Jan read the sheet in front of him again. Thirty. That was the number the alpha claimed he, Ivan, and Louie had killed in this missive embossed with the two pine cones insignia. Four of the five old stooges who made up the North American Vampire Council sat around the conference table, awaiting their response.
"It is a lie," Ivan answered, his tone flat but firm.
Jacob Eisenhower, the bane of Jan's existence, leaned forward, interlocking his knobbly fingers. Ethan could count the hairs slicked across his shiny head. "Pray tell, how do we prove it's a lie? Did you bring back the wolf heads so we can count your kills?"
Eisenhower had the look of a kind old grandfather until he opened his mouth. Then his sanctimonious voice raised Jan's hackles.
"If you want to count, let him provide the 30 heads he claims," Ivan rebutted.
Eisenhower's eyes narrowed, but his smile did not waver.
"He's got you there, Jacob." Bobby Lee Carson spoke in his slow southern drawl. He was raised down in Texas and turned during the revolutionary war. "We've nothing but the word of that alpha. 'N I never knew the word of a wolf carried that much weight in our council."
Eisenhower's lips curled in a mild sneer. "That alpha runs the second-largest pack on this soil, and they're affiliated with two other major packs. Gray Oaks of Canada -- the largest, if I may add -- and the Washington Wolves in the west, another formidable pack. A declaration from one of these is war with all three."
"Humph! I've heard of 'em, and I ain't scared. That don't answer my question, though, do it? He brings nothing but this 'ere paper. And he 'xpects us to hand o'er one of our best fighters, gagged and bound like a Thanksgiving turkey-"
Louie snorted, interrupting Carson's speech.
Ivan's hand balled into a fist, a vein ticking his temple. Mistress Celine, the only female at the table, eyed Louie with pure venom. Jan did not give a flying fuck about what these stooges thought, or Ryden for that matter. But he knew maintaining a cordial relationship and some sort of respect for the council mattered a lot to Ivan. So he tapped his best friend's thigh to prompt him to comport himself.
"Eisenhower, are you certain they only want Skyvar? I think it'll be perfectly fine to hand over that French imbecile instead," Mistress Celine purred in her usual sultry voice, causing Louie to choke on his mirth. One corner of her painted lips rose up in a humorless smile as she patted up her bouncy tresses.
The sellout, Eisenhower, replied, "I doubt that is negotiable. They are asking for the head of one for their thirty killed. The European Council also agrees that it is a fair trade."
"The Europeans can go fuck themselves!" Carson spat, pointing an angry finger at Eisenhower. "Everyone knows you think the Gaia's energy flows out from their arse. But they have no say here. This is 'Murica!"
Raised at the height of the Boston Tea Party, Carson had never had any love for the British. And as the years went by, that hatred had expanded to the rest of Europe and the vampire council that represented it. He had also been the first to accept the two blood brothers and Louie into the American community just to spite that committee.
The Europeans want Jan dead. He knew that, and he would bet a day in the sun that they were the ones pushing Eisenhower to make this deal. But why did Ryden want him? This was not the first time vampires had clashed with wolves, so why was the alpha escalating this?
The door banged open, and a stocky vampire with wild shoulder-length hair strode in. His face was flushed so red, it resembled a tomato. Jan was surprised to see the only other American-born vampire on the council here tonight. The newcomer scowled when his gaze fell on him.
YOU ARE READING
Blooded Mate
Fantasy[[MATURE CONTENT]] Pack, family, mate. Loyalty, respect, honor. These are the words that form the foundation of the wolf society. At six years old, Ethan had to choose between his Alpha title and his survival on the night of his father's death. As a...
