The Alpha drew back. 'You talk now as if you care for her. Before, you were disrespectful to her.'
"Not everything I do will make sense to you," Roane chose his words carefully. He wanted the wolf to feel unbalanced. He didn't want the Alpha to start connecting dots.
Pete stood at his fullest height. "I think we should leave. I've gotten the answer that we came for anyway." He watched the vampires around them cautiously as he edged out of the booth and then down the aisle.
Roane caught Gregory's gaze, who had been standing in a far corner. He nodded and then gestured towards the wolf. Gregory bent his head.
Gavin watched Gregory follow them and chuckled. "Let's hope the Viking can jump rooftops. That's the only way he's going to be able to follow that wolf."
"He can." Roane turned away and saw Wren in another corner. She was wrapped around another female vampire.
Both stopped and watched the display for a second and then Gregory burst out laughing. Wren looked up, but then bent her back to her lover's neck, sucking on it. The other vampire seemed unaffected, unaware that Wren had ever stopped and clutched the back of her head. She moaned as she pressed closer against her.
As they went back to Roane's office, Gavin helped himself to a drink. "What do you think of the wolf? He's a powerful young pup."
Roane went to his tinted windows and watched below. "He is strong, stronger than the old Alpha, but he's young."
"Human age, he's what? 30s?"
"At least." Roane frowned as Wren grabbed another female vampire and included her in their embrace. All three were quickly caressing, kissing, licking, and gaining more attention than Roane wanted his second right-hand vampire to obtain. When a male pressed into the group, Roane saw that Wren grabbed his head and shoved it against her breast. He latched on and kneeled with one of the other women.
Gavin stood next to him and lifted his glass in a salute. "Here's to Wren getting an orgy. She knows how to fulfill that need, huh?"
"Most of these vampires have crossed the world, pledging their loyalty to me. They came because of my reputation of an honorable hunter. That's not honorable. That's primal. We're above that."
"Oh come on. Looks to me that Wren's just stressed. She's letting out some of her tension. When's Tracey supposed to arrive?"
"You mean with my sworn enemy?" Roane couldn't stop a smile as he regarded his best friend.
Gavin opened his mouth, but it hung there, suspended. Then he laughed and shut it. "I forgot about that little detail. Sorry, mate. You know what you're going to have to do, right?"
"What's that?"
"Just rip the new hunter's head off his body and take his army as yours. It was yours anyway. The Elders forced a new hunter, because they want to kill the Immortal and you want to protect her. Such a trivial little difference, you know? I think all those vampires will be thankful that you're making them follow you. You're a much better leader than they could ever get and you know it. They know it. Hell, even the new hunter knows it."
Roane grew somber, but then a hard glint appeared in his eyes. "They chose what side they were on, as all of these vampires here have. They've chosen my side."
"Because they believe in what you believe in." Gavin finished his drink and spoke with gravity. "There's a civil war brewing in the vampire nation. Every one of us knows it and the Immortal is the reason for it. Half of them don't even believe she exists. They're here because you stand for the new age, for a different standard of our living. That's why they're here. For you, not for Davy. They don't even know who she is or why you've stood your ground against the Roane Elders."
"Don't forget the Romah Elders."
"Forget those old bastards. They're so ancient; I could snap them in half. They've grown rusty, gotten too used to being protected by the Roane Family."
"Jacith is aligned with them."
Gavin narrowed his eyes at his best friend, who stared at the club below. "Maybe it's time for Jacith to end, huh?"
Roane smirked and now looked at Gavin. "And who's going to do that? Jacith is old. He's powerful as a vampire and he's powerful as a sorcerer. He'd snap you in half."
"I'm not saying that I have all the answers. I'm just telling you my opinion of them. I'm sure I'm not alone. If you were to declare war against the Romah Family, I'm sure you'd have more than my Family behind you, maybe even every vampire Family in the nation."
"Not the Mori Nation."
Gavin opened his mouth, but snapped it shut. "They don't count. They're freaks of nature."
Roane barked out a laugh, but stopped. "Are you serious? You know that's where Lucan is hiding. He might even be one of them by now."
"The birthing baby vampire magic circus? No. He's not one of them." Gavin's eyes grew dangerous