“Damn it,” he yelled and flipped open his phone ready to call for reinforcements.
“Press that button and that will be the worst thing you could do,” Kira said quietly. All of them paused and looked at the calm bear shifter that shrugged her shoulders, “No, dumbasses, not like I am gonna kill him, what the hell is wrong with you? I meant, literally, press that button and you will miss out on what is to come.” The Seer shrugged, “Sorry can’t tell you yet, there is more than that gonna be revealed.”
Cami rolled her eyes and said, “Thank goodness, I have at least a good buzz going on. I am the Alpha of this damn Pack, you should have told me if there was going to be drama.”
Kira shrugged and took another drink. Marshall was struggling with his pants while getting ready to bark out an order when there was a knock on the door.
“We need some karaoke,” Bama said loudly and then laughed when her friends agreed. "Wait, who has the machine at their place.”
Since the last outing was so much fun, what with the whole singing thing and everything. Now when they got together, the machine always came out.
The owner of the restaurant led a string of employees into the room, carrying various pans for the tables and plates with amazing looking dipping treats. Cami should have seen her lead Enforcer freeze in shock, but she was instead lifting her glass in a toast for the chocolate that was being brought into the room. She did, however, notice one thing; the owner was a shifter of some kind.
The Alpha raised her eyebrow at the lovely woman who was in a chef’s uniform and smiled broadly. If it were not for her best friend freezing and saying extremely loudly “WHAT THE FUCK?” Cami would have waited and talked to the woman in private.
As it was, the entire room froze and Jo jumped to her feet and turned in a circle, looking at each of the people who had entered the room. Marshall growled and Cloe stood up, turning to the Enforcer, wondering what the hell was going on.
“Shit, Shea, I need some help,” Cami called and the fairy stood and raised her hand. She had powers that some still did not know about.
“Uh, okay?” Shea said then snapped her fingers. Anyone who was a human froze in the room to keep from freaking out with whatever was going to happen next. All the servers were frozen on the spot, and the only one who remained free to move was the owner.
Marshall bristled and made another low noise in his chest; Cami's head snapped up, and she looked at the lead Enforcer, “I know I have not had enough to drink if you are making that noise at me. I swear I will kick your ass if you do that again. Now, we need to take this one thing at a time. Marshall, what the fuck has your panties in a wad?”
The owner of the restaurant looked like a deer in the headlights as she looked around the room. The petite woman looked over her shoulder and frowned when the large Enforcer walked slowly toward her.
“Mate,” he said slowly.
“Ooookkkaaayyy!” Cami said slowly and looked at the owner. “I assume you know who we are; I am pretty sure I would know if we had a shifter chef in the Pack so, the question is, who are you?”
None of the ladies of the Council were talking, all of them were on guard as they watched the owner. If there was a shifter this close to a Pack that had no acknowledge she was near, it was either she was a Rogue, or she was in hiding. Either way, there was gonna be a little problem.
Marshall paused right next to the woman and inhaled deeply, “She is my mate, and she is a wolf.”
Cami laughed and said, “Sucks for you, but now, why have you not came to the Pack then? Jo, what the hell is wrong with you?” the Alpha female said to Jo as she watched her friend moving slowly to the other side of the owner, and she sniffed.
“I smell my father,” Jo said lightly, and her friends gasped in surprise. Everyone knew her father died in a battle with the once leader of the Rogues. Jo was devastated since she was an adult when she found out who she really was. It had shocked the hell out of everyone when they discovered Jo was the missing key to the Prophesy.
“Well thank the gods for that, I thought we were going to have a weird situation here.” Shea laughed. “Can we at least unfreeze the straights and send them on their way while we sort this out. I would think it was mighty uncomfortable being frozen like this.”
“Killed my buzz,” Cloe grumbled and touched one of the servers’ face. “This is like fuckin' scary. Shea, how the hell do you do this? It’s like they are wax.”
Skye, Bama, and Casey stood and did the same thing. “Whoa, that is some weird shit!” Lacy blurted out.
Ruby, Skye, Kira began laughing and their Alpha glared at them for a brief moment before her gaze was drawn to Bama, who was pulling out a tube of lipstick. “No,” Cami yelled as she twirled it between her fingers.
“Damn it, you are no fun when you are playing Queen Bitch,” Bama said with her accent more pronounced now that she had been drinking. “I was just going to make sure they were all refreshed and beautiful for their frozen wax state, there is no excuse for them to be without cosmetics.”
“Are you serious?” Kira asked with a smile on her face.
“Uh, yeah, gosh have you not listened to all the times I have said you cannot walk out the door without a fresh coat of lipstick,” Bama yelled and threw up her hands.
Cloe snorted and said, “I am pretty sure none of us have taken you seriously over the last year when you start talking about that, I mean, not to be a bitch or anything, but lipstick is the last thing I put in my pockets when I walk out the door.”
“That is ‘cause you carry a knife, and the only things you put in your pockets are weapons and Band-Aids.” Skye laughed and slammed her hand on the table.
“Would you people focus please,” Cami ground out. “Marshall, snap out of it, what the hell are we talking about here? Who is your mate?”
“She is,” Marshall said and pointed to the owner of the restaurant.
“Okay, and Jo, where are you getting the scent from?” Cami said calmly, now that she had things back under control.
“She is,” Jo whispered, staring at the woman intently.
“Great, now I suggest that we unfreeze the humans, all of us will play nice, got it. When they are all gone, we can have a calm discussion about what the battle fuck is going on. Bama, check the case of wine, I think we are going to need it, Kira move the chairs back to where they were, and everyone get back right where you were.”
The Enforcer opened his mouth to protest, and Cami stared at him with an evil glint in her eye. He knew she could make his life miserable, unless he followed orders. With one last longing glance at the woman who was his mate, Marshall turned and walked back to the door. The other Enforcers were standing there grinning at the chaos their leader seemed to be involved in.
“Dude, they dropped your pants in front of your mate.”
“Fuck off and do your job, or I will call your mate and tell her you were looking at Cloe in the lingerie department,” Marshall snapped, and the Enforcers shut up.
He walked over, sat on the small couch next to her, and put his arm around her. She sunk into his side and smiled.
"Everything okay?” she asked as he reached over and clicked her seatbelt into place.
"We are good to go. The luggage is being loaded now. Do you want anything before we take off?” he asked as he tightened her belt.
"No, I'm fine, thanks.” She laid her head on his shoulder again and closed her eyes, inhaling his masculine scent. He smelled of the woods and home to her. It was a nice feeling to know that she had someone by her side when she was going to an unknown place to do who knew what.
She drifted off to sleep listening to his heartbeat as the plane took off.
Chapter Three
Bane was on edge. He needed to speak with Orfeo to ensure that everything was secure. The villa was being prepared for their new guests, as they would be arriving this evening. He entered the main house and proceeded to Orfeo's office. As he turned to go down the hallway, he saw Cat com
ing out of the office with a smile on her face. She had a faraway look in her eyes as if she was daydreaming.
"Good afternoon, Cat,” he said as he approached her.
"Oh, hey, Bane. How are you? How go the preparations?” she said as she turned toward him, straightening her blouse. No doubt about what had been happening in that office, he just hoped it wasn’t in the chair he sat in. Damn, since his boss had found his mate, you never knew where the hell they were going to be screwing around. Tripp had to be around somewhere, or else he was sure that next, he would walk in on them doing the nasty—it would not be the first time.
"All is well. They are putting the finishing touches on the villa now. Is Orfeo available?” he asked and laughed when she grinned at him.
"Yeah, he was just on the phone, nice and relaxed, you can thank me later. Go on in. I'm going to go over to the villa and make sure that the pantry is stocked. See you later.” She proceeded to the front of the house as he went into the office. Orfeo was sitting at his desk, straightening his clothes. He glanced up when Bane cleared his throat. His boss looked at him with a challenging look.
"Bane, how is everything?” Orfeo said smoothly.
"You are doing better than me, at least that is what Cat seemed to think.” Bane laughed when his normally straight-laced boss frowned. Bane shook his head; he knew he was out of the norm for a Vampire, since most seemed to be very serious. Bane never saw the need in it. Hell, when you were able to live a thousand lifetimes, what the hell did you have to be serious about? Fuck up, and you can fix it when everyone dies who knew what happened. “All preparations have been made. We have added security to the grounds as a precaution. I am going with the guards to meet our guests at the airport."
"Good. Make sure they feel welcome and are comfortable in the villa. We will all meet for breakfast here in the morning," Orfeo instructed and then Bane looked at his boss, he was his Sire and friend also, one Bane trusted with his life. One he would protect with his own as well.
Bane nodded his head and turned to go out but hesitated. He turned back to Orfeo and said, "Orfeo, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I have an off feeling about all of this. There is something lurking around the compound. I am unsure how to explain it. I could be overreacting, but I have the shiver effect every time I walk outside, you know. Well, you probably don’t, Mr. Ice, however us lowly Warriors do.” Bane laughed when his friend frowned deeper. The poor guy didn’t get humor too much, which is why it made it so fun to tease his friend.
Orfeo rolled his eyes, his friend’s choice of words never seemed to fail him, though he had wondered if Bane would tell him. Given the gift of being able to read emotions, Orfeo had known the turmoil inside of Bane but out of respect had waited for him to speak of it. "I understand, Bane, I have had the same feeling for the past day or so. I am unable to explain it either. We will have to be on guard at all times. With all that has happened, we know there is something coming. We must be prepared. Now, I must make some more calls to find out what I can with this latest incident. And stop trying to piss me off, you won’t like the consequences,” he growled.
“Ahh, come on man, I am just fucking with you, alone. I would never disrespect you on the outs!” Bane laughed when Orfeo tried to figure out his slang. “Cat needs to give you a lesson in relaxing.”
“She does just fine,” Orfeo said smugly.
“Wow, was that a joke?” Bane laughed and then said, “Seriously, I will check the guards and schedules, we will make sure everything is tight.”
With that, Bane agreed and left the office and headed to his own on the back of the property. He called his second-in-command and asked him to come to his office to make sure that he was correct in making sure things were secure. Bane felt unsettled and on edge, and knew something was coming—and it was big.
Bane had been in command of the compound's security, for many years. Orfeo and his family had taken him in when no one else would, protected him, and no matter how much he joked, Bane would kill to protect them. No one who had ever met him would disagree, especially when they saw him pissed off. Even he had to admit, he could be a little scary when he vamped out.
His office was in the security building, connected to the rooms where he slept. He had never felt the need to have his own villa, although Orfeo had offered it to him. Being a member of the Ambrosetti Clan of Vampires, he had been approached by Orfeo when he returned from the states to be in charge of security for the new compound. They had set up a compound next to the original one since the lands the Ambrosetti Clan owned was vast and secluded.
It was still a wonder to walk in the sun. When Orfeo had mated, the entire Clan had been gifted with the ability to walk in the sun once again. To all of his people, this special gift was not to be overlooked. He turned his face up and enjoyed the warmth on his face. He had forgotten how vibrant the colors were with the sun out and each day he tried to take time to appreciate that he was able to walk in the sunlight.
As he reached his office, he saw Suzette, his blood donor, coming out of the building. He had fed earlier in the week and wasn't in need of feeding. With Vampires, the older and more powerful they became, the less blood they needed to maintain it. Younger vampires were still growing and they leaked their power away easily, not knowing how to hold it in until they needed the magic. He was two hundred and six years old, he could sustain on the blood he had taken for several days. As he approached her, she lowered her head and clasped her hands in front of her.
"Master, buono pomeriggio,”—Good afternoon—she said softly.
"What brings you to my office, Suzette?” he asked, stopping to stand before her.
"I was coming to ask if you were in need. I am here to serve,” she whispered.
"Suzette, you know that I would send for you if I needed you,” he said sternly. For some reason, he recently became repulsed by her. It was as if he was nearing finding his mate. When a vampire was nearing the mating, they were repulsed by others that were not their mate. He frowned, as he had not anticipated finding his mate so soon.
"Perdonarmi,"—Forgive me—she said as she made a move to leave.
He nodded absently at her as she scurried off as he entered his office. He sat down at his desk and thought about what had occurred. He had been with the Ambrosetti Clan since he was a young one. He had come to them weak and in need of help after villagers had discovered his brother feeding on a local girl, quite accidently. His family had always tried to live as normally as they could even though they were vampires. They had a small farm outside of town and tried to have the pretense of being human.
The father of the girl had decapitated his brother and then the villagers had helped him burn the body. They came in the early morning sunlight and burned down his home with his family too weak to escape. He had been out that night and had decided to sleep in their barn. He saw the fire and was helpless to cross the yard in the sun to help his family. He had lost his parents, two brothers, and little sister that morning. As he had stood there watching his family and home burn, he knew he would have to leave on his own.
He had hidden in a special compartment in the barn they had built, and then as the sun went down, he fled. He had traveled hundreds of miles before he had heard of Signore Attilio and Signorina Sofia Ambrosetti. They were strong and stern, but understanding and compassionate leaders. He had fallen at their doorstep after not having fed for several days and they had taken him in and saved his life. He had pledged loyalty to the Clan and had been their servant ever since.
Orfeo and Bane grew up together, forming a bond, so when his friend came to him and asked for help with setting up the Senate, Bane jumped at the chance. He loved how Orfeo allowed him free reign to protect the compound, and his mates. It made him realize how much trust Orfeo had in him. That was something he did not take lightly, even though he was a smart ass when it came to some things, security was not one of them.
As he sat at his desk, his cell rang. He answered and his right hand,
Dominic, informed him that all was set for this evening, and he would be in the office shortly. The plane would be landing in a few hours and he had arranged for the car to pick Bane up at seven.
Once he hung up, Bane became lost in his thoughts going over all the plans in his head again to ensure that nothing had been overlooked. This was the arrival of the first of many that would join Orfeo, Tripp, and Cat to form the Senate. It had been decided when Orfeo went to Milliken, Colorado, to meet the New Council, he and his mates would come back to Italy and set up a Senate there that would be able to house all magical creatures in need of protection.
Many had come and now lived at the compound, though none of them as of yet had shown the ability to be added to the Senate. It was the female who would bring the new people to the Senate; their blood was special, like Cat’s. Bane had his hands full most days with all the different groups and their issues. But they needed to make sure they were also looking for the special people who would join the Senate. Dealing with the groups was not Bane’s forte, he tended to turn the daily dealings over to others.
The trolls couldn't be near the imps due to the fact that the little guys liked to play jokes and, well, trolls had no sense of humor. The fairies built a small village on the backside of the compound where they declared the soil to be the most fertile. There were also many shifters that had come to them as well.
To say that Bane had his hands full was putting it mildly. He even had to set up a couple of days a week to hear disputes that he tried to settle as diplomatically as possible. He knew that soon he would need to begin to look at building a main lodge to feed them all as more came in, but he just hadn't had the time, with the newest members on their way from Milliken. He began working on some notes on building the new facility.