"Has he met them?"

"h.e.l.l, I've met them," Weldon grumbled. "I'm the Grand Master, remember?"

"Yeah. So, did you change the rule or whatever about having two?"

"Yes I did, at one of the meetings. The females, if they go to a male, have to produce two children from that union before they can go to someone else. As you've likely noticed, most werewolf matches are arranged and love isn't involved all that much until those first two kids are produced."

"Yeah. I figured that out with Whitney and Daryl," I said. "I took three bullets over that one."

"And Daryl and Whitney are both grateful, as are their mates," Weldon nodded.

"So, what about you?" I asked. "Surely there's a female out there for you."

"I have one, only she's not Pack," he said. "She doesn't know what I am and is quite surprised that I care for her," Weldon went on. "She's in her early forties, still looks pretty good, isn't as thin as a stick, puts up with me in the sack and I love her as much as I can love anybody."

"Looks like you're happy with that," I said. "Does she live in Grand Forks, or something?"

"Just outside town. Owns a ranch there. We see each other two or three times a month if I'm lucky. She's busy, I'm busy. I'll be glad to get back, though."

"Yeah," I said. The trip was beginning to wear on me, too. "I have to go to bed soon and if I don't go now, I won't have time to get my bath or brush my teeth."

"At least you won't have to listen to Winkler having a good time," Weldon grumbled. His empty paper coffee cup was tossed into the trash and we went back upstairs.

There was still noise going on, making me wonder how long Winkler could go on before reaching exhaustion. Well, none of my business. I was clean and my teeth brushed when Weldon covered me up on one side of the bed. He crawled in on the other side and I briefly thought it awkward that I was to sleep with the Grand Master before my eyes shut with the dawn and it didn't matter anyway.

The woman was still there in Winkler's room when I rose, only she'd gone out to pick up some clothing from somewhere. "I'm Kellee, with two E's," she informed me perkily. Well, I was dumbfounded, with three D's. I shook her hand when she held it out, informing me she was there for the wedding, acting as bridesmaid to the bride. Whether I wanted to know or not, Kellee told me all about the dresses, flowers and every tiny detail of the wedding. I wanted to yawn in her face.

We went to dinner later with the new Packmaster and his Second, along with Kellee, of course. I was getting pretty good at gauging werewolf ages, too. Since I'd known Daryl and Winkler's ages, plus Whitney's, I knew Kellee was in her early twenties.

My mother would have described her as not having a lick of sense. She was giving Winkler an ego boost, though, making him out to be the big, tough werewolf and he was eating it up. More power to her, I guess. I wondered why she hadn't been forced to mate or marry or whatever they called it, but learned that her father was a Packmaster and whatever his little girl wanted, she got. It looked like she wanted Winkler. She was also doing a lot of talking during the meal. I just sat on Weldon's other side so Kellee wouldn't get upset if Winkler was sitting between two females.

More noise came from Winkler's room that night. I don't know how Weldon managed to sleep during the whole thing-he must have been really tired. The wedding and confirmation took place the following evening and Kellee was turning and smiling at Winkler the whole time she stood up with her friend. Weldon performed the ceremony, accepting the girl from her former Pack and turning her over to her new husband's Pack. I had to put all of it out of my mind and play nice with the two older werewolf women who sat beside me and asked personal questions. Eventually I told them I wasn't allowed to say how vampires had s.e.x, just because I don't like answering those kinds of questions and the whole thing p.i.s.sed me off.

Gavin called later, too, wanting to talk. I took my conversation outside Weldon's room so he wouldn't be disturbed. I also sent out emails to Merrill, Franklin and Charles and even checked in with Dalroy and Rhett, just to say h.e.l.lo.

"Is Kellee going to be traveling with us?" I asked Weldon the following night as I tossed clothing into my suitcase. We were driving back to Portland and would be flying to California the next day. I don't think Winkler and I had spoken two words to each other since Kellee had come along.

"She'll be with us for the rest of the trip," Weldon grumbled. He wasn't getting Winkler's attention, either.

"Maybe you should send him to Dallas and ask Davis to replace him," I said, zipping my bag.

"That's not a bad idea," Weldon considered the suggestion. "Davis certainly helped us out with the arrests and such. He got Winkler's attorneys out in force and sniffed out Kelvin so he could be picked up."

"Yeah." I'd called Davis to start with to get the ball rolling but I was used to not getting credit for anything.

Weldon presented the idea to Winkler later, and to say Winkler and Kellee didn't like the idea would have been an understatement. "I'll send for Glen; Kellee wants to see California and New Mexico," Winkler grumbled, pulling out his cell to make the call. I wanted to mimic that statement behind his back but I didn't. I went to the roof of the hotel for the first time in a long time instead. Glen met up with us in San Francisco; Kellee and Winkler left the Grand Master with Glen and went shopping. If Winkler ended up with Kellee, Whitney was going to have a shopping buddy, at least. Glen had caught the first flight out of Dallas and took over what Winkler had been doing up until that time. I made sure I got the key to my cooler back from Winkler and kept both of them.

Weldon had a dinner meeting with the San Francisco Packmaster while we were there. He wasn't new; he was a good friend of Weldon's and a big supporter. He was also one of the few gay Packmasters. There were other gays in the werewolf world, male and female I learned, but they seldom went after the Packmaster position. Glen went with Weldon and that allowed me to explore San Francisco on my own. It felt like freedom to me as I wandered along Fisherman's Wharf, rode a cable car and generally had a good time. It was foggy, so I didn't get to see the Golden Gate or Alcatraz through the mist, which was a shame. I'd never been to the city before and might not get to come back for a while, if ever.

A man tried to pick me up while I sipped a gla.s.s of wine in a bar along the wharf. He wasn't going to give up easily, so an apology and a little compulsion turned his attention elsewhere. Tony called me while I was sitting there, finishing my wine. He'd tracked me on my new phone. Big surprise.

"So, how's San Francisco?" he asked.

"It's fine," I said. "A little foggy so I can't see the bridge, but it's nice otherwise. How did you know where I am?"

"Winkler's pilots have to file a flight plan," I could hear the grin in his voice. Yeah, the man knew too much for his own good and I told him that. He laughed.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"I got some info on that Saxom guy." That made me stop for a minute. Merrill had evaded the question every time I asked and I discovered quickly that the topic wasn't up for discussion. n.o.body wanted me to know. I'd even asked Gavin about it. At first, he'd ignored my email questions but finally told me that it was confidential information and he wasn't allowed to give it out. But here Tony was, calling with information. I wanted to hear this. "What did you find out?" I asked, my voice nearly breathless.

"He was a member of the Vampire Council who went bad," he said. "The information I got says the whole thing was hushed up, somehow. They didn't know about the children thing until that Kevin Miller kid spilled the beans."

"Just lovely," I said. "So they're hiding this. Why?"

"Don't know. Didn't get any information on what the guy did or anything that would cause the Council to declare him rogue. Or what happened to him. Obviously he's dead; that's what the kid said."

"Yeah. But if he was bad, how bad are his kids?" We were talking in generalities in case anyone was listening in. Another thought hit me. The vampire laws said you could turn up to ten. But if Saxom ignored that law like the two who'd turned me, how many could be out there now? They weren't registered with the Council; they'd have been aware of them if they were. "Did your source say how old he was?"

"Didn't get that info," Tony said. "They guard that closer than they guard the crown jewels."

I had a story about some of those crown jewels and I could never tell it. Too bad, Tony might find most of it amusing. "So, save the country and all that lately?" I asked instead.

"Every day," he teased.

"Man, you must be exhausted," I said. "What does your dry cleaner say when you take that super hero outfit in to get washed?"

"The last time they yelled because I got mustard on it," he replied.

"Yeah, save the world with one hand, eat a hotdog with the other," I teased.

"Exactly. We have to eat on the fly, you know."

"Very funny, mustard boy," I taunted.

"d.a.m.n, now my alter ego is out of the closet."

"I'm gonna post it on the internet," I said. "Along with one of those police artist sketches. That way they'll never be able to tell who it is."

"Hey, now, are you knocking police artists?"

"Yes."

"Just so I know where we stand."

"I'm standing in San Francisco. You're standing in your bedroom dressed in your mustard man costume that still has a stain on it that won't come out," I laughed.

"I wish I was there," he said.

"You know, I wish you were, too." I ended the call.

Our caravan stopped next in San Jose and did a confirmation with no problems. That one wasn't one of Lester's screw-ups. Our next stop was Sacramento, where Thomas Williams Jr. was waiting to be confirmed. I wanted to meet him. I'd watched his father die, helping to protect the Grand Master when Lester Briggs and his cronies attempted their coup. I'd sent him a note about it and he'd replied. His name was also signed on the bottom of the certificate naming me Pack. He had other family and I wondered if I'd get to meet them.

Kellee and Winkler were the first ones to meet Thomas and his brother and sister at dinner, but Thomas gave them the barest of civilities and came straight to me. He even kissed my hand and no other Packmaster had done that, outside Martin Walters.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to meet you," I said, smiling at him. He was handsome-around six feet tall as was his brother who was his twin. I wondered how often twin werewolves occurred but didn't ask. His brother, born a few minutes after Thomas, was named Theodore but he went by Teddy. Their sister, Leigh, gave me a hug. I was happy to hug her back. Thomas Williams Sr. had died with honor and courage and I told them that.

Kellee had the oddest look on her face while I talked with the family of werewolves. Glen's eyebrows were raised a little as well. Leigh asked me what happened to my salad after I ate it and I told her. I'd only ordered the salad and a gla.s.s of wine. Somehow, the wine made it easier to get rid of everything later. Go figure. "Of course you only should do something like that if you're what I am," I said. I didn't want to give anybody else ideas on what to do with their dinner and I certainly wasn't promoting eating disorders. Leigh laughed as I explained that.

Kellee, for some reason, rubbed against Winkler throughout the entire meal, feeding him bits of her dinner and that sort of thing. If she was jealous, she needn't be. I was getting over it. I'd even told Gavin the last time he'd called that Winkler had found himself a lady wolf and I'd used the term lady loosely. Gavin seemed quite happy about it. If he knew I'd talked to Tony, he'd probably go back to cursing in multiple languages.

Leigh asked about my ring, too. She'd been admiring it. "Is that an engagement ring?" she asked.

"Yes," I nodded.

"What's his name?"

"Gavin. And if you added up the ages of everybody at this table, you still wouldn't come close to hitting his numbers," I said. Winkler almost choked on that.

"What's that like?" Leigh was smiling.

"Uncomfortable at times," I admitted. "He speaks quite a few languages and I can't understand him half the time."

I thought Kellee was going to have a fit when Leigh invited me to go out with her after dinner, "to have a drink or two," she'd said. Kellee wasn't invited to go along. I went after Weldon said he didn't need me; Glen was enough protection. Honestly, Winkler would have been better off with Leigh than the airhead he was towing around but that wasn't my choice to make. Another werewolf joined us at the bar and I could tell Leigh liked him a lot. His name was Brady and he watched over Leigh while she had a couple of beers. Now that was love. Leigh wanted to sing Karaoke when they got that started. That's how I was dragged up on stage, and Leigh and I did Dancing Queen. I hadn't sung anything since I'd been turned but it came back and I was able to hold my breaths better, for some reason. Yeah, I used to sing once in a while. I sang at my mother's church growing up. I turned down a music scholarship when I graduated from high school so I could stay home and commute to school at OU. I took the art scholarship instead. Leigh and I got some applause when we finished.

"Do something else," Leigh begged, so I looked through the options and chose Take a Bow.

Leigh's brothers, Weldon, Glen, Winkler and Kellee all came in shortly after the song started. I ignored them and went on. Leigh was back when that one was done, asking me to do one for her father. I did To Where You Are for Thomas Williams Sr. If I'd had a piano there, I would have provided the music as well but the bar didn't have one. There was a standing ovation when I finished that song. I left the stage afterward.

"I wish I'd known you could do that," Winkler muttered in my ear.

"We don't always get to know everything, do we?" I said and walked out of the bar with Leigh and Brady.

They dropped me off at the hotel as I asked and I went walking after that. I even called Gavin. "Lissa?" he sounded so surprised. I suppose he should be.

"Hi, honey," I said. "I just wanted to see how you were."

"I am well," he replied. Yeah. I was homesick. I didn't think that was possible, but it was. And Winkler's defection for bubblehead hurt a little, too. I knew I should make the call short and sweet before I embarra.s.sed myself. "I am home for the moment," he went on, "but they will most likely send me out again."

"Always a problem, huh?" I asked. "Honey, do they ever let you take a vacation?"

"I could request time," he said. "Would you like that cara?"

"Yeah. I think I would," I replied. "All this traveling is wearing me down, I think."

"When you return, we will plan something."

"That sounds good, honey. I should go. I love you."

"And I you, cara mia." I snapped the phone shut before I started blubbering like a fool.

Thomas' confirmation went very well and Weldon handed over a framed certificate afterward, along with a photograph of his father's gravesite on his North Dakota property. The certificate was similar to mine only it denoted the service that Thomas Williams Sr. had rendered to the Grand Master and the werewolf race as a whole.

Thomas and his entire family hugged me before we left, including his mother, who apologized for crying. I told her that her tears were an honor and worthy of her husband. She hugged me again. Kellee and Winkler had their first fight that night; I could hear it even though Weldon and I were two rooms away. Glen must have been going crazy since he was right next to them. The s.e.x afterward was almost as noisy. I just shook my head. Weldon covered his head with a pillow and turned over in an agitated manner.

We stopped in Fres...o...b..iefly so Weldon could pa.s.s a second certificate off to Martin Walters. It was nice to see him again and he smiled and took my hand. His wife was there so a hug was probably out of the question. Too bad he couldn't receive mindspeech; I'd have told him he looked nice and asked about his two children. Another stop in the Los Angeles area followed and it went without a hitch. We went on to Arizona after that and it was fine. Kellee and Winkler were still at it hot and heavy, either s.e.x or fights. I wondered why they didn't just head on to Dallas. Weldon did his best to ignore them, most of the time. Glen rolled his eyes every chance he got when Winkler wasn't looking. I just kept my mouth shut. New Mexico was next and that was the one I was worried over.

Chapter 12.

There were three confirmations in New Mexico: Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe. Lester's Pack was in Santa Fe and I had no idea who had taken it over. Weldon wasn't sharing that information, either. Albuquerque was our first stop; we landed there and would take cars or SUVs to the other locations. At least my skin wasn't itching; that was a good sign as far as I was concerned. We arrived late enough that Weldon wouldn't be doing anything until the following evening. I knew the trip was wearing on me so it had to be wearing on him. I walked up beside him as we headed toward the two SUVs and slipped my arm through his.

"Are you holding up, Grand Master?"

Weldon stopped, pulled his arm away and placed it around my shoulders instead. "I've been better," he said. I knew then that he wasn't looking forward to dealing with New Mexico any more than I was.

"We'll get through this," I said and leaned my cheek against his shoulder.

"We will," he nodded and we walked on.

Kellee was already whining when we arrived at the hotel. Thankfully, she and Winkler drove their own SUV so Weldon, Glen and I were spared at least that much. The werewolves were all hungry too, so we dropped off our bags and trooped out to a restaurant to find something to eat. It turned out to be a twenty-four hour diner that the truckers liked, just off I-40. Winkler growled at a trucker who leered at Kellee on the way in. Kellee was a werewolf; she could have put that poor man through one of the plate gla.s.s windows lining the restaurant. Kellee-all six feet of her-simpered for Winkler's benefit I'm sure. Yes, she was pretty and she knew it, with long, straight, almost black hair. She had dark eyes, too, but she wore colored contacts, not because she needed them but to change the color of her eyes. I'd never seen a werewolf that needed gla.s.ses. Her eyes were a gray-blue with the contacts. She could have been a model if she wanted but she'd gone into her father's business. He was an attorney in Boise and the Packmaster on top of that. Kellee hadn't gone to law school; she was a paralegal and happily told anybody and everybody. I'm sure daddy paid her well or still supported her; a pair of her least expensive shoes would feed a family of six for two weeks. I think Glen hated her already.

Winkler ordered two stacks of pancakes with extra bacon and sausage. Kellee only ordered two pancakes and two strips of bacon and then proceeded to eat off Winkler's plate. Weldon noticed and just shook his head. I'm sure he was with Glen all the way on this one. Everybody always said love was blind. They just didn't say anything about it being deaf and dumb, too.

Merrill inspected the Enforcers and a.s.sa.s.sins that lined the wall of the warehouse. Wlodek had even considered coming for this but he'd been convinced to stay behind. "No sense losing both of us if that's what comes to pa.s.s," Merrill said and Wlodek eventually nodded his head in agreement. The information was kept from most of the Council. Flavio knew and he was there now, the only Council member that had come. Radomir had also come, as had Russell and Will. Robert and Albert, the mindspeakers were there, along with Gervais, one of the misters. Gavin would have come if Wlodek asked but this involved Lissa and he didn't want Gavin anywhere close since Lissa might guess at his nearness. They didn't want her to know; they wanted her out of the way while they attempted to take care of the situation. All they needed was for Saxom's brood to get their hands on her. Saxom was very old when he'd been killed. Adam Chessman, the former Chief of Enforcers had taken Saxom down before his own swift and subsequent disappearance. Saxom never registered any turns with the Council so these vampires could be many and quite old as well.

Dalroy and Rhett walked in while Merrill was turning these thoughts over in his mind. Merrill hadn't met them before so they introduced themselves. Merrill had never had a problem with American vampires; in fact, all his living children were American. He smiled slightly at these two. Dalroy's records indicated he was a Texas Ranger when he'd been turned; he'd been severely wounded in a battle on the Texas-Mexican border. Rhett was slightly younger, turned by Dalroy fifty years later after being shot outside a bar in New Mexico. Originally, Rhett was from Philadelphia and a medical student at the time. His father, a physician, had given permission for his son to explore the Wild West before returning to school. His exploration had cost him his human life.

"Some of you know a little about why we're here," Merrill said after they'd gathered together. "This is what you don't know."

We had dinner with the new Packmaster and his wife the evening of February eleventh. It was a Thursday night and we weren't fighting weekend crowds but the restaurant was busy anyway. Kellee made sure she gushed and complimented the Packmaster's wife when we were introduced. Didn't matter to me; I didn't have history with this woman. She was a little embarra.s.sed over it I could tell, and when Kellee asked if she wanted to do something after dinner, the woman was too polite to say no. That meant that Kellee, Lewis and Marian Gilliam (Packmaster and wife) and Winkler all went to see a movie after they finished eating. I hoped they liked Kellee's kind of movies because that's what they were surely going to get.

Glen was growling as he watched Kellee and Winkler climb into the Packmaster's car. Lewis said he'd drop them off at the hotel afterward. Glen turned to me, then, and said something that I will always remember. "Lissa," he said. "I had my doubts when Winkler brought a vampire into the house. I'm old school and remember when the vamps and the wolves used to tear each other apart. I have to tell you, though, that I would pay money to work alongside you any day rather than spend one day at extra pay with what Winkler's out with right now."

Glen always operated in Phil's shadow. When I'd been hired by Winkler, Phil was Winkler's Second and had turned on him the moment Winkler completed his security software. Someone had offered Phil a lot of money and the Dallas Pack. After Phil's death, Glen slid farther into the background and Davis had taken over the Second's spot. I blinked up into Glen's dark blue eyes for a moment after he made his announcement. "The feeling is mutual," I said, offering him my hand. He took it and shook firmly. Weldon witnessed the entire thing; he was smiling slightly as we walked toward our SUV.

Lewis was a good pick for the Albuquerque Pack; the Packmembers seemed to respect him and the confirmation on Friday night went without any problems. We spent Sat.u.r.day night in Albuquerque, so I located a laundry near the hotel and did laundry for everybody except Winkler and Kellee. When she found that out on Sunday, she stewed about it all day until I woke Sunday evening on our way to Taos. I was riding in the SUV with Weldon and Glen. Glen unzips my bag but he doesn't take me out of it like Winkler does. I think he was afraid of offending me. I was discovering that Glen was a gentleman. Kellee borrowed Winkler's cell phone and called me from the other car.