Warrior

Chapter 7-4

Maxwell rested his arms on his desk. “I know what you’re thinking, warrior. In the beginning, I had my reservations about my son and nephew’s friendship with Sara because she was too fragile to play with two male pups. But she’d just lost her father, and it would have been cruel to take away her only friends. I ordered the boys to never reveal what we were to her, and the three of them became inseparable. Though we don’t share the same blood, I would never turn my back on that girl.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Sara didn’t know you were werewolves?”

“Not until the night she was attacked in Portland.”

“That must have been quite a shock for her.” How was it possible for a girl to know so much about the real world and not know that her best friends were werewolves? When I’d seen her with Roland and Peter in Portland, I’d assumed she knew what they were since she’d known about vampires. And she hadn’t missed a beat when I’d mentioned the werewolves to her that day on the wharf.

The more I learned about her, the more I realized how much I didn’t know about her. Something told me there was a lot more to her than even her friends and family knew.

Maxwell chuckled gruffly. “I’d say we were the ones taken by surprise. We thought we’d have to calm a terrified human girl, and she was only upset that we’d hidden what we were from her. Then she started talking about vampires killing her father.”

He rubbed his jaw. “Did you know she was the one who found the body? She must have been only seven or eight at the time.”

“I didn’t know that.” My chest tightened at the thought of the little girl seeing what those monsters had done to her father. I silently cursed Madeline once again for leaving her daughter unprotected and forced to cope with such a horrific ordeal. “The newspaper and police reports didn’t mention Sara at all. Do you know why?”

“No, and I thought that was strange as well. It’s as if someone went to great effort to hide her.” He leaned back in his chair. “I couldn’t do anything for her back then, but as long as she lives here, she is under my protection. I know she’s one of yours, and I’m not saying this to undermine you. I just want you to know where I stand.”

“I appreciate that, and I’m glad Sara has the pack watching out for her. Until we take care of the vampire problem in Portland, she’s not safe.”

Maxwell’s mouth tightened. “No one is. That’s actually why I asked you to come today. I wanted you to know I’ve called in wolves from up north to beef up the patrols around Portland. These guys live a little more segregated from humans, but they are some of the best hunters in the country. I’ve ordered them not to engage your people when they come across them, but there still may be trouble. Some of them still carry the old resentment toward the Mohiri.”

I nodded. There had been a time, a few hundred years ago, when werewolves were not as civilized as they are now, and some had attacked humans. It was Mohiri duty to protect humans from such threats, which meant hunting down and eliminating the dangerous wolves. Over time, the werewolves learned to control their animal urges and had turned their aggression on vampires instead of humans. A truce had been formed between us, but there was a lot of anger and bitterness on their side. Centuries later, the old animosity remained with a lot of werewolves.

“I’ll let our warriors know.”

“Good.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Now, let’s talk about the situation in Portland and how we’re going to clean up my city.”

Two hours later, I left the Alpha’s office, confident that between the Mohiri and the werewolves, we would soon track down Eli and any other vampires in Portland. Maxwell was a lot more strategic than I’d first given him credit for, and he knew Portland far better than I or the other warriors. Our people had better resources, so we agreed to work together against our common enemy.

It was Chris’s turn to watch over Sara, but now that I was here, I wanted to see her before I headed back to Portland. As I left the lumber yard, I called him to find out where she was.

“Nikolas, anything wrong?” he asked.

“No. I just had a good meeting with Maxwell Kelly about our vampire problem. Thought I’d stop by and check on Sara while I’m here. Is she at home?”

“You’re in New Hastings?” There was an edge to his voice that immediately put me on guard.

“You sound worried. Is everything okay with Sara?”

“She’s fine. But…”

“But what?” I asked in a hard voice.

He cleared his throat. “You have to promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

“Chris,” I bit out. “What the hell is going on?”

He exhaled slowly. “Sara just left her place with the blond man she was talking to at the party on Saturday. It looks like…they’re on a date.”

I was unprepared for the pain that pricked my chest. I’d known there was a possibility she dated, but hearing that she was with another male was not easy.

“Are you still there?” Chris asked.

“Yes. Where are they now?”

His bike started. “I’m following them. She’s safe.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Nikolas, maybe it would be better if you stayed away right now. I’ll keep Sara safe.”

His unspoken message was clear. Sara wasn’t in any danger, and seeing her with the other man would only agitate my Mori and me. If I had any sense of self-preservation, I’d turn around and head back to Portland. It was the rational thing to do.

No one would ever accuse a bonded male of being rational.

“I can’t, Chris.” How could I describe my need to see her, the irresistible pull from the bond between us? A few weeks ago, I could not have imagined feeling this way about anyone.

He swore softly. “Just promise me you won’t do anything to upset her.” I started to speak, but he cut me off. “I mean it. Sara might be your potential mate, but she’s my family, and I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I’d never hurt her. You know that.”

“Not intentionally, but if you react to seeing her with the other man, you might say or do something you’ll regret.”

“Unless I see she is in danger, I won’t approach them.” My hands tightened on the bike’s handlebars. “No matter what I see.”

After a long pause, Chris said, “They’re going into a coffee shop called The Hub. Don’t make me regret telling you that. I’ll be at the waterfront if you need me.”

I ended the call and headed for the coffee shop. A few minutes later, I parked my bike down the street and walked toward the busy shop. When I got close enough to see the couple sitting on the other side of one of the big windows, I stopped and moved into the doorway of the nearest building, close enough to see her, and far enough away that I couldn’t sense her presence.

I wasn’t surprised to get a call from Chris barely five minutes after I arrived, and I assured him all was well. I wasn’t happy with the situation, but I wasn’t going to do anything foolish. He offered to relieve me now that I’d seen her, but I said I was good.

Sara laughed at something Samson said, and I realized I hadn’t seen her laugh much since we’d met, and never with me. Not that she’d had much occasion to laugh with the events of the last three weeks. It bothered me that someone else was able to make her smile when I couldn’t, but at the same time, I was glad to see her happy.

Samson got up and brought her a notepad and pencil. She wrote on the pad as they talked, so she didn’t see the warm affection on his face as he watched her. But I saw it clearly, and so did my Mori.

Mine, the demon growled.