The Power Of The Bite (16 page)

“I love you Dad, I always did, I always will,” Dax said quietly. “I don’t know what my future holds, but I promise you I will make you proud and one way or another I will see to it your beloved pack is safe.”

He let Zane help him out of the grave, and stood silent for a moment before resolutely bending down, picking up his shovel and digging it into the piled dirt. Zane did the same beside him. As the first shovels of dirt hit the cloth covered remains, he heard Broz call out, “Atten…tion,” and a quick glance revealed all six vampires standing at attention, honoring a man they barely knew with a proud salute.

As he worked, Dax saw Alice, then Lance, Bruce, Joe and Tom, all come forward, still in their wolf forms gently nudging at the earth, helping in their own way. One by one the other enforcers came, and then more pack members.  Some only nudged a bit of dirt and then stepped back, allowing others in their space. Others, like the enforcers and Alice, all worked with Dax and Zane until the grave was completely filled in.

With one final pat of the shovel, Dax flung down his tool and grabbed hold of his mate’s hand. The wolves were all still sitting in silent sentinel and Dax knew he had one more thing he needed to say.

“Please, no matter what you decide regarding the leadership of this pack, keep this place sacred. It is what my father would have wanted. He gave his whole life to you, and he never did anything to cause you to disrespect him now.  As for me and my position here, I expect your group decision to be delivered to me by six o’clock tonight. I don’t care how you work it out, or who advises me of what’s been decided. I only know that any prolonged discussion or concerns over this issue will only serve to weaken the pack further, and that is not something my father would have wanted. So make your decision and let me know. I will be waiting at the pack house. I have said all I am going to say.”

Dax led Zane out of the clearing, hearing Broz and his friends fall in behind them. He hadn’t been close enough to any pack members recently to know what decision they might make, and in his heart of hearts, he hoped it wouldn’t matter to him, whatever they decided. Did he want to lead his people to a more enlightened and prosperous life, shared with other paranormals instead of shutting themselves away from them? Definitely. But if the price he had to pay for doing that, was to have his mate live with concerns for his safety every day, then that price was too high. They could always live at the coven.

Right now, he needed a shower, hot food and a chance to relax with Zane and his new friends. Whatever happened at six o’clock could be dealt with at that time. He had made his decision and allowed the pack the space to make theirs. There was no point in worrying about it for one second before.

Chapter Seventeen

The knock on the door to the pack house came just before six o’clock. Dax was curled up around Zane on the couch, where he had been most of the afternoon. He and the vampires had spent a lazy time watching movies, talking about nonsense and random topics, thinking of ways the coven could improve conditions in the town and just generally getting to know each other better. But no deliberate plans were made, no decisions that might impact the town, the pack or the coven. It was as though every man in the room knew that the six o’clock decision had to be dealt with before any concrete plans were made.

Van hopped up and answered the door. Dax had asked all of the staff to leave, as they had as much right to an input in the pack decision as anyone else, and besides Dax was more than capable of fending for himself and his guests. Dax wasn’t surprised to scent Lance and Bruce at the door. The two men were probably the strongest men in the pack, next to Dax himself. He heard Van invite them in, offering them a seat and getting some coffee for the two men before sitting back down next to Broz.

Neither Bruce nor Lance looked very comfortable, and Dax’s heart sank at what he perceived was going to be a harsh rejection of his Alpha position. Just because he’d made his decision, didn’t mean it was going to be an easy one to live with, but he mentally squared his shoulders, even while appearing relaxed in his mate’s arms.

“Dax,” Lance began. “As you can appreciate the pack meeting this afternoon was difficult. A pack needs a strong Alpha to keep it in check.  It was an…interesting afternoon.”

“Is the majority of the pack comfortable with the decision reached?”

Lance cast an uneasy look at Zane and the other vampires. “Yes, but the pack want some compromises made.”

Dax ground his teeth and took a deep breath. He had a sinking feeling about where the conversation was going to go. “Explain,” he said tersely, gently disengaging Zane’s arms and sitting upright on the couch. He felt Zane square up beside him, but his focus was on the two enforcers.

“The pack want you as their Alpha. There was no disputing that by anyone. Most of the pack have watched you grow up, they know how intense your Father was in training you, and they feel that the natural line of succession should be allowed to continue, for the stability of the pack,” Lance said.

“The majority of the pack also accept that Zane is your true mate.” It was Bruce that spoke up this time. “Your claiming marks were evident earlier today, and while there were a few people who had clearly taken Cole’s words to heart about you being be-spelled, they were quickly shut down when it was pointed out to them that an association with the man responsible for killing the Alpha was not a good look.”

Yes, Cole’s lies were going to take the pack a long time to recover from – Cole had always been a charismatic presence in the pack. But Dax knew there was more to come.

“So the pack want me, and accept Zane as my mate, but there’s a big ‘but’ coming, isn’t there.”

Lance and Bruce shared a quick look and it was Lance that spoke this time. “The pack are happy enough for you to have Zane as a mate, but they want the vampires to stay in their own territory, and they want you to take an official Alpha Mate female as a cover for when we get visits from other packs and things like that. The suggestion has been made for surrogacy to ensure your family line is continued, and while Zane will be safe if he stays in the pack house, the pack would prefer that he not act in any way as the Alpha Mate of Portrain and that he keep his visits to this territory confined to the pack house and immediate grounds.”

Dax felt his anger, a slow burn working its way through his system like a virus. He was incensed, but it seems his mate, who up until now had been quiet, docile and nothing but supportive, had finally had enough and was a lot quicker to act.

“How fucking dare you,” Zane yelled, standing up and stalking over to the hapless Bruce and Lance. “How dare any of you treat this mating as though it was an inconvenience to be hidden away and treated like one giant family secret? How dare you presume to restrict my movements as though I was nothing but a servant? Do none of you understand the importance of a mating, and what it means to be blessed by the very Fates themselves?”

“Zane hon, Lance and Bruce are just the messengers.” Dax had to admit he’d never seen Zane like this, and it was pretty hot, but he also had the pack welfare to think of. Not that he was going to go along with the pack’s plan for him, not for an instant, but Dax didn’t want to see two of his father’s enforcers hurt in any way.

“I’m not going to kill them, drain their blood or anything else so stupid,” Zane snapped back at Dax. “But the thought that this pack of apparently noble wolf shifters, who follow the guidance of the Fates and the Moon Goddess could sit there and discuss relegating me to a closet – to talk about me as though I am someone to be ashamed of…to undermine my mating with you, and suggest bringing in a female to keep up appearances. Do any of you have the slightest clue who I am?”

“You’re Zane Macintosh, vampire, detective at the local police department,” Lance stammered, looking at Dax in confusion.

“That name was nothing more than a human cover. My full name is High Prince Zane Bartholomew McLeod,” Zane roared and Dax sat back stunned at the visible change in his mate. The man seemed to grow bigger in front of his eyes and the power that emanated from Zane was…intoxicating. “I am Ruler of Russia, right hand man to the vampire King of Europe and the Western World,” he waved a hand at Broz who nodded his head. Zane lowered his voice as he bowed back, before turning back to Lance and Bruce. “I am also known as the ‘Scourge of Europe’. Men run in panic when they hear my name and for good reason. I am known as the bringer of death and destruction, the sword of justice in the paranormal world. I could take out your whole pack one handed and laugh while I did it, if I felt so inclined, and there isn’t anyone, council or otherwise, that would stop me.”

“But you wouldn’t.” Dax felt as though he had to interject even if he’d been totally blindsided by Zane’s revelation. To think he didn’t even know how old his mate was, and Zane must be old to hold such an honored position and to have garnered such a reputation.

“No, I won’t,” Zane continued in a more reasonable tone, although when he turned to Dax the vampire’s eyes were blazing red. “My mate, my reason for being, he loves you all, although I can’t think why. It is for that reason, and that reason only that you are safe from my wrath. I have tried to fit in, I have tried to be the sniveling little piss-ant you clearly think your Alpha deserves. I’ve done all that, and still been rejected. But no more, not after today. Not after you so gravely insult me, my mate and our union.”

“We’re leaving,” he added, unnecessarily because Dax was watching a truly imposing presence walk right out of the door. “How you handle your pack is your business, but know this. If anyone seeks to insult my brethren like this again, there will be retribution, the likes of which have never been seen before in Portrain.”

The door slammed shut behind all seven vampires, with a finality Dax could feel deep in his heart.

/~/~/~/~/

Dax sat alone in the living room of the pack house long after darkness fell. After the vampires and his angry mate had left in such a dramatic exit, some of the misinformed pack members thought it would be a good idea to present a couple of females they believed would be a suitable Alpha Mate for the pack. Dax soon dissuaded them of their ideas, clearing everyone out of the house so he could make a call to the Paranormal Council.

In his head, there was no question that another Alpha would need to be appointed to lead the pack. Even before Zane’s startling revelations, Dax’s sheer horror at what his pack had tried to force him to do was enough incentive for him to firm his decision. If the pack thought so little of him, his mate and what he personally stood for, then he had no wish to be their Alpha.

Zane had not been answering his calls, and Dax wasn’t sure what that was going to mean to them as a couple. Still stunned at Zane’s revelation of his importance in the paranormal world, Dax was even more shocked when he rang the Council seeking for a new Alpha to take over the pack. As he sat alone in the darkness, longing for his mate, he thought back over that decidedly weird conversation.

Elder Shalom had been more than happy to talk to him, commiserating over his father’s untimely death and congratulating him on being appointed as Alpha. But when Dax had brought up the reason for his call, citing the unrest and unease in the pack, the insult the pack had given his mate and the other vampires, and how he’d made the decision to step down, Elder Shalom had laughed at him. When Dax went on, trying to explain how fearful his pack were of vampires and how they just wouldn’t accept Zane as Alpha Mate, the Elder had simply said, “Make them.”

“You are the Alpha,” Anton had said. “Your rules, beliefs and ideas are what is important to the pack - no one else’s concerns should even bother you.”

Dax remembered feeling very confused. “My father had always taught me that the need for security and stability and a following of traditions was of vital importance to the entire pack. That is why he and my forebears never took the mates they had been blessed with.”

“And do you think they did the right thing?”

“No. But…”

“Then it is up to you to make the changes you want to see happen in your pack.”

Dax had tried to explain that Zane had left, and how in his rage, he doubted the man would ever set foot on pack territory again.

“Your vampire has a lot of reasons to be upset. I have to admit it made me smile to see such a strong personality and force of nature brought to heel by the love he has for you. I think he has behaved admirably considering what you have put him through. Almost restrained for someone of his nature and status in our world.”

“You knew who he was, and you never said anything?”

“Maybe if you had stopped thinking about yourself and that pack of yours all the time, giving your mate the respect and time he deserves, you might have found the time to talk to him about his past all by yourself.” 

The Elder’s rebuke had been nothing more than a mild and well deserved criticism, but Dax felt it in his soul. Which was why he was sitting in the dark, wondering what the hell he was going to do. The council refused to consider sending in another Alpha, which meant if Dax walked away the pack would fall into panic and there was no telling what they might do then. While part of him didn’t care, the other part – the one raised by his father – did.

As he sat and thought, Dax came to realize that the pack was not and should not be his first concern. It was Zane he was worried about, Zane who should have come first from the moment they met. By the time the room was almost pitch black, a watery moon shining through his living room window, Dax knew that he had to put Zane first in all things. Dax had been insulting his mate since the day he forced their meeting – treating the man as though he was always going to be a second class citizen in contrast to Dax’s Alpha potential. It was no wonder that the pack were doing exactly the same thing. It was going to take a pretty big gesture to get his mate and his pack to see that things were going to change.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, staring at it for a long minute. He wished with all of his heart that his mate would take his call. Dax was worried about Zane – his mate would need to feed, but Zane had ignored his twenty plus calls so far, and would likely do it again. Selecting another number from his list, Dax spoke quickly, pleased to get a positive response. When he hung up five minutes later, he had the beginnings of a smile on his face as he wandered up to bed. He might have to spend one night alone, but he vowed on all that was holy, it would be the last.