I glanced over at my friend. He was slumped over like a bald, deflated, sequined blow-up doll.
"I agreed to take your blood. It's as much my fault as anyone else's," I said as I sat down beside him and laid my head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "but I don't regret doing it. I wouldn't want to go on if you weren't in my world."
The seriousness of his tone and words humbled me. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. I loved him and losing him would destroy me too.
"I'm not going anywhere," I promised. "However, if I am stuck with your blood you're gonna have to teach me how to control the heinous super powers I've gained."
"Deal." He grinned and tweaked my nose. "Wanna try on dresses?"
"Do I have a choice?" I moaned and laughed.
"No, beautiful missy, you don't."
"I knew you were gonna say that," I muttered sarcastically.
"Did you read my mind?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Oh crap," I yelled as my eyes grew even wider than his. "I certainly hope not."
"So do I." Dwayne's voice sounded uncharacteristically hollow. "So do I."
Chapter 4
The sheriff's office looked like a cyclone had hit it. Clearly Junior had been spending a lot of time here coming to grips with his new Alpha status. He was a disheveled mess. His hair was sticking straight up and his shirt was buttoned wrong. It made me want to hug him. Hank put his hand on his brother's shoulder to stop his nervous pacing.
"Relax, big bro. It's all good," Hank told him.
Junior nodded, sat down and started bouncing his knees like a baby was on them. My beautiful man grinned and shook his head at his brother.
"We have one more day here before we leave for Chicago," Hank said as he tossed Junior a stress ball. "Everything is in order. The elders of the Pack have accepted Junior as the new Alpha and the official ceremony will be held tonight."
"What should I wear?" Dwayne asked.
"Actually, Dwayne, you're not exactly invited. It’s just for Wolves," I explained gently.
"Well, that's beyond rude," he huffed. "Who is the one who mind melded those two insane Dragons and saved everyone's butts?"
"Um… that would be you," Junior said as he turned an alarming green hue and tried not to gag.
I'd missed Dwayne's mind meld death show as I was out saving the kidnapping victims and yanking off the head of the third Dragon, but it was apparently something that would be forever branded into the minds of those that had witnessed it. There were a few Weres still in therapy after that one—stinky Dragon guts had covered several city blocks.
"It's just gonna be a bunch of nekkid Werewolves dancing around and then going all furry," Granny said as she downplayed the magical ceremony and patted Dwayne's head like a dog.
"But that sounds like fun," he moped. "I want to get naked and furry too."
"Dude," I reminded him and I joined in on the petting. "You're a Vampyre. You don't shift."
"I know that," he said with an eye roll. "But I have a fabu faux fur coat that I could slip into after the naked dance."
That left everyone speechless.
"I'll see what I can do," Hank muttered as he handed me a folder.
"What's this?" I asked as I opened it. My heart leapt to my throat and my eyes filled quickly with tears. It was a folder with information on my parents.
"Thank you," I whispered. My hands shook and my stomach clenched. "How did you get this?"
"Junior hacked some sites. It's not complete. We still have some work to do," he said as he put his arm around me and led me to the couch.
I nodded my thanks to a now still Junior and leaned into Hank.
Until very recently I'd believed my parents had died in a tragic car accident when I was a baby. I had no memories of them except for the beautiful stories Granny had told me. Once Granny realized I'd joined the Were Wolf Treaty Federation, she let loose on a few details that she'd neglected to inform me of during my childhood…
My parents had died in a car crash, but it wasn't an accident. They had been the highest-level WTF undercover agents and they'd been taken out. The case was left unsolved which made no sense whatsoever. WTF got to the bottom of everything. It stunk of a cover up and if it was the last thing I did, I would find out what really happened to my parents.
"Baby, they would not want you to die tryin' to solve the mystery. They loved you something fierce. They would want you to have a happy life," Granny said quietly as she looked over my shoulder at copies of old newspaper articles and death certificates.
"I believe that," I said slowly as I touched the yellowed picture of my mother and father's faces, "but if the WTF covered up my parents' death, what else have they covered up?"
"Good point, well made," Dwayne said. "We need to take those bastards down."
"We don't know for sure that it was WTF," Junior cut in before Dwayne went into a blood-curdling, therapy-inducing story of how we should do it.
"I'd bet my left boob, it's the bigger one, that they know what happened," Granny said without an ounce of embarrassment.
"Wait," Dwayne said, confused. "I thought the right one was bigger."
Granny grabbed her bosom and felt herself up.