little things that needed to be done. They showered and got dressed and ready to impress the local tribes of the shifters. When they got there, they were quickly able to pick up the talks where they had been left off.
“Hello Gentleman.” Gregor greeted the men nicely.
“Heya!” The coyote’s voice was excited as usual.
The wolf didn’t speak until they were all sitting. It was obvious that he was tired of getting nowhere after weeks of talking, but instead of voicing his frustrations immediately, he addressed the only woman at the table. “Miss Dom, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m just fine thank you.” She sat in the chair that the wolf leader had pulled out for her. He carefully pushed the chair back in behind her. “How have you been doing?”
“We’ve been surviving. The vampires have been oddly silent lately.” The wolf responded politely.
“They’ve been watching us.” The coyote intoned, his normal hurried nature wasn’t present in the remarks. “They haven’t done anything yet, but they seem to be coming onto our territory more and more lately.”
“It isn’t your territory.” The wolf scowled as he said it, eager to remind the one he considered less than him. “You haven’t found anything worth trading for it.”
“We said that we were willing to pay or work for it.” The coyote’s words were yippy and it was obvious that he had caught the implication and insult in the wolf’s words.
“Gentlemen.” Gregor said, it was the first time he spoke since he had greeted them and his voice was firm. It reminded both parties that insinuations and insults were not allowed at his table. “May I remind you that my mate is here?”
“I’m sorry.” The coyote looked down.
The wolf stared straight at Dom. “I apologize.” He turned back to Gregor as he sat down across from the coyote. Dom looked at all three men from her seat at the foot of the conference table. She wasn’t here to help, but Gregor was taking advantage of her presence in order to assure peaceful talks. The fact that she was pregnant with his child would make them think twice about starting a fight. Shifters were known for the protective nature, especially regarding the safety of their young. Dom didn’t mind the fact that Gregor was using her to help the peace process, but she wasn’t exactly comfortable with all of the respect they were showing her. She reminded herself that it was only going to get worse with the child’s nature was revealed.
A Doppel was a very special type of shifter and everyone at the table had grown up hearing the stories about the unique creature. From what Dom had been able to learn over the last few weeks without attracting too much attention to her research, Doppels are known to be a symbol of changing times. They could either cause great despair or prosperity to any tribes that they were involved with. They easily had the ability to blend with any tribe, picking up idiosyncrasies and the rules of the game quickly enough to quickly become a valued member of any group.
Dom brought her mind back into focus as the coyote started to speak. “We are trying to find something that would be valuable to you.”
“I know.” Gregor said. “Have you thought of anything?” He asked the wolf, eager to finally make some headway.
“That relic you spoke of earlier is a nice start, but it won’t cover everything.” The wolf conceded. It hadn’t been easy to even get them to admit that, but somehow Gregor managed to get some concessions to be made.
“That is amazing progress.” Gregor beamed at his guests. “Let’s see what else we can agree on.”
The coyote looked at the small object. He looked a little sad at the fact that he was going to have to give up the item that he had found. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is quite a piece of history. Our young ones will be able to see what the shifters in this area did a long time ago with an item like this.” The wolf reached for it.
“We are willing to give it up, only when we come to an agreement for all of the land.” The coyote noted.
“I understand that. I would love to examine it.” The coyote reluctantly handed it over and patiently waited for it to be returned before offering it to Dominique. She looked at the ancient looking piece leather. The beaded design on it was a werewolf in three forms, human, hybrid, and wolf. She looked at it, noticing the lovely colors, and the beautiful work that had been done on the object.
“Who made it?” Dom’s voice was low with respect for the object.
“We don’t know. We’ll have to do some more research, but it looks like they might be from one of the native tribes.” The wolf leader was very kind with the way he spoke to her.
“I didn’t think that the tribes down here were known for their beading, I thought that they were weavers mostly.” The witch was curious as she mentioned these facts.
“We don’t know which tribe it’s from, not yet anyway.” The wolf seemed eager to take the piece of history. “I would love to have our historians take a look at it.” He licked his chops excitedly.
“Let’s see what we can do about that.” Gregor announced. He turned to the coyote. “Can you take the item to their historians and perhaps assign one of your people to keep an eye on it?”
“Would they let one of my people watch it the entire time?” The coyote’s eyes narrowed as he watched the wolf.
“That can be arranged.” The wolf’s voice was reassuring; he was much less cold toward the coyote.
“We’re good at finding things. Maybe we can find some more things for you.”
The wolf looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered. “If you can find anything else like that for us, we might just have a deal.”
“That’s wonderful.” Gregor smiled at them. “How much time do you need to see what else you can find?”
“Give us a week to go through our stores. I think we have some more stuff in there that they might be of interest.”
“Where do you find all this stuff?” Dom asked, incredibly curious.
“Oh, we find it all ov
er the place. We go to garage sales and dig through dumps. We have a lot of sources.” The coyote was eager not to reveal too much. “If we told everyone, we wouldn’t be able to make money anymore.”
“So you guys are pickers?” Dom asked, referring to a television show she enjoyed watching when she had the time.
“Something like that, yeah.” The coyote told her. He seemed happy to have the tiger’s mate speaking to him, interested in what he does. “I would love a chance to show you our facilities sometime. We managed to find a small airplane hangar that we re-purposed into a warehouse. It’s in the back forty of the land.”
“That would be nice, once the vampires stop trying to kill us.” Dom smiled at him. She thought that it would be interesting to see exactly what they’ve collected over the years.
Gregor cleared his throat. “I think we’ve done well so far. Let’s meet next week to see what everyone has found out.”
The wolf and coyote excused themselves, eager to leave and let people know about the plans they had made. “When can we expect the piece to be brought over?” The wolf and coyote started making plans to have the beaded leather looked at by the wolf historians.
After the other two had been shuttled off, Gregor walked up to Dominique. “I think they like you more than me.” His smile revealed the fact that he didn’t seem to mind.
“I guess they do. I don’t think they find me as threatening as you.” She was referring to his nature as a tiger, and both parties knew it. He often found that his nature had an effect on the people that he worked with, especially when they were shifters as well. “That baby however, if it’s true, it’s going to scare them.”
Dom laughed a little as they climbed into the vehicle that was waiting for them. They were delivered back into the waiting hands of the guards of their safe house. Dom sighed as they walked inside the large house. “This is really a nice place, but I miss my home.”
Gregor walked up behind her, hugging her around the waist, his hands over her stomach. “I know.” His whispered words echoed into her ears. “Soon, as soon as these talks are over, we can get you back in your own house.”
Dominique nodded in agreement. “I just don’t like it very much. I want to be home.”
“I understand, I had hoped that you would be home by now as well, but from what we’ve been hearing the vampires have been hanging out around your house.”
“Do you think that someone is in charge, that there is someone specific calling the shots?”
“They do have a very specific hierarchy. Vampires thrive on order, so there has to be someone giving the orders, but we probably will never know who it is.”
“They’ve got the vampire people looking into it.” Dom explained to Gregor. “The vampire division specializes in dealing with them when they start causing trouble. I just wish they would do their job a little faster, because I don’t like these beds very much.”
“Is your back still bothering you?”
“A little.” Dom admitted.
“Let me give you a back rub.” Gregor led her into the back room, and started to rub her back, convincing her to take her shirt off. She lay there, allowing the pressure to bring relief to her body. He kissed her back, touching her up and down her spine softly with his lips.
It didn’t take too long for her to turn around to face him. “Can you believe how hard I used to work to avoid you?”
“Eh, I liked the chase, not as much as I like this though.” He kissed her gently on the lips.
“What was I, some kind of ball of string?” He didn’t answer; instead he lowered his head to her breast and fluttered his tongue against her nipple. She moaned a little in response and clothes started to be removed with well-practiced speed. They didn’t wait for long, he pushed himself into her and she gasped in pleasure.
He started to thrust over and over, bringing her to the edge of release several times before slowing down and finally allowing her to finish at the same time he did. When they finished, they slept in each other’s arms.
Chapter19
“It’s been quiet lately, hasn’t it?” Dom said, looking out the window at the starry desert sky. They were a few miles outside of El Paso, at an undisclosed location, where the next meeting was supposed to occur.
“Yes, after these talks, I have to go back north to arrange to get moved down here. You should be safe for a while.” Gregor’s eyes were elsewhere at the moment. He was thinking. “I don’t like leaving you alone, but this is as good a time as any.”
“I’ll be fine here.” Dom said, her voice was equally far away. She was thinking about her house, the home her family had grown up in.
“I think they should move you while I’m gone.” Gregor finally confessed her. “I think that they’re planning something soon.” They continued their lunch in silence. Chinese take-out was a rare pleasure since Dom had started insisting on the fresh food being brought in so that they could cook.
They were putting up the trash, carefully sorting into recyclable and compostable, when Dominique found it necessary to respond. “I hear they’re almost done cleaning up my place.”
“That was nice of the coyotes.” Gregor noted. “I wonder how much they were able to save.”
“They are master recyclers, in case you haven’t noticed.” Dom reminded him. “I’m sure it’s going to be great. From the pictures, it’s starting to look pretty nice.” Dom pulled out her phone and showed him the greenhouse that the coyotes had started to rebuilt.
“That’s going to look pretty nice.”
They went to the next set of talks. They were productive; the coyotes had managed to find a few more things to trade for the land.
“Is the pottery going to be enough?” The coyote was practically panting with excitement.
The wolf examined them. “It’s pretty close, how many of these artifacts do you have?”
“We’ve run across a few pieces.” The coyote started to play his cards very close to his chest. He didn’t want to give his entire advantage away.
“We would definitely be interested in any pieces like these you come across. We’ll give you a fair price and allow your people access to anything we come across about them.”
“That sounds really fair.” The coyote seemed really surprised, but he didn’t quite trust the wolf’s words. He had been fooled enough before to not fall for it again. “We’ll see if we can get some more stuff for you, but we can’t make any guarantees. Is there anything else you might be looking for?”
“We have a list here. Would you like a copy?” The wolf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. It was a typewritten list that looked like it had a good number of items on it. “We’ll discuss price depending on what you find and what kind of shape it’s in. Does that seem like it would work for you?”
“We’ll take look at it and see what we can find. We need to discuss how much is going to be enough to make you happy. You never seem to be giving us a price on anything we bring you.” The coyote reached across the table for the paper and glanced at several lines before folding it up and carefully tucking it away in his shirt pocket.
“From what our appraisers tell us you have about thirty thousand dollars worth of stuff here and the land is worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so we’ve got quite a bit more to go.”
“I’m sure that if we sold the beaded leather to a non shifter it would be worth more, maybe the entire one hundred and fifty thousand, if we could find the right collector.”
“Have you found one yet?” The wolf asked calmly. He was calling the coyote’s bluff, and the other leader at the table didn’t look very happy about it.
“We need to work together, accusing and threatening isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Gregor reminded both of them. “Let’s take a moment for all of us to calm down before we sabotage what we’ve already accomplished here.” He excused both parties for ten minutes before he walked to the other end of the table. “What do you think? Will it be OK if
I go home for a few days?”
“I don’t think they’ll go to war while you’re away. If not, I might be able to put a stop to it.” Dom told him, she didn’t sound that confident about the last part however. “If you’re not gone for long it should be fine.”
“How will you be?” Gregor perched himself on the edge of the table and crossed his arms.
“I’ll be just fine.” She smiled at him, hoping that would make him feel a little better. “All you have to do is arrange some movers, right?”
“I’ll have to pay my early termination fee on my apartment.” He explained carefully. “I have to tell my mother about the baby.”
“You haven’t called her yet?” Dom asked, curious about the situation. “Are you afraid of her?” It was a joke, but from the look on Gregor’s face it was obvious that it was at least partially true.
“I thought that it would be better to tell her in person.” Gregor admitted with an unspoken nervousness in his voice.
The wolf and coyote came back into the room and Gregor took his seat at the head of the table. “I’m going to be leaving this evening.” He told them, trying to keep his voice calm and metered. “I have to take care of a few things before I move down here.”
The coyote got really excited. “Do you need someone to guard your mate?”
“That might be useful. If we do that, I would like both of you to take part in her protection.”
“I think that could be arranged. The question would be how we do it.” Gregor was unsure of how it would be arranged. All three men at the table looked at each other, trying to find a way that all parties could provide equally.
After a few moments of silence Dom spoke up. “Perhaps I could stay with one group and be guarded by the other? As much as I don’t like the thought of being guarded, I have to think about my child right now.”
“You should stay with the wolves, they have better facilities.” The coyote said. “We can provide guards and food. We’re good hunters.”
“There might be a little problem with that. Dom doesn’t eat meat.” Gregor told the people at the table.
