A Mate for Gideon(9)

“Are you saying that you want to pull the plug on the meet and greet? They’ve only been in there for an hour. Not fucking much of a meet and greet is it?” Brant growled.

“No, my lord. Everyone has been reassured inside, but this has to have put a damper on the whole thing. Might I suggest a continuation tomorrow? On vampire territory? The females are all packed and ready to move into their new accommodations for the next few weeks.”

Another heavy sigh. “Fine.” He made an irritated noise. “We knew this wouldn’t be without compli-fucking-cations…I’ll have Allison schedule a breakfast in the morning. Get them out of there…” he paused and Gideon could hear that he was thinking. “The males arrived on their own steam?” Before Gideon could reply, Brant continued. “They should leave separately. The females can travel together as planned. They will be less of a target that way.”

Gideon felt like rolling his eyes. “I will stick to the original plan. It’s well thought out and will definitely go a long way in lowering risks.” Since vampires were believed to be the main target, the plan was to keep the vampires and humans separate while traveling outside their territory. “I will oversee the evacuation and will follow the convoy myself.”

“Good,” Brant growled. “And Gideon?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I don’t want any fuck ups. Am I clear?” Brant barked.

“Crystal.”

“I’m counting on you big fucking time.” The line went dead and Gideon shoved the phone back into his vest. He put the two-way radio to his mouth and barked a few orders of his own, deciding to use the back of the club to evacuate the females. Within minutes, the vehicles would be lined up and ready to enter and exit. There were two ways in and two out to avoid getting trapped. He placed guards at strategic points to ensure sufficient cover if all hell broke loose. There were no tall buildings in the vicinity, so there was limited chance of a sniper attack. Just to be sure, he had males lined up to flank the females. They would take the bullets instead of the vulnerable humans. He doubted it would come to that though. The whole meat throwing incident had been a cowardice act, designed to scare. Humans could be such yellowbellies.

Once everything was set up and ready, he signaled the guard at the door to have the first female come out. This needed to happen quickly and quietly. The vehicles would move in a convoy, with vampire guards at the front and rear of the procession. He would oversee the operation and watch the tail end of the convoy…just in case. If anything went wrong, it could spell disaster for the covens. Hell, if even a single human got hurt, let alone killed, the entire vampire race might just end up on silver spikes looking much the same as the pig carcass on the pavement.

The nine remaining elite males had been instructed to stay inside until all of the females were clear before leaving intermittently. Apparently, York had already fucking left. He would need to have a serious word with the male. Leaving without authorization was not permitted. It was about fucking time he started obeying the rules. The male wouldn’t be in the shit he was in if he had done so in the first place.

The first female came out. He couldn’t see her because of the guards that flanked her on all sides. One by one the females continued to arrive. Once a vehicle was full, it would leave and the next one would arrive. He had counted sixteen females as the next vehicle pulled up.

Another tight formation left the building when her scent hit him. Deep in the nostrils, deep in the gut. He was motherfucked if his dick didn’t spring to attention. Right here. Right now. A low growl escaped him.

Cinnamon and spice and all things nice.

A scent that was branded into his memory.

Fuck.

It couldn’t be. No fucking way. His mind went back to a time in his life, all those months ago. To how he’d buried his nose into her hair. The strands were a mousy brown sprinkled with pure spun fucking gold. With the texture of the softest silk.

Gideon swallowed thickly as his heart rate picked up. Everything in him tightened as he took in another nose full. More memories rose up in him. Buried but not forgotten. Scenting her now made him realize how close to the surface they had been. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. He had to suppress another growl.

A year and a half ago. It was not a very long time. Not to a vampire. Not to him, since he had already lived nearly one hundred human years. The last eighteen months had felt like a lifetime, yet not nearly long enough. Certainly not long enough for him to forget. Her. Gideon stumbled forward, forgetting about the very real threat, forgetting about the evacuation plans. He pulled the closest guard to the side so that he could see into the center of the formation.