Once Upon a Shifter (77 page)

THE FIRST QUARTER MOON

Chapter 53

PHOENIX

Phoenix stood beside his car, his hands in his pockets, with a sour, brooding expression on his face as he watched the private jet land.

Roel, Brad and Heath waited a little closer, on the other side of the fence. They thought it best to meet Ace and half a dozen of his pride before someone who had always been an enemy of the shifters was introduced.

That was fine by him. He still couldn't believe he'd agreed to this preposterous plan in the first place.

After the plane came to a full stop, the door opened and the airstair was released so the passengers could exit.

Phoenix shook his head when the first three guys issued through the plane's door and walked down the steps, knowing none of them were the lions' leader. They were big, but none of them fit the description of Ace he'd been given over two decades ago.

The next person was a woman, taller than average for a female, dressed in a stylish cream-colored suit. She had red hair and looked to be in her late thirties, though that last bit of information was irrelevant, since shifters, like vampires, were immortal and didn't age after their transformation.

Two other men, both with long hair secured at the nape of their necks and looking like they'd just come from a bodybuilder competition and tied for first place, emerged next and descended the steps.

Phoenix's posture straightened and he actually had to mentally talk himself down from standing on his toes when the next guy ducked his head so he could fit through the plane's overhead without busting his skull. Sandy blond hair, amber eyes, masculine build and tattoos covering the majority of the flesh Phoenix could see. This guy, however, did fit the description of Ace Keller. A dog walked up beside him and sat on his haunches at the top of the stairs. Phoenix's brow drew down in confusion. It was a Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Weren't they known for hunting lions?

Phoenix watched as Ace seemed to glide down the airstair with the dog right beside him, confident swagger in place. It was actually impressive, the cat-like grace with which the man moved, each step purposeful and lithe. He was a big guy, taller than Phoenix, and moved like he owned the fucking airport.

Those amber eyes danced with amusement as Ace made eye contact with him and flashed a set of perfect white teeth.

Phoenix hated him. Loathed his existence. Jealousy had never been a huge issue with him—hell, Rhodes hadn't even bothered him very much, but for some strange reason, this guy caused his blood to run hot… and fast.

Roel, Brad and Heath met their guests halfway, their hands extended in a welcome and friendly greeting. Phoenix sniffed then wrinkled his nose as the new shifter blood hit his senses at full force.

"This is wrong," he muttered to himself when Roel pointed at him, and then waved him over. All ten shifters' eyes were on him, and that was when he realized he'd come without backup of his own. Jaxon had been avoiding him of late, but he could have brought one or twenty of the other ninety-four—soon to be ninety-three, when April's body finally stopped fighting the lycanthrope venom and her spirit moved on to wherever vampires went when they perished.

With a bad feeling in his gut, Phoenix broke the lock on the security gate with the swipe of his hand, opened the gate and walked alone toward a group of people who had been his enemies no less than three weeks ago.

Ace stepped forward first and offered his hand, wearing a self-assured smile. His grip was firm and cool.

"You must be Phoenix." Phoenix didn't respond, choosing to grit his teeth together instead. It didn't matter how friendly Ace was going to be toward him, the knowledge that he was going to bond with Mena made him the enemy. Even if it did save the damn world. "Quite the pickle you've gotten everyone into, huh?" Was he chewing gum? Yes. Yes, he was. What an asshat.

"Hoping you can fix this," Phoenix growled.

"Hoping she is hot, so it won't be such a hardship." His ever-present grin was really pissing Phoenix off.

Glancing briefly at the black tank hugging all the male's abdominals, Phoenix frowned and fought the urge to ask him if he was stupid or did he not realize it was winter in Alabama.

That would be a bit too childish and extremely obvious that he was a bit envious of the way Mena would perceive the guy, so Phoenix decided to grin and bear it. He knew Ace was only trying to get under his skin by saying something like that about Mena, but he'd played this game before.

After flashing an arrogant smile of his own, he shrugged and said, "She's okay, nothing to brag about."

He ignored Roel's eyebrows as they popped up. There was no sense in acting like he was a jealous fool or letting the guy know how much Mena actually meant to him; that would only encourage more sharp stabs at his ego and maybe cause him to take more of an interest in Mena.

Phoenix jerked his hand away when he felt a rough and wet tongue licking his fingers. Ace howled with laughter as he looked down at his dog.

"Looks like Chaos likes you. Or maybe he just thinks you taste good." Ace winked at him. Phoenix huffed.

At least they packed light. Phoenix hoped their stay was brief—bond with Mena, discover the name of her wolf and get his ass back to Las Vegas where it belonged. There was definitely no room for him here in the South.

"Okay, then," Brad said, breaking the awkward silence. "Shall we go introduce you to Mena?"

With his eyes fixed on Phoenix, as if he were reading his every thought and filing it away for future reference, Ace gave an up-nod, and said, "Yeah, let's go meet
my
girl."

Phoenix turned away and walked back to his car before Ace could see or sense the fury that was quickly building inside him.

After closing himself safely inside, he let his forehead fall against the steering wheel and dragged in several deep breaths. To his surprise, it helped… a little. That was, until the passenger door opened and Ace sat down in the passenger seat.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, pushing away how much he let the guy get under his skin, but in a brief daydream, Phoenix reached across the console and smashed the fucker's face into the dash… repeatedly. "Heath brought his Land Rover and Brad brought the Suburban so there would be enough room for you and your pride to ride with them."

Ace shrugged. "They needed room for the luggage and Chaos, so I volunteered to ride with the vampire."

"Luggage?" Phoenix said.

Ace pointed out the windshield at two men pulling carts across the hanger lot, each one loaded at least five feet high with suitcases and duffle bags.

"Oh, don't worry," Ace continued. "Only the seven of us and my dog are staying at your compound. Bill and Thomas are renting a car and getting a hotel room. They're still a little skeptical about the whole vampire / shifter alliance thing."

Phoenix rolled his eyes as he started the engine. "They aren't the only ones."

"Don't take it personally. This new thing is definitely going to take some getting used to. They just have their doubts it'll work."

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel. "I've had my doubts it would work recently, too."
Very recently, in fact, like in the last ten minutes
, Phoenix thought, and then pressed the accelerator to the floor once they hit the interstate.

v''''v

Phoenix

"There are four available bedrooms on the main floor," Phoenix said as he let everyone in through the garage entrance and flipped the light on in the kitchen. "If you should need anything that you can't find on your own, my human assistant resides in the fifth bedroom. Her name is Lea, and she's not as sweet or innocent as she appears, so think twice before any of you get the bright idea that she's available to give you everything you might want. I would tell you to talk to Santino about it, but sadly his head is now missing. The girl is good with her sword."

Ace rubbed his neck. "Noted."

"Get settled in, and then Lea will bring you to my chamber so we can discuss our next move."

"I thought me and the guys would go out for a bit, see the sights, get to know the town folk…" He grinned. "Maybe bring a little southern hospitality back with us. It's not too often we get to visit the South. I do like a girl with a southern accent."

Phoenix's fingers curled in irritation, then he forced himself to relax, at least until he was out of Ace's sight. "This is a vampires' lair, Ace. I'd rather you didn't bring any possible prey back here with you."

Ace shrugged as he made his way down the hall after the others, choosing the first bedroom on the left to sleep in for the night, or week… or month, however long he was planning to stay. "No biggie. I'm sure I can handle anything I need to in the front seat of your car. You don't mind if I borrow it for the night, do you?"

Phoenix pressed his lips together, dangerously close to snapping. He had to remind himself that humanity needed this asshole.

Brad dropped two suitcases and two duffle bags beside one of the rooms as he looked back and forth between Phoenix and Ace. "They're leaving? I thought he was doing the bond tonight."

Waving a hand through the air, Ace tossed his suitcase on the bed and unzipped it with the other. "There's still plenty of time for that," he said. "Care if my friends take your Suburban out for a spin tonight? We're not all going to fit in the Corvette."

"Yeah, I do mind," Brad replied. "My wife will castrate me if it gets scratched."

Ace snorted. "You're married? What a dork!"

"Hey," Brad complained, "Heath is, too."

Ace stopped shuffling through his suitcase and blinked over at Brad in real confusion. "Is that, like, a thing down here, to fall in love and spend eternity with one woman?"

Phoenix interrupted before Brad could try and defend the life decisions he'd made. "When do you plan to bond with her?"

"You in a hurry, nightcrawler? The full moon isn't for another seven days."

"Yeah," Brad said, "but we only have five until Justice breaks our door down."

Ace froze, and the muscles around his jaw began to twitch as he glared at Brad. "Roel told me I was the only one who agreed to bond with her."

"He doesn't have any interest in bonding with her, dumb fuck," Brad said. "He's coming to kill her so he can take over her pack. Didn't Roel tell you anything, or do you just not give a shit?"

Moving the piece of Trident to the other side of his mouth, Ace began to chew again, and whatever had been going through his mind, was pushed far out of his expression and replaced with a practiced, and well defined, poker face. "I'll meet her tomorrow."

There was more to this, Phoenix thought. The two men had a past; he was sure of it. Had the infamous Justice tried to take over Ace's pride at one time? He didn't know, but he vowed to find out before Ace returned to Nevada.

"Is he ready to do this?" Roel said as he joined them in the doorway.

"Roel!" Ace said. "You have a vehicle, right? Go out with us tonight. We're hitting some clubs. I heard Hellhound is the best club in town. Phoenix, will you watch Chaos while I'm out? Thanks." Without waiting for an answer, he walked to the bathroom and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Wait," Roel said as he blinked a few times. "Did I just get volunteered to take seven lions out clubbing?"

"No, you got told like a bitch that you're taking his pride out tonight," Brad said, after a moment, and then sighed. "I don't like him."

"Neither do I," Phoenix said, glancing down at the dog with a frown. Chaos met his stare then stuck his tongue out to lick his hand. Phoenix jerked it away and wiped the slobber on his jeans.

"Guys," Roel said, "give him a chance. You've just met him."

"I'm a good judge of character," Phoenix said.

"Well," Brad started, "on a brighter note, it doesn't look as if Phoenix will have to worry about Ace taking Mena away from him now."

Phoenix let out a long breath as he turned to go to his chamber, Chaos trotting along behind him. "I wasn't worried," he lied. "Lea," Phoenix called out.

Lea walked from her room. "Yes, Master?"

Phoenix sighed as he looked down at the dog. "Take care of that until morning."

Lea blinked down at the dog, and then a bright smile curved her lips up as she knelt down to ruffle the dog's ears. "Hey, boy! What's your name?"

"His name is Chaos." Phoenix said.

He'd never seen Lea's smile so big before, and he entertained the idea of her having her own dog here. He wasn't particularly fond of animals. It wasn't like he hated them or anything; he'd just never had a pet before, so he didn't really know what to do with them.

If he remembered correctly, Lea had a birthday coming up. A dog wouldn't make up for everything she'd missed out on in the last decade, but maybe it was a start.

"Thank you, Lea," he said, and he wasn't just talking about her dogsitting.

She smiled up at him, and nodded.

Chapter 54

Brad

The smell of bacon drifted through the door that led into the kitchen from the garage as Brad let himself in.

"I'm starv—" he started, but his words, and his feet, stopped once he caught sight of what—or maybe who was better in this sense—was standing in front of the stove, wearing nothing but a pink button-up men's dress shirt, and flipping bacon in a skillet with a fork.

It wasn't so much the girl—that he'd never met before, by the way—or even the fact that she was one-hundred percent human that had him rendered speechless. It was the way Lea stood across the room, glaring at the back of the girl's head, one fist on her hip, the hilt of a silver-coated machete palmed in the other, and Ace's dog sitting on the floor beside her, that had his vocal chords paralyzed.