what the other vampire’s reaction would be.
* * *
Sebastian left Angus’s room still weirded out. Particularly after the Highland warrior told him to “get the fook out ‘til ye grow a pair.” He’d tried to explain about the gigantic cat downstairs, but Angus hadn’t been amused, and seemed to think he was pulling his leg or exaggerating.
Next he rushed over to Jessica’s, telling her what he’d seen, and hoping to get a little sympathy or mutual fear.
Instead what he got was, “No way! There’s a tiger in the house?! I want to see!”
Sebastian tried to persuade her for quite a while to stay upstairs, but eventually she dragged him out, intent on seeing what was going on in Mouse’s apartment.
* * *
Freddy reached past Analie and poked Christoph to get his attention. “Hey, check it out.”
He rolled up his right sleeve and displayed the triple bracelet of a Captain Third Class Amberguard. Christoph’s jaw dropped.
“Dude, where did you get that?”
“Host family has Amberguard artifacts,” Freddy said, grinning.
Christoph looked back at Wesley and grabbed Freddy’s hand, holding it up and pointing. “This is serious business for our pack. We hate Amberguard. Check it out—this first band means the Amberguard has a rank of warrior. The jewels tell you what class. Second band means officer. Third band means captain, and it has all three jewels. Highest rank you can hold before deputy, and then alpha. Bet they had to take his arm off to get this.”
Freddy nodded.
“Jesus Christ,” Wesley muttered, eyes widening as he looked over the bracelet. “We don’t have anything that formal to go by here. Usually in a house, the rank at the top is eldest, followed by the next elder, and the next, and so on. Alec does it a little different here. John is barely a fraction the age of Angus, but he’s Alec’s second-in-command. Go figure, huh?”
Jessica came tearing in, bright-eyed and dragging Sebastian behind her. Her face fell when she found no giant tigers lounging in the living room. Sebastian looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.
“Hey guys, what’s up? Heard there was some wacky stuff going down over here.”
“I don’t think so,” Christoph said, looking over at Freddy and Analie.
They were both red, looking like puppies caught in the biscuit bag. Freddy fidgeted with the corner of the photo album. He was sorely tempted to lie, but being untruthful was greatly frowned upon in Goliath. That he was no longer in Goliath didn’t matter; Freddy had taken their values to heart from the moment he’d heard them, and his displacement hadn’t changed that.
“I shapeshifted.”
Analie nodded.
“Accidentally.”
Analie kept nodding.
“I saw Ashi and freaked out. Stress can trigger it.”
Christoph stared at Freddy. “You’re a shifter?”
Freddy ducked his head, partially covering his face with a hand. “Yes.”
“Oh, another Were?” Jessica said, sounding just a teensy bit disappointed.
Sebastian looked at her. “You would’ve been happier if it was a real tiger loose in the house?”
She shrugged. He boggled at her.
Analie blinked. “No, not Were. Me, Christoph, and Ashi are Weres. Freddy’s a shifter. There’s a difference.”
Jessica and Sebastian were both looking at Analie like she was crazy. Wes responded to their confused looks. “Must be a regional thing. Out here, anything that can shift is a Were. Werewolf, Were-cat, Were-bird, doesn’t matter. It’s Were.”
Jessica looked around, curious. “Oh, hey, where’s Mouse?”
Analie looked at Christoph, who hesitated for a good long while before he answered Jessica.
“I was a total dick.” He hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Unintentionally, but yeah. I wigged out and hurt her feelings. On an epic level.”
“He said a really good apology through the door, though,” Analie put in.
Jessica frowned, then turned a dubious look on Analie. “Is she okay?”
Wes shook his head. “No. Holed up in her room.”
“Oh, hell,” she sighed. “All right, I’ll check on her.”
Jessica headed over to Mouse’s room, not bothering to knock. She knew Mouse would’ve overheard that she was coming.
Christoph was staring at his hands. He really didn’t want to look at anyone in the room right then. Being embarrassed over hurting a vampire’s feelings was the most uncomfortable situation in the world.
Analie, who’d been somewhat at a loss, looked over at Wesley. “Wait. Are you serious?”
Freddy was more worried than her. “We told Royce I wasn’t Were because we thought he was asking if I was a werewolf.”
Christoph looked over at them. “You lied to the alpha.”
Wes looked a bit confused for a second. Which alpha? There were three alone in the city he