Chapter 10 Ciara #2
“It’s okay.” I jumped in because it hurt to see him in pain over me when there was nothing he could do.
“You’re the alpha, I get that. And anyway, this vampire thing is giving me a nice distraction.
” I pressed my lips together again, afraid I’d said too much about exactly how nice a distraction I was finding Jason.
I needed to get that guy out of my thoughts. Just exorcise him and be done. Perhaps I could do that tomorrow.
Conri grinned, but there wasn’t as much happiness in it as before. More resignation. “Just keep at it, Key. I know you can get to the bottom of it.” He smiled again, this time happier. “Grind him down. Get what we want.”
I nodded. “No problem. I’m on it.” I kept my fingers tightly crossed beneath the desk as I told my brother no problem even though my sudden issue controlling my lady parts suggested a very big problem, indeed.
I grimaced in disgust at myself. Ugh. Lady parts? Still, as long as I didn’t start referring to man bits any time soon… Or trouser snakes. That thought nearly made me laugh out loud.
If Conri noticed my facial expression, he didn’t comment. “I know you’ve got a handle on this. It’s why I assigned you to be liaison. You’ll get it done properly. I trust you more than anyone here.”
I preened a little at his words. Technically, he was supposed to trust Simon, his beta, over me, but perhaps blood really was thicker than water on this occasion.
Conri had always made me feel worthy, despite the fact I couldn’t shift and probably didn’t truly belong in his pack because of that. No one made me feel more accepted, though, and I would do anything for him because family loyalty went both ways.
He tapped on the tabletop. “Right. You need any extra help with anything?”
I shook my head. “Sure don’t. I’ll update you tomorrow, though. Once I’ve seen whatever it is Jason thinks is a good enough reason to screw us out of a deal.”
Conri nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll make some time whenever you’re ready.”
I nodded and grinned at him. He always had time for me.
This time, he did ruffle my hair, and I let him. It felt good to be part of his pack. Like I belonged and no one could ever say different.
“See you later, Key-Key.”
I nodded again as he left. After the door closed, I gathered the paperwork and stuffed it into my oversized purse. I’d read it again later, so I was ready for tomorrow, but I was pretty sure I’d memorized all of the pertinent points—namely that they were trying to stiff us.
Again.
It seemed quiet outside the small meeting room when I stepped into the communal living room, so maybe now was the perfect time to get something to eat without having to mix with a lot of the pack. My life was simpler when I spent swaths of my day alone.
I trudged to the dining room, my footsteps suddenly heavier than they’d been before I met Jason. Then, I’d been buzzing with adrenaline. Spoiling for a fight, really. It couldn’t have been anything else. Not something I wanted to examine too closely, anyway.
But now… Now, I was headed to the dining room, and probably others from the pack would be there, and yeah. Conri treated me like an equal. And of course, Taylor did, too. A girl couldn’t get by in life without her bestie, and I grinned at a sudden image of Taylor’s smiling face in my head.
There were others besides Conri and Taylor.
Leon, too. But I could count the others who were civil on one hand.
Two fingers, even. Simon, but as pack beta he had to.
And Peter, who wanted to improve his position to something important, but as both of those guys had their reasons, they didn’t really count.
Jason. It was a tiny voice in my head, but my steps faltered. I couldn’t deny it. Jason treated me as worthwhile. As worthy. Even though he was dicking me around, it wasn’t for the same reasons as the pack called me names or made me feel less.
I laughed. Jason would have dicked any one of us around. In that way, I wasn’t any more or any less special. And that was refreshing.
I walked through the doorway of the dining hall, and my chest hollowed. Sienna and her girl crew. They were people she picked to agree with her, and I could mostly ignore them, but she squared up to me right away, and they moved to flank her.
“All alone?”
Fantastic. She was still smarting after being interrupted by Conri earlier. It probably really chafed at her that my brother was the Alpha, and yeah, that word always had a capital letter in my head. Hell, in my head, the whole word was capitalized.
But Conri would have been a scary dude on his own even if he wasn’t the pack leader, even if he didn’t have final say over who stayed and who went.
My brother had a protective streak a mile wide, and probably wider for me.
He’d shown his true colors the day he helped protect the vampire king’s human.
I had no doubt he’d go to further lengths for me.
I made a show of glancing around me and under tables. “Just me and my invisible friends.” I shrugged.
The confusion on Sienna’s face was fleeting before malice replaced it. “You probably are a nutter,” she said. “Such a waste of space. You need to watch yourself.”
I sighed. This was getting so old now. I should have just gone home for lunch, but every now and again, I wanted to feel like part of the pack. Clearly now wasn’t intended to be one of those times.
“What are you still doing here? This is an area for wolves.” Sierra waved her hand to dismiss me, and her friends laughed.
I didn’t say anything, but I stood my ground. I couldn’t run away every time one of them started on me, and I couldn’t expect Conri to fight all my battles. I didn’t want him to. I was more than my brother’s sister, even if I had to remind myself of that some days.
Sienna growled, and—dammit—I flinched. She laughed harshly and stepped forward, and this time I moved. Only I also stepped forward, until we were almost nose to nose.
“Oh, yeah?” I whispered. “Just try it.”
“What’s making you brave, little skin-stain?” she taunted. “Think your brother’s going to save you again? Or maybe that decomposing excuse for a bloodsucker?”
I almost laughed. Perhaps she needed her eyes checked.
Jason was many things, but certainly not decomposing.
I didn’t say that, though. Although defending him was my first instinct—an odd one I really didn’t want to explore, any more than the way he made me feel—I definitely couldn’t be seen to think too much of him in public.
“You shouldn’t even be vampire liaison,” she hissed. “That job should have gone to a wolf. Someone who can stand up to the vampires, take them on. You’re weak.” She spat the last word.
I grimaced and stepped back. She wasn’t worth it. Conri trusted me to get this right. And he’d have been a hell of a lot worse off if Sienna was indicative of the level of intelligence in the pack and one of them was in the role.
No point telling her that, though. Sometimes, silence was the smart way forward, and I chose to deploy that now.
“Everything okay?” Not Conri this time. No, that voice belonged to Simon, and Sienna barely responded. She didn’t have the same respect for the pack beta as she did my brother, that much was clear.
“It’s great.” I didn’t look away from her gaze as I responded, and the malicious smile twitched at her lips again.
“Oh, yeah,” Sienna agreed. “Just having a little chat with Ciara about her new role.”
I pushed past her, the fact that Simon was in here having more of an impact on my bravery than I wanted to admit. When I’d grabbed an apple from the enormous fruit bowl, I leaned casually against one of the tables and took a bite. I met first Sienna’s eyes, then Simon’s.
Neither one said anything, and I chewed slowly, watching each of them until I’d finished my mouthful. “Okay. Nice talk, Sienna.”
Then I held my head up the entire way out of the dining room.