Midnight Reckoning

“I’ll go give the bartender my credit card,” Jaden said, looking a little glum as he watched Beth pull a bottle of what looked like expensive champagne from beneath the bar while two grinning wolves gave him a cheerful thumbs-up. “And then we can go.”



Lyra nodded and watched him stride away, trying not to be amused at the free-for-all beginning at the bar. Beth was busy filling some very large glasses with some sort of concoction Lyra had never seen before. Looked like tonight was going to be a party. At least no one could say wolves didn’t know how to have a good time. And the slaps Jaden got on the back from a few of the braver members of the pack gave her a little glimmer of hope. Even if the first one caught Jaden off guard and nearly knocked him over.



Which was undoubtedly by design.



As she watched him give that sardonic little smile to Beth, who looked suspiciously pink-cheeked, she found herself wishing, just a little, that things were different. Stupid, she knew, but true. It wasn’t every guy who could walk into a den of werewolves and navigate it without a scratch.



Of course, he wasn’t out of the Inn yet. And the sight of a very large, very familiar wolf making a beeline for Jaden made her feel like sinking through the floor. Looked like this was the night for baptism by fire. Lyra walked as quickly as she could on her long legs to get between Jaden and the one pack member she’d hoped he would never have to meet. She put her game face on before she got to them, knowing that to show any real interest in Jaden was to risk having him taken away from her as soon as Eric could manage it.



“Eric,” she said smoothly when she reached the two of them, stepping casually (she hoped) in between. “I see you’re introducing yourself. Jaden, this is my cousin, Eric Black.”



Jaden raised one slim brow and very deliberately looked Eric’s hulking form over. Finally, he extended his hand. “Pleasure.”



As expected, Eric ignored the proffered hand in favor of simple intimidation. He didn’t crack even an artificial smile—that wasn’t his way. Tall and dark, with golden eyes like all the Blacks, he would have been handsome if he didn’t always look like he was about to sentence someone to a painful execution.



“So you’re our new guest,” Eric said. “I heard there was a cat vamp in town, but I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw you for myself.” He looked Jaden over very deliberately. “I forgot how small you vamps can be.”



Jaden smiled blandly. “Yes. Tiny. It’s a wonder you noticed me.”



“And of course, you’re staying well off the territory to drink.”



“Jaden is here to learn about us,” Lyra said very deliberately. “Not to cause trouble. He’s our guest, and the Alpha expects him to be treated that way.”



Eric turned his bright gold gaze on her, and she saw the violence she’d heard so much about lurking just below the surface.



“He’s already causing trouble. Everyone knows there was another vampire in town last night. Are you telling me that’s a coincidence? Letting even one in is a mistake. First you get one, then another… then you’re overrun. Like cockroaches. Those things live forever, too, seems like.”



Lyra looked around at the faces of her pack, watching them. Waiting to see if she would stand up to Eric or back down, to see whether she would defend the vampire to a fellow wolf.



“I trust my father’s judgment. If he accepts Jaden’s presence, then so do I. So should we all. He’s been a good Alpha.” She looked around. “Change can be difficult, but it isn’t always bad.”



Eric’s expression hardened amid the assenting murmurs and reluctant nods. His smile was humorless. “Then I guess we’ll wait and see. Dorien is worthy of trust. But I doubt a vampire is, no matter how pretty his promises are.”



He stalked away, leaving Lyra feeling shaken and unsure. She was very good at keeping those things to herself. But when she turned back to Jaden, he looked as though he could see everything she was feeling as plain as day.



Suddenly, everything about the Inn—the people, the music, the noise—was too much for her. The headache that had been threatening all day felt like it was coming in for a landing, and she wanted to be the hell out of here before she crumpled up into a ball. Her looking comfortable leaving with Jaden now seemed decidedly less important.



“Let’s get out of here,” she said.



He nodded, and his lack of commentary told her that he did see how close to her breaking point she was. “Lead the way,” was all he said.



She didn’t look at him again as she headed through the crowd, feeling him right behind her like a shadow. People moved out of her way, most offering friendly good-byes, a few goggling at Jaden as though he was some kind of sideshow freak. She heard him murmuring a few cordial good-byes of his own and wondered whether it would make any difference. It wouldn’t if Eric, who already had a crowd around him at the bar, had his way. And no one would ultimately go against him, because despite everything, he was the strongest of them all.



She pushed the door open and walked out into the night, trying to convince herself that she could do what was needed, that she had a real chance to claim her birthright. But when she tried to imagine the Proving, all she could see was Eric’s broad form, easily twice her size, and his cold, unblinking glare.



For the first time, she didn’t feel a single shred of confidence that she would prevail.



All she had was tattered hopes, an unwanted vampire, and dull despair.



Chapter ELEVEN



LYRA UNLOCKED her little pickup with her keychain, jerked open the driver’s side door, and slid in. Jaden quickly got in on the passenger side. Once the doors slammed, they sat there silently for a moment in the dark. She’d felt awkward in the bar, but at least there had been people around as a buffer. Now, it felt a lot more… fraught.



Lyra began to fumble with getting the key in the ignition, uncomfortably reminded of her first make-out session. The car, the dark, the tension…



“Didn’t you drive here?” she blurted out. It seemed better to fill the silence with words, even stupid words. She felt lousy enough. Uncomfortable silence wasn’t going to fix anything. And since she knew what was coming, she really, really wanted to get it over with.



“Didn’t need to drive. I think you’re forgetting that you’re not the only one who can get around pretty quickly on four feet,” he said.



“Oh.”



The silence returned with a vengeance. When she heard Jaden shift a little in his seat, it occurred to her that he was just as uncomfortable too. Lyra gritted her teeth, ready to plunge in. But as she opened her mouth, Jaden spoke.



“I didn’t thank you,” he said. “For saving my life last night.”



She turned her head to look at him, startled into silence. He nodded.



“That’s probably what you did, you know. I’m not saying I couldn’t have managed to get out of it, but…” he trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, probably not. I owe you one.”



“Oh. Well. You’re welcome,” Lyra said, thrown off balance by the unexpected gratitude. In truth, she hadn’t thought much about what had happened before they’d ended up on the ground together. Only then did she realize she’d taken Jaden’s assertion that he didn’t know who his attacker was at face value.



An odd thing, to put faith so easily in a vampire. But there was something about Jaden that made it easy. Probably too easy, she knew.



“You don’t owe me anything,” she added with a nervous laugh. “You saved my butt from Mark, so I’d say we’re even.”



“Fair enough,” Jaden said. He looked relieved, like this was a burden he’d needed to get off his chest. Maybe he was like her, Lyra thought. She hated to be beholden to anyone. The idea that they might have that in common gave her an unexpected bit of pleasure. And that, she decided, was dangerous in her present mood. She felt weak right now, and far too inclined to share her burdens with anyone who seemed to care—with him.



“We should get going,” he said. “After getting a look at Eric, I think you’ve got your work cut out for you. So we should swing by the house, you can change into something better suited to sweat in, and we can head out. Your father said you’d know where to go.”



Lyra sat for a moment in stunned silence. That was it? She knew he’d said they would talk about it later, but… she didn’t want to talk about it later. It had been festering since last night, and she wanted to talk about it now. Tired, frustrated, Lyra pushed the topic into confrontational waters in the hopes that dealing with it would clear her head a little.



“Okay, look,” she said, turning her head to look at Jaden. “I’m still not sure what happened last night, but before we go any further, I think we need to sort a couple of things out.”



He blew out a breath and slicked his hair back with his hands. “Does it really need to get sorted out?”



“Yeah, it does,” Lyra replied, gripping the steering wheel hard enough that she was sure her hands would leave imprints. “If you’re really sticking around to teach me, this is going to have to stay professional. Whatever it was—that thing last night—it can’t happen again. Ever.”



She was ashamed of the fact that she couldn’t look him in the face when she said it, but it would have been too difficult to mean the words otherwise. Still, she could feel the heat of his eyes on her skin. What did he see in her? Even if she hadn’t sworn off men, she didn’t have anything to offer one right now. Especially not a bloodsucker.



“Just out of curiosity,” Jaden asked, his voice mild, “is your main objection to sleeping with me that I’m a vampire, or that you’re an Alpha’s daughter?”



She had to look at him then, because the question indicated he was losing his mind.



He looked perfectly sincere in his interest too. She wasn’t sure whether to slap him for being an idiot, or to kiss him for the same exact reason.