"Just two of them?"
He nodded, sliding a hand through his bright red hair to push it out of his face. "They weren't from a very big pack, from what I understand, but the rival pack was much larger."
Great.
"Where's Xander?"
"On his way."
"Good." I grasped his hand and squeezed it before letting it go again. "Everything okay with you?"
"Yep."
We continued our walk down the corridors, outside, and around the house to the secured helipad in awkward, strained silence. It was strange, really. Nikolas and I didn't have awkward moments.
A few guards were standing around waiting on the chopper to arrive when we walked up. Silver was one of them, and he was talking to someone on the radio and laughing every now and then. The only time Silver really laughed like that, his smile wide and eyes happy, was when he was talking to Lilly . his lover and one of our only two females in active service.
Lilly did quite a few runs on the chopper as part of a Council-Coven joint task force. She might have been female, but she was just as tough, if not more, than most of the men. And? She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. I respected the hell out of her for that.
The chopper was ours, thanks to Silver and his newly-formed alliances with some ex-military members and a couple of mercenary outfits here and there. Most of the team members were also ours, but a lot of the territory we covered now was Council-regulated instead of home ground.
Which was fine; the Council paid well.
The familiar thump-thump-thump of the Black Hawk sounded in the distance, and with every minute that passed, the sound just got louder. Soon the wash of the rotors could be felt, and then the black beast crossed over the house and zeroed in on the helipad. I watched it descend, curious about the two werewolves it carried inside.
They wouldn't be alphas, in any way. An alpha, even if he wasn't pack leader, would stay and fight to the death to defend his pack and his territory. The wash soon faded and the pilot began powering down the turbine engines. Lilly stepped out a few minutes later, motioning for someone inside to follow. She helped one man out, and then another.
The two men were naked, but covered in blankets. Both of them had blood, dirt, and grime from head to toe, and I realized they must have had to shift and fight to get away. Since I was the only one to represent the coven, I started toward them. Nikolas walked with me, silent, but alert.
One of the men looked right at me, the fear in his eyes bright and clear. The other looked at me, but his gaze didn't rise above my nose. He paused, looked off to something behind me, then looked to me again and went to his knees. He pulled the other man down to his knees, whispering something about me being the pack alpha.
I wanted to laugh.
Only I didn't, because I soon realized what . who . the first man had been looking at. Xander walked up, his expression just this side of furious. His amber eyes were nearly glowing with fury.
"Peter," he growled succinctly.
"Xander," I said in return. "How are you this evening?"
"Wondering why the fuck I'm even here." Strands of his jet-black hair flew loosely about his face, but I was sure it was more his power trying to rise up than it was the breeze. "It's clear you're well on your way to handling this."
"I'm here representing the coven, Xander."
"Whatever," he snapped and turned on his heel. "Call me if you can't figure out what to do with them."
Nikolas brushed my shoulder, drawing my attention from a retreating Xander, reminding me that there were dozens of others around . both vampire and werewolf alike. If I let him get away with talking to me like that, I'd forever be seen as weak.
"Nikolas?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Take care of that, please."
"Be glad to, sir."
Nikolas bowed his head and set off to follow Xander. There wasn't much he could really do, other than get in Xander's face and remind him why we followed certain protocols where the rest of the coven and pack were concerned. The one thing that wasn't done . under any circumstance . was to undermine the other in front of everyone else. Issues between each other were settled behind closed doors . no matter what.
I turned my attention to the two men before me and smiled, even though they weren't looking at me. If they were in tune with their environment at all, they'd know that I was at ease. The one who'd greeted me with respect and urged the other to follow was quiet and calm, his body nice and relaxed. He had a nasty scar on one side of his face. The other was shaking so badly I was afraid he'd piss himself if I moved too quickly.