1 6
q u e e n
THE MOMENT JED stepped into the diner, all conversations abruptly ceased.
It wasn't his presence that took them by surprise; rather, it was the look of deathly calm on his face that made several of them scramble up from their seats, a courageous few stepping forward as they regarded him with worry. Spike, who was manning the counter during the morning shift, immediately straightened, while Lorraine came rushing out of the kitchen mere seconds later.
"Alpha?" Adrian was the only one who dared to speak up. He glanced my way and I bit my lip, trying my best to convey my most apologetic look. He frowned and looked back at Jed. "Is everything – " He stopped and nodded, then glanced at his other friend behind the counter. "Spike, find Lance and get him to bring Diego over. And the rest of you," he said to everyone else in the diner, "clear out."
Spike promptly headed for the exit, leaving a stunned silence behind him. But then Adrian gave a warning frown and everyone began to get up. Amidst worried murmurs and hushed whispers, they quickly exited through the side doors.
"We're really sorry about the inconvenience," I told them, nodding apologetically at the few who glanced my way. "But this is really important."
Adrian headed outside with everyone else. Even though Jed's expression didn't change, I didn't miss the blazing anger in his eyes. When he glanced at me, I half-expected him to maintain his fury from the moment I told him about Diego's ring.
But I was surprised when his expression softened just fractionally, and he held out a hand to me, only to think twice and retract it at the last second. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly, and the mere fact that he was still speaking in those low, soft tones I was so familiar with made me smile in relief.
"Yeah, of course," I assured him quickly and reached down to take his hand. His fingers were furled into a tight fist, his nails digging into his palm, and I brushed my fingertips across his knuckles until he was slowly unclenching his hand and looping his fingers through mine. "But can I stay in here?"
He frowned and started to step back, but I only tightened my grip on his hand.
"I know you want to keep me safe," I continued calmly. "And I'll be safe if I stand behind the counter and you keep him away from me. But this place is going to be very testosterone-charged very fast, and I'm not sure I want to see a casualty right here in this diner. So let me sit in and listen to what he has to say. I'm the one who decided to trust him in the first place and I want to know if I'm wrong."
Jed stared at me for a moment before he nodded. His expression warmed a little when I smiled, but then turned cold when we heard scuffling outside. I squeezed his hand and moved to sit by the counter. Adrian pushed the doors open, as Lance and Spike shoved an annoyed-looking Diego in.
"Alpha," Adrian said to Jed, "should we leave?" When Jed shook his head, he took his post by the main door, leaving Lance and Spike to guard the other exits.
Diego rolled his eyes at their theatrics before narrowing his eyes at Jed. "So what did I do now?" He drawled, sounding entirely bored as he folded his arms across his chest. But I didn't miss the way his stance was almost defensive, mirroring the others' almost perfectly.
Jed nodded at Adrian, who immediately stepped forward. "Alpha wants to know about that ring on your right hand," said Adrian. "How did you get it?"
It was almost imperceptible and if we weren't looking so closely, we might've missed the way Diego stilled. Just for a split second, before he shrugged. "Bought it from an old store," He said flatly, before arching his eyebrow sardonically at Jed. "Why? Want to borrow it for a grand, romantic proposal?"
Jed stiffened, his fingers digging into the tabletop in a clear sign of anger. But it was Adrian who moved forward, reaching out a threatening hand to latch around Diego's throat, only to have it swiftly blocked by Diego. It was such an instinctive, swift move that I barely caught it, and it seemed to take even Adrian by surprise because he soon found his hand pinned at an awkward, painful angle behind his back.
Jed was on his feet before Spike and Lance could even move, bracing himself in a way that was entirely defensive as he regarded a snarling Diego. I wouldn't even have known what was about to happen if Jed hadn't thrown a swift glance at me over his shoulder, jerking his head towards Diego, who was by now beginning to curl into himself in a way that was entirely familiar.
"Diego." My voice was sharp and everyone stilled. Jed still stood defensively in front of me, but Diego glanced up, fixing his obsidian eyes on me. I fought the urge to shiver, because it reminded me so much of those times he'd kidnapped me, and shook my head. "Don't shift."
He hesitated but, after a few seconds, reluctantly loosened his grip. Adrian wrenched away from him and was about to retaliate when a sharp glance from Jed made him falter and back away, but not before casting one last furious glare at Diego. Jed sat back down, bracing an arm on the table once again in his old position. And when he glanced at me this time instead of Adrian, I knew immediately knew what he wanted me to do.
"Diego," I started calmly, fixing my attention on the man who was standing rigidly in front of us. The darkness in his eyes had faded since then, far swifter than the obsidian in Jed's could fade, and he waited expectantly for me to continue. After another quick, encouraging glance from Jed, I steeled myself and finally asked the million-dollar question. "What is your name?"
Diego looked at me strangely. "What the hell are you – "
Jed started to rise from his seat, but I placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "What is your name?" I repeated calmly.
"My name is Diego – "
"What is your real name?"
He froze. The tension in the diner was almost palpable by now, and the other three who weren't in the know had matching looks of confusion on their faces, even as they braced themselves for any possible, unexpected attack. Diego averted his eyes from me, only to reluctantly meet my gaze again mere seconds later, and after what seemed like a plethora of internal strife, he finally let out a heavy exhale and clenched his jaw.
"Dimitri Volkov."
The silence that followed was a deadly calm. Jed and I was already suspecting this, from the moment I pointed out that the ring Malthus wore in the photographs was of the exact same cutting and shape as the one Diego, or Dimitri, had. A flat silver band with two green lines running around the middle.
Simple, unassuming, deadly.
But to hear his confession was another thing altogether and I found my mind spinning with the realisation that the person I trusted had been one of the monsters all along. Jed stood, the jarring sound of his chair scrapping against the hardwood floor making me wince involuntarily, and nodded at Adrian.
"Explain yourself," Adrian said shortly. He still looked marginally lost with the turn of events, but covered it up swiftly with that usual gleam in his eye that I knew he meant nothing but business. "Why do you need an alias?"
"I'm not explaining anything to the rest of you," Dimitri returned smoothly, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. But then he paused, before glancing over to where Jed and I were standing. "Only to them."
Jed and I exchanged a wordless glance. I could see the caution in his eyes, but the flicker of curiosity on his face was also impossible to miss. He wanted to know the truth as much as I did, and I had no doubt that he could protect me if things went wrong. So I offered him a faint smile and nodded.
Determinedly, Jed eased back and glanced over at Adrian, who stiffened. "But Alpha – " He started, only to let out a resigned sigh and signal to Lance and Spike. "We're leaving."
Lance's eyebrows shot up. "What – "
"Now."
Reluctantly, Lance and Spike trailed Adrian out of the diner, casting suspicious glances over their shoulders at Dimitri, who was still standing in a perfectly calm way that betrayed nothing. Were it not for the way he subconsciously had his thumb pressed over the ring on his index finger to hide it from our view, I would never have guessed that there was anything amiss with him.
"Alright," I said, when the others had finally disappeared out of view. Meeting Dimitri's gaze squarely, I took a deep breath and continued, "Do you want to tell us what you do?"
"Don't you already know that?"
"If we did, we wouldn't have to ask you," I returned evenly. Jed had stayed motionless throughout, but the sharp glint in his eye told me that he was watching Dimitri's body language with perfect precision. He didn't miss anything. "We know you're part of a syndicate. But what do you do?"
One corner of Dimitri's lips twitched up in a sardonic smirk. "You should know. You've had first-hand experience of it. Twice – "
Another warning growl from Jed didn't faze him at all, but when he realised that I was simply waiting for him to elaborate, the smirk slowly faded from his face.
"I'm a hired assassin," He said simply. "Contract killer, hitman, whatever you call it. In your case, I was hired by Malthus Trevino as a bounty hunter to bring you back in one piece." His lips quirked up in a wry smirk when he saw the way Jed and I both froze. "You thought I couldn't figure out the link?"
I shrugged, trying to keep a calm composure. "Bianca knew him as Mattheus Norvil."
Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows him as Mattheus Norvil. But when you told me about that room in headquarters, I realised that his modus operandi was far too similar to the way Claudius Trevino used to work. On a larger scale, mostly, but – "
"Wait," I stopped him, catching the faintly alarmed gaze that Jed sent my way. "You knew about what Claudius Trevino did?"
"You mean kidnapping and raping women in an abandoned shed?" Dimitri deadpanned, arching an eyebrow at us. "Oh, yes. He was wonderfully enthusiastic about his conquests. Every member in the syndicate probably knew about his dysfunctional dick from all that sex."
Jed had become tenser the more Dimitri spoke, and by the end of it, it was impossible for him not to react. His fingers were clenched as his nails dug into his palm, and every inch of him radiated anger, frustration, but most of all – fear. I couldn't miss it. And Dimitri, of course, caught on just as quickly because a faint flicker of understanding was beginning to dawn on him, his eyes widening just imperceptibly as he glanced at Jed.
But when he opened his mouth to toss another caustic remark Jed's way, I quickly cut in. "So why didn't you do anything about it?" I asked, throwing him a pointed look and shaking my head with the slightest movement.
After a narrowed-eyed gaze at Jed, Dimitri wisely kept his jab to himself and answered my question instead. "Who the fuck do you think I am?" He asked flatly. "I'm a hired assassin, not some fucking do-gooder. I couldn't give a shit about what any of them do, so long as I'm getting paid for each kill."
"That's what you say now," I mused, subconsciously reaching across the counter so that I could intertwine my fingers through Jed's. His grip was tighter than usual, but he was calm once more and was watching our exchange with sharp eyes. I smiled at him briefly before turning back to Dimitri. "But see – you saved me. And Bianca."
"Yes, and I got punished with a hot silver blade that they used to carve fanciful things into my face so that it would scar for good. Wasn't fucking worth it."
I felt my chest clench as guilt stab me once again and looked at him. "So why did you help me in the first place?"
Dimitri fell silent at my question, and he remained silent for a long moment. But then he eventually glanced up and his dark eyes just seemed a shade lighter this time when he finally spoke, his voice unexpectedly quiet. "Because no one's ever trusted me to be good before."
For a few seconds, none of us reacted. But then Jed reached into the pocket of his jeans swiftly and drew out his cell, typing in a quick message before sliding his phone across the counter to me.
Let him stay.
A tiny smile flitted across my face when I read the message, and I set the phone back down. "Well, Dimitri, looks like today's your lucky day," I said lightly. "Because there's one more person around here who trusts you to be good."
He caught on quickly and, for a moment, he faltered, a vague hesitation flickering across his face that marred his normally hardened expression. But it was over in the blink of an eye, and then he was rolling his eyes at Jed. "Great," He deadpanned, striding towards the side door that led to the kitchen. "Why don't we all just hold hands around the fucking campfire and bask in each other's goodness?"
"Where're you going?" I asked curiously, as Jed narrowed his eyes at him, but good-naturedly let that ribbing slide.
"To the kitchen to slice those fucking tomatoes. Where else would I go?" Dimitri shot us an exasperated look. "Call the diners back in, it's time for another round of food-poisoning."
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Instead of standing by the counter, I found Jed seated at the dining table the next morning, a pile of documents spread out in front of him, but organised perfectly with small post-its taped to the sides and thorough annotations. I almost smiled at the sight of that. I adored making messes in the kitchen, but he was incessantly neat – from his work to the way he kept the pack so organised, and even to the way he made the coffee in the morning with perfect precision and slow, measured steps.
"Morning," I greeted cheerfully, offering him a bright smile when he glanced my way. "Found something interesting?"
He began to nod, only to still abruptly when he caught a glimpse of the shirt I was wearing. I'd nicked it from the dryer earlier when I was looking for a clean blouse to wear. I'd located that blouse easily, but when sorting through the clothes, some part of me simply couldn't resist. Wearing Jed's clothes was one thing and I honestly didn't think he would mind, but getting to see his reaction?
Oh, yes, this was definitely going to be worth testing the waters for.
So I simply blinked in faux-confusion when he narrowed his eyes at me. "What? I just threw this on because it's comfortable and I hope you don't mind sharing." I murmured innocently when he continued to stare at me, his hot gaze running over me in a way that made my skin flush with tingles of awareness. Biting back a smile, I turned to the fridge and pulled out several eggs, along with a block of ham, saying in a voice that was so casual it sounded like I was ordering coffee at the diner – "Or maybe I just like having your scent on my skin."
The low growl that escaped his lips was impossible to miss; and I'd just set the eggs and ham aside on the stretch of counter by the sink when I felt him step up behind me. He caged me in swiftly, bracing his hands on the counter on both sides of me as he lowered his head. I caught a faint whiff of citrus and mint and another scent that was entirely him before he was lowering his lips to my ear. Instinctively, I shivered, especially when I felt his lips brush the shell of my ear, his hot breath on my skin sending my fingers digging into the counter as I fought to maintain my composure.
"You are driving me insane," He mumbled heatedly, and I bit my lip to reign in an involuntary whimper at the husky sound of his voice.
He inched his hands closer to mine, so that his fingers had slid between mine as they gripped the counter, the slick warmth of his palms against the back of my hands comforting and dizzying to the touch all at once. And when he stepped even closer to me, leaning in deliberately so that I could feel the hard length of him pressed against me, I felt my eyes flutter shut as I instinctively pushed back against him in the perfect friction, smiling when I heard a ragged exhale leave his lips.
"Likewise," I returned breathlessly, vaguely wondering how I managed to even come up with a response at a time like this, but he was letting out a throaty laugh at my words and reached a hand up. With an infinite amount of gentleness, he tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear, and his eyes were dark but the expression in them soft when lowered his head so that he could kiss me.
His lips brushed mine in perfect familiarity, but the new angle was thrilling because it felt like he was surrounding me, entrapping me within, with him. I didn't hesitate to kiss him back, opening my mouth to let my tongue slide against his until I could taste him – fading mint and fresh coffee and everything else that was purely him. He made a deep, hungry sound low in his throat and angled his head to deepen the kiss. He kissed me in a way that was half-exploring, the way he seemed to mentally catalogue my responses to each of his actions – the way I tightened both hands on the counter when he nipped at my lower lip and leaning back just so I could feel him, all of him, pressed up against me; but he also seemed to be recalling what he already knew – how, when he nipped at my bottom lip, it wrenched a soft whimper from me that drew a muffled groan from him, and how, regardless of how much I teased him, I instinctively liked that he was in perfect control of our kisses, the way I felt absolutely plaint under his touch and the way he seemed to fill every one of my senses, every inch of my mind until he was all I knew.
I could've gone on kissing him forever, letting him mark me, turn me even, were it not for the sudden knock on the front door. Jed froze, so absorbed in the kiss that, for once, his acute hearing failed him. The both of us fought to catch our breaths for a second or two, but then a quick glance over at the dining table made us realise that we really had to ground ourselves back in reality.
Jed swiftly gathered the documents in a neat pile and I went over to help him, but he simply shoved two papers in my direction for me to read. I scanned it quickly, knowing that we only had a limited amount of time now, and felt my breath catch when I saw that Jed had crossed out a name on the list of suspects that he'd compiled.
"What – " I glanced up at him in confusion, but he pressed a quick finger to his lips and gestured to the other paper.
I was even more confused by the next, until I read the header and realised that it was a birth certificate. And everything fell into place the moment I caught a glimpse of the name scribbled in a neat font somewhere near the top.
Claudius Orcus Trevino
And there it was. Never in a hundred years would we have seen the connection between Claudius and the ghost criminal Orcus that Jed had only heard of but never seen. But the truth of the matter had been with Jed the whole time; he just had to dig through his past to figure it out.
And realise that he'd already slayed one of the monsters from the very beginning.
I was almost about to blurt out my astonishment when a warning glance from Jed made me subside quickly. Handing back the papers to him, I waited for him to take it before pushing myself up on the tips of my toes so that I could press my lips to his.
His lips were warm, soft and absolutely addictive; and it was so very easy to drown myself in his taste, so I pulled away just as quickly before he even had the time to react. "You are brilliant," I told him softly, smiling when I saw the flustered look on his face.
It was funny, how he'd probably heard plenty of compliments from the rest of his pack and there wasn't any doubt about it – he was gorgeous, and clever, and kind, and a million other things that would take me forever to list them all out. But every time I so much as gave him a passing compliment, he blushed like it was the first time he'd heard it.
It was no different now, and my smile widened when I saw the way his cheeks tinged a slight crimson and he ducked his head, shrugging in faint embarrassment as he finished gathering up the rest of the papers. Then he handed them to me for safekeeping while he went to answer the door.
Adrian's voice was the first I heard, followed by Lance's and Spike's and several other familiar ones, hearing the words "security breach" and "Phobos" somewhere in the mix. But since Jed didn't invite them in and chose to stay outside on the front porch, I took the opportunity to slip off to the library to find a new hiding place. After stashing the documents away in one of the arbitrary cookbooks, I pushed it far behind the shelf where no one would see it and headed upstairs to throw on a loose sweater over Jed's shirt.
When I headed back downstairs, Jed was in the kitchen; only this time, he was watching Lance and Spike pilfer through the shelves in search for food. Brutus, Jade and Katya were deep in discussion, while Adrian was sitting on the counter happily stuffing his face with Doritos. The expression on Jed's face was bored with vague indifference as he watched them, but I didn't miss the way he glanced over at me just briefly, then over to where Spike was tugging at the oven door to check if there was any food inside.
I knew exactly what he was worried – no, terrified about. And it was incredibly fortunate that I'd hidden the book and the rest of the documents elsewhere. Stifling a quiet sigh of relief, I smiled brightly at Jed, who took it as a good sign and relaxed.
"Going to Phobos?" I asked him, as I sidled closer with just the counter separating us. Adrian, of course, was sitting like the perfect third-wheel that he was, and he waved the bag of Doritos obnoxiously between us to obscure my view as Jed began to nod.
"Perimeter breach," Adrian informed me, grinning when I swatted him away, only to wave the bag at me again. "Come on, I know you want one."
He was right; I really did want one. Only when I reached into the bag, I felt absolutely nothing and realised that I'd been well and truly played by Adrian. "I hate you," I muttered, chucking the empty bag back at him. Adrian sneakily tried to slide the bag towards Jed and I swatted him again. "Throw your own trash! Better yet – throw yourself into the trash."
Jed's lips twitched in amusement at my words and Adrian shook his head. "Seriously, Alpha, you need a bell or something to warn people whenever you try to smile like that."
Jed simply rolled his eyes, picked up the nearest file and smacked Adrian on the head with it. His actions were so swift that Adrian promptly lost his balance and fell right off the counter. I began laughing helplessly, and the others soon joined in when they realised what had happened.
"You know," Lance remarked, as he calmly shoved another mouthful of ice-cream in his mouth, from the carton that he was sharing with Spike. "That's Alpha's I-just-got-laid smile. Which is creepy to us, but only because it gives us those kind of mental images we really don't want to have – " He trailed off as Jed levelled a flat look at him and he smiled sheepishly. " – my point is," He continued, now directing his teasing grin at Adrian. "You have that I'll-never-get-laid look on your face all the time and that's even more creepy."
Adrian scowled. "Fuck you."
"And end your dry spell of not getting laid?" Lance shook his head. "No, thanks. Besides," He added, waving a nonchalant hand at Jade. "She puts that I-just-got-laid smile on my face, thank you very much."
I blinked and stared at them curiously. "I didn't know you and Jade were mates."
There were muffled scoffs at this from Brutus and Spike, but it was Katya who chimed in. "Oh, they're not. But us werewolves have plenty of adrenaline, energy and hormones that need to be directed somewhere."
"Interesting," was all I said in vague response.
But later, when we were on our way to the diner, because Jed had insisted on walking me there before leaving for Phobos, I couldn't resist.
"So," I started lightly, brushing the back of my hand against Jed's to get his attention. He gazed down at me in confusion and I grinned. "You ever felt that need to direct your adrenaline, energy and hormones somewhere before you met me?"
Jed literally stumbled and I almost put out a hand to steady him, trying to bite back a laugh when I saw how flustered he was. But it was Adrian, who'd insisted on tagging along with Spike and Lance while the rest waited back at the driveway along our house, that set everything in perspective.
"Oh, yes," He said smoothly, with a wicked gleam in his eye as he glanced at Jed. "He directed all that adrenaline, energy and hormones to his left hand. Or was it his right?"
Jed shot him a filthy look and Spike shook his head in mirth as he watched their exchange. "Should we be worried that you know that?"
"We grew up together." Adrian shrugged, before winking at me. "I saw him in his underwear years before you have, Luna. Sometimes," He added, the grin on his face widening when he saw the murderous way Jed was looking at him. "Alpha doesn't wear any."
I laughed, and when Jed glared at me, I grinned widely. "What? I can't know about your history of...sexual affairs? With your left or right hand?"
Adrian snorted. Then, after a slight pause, said, "Alpha says he doesn't know much about the men you used to date."
"Please." I waved Jed's probing glances away. "You know about mine. All three of those assholes. I just didn't go into specifics because I don't want you hunting them down and flaying them alive."
"He probably would," Lance agreed smoothly. "Especially if he hears details about how they stuck their enchanted swords into your garden of – " He winced as Jed glanced at him, no doubt saying something highly offensive and threatening through the mind-link. Shaking his head to clear the insult from his head, he huffed at Jed. "You are absolutely no fun."
Jed pointedly ignored him and, after texting a swift message on his phone, held it out to me.
Will you be okay if Spike walks you the rest of the way while I flay these two shits alive?
"Oh, of course!" I said breezily and pushed myself up on the tips of my toes to brush my lips quickly against his cheek. "Have fun." With a smile, I eased back and waved at Lance and Adrian, who were both staring at me in confusion. "Good luck, boys. Come on, Spike."
Jed bit back a smile of amusement as he watched me leave with Spike. Both Lance and Adrian looked vaguely nervous as Jed glared down at them when I threw another final glance over my shoulder, and I laughed. "How much trouble do you think they're going to be in?" I asked Spike, an amused grin on my face.
"Depends on whether Alpha makes good on his threat. He did promise to – and I quote – flay our enchanted swords so that we'd never visit another garden again if we made another joke to corrupt your mind."
"He said that to you too?"
"His threats are usually meant for either Adrian or Lance, but he tends to direct them at all three of us." Spike shrugged good-naturedly. "But wise choice on not telling him the specifics of your past relationship."
"Well." I bit my lip and fiddled with the hem of my sweater. "I don't know – I want to tell him, and I mean no offense, but you werewolves tend to get – "
"Insanely jealous? Ridiculously protective? Frighteningly possessive?" Spike suggested easily, when I trailed off. I nodded hesitantly and he smiled. "Quite. I understand where you're coming from, I really do, because before I became a werewolf, I was a human and no matter the similarities between the two kinds, there are still jarring differences. One being that humans don't tend to go right off the deep end when they learn that their partners had past relationships."
I eyed him curiously. "Did you tell Lorraine about yours?"
"Only briefly. I had a girl – human, of course, prior to her. And she still can't hear her name without cringing so I try not to bring it up whenever possible. But you've got three – "
"All assholes," I supplied quickly.
" – three assholes, but let's not forget the fact that your mate is an Alpha," Spike added wryly. "You'll want to be careful where you tread."
"Got it." I laughed and nodded at him. "Any other pieces of advice, O wise one?"
Spike raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment. "Well – that going commando thing Adrian mentioned earlier wasn't completely off the bat," He mused at last, his lips tugging up in an impish grin. "We're werewolves. We shift a lot, get naked a lot, and it's all part and parcel of what we are. So you might want to get used to that."
"Get used to the fact that Jed's sculpted like an Adonis or get used to the fact that you saying being naked a lot is the equivalent of having sex pretty much everywhere, and that includes the kitchen that you and Lorraine pretty much desecrated?"
Spike flushed. "Oh, you caught that, huh?"
"There were scratch marks on the counter where I prepare the food." I shook my head at him in faux-disappointment and pushed the door of the diner open, directing him towards the kitchen. "I expect to see the place scrubbed down and clean before Dimitri comes in and kills you himself."
Spike laughed and easily caught the cloth that I tossed to him.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
It turned out that the perimeter breach in Phobos was more serious than expected, because Jed and the rest didn't return. Not even after dinner, when the usual customers had came and left, and several other patrons had lingered around to wait up. A group of older werewolves were sitting in the booths that they usually occupied, chatting in hushed voices; while the younger ones like Harvie and Dion had marked out their territory by the counter and were playing some sort of card game that involved loud cheering every so often.
Dimitri was more than aggravated by the noise and all but sneered every time they broke into a resounding bout of cheers.
"Would you stop?" I shook my head at him in amusement when he shot another glare their way again. We'd pretty much closed shop by now and apart from keeping the coffee pot refilled, there was nothing else left to do while waiting around. Lorraine was counting the day's earnings by the cash register, but I was more than surprised that Dimitri had waited around, even though it was long past his working hours. "You're going to scare everyone off if you keep glaring like that."
"And there I was thinking that my face would accomplish just that," He deadpanned, tossing the cloth over his shoulder and bracing his arms on the counter where we were leaning against, maintaining a fair distance from the younger ones.
"I'm sorry for what I put you through," I murmured, fixing my gaze steadily on the counter and scratching out a bit of the surface where the paint had flaked off.
I could feel his gaze on me for a fleeting moment before he cleared his throat. "Not your fault. You weren't the one who put that fucking blade to my face," He intoned, albeit somewhat stiffly and it was clear that he wasn't used to receiving apologies from anyone, ever. "Besides, I'm used to people avoiding me anyway."
"No one's avoiding you here – "
"You're absolute shit at lying."
" – well, fine, but only because you intimidate them. Lose that scowl. Smile. I'm telling you, if you went out into the city now looking all rugged and abrasive like that, you'd have no trouble at all getting a woman – "
He shot me a disgusted glare. "It isn't bad enough that you're making me work in a kitchen, now you're trying to play fucking cupid to fix my life?"
"Don't you want to find your mate?" I stared at him quizzically. "I might be wrong, but I always thought that was kind of a big deal for werewolves."
He glared at me for a moment longer before tossing the cloth back on the counter. "I'm not having this conversation with you."
"Fair enough." I grinned, knowing better than to push, and gazed around at the diner. It had become a habit for me to take note of the number of customers left, and I blinked suddenly. "Where's Spike?"
"What – "
I held up a hand to stop Dimitri when he started to speak, and turned to Lorraine, who was chatting with a couple of her friends by the cash register. "Lorraine," I called, waiting for her to turn to me before asking, "Where's Spike?"
She raised her eyebrows in confusion before shrugging. "At the bank. Why?"
I stilled. Call it instinct, call it intuition, but a deep, unsettling dread was spreading through me and I didn't like it at all, not one bit. "Is he at the bank, or did you just send him to the bank or – "
"I sent him to deposit a cheque for some – " Lorraine trailed off and frowned. "What're you going on about, Luna?"
"There's a curfew." I struggled to keep my voice from rising in pitch, but already, several people were glancing our way. The teenagers sitting by the counter had stopped talking, and Dimitri had straightened, bracing his arms on the counter behind me. "Jed set a curfew – you don't leave premises past ten. What time did you send him out?"
She shot me another strange look. "About fifteen minutes ago. It takes awhile to get into the city, but honestly – "
Reaching into the pocket of my shorts, I dredged out my cell and quickly dialled Jed's number. The call went right to voicemail and when I tried and failed to get through to Adrian's cell, I bit my lip to clamp down on the rising panic surging within me. Lorraine was still going on about how it was safe in the city, but I levelled her a firm look and said, "Mind-link Jed."
She blinked and laughed nervously. "Luna, don't you think you're overreacting just a little – "
"There have been more perimeter breaches than we can count over the past few weeks and Bianca warned us to stay on the lookout," I returned evenly. "Mind-link Jed."
"Bianca?" One of the older men I knew as Rowle scoffed, as he sauntered over with two of his friends and folded his arms on top of the counter separating us. "You still trust that bitch? For all we know, she might be the one responsible for the breaches and you're blindly trusting people like her and this piece of – "
He'd directed his mocking words at Dimitri, but the latter moved so swiftly that he had Rowle pinned down against the counter, one hand twisted behind his back. "I'm sorry," Dimitri drawled, keeping a tight grip around the Rowle's throat, the other locked around the man's wrist to prevent him from escaping. "This piece of what? I didn't quite catch that."
"Dimitri," I murmured, giving him a subtle shake of my head.
Hesitation flickered in his eyes for a moment or two, but then he released the man, falling a step back and smirking mockingly when Rowle and his friends hastily backed away. By now, everyone in the diner was focused on the conversation at hand, and I fought to keep my cool in the midst of a tense situation without Jed.
"Luna," Lorraine started again, shaking her head at me as she lifted her cup to take a drink. "You're worrying about nothing. Most of us head out at night even though Alpha placed the curfew and – "
But before she could finish her sentence, I'd taken three strides forward to where Lorraine was standing with her friends, reaching up a hand to wrench the cup from her grasp and slamming it down on the counter. The water tipped over the sides, but I couldn't care less and met Lorraine's shocked gaze squarely.
"I am your Luna," I said, my voice a deadly quiet in the stunned silence. "And you will listen to me and you will worry, not merely because I told you so, but because Spike, your mate, could easily be fighting for his life as we speak and none of us will ever forgive ourselves should something happen to him." Taking a quick step away from her, I turned to the group of teenagers, who were watching our exchange with wide-eyes and slacked jaws, and directed my gaze at Harvie. "Mind-link Jed."
Harvie nodded rapidly and immediately focused on alerting Jed to the news. Lorraine was fuming silently, looking more than annoyed that I had pretty much rebuked her in public, and after exchanging several hushed whispers with her friends, the group of them headed home. So did several others, and before long, the diner had more or less cleared out – with the exception of Harvie and his group of friends, along with several older werewolves who insisted on staying to make sure that we were safe in the diner.
I glanced over at Dimitri, who had been silent ever since my outburst but had stayed by my side throughout. "You can go home, if you want."
"It's fine." He dragged a hand through his hair, even though several strands of it fell stubbornly back to into his eyes and shook his head. "If Prometheus attacks, the fifteen other people in this diner are going to be more than useless and you're going to need someone stronger to fend them off."
I smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks."
Dimitri made a dismissive noise in response and leaned against the counter, watching the glass doors with the kind of alert glint in his eyes that I was so used to seeing from Jed. Constant vigilance, trust no one. The both of them seemed to have that in common – perhaps because of their upbringing or the way fate had played out in their lives.
About ten minutes later, Dimitri suddenly straightened and placed a palm flat on the counter to lob over it swiftly. "They're back," He told me, his posture rigid as he strode towards the glass doors.
The driveway outside was still dark, but I followed him curiously, the other members of the pack streaming out of the diner behind us. It wasn't until I saw the glinting headlights in the far distance that I realised Dimitri was right. Tipping back on the heels of my feet in anticipation, I held my breath and waited until Jed's car had pulled up into the driveway before I finally let out a sigh of relief.
He climbed out of the car and, for a moment, he just stood there, gazing at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Everyone else had already begun heading towards the cars that pulled up along the driveway, one of the older women tearfully hugging her mate who'd returned from the journey. Dimitri had stepped aside the moment Jed began to stride towards me; and Jed's pace was rapid, still that shade of undefined emotion on his features.
"Jed," I breathed, watching him with wide, wary eyes and feeling a tight coil, not of anticipation, but of dread suddenly seize me. "What – "
But I trailed off when I caught a glimpse of Adrian over his shoulder. Saw him prop the hood of Lance's car open. Heard a terrified wail somewhere in the distance. Then the hood slammed shut as Brutus and Adrian carefully lugged out a body bag, placing it gently down on the sidewalk as more frightened whispers and hushed cries seeped into the silence.
And suddenly, it wasn't just a tight coil of dread but one that spiralled, flayed, scorched every which way until I felt nothing but a painful, painful emptiness that I'd felt so many times before, but could never, ever get used to.
"Quinn."
My eyes flickered up to Jed's when he said my name in a voice that sounded so infinitely broken it almost felt like a part of him had died. And when I met his gaze, I saw that same emptiness reflected right back, one that he too was familiar with but had never and would never stop hurting because of it.
He dragged in a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to tear him apart from within and said the words I knew would change everything for good. "I'm so sorry."