In front of us, Garrett hooks his thumbs in his jeans and lets his chin drop. On any other wolf it would be a submissive pose, but our Alpha is so big, he's still looking down on all but the tallest of the leeches.
"That's a lot of mouths to feed," he says thoughtfully, and Jared and I stop joking.
"That is why we meet, no?" Lucius spreads his large hands. He's pretty big for a leech. Most of them are pretty boy thin and-forgive me-anemic. "To work out territory."
"Tucson's not big enough for all of us, plus your gang."
"We prefer the word nest," Nero corrects. At a hand signal from Frangelico, he comes forward, offering a sheet of paper. "Here is a map of the area. We have marked out ample territory for the wolves, with access to the all the mountain ranges, of course. We merely wish to dwell west of the Santa Cruz, and south of Congress street. To hunt and feed in peace."
At Garrett's signal, I move forward and meet the sleek-looking vampire halfway, keeping my gaze somewhere between his ear and his shoulder. Without touching his fingers, I grab the map and hand it to Tank.
He and Garrett study it a moment, and when Garrett looks up, his eyes glow with anger. "See, we have a problem with this. Because you don't hunt and feed off rabbits or deer. You hunt humans."
Moonlight glints off Lucius' fangs. "My children are too well-trained to make a mess of our food."
"I've heard otherwise. I heard you got into a turf war in L. A., and your victims ended up drained dry."
"A small issue only." Frangelico waves a hand. "Here I have no enemies. I offer you much to continue the goodwill between our species."
"What exactly are you offering?" Tank asks, folding beefy arms over his chest.
"The continued survival of your pack," Lucius replies, and the temperature plunges twenty degrees.
"What makes you think you'd survive a fight with our pack?" Garrett asks.
"You are young. You have only begun to take mates. You have too much to lose." Lucius' voice is matter-of-fact as he recites his reasons. He's pretty nonchalant for a guy who just threatened our entire existence.
And our mates.
But he's right. Our strongest pack members-Garrett, Jared and Tank-all have mates they would do anything to protect. And she's not my mate, but fuck if the image of Sheridan in her goddamn corset-dress doesn't materialize in my mind, making my fingers clench into fists. I would die to keep her safe without a moment's thought.
Loud growls grow in several wolves' chests. Garrett snaps the map in his hand, and the pack falls silent.
"It says here you'll be claiming Phoenix for your feeding grounds." Garrett studies the paper in his hands. "Have you spoken to the pack there? I doubt they'll be happy to know a new vampire nest is trespassing on their territory."
"They won't." A clear voice drifts down the side of the ravine, and we all turn. Sheridan appears at the top of the hill, swinging a leg over the concrete barrier and making her way down, crunching rocks under her big boots.
"Who is this?" Frangelico asks sharply.
"She's one of us," I blurt and lean close to Garrett and Tank to let them know, "It's Sheridan."
"What the fuck?" Garrett's forehead creases, but he motions for Jared and me to go to her. We meet her halfway up the side of the ravine.
"Hello, again," she says calmly, as if she's not interrupted a tension-filled meeting between sworn enemies. She's still wearing my jacket, thank the fates. The whole goth makeup and corset getup makes her look like a depraved Tinkerbell.
"Hi." I grit my teeth and put a hand out to help keep her from sliding down the loose rocks. She smells like beer and the vanilla-orange scent of her perfume. My favorite scents in the world. My dick perks right up.
I'm still mad as hell. "What in the fuck are you doing here?"
"My job," she chirps, and strides forward to meet the vampires.
The leeches wait with perfect poker faces, honed over hundreds of years. Lucius moves first, stepping forward with a little bow. "I do not believe we have been introduced."
"I'm Sheridan Green," she says, walking right up to stand beside Garrett as if she's his equal. As if she belongs here. "I represent the Phoenix pack."
"My lieutenants reported no Phoenix pack," Lucius tilts his head at Sheridan, questioning.
"Wolf Ridge," Garrett answers for her. "It's north of Scottsdale. My father's the Alpha."
"Ah yes, Alpha Green. I have heard of his rule and the little schism between him and his son. You are the son?"
"As if you don't know," Jared mutters, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. This whole playing dumb act of Lucius' is getting old. He's trying to be disarming. But we know all about vampire charm. Let it get to you and you're dead. Sucker food.
I move closer to Sheridan.
"I am," Garrett answers. "But, as you can see, there is no divide between me and my father's pack. We are united on all fronts." His voice holds a warning. Attack one and you'll have to fight us all. Score one for our alpha.
"I see," Lucius says pleasantly. "It is well that a Phoenix representative is here. The proposed territory allows my children to feed there as well as here. We can spread out our prey."
"Spread out the deaths, you mean," Tank rumbles.
Lucius makes an impatient gesture. "No deaths. And with the opening of our club, we may not have to roam too far."
"Club? What club?" Sheridan asks. I lay a warning hand on her back, but she doesn't back down. I sense her tension, but she faces the vampires with a calm, almost bored expression.
"My new club, Toxic," Frangelico tilts his head towards Sheridan. "You must visit us, my lady."
"No fucking way," I mutter, and step in front of Sheridan, putting as much of my body between her and the vampire king as he'll allow.