Claws // Colby Brock

💫 43 💫

"Whenever I can." I gave him a brief smile, appreciating his acceptance of my beliefs.

"Might she... tell you? What pack it is, I mean?" he suggested, unsure of every word.

I huffed. "She's more stubborn than that. She'll just tell me it's something I have to find out for myself. If she gave us all the answers, we'd be led down paths that were never intended for us. She led me here without explaining what I would find, because she knew back then I would have just never showed up to begin with, and the timeline that has been set out would be ruined."

"I see."

"There's a fine line between guidance and a walkthrough," I confirmed.

Mike sighed. "It feels we've gone off track. Shouldn't we be talking about this alliance first? I'd like to speak alone with Amira about this pack once you've all gone."

"Right," Colby agreed instantly, narrowing his gaze on the clan taking up most of our living room. I took a few moments to examine each of them carefully. By no means did they hold a candle to his clan; they weren't strong enough to defend themselves against us and they'd probably struggle to hold their own in any battle with someone as strong as Colby. Although that meant they would struggle against Aiden's clan, they would still be useful as distractions or canon fodder, though that would be something we'd have to discuss.

Colby set out the rules of the alliance with them, and Tom agreed to all of them. He also accepted the fact that they may be responsible for smaller tasks in battles, such as protecting me or the weaker members of the group, which he seemed more enthused about than being a part of the front line. I suspected he was aware of the lack of pure strength within his group and knew he'd be better off elsewhere.

I sat patiently waiting for the whole meeting to end. It was getting boring just sitting there listening to essentially vampire politics.

Eventually, Colby bud them farewell — slightly too gladly — and I got up to walk them to the door. Leaning against the frame, I watched each of them walk out until Tom, who paused on the front porch.

"Amira... I'd like to thank you for this opportunity."

I frowned. "Thank Colby, he's in charge."

"But something tells me — correct me if I'm wrong — that he's had little input on whether an alliance would be beneficial to your clan, that it is actually you who has brought us in; convinced him."

"No comment," I teased, smiling widely at him. He nodded, confirming his own suspicions, and joined the rest of his clan on the driveway. I caught sight of Ellis but he refused to look at me for too long, probably afraid I would get angry and order his death. "Have a nice night," I told them briefly as I stood up straight to shut the door.

"You too." Tom sent me a short wave, then he and his clan were gone. The moment I'd turned away, my mildly good mood was gone. That werewolf pack was back on my mind.

Colby zipped up to me out of sight of the living room, taking my hips in his hands and staring down at my troubled face as if he knew exactly what was running through my head. His thumbs gently caressed my sides, eliciting a grateful shiver that traveled down my spine.

Mike stepped into the hallway behind him, peeking out from the living room with an apprehensive but determined look on his face. He noticed me looking at him and edged forward slightly, causing Colby to step to the side so I could see around him more easily. I gave Mike a nod to start speaking, deciding I was ready to hear whatever he had to say about these pathetic werewolves.

"This happens all the time, Amira. I've heard of many packs and clans working together to take down their shared enemies. But I have to admit it's a shock Aiden has gone down that route."

"I know it happens all the time," I agreed. "Aiden isn't partnering with this pack, though. It's a sign of a bad alpha."

Mike frowned. "To join with a clan?"

"To be used by one," I replied as I rolled my eyes. "A good alpha can sniff that sort of thing out instantly. Whether it's a vampire clan leader or another alpha, they should be able to see it, but if they don't, they allow themselves and their pack to be abused. The only way out of it is destroying the alliance which would probably zap them of whatever resource they're getting from the other party."

"I get it." Mike was nodding slowly, looking away from me. He and Colby had the same expression on their faces: sympathy. I didn't really know why, as it wasn't like I cared about anyone outside of this group and Anna anymore, but I supposed werewolves had something that connected all of us; a shared belief that we could always find in common. It would be sad to see a pack fall to such pathetic means at Aiden's hands.

Cassie appeared beside Mike with a much less pitiful expression. She looked at me with slight excitement. "Could you find out who the pack are who've been attacking? You have connections to a pack already, surely word spreads around?"

I shrugged. "I doubt Blake and Anna would know, they've got too much on their plate right now to deal with other packs' business."

"How about asking another pack?" Mike questioned.

I nodded. "Possible. But I don't actually know many packs. The last alpha was strict and since I left, I haven't really been branching out to anyone, let alone other werewolves."

"Do you hate every species that isn't human?"

"No, I hate every species." My arms crossed. "Especially humans, but I don't believe in using the advantages we have against them, Mike."

He held up his hands in surrender and shrugged as he turned to walk away. I glanced up at Colby but his eyes were focused elsewhere, lost in space and time. I wondered briefly what he was thinking about, before sighing to myself.

"There's one pack I could ask who already knows me. The only thing is... well, my reputation isn't great in it." I was walking back into the living room as I spoke, Colby slowly following behind me. As the others stared curiously at me, I casually sat down on our couch and scratched the back of my head.

Tara titled her head to one side, amusement in her voice as she asked, "Do we want to know?"

"Probably more than some people in the room," I muttered. "The alpha — at least, I assume he's still alpha — was kinda... I may have..."

"Spit it out," Jake snapped through a groan.

"She doesn't need to," Katrina replied softly as she glanced passed me to Colby. "It's fairly obvious why she's avoiding saying it outright."

"Ooooh."

Kevin snorted. "Do you make a habit of fucking leaders, Amira?"

I glared at him in silence, while watching Colby in the corner of my eye. He didn't look too upset like he had last time, but I was an idiot if I thought that meant he didn't care at all. We weren't going to talk about something like this in front of everyone, though.

"Do you have a way to contact this pack, Amira?" Cassie routed everyone back onto the right track so they would ignore my sexual past.

"I know where they're located. Didn't really keep — or even get — the alpha's number."

She nodded. "That's good enough. Let's go there... whenever you want." She gave me a look, subtly nodding toward Colby. He was being weirdly silent but that wasn't exclusive to after I'd admitted we were going to have to talk to another of my ex-flings.

Perhaps there was more in his head than anyone knew tonight.

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