Fighting the Inevitable (33 page)

Demetri raised an eyebrow
and pursed his lips. Things seemed to have moved on since Caleb’s
little temper tantrum with the Weres. “I assume we’re not going to
war with the dogs, then?”

She bristled, and her
eyes flashed, before she turned and walked back into the kitchen.
“No, you are not going to war with the wolves,” she answered
tartly, not liking his derogatory tone. She could really do with
another coffee and wished she knew how to use Caleb’s complicated
coffee machine.

Demetri followed the
redhead into the kitchen and decided he’d try to be on his best
behaviour. She was important to Caleb, so he would try to get to
know her better. He saw her staring wistfully at the coffee machine
and smiled. “Mind if I make myself a coffee, Red?” Her lavender
eyes light up, even as she frowned at his nickname for
her.

“
You can work
this thing?” There was more than a hint of hopefulness in her tone.
“I’d kill for a mocha, but Caleb hasn’t shown me how to use it
yet.”

Demetri smiled. This
should endear her to him. “Grab the milk out the refrigerator, I’ll
show you how to use it.” He spent the next ten minutes explaining
the finer details of how to work the machine and was surprised to
find he actually enjoyed seeing the pleasure crossing her face, as
she made her very first mocha and sipped at it
experimentally.

She really was a rather
enchanting little thing. He found himself smiling back at her
warmly, feeling oddly pleased that she was smiling because of him,
and he blinked slowly fighting down a deep scowl. His eyes
narrowed, as he looked at her covertly. Was she some kind of witch
in disguise? He didn’t like the warm feelings he’d just been
experiencing. It was unnatural. Women were only good for two
things, their luscious bodies and the hot, sweet life’s blood that
flowed through their veins.

Rhianna noticed the
abrupt change in the vampire and stifled down a sigh. He had been
doing so well up until now. He had almost been human when he was
showing her how to make the coffee. Now he was back to being
suspicious and detached. “You don’t like me much, do you, Demetri?”
She asked the question even though she knew the answer. He visibly
stiffened beside her.

“
I don’t
think much of you one way or the other, Red,” he answered tersely,
moving away and leaning against the kitchen counter, his glacial
green eyes remote as he looked at her. “Caleb seems to like you, so
that means you’ll be around until he gets tired of you. I can
tolerate you until then.” He knew his words were blunt and a little
cruel, but that was his nature, and if she was going to be around
for a while, then she would just need to get used to it.

He saw a flash of
uncertainty cross her face, and he actually felt a twinge of
remorse but he dampened it down irritably. He was only speaking the
truth. Why he should feel bad for doing so was beyond him. His lips
tightened, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s with the look, Red? You
and Caleb haven’t discussed the future? That’s so unlike Caleb.
Usually, he’s upfront about most things, except where you’re
concerned. He’s far too busy worrying about your feelings than he
should be. You make him weak. You make him vulnerable.”

“
You think
he’s weak, because he cares about me?” Rhianna stared at him with
an incredulous expression. “You think his life is somehow ruined,
since I came into it? What’s he missing out on that was so much
better? The same life you’re living? Tell me, Demetri, when you lie
with a woman, do you really know why she’s with you? Is it because
she’s drunk, or she’s heard you’re the biggest man-whore at the
club so she wants to see if it’s true? Or maybe she knows you own
the club and are rich? Maybe she just wants as many drinks as she
can get out of you? Maybe she’s hoping you’ll spend some of that
money on her, and she can get herself a nice expensive gift from
you?”

She watched his
expression tighten but couldn’t stop herself, even though he looked
dangerous. “The truth is you will never really know why a woman
wants to be with you, Demetri, and that’s the saddest thing ever.
At least Caleb knows why I’m with him, and that doesn’t make him
weak and vulnerable, that brings him joy and happiness.”

Demetri’s eyes darkened
furiously, and he pushed off the kitchen counter and took a step
towards her before he managed to reign it in. “You’ve been around
less than two months, and you think you know what’s best for him?”
he sneered. “Well, I’ve been around for two millennia, Red, and
I’ll be around to pick up the pieces after you’re dead and gone.
And just to set the record straight, I don’t give a fuck why a
woman’s with me, as long as I get what I need from her.”

Demetri’s words struck a
chord inside Rhianna, and she tried not to let him see how much his
comment had upset her. It brought up the unasked question which had
been hovering in her mind since she’d found out what Caleb was.
What did their future hold? Right now Caleb said he loved her, and
she believed him, but he was ageless and she wasn’t. He would stay
forever young, and she would slowly grow old. What would happen
when she was no longer young and beautiful? Would Caleb still want
her? How could he want to be with an old, wrinkled woman when there
would be countless beauties out there just dying to be in his arms
and in his bed.

Her coffee was suddenly
making her feel nauseous, and she put it down, avoiding the
dark-haired vampire’s all-knowing eyes. “I’m going to get dressed.
I’m assuming you’re perfectly able to entertain yourself until
Caleb comes back?” She didn’t wait for his answer. She turned and
fled from the kitchen, leaving Demetri frowning as he watched her
leave.

He had caught a
suspicious glint of moisture in her eyes, as she tried to keep her
gaze averted from his. Had he upset her enough to make her cry?
Fuck it, he was only stating the obvious! Surely she didn’t think
her
relationship
with Caleb could last forever? She was
human, and he was a vampire. She would age and die, while Caleb
would live for eternity, unless someone killed him, which was
highly doubtful.

So, why did he suddenly
feel like a complete bastard? He felt uncomfortable and furiously
angry at the little redhead. Who the hell was she to make him start
second guessing himself, to start questioning himself? He
straightened his tall frame and strode out of the kitchen. He’d
catch up with Caleb later. He had only wanted to find out what was
happening with the wolves. The dogs! Fuck! He was even amending how
he referred to the Weres because of her. He let himself out of the
house just as quickly as he’d let himself in.

Demetri was gone when
Rhianna came back downstairs, showered and changed. She was glad.
The vampire was obviously bipolar or had some other serious
personality disorder. He swung from hot to cold at a flip of a
switch. Come to think of it, all the men in her life were like that
now. She needed to get away for a bit. Have some time to think and
properly digest everything that had happened over the
weekend.

Her boyfriend was a
vampire, her brother a werewolf. From what Rafe had told her last
night, it would appear her best friend was about to be spirited off
by Jared Hanlon and turned into a werewolf, too. She was the only
normal
person left in her immediate circle of friends and
family, and that meant she was the only one who was going to age
and die. The rest of them would live on long after she was dead and
buried. It was a sobering thought, and hard to digest.

She considered calling
Caleb, and then, opted to leave him a note instead. If she called
him, he might be able to tell something was wrong and come back
early from whatever it was he was doing with her brother. Rafe
needed this time with Caleb more than she did. She found a pen and
paper in one of the kitchen drawers and hastily wrote a note before
she grabbed her packed overnight bag and headed out.

~~~~~

Millie was staring at
Jared intently, as he came to the end of his very long story. The
one thing that was forefront in her mind was the fact Rafe was
alive. It seemed almost impossible to believe, and yet, she had
seen Jared change into a wolf. It would appear her adopted brother
was now a wolf too and struggling with that fact. “I can’t believe
Rafe is alive.” Her eyes were moist with unshed tears, “and Annie
knows? She’s with Rafe now?”

Jared nodded, relieved to
see she was taking it all quite calmly. His wolf was a bit pissed
at her obvious affection for Rafe, but that was only because they
hadn’t mated yet. Once they did, he would calm down and easily
accept the role of brother the large man had in her
life.

She looked down at the
table and nervously twisted her fingers together. It sounded so
easy to turn a human into a Were. Granted Rafe’s turning sounded
horrific, but Jared said that was only because it was forced. A
normal turning, when mating, appeared to be effortless, because the
person being turned wanted it to happen. She knew without even
asking him that he wanted to do that to her, and she couldn’t help
feeling a bit afraid. She raised her eyes, looked deep into his and
saw his lips tightened at whatever he read on her face.

“
Millie, I
would never turn you without your full consent,” Jared’s large hand
captured hers and squeezed gently. “I’ve just explained how
unsuccessful forced turnings are. I would never do anything to hurt
you. I can’t. You’re my mate, the woman I love more than my own
life. If you decided you never wanted to join with me completely, I
would still love you and still be with you.” True, he would never
father any young, if she didn’t truly mate with him, and the Hanlon
pack would one day have a non Hanlon Alpha because of it, but he
would do anything to keep her in his life, sacrifice just about
anything.

He sounded so sincere,
his expression earnest as he spoke that she found herself relaxing
and even managed to give him a tentative smile. “It’s such a lot to
take in, Jared. It’s a huge decision to make. The pack laws you’ve
just described, they sound so….outdated.”

He blinked in surprise.
“Define outdated?”

He seemed genuinely
interested in hearing her views, so she decided to speak her mind.
“You trusted Annie to keep your secret to help Rafe, and yet you
don’t trust your own pack to. Doesn’t that seem a bit odd, Jared?
Your pack law states that once a human joins you, they give up
their human lives and lose their family and friends, their jobs,
everything that defines who they are as a person. Why? To protect
the pack? Maybe that kind of restriction was necessary a few
hundred years ago, but surely it isn’t needed now?”

Jared’s automatic
reaction was to think of the pack. They had to be protected at all
costs, and yet, Millie’s simple questions had a certain kind of
naïve logic to them. He couldn’t argue with the fact they had let
Annie know about them and trusted her to keep their secret, because
she not only cared about Rafe, but also cared about Caleb, too. He
knew each and every member of his pack would sacrifice their own
lives to maintain their secret. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the
pack, it was just they had always done things this way.

Only he and his betas
walked within the normal human world. They had various businesses,
which they tended to supply the funding for the pack’s compound in
the forest. It was necessary to take care of so many people. Only
his most trusted lieutenants were allowed to mix with humans, but
that was only because it was how it had been done by his father and
his father before him. Generations of Hanlon Alphas had protected
the pack for centuries, and he didn’t know if he could do it any
differently. It was deeply ingrained within.

“
Interesting
points,” he finally answered, though his tone was doubtful. “I
suppose I can understand why you question the pack laws, but it’s
the way it has to be, Millie. It’s the only guaranteed way to keep
my people safe.”

She worried her lip with
her teeth for a moment, and then she sighed deeply and tried again.
She could see he was trying to be receptive to her comments, but
she could also see his denial, too. “How many of your pack find
their mates within the pack?” she asked, watching surprise cross
his face.

change of subject
surprised him and made him frown. The little he knew of his mate
was enough to let him know she was up to something. “Not many.
Probably about a quarter.”

“
So, what
happens to the rest of them?” she pressed. “Do they just go through
life unmated?”

Jared’s frown deepened,
and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Unless they’re betas.
The alpha and his betas can seek their mates within the human
community.”

Millie stifled down a
touch of anger. It seemed so unfair that only a select few could
seek out mates when the rest of the pack went without. From what
Jared had explained about mating, almost three quarters of his
people never got the chance to meet their one special person, the
one they could mate with and produce young.

“
So, the pack
doesn’t grow. It stagnates because only a quarter get the
opportunity to mate and have children. That just seems so wrong,
Jared. Why do you prevent your people from having what you’re
asking of me?”

Jared stood up abruptly
and paced into the sitting room, his wolf howling mournfully at her
words. He felt a rush of anger, of denial, and he struggled to
dampen it down. Did she really think he was deliberately torturing
his people? Did she really think so little of him? His eyes
darkened as he struggled with him temper.