That wasn’t what he wanted, though. He wanted to see her again. Everything he’d thought about werewolves, everything he’d been told, didn’t seem to mesh with the tough, confident beauty he’d saved against her will. And in the back of his mind, the memories of a couple of centuries of being thought a veritable savage because of his own bloodline were very fresh. Werewolves and vampires were apples and oranges, of course, but he couldn’t shake the parallels. Nor could he forget the way she had melted against him, vulnerable for just a moment, only a breath away from tasting.

It was a few moments before he realized Ty was watching him closely with an odd expression on his face.

“Are you sure you’re all right? That there isn’t something more to this?”

“What more could there be?” Jaden replied, a bit more gruffly than he normally would have. He tucked the necklace into the back pocket of his jeans, hoping that having it out of his hands would improve his mental state a little.

“I don’t know. You just seem… odd over this.”

Jaden reached for an explanation and found one that was actually part of the truth. “I was whipped simply for being what I am, Ty,” Jaden said, referring to the long scars that still scored the length of his back. “I’ll carry the marks for the rest of my life, or forever, whichever comes first. I don’t like to think of Lyra Black being punished this way, or possibly some worse way, for losing something that was torn off her while she was being threatened in the worst possible way. You know what her father probably is.”

Ty’s lip curled in disgust, and Jaden saw that he did indeed remember. The two of them had taken down an Alpha just once, when Arsinöe had grown tired of the Alpha’s pack’s constant encroachment on her territory. The leader of the Pack of the Nine Trees had been a beast in both forms, a slobbering hulk with several unhappy wives and, if the rumors were true, a taste for human flesh. Jaden had never forgotten the eyes of the ragged women of the pack.

In sharp contrast, Lyra’s eyes had been full of fire. But that meant nothing. Her spirit would obviously be a hard one to break.

“Well, then.” Ty reached over and gave Jaden a rough pat on the shoulder. “If you’re that worried about her well-being, Jaden, go deliver it in person. Even if she’s got two black eyes, she’ll probably spit in your face when you hand it to her. You can’t change what she is or how her kind lives. But go. I can see you won’t rest until you’ve done it, and you’re no help to anyone here when you’re this miserable.”

Jaden cocked his head, catching the insinuation beneath Ty’s words.

“Do you need my help for something?” Jaden asked.

Ty sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Lily needs to assemble an actual court, and a good guard. She’s been putting it off, but we can’t keep running this place like a boarding house, and no matter how much she wants the Lilim to be modern and free and easy, there are certain things that need to be in place. Not only for her to be taken seriously, but also to keep her safe. Vlad and I have both been working on her, and she’s finally started to relent.”

Jaden tensed. “Because of the Ptolemy?”

“That, and Damien let her know that there are a lot of highbloods asking the House of Shadows for information on her weaknesses. At this point, she has plenty.”

Jaden sighed. He had worried about this. Lily was on a steep learning curve, even with the help of Ty and him, as well as the support of the Dracul. Every house would be looking for an angle to exploit to chip away at the legitimacy of what they were making. Highbloods weren’t fond of making room for others in their rarified little world.

“What did you need from me?” Jaden asked. Had he really thought he was being freed? He had just traded one set of responsibilities for another. Though at least with the Lilim, he didn’t run quite as high a risk of being killed for screwing up.

“Lily wants you to help choose the guard,” Ty said. “You and me both. I’m not comfortable without extra input anyway, and it’s what we both know. Vlad has a better eye for loyal courtiers, so he’ll help her on that end. And… don’t run screaming, but I think she has an idea you’d do quite a job as her Captain of the Guard.”

Jaden winced, though he was flattered along with the horror of such a proposition. “Captain? Is she crazy?”

“If she is, then so am I. I agreed with her when she brought it up, as it’s something I’d considered as well. You’ve got a hell of a lot of talent as a hunter, as a fighter, and you know how to train others.”

“Can’t I just be a lazy courtier and sit around here on my ass?”

Ty angled his head and gave him a knowing look. “That’s basically what you’ve been doing, and you’re miserable. You like having a job. This would be a good one.”

“I… I don’t know,” Jaden stammered, taken a little aback by the revelation. Everything Ty had said was true, but Jaden wasn’t sure he ever wanted to be tethered to a dynasty again. Even one he respected. Moreover, being responsible for Lily’s safety when he knew damn well the long knives would be out for her was a daunting thought. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to reject it outright.

Ty, at least, seemed to understand his quandary. He stood up, preparing to leave.

“You don’t have to decide right now. I’m telling you so you can think it over while you’re gone.”

Jaden frowned. “While I’m gone?”

Ty nodded with a half smile. “The guard can wait a few days. Go deliver your necklace, satisfy your curiosity about this woman, and then come home. You can tell me what you want to do then.”

“I’m not curious—”

“Oh, the hell you’re not,” Ty snorted. “But you need to see that Lyra Black is a typical werewolf from a typical pack, for whatever reason. And after that you’ll be begging to meet the trio of pretty Cait Sith who just came into town. So go. The Blacks have always led the Pack of the Thorn. I can tell you how to get to them.”

“Thanks,” was all Jaden could say. Inside, however, his slow-beating heart had assumed a rhythm that was almost human. He would see Lyra again, come what may. And then maybe, hopefully, he could work out why his head had been full of nothing but her for months.

“I’ll leave tomorrow night.”

“That works. You can spend the rest of the evening figuring out how to see her without the rest of the pack tearing you apart,” Ty said. “You didn’t ask how I knew where they were. I had a nasty run-in with the Thorn in last year’s travels. A tip: I would avoid being a cat among them as much as possible. That crew has a high prey drive no matter what form they’re in.”

“Got it,” Jaden replied, already feeling a little uneasy about the wisdom of a lone vampire heading into a pack’s stronghold. Ty was right, however. Jaden would never be happy unless he followed his instincts.

“I certainly hope so. Come on. We can butt in and use Lily’s computer. She likes the company.”

Jaden rose to follow without another word, grateful that he had friends who would help him even in this, and hoping that his curiosity wasn’t finally going to do him in after all.

Chapter FIVE

JADEN DIDN’T KNOW what he’d expected as he drove into Silver Falls, New York, but it wasn’t what he was seeing so far. He’d imagined an off-the-beaten-path hillbilly haven, full of rusted-out pickups on blocks, trailers with tires on the roofs, and the occasional sad-looking specimen of livestock hanging out in someone’s front yard. Instead, he’d driven through a quaint downtown and navigated streets lined with mostly well-kept homes dating from the Victorian era all the way up to the present. There were no grizzled locals giving he and his ’Vette the stink eye, no roving bands of barely human werewolves patrolling for intruders like himself. And best of all, he hadn’t caught so much as a hint of wolf musk as he’d driven around.

Maybe it was a smaller pack than Ty thought, Jaden reasoned as he made the final turn onto what the GPS told him was Lyra’s street. Maybe it was just a handful of mangy stragglers bound together and trying to hang on to their only item of value. He’d never heard of werewolves taking up residence in such pretty environs, at least. Silver Falls wasn’t terribly far from Syracuse, nestled more in the middle of the state among the Finger Lakes. Like many of the towns in the area, it was picturesque and surrounded by beautiful landscape that was just awakening from another long New York winter. The town did sit by itself, probably fifteen miles in any direction from another one. That part made sense.

But the charming Craftsman with the inviting front porch he pulled up in front of didn’t make any sense at all.

The Alpha wolf of the Pack of the Thorn, a pack that according to Ty was known for its ferocity, lived here?

Jaden killed the engine and sat for a moment, trying to absorb the fact that not only was the house immaculate, but someone who lived there obviously liked to garden. He had a hard time picturing Lyra as that person. Her mother, maybe? And what sort of woman would have given birth to a fiery thing like Lyra? He supposed he was about to find out, if he could work up the nerve.

“Damn it. I could outfight a pack of werewolves if I needed to,” Jaden grumbled. He hated the way he felt, all twisted up with nerves like some pathetic teenager. He hadn’t been one of those in over two hundred years, and he had no intention of revisiting his adolescence. Jaden jerked the keys from the ignition and got out of the car.

Immediately, he realized his mistake, but it was far too late to do anything but stand there and try desperately to acclimate before he lost his mind.

The scent of werewolf was everywhere.

Jaden had no idea how he had missed it. Maybe he’d had the air in the car set to recirculate. Certainly he should have rolled down a window a while ago to acclimate slowly, because this was a shock to his system. The air he breathed, the breeze that ruffled his hair, everything in this place smelled of wolf. And the cat inside of him wanted, no, demanded that he dive back into the car and get out of town as fast as possible. Jaden only barely swallowed back a pained yowl. His muscles seemed frozen, and beads of sweat broke out on his brow. His breath came in shallow little sips. All his senses screamed that he was surrounded by the enemy.