I whirl back on her with a snarl. "I'm not your wolf." I was once. But never again. That's why this is so hard. "I don't answer to you."
She straightens, her chin going up in the stubborn stance I know so well. "I'm here on behalf of the Phoenix pack."
"Garrett's dad? You should talk to Garrett."
"I thought he'd be here."
"This isn't pack territory. Not anymore." I swallow to stop my wolf growling in my chest. He hates the leeches as much as I do. "We made a deal with the new kingpin."
"I can't believe this. The wolves I know would never ever deal with vampires-"
"The Sheridan I knew would never choose her own glory over her friends. Oh wait, she did."
She pales. "That was years ago," she whispers. "I thought you'd be over it."
Never. I'll never be over you. If I talk, I'll beg like a dog. For her to come back, forgive me, anything. Instead of answering, I raise a mocking eyebrow. Cruel, but she deserves it.
She looks away, color returning to her cheeks with a flush. A tendril of hair curls around the perfect shell of her ear. I tighten my hand into a fist to keep from touching it.
After a minute, Sheridan turns back, her face a cool mask. "I'm here representing the Phoenix pack. We've heard Fight Club was attracting trouble. Alpha Green sent me to figure out what's going on."
"Spy on us, you mean." I cock my head and bare my teeth in a nasty semblance of a grin. "Just like old times."
She flinches at that. Points to me. "I'd like a sit down with Garrett, to talk about this new vampire presence and what it means."
"Then call him. I'm sure your cousin will be happy to hear from you. Or are you not on speaking terms with him?"
She presses her lips together and gives a small shake of her head.
"Imagine that. It's almost like no one trusts you anymore, since you betrayed us."
"Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Nope." I grin to hide the flash of pain. She's so beautiful. So perfect. So out of reach. An ant has a better chance of dating the sun.
Her father was right. I never should've put my dirty paws on her.
"Look." Her voice softens. "I'm not the bad guy here. Fight Club"-she flicks her fingers at the door-"You're attracting attention. Cops, FBI, CIA-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I raise a hand to stop her, mentally cursing Agent Dune and his damn midlife crisis. "That business with the CIA wasn't us."
She shakes her head. "You were involved. And now the heat's on and you're taunting the humans under their noses. Gambling. Illegal fights. Drugs."
"Hey"-I spread my hands-"I have nothing to do with drugs."
She leans forward and sniffs my clothes pointedly. "Last time I checked, recreational pot wasn't legal."
I roll my eyes. "Maybe I have a prescription."
"I don't care about the pot. I care about the harder stuff. Sucre sang." She rattles off something French-sounding. "Sugar blood. It's a new drug on the streets, and it's deadly." She pauses, her eyes faraway for a moment. "That's why the vampires are here," she says to herself, as if she's just figured it out.
I stay quiet, drinking in the sight of her in a sleek suit. She looks good. More makeup than she used to wear, and her hair is pulled back tight, but the stuffy suit she's wearing doesn't hide her perfect curves.
Sheridan. Fuck. She's catnip to my wolf. Not catnip-wolfbane. Sweetness and poison in one perfectly made up package.
As if to prove it, she faces me. "This little turf war with the leeches makes it clear that you guys can't stand alone. You need our protection. Maybe even become part of the Phoenix pack again."
"What the fuck?" I can't keep my voice down. "We've been on our own for years, ever since you-"
"You only exist because we allow it," she says, cool as a judge pronouncing an execution sentence. "Shut Fight Club down, Trey. Or I will."
TWELVE YEARS AGO
Trey
SHE-WOLVES IN BIKINIS, empty beer bottles, sand between my toes. San Clemente State Park is the perfect place to camp with the gang on an October weekend.
My mom's easy, but I'm not sure how most of these kids got their parents to let them come-must be because Garrett, our future alpha, headed up the trip. Either that, or they lied and said it was a school outing.
I know if I was Sheridan Green's dad, I would never let her sleep anywhere near the likes of us. Of me. Because she is in serious danger of getting marked right here and now.
And it's not just the stolen beer keg talking.
We've never hung out before-we run in totally different circles, but somehow we ended up playing frisbee in the water together this afternoon. Now she leans against me in front of the small beach fire someone lit, the skin of her bare shoulder warm against mine, her scent in my nostrils. I haven't touched her yet, mostly because I don't trust myself. I can't even believe we're hanging out. Homecoming queen, pack royalty, straight A student-she's everything I'm not. At seventeen, she works in the upper offices of Wolf Ridge with the rest of the royalty, not on the factory floor, like me and my mom.
And she's the most gorgeous she-wolf this pack has ever seen.
I thought she'd date an alpha kid from another pack, someone like her cousin Garrett, who is and has everything. Or even Jared, who at least has a mid-pack pedigree.
"You know what I can't figure out, Robson?" Her voice is husky and soft so only I can hear her.