24 Later

Jason

We jogged through the trees, Carrie keeping up well with my fast pace. Porter joined up with us, along with Krystal, both in their wolf forms.

We arrived at a clearing where we found Randy and another fighter standing with a tall male who was leaning back against a tree casually. His relaxed but confident posture set my wolf’s territorial protectiveness on edge.

Carrie stood behind me and off to the side, not attempting to get in front of me. I appreciated that she was at least allowing me protect her in one small way.

She might have been willing to stay behind me, but that didn’t stop her active mind. “His clothing looks expensive, even though it’s casual. Not really the sort of thing I’d expect for tramping around in the forest.”

I noted her observation as the vampire stepped away from the tree, his hand extended. I cautiously took the proffered hand and shook it, not taking my eyes off of him for a second.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Nathaniel Hayes, First Secretary to the Ambassador of Hunter Relations. My apologies for inadvertently trespassing on your land.”

I nodded my acknowledgement, but I remained wary. “Alpha Jason Bronson. What can I help you with?”

He nodded and smiled, and I couldn’t determine if it were genuine or not. “What do you think?” I asked silently to my mate and my ranked wolves.

“He didn’t exhibit hostile behaviours, quickly surrendering when we found him,” Randy told me. “I still don’t trust him, though.”

Porter just kept his eyes trained on the potential threat. His presence was help enough, since he was a huge intimidating wolf, the sort that could never be confused with a wild wolf.

Carrie also watched, eyes fixed on the intruder. “I want to know why he was trespassing.”

“What brought you into my territory?”

The vampire met my eyes. “We got a tip about suspicious activity in the vicinity, and since I was nearby on business, I opted to check it out personally. I wasn’t expecting werewolves and especially not what seems to be a new pack.”

Again, I wasn’t sure if what I detected was simple curiosity or something more malevolent. Although I’d had nothing more than brief passing contact with vampires in the past, I’d heard bloodsuckers could be difficult to read, and it seemed to be true. “What were you expecting?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Possibly rebels against the queen, or perhaps new hunter activity. I didn’t imagine werewolves. We have no record of a pack nearby, and typically the problematic rogues are less subtle than you’ve been. On the surface, this seems like an irregular human community.”

I didn’t like the idea that vampires were keeping records on my pack, or werewolves in general. In addition, my wolf remained uneasy with his presence, so I wanted him off of my territory as fast as possible.

“Are you satisfied with what you’ve seen? I assume my pack doesn’t fall under your jurisdiction.”

The vampire’s smile was easy, as if he wasn’t at all bothered by being surrounded by a snarling wolves. He should have been. Vampires were fast and hard to kill, especially at night, but we werewolves were a lot stronger. “No, of course not. But since I’m here anyway, I’d like to extend the hand of friendship to your pack—what’s its name?”

“We haven’t settled on one yet.” It was proving difficult to find something that encompassed what we were trying to build that the majority could agree on. Worrying about naming was also nowhere near the top of my priority list, languishing somewhere far below security, finances, and building the physical structures so my people would have somewhere better to live.

“Well, no matter. Would you be interested in more close ties with the vampire court? The queen has an interest in establishing new treaties with favourable packs.”

I didn’t have to ask for my mate’s opinion, because she gave it freely. “There’s got to be a catch to that. It sounds too good to be true.” She was probably right, and my wolf urged me to go along with her.

Porter was still staring down the vampire like he expected him to attack at any moment. I was with him, I wanted the bloodsucker off my territory as fast as possible. He was an unexpected variable I didn’t have resources to deal with.

The vampire continued speaking. “Her Majesty is concerned about subversive hunter activity. We’ve observed them becoming more unreasonable in the last half century, and we believe that it would be wise to have closer ties with our other allies in case they decide to break the accords at some point in the future.”

I made our decision, largely influenced by the feelings of my mate and ranked warriors through our connections. None were comfortable with the vampire’s suggestion, and our pack was too new to risk getting involved in vampire politics. “I appreciate the offer, but I believe that the rules laid out in the accords are far more than sufficient for us to interact with your people.”

The vampire smiled, looking neither surprised nor disappointed. “Alas, it is your choice, Alpha.” He shifted and reached into the pocket of his jacket, and my pack warrior growled in response.

I gave him a sharp look to silence him, and he complied, as Nathaniel pulled a business card out and held it out towards me. “If you change your mind about forming closer ties, you’re welcome to contact me anytime. I’d be happy to hear any information you run across on hunter malfeasance or rebel vampire activity in the future. Her Majesty wishes for nothing more than to increase interkind communication and cooperation at this time. Our kinds may once have been enemies, but we’re stronger when we stand together as one.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

“Good luck with your young pack, Alpha. I wager it will be a difficult road, so you’re going to need it.” He nodded to the others around the circle, and casually strolled off in the direction of the border line as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“See that he finds his way out—subtly,” I ordered Randy, and he shifted and began to slink through the underbrush, the other warrior on his tail.

Once he was out of sight, Carrie stepped forward and took the card from my hand. She held it up and inspected it. “It appears to be excellent quality. This was pricey.”

“Definitely got that impression.” The vampire had a pretentious air, but more aloof than the typical alpha way I was used to dealing with. He seemed like he was—or thought he was—above all the difficulties of mere mortals. Randy linked me that the vampire was off of territory, and we turned, and began walking back towards our home.

“I don’t know much about vampires. This was the first time I’ve ever seen one. I don’t remember any contact with them in my old pack, and surely I would...”

I waited for her to say more, but she caught herself and stopped talking. The way she danced around her old pack I imagined that she had been tossed out for something extreme. What could make her so hesitant to tell her mate what had happened? Maybe she’d accidentally killed someone, or something equally severe.

When she spoke again, she changed the subject again. I was disappointed, but I pretended not to notice the diversion. “Anyway, he seemed to fit the vampire stereotype well, didn’t he? Pale skin, nearly scentless, those slow controlled movements masking lightning fast reflexes, handsome in a statuesque sort of way...”

“Wait, you thought that bloodsucker is attractive?” My wolf was instantly up at arms with irrational jealousy, but I didn’t truly feel threatened. Most of the time it was easy to keep control of my instinctual half. Compared to other wolves in alpha positions, my wolf seemed fairly chill, even with the pack energy thrumming through him. I didn’t know if it was inherent personality, or because my pack was modest in size, or because I didn’t grow up with the power of pack expectations constantly thrumming through my veins. Whatever it was, my job was easier with my wolf in line.

But when it came to all-things Carrie, my wolf was anything but relaxed.

She laughed, either knowing that I was joking or enjoying the show of jealousy. I didn’t care which, I loved the sound.

Her smile remained after her laughter had faded. “Only in an academic sense. Already told you vamps weren’t my thing.”

“No?” I pretended not to believe her.

“None could ever hope to measure up to you.”

I didn’t need my wolf’s influence to like the sound of that.

We arrived back at our home a short while later, leaving the cool darkness behind for the sweet smelling warmth and light inside, like it had been ever since the first time she had stayed there. Now that we were harmonious, it felt as welcoming as my instincts believed it to be.

She walked down the hall, clearly as at home here as if she had lived with me for years. Maybe spitefully digging through my things had this effect, I thought with amusement.

The shower turned on, and I followed a moment later, only to find her pulling off her bra and stepping into the shower. As if the visual wasn’t enough, the bond strummed between us, reminding me of what had earlier been interrupted. She spotted me, and smiled welcomingly. That was good enough for me, and I tossed my clothing onto the floor to join her in the shower, wasting not even a moment in closing the distance between us. I wanted to devour her, and she enthusiastically let me.

Once we finished our long drawn out shower, we went to bed. Normally my head would have wandered through vampire problems, and security concerns, and the pile of papers sitting on my desk just waiting for me to deal with them tomorrow, but instead my mind wandered back to her.

The vampire had left the territory, the papers would be there in the morning, and the security was as tight as was possible with our limited number of pack members. Once the numbers increased we could cover more territory, but for now, it would suffice. She had quickly become my consolation for the stress of my position. I hadn’t understood why anyone would want to be an alpha, but now I understood it was the luna that made it all worth it.

Or maybe it was just mates that made life worthwhile. There were a lot of theories about the origins of the bonds, but the one I found most convincing was that it was for the propagation of the species. Since I’d found Carrie, I was nearly insatiable, so that that theory seemed especially convincing now.

Who cared if the bond messed with my free will, when the reward was this woman at the end of it?

Now that I had my mate sleeping peacefully in my arms, it felt like it had taken too long to find her. But what if I had found her younger? She, as likely as not, might have been killed along with the majority of my original pack. Waiting had sucked, but that miserable period without her had kept her safe. We both clearly had our scars, but what mattered is that I had her now.

Sure, we had to resolve the past and think about the future.

But I wasn’t going to disturb her tonight when she was so peaceful.

We would talk about all the important stuff.

Later.