I let out a snort of laughter. “Am I that awful to be around?”
“I didn’t want to say anything…” He makes a face and then smiles before looking me over. Once he’s sure that I’m okay, he shifts his gaze to the wolves behind me. Everyone but Larkin tenses.
“Crown Alpha,” he greets her. Oh shoot, I waswayoff with my greeting. I hope she knows it was from lack of knowledge and not lack of respect. The Order has issued kills on werewolves before, but Leo and I always refused, making my interactions with them rather limited. “Dare I ask what your pack is doing in vampire territory?”
“Xavier Malus,” Larkin says slowly, rising to her feet. “I distinctly remember a conversation where you said what’s mine is yours and yours is mine, but did that only apply to one of us?”
“The Vampire Council has called a summit. You are putting your pups in harm's way by gathering here.”
“We can handle a few rowdy vampires,” she says, not showing even an ounce of fear. “And it seems your wife can too.” She raises her eyebrows. “She knows her way around demons, at least. The Order raises them well, don’t they?”
“There was a demon,” I interject, knowing this can go from zero to sixty in half a second flat. “Here, in this bar. And it was weird. He stopped and looked at us like he knew we weren’t normal humans and then took off. I followed him. He tried to get himself canceled, I prevented that from happening, and then the demon jumped bodies and it got weirder. The demon that came out of him…it was goop. Like really gross goop. Usually, when the demon comes out, you see a whoosh like a shadow and sometimes it can look like magical dust rising into the air. I’ve never seen this before.” I put my hands on Xavier’s chest, feeling a thrill go through me as my fingers press against his firm body. “Something big is going on. Something none of us should overlook.”
He studies me for a second and then looks behind me again at the wolves. I let my hands slide down his chest and turn. Delphi’s eyes are wide and she’s looking at Xavier with distrust, though, like the others, she’s ready to defend her alpha at a moment’s notice. Bazzel, who comes from a different pack, is just as ready to jump.
The wholewerewolves vs vampiresthing is more popular in fiction than in real life. Vampires don’t really have a reason to not like werewolves. They don’t compete for the same food supply and vampires are typically independent and not territorial. They’re possessive as fuck, but I’ve never heard of vampires staking claim to a city like this until I met the Malus vampires. Werewolves don’t want to be outed to the public and have always tended to keep their packs hidden, which probablyhas more to do with systems like the Order hunting them than anything else.
“Leave the area,” Xavier starts. “Before the summit is over.”
“You can’t tell us what to do,” James snaps.
Xavier’s lips curve into a smirk. “But I can.” He looks at Larkin. “Unless you don’t want?—”
“We’re going,” Larkin interrupts, clearly stopping Xavier from saying whatever he was going to say out loud. “I would like to formally request you to join me for a drink the night of the new moon.” She lifts her eyebrows. “BYOB for you, of course.”
“I will have arrangements made,” Xavier replies. He waves the waitress over. “Put this on my tab,” he tells her, motioning to the food and drinks on the table.
“Yes, Mr. Malus,” she says with a small nod, gaze darting from the floor to his eyes several times. She knows he’s a vampire and knows he’s old enough to hold her spellbound.
“I would say it’s nice to see you outside of work,” Larkin says as she takes a step away from the table. “But I don’t want to lie.” She turns to me. “However, it was nice to meet you, Florence. You may be exactly what we need.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, but she only smiles in response and motions for the other wolves to follow.
“Come with me,” Xavier says as soon as they walk away.
“But I want food,” I reply.
“I’ll get you more.”
“It’ll take a while and the fries are still hot.”
Looking as if he’s trying not to roll his eyes, Xavier picks up the plate of fries and grabs my hand. I hook my purse over my shoulder and follow him through the restaurant and into the hotel lobby. I take the plate from him and stuff a couple fries in my mouth as we get into the elevator. Instead of going to the floor where the summit is being held, we go all the way to the top.
I keep eating instead of questioning Xavier, knowing I’ll figure it out soon enough. Silently, we walk down the hall and he pulls a keycard from his jacket pocket and unlocks a hotel room.
“What the hell?” I ask, mouth full. “You have a hotel room already reserved?”
Xavier turns around, confusion on his face. “Yes.”
“Who were you planning on taking here?”
His brows furrow as he looks at me incredulously. “You.” He motions for me to step in, turning on the light so I can see. There’s a pink bag sitting on the chair near the bed and I recognize it. It was in my closet back at the house, one that was already there when I moved in.
“Mabel packed a bag for you,” Xavier explains. “I’m not sure what’s in it.”
My mouth falls open as I move inside, setting the plate of fries and my purse on the dresser. There’s a beautiful bouquet of red roses on the nightstand along with a large box from the jeweler who made my engagement ring.
Stunned, I turn to Xavier. “Why?” I ask simply.
