“Who is it?”
He grimaced.“Somebody I should introduce you to.”He huffed out an impatient and exasperated breath.“Come on, let’s get this shit over with.”
Words to make love to, El thought with a smirk as he grabbed her hand and dragged her deeper into the crowd.
The second Ryanand El left the dais, Trip and Marc realized that was the moment to join them.Trip grabbed Shawn's arm, and as a threesome, they headed through the dozens of people in the crowd to reach their Triad brother and mate's side.
"Is it just me or is the crowd thicker than usual?"he asked Marc.
Marc shrugged."I don't think so.The news might have spread about El and everyone is bound to be interested.Although, Ryan will be happy.Leilani had to cut and run.Not sure why."
Shawn pulled on Trip’s grasp on his arm."Is this the official meet and greet?"
Trip grimaced."It shouldn't be.There should be a larger ceremony.But because Ryan is so… well, antisocial, they realize that this is the best chance they'll have to meet her."
Marc turned to shoot Shawn a look."They also know that if they meet her here, they will probably be able to speak to her.At a proper, official ceremony they wouldn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of actually talking to her."
"She's a big deal then, huh?"
Trip snorted."She's their first lady, man.What do you think?"
Shawn wriggled his shoulders as he slipped through the crowd.He noticed that he was gaining a lot of attention, and knew that was because he hadn't been introduced either.Not that he was offended by that.Not when El, the so-called first lady, hadn't been introduced at all yet…
Ryan certainly was an unusual kind of leader.One totally uninterested by the regular politics of leadership.Shawn had to admit that made him like the man more.
In fact, he was surprised by how well he liked all three men who had barged into El's life.Men who he should have loathed on principle, were actually decent guys.He supposed that was fortunate, considering he’d be spending the rest of his natural with them.Whether he liked it or not.
The thought was a prompt.
He really needed talk to El.
He really needed her to forgive him,now.
Their connection was different to the one she shared with the Triad, and so, would need tending.That didn't happen if they were in separate sides of the house, and she was too busy hurting over something he couldn't change, something he actually regretted anyway, to talk to him.To let him explain.
The party was the last place he wanted to be.If anything, he was feeling low rather than festive.The ceremony had been interesting, and he had learned about the Triad bond, which was useful but now the schmoozing was on, he just wanted to go back to the lodge.
The next three hours, he watched as Ryan introduced El to some of the Pride's most important members.At least, he assumed they were.
In human society, the important people wore expensive clothes, had priceless accessories, and exuded wealth from their pores.Young or old, they all shared those three traits.Designer togs, gold and priceless gems dripping from their fingertips and for the men, watches that were worth the price of a house, and personalized perfumes and aftershaves that spoke of a person's affluence.
Here, though he shouldn't have been surprised, it was completely different.There were many different colors of toga in the mash up of people.He'd thought that was a creative choice.Then he realized the color denoted a level within the Pride.Of course, he didn't know what the colors represented, he just knew that if a woman wore yellow, she near as dammit curtsied when Ryan introduced her to El.But if the woman's toga was purple, she merely bowed her head.Of course, that didn't help with understanding where the men were in the power ranks—save for the new Triad brothers, they all wore loose linen pants.Unless they were with a woman as well, there was no figuring out their rank at all.
Some of the men kneeled at El's feet, others bowed at the waist, a few just ducked their heads.
There was a whole power battle going on, and because he was on the sidelines, Shawn saw it.Making note that a guy called Jared was particularly disrespectful to Ryan, he knew he'd be asking the others later what that was about.And not just because it could affect El's safety, but because it affected them all as a whole.
He couldn't deny that he was starting to feel the bond between the five of them.
He also couldn't deny that it made no sense, but it didn't stop the sense of kinship that was developing between the men.
It certainly wasn't developing between him and El though; the last thing he felt for El was kinship.
Almost snickering at the thought, Shawn backed off from the introductions, well aware that Ryan wasn't explaining Shawn's presence.Again, he wasn't offended.Something of this nature was bound to be delicate, and as he watched El and Ryan work the crowd he realized just how delicate.
The party had shifted away from the dais.The platform, only three steps high, was located in front of the lodge’s pool and was sheltered by a gazebo-style roof.
Though he knew he could return to the lodge itself, head to the kitchen and find a nice bottle of Johnny Walker, instead he headed for the platform and slumped onto the chaise longue.He didn't want to be a complete party pooper.He just wasn't feeling the vibe.And from this vantage point, he could oversee things and make sure El was all right.
