by Lisa Edmonds
Sean and I offered to help clear the table but Karen and Cole insisted on doing it themselves before bringing out dessert, which turned out to be homemade brownies with ice cream. I managed to eat almost half of mine before I couldn’t take one more bite without risking busting a seam on my dress. It had been a little loose when we arrived but now felt a bit tight in the middle.
As we were drinking coffee and letting our food settle, Jack tossed his napkin on his empty plate, put down his coffee cup, and turned his piercing blue gaze on me. “So, I saw some interesting pictures online. You were quite the little hell-raiser back in Chicago, weren’t you, Alice?”
Startled, I jerked and glared at him. We stared at each other. Amber rolled over Jack’s eyes.
Sean’s hand moved to my thigh and squeezed. “Lower your eyes, Alice,” he said softly.
I resisted, not wanting to show submissiveness to Jack. A second ticked by. Two. Sean took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine.
The others watched Sean’s beta warily as the large man leaned forward in his chair. No one breathed.
“Jack, stand down,” Sean commanded.
“She’s disrespectful,” Jack growled.
“She’s not pack,” Sean said flatly. “She’s shown you respect until now, but you were rude. You know as well as I do humans who don’t spend much time around shifters don’t react with the same instincts.”
Jack’s posture remained aggressive. “If she’s with you, she needs to learn.”
I bristled.
Sean’s hand tightened on mine. “When she’s around pack members, Alice will—”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not sitting here,” I said.
The others looked startled that I’d interrupted their alpha. When Sean gestured for me to speak, I glanced at each of them. “When I’m around members of the pack I’ll do the best I can to interact with you on your terms, but I’m sure we’ll run into issues sometimes because I’m not a werewolf. You’ll have to meet me partway.”
“We don’t have to meet you anywhere,” Delia said curtly.
“You do,” Sean said. If there had been a hint of his power in his tone before, now it was pure steel. “Because when you speak to Alice, you speak to me.”
The werewolves around the table reacted as one, surprise rippling out in an almost visible wave.
“Is she your mate?” Jack demanded.
“Not yet,” Sean said. He raised our entwined hands and put them deliberately on top of the table. “But I’m hoping.” He stared at Jack as the others exchanged glances.
We’d have to talk about that later. For now, I looked around the table again, letting them see that I wasn’t afraid. I even met Jack’s eyes briefly. I wasn’t trying to start a fight, but I wasn’t going to be run over, by Jack or anyone else.
Finally, Sean defused the situation by rising from the table. The others followed suit, their eyes not meeting his. Even Cole, who wasn’t a shifter, avoided Sean’s hot golden gaze.
“Thank you for having us over,” Sean told Karen with a smile. “Everything was excellent. Can we help you with the cleanup?”
“My kids and I are staying to help,” Nan told him, winking at me. “We’ll have it all done in a jiffy. You two run along.”
“I don’t think I’ll be running anywhere anytime soon,” I said, making a face. “I might need someone to roll me out to the SUV.”
“I’ve got a wheelbarrow in the shed,” Cole offered.
Everyone but Jack and Delia laughed at that. Even Caleb smiled fleetingly, though his face returned to its customary scowl quickly.
As evening turned to night, we filed inside carrying our dishes and made sure everything was in neat piles in the kitchen. I excused myself to use the restroom before we left.
When I came out, Sean waited by the front door with my vest. I groaned. “Oh, please don’t make me put that on. I’m so full.”
He looked sympathetic but stubborn. “It’s adjustable. We’ll leave it a little loose.”
I grumbled as he slipped the vest over my head and fastened the straps. True to his word, he didn’t tighten it as much as before, but I was instantly miserable and in no mood for any more trouble when Jack, Delia, and Caleb joined us in the foyer, which suddenly felt much too small.
Caleb stood next to me, bumping my arm with his. “Why does she have to wear a bulletproof vest?”
“It’s a safety precaution,” Sean said. “Alice is in a dangerous line of work.”
His eyes it up. “Cool.” For the first time all evening, the young werewolf looked interested instead of surly. He brushed against me, jostling me deliberately again.
I held my ground. “Back up, Caleb. You’re in my space.”
Caleb growled. His fists clenched and his eyes went golden. Fury and resentment rolled off him in waves as shifter magic surged. I tensed, spooling magic in case he shifted and attacked.
Instantly, Sean was between us. The force of his alpha magic made the others take a step back. “You will not shift in this house,” he told Caleb. “If you can’t control your temper and your shifting, you’ll have to go out to the pack land until you can. You endanger all of us by acting like this and I will not have you threaten Alice. Is that clear?”
There was a long pause as Caleb fought to control his wolf. When he replied, his voice had an edge of growl in it. “Yes.”
Sean turned to Jack. “Can he stay with you tonight?”
“Yes.” Jack put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder and the younger man seemed to relax. The surge of shifter magic dissipated.
“Good. Take him home and keep an eye on him.”
Jack gave Sean a nod. However strained the relationship between Sean and his beta might be because of me, they seemed united in their concern about the pack’s youngest wolf, and for good reason. I’d only spent a few hours around Caleb, but it was obvious he was far from stable. The phrase “ticking time bomb” came to mind, and those were not words you wanted to use when describing a werewolf.
We moved to the door, Sean staying between Caleb and me. He took the radio off his belt and told the mobile team we were heading out. Once we’d gotten the all-clear from Philip, Sean reached for the door.
“Alice!”
I turned at the sound of Karen’s voice. She hurried over to me with a small gift bag. “This is for you.”
I blinked in surprise and took the bag. “What’s this?”
“Just a little gift from us.” She hugged me and then stepped back.
“Are we set?” Sean asked, his hand on my waist.
“All set.” I smiled at Karen. “Thanks again for having us.”
“It was our pleasure. Come back and see us again soon.”
“I will,” I promised as Sean ushered me out the door.
Without being told, I stayed in Sean’s shadow as we went to the SUV and let him load me into the passenger seat. I felt Jack’s gaze on me as clearly as if he were touching me, drilling twin holes between my shoulder blades until the SUV door slammed closed.
As Sean went over to talk to the mobile team, I let out the breath I’d been holding and reached into the gift bag. I pulled out a small, heavy item wrapped in tissue paper. When I unwrapped it, I found a snow globe. Inside the glass dome was a tiny forest covered in white snow and a group of wolves, their muzzles raised toward the sky as if in mid-howl. In the center of the group was a black-and-gray wolf, a little larger than the others, with golden-brown eyes and big, magnificent teeth.
Inside the bag, I also found a card that read simply Welcome to the pack. It was signed by Karen, Cole, Nan, Felicia, and David.
I smiled and shook the globe, watching the snow dance.
10
“You did good,” Sean said as he turned the key in the ignition.
I gave him a flat look.
He heaved a sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t need my approval. What I meant was that you showed them you aren’t to be pushed around by anyone—not even
me, and I’m glad you did.”
I raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. “I didn’t like the way Jack was treating me.”
“I’m sorry.” Sean squeezed my hand.
“Not your fault he’s acting this way. Everyone else was wonderful. I just wonder how many other members of the pack are going to resent me as much as he and Delia do.”
“They’ll just have to get over it. Nothing matters but you and me.” He grimaced and gestured in the direction of the mobile team’s SUV. “Well, once this business with Kent Stevens is over.”
I smiled and leaned over to kiss him, the mobile team, Jack, and Delia be damned. I grabbed a handful of his hair and teased his tongue with mine, turning up the heat. If they were looking over here, I wanted them to get their money’s worth.
Finally, I pulled back, the skin around my mouth burning a bit from his beard stubble. Totally worth it.
Sean’s eyes twinkled. “Trying to make a point?”
I settled back in my seat and belted in. “Maybe.”
He chuckled and drove toward the main road. As we bumped down the gravel drive, he grew serious again. “If you ever feel threatened by anyone in the pack, no matter who it is, defend yourself. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, do what you have to.”
“That was my plan.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “I thought as much, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to say it out loud.”
As we turned out onto the highway and accelerated, he said, “I noticed what happened when you met Delia. You don’t seem surprised by her reaction. I didn’t expect you to fall into the pack hierarchy so easily.” He paused. “You know I want to ask.”
I shrugged. “You already know I’ve spent time around shifters. It’s not my first interaction with a group of werewolves and not the first time I’ve been recognized as a more dominant female. You could say I have a fairly well-developed sense of how pack hierarchy works, for a human.”
“It’s more than fairly well-developed. I’d say you have an instinct for it. Is it possible you have some shifter blood in your family?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but it would explain a few…oddities with my magic. It would have to be at least three generations back or more, though.” I smiled. “It would be funny if I were part cat shifter.”
Sean groaned. “Oh, please, anything but a cat shifter.” He pondered that for a moment, then added, “It would explain a few things, however.”
I poked him in the side, which had little effect through his vest. We drove in companionable silence for a while.
When we were about ten minutes from my house, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and answered. “Hello, Charles.”
“Alice, my dear, how was your meal with the wolves?” he purred. “Was dinner served on the hoof or were they actually quite civilized?”
There was no chance he didn’t hear Sean’s growl. I made an exasperated sound. “The meal was wonderful. Do you have any news? Is Stevens in custody?”
“Not yet.” Charles’s voice lost its mocking tone. “Our people are searching the city, but have found no trace of him.”
I sighed and pulled unhappily at the side strap of my vest. “Then why are you calling?”
“I may have located one of your missing items.”
I perked up, the vest and my discomfort forgotten. “Which one? Where is it?”
“I believe I know where your magic cup will be tonight.”
“Where?”
“An auction.”
I blinked. “An auction? What kind of auction?”
“A very exclusive auction.” Charles’s voice held a note of amusement.
“How exclusive?” I asked impatiently.
“Invitation only. Impenetrable security. Location known only to a handful of carefully selected individuals whose discretion is beyond reproach.”
My eyes narrowed. “So you know where it is.”
“I do.”
I was in no mood for Charles’s games. “Can you get me in or not?”
“Get us in,” Sean interjected.
Charles overheard Sean’s comment. “You, yes,” he said. “The werewolf, on the other hand—”
“Vampire, where she goes, I go,” Sean stated flatly.
“Well, you heard him,” I told Charles. “So, what’s your plan for sneaking Sean and me into this super-secret, ultra-exclusive auction?”
“I will not be sneaking you in,” Charles said.
Sean growled.
The vampire chuckled. One of these days, he was going to find out why it was a bad idea to bait a werewolf. “You will be walking in through the front door.”
I walked in through the front door.
Charles handed our invitations to the enormous tuxedo-clad security guard and rested his hand on mine where it was curled around his arm.
As the doorman looked over the invitations, I took the opportunity to glance around. The auction was taking place at a private mansion not far from Northbourne Manor, headquarters of the Vampire Court of the Northwestern United States. The interior of the house looked more like a museum than a residence.
The man-mountain at the door slipped our invitations into the basket at his elbow and gave Charles a small bow. “Welcome, Mr. Vaughan, Ms. Worth. You may wait in the main hall. The event starts promptly at twelve. Please be in your seats in the salon before it begins.”
Charles inclined his head and we moved into the foyer. Behind us, Sean and Bryan, our escorts, stepped inside and the doorman greeted the next couple.
The entryway led to a wide hall. Paintings covered the walls and antiques and relics took up every available surface. Some held magic. I gave those a wide berth. About a dozen well-dressed vampires and a few humans sipped wine and champagne, browsed the art on display, and conversed quietly. Wait staff circulated among the guests, offering drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Charles and I each took a glass of champagne. His was pink. Not rosé champagne, though, I decided immediately, as my magic tingled—champagne with a few drops of blood added for color and taste.
Bryan and Sean stood behind us, silent and watchful. Charles, like the other guests, had been limited to one security escort per person. Bryan appeared to have healed from his wounds, though his eyes were shadowed and he’d been uncharacteristically quiet since Charles’s limo had picked Sean and me up at my house.
The forty-minute drive from my house to the mansion had been tense. When Sean had asked Charles where the vampire was residing since the ambush at his gate, Charles had evaded the question and repeated his invitation for me to stay with him. Sean had not taken that well. We’d avoided bloodshed, but only just.
Charles raised my hand to his cool lips. “You look divine, my dear.”
I wore a floor-length, shimmery midnight-blue dress that clung like a second skin. Though it covered my back and arms, hiding my scars and tattoos, the front showcased my cleavage. The slit in the front went to mid-thigh. The dress and the four-inch stiletto heels had been supplied by Charles and both were a perfect fit. They’d arrived at my house less than fifteen minutes after we’d returned from Karen’s house, accompanied by a professional makeup and hair stylist who trapped me in my bathroom for over an hour. I looked sultry and bronzed and not at all like myself.
I sipped my champagne. “I’m here to work, Charles. Stop flirting.”
“One does not necessarily preclude the other,” he said easily, exchanging a nod with a passing male vampire I didn’t recognize. “We have little opportunity to see one another in a social setting. I have certainly never seen you wearing anything so alluring.”
“It’s a costume, nothing more,” I said, my voice pitched so only Charles’s ears could hear me. “I’m arm candy, as far as everyone here is concerned.”
Charles leaned close, his lips a millimeter from my ear. “It is expected I should flirt outrageously with my ‘arm candy,’” he murmured. “They will presume we are lovers, and suspect nothing of you
.” He slid his arm around my waist, brushing my butt with his fingertips as he did so.
“If you do that again, you may lose a hand,” I muttered.
He arched an imperious eyebrow. “Your werewolf would be foolish to attack over so little a provocation.”
I smiled with my teeth and tapped his glass with mine. “I wasn’t talking about Sean.”
He chuckled. “Oh, Alice, I do believe you mean it.”
“I assure you I do.”
Charles finished his champagne and a server appeared as if by magic to exchange his empty glass for a full one. I continued to sip my own drink slowly. I needed to keep my head clear and my senses sharp.
An unfamiliar vampire approached us, glass in hand. I didn’t recognize him, but Charles apparently did.
“Vincent,” my companion said, his voice suddenly glacial. “I was led to believe this was an exclusive affair, but your presence leads me to conclude that standards have slipped somewhat.”
The tall, dark-skinned vampire chuckled. “Vaughan, how nice to see you again. And who is this lovely woman?” He turned to me and extended his hand. “Vincent Barclay, at your service.”
I offered my hand. He caught it in his cool grasp, bowed, and brushed his lips across my skin.
“May I present my guest this evening, Ms. Alice Worth,” Charles said formally. “Alice, Mr. Barclay is visiting from Seattle.”
“Pleased to meet you,” I murmured.
The other vampire released my hand almost reluctantly, sliding his fingers through mine in a deliberate provocation. Charles drew me possessively against his side.
“Have you ever visited Seattle, Alice?” Barclay asked. He lingered over my name, as if savoring it, and I didn’t like the sound of my name in his mouth.
“I didn’t care for it,” I said shortly. “Far too much rain.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps you have not adequately explored the pleasures of being wet.”
