Adopt a Vampire
: Chapter 6

I went to Ria’s “lair” the next morning with my laptop tucked under my arm and two file folders, ready to work. Her house was much like her brother’s in style, the same stucco building on the outside with beige carpets and cherry wood cabinets in the living room entertainment center. I noticed she’d painted the walls something other than blue, though; hers had different shades of muted greens and brown. She had a nice eye for color, as it looked good.

Werewolves, I had discovered, had an open-door policy. They never locked their doors and they didn’t expect people to knock. You just walked in and announced yourself if you were going to stay for longer than two minutes. It did not feel natural for me to do so, but I gamely did anyway as I cleared the door. “Ria, I’m here!”

“Oh good, come up!” she encouraged from somewhere above me.

I followed the carpeted stairway to the second level and found the loft area upstairs had been converted to something that looked a lot like a bat cave. Monitors were all along one wall, and two desks held multiple keyboards and towers. In the midst of this spiderweb of technology sat Ria, her sweats-covered legs crossed in an executive office chair, breakfast burrito in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. She waved me to a chair next to her with the burrito, swallowing before asking, “You eat yet?”

“I did,” I assured her, taking the chair. Then I had to adjust the lever up to accommodate my longer legs since Ria ran on the short side.

She made a show of looking me up and down, clearly doubtful.

“I’ll have you know I had to wear my loosest pair of jeans today because everything else is uncomfortably tight,” I informed her. I was both proud and relieved about this. “According to the scale, I’ve gained five pounds in the three days I’ve been here.”

Concern eased from her face. “That’s great. Marissa knows this, right?”

“Marissa weighed me,” I answered, grinning. “I think I’ve become her favorite project.”

“Food is serious business to her, so it doesn’t surprise me.” Taking a sip of her coffee, she kept studying me.

I knew that look. “Ria, just spit it out.”

She didn’t, pondering another moment before coming to some internal resolution. With a nod, she finally opened her mouth. “I don’t know if you realized it, but you made us all really happy yesterday. I mean really happy. Vampires have always had this holier-than-thou attitude in the supernatural world. Because they live longer than we do, and they’re stronger, they tend to be pricks.”

I carefully watched her as she spoke, and her expression, her body language, said more than her words expressed. She was happy, yes, but questioning. She didn’t understand why I’d stayed with them. How engrained was this prejudice? “I caught part of that. Oscar’s arrival yesterday spoke volumes. He’s not even the master of a vampire clan, but he waltzed into Walker territory without invitation and tried making demands like it was natural to expect Barrett to obey him. I figured some of it was just posturing, but not all of it could be explained by that.”

“So you do understand what it meant when you chose us instead?”

“That I feel werewolves, this pack specifically, is better than the local vampire clan. Yeah, I know. But Ria, the Walker Pack helped and welcomed me when no one else would. I think it’s natural I choose you over them.”

She nodded, not disagreeing, but not agreeing either. “But still, that’s not how everyone else saw it. The only thing they realized was you thought Oscar a prick—good call, he just showed everyone how much he is—and you chose Barrett as your leader over a vampire. It made us happy, yeah, because it’s not every day a vampire thinks a werewolf is better than his own kind. But Barrett was worse than a peacock, he strutted around so much. He was so smug it was unbearable. I nearly hit him just to deflate his ego.”

I grinned, as I’d caught him preening more than once. Of course, I hadn’t attributed his attitude to me, per se, I’d just assumed he was smug about giving Oscar the finger. Since she was being so frank with me, I decided to ask questions I hadn’t quite found the timing for with Barrett. “Ria, I’ve got two burning questions.”

“Shoot,” she encouraged.

“First, I’m really not a burden to all of you, am I?”

“What, with the feeding? No, not really. Taking ten minutes out of our day to feed you is no biggie, and you’re seriously saving our bacon with all of the legal help. We consider it a total win-win. Even if Oscar decides to throw a tantrum about you being here, he can’t force the issue on his own. He doesn’t have the means to overrule Barrett, especially with you freely choosing to stay here.”

“That segues nicely into my next question. Can someone force me out of here?”

Ria pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Hmm. Yes and no. Technically, yes. If a master vampire from one of the clans came in and demanded we give you over, it would come down to a fight, and we’re honestly not big enough to win that kind of fight. Vampires fight dirty. We’d fight for you, of course, but I’m not sure we’d win. But short of an actual battle, no. There’s no way to force you out of here, and honestly? Most vampire clans won’t be so determined to have you that they’d risk exposure by fighting. You’re just one vampire. A skilled, educated vampire, sure, and that’s a good commodity. But still.”

“Just one vampire,” I repeated. It was what I had hoped to hear, and I trusted she’d made this statement based on her own experience in this world and the information she constantly gathered for her brother and the pack.

“That ease your worries some?” Ria smiled in understanding.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. Then, one more piece of information for you. My brother’s bisexual and you’re exactly his type.”

If I’d been drinking something, I would have choked. As it was, my eyes bugged out of my head and my jaw flapped around as I croaked. “You’re jerking my chain.”

Grinning in wolfish amusement, she shook her head in a deliberate side to side motion. “Nooope. He’s bisexual, leans toward guys. And he loves—adores—the intellectuals. A soft spoken, gentle-natured intellectual is literally in his target zone.”

I was half convinced she was still jerking my chain, but only half. “Is that why you were teasing him yesterday?”

“Exactly why,” she purred, wagging her eyebrows suggestively. “Feel free to prove me right.”

“How about when I look less like a breathing skeleton, I’ll think about it?” I grinned when she gave an exasperated sigh. “Hard to have game when the man acts like a mother hen and tries to feed me every time I’m in his orbit. That does not lead to sexy times.”

Making a face, she grumbled, “Okay, point. He really does that with you?”

“Yup,” I answered, popping the “P.”

“Well damn. I mean, in his defense, it’s a love language for our family, but all right, fine. Get your health back up, then prove me right.”

I didn’t think it was likely to happen, which was something of a shame, as Barrett was very attractive. I wouldn’t mind if something clicked between us, but Barrett struck me as someone who put the pack first, which meant he likely needed a female alpha. And I was definitely not that. Could never be that.

Feeling like we needed a change of topic, I gestured to a free space of desk near her. “Can I set up there?”

“Sure. What are we doing this morning?”

“Well, I talked to people last night, and I got birthdays and names and stuff. Hector signed all the birth certificates I prepared and promised to drop them off at the registrar’s office himself. So today, I guess check the system to see if we’re good to go on getting social security numbers, and maybe start bank accounts if we can. If not, help me figure out how to transfer both a doctor’s license and my attorney’s license. I’m not sure how to do that.”

“Likely will take a little hacking.” Crumpling up her burrito wrapper, she tossed it with unerring accuracy for the garbage can on the other side of the room, making a clean shot. “Sounds fun. Let’s get rolling.”

After six hours of staring at a computer screen, my eyes felt dry and itchy. We decided to call it quits after figuring out the main problem. There was no help for it, Ria would have to hack into the different databases and then manually enter in new license information for both me and Hector. It was the answer I’d expected, really, and it was just as well that Ria wanted to try a few tricks before throwing in the towel.

Ria and I agreed the rest could wait until Monday. I loaded up the folders and my laptop in hand and wandered out of her house and back toward Barrett’s. I idly thought of eating something, since I’d skipped lunch. A fact no one would be pleased about, but I honestly hadn’t noticed the lunch hour whizzing by until we chose to stop and realized the time. Oops.

Four steps out the door, my ears caught a heated argument going on. Two of the pack members stood in a driveaway on the opposite side of the cul-de-sac yelling at each other, gesturing angrily toward the back end of a truck that looked as if it had been hit by something. A pity, as it was clearly a new truck. No one else was outside, and the argument grew more and more heated as I watched.

I knew for a fact Barrett did not like this sort of behavior, as he’d mentioned hating infighting. He was out on a job, but if he’d been here and seen this, he would have stopped it. I didn’t think it my place to go over there and break up the fight, but I didn’t want to see them go at each other’s throats, either. Wavering, I hesitated a moment too long, and the shorter of the two shoved the other hard.

Okay, no. Someone had to intervene.

Putting everything down on a nearby boulder, I darted across the street, calling loudly as I moved. “No! Stop, stop, stop.”

Both of them paused, turning toward me with livid expressions. I didn’t know the name of either, but this didn’t stop me. Actually, it might be a good way to help insert myself into the argument.

The taller, burlier man took a step toward me. “This doesn’t concern—”

Holding his eye, I held out a hand while cutting in. “I haven’t met you yet. I’m Jesse, and you are?”

He growled, irritated I’d cut him off, but reluctantly took my hand. His skin was hot and calloused compared to mine. “Matias.”

“Pleasure, Matias,” I replied, and even meant it. Withdrawing, I offered a handshake to the other. “And you?”

“Oron,” he answered, and I didn’t mistake his relief.

“Pleasure, Oron.” I smiled at them in turn, ignoring the hostile tension reeking from both of them. “Now, what’s the argument about?”

“This doesn’t require your interference,” Matias bit out, trying to loom over me.

His alpha did a better job at looming despite being a hair shorter. I was not impressed. I locked eyes with him, and he flinched first. “I’m arbitrating this argument before you two get into a physical altercation. Consider it a favor because if we can settle this before Barrett’s back, he won’t know that you were this close”—I held up my finger and thumb a scant distance apart—“to fighting each other. We both know he won’t be pleased about it. Fighting a pack member is never a good decision. Now, what’s the argument about?”

They both stared at me hard as if wanting to argue but not wanting me to go away. I think Oron, at least, didn’t want this to escalate, but he looked flushed and embarrassed. Too ashamed to answer me?

Reluctantly, he pried his mouth open and admitted, “I borrowed my brother’s truck and, um, backed into something.”

“You borrowed my truck without permission,” Matias corrected sharply, glaring with lethal intensity, “after I specifically told you not to drive it, when you have your own truck to drive, and then you backed into a telephone poll with it.”

All right, I could understand the ire now. “Oron. Why did you drive his truck?”

“Had a flat tire on mine, and my spare’s flat too.” Oron hunched farther into himself, like a turtle without a shell. He looked perhaps eighteen to me, but the action made him appear incredibly young in that moment, just a kid called out by the adults. “I, uh, was taking the tire to get it fixed.”

“And this wasn’t something that could wait until Matias had returned? Because I’m sure that if you’d explained the situation, he would have helped fix the tire.” Or at least I hoped so.

Hunching even further in on himself, Oron admitted in a small voice, “I have a date tonight. I didn’t want to be late.”

The plot thickened. “You understand that because you were so hasty and careless, you now get to pay for fixing Matias’s bumper, correct?”

“I also have a date tonight,” Matias grumped, his ire simmering down slightly. “I’m taking her to a nice place, and I don’t want to show up in a banged-up truck.”

Plot twist times two. I rubbed my jaw, considering this. “Matias, is this a first date?”

He gave me an odd look. “Uh, yeah?”

“Dude, you have a golden opportunity to impress her, and you’re passing it up?” I chided him, trying not to lay it on too thick. “If you show up in this truck, and tell her, ‘Yeah, sorry about this, my little brother borrowed the truck earlier and backed it into a pole. He’s promised to fix it, its all good, but talk about timing, right?’ Not only do you have a conversation starter, but it shows you’re generous and forgiving of mistakes, which will score major brownie points with her.”

Matias blinked at me, then looked at Oron, who appeared very hopeful at this logic. Screwing his face up, Matias leaned in a little and asked sotto voce, “Will that seriously work?”

“I guarantee it,” I promised without a speck of guilt anywhere in me. “Just be casual about it, don’t make it obvious you’re aiming for her good side.”

Matias still wasn’t entirely happy, but he saw a light at the end of the tunnel and his ire was more or less forgotten at this point. Stabbing a finger at Oron, he warned him, “You’ve got two weeks to replace a shop to fix it. And if you drive it again, I’ll have you by the neck.”

Oron made some superstitious gesture I didn’t recognize and swore faithfully, “I’ll make sure it looks brand new. And I won’t, swear I won’t.”

Satisfied, Matias gave me a considering look. “I think I see why Barrett wanted to keep you, now. You’re not bad for a vampire.”

I took that as the thanks it was obviously meant to be and smiled back. “You’re welcome. Oron, did you at least get your tire fixed?”

Sheepish all over again, he shook his head, black hair swaying with the quick movement. “No.”

“Then fetch the tire, stick it in my trunk. I’ll take you to the tire place down the street and get it fixed. If we move quickly, maybe both of you will make your dates tonight, yeah?”

Seeing my point, they started moving. Matias even got into the bed of the truck and rolled the tire out for Oron, showing more forgiveness. The truck tire was rather large, but fortunately my CR-V’s trunk could handle five bodies if needed, and we managed to get it inside without too much trouble. I stole a moment to put the folders and laptop properly inside Barrett’s house, on the dining room table, before hopping into my car and driving both werewolf and tire toward the store.

“Thanks for that.” Oron was young and prone to mistakes, but he looked far happier now that the worst of it was over. “You’re right, Barrett would lose his shit to see us fighting. It would have made a bad day worse.”

“Lots of bad things happening today?” I asked him, slowing at the stop sign before turning right.

“Yeah. Freaking comedy of errors. Makes me worry about the date tonight.” He looked morose thinking about his future date. More likely, he was so nervous about the date, he wasn’t paying proper attention to anything else.

“Naw, think of it this way: Because you got all of your bad luck out of the way now, your date will go awesome tonight.”

He gave me a sideways look but brightened a little, teeth flashing against dark olive skin. “You think?”

“Isn’t that usually how it goes? Have you screwed up at least three things today?”

“Uh, yeah, exactly three.”

“Then you’re set. Bad luck always comes in threes.” I was so full of it, seriously. But he had this wounded puppy air about him, and I wanted to pull him out of his slump if I could.

We kept chatting as we hit the tire store, got it fixed—turned out it was a slow leak in the tube—and then returned. He was in better spirits by the time we made it back to his house. I helped him change it out, as he was now running late and already had to text her to tell her he’d be another thirty minutes. He hit the shower as I finished it up, put the tools away, and turned to replace Barrett standing right beside the car, a faint smile on his face. I jumped, as I hadn’t realized he was there. “Dammit, Barrett, make noise when you walk. My soul just tried to leave my body. What are you, a ninja?”

My reaction amused him, his eyes crinkling up at the corners, but he wasn’t to be deterred. “Good work, Arbitrator.”

I gave him a flat, unamused look. “Now, who told you?”

“Ria FaceTimed me so I could watch and listen to the whole conversation. Sound carries well out here.”

“Noted, Alpha,” I drawled, still irritated. All my hard work for nothing.

More seriously, he continued, “Thank you. I don’t want fights breaking out, but there’s a lot of dominant personalities, and werewolves are more…prone to physical reaction, shall we say. It takes a cooler head to intervene, and I don’t have many of those in the pack. I’m just surprised they let you do it.”

“Me too.” I wasn’t even sure why and shrugged ignorance. “I’ve only been with you guys, what, three days?”

“I think its more important than you realize.” There was a weighing, considering way in how he looked at me. “A werewolf will only listen to someone he considers dominant, and Matias is one of the higher ups in the pack.”

Wait. What? “I’m dominant compared to them?”

“That’s how they reacted. They listened, after all. As I said, its very interesting.” His tone made it good-interesting, not bad-interesting. “I guess we’ll see how this plays out, but that’s a question for a different night. For now, did you eat yet?”

“Barrett, I can feed myself. I’m a responsible adult and everything.”

He came forward just enough to put an arm around my shoulders, physically steering me back toward the house. “I’m curious. Do you ever feel like your body’s check engine light has been on and you’re still driving it like ‘nah, it’ll be fine’?”

It was hard to follow the thread because being tucked up against him, so cozy like this, made my lizard brain purr in contentment. I really wanted to burrow in and hibernate for a few decades. I summoned concentration from somewhere in order to answer. “Excuse you, I do try to take care of myself.”

“Uh-huh. So you did remember to eat lunch?” He quirked a brow at me like he already knew the answer.

I opened my mouth on a retort and then snapped it shut again. Dammit, he had me there.

“Like I said. Ignoring the check engine light. It’s fine, I have a Marissa, and I know how to use her. She’s already got someone waiting for you.” He pressed a quick affectionate kiss against my forehead and my slow-moving heart flip-flopped in response.

Dammit, this not-flirting flirting was going to kill me long before anything else did.