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Prologue
Years earlier
Marco
I wanted the werewolf to be mine from the first moment I saw her.
I don’t have a body type. I’m attracted to power, intelligence, and a strong sense of right versus wrong. Most of all, I’m attracted to people I can’t control. A lifetime of manipulating people has made me wish for a soul mate who is my equal. Relationships would be so much easier if this weren’t the case.
Loyalty is also a requirement, and the werewolf demonstrated the weight of her allegiance to her friend and her friend’s daughter in many ways during our first meeting.
But her power and loyalty, while important, weren’t what made her so interesting.
Neither was her beauty, though the tall, muscled, statuesque woman fit every definition of the word.
Was it her eyes? Her intelligence? Her confidence? Or possibly the love she didn’t mind showing she felt for her friend and her friend’s daughter?
Perhaps it was the entire package that enthralled me, but whatever it was, I began to fall in love with her the moment I walked into that hotel room.
She was helping her friend move her daughter into her college dorm — from Tennessee to Massachusetts, and they’d stopped in Maryland for the night. I lived on Long Island in New York, but was Master of most of the region, including Maryland and Massachusetts. At the time, the werewolf was Beta, second, to one of the most powerful werewolves in the country. On the planet, actually.
But she didn’t just belong to her Alpha, as most werewolves do. This wolf also belonged to a human, though I wasn’t entirely certain Kirsten was completely human. Still, she was officially defined as one by the Concilio, despite the fact she’d bound a werewolf to her.
I had no idea what that meant, and I tried to anger Kirsten by speaking of Cora’s other alpha, but neither the human nor the werewolf took the bait, which was interesting all by itself.
And so, within fifteen minutes of first meeting the werewolf, I negotiated for her to be mine for a few hours in the coming weeks. I assumed the negotiation would be with the human who’d bound her, but it was Cora who parleyed the details: “Sex and a meal. Safewords in place. Nothing I don’t want to do, and you’ll need to clear it with Randall.”
And there was that loyalty again, not to mention political savvy — making sure her Alpha had an opportunity for his own negotiations. Loyalty, intelligence, and an understanding of what it meant to move in powerful circles.
I’d had two serious, long-term relationships since becoming a Master Vampire centuries before, and both had been when I’d only been master over a single city. Now, I was Master over most of the New England states. I’d decided long ago that it wasn’t possible to have a relationship while Master of a large city, much less Master of such a huge demesne.
But Augustus was pulling it off with his slayer down in New Orleans. I’ve been in the heads of people who’ve spent time around them, and I’d seen how they backed each other when it came to politics, how they worked together. She treated his people as if they were hers as well, and he backed her when she performed her slayer duties when he was in a position to do so. They were a team. Both completely competent, and both so absolutely in love with each other it made my heart hurt despite the fact I was happy for them. Kendric was also managing it with his lioness, who was helping him run Florida.
I knew, down deep in my soul, that I needed this werewolf in my life on a daily basis. I needed to share power with her, to run my empire with her by my side.
And so, I negotiated the first steps for it to happen.
* * * *
Nine days later
Cora
I was on my way to the Master Vampire’s lair, and I was looking forward to spending time with him. Kirsten was with me, despite the fact I’d told her she didn’t have to come, but she’d said there was no way she was letting me walk into this alone.
I’ve had close friends before, but never before have I had a best friend. Someone closer than a sister. Someone you one hundred percent know will have your back, no matter what.
“He’s attracted to lions, not wolves,” I told Kirsten on the drive from Boston to Long Island.
“He’s attracted to power.”
“You think so?” The idea appealed to me. So many men are turned off by a powerful woman. It’s hard to find men stronger than me in any way — physically, mentally, supernaturally. The vampire could likely easily beat me in all three, from the little I’d seen of him.
“You think otherwise?” she asked.
I sighed. “I talked to Kendra about him. He hasn’t been serious with anyone since the fifteenth century. I can have a fun fling without worrying about him falling in fucking love with me.”
She didn’t respond, but her scent told me she wasn’t so sure I was right.
