I stared at the hand like it was road-kill, but then, not wanting yet another enemy, I placed my hand in his. He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. Seriously? I fought to keep my discomfort off my face and failed.
I withdrew my hand, trying to hide my distaste.
Smile never faltering, he introduced himself. “I’m Devin. I presume you’re Alexondra. I’ve heard so much about you.”
What I wanted to say, was hi Devin, I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you. ‘kay, bye, but what came out of my mouth was far more diplomatic. So diplomatic it made my teeth hurt.
“Nice to meet you Devin. Care to walk and talk? I don’t want to get left behind.” I gestured at the majority of the crowd disappearing in the distance.
“Why of course,” he replied, holding out his suit clad arm for me to take.
In my experience that level of politeness meant either someone wanted something, or they were afraid of you. Devin didn't seem afraid, so the question was, what did he want? Ah well. With a shrug I placed my arm through his and began to walk towards the meeting place with the rest of my group trailing behind us. I thought I could almost sense Jason’s discomfort, but maybe I was just projecting.
“You’re warm,” Devin commented. “Is that because of your demon blood?”
I stumbled at his words, but recovered quickly and managed to not fall on my face.
Devin chuckled. “Come now Alexondra. You know what we all are. It’s only fair that we know a bit about you.”
“It’s Xoe,” I corrected, then asked, “You can feel my temperature through your coat?”
“Yes,” he replied as we veered towards the mountains and the larger trees. “We wolves run slightly hotter than humans, but not enough to be easily perceptible. You’re like a little heater.”
I didn't like being called little. Sure I'm slightly scrawny, but I'm also tall. I prefer to think I'm a lot more imposing than I actually am. I almost protested the remark. Yet, I was trying to be polite, and I couldn’t think of a reason not to tell him, so I answered his question instead.
“It has to do with the specific line of demons I come from. We have freakishly fast metabolisms. Though, whether the heat fuels our powers, or is an aftereffect of them, I'm not sure.”
“Interesting,” Devin replied. “So I'm told you can create fire, what else can you do?”
It took a moment for me to register what he had said. He'd managed to gather a lot more intelligence than I would have thought.
“Oh no,” I replied. “That's all you get. A girl has got to maintain a bit of mystery.”
Devin smiled and nodded at my answer, then went on to the next subject without a hitch. “Have you been told what to expect from this meeting?”
I shrugged. “Not really, you werewolves can be a bit cryptic. All I know is that formal wear is a must.”
Devin’s smile returned. “Well you've got the formal wear down . . . except for the shoes, but there are a few more things you should know.”
“And what are those things?” I prompted, getting impatient.
“You’re petitioning to become a pack. There are many among us that will challenge your claims,” he began.
Pssh, tell me something I didn’t know. “Are you one of the challengers?” I asked. Subtlety is not my strong suit.
Devin shrugged gracefully. I’ve never managed the graceful shrug thing.
“I have a more casual interest in the matter,” he answered. “A few of us have placed bets on the outcome.”
I tried to pull my arm away from his, but he held on. “Don’t worry Xoe,” he soothed, “I’m on your side. I see no reason why you shouldn’t become a pack. Plus, very few bet on you succeeding. I stand to win some serious cash.”
“Lovely,” I grumbled in response.
“Now don’t be sore Xoe,” Devin continued. “I was on your side even without the cash. These meetings can be so boring. We need a little excitement.”
We had entered a clearing packed full of werewolves. A big group of them turned to glare at me. The woman who had tried to spit on me was at the front of that group.
“Happy to oblige,” I told Devin, causing him to grin like the proverbial crocodile. I couldn't help the thought that grins like that tended to come back and bite you in the ass.
Chapter Five
There was a space in the crowd which I assumed was for us. Devin led us over to that area, then finally let go of my arm. I expected him to weave through the crowd to find his group, but instead he went to stand by Abel in the center of the clearing. They were in cahoots. I should have known.
Jason took my arm that had been freed of Devin and led me to sit on a large rock in our part of the clearing. Glancing around, I realized that there were several large rocks that people were beginning to take their seats on. A few people ended up on the ground, but those of us in the front got rocks.
I looked back to see that the majority of the crowd wasn’t even in the clearing at all. They stood amongst the trees. If I wasn’t so against being there myself, I might have felt bad for their exclusion. As it was, I envied them.
I turned my attention back to my group, and realized that my group had diminished to just Chase, Jason, and me. Lela was shooing Max and Lucy back into the trees. I looked at Jason questioningly and he just shrugged apologetically.
Chase leaned in on my other side and whispered, “Only pack alphas in the center clearing.”
“Then why are you and Jason still here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Lela says.”
I watched as the last few wolves filed themselves away into the woods, like smoke dissipating through the cracks. Their absence left fourteen distinct groups. I had expected more individual packs.
Each group had three to four wolves. From the way they were sitting, I guessed that the Alpha, and sometimes the Alpha’s spouse were seated in front, all with two bodyguard types slightly behind them. I realized that Chase and Jason’s rocks were slightly behind me. I guess Jason didn’t qualify as my “spouse.”
I guesstimated that there were about 50 figures standing in the woods now. That would mean 3-4 extra wolves per pack. I remembered Lela saying that the entire pack didn’t have to attend the meetings each time, but we all had to be there to petition. I wondered how many members of the other packs weren't in attendance.
“Welcome,” Abel boomed, drawing everyone’s attention to him. He had kept the skintight pants, but had changed into a silken dress shirt the exact color of my dress. We were matching. He couldn't have planned it, there was just no way. Unless Lela had told him. The smile he gave me told me that it had most definitely been planned. Gre-eat.
“Let us get right down to business,” Abel went on, drawing his gaze away from me. “Who will be the first to update?”
“We will,” the woman who had tried to spit on me piped in. The black eye I had given her was already healing to a sickly yellow. Noticing my glance, she flipped a portion of her graying dirty-blonde hair over her eye.
The man sitting beside her rose to his feet. He was built like a highly-muscled bear with salt-and-pepper hair. He tugged his striped dress shirt straight, like he wasn’t used to dressing up. “What Greta means,” he grumbled, “is that I will begin.”
I sensed some marital strife there. Abel nodded and gestured for bear-man to begin. I got bored about two minutes into bear-man’s speech. He went on and on about pack laws broken, and punishments doled out. It went much the same with the next group. It didn't seem like Abel was even listening as he sat on the biggest rock in the center of the clearing.
As the third group began their “updates,” Devin came to crouch beside me. He leaned in way too close to me. I started to lean away, but realized he was trying to whisper in my ear. You had to whisper very softly around werewolves. Jason was close enough that with his vampire hearing, he’d probably hear everything that Devin whispered.
I held still as Devin practically kissed my ear, and whispered, “W
hat updates will you present?”
I shrugged in response. We weren’t even officially a pack yet. How were we supposed to have updates.
Devin looked more than a little worried at my response. Apparently this update thing was more important than it seemed. Suddenly the talking had stopped and everyone’s attention was on me.
“Xoe,” Abel prompted. “Updates please?”
When I didn’t move, Devin pinched my leg. I jumped to my feet, sparing him a quick angry glare.
“Um . . . ” I stammered. “No rules broken, no punishments doled out.”
“You killed Nick,” Greta interrupted. “You killed one of us.”
“Actually Greta,” I practically spat her name out. “I didn’t kill him, but even if I did, he had just finished telling me about how he was going to slit my throat and feed me to a demon. Oh, did I mention that he kidnapped me first and held me hostage in a crypt?”
“You’re not even one of us,” Greta countered. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“The woman is observant,” I mocked. “Somebody give her a prize.”
Greta stood and started towards me, face contorted with anger. She managed to avoid bear-man as he made a grab for her. Jason and Chase both moved in front of me, but there was no need.
Faster than my eyes could follow, Abel intercepted Greta and shoved her so hard that she went flying. Her flight was stopped short by a nearby oak tree that made a horrible cracking sound with the force of her impact. She fell to the ground and didn't move.
Bear-man simply rose, walked over, gathered up the crumpled Greta, and disappeared into the trees. Everyone else stood in complete silence.
Abel casually walked back into the center of the clearing. He clapped his hands together and bared his perfect white teeth in a smile that looked more like a snarl. “Updates! Who’s next?”
Devin grinned and patted my shoulder as he stood to go rejoin Abel. The leader of the next group stood and started rattling off small discretions and their accompanying punishments. Jason's nervous energy was giving me goosebumps and Chase looked positively green. It was good to know that I probably wasn't the only one who felt like maybe my stomach was going to force itself in its entirety out of my throat.
Chapter Six
When updates finally finished there was food. And good thing, because I was starving. Then again, I was always starving. The more I worked on my powers, the more it upped my metabolism. I was hungry all the friggin’ time.
Apparently during social/food time, we were supposed to disperse from our packs and get to know each other a little better. Jason got led away by Devin. It had been agreed upon earlier that either Chase or Jason would stay with me, so Chase simply refused to leave my side whenever someone tried to draw him or I away from each other.
When we were alone I glared up at him, “I can take care of myself you know.”
“Of course,” Chase conceded. “Let’s get some food.”
“But-” I began to argue. Chase put his arm around my shoulders and turned me to face the food table that had been brought in towards the end of updates.
“Oh fine,” I gave in, seeing the spread of miniature sandwiches, cakes, and all sorts of fancy hors d’oeuvres. I walked out of Chase’s arm and made a beeline for the table, with him catching up quickly behind me.
Chase stayed behind me, almost-touching, the entire time I gathered food. I could feel the line of his body about an inch away from my back.
I turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. “I'm not going to disappear you know.”
He looked a question at me.
“Do you have to stand so close?” I clarified.
Chase had the courtesy to look embarrassed. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and took a small step back.
“Don’t you want anything?” I asked. “We haven't eaten since before our flight.”
“Just throw me a few sandwiches on your plate?” he asked in return.
Without question, I added four more mini-sandwiches to the four I already had. It was lucky that the plates were big, even stacking everything up, all the food I grabbed wouldn’t have fit on a normal size plate. Chase grabbed us each a bottle of water and we headed to the edge of the clearing away from the crowd. Screw being social.
I sat so I could lean my back against a truly massive oak tree. Chase sat cross-legged in front of me, and I placed the food plate on the ground between us.
Chase looked at me like he wanted to say something, but was going to bite his tongue and stay quiet. He started to hum under his breath.
I sighed. “Quit with the dam humming and spit it out.”
Chase smiled ruefully. “You could have been a bit more diplomatic back there.”
“Why should I?” I questioned petulantly. “It’s not like Greta was trying too hard.”
“Greta isn’t trying to establish a werewolf pack,” Chase argued.
I frowned. “I thought you didn’t want me to have a werewolf pack. ‘Needless danger’ you called it.”
Chase frowned back. “I’d rather you not get involved in werewolf affairs, but now that you have, things could go very badly.”
I picked up one of our untouched sandwiches and took a bite. “Elaborate,” I demanded, mouth full of crumbs.
Chase picked up a sandwich, but didn’t eat. “You have a lot of enemies here Xoe. If your petition to form a pack is rejected, you won’t be protected under pack law.”
I dropped my sandwich back on the plate. How had I not thought of that? I'd just strolled on in like nothing could touch me.
I couldn’t think of a proper reply, so I just said, “Oh.”
“Yes Xoe. Oh,” Chase went on, his accent emphasizing the oh. “You need to start thinking things through a little better.”
“Like the guy who aligned himself with a rag-tag group of supernaturals?” I questioned. “All because you owe my demon dad some type of life debt? I’m sure that was well planned. And coming here? Will your debt ever end?”
“I don’t owe him a life debt,” Chase replied sharply. “He saved my life. Watching over you is the least I can do.”
“I don’t need you to watch me,” I replied sharply. “I have plenty of other people to watch me. I don’t even need watching!”
“Yes you do,” Chase grumbled. “If anything happened to you, your dad would-“
“So that’s the only reason you’re still around?” I interrupted. “Because you think my dad would blame you if you left and something happened to me?”
“No!” he shouted in exasperation, drawing a few stares. Lowering his voice, he continued, “You know that’s not the only reason I’m here Xoe.”
I clutched my water bottle, anger and hurt commingling rather than trying to win out over one another. I just stared at him, not sure whether to apologize, or throw my bottle at him.
At that moment, Max came trotting up and plopped down beside me, grabbing a sandwich from our forgotten plate.
“This is actually kind of cool,” Max said, not picking up on the tension. “It’s so weird going from being completely alone, to knowing and getting to know so many other people like me.”
Chase and I both stared at the ground in silence.
“Uh oh,” Max said in a sing-song voice. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” Chase mumbled as he stood and dusted himself off.
Max turned to me questioningly.
“Nothing,” I agreed, and grabbed my forgotten sandwich.
Lucy walked up and sat with us as Chase walked away. “What’s his problem?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I repeated.
“Yes, you keep on saying that,” Max observed, “but all signs point to something.”
Lucy frowned. “What did he say to you Xoe?”
I sighed loudly. “Nothing okay?”
I stood to leave . . . on second thought, I crouched back down and grabbed the food plate, shoving my water bottle underneath my arm. “I just need some air,” I announced.
As I walked away I heard Max say, “But we’re outside . . .”
Shaking my head, I continued walking, no destination in mind. Jason would be mad at me for going off alone, but screw it. I could take care of myself. I munched my sandwiches, which I now had way too many of, considering Chase had abandoned his share.
What was with him anyhow? Half the time he was a fun-to-be-around friend, the other half he was all broody. And yes, brooding can be cute, but it can also be very annoying.
All of the sudden Devin appeared at my side, causing me to jump and spill my food everywhere. All of my cute little sandwiches bounced into the dirt.
“Thanks,” I said, handing him my empty plate as I continued walking.
He took it without hesitation and fell into stride beside me. “You shouldn’t be walking around alone out here Xoe,” he lectured. “Abel wanted me to make sure you don’t get eaten.”
“I have enough people watching over me,” I snapped back. “Trust me.”
“So what’s the deal with you and the other demon?” Devin questioned, ignoring my comment.
I stopped walking mid-stride and gave him a very annoyed look. “There is no deal,” I said sharply. “He works for my dad.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Just curious, no offense meant.”
I nodded and continued walking again.
“So . . . ” he went on. “You’re with the vampire then.”
I sighed. “Yes, I’m with the vampire.”
“Because it looked like-” Devin began, but stopped when he saw my glare.
“Why do you care anyhow?” I asked sharply.
Devin shrugged. I was tired of all of these men shrugging artfully at me. A real answer would be nice for a change.
As if reading my mind, Devin explained, “My place in this little microcosm is held because I know the correct information. I'd be a fool if I didn't continue to gather it.”
The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) Page 32
