packs—” ‘Unlike you, you antiquated mongrel.’ “—who would be more than happy to assist during the lunar cycle and in seeing to any other special needs she might have. Christoph, of course, would not be afforded the same courtesy, as he is already old enough that he should be able to control himself.”
Royce knew he sounded relatively kind, reasonable. Perhaps, if he played his cards right, he could see about directing the alpha and his pack in the direction of his enemies. To have one of the fierce Goliaths under his thumb, the use of their distribution company, and something of a makeshift alliance in which he could prod the vicious pack into attacking vampires other than those under his protection sounded about the right speed.
This whole business was turning out far more profitable than he’d ever imagined.
The alpha’s phone buzzed. He nearly jumped out of his skin, but kept it down to a slight twitch. He grabbed the device and looked at it.
River alpha callin u 1 min
He stared at the message for a while before understanding it and realizing what exactly was going to happen. He tried not to look at Royce. This was big. He’d better not let the vampire know that.
“Please excuse me.”
The phone rang and he nearly speared the green button with his thumb claw.
He coughed respectfully. A second later he wished he hadn’t, not with Royce there. Would the vampire realize he was paying a great deal of respect to another Were? Probably not. He relaxed.
“Don’t speak English. They might be able to hear this,” the River alpha, Joshua, said in an ancient language used as code between River and Goliath.
“Why do you call?” the alpha asked, replying in kind and trying to appear outwardly calm.
“I, Joshua of River, command you, alpha of Goliath, to render service for the benefit of our packs.”
“What?” Then he coughed to soften the blunt question.
“Get back to California as fast as possible. There is some sort of uprising with the Shadow Men. Territory is being outlined and they are pushing others out of it. I require your teeth.”
“Just to be completely clear,” the alpha said stiffly. “You are calling on ancient bonds to mobilize Goliath as an army right now.”
“Yes.”
“Right now.”
“Yes. Right now. I know you have business with your cub. For now, she must stay in New York—”
Ahomanataianuikamaka, alpha of Goliath, slayer of Shadow Men, temporarily known as Paul, nearly shifted right then and there. With his eyes blazing gold, his hair bristling like a mane, and his claws growing bigger, he snarled into the phone.
“She is our cub!”
“Shift and you die,” Joshua warned. It was not a threat, but a reminder. “There will be a cub-hide during this battle. They will be scattered anyway—and I know the reputation of this Shadow Man. The cub will be safe with him. Be thankful he isn’t an LA leech.”
A cub-hide. That was serious. This was all so wrong, so opposite to what the alpha desperately wanted, would kill a thousand vampires for. He couldn’t abandon a cub that had been born into the pack; she was too valuable as a pure-blooded Were to leave her in the clutches of this monster.
“Leave her here,” he said, feeling numb. “Leave the cub in a vampire pit while I go across the country.”
“Less deadly and final as you make it sound, but yes. I am calling on the Gift of Al-Jalil. Will you answer?”
The Gift of Al-Jalil was the agreement of Goliath to answer any call to battle that River cared to put forward. It was the most ancient and sacred bond between the two packs.
Paul closed his eyes. “I will answer.”
“Thank you, Ahomana. I understand your misgivings.”
The alpha sat there in silence after Joshua had hung up. The young River alpha certainly knew the clout he had.
The alpha turned to Royce, feeling like his limbs didn’t want to move properly.
“I apologize for taking up your time,” he said, almost choking on each word. “I understand and am deeply regretful of the trouble my packmates have caused you. I agree with you.” He wanted to chew his own arms off rather than continue. “The cub will stay here as repayment of damages. Farhad will call you and work out something to arrange her care and safe return.”
Perhaps at the end of this he would see the wisdom, but right now he felt like a beaten cub, drained, inadequate, and utterly betrayed by River.
Royce had listened in on the conversation with a great