Magnus watched Sapphire as she moved from books to the computer and back again. She was interested in what Sarah Ann gave her. Of course, she was interested. Sapphire was his Luna, his mate. She was born for this role. The gods wouldn’t create a person and place them in a position they were skilled at, but hated performing. “I’ve been thinking.” “If it’s more interesting than planning a yearly celebration or the next food order, then interrupt me.” Oh, she had a sense of human, and he was correct she was getting into the job. He couldn’t be happier, and had to resist the urge to scoop her up and kiss her. Only the gods knew how complicated that would get if they got carried away and mated. “I’m still not sure we understand why these people signed these treaties. I don’t believe it was just for access to the white wolf. There must be other reasons, because no one signs a magic imbued treaty of any kind so they can talk once in a while to the moon goddess.”
Hayden settled April into the guest apartments across from him. “So this is the best we can do on such short notice. With the rest of the pack rushing here, we’ll be tight for space soon enough. It may get to where you’ll have to take a sofa in my apartment.” “Really? How many more are coming?” April couldn’t believe the size of this house and Hayden was talking about putting her up on a sofa. She could understand the small rooms, there were a number of families living within the packhouse currently. “The pack that will live here is only about half are present. Right now, the gods are the only ones that know how many enforcers will add to those ranks. I think the council wants to send a message of strength to any competition.” Hayden didn’t look pleased at the thought of housing the enforcers. April couldn’t be sure that it was the pending war that upset him, or the extra people.“So, there’ll be a war coming here because of these treaties?” She needed to ha
Magnus struggled, wanted to spend all his time with Sapphire. He found he enjoyed just watching her move and exist. He hated seeing her flinch or pull away from confrontations and people. She loved things that grew, and she gravitated to the still unfinished garden behind the packhouse. She didn’t like to see or hear anything negative about an innocent, and she loved children. How many other things would he learn about her, by studying her? So much told him she was the right one for him. He didn’t need his instincts barking at him to take action and make it permanent. The sight of her, the scent, her voice were all things egging his needs on. Magnus knew and had to remind himself that he had to get this treaty thing fixed first, before she could be his. All he could do right now was support her in whatever it was she wanted to do. The problem was, she couldn’t seem to express her wants or needs to anyone. Sapphire stayed silent instead. It was only when you
Sapphire left Magnus at the custom bike shop and made her way to the pharmacy where she bought a few things the cover her story and spend the time before she was to meet with Ivory. Now she sat in the diner at the bus station and waited for Ivory to sail in here like she owned the place. Which she didn’t, but that didn’t mean a thing to Ivory. Ivory just believed everyone owed her whatever she wanted. She didn’t pay around town. Instead, Sapphire would have to pay the tabs she ran up in various places every month. Sapphire sat there drinking her iced tea and worrying about what Magnus would say if he knew she was doing this. She was in a public place, and Ivory may have a mouth on her, but if she brought someone else with her, Sapphire would scream for help, and she was sure someone would help. She had a strange feeling when she thought of Magnus. She’d experienced only his generous side, and that’s more than she got from anyone else. Sapphire fe
Hayden returned to his apartment to find April exactly where he’d left her. Pouring over the documents and maps. She was obsessed with narrowing down the search. He loved the way she wiggled her nose to adjust her glasses as she read. Her hands never missed a beat as she flipped from one page to another. “How’s it going?” “Well, I found something back in the eighteen ten referring to this Roger Helbourne. I don’t believe that’s his birth name.” “You mean he assumed someone else’s name? Or he made it up as he went along?” “I mean, it would have meaning to him. If he reinvented himself, or he was reborn as something new.” “Reborn? Reborn as what?” “Vampires call the process of creating a new vampire rebirth. Helbourne, sounds a lot like born in Hel. If he were Scandinavian, their mythology has a Hel. A person and a place, in fact. So it could be born of Hel too. Then there’s the Helbournes of England. Either way, we could lo
Ivory couldn’t figure out why Sapphire was headed to the Black Hole. That’s the last place Ivory wanted to do this. She’d missed her last three shifts and had no interest in dealing with that. Was Sapphire trying to get her in trouble? She wouldn’t put it past Sapphire to seek some petty revenge Ivory would. That didn’t make it better. Nor did the five guys follow her. Who did she think she was? She wasn’t any kind of Luna or a queen. She was a pathetic mouse. But here she was with one guy hovering over her every word. Ivory stay behind them but close enough to hear the guy practically clinging to her insist she was going to playthings safe, and she should have spoken up about it. He was treating her like a cherished child. Sapphire is the one who earned no respect. She couldn’t speak up for herself and she couldn’t defend herself to save her life. Sapphire was only good. Serving everyone else and they needed her back so that life would go back to being sane and norm
Cliff couldn’t believe anything Ivory said anymore. She’d betrayed him. Promised to help him get back in with her father and then ditched him as soon as she could. Now she was chatting it up with a bunch of strange wolves with Sapphire and his archenemy. He needed to do something. Lenny and Xavier were playing games behind the Black Hole while he watched everything going on the street. He wasn’t sure if he should notify the two fools and their flunkies that their target wasn’t falling for their lure. Because if he did, then he’d have to admit Ivory betrayed him and their righteous cause. They could follow them and attack when the time was right. Between himself and the group hiding out back, there was enough. Or close enough to make the fight interesting. If Cliff could get Sapphire away from that big one, it would really throw their plans into chaos. There’d be a reckoning for sure. Cliff wanted to fix that reckoning, not be the one to start it. He
Magnus took the two women back to the Bus Stop Diner and left two of his men to watch them. He and the other three went back to the Black Hole back parking lot to find out what was going on there. He was seeing red by the time he got there. Cliff, the fool from the day he got there, was there with several others. Magnus didn’t have to do much at first. Cliff was doing a great job of telling the wolves there what a poor plan it was and that their alpha would learn of it. They’d failed to research what was going on right under their noses. This group let not one, but two healthy females, get away from the pack. Magnus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. No, this was Cliff. From his experience with him, Magnus couldn’t be surprised. These were adult shifters, people in their own right. Not just breeders. The very thought turned Magnus’ stomach. Instead of taking them on though, Magnus directed his men to leave the area. “It’s a waste of time to step