Claws // Colby Brock

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"Tom's agreed to the alliance," he told them, giving Sam a meaningful look. "If we're all down for it, he wants to meet tonight to get a few terms sorted."

"Fine with me," Kevin muttered, uninterested as he stared down at his phone.

Devyn bit the inside of her cheek for a moment. "Is Colby gonna get mad?"

"Probably," Corey admitted, "but we're not tackling him alone anymore. He might even mask his annoyance to avoid pissing Amira off. This should be fine."

"What kind of terms does he want?" Mike cut in, looking at Reggie with analytical eyes.

"He just wants to clarify what we do with the other clans, make sure he knows what he's walking into this time." Reggie shrugged. "It should go down without a hitch. Where are we gonna meet him?"

I flinched. "That'll be up to Colby."

"So, hell," Jake mused, snorting.

"It might be a good gesture to invite him here?" Sam suggested gently, glancing around for everyone's opinions of the idea. I liked it. We'd done it once before and now Dimitri was one of our most trusted allies; it helped build a foundation for the entire partnership, to show the other party that we were comfortable enough to invite them into our den. Though, the biggest obstacle would by far be getting Colby to agree to let a group of vampires come and go from the house when they pleased while Amira lived here.

To be fair, I was apprehensive of the thought. What if she was here alone one night for some reason and got ambushed by so many even she couldn't handle it?

"I don't like it," Mike said, "but if Amira is happy to go through with it, there isn't much we can do." He ran his hand through his hair absently, thinking. "She'll have a hell of a time convincing Colby."

"She can do it," I muttered even though I didn't think she'd succeed at all. The chances were slim at best.

Jake stretched out dramatically making every noise in the book and taking up far too much space on the couch, which pissed Mike and Kevin off instantly. Even Tara looked frustrated as she was almost pushed off of his lap. "Can't wait to see this."

☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎

AMIRA ANDREWS

I listened to them all talking downstairs. Tom wanted to go through with the alliance, which meant we would have to work out the terms of the deal. I didn't know as much about vampire alliances since I was still new to the whole idea but the one thing I knew for certain was that we'd be protecting one another from now on. Another set of hands to take down Aiden was more than welcome.

Unfortunately, Sam's plan to build trust by inviting him and his clan over was going to be the most difficult thing to execute. Mostly because Colby would argue with me over it until his last breath. I liked it, it was how werewolves also built trust when entering new alliances. Two packs would have dinner together and get to know everyone they'd be working with. Most inter-pack friendships were made this way, which made the alliances only stronger.

Colby was still asleep so I had some time to think about how to convince him to let us invite Tom into the house. I looked down at his face on my chest as I thought, my fingers gently sifting through his hair. I hoped it would keep him asleep longer.