Authors: Jana Leigh
“Okay, now we need to get you into a bath, some clothes, and then you ‘ll be ready. I know this is going to be a long day. I wish I could tell you that you could just go crawl into bed, but we need to deal with the threats against you. My mates will make sure you ‘re safe,” Cami said and led her into the master bedroom.
It was more than she ever could have hoped for. When she went into the guest bath earlier , she had like d the neutral colors it was decorated, but the master bedroom and bath were lavish and decadent . It held a huge four-poster rustic framed bed with a gorgeous comforter on it in a southwestern design. Pale peaches , light blues and greens were the basic colors of the room. It made her feel safe. A small sitting area, to what looked like a patio outside, held a television and also a small book shelf stocked with paperbacks. She grinned and wandered over . She saw the name on some of the books and turned and raised an eyebrow. Cami grinned and said, “Wait till you meet her, she ‘s on the Council .”
The bathroom was in the same colors, and large fluffy towels hung from the bars. She had a shower and whirlpool bath. She had died and gone to heaven, she thought.
“Okay, I just need your sizes, so I can get some clothes rounded up,” Cami said, and Caterina let her eyes widen. She hated talking about her size, even though she was now a size 12. It was only because she had been on the run for so long —her usual size was a fourteen.
Caterina mumbled her sizes and then turned around not wanting to see the look on the Alpha’s face. The wolf was gorgeous, and probably never had to worry a day in her life about what she was eating.
“Hey, none of that, you’re beautiful . It ‘s time to start building up the self-esteem again,” Cami said softly. “Now, I ‘ll be back. Get cleaned up, and I will be in t he ot her room ordering your clothes . We have a shop in tow n that will deliver. One of the Council members owns it. She has great taste.”
Caterina nodded and watched as the woman left the room. She was right; Caterina needed to take back the part of herself that she had left behind when she ran. Diavolo could n ‘t have any more control over her than what she allowed him to have. She was safe, and she was home —for the time being, at least.
***
Tripp picked up his cell and called his mother. He needed to talk to her about finding his mate. His parents and siblings were close. He knew that if he waited, and she found out somehow, there would be hell to pay.
“Hey, ma,” Tripp said when she answered her phone.
“Hello son, why are you calling me when you should be sleeping? I know you’ve had a long schedule. Your brother told me that you have been covering for people. You need your rest,” h is mother said, and he chuckled .
“Well, I thought maybe you would like t o know that I found my mate,” h e said quickly, hoping to stop her from entering the lecture about his sleeping habits.
“WHAT?” she screamed and then began planning her trip to Milliken. They only lived an hour away, but for his mother, it was always a production. She had to bring everything under the sun, including frozen meals for his freezer. She said he didn’t eat right. Tripp listened as she demanded to know about her new daughter-in-law.
“Wait, ma, there are a few issues, “ Tripp said.
“Why?” she demanded.
Tripp explained what happened when he met her and also that she was a human. Also, Cloe had given him a brief rundown a few minutes ago when she came downstairs. She hadn ‘t wanted to tell him i n front of the whole Council . His mother gasped and began to cry when he told her of the abuse she suffered.
“I need to come up now. Forget all the stuff, my daughter needs me,” h is mother said briskly.
“Hang on; let me try to talk to her. We haven ‘t had a chance to talk at all. Things are moving too fast. I ‘ll call you tom orrow and tell you when to come, ” Tripp said quickly. He did n ‘t want his mother up here right now. He needed to get a grasp of what was going on.
Finally, after a lot of convincing , she agreed to wait. Tripp hung up the phone , and wondered if she would actually listen to him, or if she showed up in the next hour or so. Probably should tell the front gate to expect her. If he knew his mother, she would stew on it for a few minutes and then just come.
His phone beeped and he looked down. It was Cami. She told him that she ordered clothes for his mate. Text ing back , he told her that he would pay for them. He was going to take care of his mate, even if she didn’t know it yet.
Finally, he saw the Council members beginning to flow into the house. Quin and Jaden were already in t he room with Argus and Devon, the Beta. Turning off his phone, so he would n ‘t be distracted, Tripp walked into the Council meeting room.
It was huge, and held places for each of the Council members and their mates. Tripp went to the corner and stood, waiting for Qu in to call the meeting to order. He watched as everyone looked around for Cami. Her best friend , Jo , was looking at the Alphas with a raised eyebrow.
Jo was a White Wolf. They held the power to feel every member of the Pack . He could tell she was trying to find Cami, and when she did, her eyes widened as she felt the emotions the Alpha female was having.
Cloe walked through the door and paused before coming to him and patting his arm. “Pull up a chair,” s he said and tugged him to where her mates were sitting.
Quin spoke finally. “We have a situation,” he said, and the rest of the Council settled down into their chairs. Quin formally announced that a human asked the New Council for sanctuary. Tripp looked around to see if any of the Council was going to protest. But all of them had curious looks on their faces.
“Caterina has come to us for help. Before we get to deep into the specifics, let Cloe explain what she knows.”
Cloe stood and began to tell Caterina’s story. By the time she was done, the women were outraged and the men growling and hissing.
“What shifter did this?” Lacy said. She was the protector of the mates.
“He’s not her mate, although he claims to be. I ‘m her mate,” Tripp said quietly, which drew all the attention to him.
Lacy frowned, and then said, “Can I verify t his?” Lacy had the power to see the true mates ‘ connection. He knew she would be able to tell that Caterina was his mate.
Quin held up his hand. “There ‘s more ; this was not a shifter. The man who did this was a Vampire .”
There was silence in the room as everyone digested the news. Jordan was the first one to say anything. “Like ‘I vant to suck you r blood’ Vampire s, or like the happy teen version that we have all come to know and love?”
Argus rolled his eyes and stood up. “We ‘re looking into it. I just received verification that there are clans of Vampire s. They have been secluded and have not made themselves known to us. Apparently , a large c lan in Italy has requested an audience. So far , here ‘s what I know. They are traveling at night, so I assume that they are the traditional Vampire s. We are going to have to figure out accommodations for them. Also, I have my people researching them, but they have donors who give them blood. We don’t know much more right now, although Caterina may be able to fill us in since, she was kidnap ped by one. We need to find out who this guy belongs to before the Vampire s get here.”
They heard a gasp from the doorway, and Caterina stood frozen in her steps with Cami putting an arm around her. Cloe jumped up and ran to her side, whispering into her ear. Tripp fought the need to go to his mate, but he knew she was in the throes of a panic attack and approaching her now would be disastrous . But his wolf disagreed and began clawing his insides to get up and do something. He felt his fingernails begin to grow, and knew his wolf was trying to take over. Lagon, the dragon, noticed and stood, then ca me over to him and said quietly, “Maybe you should stand up, and walk just a little closer to your mate before you shift.”
Tripp nodded and stood up slowly. Caterina was shaking between the two other women, and her face had gone so pale. She looked like she was going to pass out again. Cami saw h im out of the corner of her eye and motioned at him to come closer. He walked closer and finally stood before his mate. She was wearing a new pair of jeans and a soft looking pink shirt. He was glad the clothes arrived before she had come down. He hated to think that she had nothing to wear but those ratty sweats.
“Don’t freak out yet, listen to what we ‘re saying before you panic, “ Cloe was whispering.
“But Vampires, here? They ‘ll attack; I know it. You don’t understand , “ Caterina cried and stepped backward.
“No one will harm my mate,” Tripp said firmly and then stepped closer. “I promise you with all that ‘s in me; you ‘ll be safe. If, for some reason, you are not, I will fight to the death to protect you.”
“I don’t want anyone else to die for me,” s he whimpered and looked up at the handsome face she had earlier been thinking about. She felt the pull towards him, just like before, but this time, there was no panic. Something inside her told her he would protect her and keep her safe. She just had to let him.
Caterina fought the instinct to lean forward into him; she needed to think. This was all going too fast. Her feelings for this stranger were getting out of control. This was the second time she had been in his presence that she felt something. She just didn’t know what it was, she was human.
“Please, Caterina, come in and listen. If you don’t like what you hear, I swear, we ‘ll leave and go into hiding , ” Tripp said and held out his hand.
He heard the small intake of breaths from everyone around the room. For a wolf to say he would leave his Pack was huge, and for Tripp, it was much, much more . He dedicated his life to the Pack . For all to hear, he was stating his mate meant more to him already. He would not let anyone close that w ould harm her.
Cloe whispered, “I will help too. I promise.”
“Me too,” Cami said, and turned to her mates and frowned. They had not told her of any visit. “Start talking , big gu y, we need to have some reassurance about what the hell is going on around here.”
Jaden shook his head and looked at the rest of the room. The tension was thick. They needed to settle down and fast. He slammed his hand down on the table, making everyone jump a nd look at him and then smiled, “I vote if we don’t like what we hear, we beat the shit out of Dalton . Everyone who agrees, raise your hands.”
The group sat stunned and then slowly they all began to raise their hands. Caterina watched as the group began to laugh when the tall , good-looking man flipped Jaden off.
“Okay, I get it. We needed a little tension breaker there. Sorry, Caterina, please come in and talk with us. We will not make any decisions until we hear what you have to say.”
She stepped into the room and held her head up high. For the first time in a long time, she refused to run anymore. Cloe and Cami were on her side, and she could feel Tripp’s strength pushing her to stand up and fight.
“You can‘t trust any of them,” she said firmly and allowed Cloe and Cami to pull her farther into the room. She could sense the tension rising again, but she refused to back down. “I experienced firsthand what they will do to you.”