19

I woke just before dinner time to a text that had pictures I never wanted to see… But absolutely believed were real.

Unknown: I don't want to get involved, but if it was me, I hope someone would let me know. Sorry, Alpha/Chief.

I flipped through them and about blew my lid. I was up and dressed in a flash, grabbing my keys to one of the SUVs before I could think to change my mind.

But I did leave my guns so I didn't think to use them.

Which wouldn't help much because I was more lethal as myself than them.

Several of the ancients came racing towards me as I pulled out of the parking garage but didn't make a scene or try and get in my way. They clearly sensed my rage or whoever was on the desk alerted them I was in the garage alone. I wasn't sure.

I didn't care.

I ignored my phone on the drive, lost in a haze of heartbreak, confusion, and anger.

Lots of anger.

I pulled up to the training center and easily got past security. They seemed a bit confused because most everyone was at the joint 4 th of July fun at the pack lands.

Yeah, they were… Except one of the problems I was there to deal with.

Unfortunately, there were two I would have to try not to pound the shit out of.

I didn't bother parking in a spot, leaving my vehicle right at the door, not caring about being a bitch right then. Or at all. I swiped in and sniffed out who I was looking for.

And found them.

Both of them.

Together.

The female wolf in training that I kept smelling on Carter was sitting between his legs on a couch in the lounge. He had his bare foot up and she used his knee as her backrest beside the couch and her legs were over his thigh while they were looking at something. Their heads were close together, and there were snacks they were clearly sharing.

It looked like the cutest little study date one would picture out of a young adult romance novel or TV show.

Except it wasn't.

This was a wolf who was a century old from what I remembered from her file, and Carter was like four thousand years old.

And they both knew better than this.

"This fucking ends," I growled, startling them both from the way they jumped. "Seriously, you're so engrossed neither of you realized I was even here or—"

"Respectfully, we're not doing anything wrong where we have to worry if mom comes in," the wolf drawled.

And Carter didn't object or jump in.

Wow. Just… Wow . So that was where we were now?

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're training to be more aware of your surroundings, and you're failing if you didn't even register the pissed-off Alpha wolf heading your way who could rip you to shreds before you could blink." I gestured between them. "And this is against the rules."

"Shit, you drive fast when upset," Nikos said as he caught up to me. He did a double take. "What the fuck, Carter?"

I gestured to him like see, it's not just me .

She snickered at me. "Of course, they agree with you when they all sleep with—"

"I suggest you watch how you speak to her, trainee," Nikos cut in, his voice cold. "And us. We might not be your instructors, but we're full-time FBI." He gestured between the two of them. "That's why this is wrong. There's no cavorting between agents and trainees during training or—"

"It's not like that at all ," Carter defended… As they detangled.

I simply snorted.

He frowned and gestured to the couch. "We were just sitting here watching something like—I've seen you sit like that with Nikos."

"Yeah, and as she pointed out, Nikos and I do have sex," I drawled. "Way to admit—"

"We're not having sex," he argued as she said, "So you're allowed to but he's not? Nice."

I moved before anyone could stop me and backhanded her. "Remember who you're fucking talking to."

"Sera!" Carter gasped and grabbed my arm, yanking me away from her.

I reacted without even thinking, so pissed it wasn't even funny but also just I moved that fast. I grabbed his arm as well and yanked it from the socket, dislocating his shoulder so he released me.

The shock on his face rivaled what I was feeling, but I felt better when Nikos defended me.

"I would have reacted the same. She went to handle a hostile person challenging her and you intervened. Remember whose fucking side you should be on."

"Clearly not mine," I mumbled as I stepped away. "Move out of the packhouse. Live at one of the other buildings and—"

"Sera, stop this is—"

"Shut up because I'm trying not to escalate this, but she's fucking amused," I snapped. I turned to focus on her and tilted my head. "I'm getting images off of her, but I don't understand them. Something else is going on here."

"I thought you knew what was happening with Carter," Helmer said from the group.

I frowned and looked at him. "I didn't know you were back, and you're not supposed to be in here."

"I just got back and was filled in that there was a situation with Carter."

"There's no situation with me or—" Carter argued as he popped his shoulder back in. "I'm allowed to have friends. I made a fucking friend, and we've been spending time together that—"

"Who are you?" I whispered, honestly more shocked and appalled than pissed in that moment. He was like a whole other person and completely blind to the situation.

"He's bonding with wolves," Helmer explained. "All of us are master vampires. I was told your old Master of the City was bonded to wolves. I noticed it when I arrived. He smelled mostly of vampire, but partly of wolf—she knew."

Yeah, she did. The trainee fucking knew what was going on. "And you wanted to be the wolf he bonded with. That was your goal here."

She jumped to her feet and power flashed in her eyes, challenging me. "You don't know what you're talking about. We're friends. If you didn't fuck all of your friends and understood what—"

"This is the first time we've met and you don't know me, so cut the shit," I blasted. "I have lots of guy friends and men in my life I've never touched. I could give you a list so enough." I moved in her face and shoved my finger in her chest. "You knew. That's the image I'm seeing. It's a vampire with a wolf. You know someone bonded."

Yes. It was all over her face and pouring off of her.

"Separate them," I told Nikos. "I don't understand what's going on here, but clearly Carter's vulnerable. Helmer, tell me everything on the drive back." I pulled out my phone and connected to Brian.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard your—"

"We've got a situation and I'll explain it later. I'm booting one of your trainees. I'll fill you in later, but I want her packed up and out of here immediately, so I'm telling security."

He was quiet a moment. "Sera, I'll back whatever, but if this is about her friendship with Carter then—"

"Her against regs friendship?" I drawled. "He's FBI, and that's not allowed while in training. But yeah, it's more than that. Or are you siding with her too?" I hung up before he could answer or I said too much. "Fucking idiots."

"You can't even make the call, can you?" she jeered.

She was out before I even realized that I was going to throw the punch.

"I would suggest detaining her and having one of the other sirens question her later," Nikos said quietly. "There could be more to this than she took a chance. She's rather over the top for a trainee."

I nodded, thinking it was smart and I shouldn't be making the decisions right then. "Bring her with and get her locked down at the supe FBI office. I'll tell security to pack up her room and go through everything on the way out."

"Sera this is—" Carter started to say, but I ignored him and went for my vehicle.

"Helmer, ride with me. I want to hear this again from someone as old as you. I got—I want to make sure I got the right information on this," I ordered.

"You're going back to your apartment, right?" Nikos checked. He moved in front of me when I didn't say anything. "Please? We need you, Sera."

I gave a swift nod. Yeah, I could go cool off there even if it was on the roof of whatever.

Helmer jumped in the passenger's seat and didn't say a word as I pulled away from the curb. I stopped at the security station and filled them in, not even having the bitch's name to tell them.

But I did have the picture of her with Carter which was just great. They promised they'd handle it and let Brian know when it was done.

"Talk," I ordered him when we were on the road.

"It's like any other gift or talent we can have," he told me. "They all vary and build the older we get. I have the one that my bloodline has, but others as well, and not every one of our bloodline can have that gift." He waited until I nodded. "I thought you were doing it intentionally, trying to get him to form that bond with your wolf more than siren him."

"No." The one word probably said a lot, but it was the truth.

"When I got off the plane, I immediately smelled Carter's scent changed. He smelled a bit of wolf. Some of it was you on him, but also that he was bonding with a wolf. Thinking of it like the gift of alliance with a species. Wolves won't be as on guard with him as they would other vampires, especially ancients.

"That's a useful asset for a coven to make alliances. And it's not always one wolf that has the strong bond with the vamp, but it can be the pack that he or she was close to when the gift developed. He's here now, so he will start to smell like Chicago wolves a bit. When you siren him, he'll always smell a bit like you—you know that from Noah."

I snorted and ignored when he gave me a curious look. Yeah, Noah smelled like me. That wasn't the snort.

The snort was at the idea I was still going to siren Carter.

Currently, my only plan for him was to drown him in Lake Michigan.

"So he was bonding to me because we were lovers, but then he switched to her and—"

"Wait, there's a lot in that starting with the ‘were lovers,' but I'm not touching that just yet," he cut in. "But it's not like that. It doesn't have to be. Can it be if there's lust or attraction? Yes, but I've seen it more times than not."

"Okay, so that's all I knew from Vlad and Bernard, and I never even saw it," I told him.

He didn't answer right away which confused me. "I don't know that's even what it was. We've heard different things, and even a few of the vampires—Remus wasn't even sure. He had seen it with his previous Master who was tied to pumas and said it was different."

I nodded. "Bernard's blood is a drug as a siren, and he was also playing Vlad. Makes sense. Okay, so what is it supposed to be?"

"Like the buddy system. Who is a Beta you trust and have no feelings for?"

"Freddie," I answered immediately. "He's the one who first pulled me in and asked for my help—has done everything I've ever asked and helped me. Reagan might be the strongest, but Freddie is really the most senior Beta as the oldest and was higher in the pack from before."

"Okay, that trust you built over the years, the bond makes you skip some of that. It's like you trust and know—you generally can't screw over your bonded. That's why I don't know that Bernard and Vlad were but again, I wasn't here for any of it. It's more symbiotic and keeping peace in an area. It's normally not the Alpha and Master though."

I nodded. "Yeah, that could throw off the balance and hurt the other supe groups in the area. I remember that."

"Right, so it's normally the Master and one of the other stronger wolves, and that wolf becomes the liaison for the coven. They won't hurt the pack because they're a wolf, but there's a deep trust there so the coven works well. It's all meant to bring peace and help supes like any of our other powers and abilities."

"But things go wrong with that just like the others," I hedged.

"Yes, and just like you separated them, that's what's done. Normally, if something happens or something goes wrong with the bond or—anything, the wolf is transferred to another pack. Last time I saw that it was less than a year until the bond was broken and like it never happened. The wolf adapted to his new pack and started smelling like them."

"And the Master was still in the alliance with the other pack and then his power wouldn't want to bond with a wolf from there. Got it." I waited until he nodded. "So this whole thing about it housebreaking the shifter and taming them is just vampire bullshit just like everything else gets twisted up."

"Yes, especially because some Masters know it's happening and try to bond with a female of the pack. You know why and the signal it sends. You've met enough of the council members to know they're sexist and look down on shifters."

I snorted. That was an understatement. "Yet they immediately gave Eva what she wanted with the agreement for the ancient coven."

"Because they also like living, and after living as long as they have, know what it takes to stay alive," he said, his tone amused. He was quiet a few minutes as I sped along. "I am very sorry that I didn't discuss this with you or the others. I absolutely assumed you knew, but Nikos told me that he didn't know of anyone of Apollo's bloodline to have gained this power."

That actually chilled out my anger. A lot. I hadn't realized it but yeah, I was furious no one realized what was going on and we had this mess on our hands now. "When do you think it started for it to have gotten to this point?"

"Months. There would have been other signs given you are lovers as well. I'm not an expert on it, but one I was close to had it—I saw it up close. Igwe kicked him out when it happened, jealous of the power it gave the vampire. He thought it would be the way he was betrayed instead of being smarter."

"It sucks to be under someone you hate and can't find an ounce of respect for," I muttered, feeling the rage coming off of him. "Should we talk about your trip since we're alone?"

He gave a swift nod but clearly didn't want to. "Igwe's backed down on voicing his opinions of you, but it's clear that's because of Eva's threats and the head of the council making it clear they weren't having problems with the Dorcuses because of Igwe. It's tense, but he realizes it's not a fleeting sentiment. He'll figure out some other spin where he's the hero."

"He's so powerful that he didn't need his top teams and blah, blah, blah," I grumbled.

"Yes, exactly that. The others from the council heard me loud and clear that you weren't luring us all in with your bed and hadn't touched any of us. It was absolutely that we could have sanctuary here and our ability to protect the gobs of prey shifters you wanted to save. I know you don't like to broadcast that is your mission, but it's one they actually respect."

I snorted. "I'm a stupid weak woman caring too much about—"

"Not with vampires," he corrected. "We coddle our fledglings, and it's our duty to provide for them after turning them. The weak do not survive without our strength. It's one of the damn mottos of the council. One of the reasons the council looks down on shifters so much is how often they act too much like their animals and that only the strong survive bullshit.

"Making it clear that you grow and grow and allow us to live here to help protect so many prey refugees that you fight for has changed the minds of several council members. They see you as wanting to be the big sister and shield of the weak your council has failed, not the godmother who is trying to gather power like others are framing you. I promise it has helped."

I nodded that I heard him, but I would have to ask Apollo about that.

No, actually Enzo. I didn't think I'd be talking to Apollo for a while about too much. We had issues because of Goran, and now I wanted to murder the first vampire he turned, and… Yeah, I needed a break from Apollo before we had a problem.

We talked some more about logistics and that the council was impressed that I wouldn't approve four teams, but I did say if Igwe was taken out, the ancients could have temporary sanctuary here where they would be safe. Basically, the trip went as well as possible… Assuming he was telling me the truth.

And my wolf wasn't really telling me either way.

"I need you to have this conversation with Eva. I'm sorry, but my wolf just started to get back on—this was another big hit," I admitted as we got closer to the building.

"I understand." He cleared his throat. "For the record, Carter could have had no clue what he was doing. I mean, he seemed—"

"Don't fucking defend him to me right now unless you want me to break you as well," I warned him. "I have a feeling all of this has been the drama with him for a while—the getting jealous and starting shit with other men in my life. The pushing and pushing—dominating my wolf too much in front of other ancients."

"Yes, those all sound like the signs," he admitted. "Everything gets confusing when you're lovers too, not just with vampire power."

Truer words might never have been spoken.

I pulled into my spot and shut off the SUV, so ready for the day and year even to be over I so was tired of all the bullshit. We talked a few more minutes about his team's move and what came next before getting out and heading towards the elevator.

Carter's vehicle came whipping into the spot a few down from mine, and he was in front of me before I could even blink. "Darling, I'm—"

I reached up and grabbed him by the throat as I took out his knee, so he fell to the ground. I pressed my mouth to his and fed heavily, gulping his energy down until I took a few levels of power from him. Then I shoved him to the concrete.

"I gave you the power to make you strong enough to form this bond and you fucking betrayed me with it. Now I'll take it back as I kick you to the curb, darling . I said no wolves. You agreed to no wolves. So get the fuck out of my packhouse and give the key to my apartment to my husband before I rip your throat out."

I walked to the elevator with my head held high even as I was crumbling inside. I heard him groaning in pain from what I'd done, taking so much. My siren swallowed it down even if it was more than we probably should so fast.

It was the principle of it all.

I ignored everyone waiting for me in the hallway—even Eva holding Topher—and went into my apartment. They were less than thrilled that I didn't let them in as well, but fuck it. I added the extra bolt that no one had the key to that I'd asked Vinn to have installed.

I just needed to… I wasn't sure, but not deal with anything else or whatever they wanted to discuss. That was what I needed.

At least until I had to get back to work or the next emergency since that was my life.

I ended up going into the far back bedroom that I mostly just used for storage and curling up into a ball in the corner. There weren't really any memories there or—it was fairly neutral.

I needed some neutral.

Sometime into my watching my silent tears land on my arms, I felt my tiger join me. He didn't say a word, just moved behind me and hugged me tightly.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there but long enough that my butt fell asleep from the awkward position. "You're paying for my door."

"Yeah, I know," he whispered, kissing my hair. "You've got to eat to process that feed. Please?"

"I didn't deserve this," I rasped, finally saying what I'd been feeling. "Smelling her on him. Him ditching out on me. I gave him everything he said he wanted and he…" I broke down really crying, turning and clutching to him. I hated to cry to one of them about another of them, but that was my life.

And anytime some part of it broke like this, all I wanted was my old life back. And then I fell into a guilt spiral. The boys weren't in my old life. The men I loved.

My son. Topher wasn't in my old life.

But this was all too much, and I felt too lost in it all.

The last thing I needed was my phone ringing with Apollo's number. I cried harder and shook my head. I couldn't be the bad guy of all of this.

I just couldn't. Not this time.

Not when Carter had put down the boundaries of what he'd needed. Not when I'd given him leeway when he'd been having issues. Not when I'd let him handle just about everything how he wanted and trusted him.

He'd been the one to push we not rush things and then wanted dates. He was the one to get jealous and make demands about wanting that spot next to me later. He was the one who had started calling me his darling and acting like we were more.

And all I'd said in return was no wolves.

Luckily, Sander was in my kitchen fussing over food when Axel coaxed me out there. I handed him my phone because Apollo was already calling me again and that was it. I couldn't handle the call or any of this.

He nodded that he had it and took my phone. "Apollo, look, I know you're upset and yeah, Carter probably called you, but he fucked up. He fucked up bad, and Sera's not okay to talk. I can tell you what I know, but we all missed it—Helmer filled us in, but from what I can tell, Carter got scared of his feelings for Sera and tried to put some space between them.

"Instead, he started bonding with a trainee who wanted to use him to get at Sera, and he was—I don't know if an alien invaded his body or what, but it wasn't even smart from a security standpoint. But he completely sided with the woman over Sera and ignored Sera's comments about him smelling like wolf, going over the one line that she put in place."

"She doesn't need to hear this either," Eva hissed at him while he was talking in the hallway. "She's crying more instead of calming. Go. She has to get back to work soon and—everything is on hold."

If only life would ever be so kind to me.

Fuck all the damn ducks.