Daniel
My front doorcreaked like some sort of horror movie. I hadn’t been spending a lot of time at my place, but this was a bit much. I’d have to grease the hinges. Geez. Something in here was really stinking up the place. Funny I hadn’t noticed it last night while getting ready for my date with Emma.
It was amazing what having a good woman in my life did for me. I started cleaning up my place with a smile on my face, and before I knew it, I was whistling as I washed the few dishes that I’d accumulated on my quick trips in and out of the house. Soon I had a load of laundry going and all the trash out in the bins. Looking around my place, I felt a strange wave of pride. I liked my little cabin in the woods, but would Emma want to live with me here one day? Would we live at her place and keep this as a getaway? I didn't know. But before, this place was all I had. Now, it was just another nice thing in my life.
My life. Nice. I smiled to myself. It'd been years since I really felt like my life was a happy one. It just felt like there was no other choice. I had to get through each day. I had to help the town and my community as much as I could. But I felt empty inside.
Now, I was full. Full of Emma's scent, Emma's touch, Emma's voice, and even Emma's love. I felt like the luckiest damned man in the world. So if the consequence of having a good life was that this place might get a bit grimy. Well, grim away!
As I opened the back door to sweep the kitchen floor out to the back porch, a scent I didn’t really expect came in with the breeze. I knew within a few moments that it was a vampire. Vampires had the worst smell imaginable, like an animal that had died days ago, that was covered in maggots and who knew what else. Their smell though wasn't the main reason my kind didn't like them, although it didn't help. Vampires just... seemed to be the opposite of us. Something unnatural in a world where we lived seamlessly with the natural. Whereas we liked to preserve things, they seemed hell-bent on destroying anything and everything they could.
Although I had met a few exceptions to the rules in my time. Not many though.
A growl rolled through my chest and I felt my bear stand up straighter within me. I inhaled slowly and carefully, focusing on the scent. It was Vance Acheron. I’d recognize his undead smell anywhere. Vance was one of the vampires I didn't like. Not because he was cruel like some of the worst of them. I'd never actually heard stories about him taking a human's blood by force, or turning a human that didn't want to be turned. Which were two of the cardinal sins when it came to vampire jerks. He just... rubbed me wrong. I didn’t truly think he’d hurt Emma, or I would be at that dinner, come hell or high water. It was more of a personality thing.
He belonged to Clan Scarlet. Again, not a group of trouble-making vampires. Most were so ridiculously wealthy they just sat back in their mansions, with willing humans to feed off of, or blood they'd purchased, and move about town like they owned the place. Their noses were always fairly permanently stuck straight in the air, and Vance was no exception. The only way he differed from the others was that he had become a detective. Apparently, mostly out of boredom, and because he preferred that Mystic Hollow stay peaceful and out of the news.
The thing was, the vampire had never been on my lands before. Nor would I have encouraged him to come here. If he were any other vampire, I'd already have gone bear and chased him off of my lands. With ustechnicallyworking together, I couldn't do that.
Even if my bear really wanted to.
Abandoning my broom, I ambled out the back door and sat down in the rocker on my back porch. Waiting. Knowing that the man would be smart enough to approach me directly on my lands. But while waiting, I let my thoughts wander. At least his sensitive olfactory senses wouldn't pick up the trash and dishes smell my place had an hour earlier. I wasn’t fussy about it being clean, but neither did I want to be seen as a slob. Vampires already treated shifters like we were several classes below them, the last thing I'd want to do is give him a reason to think his view had any validity. Not that mess equaled class, I just know how those snobs think.
It didn’t take long for Vance to appear in my backyard. He paused at the edge of the trees and looked at me. He was wearing yet another dark suit, expensive, and well-tailored. His hair was styled too, combed back from his face. He, like most vampires, had an inhuman beauty about him, like a pretty snake.
But does Emma see him that way?
The thought made me stiffen. Women found men like Vance attractive. They were drawn to them. And this man... he seemed to be far too interested in my Emma. Normally I wouldn't care what man found my girlfriend attractive, because she had chosen to be with me. But Vance was nearly my polar opposite, trim, cultured-looking. Sophisticated. What if, despite what Emma said, some part of her liked him?
Darn it. I really don't need another reason to hate this man.
When I didn’t approach him, Vance came forward slowly, watching me with just an edge of caution. Which was smart. Vampires might be strong, but my bear could rip this twig of a man in half.
I simply kept rocking, waiting until he drew close enough for us to hear one another. “‘Lo,” I said quietly, marking his movements with my eyes. By making him come up to the porch, I was showing my dominance. He was on my turf and he knew it.
Ambling up the yard, he tried to look nonchalant, but I knew the man. He was on high alert, every sense in his body aware of any possible threat, especially the big bear shifter in the rocking chair. “Have a seat,” I murmured. “What brings you out here?”
I wouldn't have minded letting my hand shift and taken a good swipe of his throat, but that probably would’ve been crossing the line.
It was nice to think about, though.
"Hello, Daniel. Sorry to sneak in like this. I was out for a run and thought I’d stop by and discuss a few things with you."
"Vance." I nodded slowly as he stepped forward.
"It's been a while since a case drew us together." His voice held no emotion, not even the typical charm he likes to shove down my throat. But then, no one else is here to put on a show for.
"Yes, quite a while," I drawled out slowly.
"I'm sure you've heard by now about my time spent with Karma." Now, there is a touch of emotion in his voice. A cockiness that tells me he's aware that contacting Emma would piss me off.
"Her name is Emma, not Karma," I tell him, trying not to sound as pissed as I feel. "And, yes, she told me about it. In bed last night."
Okay, that was unnecessary, but you couldn't take the bear out of a bear shifter. And my inner-animal wanted to stake my claim on Emma. My inner-animal wanted to make it known to this twig of a man that Emma was mine, and that I was hers. He could play all the games he wanted, but he wouldn't ruin things with us.
"I'm glad. I wouldn't want any of this to be happening behind your back." But I don't believe a single word he said.
“I gotta admit, I’m not happy about this dinner.” I stared at him as he sat in the rocking chair opposite me, keeping my tone light, even if my hands are gripping the arms on my chair a little too tight. “I would prefer to be there too.”
