“So when we go tonight, just be quiet for me and listen. I won’t let anything happen to you, but you may not understand what is going on.”
She bit her lip nervously. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
“I came for you last night, didn’t I? I promise you nothing is going to go wrong.”
She signed. “Fine.”
“I’m going to tell them you’re my mate. I’ve thought about it.”
She sat up. “Mate? What does that mean?”
“I’ve heard the term from Benny, but I believe it means you’re mine. That I have a claim on you.”
She grimaced. “Claim? That’s what that rapist guy was talking about when he assaulted me.”
Dare fought the darkness that tried to sweep over him. “I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work. But anyway, if I say you’re mine, they should keep out of your way.”
She shrugged. “Fine by me. You live tons of lies. What’s another one?”
He glowered at her. “I do not live tons of lies.”
“Yes, you do.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
His eyes widened in indignation as they pulled up in the back parking lot of the club. “Did you really just stick your tongue out at me?”
She had the self-awareness to blush. “Yes, but you deserved it.”
He laughed, and it felt like the tone between them was lighter again. He walked around to her side and actually opened the door for her, giving her his hand to help her out.
She scowled at him. “I appreciate the chivalry, but I don’t think you’re supposed to hit the child lock button to make me wait for it.”
He grinned playfully. “Yeah, well, I did.” He ground his jaw nervously as he stared at the building in front of him. It was about ten minutes to midnight, and there were only a few cars on the block.
Much different than in the evening.
He slowly put a hand out for hers and almost looked surprised when she took it. “I guess we should go in now.”
“I guess we should.” She waited for him to take the lead, and he did, walking forward to open the door.
When he got inside, he was surprised to see a large table set up there and four people sitting around it.
The room was well lit and there were drinks on the table, and Dare took a moment to take in the scene.
Benny was there, broad-shouldered and good-natured, with that dark hair and hazel eyes. Next to him was a woman, presumably human, and she had flaming red hair held back from her face with a headband, though it didn’t do much to restrain the unruly curls.
She was curvy with a face most humans would consider pretty, with a pointed chin and large, almond-shaped eyes, a wide mouth, and deep dimples when she smiled.
Her eyes moved to Sasha and greeted her with silent, welcoming warmth, which Sasha returned with a wave.
“Nice to see another human here,” the woman said.
“I didn’t know humans could come,” Max said, leaning back irritably on his chair so the front two legs left the ground. Max had hair that was an odd mix of blond and red and brown and went to his shoulders. He was tall and broad, and his face would be handsome in a dignified way if not always twisted in a perpetual frown. “What’s she doing here?”
“She’s my mate,” Dare said, putting an arm around Sasha. “She’s here for support.”
“I said he could bring her,” Benny said, standing and throwing an arm around Dare, pulling him forward and leading him and Sasha to chairs. “Sit down and let’s catch up a minute.”
Across from him was the last person, Lock. Ridiculous purple-red hair, orange eyes, a face that was utterly pleased with its own handsomeness.
Hands that didn’t know how to keep to themselves.
Dare felt his lip curl. “Nice to see you here.”
Lock put up his hands. “I didn’t know she was your mate. My bad.” Then he set his hands on the table and leaned back, scenting the air. “Or is she? I don’t smell any markings, which means you haven’t claimed her.”
“Yes, I have,” Dare said stubbornly as he pulled out a chair for Sasha and then took a seat himself, making the floor rumble slightly. “I just did, when I called her my mate.”
Lock threw his head back in a laugh. “That’s not what I mean by claiming.” His eyes turned to Sasha. “Honey, you should find a man who will actually mark you. Make you safe.”
“I feel safe with Dare,” Sasha said plainly, and Dare couldn’t help puffing up a bit in response. “So no worries.”
Benny looked nervously between Lock and Dare and then cleared his throat as he shuffled some papers on his desk. “As I said, this is an officer meeting and mates are welcome. Anyone really, as long as it’s cleared.” He gestured to the human beside him. “Harley is probably the only person you haven’t met yet. She’s an old childhood friend and my right-hand man.”
“Woman.” Harley corrected, reaching her hand out with a smile. Dare shook it lightly, and Sasha was more enthusiastic, introducing herself to Harley as well.
“Now that we’re all together, let’s get down to business. We’re meeting here to consider Dare as a new member. All in favor say aye.”
Eyes all around the table settled on Benny.
“Now wait just a second,” Max said. “He hasn’t shown us anything. We can’t just let him in like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis.
Benny nodded. “I’m positive Dare is a good match for us, but I did tell him some assurance would be needed.” Benny turned his eyes to Dare. “You don’t have to tell us what you are, but we do need to see some evidence of shifting.”
Dare frowned, thinking about what would be the most innocuous. With Sasha near, he didn’t feel any signs of transformation, even though midnight was almost upon them. But he could usually spur some transformation of his own if he really needed it.
He closed his eyes for focus and put his hands out on the table. Pain burst through him as he felt his talons pushed out of his hands, long and black and shiny like obsidian.
He heard gasps from around the table and looked up to see the human with her hand over her mouth. Lock and Max were staring in concentration, but Benny just looked satisfied and gave Dare a nod.
“You can put them away now. We’re fine.”
Dare exhaled in relief as he let his talons withdraw.
“Dragon, then,” Max said, chewing the inside of his cheek, deep in thought.
“Mm-hm.” Lock was also staring with interest.
“Anyway, thank you for telling us. Whatever you are, we can always use a shifter with different connections.”
“I’m a rogue,” Dare said flatly.
“Or unique powers.”
“I have those.”
“Or just someone who doesn’t belong in the normal world.” Benny eyed him.
Dare said nothing to that, just leaned back in his chair and waited for them to say what they wanted with him.
He didn’t feel bad about telling them he was a dragon. It wasn’t totally a lie, after all. There had been some dragon blood in him. That’s what he and his brothers were intended to be. That it had gone totally rotten wasn’t something these idiots needed to know.
Lock leaned back in his chair pensively. “I thought it was weird. I didn’t smell dragon, exactly, but something like it.” His eyes narrowed to sunset-colored slits. “Something darker.”
Dare just shrugged as everyone but Benny stared at him, waiting for him to say more. “I don’t plan to give up my secrets, not until I hear all of yours.”
That made Max and Lock sit back, and Max gave Dare a reluctant smile.
“I’m sorry for the third degree,” Max said. “Things are… tense here. It’s hard to know who we can trust. I like you, Dare, but even after working with you, I don’t know much about you.”
That made sense. Being unknown was Dare’s main goal in life.
“As for secrets, we don’t have many. I’m a rogue lion. Lock’s a rogue alpha wolf. B
enny is…” Max trailed off when Benny gave him a sharp stare. “Well, Benny can tell you more about that.”
Lock kicked his heels up on the table. “I’m here gathering info and allies to take on the tribunal. The corrupt ruling class of my species.”
“The wolves,” Dare said.
Lock nodded. “A dragon ally would be very valuable.”
“For all of us,” Benny said. “I have a few connections to dragons, but I’m not as close to any as I am with you.”
“I’m not here to be used,” Dare said impatiently.
“I get it,” Benny said. “And that’s true. We help each other, may even prove useful, but that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because we have each other’s backs when no one else does.”
That sort of made sense to Dare in a painful way, since he’d always had to be all alone.
Maybe it hadn’t had to be that way, but it was too late for him now.
“So what do you want from us, Dare? Because I can sense some impatience.”
“No shit,” Dare said. Just being with these shifters was making him itchy and uncomfortable. He didn’t like bonding or finding comrades in arms. He just wanted his knowledge and then he would be out. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Oh,” Benny asked. “Who?”
Dare looked around the table. “I’m not sure if I should say it all here.”
“We’re your friends. You can trust us,” Max said. “I’m sorry if we gave you the wrong impression when we came in tonight, but I swear we mean to do nothing but help.”
Lock raised a hand. “Pack’s promise. I know you think I hold nothing sacred, but a Pack’s promise is sacred to me.”
Dare sighed, slumping back a little. He felt Sasha’s hand on his knee, and it gave him a bit of strength. “I need to find my creator and figure out where I came from. Then I need to find a way to go back.”
They all stared at him curiously, shock moving over their faces, and then nodded.
Benny sat back with his hands folded. “I think we can do that just fine.”
Chapter 12
“Benny, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Sasha watched Dare stand and walk over to her other side to talk to Benny in a low voice while the others stayed seated.
Lock talked to the human girl at the table—Harley, if Sasha remembered correctly—and the large man who was supposedly a lion scooted his chair closer to hers.
She flinched back when he leaned in and sniffed her. He actually sniffed her hair, lifting a piece of it. She swatted his hand away. “What are you doing?”
He sat back in triumph, arms folded. “Lock is right. You aren’t mated.”
She let out a disgruntled breath. “I don’t get how everyone can just say that.”
Max leaned in, scenting the air again, getting a little too close, which with his bulk felt like a lot. She leaned back, almost toppling off her chair before Dare stepped in again, inserting himself between her and the lion.
Max looked up at him, confused. “Why have you not marked her?”
“Well,” Sasha said nervously. “We don’t want to go too fast.”
“Yeah, I’m waiting for the right time,” Dare interjected, glaring down at Max aggressively.
With a huff, Max scooted his chair back to its original position. “For a shifter, there is no need to wait.” He then pushed away from the table and strode from the room abruptly, making Sasha wonder just what had gone wrong.
“Don’t mind him,” Benny said. “He has been through some things.” He looked around the room. “We’ve all been through something. I know you have as well.” His knowing eyes pinned Dare, making him uncomfortable, and Dare took a step back.
“So you think you can find her?”
“Based on what you’ve told me, I can put out some feelers. Not many people in our world should be doing experiments like that.”
“Hm,” Dare said. He looked unconvinced.
“What is it?”
“If I had known it was going to be so easy, I would have gotten involved in your world before.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “But I was told not to. Oh well.”
Benny studied him carefully. “Don’t worry, Dare. We’re going to figure things out. Together.” Benny smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want to bring in your brothers? We could use any extra connections you have.”
Dare shook his head. “If that’s why you wanted me, you’re going to be disappointed. I don’t have any connections at all, and neither do my brothers. And they won’t be coming here.”
Benny nodded. “We’re not disappointed. We just wanted you here because you’re you.” He pulled Dare into a side hug, and Dare had no choice but to allow it because the man was huge. “I know you don’t believe it, but we actually like you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Lock said. “I think he’s annoying because he stole my girl.”
Benny sent Lock a look of exasperation. “One of your many? Yeah right.”
Lock just laughed and went back to talking to Harley.
“I think we’re going to leave now,” Dare said, looking down at Sasha and putting out a hand for her to take.
She did, putting her fingers through his and enjoying the warmth, just for a moment. Tonight at the meeting, she’d seen him vulnerable, and for some reason that always affected her heart.
She really needed to toughen up.
“Okay,” Benny said. “And it’s fine to bring Sasha, even if she isn’t your mate. But some nights, we will have other shifters, so you might want to, um, mark her at least, if she’s going to be in the club a lot.”
“Mark her?” Dare asked, looking as curious as Sasha felt.
Benny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Ah, yeah. Common when humans are mingling with shifters. Makes people know she is yours.”
“Sounds barbaric,” Sasha said with a shudder.
“We are half animal,” Benny retorted pleasantly. “Is it so different from what you humans do with engagement rings?”
“We aren’t engaged,” she said. “Not even close to it.”
Benny narrowed his eyes, looking shrewd. “Then why does he insist on having you here?”
Shit. She’d just stepped in it, and there was no way to say the real reason was because Dare would turn into a terrible monster without her there. “Um… support.”
Benny gave her a look that said he knew she was hiding something but wasn’t going to bother to find out what just yet. He turned his attention to Dare. “Anyway, you should mark her. ASAP. In the meantime, I’m going to put feelers out, and I’ll let you know when I find anything. Until she’s marked, you might want to stick to only officer meetings. The next is in two days.”
“Thanks,” Dare said. “And as for putting feelers out, I need you to keep this quiet. I don’t want anyone to know who doesn’t have to.”
“We all have secrets. You know ours now as well. We’ll do our best to keep yours while still helping you.”
“Thank you.” Dare frowned at Sasha. “So how do I mark her?”
“Touch her. A lot.” Benny grinned widely. “You really are new to shifter things, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Dare said flatly.
“This is why I was worried about you. I could just sense you were totally… alone. Like the rest of us. When one of us is separated from our species, our clan, it’s terribly isolating. But well, you have brothers. Though, maybe it sounds like you aren’t close.”
Dare simply nodded.
Benny clapped Dare on the shoulder. “I’m sure we can talk more later. For now, you two go home and have a nice night.”
Dare couldn’t resist turning to face Benny, the man’s kindness utterly confusing him. Part of him felt good to be included, to be welcomed into a group of his own.
The other part felt only suspicion.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” he asked the burly man, glaring into his eyes.
Benny returned his bold stare. “Because
I get the feeling not enough others have been. Isn’t that reason enough?” He took a step back and looked at both Dare and Sasha. “And by the way, the best way to mark is to fuck.”
Then he let out a loud belly laugh and walked off, leaving both Dare and Sasha staring in shock.
Neither of them knew what to say.
The drive back to Sasha’s place couldn’t possibly have been more awkward.
Dare tried to focus on the road, keep his mind off the myriad things it wanted to preoccupy him with, but driving even at the busiest of times only took a fraction of his attention. This late at night, with long stretches of road with nothing but their solitary vehicle traversing the lonely streets, he could do it without thinking at all.
What was Sasha thinking right now?
He glanced over, hoping she didn’t notice, and saw her looking straight ahead, leaning back in the plush leather chair of his car, seemingly lost in thought, too.
Damn, what he’d give to read minds right now.
He reached her apartment and parked in front. She followed him up the steps, coming in front of him to unlock the door, and he kept close to her as they came inside and he did the locks on the front door as she walked into the kitchen.
She was the first to break the awkward silence, setting her keys in a little dish that clinked eagerly with the metallic contact.
“So Club Crimson. Pretty interesting group of people.”
“I guess you could call it that,” Dare muttered, trying to think about other things than “marking.”
Or fucking.
“Shifters. A whole world I didn’t know existed. I mean, I should be surprised, but since I’ve met you, it feels like there’s a lot of things I don’t understand.”
Dare looked over at her, the sound of her voice bright and teasing his auditory senses. But when their gazes met, she looked away, flushing slightly. “The thought of wolves and bears and such isn’t scary?”
“Part of me feels like it should be. But with you around, it’s not.” Her pretty blue eyes were so light, so emotive, hiding none of her varied expressions.
He double-checked the locks on the front door, trying to occupy himself. It felt like the sexual tension was getting stronger with each passing moment. No amount of small talk could erase Benny’s parting shot before they’d left the club.
Nightfall (Nightmare Dragons Book 2) Page 8
