Accidentally Wolf (25 page)

“
He
’
s
trying to get you to be his sovereign,
”
Tristan said in almost a growl from the still
-
open doorway.
“
His wolf recognizes your power and he wants to be yours.
”
Tristan
’
s arms were held stiffly at his sides, his hands balled up in fists. He looked furious.

“
What are you talking about, Tristan?
”
I asked
,
moving back from both of them so that they could come into the apartment.
“
All I know is I opened the door for Riley and he started kissing me.
”
This wasn
’
t like when I minionized Tristan. That term was kind of growing on me though. It was silly enough that it seemed to take some of the seriousness out of the whole thing.

“
You were kissing him back, Sera.
”
Tristan turn
ed
toward me, anger burning in his eyes.
“
I saw you.
”

“
I
’
m not saying I wasn
’
t,
”
I
replied
,
trying to calm down.
“
I
’
m just trying to tell you what happened.
”

“
I didn
’
t feel this when I saw you earlier
.
”
Riley step
ped
toward me
and lower
ed
his voice
.
“
All I can think of is rubbing myself all over you and leaving my scent on you.
I want to please you.
”

“
Are you going to pee on her
,
too?
”
Tristan sneered, coming inside and closing the door behind him.
“
I get that you want her
.
Y
ou don
’
t have to rub it in my face.
”

“
I
’
m not trying to do that
.
I
’
m as confused as Seraphine is,
”
Riley answered
,
facing Tristan.
“
I
’
ve never felt this. Hell, my wolf wants to offer her my throat.
I came over here because of the shit that went down tonight. Not to mess around with her. I mean she
’
s beautiful of course, but I
’
m saying it
’
s like I couldn
’
t control myself.
”

“
Hey, standing right here guys,
”
I said loudly
,
causing my team to start coming into the hallway from the dining room
, all of them glancing at the three of us curiously
.
“
Okay, everyone into the dining room. We can
’
t have this conversation in the hallway.
”

“
Whatever you say,
my sovereign
,
”
Tristan hissed a
t
me as he started to walk down the hall.

“
Hey
.
”
I grabb
ed
his arm.
“
Stop being jealous and help me here. You have no idea what went down tonight
.
I
t was some serious shit. Riley came over here to help me and whatever mystical power shit that just happened, happened to him
,
too, okay?
”

“
Fine
.
”
He
t
oo
k a deep breath
, getting himself under control
.
“
I
’
m sorry. I don
’
t have to like coming home to see a stranger with his hands all over you.
”

“
I didn
’
t even know you were there when I stopped him
.
”
I
changed my tone from annoyed to something more gentle
.
“
I
’
m not even sure why I kissed him back. I
’
m completely lost here, Tristan.
”
I lowered my voice so only he could hear.
“
This wasn
’
t a wolf thing. The power that flared was like when you bit me.
”

“
Okay, let
’
s go sit down and I
’
ll explain
.
”
Tristan
took
my hand and lead
me into the dining room where everyone was waiting.

“
What
’
s going on, Chief?
”
Davis asked looking back and forth between Riley and Tristan.
“
One of them must be Riley.
”

“
Oh, so your team knows about Riley, but not me?
”
Tristan asked
,
dropping my hand like it burned him.

“
Davis, do me a favor, tell Tristan here what I to
ld you guys about Riley earlier.
”
I
went
to sit back down
in the chair I had vacated earlier.

Davis cleared
her
throat and focused
her
attention on Tristan.
“
Riley
’
s the wolf who helped you earlier in the wolf challenge you got tricked into tonight
.
”
Davis
was being very careful as to not say the wrong thing
.
“
You invited him over to get his input on our current case and help up list all the women of the pack we
’
re going to need to talk to.
”

“
Sound like work, Tristan?
”
I asked
,
raising an eyebrow.

“
Yes,
”
he said quietly,
not meeting my eyes.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Fine, but now I have to explain to my team who you are
,
”
I
snapped
,
still peeved.
“
Which we had talked about keeping secret for my own safety.
Is that worth you getting all jealous?
”

“
No, you
’
re right, Sera
.
”
Tristan
l
ook
ed
heartbroken
,
which cooled me off a bit
.
“
I
’
m truly sorry.
”

“
Why does he smell like you?
”
Harris asked
,
sniffing the air by Tristan.

So much for staying calm.
“
Aren
’
t we getting a little personal there, Harris?
”
I shot back
,
giving him the evil eye.

“
No, I don
’
t mean he has your scent on him,
”
he answered
,
blushing.
“
I mean he smells like you.
”

Tristan and I shared a look
.
I nodded, giving him permission to explain.

“
Sera is my
sovereign
,
”
Tristan explained.
“
Vlad
sent me to slay Sera since she killed Bernard. It seems he received some faulty information from his men, thinking that Sera had shot Bernard out of spite, not because he tried to kill her agent first.
”

“
I went to yell when Tristan bit me,
”
I said
,
taking up the story.
“
Instead of yelling,
some weird ass magic flared.
It seems I
made Tristan my minion, for lack of a better word
.
It
’
s not supposed to be possible for a human or
shifter
to do, but it seems I did. You can see why I was keeping this secret.
”

“
Yeah, the vampires would want you dead
,
”
Riley
whispered
quietly as if realizing he was saying what everyone in the room was thinking.
“
You can
’
t tell anyone this happened, Seraphine.
”

“
Well I had already told
Vlad
the night it happened
.
”
I
sighed, feeling a migraine coming on.
“
I had to explain why Tristan wouldn
’
t be coming back to him. But only after talking to
Vlad
and Chief Monroe did I realize how big of a deal it was.
”

“
We won
’
t tell a soul, Chief,
”
Cooper said
,
looking around the table as everyone agreed with him.
“
You
’
re the best thing that
’
s happened to our department
.
E
ven if you weren
’
t, no one wants to see you dead.
”

“
Thanks
,
guys, I
’
m glad you want to keep me around
.
”
I chuckled
, trying to ease the tension in the room,
as I
brushed
my fingers through my hair.
“
There seems to be something else now that even I don
’
t get.
”

“
First tell me what happened tonight at the
poaobou
.
”
Tristan reach
ed
for a beer
and
I gestured for Riley to help himself as well. I gave Tristan the short version for time
’
s
sake, Riley throwing his thoughts in
,
too
.

“
So yeah, all around I just want to go to bed,
”
I
grumbled
,
rubbing the bridge of my nose as I felt a stress headache coming on.
“
So what did you mean ear
lier when you said Riley wanted to make me his sovereign
?
I thought that was only a vampire thing?
”

“
You
’
re
doing that with a wolf
?
”
Harris asked
,
but
it came out
almost a
s
a yell
.
“
T
hat can
’
t be! I mean I know
you
’
re
crazy powerful, Chief, but
shifters can
’
t sovereign. They can form bonds to make allies and that
only happens with the leaders of a group.
But you
’
re not a Master of Chicago or an Alpha.
”

“
Wait, back up and explain it to the rest of us
.
”
Jennings
looked confused and I guessed he had about as much interaction with shifters as I
had
before I became one.
I
’
d almost forgotten he was there he was so qui
e
t most of the time.