Allure of the Wolf (Seraphine Thomas Book 2) (27 page)

“You know I don’t.” My tone was dark, cold. This wasn’t my fault, and I was tired of everyone acting like it was my job to clean up a mess I hadn’t had anything to do with making and didn’t fully comprehend what it meant to fix.

“Well you arrest him and the next will just do the same.” He grabbed a measuring cup and jammed it into the bowl, before dumping the contents into one bag. Then he did the same for the next bag, and again for the next. “Then you arrest the
next
and the
next
. You still can’t be Alpha by arresting someone. It
has
to be a dominance battle. So a weaker wolf gets it that way and we get invaded and a different asshole takes over Chicago.

“Then what? God only knows what happens then. Or fuck! The Shifter Council comes in and lays down the hammer. I’m
out
of here if that’s a possibility. There will be a Riley-shaped dust cloud if we even come
close
to that option.”

“I can’t—” I froze when I smelled fear thick in the air, focusing on Riley. “What do you know of the Shifter Council firsthand, Riley?”

He looked away and took a few deep breaths before slowly meeting my eyes, pain and sadness like I’d never seen before in his light blue ones. “I was a pup when it happened. I wasn’t a born wolf, but infected when I was a toddler, my parents both turned and they accidentally turned me too. Whatever, we had each other and the pack. It was our family. A
good
family. Some of the pack was dealing drugs. Not us. The council found out and sent people in because it was bad for the community. I was nine.”

“What happened?” I murmured when he stopped talking.

“My father knew something was up and it might be drugs but didn’t report it. That was it. No proof, no trial, nothing. Someone
said
he knew and
might
be involved and that was all it took. The council culled my parents with the rest of the corrupt part of my pack just so no one started back up the drugs and to make an example of our pack to keep packs in line.”

“Jesus,” I hissed, my eyes bugging out as my heart skipped a beat.

“Please don’t let the council come here, Sera,” he whimpered, tears filling his eyes. “I can’t go through that again. Some of our pack are good people, too scared to speak out. Hell,
I
would be culled because I knew. Save
me
, okay? Please? Be Alpha to save
me
.”

I glanced at Monroe, shocked that the Shifter Council was so brutal even as I pulled Riley into my arms and held him tightly.

“That’s not even half as bad as some of the stories I have of what the Vampire Council has done to whole covens when a Master vampire has gone off the rails or against their wishes,” Chad mumbled, standing and cleaning up the mushrooms that had escaped from the bowl. “There’s a reason Vlad has built an army. He’s lived through what Riley has and he swore never again.”

“And they’re okay with
that
?” I hedged, my stomach turning sour even as my heart started beating faster.

“They brush it off, not seeing it as anything real,” Chad chuckled, popping another slice in his mouth. “If they knew the half of it, they wouldn’t take it so lightly.”

“And if they
did
know?”

Monroe’s eyes filled with worry in a way I’d never seen before. “They’d slaughter us
all
like babes in the night, making the Bible seem like a pretty story. That’s why his alliance with the wolves and Bernard was so important. They made an oath that should one council ever come to Chicago the other side would fight to keep our turf safe.”

“That’s not another reason to
want
to make me be Alpha, Chad,” I informed him, letting Riley go so I could think clearly.

“Probably not, but I’m your friend, and I won’t lie to you about something this serious. You need to know what you’re getting into and what Vlad will want if you take over.”

“Then start talking because I need to know
everything
.”

16

Everything
ended up being more than I could handle for one night so when I told Riley that Noah had been called out of town and he suggested hitting up one of the shifter clubs, I was
all
for the idea of blowing off some steam. Except I really,
really
needed to learn to ask more questions before I agreed to things.

Like that the dress code was
naked
.

Yes,
naked
. No, I hadn’t believed him at first either.

“Just go in the locker room, stash your stuff in there, put the key on your necklace, and we’ll have some fun,” Riley chuckled when I’d balked at him. He gave me a kiss before hurrying into the men’s locker room.

“What’s the point of having separate locker rooms when we’re all getting naked?” I muttered under my breath as I stormed into the ladies one. I did as he said and took several deep breaths before walking back out into the club. I had aligned with my siren so I could have
some
semblance of self-confidence at being nude in front of all these people.

You are a gorgeous, smart, desired woman. I will guide you through this and show you that being nude during the full moon, allowing your baser instincts to guide you, can be fun
.

I tried to believe her, but it sounded like a bunch of crap to get me to be a slut for the night.

Maybe
. She smiled at me mentally. Whatever. I was here and I wasn’t about to run scared.

I realized then why the admission price was so high… Drinks were included—where would we have put money or debit cards? In our
pockets
? Riiiiight.

I ordered a rum and Cherry Coke, searching for Riley. How had I beat him out of the locker room when I’d been
stalling
? But apparently I had. I thanked the bartender for my drink and made my way over to a back booth, nodding to a few people I vaguely recognized. God, I wanted to melt into the floor as I said
hi
in my birthday suit.

“Seraphine, this is a surprise!” someone called out. I turned to see Simone, one of the panther leaders.

“Sera’s fine,” I greeted, honestly smiling to see a friendly face. “I was
surprised
to hear the dress code.”

“Oh
no
,” she groaned as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. I did the same before pulling away. “No one warned you?”

“Noooo, I thought it was going to be sweaty, naughty club dancing,” I chuckled, then
gulped
when I saw two people fucking like rabbits not ten feet from us in one of the booths. “Got a moment?” She smiled and excused herself as I nodded to the group she’d been with. We moved away a bit and I graciously sat on one of the tables in the corner, crossing my legs to hide what I could, as she stood, looking perfectly comfortable with
everything
on display. “I wish I could do that.”

She tilted her head and studied me a moment. “Do what?”

“You’re just
standing there
as if in jeans and a T-shirt instead of naked,” I hissed at her.

“Sera, god, the gods, or the goddess—whatever you believe in—made you this way. Humans want us to cover up our outer beauty for their comfort. You grew up as human so I understand, but I was born a panther. This is how I was raised. There is no shame in the nude form. It is who we are. We dress to keep warm, to fit in with human society, but that is all.”

“Still wish I could do it,” I muttered before taking a sip of my drink.

She gave an easy wave of her hand, gesturing to everyone acting as if it was the most natural thing all around us. “You will. Give it time. Michael was much like you when he was turned but now he has adapted.”

My eyes went wide. “Is Harris coming here tonight? Oh god, please tell me I’m not going to be like this in front of my team.”

“No, he has other plans.” Her lips twitched as if she wasn’t trying to laugh at me. “What did you wish to speak to me about?”

“Oh right, two things. Do you know any shark shifters in the area? I could use a consult on a case. And what have you been hearing through the grapevine about the pack?” I kept my voice low, knowing how good the ears were around us even over the loud music of the club. I took another sip of my drink as a
very
fine naked form caught my attention. He was leaning over a table, talking to someone, and the ass on him made my body get excited in all the best places. I realized Simone was talking and shook myself out of it. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Distracting, isn’t it?” she chuckled, giving me a wink.

“Yeah, it really is.”

“I don’t know any shark shifters, though I have heard one was in the area asking some weird questions about tracking down some humans she knew once.”

“She?”
I checked.

“Yes,
she
,” Simone hedged, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow. That was another thing I was jealous of her for. She was always so put together. I mean, I wasn’t any slouch in the looks department, but I didn’t always
look so together
. We’d only met a few times, but her nails were flawless, all of her professionally groomed. I didn’t have the luxury of time like that. “Why?”

I shrugged. “We’re not sure yet. Just looking for info, nothing concrete. Can I talk to your person who heard this or who talked to her? I’d love to talk to her or get a sketch of her.”

“I’ll see what I can do but the full moon makes tracking people down hard,” she admitted with a slight wince.

“I’d appreciate it.”

“Would it get me an invite to dinner? I heard you’ve learned how to smoke salmon and I do like salmon.” She shot me a smirk, and I ignored the sinking feeling it gave me to know that little factoid had already been around the rumor mill fast enough to reach her ears. People really did like to gossip.

“You get me a lead on having some face time with the shark, Simone, and it’s dinner and the next girls night out with me and Davis,” I offered. “We had a great time at
The Cats Cradle
.”

“Yes, I saw your guest judge picture on Instagram and then a bunch of times on Twitter.”

“Am I the
only
one who doesn’t have an account?”

She flashed me those prefect teeth. “Probably.” She scoped out the room as I kept checking out my hot male backside even now that he’d stood back up. God, even his shoulders, thighs, arms—
everything
looked like good fun. “Now, about the pack…”

She trailed off and I glanced at her. “What? What’s wrong now?”

“Are you not taking over? Rumor has it you and Engle are playing nice now that he’s not making a play for you to be his bitch and instead his Beta.”

“I remember quite clearly saying I
wasn’t
taking over, Simone,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead with my free hand. It actually felt wonderful since it was cold from having been on my glass. “And that was before I knew challenging an Alpha meant I had to kill them. My plan is the same. Fix the pack, but no, I won’t be his Beta or lackey either.”

“That’s not what a Beta is,” she growled quietly.

“
I
know that but to
Engle
it is,” I clarified.

She shook out her head, her cat probably riding her. “Too true. To him it would be.”

“So let me ask you something. Is there no way to tell the Shifter Council about a bad Alpha without them coming in and
culling
or whatever?”

“Tell me you haven’t called the council,” she hissed, reaching out and grabbing my arm roughly enough her nails dug in my skin.

“Not on this,” I lied, hoping she couldn’t tell. I think she was too upset or maybe there was too much going on in the club for her to have been able to decipher me because she backed off and released me. “My boss has been dealing with them on other things, and they seem quite reasonable, but then I’m getting another picture of them from people. I’m just trying to get the real representation from someone I trust, you know?”

She blinked at me a moment. “I take that as a great compliment that you trust me, Sera.”

Now it was my turn to blink at her. “You were a big help with our last problem in the area. Harris has nothing but good things to say about you, and I’d like to think we’d be friends if I actually had time for a social life. Hell, I was glad to see you and not just for the work help and gossip. I actually like you.”

“I like you too.” We shared a smile, and I went to look back at my eye candy only to find him gone.

Damn.

“So no just giving them a heads up then, huh?”

“No. Think of them as the military. You only use them as a last resort to protect the nation.” I nodded at her explanation, getting a better idea when she put it in those terms. “It would be better to call in other forces or allies for help if it’s something you couldn’t handle yourself. They aren’t the police. We police our own so the military
doesn’t
come.”