Tristan's Lyceum Wolves (2 page)

Summer after summer, they ran the bayou and raised hell. As Marcel grew older, he had become focused on learning the role of the Alpha, determined to take over for his father. In his absence, Tristan, Mira and Logan had strengthened their friendship, spending their days fishing in the swamp and warm summer nights making love in the fields. There had been a time when the three wolves had been inseparable lovers. In retrospect, Mira honestly wasn’t sure who she’d loved first, Tristan or Logan, but in the end, neither man had become her mate.

After attending graduate school, Tristan had come to Mira’s side after her father died. Determined to protect her, he’d fought to be the Alpha of Lyceum Wolves. In his newfound position of authority, Tristan had taken her under his wing, ensuring she continued her college education. Once she’d graduated from Wharton Business School, she’d smoothly slid into Tristan’s life as his executive assistant. She was the perfect fit for his real estate holdings corporation. Sharp dressed and tongued, she wielded great power in the boardroom and the pack house. Mira was in a league of her own among the females of the pack. And while she’d occasionally made love to both Tristan and Logan, they all knew it would not result in a mating pair for the pack. Still, she fit nicely into Tristan’s life as his confidant and friend.

Tristan liked to play the field but Mira could still make him hard with just a look. As she laid her fingers on his cheek, he let out a small sigh. She bowed her head, her eyes not meeting his. “Alpha, your new club is amazing. Sorry I’m late. Good news is that I wrapped up the Rapkus deal but got stuck in rush hour traffic.”

Tristan placed a finger under her chin, catching her gaze. “Great work, Mira. I’m glad you made it to this meeting. I know you usually work the business end of things, but I need you on hand to ensure the security of all ongoing deals. Something tells me this attack wasn’t the last, and I’m about to go on the offensive.”

Mira reached her hand up to cup Tristan’s hand and rubbed her cheek into his fingers, seeking his touch. He responded by holding her hips still, bringing her body flush against his. His warm breath teased her throat; she moaned as he licked her flesh.

“Please,” she begged.

Tristan laughed, knowing full well they didn’t have time to make love. “No time, ma chère. But look what you do to me,” he teased, groaning as he pulled away from her. Painfully aroused, his manhood pressed against his zipper. Damn, it had been a long time since he’d been with a woman.

“Later tonight, perhaps? Or do you have a date this evening?” he asked with a lopsided grin, knowing damn well that she had several wolves vying for her attention. She could have whoever she wanted any day of the week. Yet they both knew it didn’t matter. She was his first, no matter what plans she’d made.

“Maybe,” she hedged with a small teasing smile. “But I could reschedule for my Alpha. Seriously, Tristan, you know that you and Logan have ruined me for any other wolf. I mean, really? How will I ever find a mate who’ll satisfy me the way you do?”

“Ah, come now, Mir. You know that when you meet your mate, no one will compare. That’s just the way it is. Sadly, you’ll forget us like yesterday’s news…no matter what mad skills I have in bed.” He shot her a seductive grin, like a spider drawing her into his web.

While Tristan was truly an incredible lover and she was a desirable female, they both knew that once she found her mate, she’d leave him in the wind. When a wolf found his mate and initiated the final bond, no sexual rival existed. Sure, a wolf could consensually decide with his mate to play with another during the full moon activities, but the wolf pair would make decisions as one party. All decisions would be in the best interest of both wolves. And their love would bond them only to each other.

But until they each found mates, they were all happily single and available. While the threesome didn’t make love regularly, their strong friendship could easily turn into hot sex on the right night, waxing and waning like the moon. Given the kinky things they’d done to each other, Tristan knew it would be difficult for her to find another male who’d match the intensity of their trio.

Tristan held her gaze and reached for her again, sliding his fingers along the curve of her jaw, down the side of her neck until the back of his hand brushed over the swell of her breasts.

“But until you find your mate, you’ll just have to compare them all to me…Someday, though, I’ll have to give you up for good. You’ll leave Logan and me to go have a house full of pups. We’ll be hopelessly heartbroken.” He feigned sadness.

“And what about you, Tris? Sydney’s married now; it’s time to get serious about finding your mate. The elders believe it is your time,” she countered with raised eyebrows.

Narrowing his eyes on Mira, he released her and raked his fingers through his shaggy blonde hair. “Please don’t start. I’m single for a reason and you know it. Besides
I
run Lyceum Wolves, not the elders. I appreciate their input, but we do not need a breeding pair to run things,” he grumbled, irritated that she’d brought up the topic of his mating, which was so not happening any time soon.

“Okay, okay. God, I’m sorry I even brought it up.” She smoothed her hair and stood a bit straighter, but still lowered her eyes in submission, sensing his agitation.

“I’m serious, Mir. I really do hope you find a mate soon, but I’m good. In fact, I’m perfect…single…the way I like it. Really,” he emphasized with a grunt as if that would convince her to give up the subject. Granted, he knew she’d been waiting over a hundred years to find a mate. But that didn’t mean he wanted any part of being tied down to one woman.
No thank you.

“Come on, let’s go. The boys should be ready for us.”

Tristan had bristled at her questioning, knowing full well that he was not ready to settle down. Sure, he had asked Sydney Willows to move in with him over a month ago, but he did so knowing that they were not mates. Sydney had been his steady ‘friend with benefits’ for over a year. But now that she was married to his friend, Kade, he had no excuse not to play the field. Besides Mira and Sydney, Tristan didn’t date nearly as much as was rumored. When he was younger, he’d sowed his oats as much as the next wolf, but he’d refined his tastes in recent years and was quite happy with his selective but dynamic sex life.

As they walked toward the door, he deliberately said nothing, letting the cooling sound of silence speak volumes. They entered the soundproofed meeting room without speaking another word. He’d had top of line conference facilities installed in the new club, including LCD projectors and wall to wall plasma screens. An oval cherry table with tan leather seating for twenty took center stage.

Tristan strode to the head of the table, where Marcel and Logan were already seated to his left and right. Three distinguished pack members, who Tristan held in high regard, also sat in attendance. Willow Marrow, the oldest living elder, had seen a lifetime of pack wars. When Tristan had fought to win Alpha, she’d been grateful, because he ensured her safety and status. Her brothers, also elders, Gavin and Shayne, flanked their sister.

Gavin’s son Declan sat to his right, and was considered a senior wolf, strong and competent. Tristan could sense Declan had been itching to challenge him, yet he’d always been loyal to the pack. There was a good chance Tristan would need to call upon Declan in the coming weeks, and he wanted him on board with his strategy. As a leader, sometimes it was better to coax an opponent into becoming a friend, rather than cause fractures within the pack.

Tristan silently nodded at Mira to shut the door; she entered the security code to lock down the room and then gracefully sat down next to Logan and looked to the Alpha to begin. Tristan closed his eyes slowly and blew out a cleansing breath, aware that his power rolled off him, commanding the attention of his pack. His eyes flew open; the others felt his tension and waited anxiously for him to begin.

“Okay, people, listen up. As you all are aware, someone decided to wage war with Lyceum Wolves by attacking my club last week. Now that Noir is up and running and we’ve had a chance to investigate, it’s time to go on the offensive. However, before we talk about how this is going to go down, let’s review what we know so everyone’s on the same page.”

Heads nodded toward Tristan in acknowledgment but no one spoke; they all knew better than to interrupt the Alpha. While Tristan presented a cool and charismatic appearance, he was also reserved and lethal, like a Samurai sword waiting to be drawn from its sheath. Picking up the remote, he confidently circled the table. Punching a button, the large plasma screen flicked to life. Through the grainy video of a room in flames, a small, cloaked figure dashed across the room toward the aquarium behind the bar.

“Most of the video was damaged in the fire, but we were able to get this footage. Notice the one person we’ve got here. We’re not sure, but we think it’s a human woman. I smelled the blood before the collapse, and the one thing I could tell is that she’s not a shifter or vampire. I couldn’t tell at the time why all the blood was concentrated behind the bar, but as you can see here in this clip, she breaks the glass to get to Eve.”

Eve was a large yellow boa constrictor, who’d been a centerpiece behind the bar. Tristan had raised her as a baby and had built an incredibly elaborate terrarium for her, including lights and trees. Yet, when he’d gone into the fiery building to save her, the snake was missing.

“There’s only a few seconds left on this clip, and as you can see, she appears to cut her arm. She wraps it in a bar towel and proceeds to grab Eve. I find it damn interesting that someone would go through the effort to torch the place, and then take the time to save an animal, a snake at that. But this is what we’ve got. The only prints I saw when I went in were bloodied footprints, presumably hers, since they were small. There was no evidence of anyone else in the place, but then again, it was burning pretty good. I could barely breathe in there let alone detect the scent of a wolf or vamp. Magic is also still on the table as a possibility.”

Tristan flicked the screen off, walked back around and sat down. He felt a silent vibration on the table, picked up his cell phone and read the message:
‘D. on premises. Waiting for you in Luvox Suite’
. Tristan impatiently tapped his fingers on the table on learning that the vampire was present in the building.

Looking over to Marcel, he directed him to speak to his wolves. “Marcel is going to update you on the stray wolves that attacked Kat. Not sure how they tie into this situation yet, but I know they are a piece of the puzzle. Marcel?”

Marcel nodded and scanned the faces at the table. He was not their Alpha, but commanded the respect of Tristan’s pack. “The day of the fire, Kat’s car was attacked and her driver, Paul, a young member of our pack, was killed. Kat managed to draw two wolves into an area where we could trap them but both of them committed suicide before capture. I’ll tell you that I’ve never seen anything like it. Cyanide tablets. That tells me they were fiercely loyal and didn’t want to risk our interrogations. Unfortunately, the bodies had no identifiable markings. We did find the car; it’d been stolen. New York plates. And that’s all we’ve got.”

Marcel pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a deep breath. He continued, “Now I’ve talked to Chandler by phone. He continues to deny any involvement. As much as I want to believe the guy, we can’t be sure. I mean, he didn’t give up wanting Kat for his mate until both Tris and I confronted him. So he’s not one to take no for an answer. He may be pissed and looking for retribution. He could have sent those wolves to kidnap Kat and force a mating. Now, on the other hand, if it isn’t him, it could be that there’s someone trying to stage a coup within his pack. You can be damn sure that if he’s clean, he’s pickin’ apart his pack lookin’ for traitors.”

Jax Chandler was the New York Alpha. Dangerous and cunning, he’d spent the last couple of months trying to convince Tristan’s sister to mate with him.

Tristan stood again, interrupting his brother. “So for now, Kat is safely tucked away in New Orleans. Marcel’s leaving tonight to keep a close eye on her and his pack. As for Lyceum, we are locking down. This new building has several empty apartments with state-of-the-art security. All pack members are welcomed and encouraged to stay here when in the city, or remain at the pack house up state. To date, no one’s claimed responsibility for the fire, but that doesn’t mean this is over. Logan?”

Logan, calm and stoic, raised his gaze to meet his Alpha’s. He was Tristan’s best friend and confidant. As beta wolf, he took second in command, and often shared responsibilities with his Alpha in both work and play. Logan had idolized Tristan when growing up, knowing his power first hand. Until recently, he’d helped run Eden, but now he vowed to stay close to Tristan, guarding him with his life. Over the past century, Logan had become accustomed to the visions that plagued his sleep; good or bad, he usually only shared them with Tristan. Today, he’d been asked for the first time to talk with a group.

Tristan strode over to Logan and put his hand upon his shoulder, giving him assurance of his protection. He wouldn’t push Logan too far, realizing that he preferred to keep his visions private. But this time, Tristan needed him to tell the others what he’d seen.

“I’ve seen a dead wolf. A male. I felt he was ours. He definitely wasn’t one of the wolves down in New Orleans. My visions,” he looked up to Tristan, then back to the others. “My visions, they aren’t always clear. But this, what happened to the club, what happened to Kat, it’s only the beginning. All members of the pack need to be on alert for out-of-territory wolves. In the past, we’ve been relatively lax about wolves entering and leaving our territory. No more. Tristan’s put out an advisory to all other Alphas. Anyone who comes into our territory as a non-pack member must seek the Alpha’s permission or else there will be consequences.”