Fighting for her Mate

17

Shock from the question kept everyone speechless. Tristan sat back and steepled his fingers against his chin. “How dangerous will this fight be? Will I lose many members of my pack?”

“I’m hoping to present a strong enough front that they will simply surrender to me.”

Julian lifted his chin. “You know there is little chance of that happening, Aria.” Julian turned to Tristan. “Reality is we don’t know if any minions will stand by the leaders and fight. I venture a guess that most are fair-weather underlings: only around when things are running well. As soon as there is trouble, they’re gone.”

“Dad,” Aric started, “from what we’ve seen, when vampires have been involved in the attacks on Jordan and Ellie, they ran when help showed up. Julian’s guess is a good one.”

The vampire’s brow raised and he gave an upturned corner of his lips and a slight nod toward Aric.

“Tristan Alain Wolfe,” Barbara crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t even pretend to think about this. Not only humans are being taken. One of our own was abducted. And you know as soon as they taste wolf blood, they will want more and more. Fortunately, Maria is young and her blood is not as potent as an adult’s.”

“As always, my love, you’re my perfect mate to balance my alpha tendencies.” To Aria, he said, “We’ll ask for volunteers who understand the risks.”

Aric glanced at his brothers. “You have three right here.” He winced when Jordan twisted on his lap. “I know you meant six, my gorgeous husband. If not, you might not make it to the raid alive.”

“Jordan, come on—”

“Don’t you come on me—” Her cheeks caught on fire when she realized what she’d said. It took Aric a second to put two and two together. When he did, he hooted like a were owl on the prowl.

Ellie looked over her shoulder at Caleb. “Don’t even think I’m not going.” He sighed and said nothing.

Nate grabbed Karla by the waist and turned her to him. “My sweetest love. I know how strong and capable you are when it comes to protecting those you love. So I ask on behalf of the cute, helpless, tiny babies in the other room that you stay with them. Plus, we don’t know if you can shift yet.”

Karla looked at him with loving eyes. “Of course, I’ll stay with the babies. No argument.”

Barbara smiled. “Well done, Nate. Was Aric watching you?”

A whiny “moooom” came from the oldest brother’s side of the room.

“Everyone settle down.” Tristan brought the group back to attention. “Aria, when are you planning for this raid?”

“Tonight.”

Aria stood in the shadows in her club, Embraced, a glass of animal blood in her hand. This would finally be it. She’d kill all those who dared go against her. Those who thought they knew better than she did. Vampires she knew were loyal to her mixed in with the crowd. It would end tonight.

Her pocket vibrated and she pulled her phone from her leather pants. A text popped up on the screen: ETA 5 min. The show would start very soon now. She had to make sure the right people were at the club. That meant letting the drop happen first to bring out the big fish, then they got to fry them up. Not that she’d ever think of eating a fish. Something about that thought squigged her out.

Slowly, casually, she made her way toward the door leading to the back and upper rooms. This would be where the action took place. She slipped through the door into the hallway. She passed the stairs ascending to the second level, then put her back to the wall and peeked around the corner.

Several vampires were walking toward the rear stage door. Outside, Trevan and his crew would have the young victims. She didn’t have time right now to think about the wolf. Her mind should be focused on what was about to happen, but for some reason she still felt tingles of awareness at the thought of him. Later, after everything, she’d hate herself for spending too much time with him on her mind. For now, she’d ignore the image of his bedroom-eyes popping into her head.

Time for the show. Hopefully everyone was in place. Retracing her steps to the main room, she re-entered the main lounge and headed toward the stage. Her pocket vibrated. A text read: Bait taken. Locked and loaded.

She shoved her phone into her pocket and jumped up to the music booth setup. Grabbing the strung out DJ by the scruff, she launched him forward into the dancing crowd. She found a button labeled “stop” and pushed it. The high-decibel thumping ceased.

The vamps on the floor looked around, like coming out of a daze. Aria snatched up the wireless mic and stood on top of the DJ equipment to become center stage.

“Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming to my club tonight. Here’s a couple vampire jokes to get tonight rolling. What does a vampire order at the bar? A bloody Mary. What kind of dog does a vampire have? A blood hound.” A male voice in the crowd yelled to turn the f*****g music on. Aria raised a brow.

“Hey, dumbass, I said my club. Who owns this place?” The i***t paled more than he was. She nodded. “That’s right, asshole. Do you know who I am?” She waited for his negative shake of the head before showing off her fangs. “I’m Aria Valderi.” She turned back to the crowd.

“No more jokes. They all suck. Tonight’s entertainment is a reminder of the vow you took when joining this elite club—no human blood allowed. I’m having a special show tonight, and unless you want your head ripped from your body, I suggest you leave.” No one got up. They looked at each other as if wondering if this lunatic lady was for real. They had no f*****g clue.

She’d give the stupid fuckers one more chance. With a lift of her hand, she brought the mic close to her mouth. She took a deep breath and yelled, “NOW!”