The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) (45 page)

A
fter I got dressed I marched back into the boys' room, head held high. I was all ready to be smooth and not at all awkward.

“Why are you walking like that?” Max asked as soon as I entered the room.

I kept my nose up just as high as ever. “I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm off to my meeting.”

I lowered my nose enough to see Chase staring at me. As soon as I noticed him, he quickly looked down at his hands sitting in his lap. I looked away just as quickly. Totally not awkward.

“I'll walk you down,” Jason offered, turning my attention to him.

“You can't come in with me, remember?”

Jason smiled. “I'll wait for you outside the door.”

The appearance of the other vampires had made my already paranoid boyfriend even more so. I made myself smile and told myself that paranoia couldn't hurt, and it was probably warranted anyhow. Heck, maybe he wasn't paranoid at all, maybe he was just smarter than the rest of us.

I nodded and held out my hand to him. We left the room without another glance, but I could feel eyes on me as I left. It was probably Max, wondering why I was once again acting like a crazy person. You'd think he'd be used to it by now.

Fortunately today’s meeting was labeled as casual, so I’d dressed down in faded jeans, dark green v-neck t-shirt, and my trusty sneakers. I felt much more comfortable in my casual wear. Hard as I tried, dressing up made me feel embarrassed and weird. Plus, I like to be in shoes I can run away in. One should always be prepared to run away.

The meeting was being held in one of the small conference rooms that the inn boasted, down by the lobby. I left Jason outside the door with a quick kiss, then went in without knocking.

I was early (a rarity for me), and only a few of the seats were filled. I sat down at the small rectangular table in the small rectangular room. Across the table from me sat bear-man (who introduced himself as Mike) and a dark skinned woman that I guessed would be about 6’3” when she stood. Deep brown, dense curls foamed around her face. She introduced herself as Darla.

Though Darla and Mike sat next to one-another, I sensed some major animosity going on. They each spoke to me, but had looks of utter distaste on their faces when they were not the one speaking.

“So you’re the demon,” Darla said to me conversationally, voice only expressing mild interest.

“Yep,” I shrugged. “That’s me.”

“You know you better watch your back around here,” she stated, absolutely no emotion in her voice.

“Is that a threat?” I asked casually.

She shrugged. “Not really. Just a fact.”

How could something ‘not really’ be a threat? I turned my attention from Darla as the rest of our group began to file into the room. Everyone avoided the seats directly next to me until Devin entered, sitting next to me and even scooting a little closer.

His vested interest in me had me even more worried than Darla’s non-threat. I glanced down at his arm on the table,
way
too close to mine, and scooted my arm a few more inches away. Devin didn't seem to notice. He was in all black again. He either needed a serious wardrobe makeover, or he was constantly monochrome for a reason. A sign of neutrality maybe? Though, for someone who was supposed to be neutral, he didn't resemble Switzerland in the slightest.

Abel entered last and stood at the head of the table. Greta, my new favorite werewolf, was nowhere to be seen. I guess Mike didn’t think she was needed. I was with Mike on this one.

No one spoke as Abel went to a coffee pot in the corner and poured himself a cup. I was told that this was a breakfast meeting, but they must have just meant that it occurred at breakfast time, because I didn’t see any food in sight. My stomach growled at the thought, and Devin turned to raise an eyebrow at me. No one else seemed to notice, but I was in a room full of werewolves, so I knew they all heard it.

Abel placed his coffee on the table without taking a single sip. He was dressed down today in a tight gray t-shirt and expensive looking jeans. His hair was loose and flowed long and thick, nearly to his waist. Having hair that long would drive my crazy. Knowing me, I'd probably slam it in car doors and strangle myself in my sleep.

Abel cleared his throat. “Today’s meeting,” he began, “has been called so that one, Alexondra Meyers, may state her need for the formation of a new pack. Her statement will be heard in full, then you will have an opportunity to question her. After that, the meeting will adjourn, and we will place the matter to a vote tonight.”

Apparently finished speaking, Abel sat and turned his gaze to me. His gaze was intense, like he was trying to prod me into action with the powers of his mind alone. When I didn’t do anything except sit there and look nervous, he motioned with his hand  for me to rise.

I stood hesitantly and cleared my throat. Please don’t mess up, please don’t mess up. “Um hi,” I said, giving a feeble wave to the room. ‘Um hi’? Great way to start Xoe. Werewolves responded to confidence and aggression, not meek nervousness.

I took a deep breath to gather my composure, and went on, “I’m here today to petition to form a pack-”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” a younger woman with hair and skin as pale as mine mumbled. I hadn't noticed her at the meeting the day before, but then again I had been a little too busy worrying about my own presentation to pay much attention to anyone else's.

At a simultaneous dirty look from me, Devin, and Abel, she promptly shut up. Darla covered her mouth with her hand to hide her silent laughter. It didn't help much, her amber eyes were shiny with amusement. At least someone was having a good time.

I stood a little straighter and tried to remember what Lela had told me to say. “The only wolves in my area have unanimously agreed to be part of my pack. My bid as Alpha has been approved by the coalition leader. Members of my soon-to-be pack stood witness to the event that qualified me as such.”

“Murder doesn’t make you Alpha,” Mike interjected.

“But self-defense after a personal challenge does,” Devin countered.

Mike opened his mouth to say more, but Abel interrupted him. “Questions and opinions will be held until after Alexondra’s proposal.”

I took a deep breath and went on. “I will live by werewolf law, though I am not a werewolf, and I will protect my pack with my life.” The end, I thought to myself . . . hopefully it wasn’t my end.

I sat without another word. There was a brief moment of silence, then everyone erupted into a mixture of excited and angry chatter. Darla just sat back and smiled. Either she cared little enough about what was happening to find it funny, or she knew something I didn't. I was betting on the latter.

Once Abel calmed the crowd, the questioning began, and oh, what a questioning it was. They basically just repeated that I wasn’t a werewolf, that I was a murderer, and so on and so forth.

When the meeting finally ended, I let everyone leave before me. No need to get accosted in the hallway if I could help it.

“You did good,” Devin observed, still sitting beside me.

“You don’t stand a chance,” Abel added, head in his hands.

We were the only three left in the room.

“We could just push it through without a vote,” Devin suggested.

Abel shook his head. “It would be chaos.”

“Not that I mind,” I interrupted. “But why do you guys care?”

Abel stared at me for a long time, before finally speaking. “Our packs are vulnerable,” he explained. “Our most recent incident has shown us that.” The incident he was referring to was the killing of several werewolves by the same group that kidnapped and tried to kill me.

“If you are bound by werewolf law,” he explained, “it will give demons and other supernaturals pause before messing with any of our wolves. Everyone is made more wary where demons are involved. Demons live forever. That's a long time to run away from vengeance.”

“But I’m only a half-demon,” I countered. “I killed Dan by accident, and had to be rescued from my kidnappers by my dad. I'm going to have a normal human lifespan. No one is going to be scared of my vengeance.”

“But very few know any of that,” Devin explained. “The human lifespan maybe, but that's it. It’s the same principle that someone would use in burglarizing a home. One home has a big angry dog, one home does not. Which would you choose to rob?”

I was beginning to understand where they were coming from. We didn't have to be that scary, just scarier than the next group. “So, I’m your big angry dog?”

Abel nodded and smiled his perfect smile. “Exactly.”

I stood and shook my head. “I hope you two know what you’re doing.”

Abel turned to Devin. “Might I have a moment alone with Alexondra?”

Devin nodded and offered me his hand.

I looked at the hand suspiciously. “If you kiss my hand again I'm going to smack you.”

Devin smiled. “A simple handshake then?”

I smiled back and offered my hand. He shook it, a nice, proper handshake, then quickly left the room like a good little lackey.

As soon as the door shut I turned to face Abel.

He looked down then up at me again, nervous. Suspicious.

“As coalition leader, I would like to offer you my protection Alexondra.”

The wording made me laugh. Well maybe not the wording, but the phrase itself. It just seemed like something someone would say in a bad mobster flick.

I stifled myself mid-laugh. “Um, that's nice and all, but why?”

Abel looked down at the table. “We're asking a lot of you.”

I still wasn't getting it. “I thought protection was the whole point of giving me a pack. You pretty much offered me your protection with that offer.”

Abel shook his head. “Not my personal protection. Under pack law, if someone kills you, we'll hunt them down and kill them. We have enforcers for that. What I'm offering you is different. If anyone challenges your dominance, they will in effect be challenging mine.”

I snorted. “You're going to have a lot of challenges to your dominance then.”

Abel wasn't smiling at all now. “Not as many as you might think. The only ones who challenge you are stupid. My protection will hold the stupid ones at bay. They've learned to be scared of me. They don't have enough experience to be scared of you, yet.”

I shook my head. “I think you have the wrong impression of me. I'm really not that scary.”

“How much do you know of your heritage?” he asked abruptly.

The sudden subject change threw me off. “My heritage?” I stammered.

“Demons have quite the history,” he explained. “If more knew about that history, you would never have had a single challenger to begin with.”

Now I was even more confused. Demons were relatively unknown, even in the supernatural  community. Few knew what we could do, especially since our powers varied so greatly. It made us wild cards. Some of the cards would only give you a paper cut, and others would mush you to a pulp. It was an intimidating concept, but it wasn't exactly a history.

My stomach growled again.

Abel took a deep breath. “I'm getting off topic. The point is, I'm offering you my protection. Do you accept?”

“Oh no you don't,” I replied. “What's this history you're talking about.”

He smiled. “Have your father explain it to you sometime. Do you accept?”

I squinted at him suspiciously. “What does accepting entail?”

“Nothing,” he replied, “except that you acknowledge my dominance, and my right to protect you.”

I did
not
like the sound of that. “Your
right
? That sounds like I'd be your property.”

Abel shrugged. “Only as far as public perception is concerned. You would not in truth be mine. Usually protection is only offered to a spouse or a child.”

I blinked slowly, completely taken aback and not sure what to think. I was pretty sure he wasn't asking me to be his spouse, because ew, but there was the possibility that he was asking me to pretend to be his spouse.

“I don't think so,” I replied sharply.

Abel just sat silently for a moment and regarded me. “It would help protect your friends . . . ” he began.

I cocked my head in question. “In what way?”

Abel smiled. He knew he had me as soon as he mentioned my friends, damn it. “If you're mine, and they're yours, to mess with one would be to mess with all.”

“So I pretend to be
yours
, and we'll stop getting picked on?” I asked.

Abel smiled again, the smug bastard. “Yes.”

“Fine.” I stood.

Abel stood and put his hand on the back of my chair to bar my way. “So you agree?”

I glared up at him. “I said
fine
, didn't I?”

Abel grinned from ear to ear. “We'll make the announcement tonight.”

With that, I left the room to meet Jason in the hallway, leaving Abel alone to grin over his victory. I had a feeling there was more to this protection ownership than Abel was saying. All I had agreed to was being
his
in name only, but the thought still rankled. A demon's pride and all of that.

“How’d it go?” Jason asked anxiously as soon as he saw me. The fact that he had to ask at all meant someone had prevented him from standing anywhere near the door.

I kept walking and he fell into stride beside me. I shrugged. “I’m a big angry dog, and everyone wants to rob us, and I belong to an egocentric werewolf.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?” he asked.

“No,” I answered and kept walking.

“What do you mean
belong
?” he asked trailing behind me.

“I'm not really sure,” I replied morosely.

Jason grabbed my arm. He looked pissed. “What do you mean
belong,
Xoe?”

I shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. “It would be for the public eye only. If everyone else thinks I belong to him, they're going to back off.”

I could feel tears welling behind my eyes and I didn't know why. I'm not much of a crier, but I had a feeling that I was overwhelmed just enough for it to happen.

“Ok,” he responded, like he was trying to calm a spooked horse. “Then explain the big angry dog.”