Accidentally Wolf (32 page)

“
Um, there will probably be live entertainment tonight,
”
Tristan whispered in my ear.
“
Vlad goes all out when he has out of town guests that he needs to flaunt his power in front of.
”

I gazed at the pillows again.
“
Why do I think it won
’
t be PG-13 type of entertainment?
”

“
Because you
’
r
e
smart,
”
he quickly answered before everyone noticed us.

“
Seraphine,
”
Vlad called out
with a smile
as we walked toward him.
“
So nice of you to make it. The dress is lovely.
”

“
Really? We can call this a dress?
”
I teased, shaking my head. Tristan let go of my arm so Vlad could kiss my hand and gre
e
t me.
“
It looks more like a negligee to me.
”

“
I agree
.
”
A
woman chuckled good
-
naturedly. I glanced over at her when Vlad released my hand and finally understood what he meant about feeling the need to bare my throat to someone.

She was tall and ravishing in a shimmering green
strapless
dress
that went to the floor
. Her black hair was slicked back and pulled up
with
dramatic makeup emphasiz
ing
her amber eyes
and prominent cheekbones
.
All this was imposing enough, but she also
reeked of power and
something
in my wolf let me know that this was an Alpha. I held out my hand to her, smiling until I saw she was staring at it in confusion.

“
Sera is new as you know and hasn
’
t spent any time with the local wolves,
”
Vlad explained quickly. Normally I didn
’
t like people basically apologizing for me
,
but given this situation was tricky, I appreciated any help I could get.

“
Ah, I see,
”
the woman said and smiled at me.
“
Then let me ask you this, my dear. When you saw me
,
what was your first reaction?
”

“
To bare my throat,
”
I answered honestly, no less confused.
“
But why would you want to see my neck?
”

“
You were right, Vlad. She is honest and refreshing
.
”
T
he woman chuckled
good naturedly, not like she was laughing at me
.
“
I
’
ll show you, if you
’
d permit me, how wolves gre
e
t an Alpha they acknowledge.
”

“
I didn
’
t say that I acknowledged you as my Alpha though
,
”
I
blurted ou
t
and stepped back.
“
Engle taught me that saying that is a trap I can
’
t get out of.
”

“
Then let us start again and I can explain the
real
way wolves interact and not the way that bastard is teaching people,
”
she replied angrily. But that anger wasn
’
t for me
,
and I was glad of that. She held out her hand.
“
I
’
m Alena Dorcus and this is my mate, Zeno.
”
She gestured to the tall,
red
-
headed
, and handsome man standing next to her
, who gave me a nod
.

“
Now I really don
’
t want to bare anything vital to you
.
”
I
was nervous now and not hiding it a
s I
looked away from her husband and
shook her hand.
Too much was being thrown at me to keep my composure.
“
I am sorry for the loss of your child though. No one should have to
bear
the pain of that.
”

“
You really are, aren
’
t you?
”
Her voice held a tone of awe. I wasn
’
t sure why.
“
You are sorry for our pain even though our son tried to kill your agent and made you a wolf.
”

“
His actions were not yours and your pain is not something I
’
d have wanted you to have.
”

“
Then hopefully you will answer some questions that plague us
.
”
Zeno
t
ook
my hand
after his wife released
it
and rais
ed
it to his lips.

“
I
’
ve been given full authority to discuss as much as I can with you that won
’
t jeopardize anyone else or any active investigation,
”
I replied gently. He gave me a sad smile and nodded. Just then a scantily dressed waiter walked over and offered us a tray of wine. Yeah, alcohol sounded good right now. I grabbed one, thanking the waiter only to gasp when I realized who it was.

Riley.

Later
,
he mouthed to me. I nodded and focused back on Zeno.
“
Would you like me to tell you what happened and then you can ask whatever other questions you might have?
”

“
Yes, thank you,
”
Alena answered as we all moved to sit on the lush couches in front of the stage set up.
“
Then we can put this ugly matter behind us and enjoy our evening.
”

That seemed an odd way to phrase things to me. I
’
d think the loss of a child was a little bit more than an ugly matter. But, to each his or her own.

“
The Dorcus
’
s
have asked that I read your power as you speak to be an unbiased third part
y
in determining
whether
you
’
re telling the truth
,
”
Vlad informed me as he sat next to me.

“
I have nothing to hide
,
so I
’
m okay with that as long as I understand what
i
t means. I don
’
t want you just poking around in my brain, Vlad. We
’
ve discussed there are things I cannot tell you,
”
I said carefully.
Mostly because I knew that was Vlad
’
s gift. So I found it interesting that he didn
’
t want the Dorcus
’
s to know that. But then again, maybe it was rude to brag about a person
’
s gifts? Too many rules.

“
It
’
s not like that,
”
Tristan explained
to
me, probably knowing he
’
d be the only one in the room I
’
d trust right then.
“
It will be like when he read your energy earlier today. His will brush yours and he will be able to tell if it
fluctuates
as it would if you
were telling a
lie.
”

“
Oh, that
’
s cool with me
,
”
I agreed with a shrug.
“
As long as you give me one of those nifty promises you won
’
t go poking around in my head.
”

“
I promise.
”
He smiled, trying not to laugh. I nodded for him to go ahead and gave him my hand. I was ready for the feeling this time and didn
’
t even blink as his aura caressed mine.

I turned to the Dorc
u
s
’
s and told them everything I could. Alena might have spoken as if the death of her son didn
’
t matter, but I realized then she was just saving face. Midway through
,
tears gathered in her eyes and she reached for her husband
, holding his hand tightly
.

“
Again, I am truly sorry for your loss,
”
I finished, upset that I had inadvertently hurt these people.

“
Thank you,
”
Zeno said with a nod.
“
And these weapons that broke the law, you saw them? What were they?
”

“
Yes, I saw them
but
I can
’
t tell you specifics,
”
I hedged.
“
But I can tell you that they were much more dangerous and on a larger scale than we had expected. Most were military grade that we traced as stolen.
”

“
That
’
s all I needed to know,
”
he replied, his eyes growing angry.
“
I am sorry our son hurt you and disgraced our family this way. Rest assured, if you had not handled the situation, we would have.
”

“
I just wanted him arrested, not dead
.
”
I
t was the truth
.

“
He would have been executed for his crimes,
”
Alena informed me
, her eyes losing their sadness
.
There was an undeniable authority in her voice that reminded me again of how powerful she was.
“
It
’
s the way of the pack and our family.
”

I didn
’
t say anything. It wasn
’
t my place
,
and
,
since they were basically foreign dignitaries, it wasn
’
t my problem how they wanted to handle their own.

“
I attest that at no time did Seraphine lie,
”
Vlad stated as he stood
and adjusted his
tux jacket
. Both Alena and Zeno nodded.
Vlad smiled with what looked like relief.
“
Good. Then the matter is settled and let
’
s move on to the entertainment during appetizers.
”

“
You always put on a good show, Vlad
,
”
Zeno chuckled, his eyes filling with lust. Oh shit. Was I really going to have to sit here and watch strippers?

Vlad smiled and clapped his hands twice. Suddenly there were more waiters and two couples leapt onto the stage. One woman and one man, both
of
who
m
I could tell were vampires. I was starting to be able to sniff the power of other paranormals and reading what they were. Riley was there with another man. While I had wanted to see him naked, it wasn
’
t like this.

“
Begin,
”
Vlad ordered and sat down on a third couch by himself. Riley gave me a heated look before he was pulled into the arms of the man. They kissed passionately as did the other couple and I realized I wasn
’
t going to watch them strip.

I was going to watch them have sex.

Holy. Shit.

I glanced at Tristan, who took my hand in a show of support. Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“
We
’
re not human, Sera
,
and don
’
t have the same hang-ups with sex or nudity. I
’
m sorry you
’
re being thrown in the deep end like this
,
but the sooner you understand this, the quicker you can adapt to our world.
”