CHAPTER 14

I stared at the wolves surrounding Aiden. They were completely serious. Of course we knew we weren't the only 'supernatural' creatures that the fairy tales had gotten a little truth from. Selkies, for example were sort of cousins of the werewolf. The ability only passed down to females, so reproduction was human dependant and their main focus once on land. Generally they were well enough hidden and never caused a fuss. Shades and spirits of the dead were real too, though they existed beyond human senses.

My mind skipped around a little. The last few days had been a bit of a journey. A were-jaguar, Rob's death, Anthony's attempted ascension to alpha...and now Vampires. It was like the world had gone mad.

"What exactly is this proof?" Olivia wanted to know. She was leaning back in her chair feigning indifference. Her posture made it clear she didn't believe him, and given that the Assemblage was considered sacred, his position as alpha was at stake.

"Caroline, please," Aiden gestured to the woman beside him. She reached down beneath the table and picked up a bag she'd brought in. I hadn't noticed it, nor, apparently had the guards at the door. Which was interesting. She plunked the bag on the table with a heavy thunk and unzipped the top, tipping it over.

A decapitated head rolled out. The skull was humanoid with deep eye sockets and elongated fangs, about three times the length of a wolf's canines. It was difficult to tell anything else about it because it was in a degree of severe decomposition. The stench that wafted through the room nearly had me gagging, rotten flesh and a hint of sweetness, just a little out of place.

"Could be anything," Charles announced, his face had paled however. "Human's love body modification. It doesn't smell any different from a human corpse."

I looked at him, and then to Anthony. No one argued. Which I felt was odd. It was subtle, but it did smell different from a human corpse.

Caroline reached over and carefully broke a fang out of the gory mouth. It busted at the upper jaw revealing the tooth roots. Then she tapped the other fang until it folded back against the rotting roof of the head's mouth.

"They smell human. It's why we've never sensed them like we thought we would. Look and act human too. It's impossible to differentiate if they don't wish to be found. We caught three dashing across our territory toward Boston at impossible speeds. We took out one that hadn't noticed the trap we'd laid for interlopers who kept passing through."

I studied the decaying lump. I could scent a difference in dead flesh, would I be able to smell a living Vampire?

"He didn't look like this before his head was removed from his body," Caroline told us flatly. "Human, mid twenties, pretty good looking..." she glanced at the rotted head and grimaced.

"We think he's newly turned. Or young anyway. The two others scattered away from him when the main pack showed up. He didn't seem to know what to do and panicked, launching into an attack. Luckily, our trap was of the lethal sort," Aiden sliced a finger across his neck to get his meaning across.

I made a mental note never to trespass on Sentinel territory.

The room was silent for a moment.

A wolf across from me bent down and whispered something to her Luna.

"What do they want?" Olivia demanded.

"We don't know. This fellow didn't get a chance to talk. Truthfully, I'm not sure we would have survived if he had. He busted through eight inches of pure titanium, with his head mostly cut off. He was fast enough we could barely keep up." Aiden leaned forward farther, ignoring that the action brought his head closer to the dead Vampire. "This is a real, viable threat, and I want to know what we are all going to do about it."

The discussion exploded from there, with each side doing their best to come out on top. I stayed out of it for the most part. This jockeying for position, trying to outdo one another...it just wasn't my thing. I wasn't a Luna, despite the suggested position Anthony had put me into.

In the end, the most that was agreed upon was that all packs would share any information on the Vampires, should they be spotted, freely and willingly. It seemed like a damned petty offer.
From what I could tell, Aiden seemed to think so too. He ended the Assemblage with a snarling frown, talking with his head down to his second in a low voice as they headed out the door, turning their backs on the rest of us.

I didn't really like it, but then, packs always did stick to their own. Just look at how little help my parents had received even after living as part of the Cedar pack.

Anthony tried to guide me again, on our way out, but I was done playing games, so I avoided his touch, thinking. None of these pack politics had ever been my goal, and I could feel them now, drawing me away from my true purpose. Maybe one day, when the mystery of my parent's death had been solved and they had been avenged, maybe then I would be keen to settle and have petty arguments that resulted in nothing substantial.

"Drop me off at my apartment," I told Jacob, sliding into the back seat. Anthony, who was holding my door, froze.

"Raven..."

"I need to go home," I told him firmly. A little bit angry. I wasn't exactly sure what was bothering me now. I'd kind of accepted the need for the ruse at the Assemblage, so I didn't think it was that. It was just...everything.

Who killed Rob and why? And just when we'd had a breakthrough in my parents case. How was there a werejaguar? And why was he able to hide his scent, like me? And now there were vampires of all things. Not just evidence that they existed, but that they, at the very least, travelled in groups, which took some level of organization. Just what, exactly was going on?

Anthony leaned in my door, his large body blocking the sunlight and I looked up at him, finding my face only inches from his.

"The manse is your home," he told me, his blue eyes commanding mine. I could feel the draw of them, the desire to obey. I might not be able to sense a wolf's power, but an alpha could always be felt by his pack. It seemed that Anthony's bid for alpha was being accepted without challenge.

"No," I argued, though it had him moving his face closer to mine, so that our breath mingled. A muscle in his jaw jumped. "The manse is a place I stayed when needed. I have to be in my own space right now, Anthony, for my sanity and that of my wolf."

We stayed like that for a long moment, face to face, his eyes searching mine, and I thought he might kiss me. I don't know what he found in my expression, but he didn't like it. He sighed and closed my door before coming around the BMW to the other side. He didn't look at me, but faced forward.

"Your Uncle very much wanted you to feel like the manse was your home...I would like the same."

I studied him, though he didn't look at me. I'd never really discussed it with Rob. All I knew was that after a mission, if it was late, or if he wanted to be certain we weren't compromised, he'd ask me to stay the night. I always ended up in the same room that it turned out was otherwise unused, but it just seemed like logistics to me. But then the clothes started showing up...

"He wasn't really my uncle," I told Anthony, trying to explain. In the front I could see that Jacob and Martha were listening in, but they didn't say anything, or look back at us.

"Rob was a Rogue his entire life until he took over the Void. He never had a pack, so he took his new one very seriously. He called you his niece, introduced you as his niece and talked about you like family. To him that's what you were."

I looked down contemplating his words. I'd known Rob had been rogue—packless—when he'd taken over The Void, but the rest...

"He never told me."

"I believe he thought words would mean little to you."

That was true, and surprisingly painful to think about. Had he really been trying to be a true Uncle to me all the while I was feeling so lost and alone?

Anthony was watching me, the compassion on his face unbearable. I didn't want his sympathy. I didn't need anyone feeling sorry for me.

Anthony's hand brushed mine and something cold fell into my palm.

"He wanted you to have this."

I turned my hand over to find a metal pendant. An eagle on a sword.

The symbol from the shipping yard.