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A murmur traveled through the crowds.
“Enough!” I shouted, and my magic boomed along with my voice. “You’re pissed off; I get it. I won’t let this get out of hand.”
Lazlo wasn’t here with us, since it was a shifter meeting. Soon, vampires would join us on these, though. I needed the shifters to accept the vampires. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but fuck, they weren’t even trying. I just wanted to expand our ranks, make us more powerful so that we could stand up in turf wars and roll our opponents.
“I think they’re just not used to how new it is, right, guys?” Mykel asked, stepping up on a chair so he was still above the others, but lower than I was.
“That’s easy enough for you to say, living in a penthouse of your own, not mixing with the others,” someone quipped.
“Hey, I mix with them all the time,” Mykel said. “And the ladies really have something to offer, if you catch my drift.”
Some laughed. Some didn’t.
Most of them were pissed off. Well, tough shit. I knew what I was doing, and I was going to see this thing through.
“You have valid points,” I finally said. “But we have to stick together and embrace change.”
They all grumbled, and their collective unhappiness filled the cafeteria.
“Anything other than the vampires bothering someone?” I asked.
There was nothing.
I sighed and looked over at the crowd. They’d all been loyal from the get-go. They’d been here to back me up, to follow me, to stand by my side when I’d risen to the top.
I caught Rory’s eye. She nodded her encouragement at me. It was lonely at the top, but someone had to do it.
“Food’s on me tonight,” I said, and shifters who worked in my kitchens brought out stacks of T-Bone steaks on silver platters, putting them on the counters.
The shifters’ attention drew to the meat, and they all looked hungry.
When they dove in, I got off the table.
Rory came to me with another wolf trailing her.
“They’ll come around,” she said.
“I hope so,” I answered. I looked the other wolf up and down. “Who’s this?”
“This is Turk,” Rory said.
The wolf shifter was just a kid, with a baby face, long hair that looked like he hadn’t washed it in a while, and a sad excuse for a beard on his chin that suggested he was trying to prove something to the world.
“Welcome,” I said to him. “Are you here to stay?”
“If I can,” I said.
“Where are you from?”
“Minneapolis.”
“Why did you decide to move?”
Turk shrugged. “My dad and I don’t see eye to eye, you know? My mom isn’t even in the picture, and the alpha…” He looked like he felt stupid. “I guess I just need to find a new space to fit in.”
I nodded. If anyone understood messed-up family dynamics, it was me.
“You’re welcome to stay. Rory will introduce you to Keon, who’s handling the wolves. You’ll fit right in.”
