I sighed. Not this again! “You’re a werewolf. It’s a witches only thing. I will be perfectly safe with Sylvia and the coven.”

He didn’t think so. I could tell by his look.

I stroked his hair. “It’s in Portland, well into our territory. It’s going to be fine. Don’t ruin this for me,” I pleaded.

He still had that worried look on his face. I decided to distract him by peeling off my shirt and exposing my braless chest. His eyes went yellow and he grabbed me hard, pulling me into his body.

I chuckled. Men were so easy.

*

After showering and getting ready for the day, I came out to find Kai and Alexa in a heated discussion.

“I don’t trust the government, Kai!” she shouted. Dominance oozed from her.

Kai put a possessive hand on her shoulder. “I would never let anything happen to you. It’s just a meeting, you would be our spokesperson.”

I cleared my throat as Kai turned to me, looking strained. Alexa had her arms crossed, chewing her cheek. I still had trouble looking at her and not thinking of the blood that dripped from her neck. The way she forced me to change her. I shook off the thought.

“What’s up?” I asked. I knew the government was having a lot of phone conferences with Kai, trying to soothe the fears of the humans. The militias had united with us and were keeping a tally for every vampire they killed. There were vampire kill websites and everything. The government was trying to publically make it look like they had also united with us, and that Kai’s announcement of our kind looked like a planned controlled thing.

Kai placed a hand on Alexa’s back. “Being that Alexa used to work for RAIDOS, I feel she is the best person to be a liaison between the werewolves and the CIA.”

I cringed. When RAIDOS (Research and Intelligence Division of Supernaturals) went rogue and suddenly took it upon themselves to do their own thing, Alexa barely had gotten out with her life. She was right not to trust them.

“RAIDOS isn’t the CIA, right? They are separate?” I was trying to be neutral.

Alexa sighed. “They were a super-secret branch of the CIA. I wouldn’t exactly call it separate. Listen. Every single thing that we tell him will be recorded and put into a file somewhere so that one day when they decide they don’t like the werewolves anymore, they can use it all against us.”

Her surety gave me chills.

“What would you have me do?” Kai roared. “Ignore their attempts at peace? Let them drop bombs on this mountain and wipe us all out in our sleep?”

Alexa balled her hands into fists. “I don’t know! No, but I don’t trust them. I don’t want any part of it!”

Kai looked murderous. “I’m not asking you to trust them! I’m asking you to talk to them for me. To be my in-between person. They use language that I don’t understand, they ask for figures I don’t have, and sometimes I want to scream at them to back the fuck off!” Alpha power radiated from Kai and Alexa went to her knees in submission, whining. Hell, even I bowed my head. Kai had officially lost it and he never lost it. I came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, sending calm energy through the mate bond. Kai sighed.

Alexa looked scared; she stared at the ground, panting. She didn’t want to upset him further. Neither did I. Kai told me once that he prided himself of running a clean pack. He was Alpha, yes, but he wasn’t a bully. I didn’t know how much this government issue was stressing him out until now.

Kai swallowed, getting himself under control. Slowly, his eyes returned to brown and he pulled Alexa to her feet and met her eyes. “Alexa, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m under a lot of stress to keep this fragile relationship with the human government stable. I will figure it out on my own.”

He turned to leave but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

“No, I’m sorry. You asked for my help and my answer is yes.” She gave a weak smile.

He smiled back. “You sure? Not just because I yelled at you?”

She shrugged. “A little because you yelled, but yeah, I’m sure.”

We all laughed and she gave him a quick hug. Pulling away, she placed both hands gingerly on his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes.

“But there might come a time when we regret being so friendly with the human government. Coming out to the humans was bound to happen, but continuing to give them information may be a mistake.”

Her ominous voice worried me. RAIDOS had originally been keen to partner with us. After finding out that my blood could make vampires pregnant, well, that partnership ended. Now they were a rogue organization not even backed by the government and they wanted me dead.

She broke eye contact and dropped her hands to her sides. Now it was Kai’s turn to grab her shoulders.

“Thank you for the wise counsel. We will be guarded with the information we give them and no one will hurt this pack. Not now, not in twenty years, never.”

She looked unsure but nodded and left.

Meeting Kai’s gaze, I reached out and took his face in my hands, kissing his lips.

“I love you,” I told him. He dealt with so much for this pack, for me. I didn’t realize how much until now.

His eyes roamed the length of my body. “I love you, too, but don’t bring Luna in our bed anymore. It stinks.”

My eyes widened.

“Busted,” Kai told me.

I laughed. “Sorry. I’m going to go see Diya.” I kissed his cheek and left before he could talk more about Luna.