Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
As soon as Larkin’s hand goes back down into her lap, everyone springs up. Some of the werewolves growl and the energy coming off of them is unlike anything I’ve felt before. In nature, wolves have no natural enemies because of the way they are able to work together to take down a target.
I’m guessing the same can be said about werewolves.
A pack is only as strong as its members, and a pack this size is a force to be reckoned with.
Vampires tend to be solitary. They’re possessive and protective of what they’ve claimed as their own, even amongst their own kind.
Xavier and his family are not the norm, and judging by the way everyone except Delphi are ready to go on the attack, I don’t think the others have fully accepted it.
Delphi was right. If they don’t believe me and they go after Xavier, this entire pack could be wiped out.
“I will talk to them,” I say, putting myself between the pack and the front door. This is Delphi’s house, and I have no idea if she’s ever invited them in before. Knowing I’m probably going to get an earful from Xavier as well as Theo, I grit my teeth and walk toward the door.
“So will I.” Larkin joins me, reaching for the door handle.
“Crown Alpha,” one of the wolves starts. “Allow me instead. The vampires could have nefarious intentions.”
“If Xavier is as innocent as she claims in all this, he will have no problem talking like professionals.” Her voice is slightly louder than before, probably to make sure Xavier can hear her through the closed doors and windows.
“The rest of you, stay in the house. And you,” she says softly to Delphi, who responds with a nod and turns her head down.
Right. If Delphi is held spellbound, she can invite the whole family in.
Larkin opens the door right as Xavier is going to ring the doorbell.
“Ah, such service,” he chides and flashes a smile. “Good evening, Crown Alpha.”
“Xavier,” she says in return.
“Hi,” I say informally and flash an awkward smile.
“Don’t be mad,” I whisper and see his G-Wagon in the driveway.
Devon is in the passenger seat, which surprises me.
Both he and Xavier were home when I left, and I didn’t think Xavier would take him on business ventures with him…
which means he doesn’t trust Devon to be alone.
Great. He better not fucking lose control here. That’s the last thing we need and the little bit of progress I made will be destroyed. Zeke, Mabel and Theo are at the bottom of the driveway, and I can see Theo’s fangs drawn even from here.
“Your wife elaborated on what we started to discuss yesterday,” Larkin tells Xavier. “She’s presented a quite compelling theory.” Crossing her arms, she slowly inhales as she continues to stare down Xavier. “What do you think about it?”
She’s good, I’ll give her that. By not telling Xavier what I talked about, she’s testing to see if our stories will line up.
“I agree with my wife. Demons using humans dying from overdoses as a cover-up is part of a larger picture and is not something I will allow to continue in my city.”
“And what do you say to the allegation that a vampire supplied drugs directly to members of my pack?”
“If that allegation proves to be true, he will be punished.”
“By us!” the wolf who lost her grandson says. “I want him hand-delivered so he can feel the pain of exactly what he’s done!”
Xavier nods. “Done. I’ll even rip his fangs out first and let it serve as a reminder: if anyone breaks my rules, I will break them.”
A few of the wolves murmur amongst themselves. Xavier is loyal to no one but his family, and the fact that he will punish quite literally anyone who crosses him is scary. There are no lines he won’t cross.
Larkin’s expression doesn’t change, and even the energy coming off of her is steady. “Given the circumstances,” she begins. “I think my request to meet privately should be expedited.”
“We can talk now,” Xavier replies. “Care to take a drive?”
“Sure,” Larkin says and half the pack objects. “But the girl stays here. Inside the house.”
Xavier’s jaw tenses and I turn, looking at Larkin.
“Let me talk to him for a minute,” I say before I step outside. Xavier takes me in his arms the second my feet hit the porch and I let out a breath of relief when I feel his firm body against mine. He takes a hold of my hand and we start off the porch.
“Kids died and they want justice,” I start, looking up at him.
“But I think I’ve convinced them not to take it out on you.
We know they’ll lose,” I whisper and Xavier’s grip on my hand tightens.
He doesn’t look at me or respond. A familiar knot forms in my chest and I get a flash of terror through me that he’s mad. I try to quickly shove it away.
I’m not worried I made a mistake. I’m worried he won’t want me the same way and I fucking hate how easy it is to rip the scab off this abandonment wound. God, a therapist would love me.
“Wren!” Mabel zooms over and gives me a hug. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine,” I assure her, pulling my hand from Xavier’s so I can hug her back. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“That’s disappointing,” Theo grumbles and Xavier growls at him. Mabel and I break apart. He and Zeke both have little splatters of blood on their collars, probably from duking it out after I sped away.
“This isn’t the way we do things,” Xavier says calmly. Too calmly.
“Maybe the way you do things isn’t always the answer.
When I got here, the wolves were out for blood.
Now they’re not.” I shake my head. “I know I don’t have the political experience you all have, but they trust me.
I’m not a vampire and I’m not a werewolf either, but I am alive.
And I know if a member of the coalition accuses you of dealing drugs, it won’t sit well with the others. ”
“You didn’t listen,” Xavier says through gritted teeth. “You could have gotten hurt or made the situation much worse.”
“But I didn’t.” I swallow hard and push my shoulders back. “Their alpha believes me, and by the end of the night, the rest of the pack will too. We can go our separate ways and I can get back to figuring out what’s actually going on.”
“It’s not your fucking job,” Theo snarls.
“It is now,” I fire back. “I’m a hunter, and you can’t change that. These demons are up to something, and it’s not going to be good—for anyone.”
“Demons have never been our concern,” Theo keeps going.
“If demons are interfering with business, then they fucking are,” Xavier tells him.
“Hey,” Zeke starts, holding up both hands in a gesture of goodwill.
“We have rules in place on who can bring what in and out of the city. If the Morris family gets wind of this, it’ll be a shit show.
They don’t like vampires as is and remember how much of a pain in the ass they were fifty-some years ago? ”
“Somehow, the Order is involved,” I press, looking at Xavier, gaze pleading. “Think about it; if someone is trying to pin this on vampires, it would make sense for it to be them. Marcus Henry slipped up when he was trying to bribe me. He wants info on the whole mafia thing, remember?”
Xavier nods. “I see where you’re going.”
“I don’t,” Mabel says, wrinkling her nose. “Who is Marcus Henry?”
“Someone from the Order, honey,” Zeke tells her. “An important man.”
“Oh, yuck. I don’t like corporate types.”
“No one does,” he agrees.
Xavier keeps his eyes locked with mine and then nods, letting me know he agrees.
The Order wants info on the Malus family’s business operation because they want to take over.
And since they can’t do that, the second best thing is to break it apart.
What better way to do that than to make the coalition mistrust each other?
“I will talk to Larkin,” Xavier says and then leans in. “Delphi doesn’t remember, but she’s invited Zeke in before. If anything happens, he will get you out.”
“I’ll—”
“Be fine,” he says over me. “I know.” He kisses me and walks me back up to the house. Larkin comes out as soon as I enter, and one of the wolves shuts the door behind me immediately.
“Chill, guys,” Delphi says. “She’s here as my guest.”
I go into the living room with her and take a seat on the couch.
“Does anyone want to play cards?” I ask, picking up a deck on the coffee table.
“I know gin rummy.” Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy.
Shrugging, I put the cards back down and lean back, awkwardly drumming my fingers on my thigh as the time slowly passes.
“That’s a cool fish tank,” I tell Delphi.
“Thanks. It was a bitch to get set up.”
“I’ve heard that about saltwater tanks.”
“Wanna look at my fish while I tell you about them?” she asks with a laugh, knowing how lame that sounded.
“Yeah. What else are we gonna do?” I get up, aware the elders in the pack are watching. Once Larkin is back and the trust is restored, this awkward as fuck meeting will be worth it. Delphi geeks out as she talks about each fish, and after fifteen minutes, Xavier is back.
“Thank you again,” Delphi says when I get to the front door.
“I’m glad I was able to help.”
“Let me know if we can help too. I don’t know anything about hunting demons, but I want this to stop and, uh, I’ve seen enough horror movies to be kinda scared. I don’t want the world to end.”
“I won’t let it get that far.”
Stepping aside, I let Larkin come into the house before I leave. She gives me a curt nod but catches my arm right before I leave the house.
“We’ve never had someone who could go in between before,” she tells me. “Don’t let them fuck it up.”