Discovery of a Queen: Chapter 12

“I am.” I’m not surprised he can sense what I am. If he had served another queen, he would know how to tell when one is in the room with him. “I’m sorry about your community, Xin. We recently merged our community with the Rocky Mountain Pack after they were attacked by demons. We’re more than willing to accept your nest. But I have a condition.” All three men tense. “I will need to meet each member of your nest. We have found a few shifters who have been in league with demons, I need to be sure none of your nest comes into this community tainted.”

Xin relaxes and nods. Dante leans back in his seat with his arms crossed, but he doesn’t appear to be upset by my condition. Neither does Rafe. Good. It doesn’t appear like they know about anyone in their nest that’s tainted, otherwise, they would have protested. Since Xin is here speaking on behalf of the nest, he’s either their leader or their beta. Until I meet everyone from the nest, I can’t be certain which, but to have someone higher ranking without knowledge of anyone having dealings with demons doesn’t mean anything anymore. Patrick had no idea what Sean was really doing. Patrick being a new beta is the most redeeming thing about the situation. If Xin is the leader of a nest that has dealings with demons and doesn’t know it, that is cause for serious concern. Until I get to know him better, I’ll have no idea how he handles his people. The way he presents himself in front of me today could all just be an act. But I’m willing to take the risk if they are. It’s just as big of a gamble for the nest to uproot and move here as it is for us to take them in.

“How many are in your nest? We’re not entirely sure how many members of Rocky Mountain Pack we’ve taken on, we need to do an official headcount soon, but the town has more than enough room for everyone. We were pretty low in numbers, even after the witches moved to town.”

“We have two thousand members in our nest.” This surprises me. Typically, vampire nests are a lot smaller. Vampires have the tendency to get pretty territorial over feeding grounds, rivaling shifters in their defense of their territories. But having such a large nest is actually a mark in their favor—a group of vampires who can all work together without bringing attention to themselves will be a valuable asset. “We hail from the Canadian border. Our nest took on nests from New England and New York, as well as more rural parts of Canada. The American nests were small and wanted more protection from the shifter and witch communities at the time. Now that leadership has changed hands in New England, we’re comfortable coming down here.”

“We’ll certainly have room for everyone. And if anyone doesn’t like the current homes available, we can always build whatever is needed.” We’ve got plenty of land around town to expand as necessary. And thanks to the witches taking up residence, the wards around town are so thick most humans don’t even know this much property even exists. Bless their tiny, simple brains.

“Excellent. I will leave Dante here and go with Rafe to collect our nest. It will take us several days to return.” Xin hands me a business card. “This is my cell number.” I pull out my phone and type in his number, sending him a text so he has mine as well. “I will let you know when we are heading back.”

“Perfect. We have a few things to sort out here to make your transition to the community a little smoother. So a few days is great. We need to take care of the Rocky Mountain Pack, do inventory and a headcount, and deal with the Council.” Dante frowns when I mention the Council.

“What are those assholes doing here?” Dante asks in a low, accusatory growl, and he narrows his eyes on me. I glare at him in return. How dare he just assume we’re cozied up to the Council? Does anyone actually like the Council? Now that I think about it, does the Council even like the Council? They’re all a bunch of pretentious pricks.

“When I took over as alpha a week ago, they were informed of the power shift. This is a pretty standard procedure, unfortunately, everything else about what’s happened the last few days is anything but normal.” My tone is slightly defensive, and Xin gives his progeny a stern look as if to say “behave,” before rising with Rafe.

“We will see you in a few days.” Xin and Rafe speed out of the room. I can move fast, but damn, what I wouldn’t give to be able to move like a vampire. I’m so jealous.

“Come on, why don’t you come with me?” I stand, and Dante is instantly on his feet. We might as well put him to work while he’s here. “You can help us with the Rocky Mountain Pack.”

“Of course.” Dante gives me a sheepish look. “I should have offered. I apologize.”

“Just to set the record straight, we aren’t BFFs with the Council or anything like that.” Given his reaction to the news of their presence in town, I want it clear that as soon as they’re able to leave, they’ll be leaving. “We literally just saved their asses in the Rockies. I’m not sure how long they’ll have to stay, but this isn’t a permanent thing.”

Dante nods stiffly. “I apologize for my reaction. We’ve had a few run-ins with the Council in the past. They aren’t happy that Xin has been able to maintain such a large nest. They don’t think it’s right that so many of us live in one place. They assume we’ll expose ourselves.” That’s food for thought.

“How do you all eat?” I’m curious now. How do they avoid exposure?

“We’ve invested in several blood banks in both Canada and the United States.” Dante shrugs. “When there’s a shortage of blood, we have arrangements with a few Canadian shifter packs. We don’t like drinking from them because it gives us an unfair edge, but when food is scarce, we do what we must.” Which makes sense. Vampires get a serious power boost if they drink from a shifter or a witch, but it’s only temporary. I’m pretty impressed with the way their nest is run. Hella honorable vampires. I dig it.

We head out into the hall, making our way to the center of town to portal back to where the battle took place yesterday. We have the unpleasant task of sorting through the dead today. I shove back memories of the last battle I witnessed right before my mother died. I hadn’t seen large numbers of corpses since, and the flashbacks were mildly annoying.

“How long have you been a vampire?” I need to take my mind off all of the death I’m about to be knee deep in. Learning more about my new community members is a good way to distract me.

“Only five hundred years. Xin is well over two thousand, Rafe is closing in on one thousand.”

“Is Rafe also Xin’s progeny?”

“No. Rafe was created by another. He doesn’t speak much. And he never talks about his sire. The best we can guess is that his sire met a rather horrific end. Rafe is an excellent fighter. He and I are part of the elite guard of our nest, and I am next in line to become the head of the nest, once Xin decides to step down that is.” Dante has a lot of faith in Xin to say that Xin will step down and not die. A spark of fondness for the vampire flickers to life in my chest.

“That’s impressive. I’m glad to have you with us. It’s nice to be part of a community again.”

“Why was this community just recently formed? From what I know of queens, communities naturally develop around them. You should have had this community well established before now.” Dante looks perplexed, and I can’t help but smile.

“That, my friend, is a very long story. One that, should I divulge it, needs to be told at once to everyone. So I’m not going to spill my guts to you right now.” He grumbles at my refusal. We’ll need to talk about my history, especially considering what happened to the Rocky Mountain Pack, but not right now. Since he isn’t the only one who needs to hear the tale, I’d rather tell everyone once than have to repeat myself.

By the time we make it to the town center, everyone who is coming with us is already assembled. The portals are being established, and Caleb is clearly seen standing at least a head above everyone else. Damn, that man is huge. I quickly make sure my mental walls are in place as we make our way through the crowd. When we come up to Caleb, he’s talking with Connor, Olivia, and Kelly about how Connor and the other wolves plan to hunt down Sean’s body for me while everyone else gets started on the other fallen fighters. They all nod before turning to Dante and me.

“Everyone, this is Dante. He’s part of a Canadian nest. They’ll be the newest addition to our little community here.” Caleb seems to bristle at this, but Kelly and Olivia are smiling and radiating excitement through our bond. At least they know that the more members we have the safer we are. “Their leader, Xin, and another member of their nest, Rafe, have headed back to the nest to tell everyone about the merger and to get them all packed up and ready to move here. It’ll take them a few days, so we can get things squared away here with the Rocky Mountain Pack before the nest moves in.” I feel Caleb knocking on my walls, but I ignore him.

“This is great!” Kelly claps her hands together, smirking when Connor shoots her a glare. “We’ll have a lot more firepower against the demons now.”

“Most of those in our nest are warriors, and we love nothing more than destroying demons. We will all be happy to assist in your fight, as it is now our own,” Dante states. He sounds so formal. I roll my eyes slightly. He’ll get used to how things are around here.

“Right. What’s the game plan?” I look around the group, my eyes finally focusing and narrowing on Caleb.

“Connor already knows Sean’s scent, so he’s going to take point in tracking down the body. Everyone else that’s assembled here will work to catalog and then cremate the dead. We’re working in groups of three, a Rocky Mountain member, a New England member, and a councilman. Patrick will be working with us.” Caleb gestures to Patrick who is stepping through one of the portals.

“Great. Dante can join our group.” Caleb lets out a low growl, causing Dante to stiffen. My eyes narrow further. I am not in the mood for a dick measuring contest. “What the hell is your issue?”

Caleb grabs my arm and drags me off while gesturing for the others to make their way through the portals. My body instantly stiffens, and he has to force me to move. My dragon lets out a snarl. We don’t like being manhandled. Finally, I tear my arm from his grasp, crossing my arms over my chest.

“What the fuck was that?” I don’t bother to lower my voice. I don’t give a damn who hears me rip him a new one, let this be a message to all—I will cut you.

“Are you seriously letting in a nest of vampires? Without screening them first?” he growls as he steps into my personal space. But I don’t give an inch, instead, I tilt my head back to glare up at him. When will the tall people learn that short people aren’t intimidated by them? If anything, stepping into our space like that makes us want to take them out at the knees. Slowly.

“The three who came here are clear. I expressly stated that I would be screening every member of their nest as soon as they arrived.” I don’t see what the big deal is, or why he sounds so butthurt. Even as Alpha, Caleb doesn’t have the right to make calls for our community. If I want to let a bunch of demons into the community, that’s my call, not his. The Council and the alpha are really only supposed to get involved if there’s a dispute between packs or species, or if there are issues with demons. The day-to-day mechanics of running a community is left to the leaders of that community.

“You told them what’s been going on?” He sounds outraged. I bristle at his tone. Seems to me like someone wants a swift kick to the shins.

“You wouldn’t have? Caleb, these are your people too. Just because they’re joining my community doesn’t mean they aren’t still aligned with the Council. I’m not forming a new faction here. Even though I refuse to go with you once this is settled, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be allies. We’re all going to have to band together to continue fighting the demons.” Clearly I need to be the adult here.

“Until I know who we can trust, we shouldn’t be giving any of this information out!”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” My voice is deadly calm, and I know I’m radiating the rage I feel building inside me. “We need to warn as many people as possible. If we don’t, more will fall victim to the likes of Malick. I don’t know how the Council does things, but if they would rather leave their people in the dark to fight alone rather than join them together so they have a fighting chance, maybe the Council is obsolete.”

Caleb goes completely still. His eyes narrow into deadly slits. He takes several deep breaths, trying to contain his own fury. I don’t care if his feelings are hurt. He can’t call himself a leader, Alpha, if he’s going to leave his own people to be slaughtered simply because he doesn’t know who’s in league with the demons. And frankly, telling the other supernatural communities may make those involved rethink what they’re doing. Regardless, if we warn people now, the chances of more missing community members go down because everyone is more aware. No one is alone.

“We can debate this later, right now the most important thing is seeing to the dead.” I spin and start marching off. “Come on.”

Once we’re on the other side of the portal, Patrick and Dante instantly come to our sides. Everyone else is off on their specific tasks.

“I want us to go to the village the pack was living in. I need to see what Sean left behind as evidence,” Caleb says as he gestures for Patrick to lead the way.

Now that I’m not in dragon form, and I’m able to see the bodies up close, there seems to be more dead than I remembered. I realize my brain simply didn’t want to process the extent of the damage done because I needed to make sure everyone was safe by eliminating the current threat. But this was a massacre. If my community hadn’t shown up, if I hadn’t faced Malick, everyone could have been slaughtered. And I had the balls to fail. Gods, I can’t believe I wasn’t able to kill Malick.

I’m so lost in my pity party that I trip over a tree root, but Caleb catches me before I hit the ground. He holds me tightly against him, and his scent soothes my frayed nerves, helping me to think more clearly, which is irritating because I’m still annoyed that he’s a chest pounding caveman. Training starts today when we’re finished here. The next time I face Malick, I’m going to end him.

Caleb tilts my chin up, interrupting my thoughts. He studies my face, and a flash of worry crosses his features before he leans in and kisses me hard. I want to be mad, but my brain turns off and I’m instantly lost in him. My arms snake around his neck, and his hands drop to my hips, pulling me flush against him. My tongue laps at his lips, begging for entry, and I moan when he finally touches his tongue to mine. My hands tangle in his hair as I try to pull myself closer. Heat flares to life, spiraling down to pool between my legs.

“Uh…Guys?” Dante’s voice cuts through my lust-filled fog and has me quickly stepping away from Caleb. “As much as I’m sure we’d all enjoy the show, we have things to do.”

Cheeky little bugger. He’s not so serious after all. Both Caleb and I chuckle as we start forward again. I step ahead so I can walk beside Dante, and Caleb doesn’t seem to mind.

I feel my face heat, but I look dead ahead and don’t comment.

I snort and roll my eyes. Dante gives me a sideways glance as I reply,