Page 24 of Call of the Blood

“Everly, you have met Callahan and helped one of the packs with a vampire problem at your own risk and injury. Certainly, you can get a number to the Alpha from someone and give him a call and set up a meeting before the situation with Declan’s girlfriend… her name?”

“Lexi… Alexandra, I don’t know her surname.”

“Set up a meeting before this situation with Declan and Alexandra escalates,” Alexius finished, now having a name. He kept his hand on the laptop and handed me his phone. “Now. He’ll be up. He’s Tribunal. He barely sleeps.”

I took his phone and unlocked it, knowing his passcode since I was the one who kept having to set it on new phones.

He had a number under Callahan, so I called it.

It rang three times.

“Alexius? Can I help you?” Callahan’s voice came through, confused.

I felt paralyzed for a moment, eyes darting to Alexius.

“Everly has a situation with a werewolf in Los Angeles,” he said loudly. “She’ll be speaking from here.”

“Ah.” Callahan went from confused to disappointed in a single syllable. “Miss Abbott. Please explain the situation.”

My mouth went dry.

“Everly, he won’t laugh. It’s not a petty, childish thing,” Alexius said, huffing.

“But it could seem petty and childish without context,” Callahan said softly. “Noted.”

“My human brother lives in Los Angeles. We’re here to visit him. Tonight was the first night I’ve seen him in some time. He’s dating a girl. She showed up⁠—”

“This does start like it would be some high school drama,” Callahan said with a heavy sigh.

“His girlfriend is a werewolf,” I bit.

“There’s the bad news,” Callahan muttered. “Her name?”

“Alexandra, goes by Lexi. Said she had a high-ranking father.”

“She does,” Callahan confirmed. “I am in a meeting. He’s here. Let me put you on speakerphone. He’ll need to be part of this conversation now.” The audio changed, everything sounding a little different as Callahan did as he said. “Lukas, your daughter has gotten into a spot of trouble.”

“Who am I killing tonight?” a deep male voice broke through some murmuring.

“No one because you don’t stand a chance against Alexius the Hunter,” Callahan replied, casually, like the threat and the warning were nothing. “Have you met Lexi’s boyfriend?”

“Declan! Good human man. Smart, even though he’s clearly a beach bum at heart. Mature enough to handle business. Relaxed enough to know how to kick his feet up. But what does he have to do with Alexius the Hunter of the vampires?”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my brother,” I said with a chuckle. Lexi’s dad didn’t seem that bad.

“This is Everly Abbott, his younger sister and the young vampire working for Alexius. The Abbott siblings come from a family of humans who worked for Jacob’s nest on the East Coast.”

I don’t remember telling Callahan that or hearing Alexius tell him. Maybe Isaiah?

“Oh, shit,” Lucas groaned.

“I feel for you, old friend,” another werewolf said. “Good luck with that.”

“Lexi left earlier tonight to see Declan. She wouldn’t have known about you, Miss Abbott, or I would have heard about it.”

“Yeah. The real problem is she wants to keep my brother away from me, and she never told my brother she was a werewolf.”

There was a beat of silence before something made a boom in the background.