Chapter 3
The forest clearing was deceptively idyllic. Placed right on the state line between Illinois and Missouri, it was illuminated by an early afternoon sun and covered by a fresh layer of snow.
Serene by any metric. As long as Maya ignored the fiendish co-Regent of Chains pacing along its center.
Natalya never paced. She practiced control to a frightening degree, so the fact that her walking had created a melted path in the snow was one of several reasons to be on alert.
But Maya’s attention kept slipping.
Diana nudged her elbow. “Stay focused.”
Maya straightened. Her thoughts had been drifting, guided by a hint of citrus perfume clinging to her leather jacket. A reminder of the woman the scent belonged to and the teasing grin she’d been wearing when she drove off the night before.
Maya crossed her arms. “They’re late.”
“They’re just trying to put us on edge. If we pounce first, they have an excuse to respond.” Diana ran her eyes over the trees. “The people we’re meeting with might be late. But those woods are crawling with wolves.”
Maya scanned the tree line, seeing nothing of note. But that was the point. The Chains had hidden people all over their side of the forest, too. They had experience with supposedly harmless meetings taking a turn for the worse, so they weren’t taking chances.
This had gotten out of hand way too fast. This was supposed to be an important but easy job; otherwise, Maya would never have been allowed near it. In the eyes of the Chains, she was barely a grunt. She had no business being at this type of meeting.
But Natalya wanted her there. And it hadn’t been a suggestion either.
The rumbling of a car engine mixed with the sighing wind. Natalya stopped pacing right as a cop car rolled down the narrow road cutting into the clearing. Two people were inside. A woman behind the wheel, and Kieran in the passenger seat.
Rage flared through Maya’s chest, memories of the previous evening coming through with perfect clarity.
Kieran sitting hunched in the shadows until Harper was too far away from any buildings to seek refuge. A sick desire wafting off him as he pinned her against her car, and she couldn’t get free from his grip.
She remembered the fear. The terror that had flowed off Harper’s body, sudden and suffocating. And she remembered how it had lessened. How the dread instilled by this man had waned with Maya’s presence rather than grown.
That was a fear she would love to give Kieran a bloody taste of.
“Dial down the killer eyes, Novak,” Diana whispered. Before Maya could obey, or at least try to obey, Natalya turned towards them, slitted violet eyes hard.
“No. If she feels like staring, she should stare.”
Natalya turned around with no further explanation. Before Maya could even think to request one, the police car rolled to a halt.
As Kieran stepped out his gaze fixed on Maya, and she was suddenly grateful that glaring was allowed. She couldn’t have stopped herself if she tried.
Kieran’s companion was more at ease. A woman in her late thirties with short dark hair, fair skin, and a sheriff’s star pinned to her uniform. A faint yellow glow shined in her eyes.
They went straight to Maya, narrowing as she sniffed the air. Therians could identify supernatural natures by smell alone, but that was another thing that made Maya unnerving. She didn’t have a smell at all.
“So… you’re the fiend the Chains are following around.” The woman approached Natalya until only a few feet of snow separated them. Natalya glanced at the woman’s name tag.
“And you’re Jackie Mayfield, Alpha of the Ironfang pack. I was surprised you agreed to this meeting. You’re not known to take the diplomatic route.”
That was putting it mildly. Less than a year ago, the Ironfangs had been a decently sized pack whose most notable characteristic was the archaic doctrine they followed.
While all fangers needed to feed on humans, lycanthropes required more than just blood to survive. They needed to hunt and kill their prey.
Most packs got around the issue by dosing a captured animal in human blood before chasing it down, but some considered that method an insult to traditions.
Missing person cases around St. Louis had increased over the past year, coinciding with the Ironfangs growing from minor Court into the largest pack of therians in North America.
“Diplomacy can have its uses,” Jackie said. “When the Chains start rattling, it’s wise to find out why. Especially when they do so around my territory.”
“You must have misspoken,” Natalya said. “St. Louis is a neutral zone. No Court has claim over it.”
Jackie sneered. “Right. Slip of the tongue.”
Natalya stayed quiet. Jackie did, too. Somewhere among the trees, a branch snapped.
“Rather than extend these pleasantries, I’ll just get to the point,” Natalya said after a long moment. “One of your subjects had an altercation with one of mine. Your wolves have every right to visit St. Louis, but right or not, they need to stop interfering with Chains business.”
“Interfering?” Kieran snarled. “That fucking vamp is the one who interfered. She got right in my face and—”
“Quiet.” Jackie’s voice produced immediate silence.
Though the therian Courts were small and their titles different, Jackie was still the second most powerful creature present, as long as she stayed on her side of the clearing.
Regents received power from the territory they held, scaling with the number and strength of their members.
But only while within their own borders.
When Kieran kept huffing out labored growls, Diana walked forward. Maya followed, hoping the man would lose his cool enough to step past the invisible line neither party had crossed. Then she might get an excuse to tear his fucking throat out.
Maya stopped in place, making Diana do the same. Where had that thought come from?
“What business do the Chains even have in St. Louis?” Jackie asked. Natalya narrowed her eyes.
“Investigating humans for potential initiation. We aren’t breaking any laws by being there.”
“Really?” Jackie let out a dry laugh. “Funny you should mention those. The laws.” She nodded at Kieran. “Tell her what happened. How lawful this fiend’s subject was being.”
“Your vampire stepped way out of line,” Kieran snarled, turning his glare onto Natalya. “The human I was with last night doesn’t need some bloodsucker defending her. I Claimed her. She’s mine. I wasn’t going to hurt her, no matter what that vamp says. Harper just likes playing hard to get.”
Maya was at the clearing’s center before she even realized she’d moved. She bared her teeth, fangs extended, and Kieran flinched backwards. A wave of fear pulsed off him, but before Maya could tear his flesh to bloody ribbons, Diana yanked her back.
Claiming humans was common in all the Courts. It put them under the protection of whatever creature they were Claimed by, marking them as off limits. The Chains were considered progressive, since they had the decency to involve the human in the process and ask for permission first.
These wolves clearly didn’t bother with that part. And the thought made her focus narrow until all she could see was Kieran and the ways she could make him scream.
“What the fuck, Maya?” Diana pulled her back a few feet. “What the hell are you doing?”
The question dimmed her fury enough that she could retract her fangs.
She couldn’t answer that question. All she knew was that Harper’s name didn’t belong on this man’s tongue and, only seconds before, she had been ready to tear it from his disgusting mouth.
“Ms. Novak acted on instinct.” Natalya hadn’t taken her eyes off Jackie. “She saw your wolf forcing himself on a young woman and chose to let him go rather than respond with violence. As far as I’m concerned, she acted with restraint.”
Jackie’s upper lip twitched. “Implying she should have taken a bloodier approach?”
Natalya let the silence hang just long enough that tension crept into it.
“Your Claim of her is symbolic at best,” Natalya said. “The woman lives in St. Louis, and unless that gets added to your territory, you have no power over its residents. I trust you aren’t interested in that changing. A play like that would upset more Courts than just the Chains.”
Jackie glanced in Kieran’s direction. “Indeed. The painted symbol your people found has already been removed.”
“Good to know. But to avoid more unnecessary conflict, it would be best if our factions steered clear of one another. Just until our business in the city is concluded.”
Jackie’s gaze hardened. “I can think of an easier way. You Chains are vicious. That daywalker most of all. In my eyes, it would be best if you kept them closer to home, rather than extend them further than their links can handle.”
“Our reach only extends as far as it needs to,” Natalya said tightly. “Our work in St. Louis is confined to a club called the Lucky Penny. Until our business within is concluded, I would appreciate it if you and your wolves stayed away from the area.”
Fire sparked in Jackie’s pupils. She took a step closer to the center of the clearing.
“What a coincidence. Kieran’s human works at that location.”
Natalya raised an eyebrow. “Does she?”
“Don’t treat me like a fool. You know that fucking girl.”
“I’ve never even met her.”
“But you know, don’t you? This is a play of some sort. You know that she’s Kieran’s mate.”
Natalya had kept her composure throughout the meeting, but that last word made her stiffen. When Diana did the same, eyes widening, Maya leaned closer to her.
“What’s she talking about?”
“Ancient laws,” Jackie said, not looking at them.
“Upon turning, fangers become infertile. Vampires are stuck like that, but therians are different. Under rare circumstances, a wolf can form a unique bond with a human. One that lets us feed on them without needing to kill them and without risk of infecting them with lycanthropy.” Jackie’s eyes were like molten steel. “One that lets us have children.”