Jax was very direct; he could tell this was going to go a lot different from what he planned. Brin thought she would be upset and maybe a little weepy over the whole getting the shit beat out of her, and maybe tortured. Cat told him to be patient and let her know he was there for her with lots of touchy feely stuff. He didn’t think she actually needed a shoulder to cry on, maybe to hit, but definitely not to cry on.
“Well, can you tell me what happened?” Brin said slowly.
“Of course, where should I start? You want from the beginning? Our Pack established itself a century ago in a village close to Dublin. We wanted to have the privacy of a gated community but still the ability to go to the larger cities for our needs. We have good working relations with several of the local vendors. They knew we were shifters because of family members or what not; we lived there in peace for years. My father and his father before him were the Pack leaders. When I was born, they were all surprised: one, I was not a boy and two, I was an Alpha from the second I was born. They worried at first, thinking they had to find a male strong enough to ‘tame’ me,” Jax said and laughed, getting a far away look in her eyes. Brin knew she was thinking about her family. He wished he could take her in his arms and soothe all her fears and hurts. It made him feel helpless, not something he was used to. Quin’s father told Brin when he was young he would be an Alpha if he were a wolf. Now he could see it. Brin wanted to solve all of her problems and wrap her up in a huge bubble, but she would never allow it.
“Then my father decided that I would be a good Alpha no matter if I was a woman or a man. He changed the feelings of the entire Pack. He was going to take it to the New Council. I would be the first Alpha female once my father stepped down. I was going to pave the way for change. He was ready to present to the New Council. My mother was planning on going with him to the States for a vacation. I was going to stay behind and run the Pack.”
“Did Quin already know all of this?” Brin asked.
“Of course, he set the meeting. Then they attacked. Seven nights ago, we were sitting down to dinner. The Pack was all together having a meeting about my father leaving. He was introducing me as the Alpha when the doors burst open and wolves flooded inside. My Pack shifted and fought. I grabbed as many women and kids as I could, I took them to the woods and hid them. I made several trips, took some of the wounded men. Brought a few more for protection. My father faced a Vampire. He lost. My mother fought with him too. She lost. I was ready to run back in and face him, the evil man who killed my parents, when I was grabbed from behind. They were rounding up the rest of the wolves who were there. I was shuffled in the group. The asshole that led the group who attacked us, he questioned us all. When none of us would talk, he ordered the men to kill us all. Then I rose up from the group. I told them who I was. And they thought they'd hit the mother lode finding the first female Alpha of a Pack. They were sure there was something about me that they could use. Something special about my blood that would allow them to create more Alphas. I told them they were crazy. Then they started killing my Pack mates. My Enforcer was the first. After that, when they took me back to a cell, we started sneaking a few men at a time out of the window we broke. We couldn’t all go at once because there was a guard. But one night, after they had killed five of my men, I helped the others escape; the men came for me. They were pissed. The leader beat me, demanded me to tell him where the others were. I refused, and he beat me some more. Whoever they were answering to demanded I be brought back to the States. I couldn’t hear where. The leader left three guys in charge of bringing me back. They got drunk at the hotel in England we were staying at before our flight. I ran.” Jax explained softly. She kept her head up during the entire explanation, never taking her eyes off his. That is how he knew this woman would be a force to be reckoned with.
“How did you get here?” Brin asked, picking up the dishes and taking them to the sink. She had at least eaten a full meal and drank three glasses of water. The color was coming back into her cheeks. Brin wondered when the state of shock was going to wear off.
Jax had been through a lot, and right now she was moving on autopilot. Brin could see the tired, wary look in her eyes. But she was on guard. Watching the door, cocking her head every once in a while. He knew she heard something he didn’t. It was going to take a lot for her to believe he could take care of her. Him, a mere human.
“My father, he put your card in my billfold months ago, explained to me who you were. I remembered when I was running. So here I am. Now, I need to call the New Council and find out what the hell they are doing to help my Pack out. I have no clue where they are. Most of them scattered when they escaped. They will be drawn to me. I am their Alpha now. So, we are going to have to prepare for about one hundred members descending on your building in the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours,” Jax said shaking her head.
“Yeah, well we have already spoken to Quin. They are sending someone here. Orfeo, the New Council Senate leader, is sending the new day walkers to guard us. Until his rep shows up, we are stuck inside, and they are stuck outside,” Brin said calmly. “I think you should really get some sleep.”
“I will sleep when my Pack is safe. I need to be there for them. They have to be feeling crazy not being together in their homes. Thank the Gods my father set up accounts for all of them to withdrawal funds from cards. They have money,” Jax said.
Brin sighed; he was going to have a fight on his hands. But the woman needed to rest. “Listen, I will begin making arrangements. You need to sleep.”
“I wasn’t joking, you know. You are my mate. Although I have to tell you, that at the moment, I'm thinking that you should back the fuck off and stop telling me what to do,” Jax said calmly and put her palms on the table and sat there stiffly.
“What is this mate thing about?” Brin asked. “I mean, I know the basics, Quin and Jaden told me a long time ago. I grew up with their Pack. My parent’s died in a car accident. They were driving on a windy, once covered road, and my father lost control. They never saw it coming. One of the Pack members was out for a run. They shifted in front of me to save me. Quin’s father was the Alpha. I had no other family, and so they raised me. But I never really got the whole mate thing. I mean, how can you know you will be happy with this one person for the rest of your life?”
Jax studied him for a minute and then said, “You just do. I know you are my mate, but I am telling you I'm not ready for one. I would rather we remain friends for now.”
Brin smiled. “Well, I wasn’t thinking about jumping in the sack right away. I was just trying to get to know you.”
“There will be time later. I hate to say this, but you may not want to tie yourself to me for now. I have a target on my back,” Jax said calmly, but he could see the pain in her eyes. She blamed herself, why?
Brin laughed. “Hell, I have had a target on my back for so long. Do you know what I do? I'm a lawyer. Everyone hates lawyers.”
Jax relaxed and chuckled. “That's true, except for when they need one.”
“That’s right. Seriously, you need sleep,” Brin said softly to her.
“I can’t, I see them when I sleep,” she whispered, refusing to look weak. She held her head high, and he nodded.
“What do you see,” Brin asked moving closer to her.
“I see my father, fighting for his life, my mother, our Pack...” she whispered and leaned a little toward him, her only show of weakness. It wasn’t really weakness either; it was more like she was looking for his support. “For me.”
Brin put his arm around her slowly and held her as she poured out her pain and exhaustion. He felt a bond with her. Finally, she talked herself to sleep. Brin sat there in an uncomfortable position, for as long as he could, before shifting and moving her into position. He lifted her without ever waking her.
Taking her to the conference/bedroom, he laid her on the bed and stared at her. Even with her face tear streaked and broken because of her family’s death, she looked strong
and Alpha. No one would mistake this woman for a shrinking violet, or a submissive mate. No, she was all Alpha.
***
Dante laid his head back on the cushion in the car that was taking him to the office of the lawyer Orfeo had been working with. Orfeo had spoken highly of him. Explaining what he knew about the man's past. Really, they were a lot alike. Dante had been curious when he first heard of the man. Something about him seemed familiar.
The driver called back that they were arriving to meet the Vampires that had already arrived and surrounded the building. When he got off the plane, they had reported that so far no one had paid much attention to the office they were guarding. Vampires didn’t need much sleep; a few hours here and there would be good. But he hadn’t been able to rest since he found out he was coming here.
Not that he had much of a chance. But the plane ride would have been a good place to catch some zzz’s. Unfortunately, his brain was working overtime. The visions he was having were ever changing. He knew already what needed to be done. But he had to arrange so many things before they would be able to leave. The load was weighing on him. He still couldn’t figure out why the hell the two people he was dreaming about would mean to him. It was enough to drive the Vampire fucking nuts.
The car slowed down, and the ten-hour journey had finally come to an end. Dante sighed and waited for his Guards to get out of the car and signal for the others that had been watching the office building to come out of hiding. He saw the first one, just as he emerged from the car.
Putting his sun glasses on to block the bright rays from the sun, he looked around. Damn it, why did he have to arrive in the middle of the fucking day? It sucked.
“Sir, we have secured the surrounding area. There are some shifters that have shown up; I think they are part of her Pack. We have watched them; so far, they are waiting around the hotel not far from here. There are about fifty of them,” Trey, his Lead Guard, said.
Trey had worked for him for the last ten decades as his Lead Guard, it was a position he didn’t take lightly, neither of them did. He would give his life for the Clan; Trey proved it time and time again when they were attacked.
“I think they need a little reassurance, go and tell them who we are. I will go inside and see how the human is holding up with all this. He's probably not real happy about being stuck in the middle of this war we have gotten ourselves into. Make sure you are all on alert. I don’t know if the Rogues have left yet, they may still try to capture the female Alpha,” Dante said and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
He did not have a chance to meet the lawyer yet; he assumed he was like most, pasty, overweight and greedy for money. That was his experience at least. The man was probably pissing his pants having to stay inside the room with an Alpha female for the last twenty hours. He should have asked Orfeo for a bio, that way he would know what the fuck he was getting into.
The voice that answered the phone was deep and masculine. And much younger than he would have thought, great, a wet behind the ears, young buck that would need to have his hand held to get home. “Hello?”
“This is Dante, Orfeo sent me; I'm outside, please let me in,” Dante said smoothly and tried to sound harmless so as not to scare the shit out of the man.
He heard a chuckle, and Dante frowned and looked down at the phone. “I guessed, when all the dark cars pulled up and everyone around was wearing sunglasses that you have arrived. Jax is sleeping still. I'll get her up and ready. We're on the third floor, the office suite in the east corner.”
“On my way,” Dante said briskly, not liking that the man had laughed at him.
Dante hung up and talked with his men for a minute. They had to have the place secured and ready to go when he came out. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long, the lawyer needed to be dispatched of, and then they could take off. Their plane was set to leave in a few hours.
Taking the stairs two at a time in his impatience, his long legs ate up the distance in a relatively short time. He found the door with little problem, the office door was non-descript. At least he was smart, maybe he would stay alive for longer than the last attorney they had retained.
“Mr. Hedrick, open the door,” Dante said and knocked. He looked around but knew that no one was near.
“Well shit,” he heard a man say and a very distinctive growl came from just the other side of the door.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Hedrick? You need to open the door right now.” Dante was about ready to call his men and have them up here breaking down the door in a second if the man didn’t open the fucking door. Something was going on; Dante was just not sure what.
“Stand back,” the voice called and Dante held his ground and got into a battle stance, ready for whatever was coming through the door.
Chapter 4
“What the fuck?” Brin heard the Vampire say as he saw the large white wolf standing in the middle of the office. Shit, when she had whispered, “Vampire and mate" in the same sentence, then shifted, he had no clue what the hell was going on. Brin thought he was her mate, and she claimed the large man with very nice hair standing in the doorway was her mate.
“Uh, not sure, she went all wolf on me when she sensed you in the hallway. Have you ever seen a White Wolf before? As far as I knew, Jo or Josephine, the Old Council Alpha’s daughter, was the only White Wolf in existence,” Brin said and held out his hand to the very stunned Vampire. “Sorry, Brin Hedrick, I'm the counsel to the New Council and the Senate. Come in so we can shut the door.”
The Vampire seemed to snap out of it; he was staring at the gorgeous animal that was snarling and snapping her teeth at both of them. Brin had no clue what was going on either.
“Dante Vibrine,” the Vampire said and held out his hand. Brin shook it and then jerked at the shock that ran through him. He was not sure what the fuck that was about, but the sensation didn’t hurt so much, as arouse him. What the hell? He really wasn’t into men.
“Uh, yeah, so this is Jax, I think maybe we may need to call someone and see what the fuck we're supposed to do about her.” The wolf cocked her head and whined. “What does that mean?” Brin asked.
“I don’t really speak wolf, and although our King's consort is one, I just haven’t really seen too much of him to learn the language. So, I think we are on our own here,” Dante said dryly, which earned him a snap from the wolf.
“She's huge,” Brin whispered with an awed tone. Jax barked at him and turned around like she was pissed. “No, I didn’t mean that in a bad way, I meant you were huge for a wolf, shit, you have to be the same size as Quin and Jaden. And you're white, your coat is stunning.”
Dante rolled his eyes at the human. He was praising a fucking wolf, seriously? What the hell kind of shit had he stepped into? “Call your friends; we need her to change back and fast.”
“Oh yeah, right,” Brin said and grabbed his phone and hit speed dial. Quin was going to have kittens about this.
Dante leaned down and snapped his fingers. “Hey, shift,” he ordered and Jax turned around and snapped at him, coming close to the fingers the Vampire had just used. “Shit," he growled and leapt back. “Watch those teeth honey, unless you would like them surgically removed before we leave.”
Jax growled low in her chest and circled the Vampire. “Just saying, you may want to hold off on the insults until I have a chance to talk to someone. I would hate to have to clean up after you all leave. Blood leaves stains,” Brin said.
Dante snorted. “Won’t be my blood,” he said arrogantly and leaned against Brin’s desk and crossed his ankles in a completely calm manner.
“Quin, we have a problem,” Brin said into the phone when his friend finally answered. “Did you know Jax was a White Wolf?”
“No, there is not another pure white wolf around but Jo. I bet she has a mark somewhere,” Quin said smoothly.
Brin squinted his eyes and bent down to see if he could see any other markings on her coat. He turned several different ways but couldn’t see he
r underbelly. “I can’t tell.”
“What,” Dante said in a commanding tone.
“Quin says there are no other White Wolves, she has to have markings somewhere,” Brin relayed.
Dante sighed and stood up and pushed the human to the side. He was making himself dizzy. “Hey, pup, come over here and roll over.”
“NO!!” Quin screamed into the phone, and Brin had enough time to drop the phone and grab the wolf around the neck as it lunged for the Vampire.
***
“What the hell?” Dante said and actually backed up. He had never stepped back from a fight before, but this was a chick, and one he was supposed to be protecting. “You crazy bitch, what the fuck? Shift!” he bellowed, and the wolf continued barking and pulling the human behind her on her back as she tried to get to him.
Dante figured it was best to back off. So he stepped around the desk to put something in between them. At least, the she-bitch was too large to move in such a small space; she seemed to take up the room.
Brin had been right though, he had never seen any wolf with such a gorgeous coat before. He held up his hands and said, “Sorry, call Fido off, and I will sit back here and keep quiet.”
Brin was muttering in the damn wolf's ear trying to calm her down, but every time he opened his mouth; he seemed to piss her off. Please, if she were this sensitive, she would never make it as an Alpha. He heard worse from a lot of his friends. They called the shifters a variety of names.
Finally, after what seemed like a freaking hour, the wolf calmed down and began to pace away from him but never took her eyes off him. Brin sighed and glared at him. Dante yawned and put his hands behind his head and put his feet up on the desk. They needed to sort this shit out, and fast.