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Marco was paying the bikers a hefty sum to cater it, and I was more than pleased with their spread. They grow their own grass-fed beef, and they were providing enough to stock an all-you-can-eat burger bar for two hundred shifters and a third as many humans. They’d also gone all out on available additions one could add to their burger — a fried egg, more than a dozen kinds of cheese, two dozen condiments, and a huge variety of veggies, some raw and others stir-fried.
And then there was the dessert bar, with a chocolate fountain, and the ability to roast your own marshmallows if you wanted s’mores.
Shifters love food, especially when it’s free, but mostly, the night was about the ambiance and the energy. Old friends meeting the newcomers, rather than what it could’ve been — an established hierarchy meeting the new ruling elite.
Because the Strigorii vampires were always the top dogs in any city.
Dating the head bloodsucker hadn’t blinded me to the realities of what it was going to take to get Marco and his people settled into town with minimal bloodshed.
Treaties were in place between Marco and the various leaders in town, but this was a chance for the people being led to meet not only the new head honcho, but the vampires who’d be following his orders.
And with Venom and Etta in his top five, it was good for the shifters to be reminded they still had Moira and Josef in those ranks as well. It could be argued Gavin and Kendra had been swapped for Venom and Etta. Most every vampire kept a chien méchant, the junkyard dog who protects the coterie by being terrifying. Zander and Marco both had two such people, though it was a tossup as to whether Etta or Gavin was more terrifying. I’d have confidently said Gavin was, until Etta had demonstrated her powers on me. Marco had been right — I should’ve taken his word about it, but it isn’t in my nature to allow my people to undergo a punishment I don’t fully understand, so I’d insisted Etta let me feel the effects before I could agree naughty wolves and vampires who break the rules together should be punished together.
I quickly thought of something else, before the terror of those moments infused my scent in front of others. That could be disastrous amongst this crowd.
Etta was talking to Bethany, who was part of my Beta’s poly group, and I hoped the two became friends. I’d seen Etta talking to Ronnie, Josef’s tiger, earlier, and I was glad to see Etta smiling and looking as if she was enjoying herself. Marco’s Secundo was going to need some women friends in the greater community, and I was aware it’d been a while, centuries, since she’d been allowed the luxury of friends, or even free time to do as she pleased.
Marco and I had negotiated with Ryan so we could be assured he didn’t show up. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did, but it seemed an all-around good idea not to have a slayer attending. Also, Marco wasn’t certain Etta was prepared to appear in public with her slayer. Bringing him to an intimate gathering at Homewood wasn’t the same as showing up to a huge gathering of supernaturals with your plus-one being a slayer the supernaturals had named Death.
Before being thrown into the role of Alpha, I’d worked for Drake Security, and was still brought in for a few jobs a year, so I knew the assorted shifters and humans eating together at a table — analysts, hackers, and operatives. The Drake teams were tight-knit, closer than most families, in many cases.
I sat next to Micca and Gabby, both analysts. One was the ol’lady of one of the bikers, the other the best friend of Matty, who was handling the coterie’s interior decorating needs and was also mate to one of the bikers. Chance, one of the hacker geeks, sat across from me in a purple and green shirt with orange lightning strikes, paired with orange pants and purple sneakers. The crazy thing was that it somehow worked on him. He sat beside Lou, a horse shifter who procured and then kept track of the coolest gadgets ever.
“I miss you guys,” I told them. “There isn’t enough time in the day to work for Drake and handle my Alpha duties, but I miss working with ya’ll.” Randall had somehow managed to run a construction firm while being Alpha, and maybe it worked since he was his own boss and could drop everything and run when wolf stuff came up, but it wasn’t in the cards for me.
“We miss you too,” Chance told me. “I’m glad you’ve been able to step into Randall’s shoes, though. Things could’ve gone really bad if one of the bad guys had taken over.”
I didn’t want to think about those first days after Randall’s death, and all the challenges I’d had to fight to keep the job that had slammed into me when he’d been killed. The power had chosen me, but I’d had to fight for my life, over and over, to keep it.
You need to meet this group, I telepathed Marco. When you can do so naturally.
He wouldn’t talk back unless it was important. I can handle two conversations at once, but he knows I prefer not to.
When Marco approached about five minutes later, I put my arm around Gabby to be sure she was okay. She’s a rabbit shifter, and while she’s incredibly brave, her inner rabbit is terrified of anything unknown. Marco had been coached on how to approach her, and he did so exactly right, approaching without looking like a threat, and sitting with us rather than standing over us. Within a few minutes, she was mostly relaxed beside me.
And Marco had the table deep in casual conversation, cutting up with them and putting them all at ease, right off the bat.
Gen, Bethany, and Matty ran up to the table with Bethany and Matty laughing, and Matty plopped into Micca’s lap as if he belonged there. “Master Marco, I didn’t realize you were here until it was too late to turn around and leave without looking silly, so we’re crashing your little party. Sorry. We’re planning a Girls’ Night Out, though, and we need Cora and Micca and Gabby.”
“I’m thinking we should plan a geeks’ night out,” Lou said. “Guys and girls, with only geeks allowed.”
“Oh!” Micca said. “We can start out at the distillery, then do that new retro arcade downtown with a bar in it, and it isn’t terribly far from The Diamond Club, and I kind of think we have to end up there if it’s a party night, even if we’re geeks.”
“That sounds like an evening I’d enjoy,” Marco said. “Could I be an honorary geek for the evening?”
“Only if you can speak the lingo,” I warned him with a smile. I knew he’d be able to, because as soon as I said it, he was in the geeks’ heads, pulling out what he should say from their brain.
“Hey, I was around for Galactica and PacMan,” Marco said. “And why didn’t I think of a retro arcade that sells drinks, just off campus?” He looked at Lou. “Ask Aaron or Nathan for Patience’s contact info. Ya’ll figure out where we’re going and let Patience know where, when, and about how many, and she’ll make arrangements with the establishments and figure out the logistics – limos and security.”
“Etta said Patience is handling her calendar as well as yours?” I asked him. “Does that mean we can get her to arrange our Girls’ Night Out?”
“Oh no,” Gen said. “I’m running this one. Kendra sponsored them a few times when she was here, and Etta can certainly do that if she wants, but this one’s mine.” She smiled at Marco. “You did a wonderful job setting this evening up. The city was uneasy about the changes new leadership would bring, and this has gone a long way towards easing the anxiety even I, a lowly human, felt.”
“Humans aren’t lowly, Gen,” Marco told her. “Humans are the bedrock of civilization. I apologize on behalf of any supernatural who’s made you feel less than for your humanity.”
Gen stared at him, speechless, for a good five seconds before she found her social graces and seemed to reanimate. “What a kind thing to say. I can’t point to any single instance that made me feel that way, but there are so many…” She sighed. “Thank you for the reminder I wasn’t aware I needed.”
Marco stood and gave her the smallest of bows. “This event needed to be on neutral territory, but I hope to host similar gatherings on coterie grounds in the future. Humans live with us and are treasured, and our guests will always be protected and valued, no matter their race or social status.”
