a date, after all.
Chapter 1
A Few Months Later…
Christoph was on the verge of throttling his charge. He’d been stuck with babysitting detail, escorting a much younger werewolf across town. They were on their way to meet the leaders of the most influential Were packs in New York City.
Analie was yapping away on her cell phone to Freddy, that nervous wreck of a friend of hers, about what a great honor this was and all of the landmarks they passed and kitschy crap vendors were hawking on the street. At least she was doing something other than reciting the Goliath pack’s Code of Conduct to herself like she’d done for the past six city blocks, desperate to remember everything so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself on her first chance to act as a representative for the pack.
Christoph thought it was nothing more than a tremendous pain in the ass. Analie had been picked because she was still young and cute, and therefore hopefully a suitably nonthreatening representative to keep the territorial Weres of New York City from preventing Christoph and Analie’s pack from moving in and carving their own province out of this fair city. Politically, it was a smart move on the part of the Goliath alpha to send her. If the greater New York City packs like the Moonwalkers, Ravenwoods, and the Sunstrikers detected no threat, they might be amenable to allowing some of the Goliath pack to relocate to the already crowded New York City.
The pack leaders had specifically requested to meet one of the ones too young and weak to have fully developed their abilities. They wanted to see what made the Goliaths so different from other Weres aside from their unusual size when shifted. Analie was perfect for that; aside from being young and manageable, she was small for a Goliath—and the less threatening they appeared to the New York Weres, the better.
As for Christoph, after his tremendously ill-advised attack on the vampire during his last visit, he was doing everything in his power to prove he was worthy of advancement in the pack to his alpha. He would do whatever it took, including taking babysitting duty and acting as though he were polite and civilized before the other alpha leaders, to ensure he regained face with his own pack.
The two Weres were waiting on one of the subway platforms, intending to meet the pack leaders on neutral ground at Battery Park. It wouldn’t take long to get there, but Christoph wasn’t too pleased about missing most of tonight’s Lakers game.
When the train came to a grinding halt at the platform, the two shuffled on with the rest of the waiting crowd. Not too many considering the hour. None of them appeared to be Other save for a pair of magi deeply engrossed in a discussion about the benefits of using feline over reptilian familiars. The magi glanced up when the Weres passed them, and were quick to get up and move to another car. It made Christoph even more irritated, since it meant he had nothing to keep himself busy with—like investigating suspicious activity or pounding someone into the pavement.
“Hey, how long do you think it’ll take to get there?” Analie asked, tucking away her cell phone as they worked their way toward a seat in the last car. There were only two other people inside: a dirt-encrusted bum, and a businessman in a nice suit with his nose buried in a newspaper.
“I don’t know.” He snaked out a hand to yank her closer as the vagrant reached for her pocket when they passed. Christoph gave the ratty-looking guy a withering glare that sent the man sliding out of his seat and moving rapidly to a different car. As soon as the bum was gone, Christoph spoke again, cutting her off.
“Sit down and shut up, will you? I’ve had enough of your yammering.”
Flushing, Analie did what she was told, lowering her head and scooting as far away from him as she could in the first seat she could find that wasn’t coated with spilled soda or pre-chewed gum. Ignoring her, Christoph stood in the aisle, gripping the railing above. If not for his attitude, the far younger Were might have easily developed a crush on him. Mostly, they had a drool-hate relationship right now.
As it was, she remained exasperated and embarrassed by her inability to do anything right in front of the good-looking, muscle-bound Were, and his desire to wheedle every last shred