Page 3 of Silver Claw

And that was my downfall.

Chapter One

“Power-hungry bastard,” I muttered.

My mother reached across the dinner table to pat my hand. “Things have been nice and quiet since you moved to Huntersburg. You needed the downtime.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “and it would have lasted a little longer if not for the damn Colorado alpha screwing things up.”

She nodded. “He’s definitely harshing our mellow.”

Joe cracked his knuckles and stopped behind Max’s chair, his gaze going from the love of his life to the little bit of food left on the love of his life’s plate. “Quiet is boring. I’m in the mood for a good old-fashioned fight or twelve. Gavin Voss doesn’t know who he’s messing with.”

“Just because you’re now a vampire doesn’t mean you have to fight all the time,” Max grumbled, glaring up at Joe.

He stumbled a little over the word “vampire,” but honestly, he was doing much better with it than I ever expected him to.

Joe softened immediately, and a smile lit his subtly changed face. “Finish your dinner,” he said.

“Um, I’m not a child?” But Max picked up his fork and stabbed a small piece of perfectly cooked steak while Joe watched longingly.

Not being able to eat was the biggest regret he had about becoming a vampire. He’d wanted me to transform his vulnerable human self into a wolf, but I’d refused. Then he’d nearly died, and Bastien, the vampire county master, had saved him by turning him.

And really, Joe was happy with that, though he sorely missed Lucy’s delicious food. He’d tried to eat once and had to run outside to vomit it back up immediately. Bastien hadassured him—and me—that he would soon lose his memory of food as a good thing. He would get to the point where the only food that made him hungry and happy was blood. He wasn’t craving food, not really. He was simply remembering that food had been so very pleasurable and comforting.

But eventually, he would forget.

“Quiet is overrated,” Zach said, giving me a wink when I looked at him. “I’m with Joe. We could use a little action. I’m feeling rusty.”

I snorted. “It’s been two months since we moved to Huntersburg. You two are acting like it’s been two years since you got your asses kicked.”

Joe forgot about food at that insult. “You mean since we were kicking ass.”

Police detective Rick Moreno leaned back in his chair. “Power-hungry alpha coming for us and a bloodthirsty pack eager for him to get here. I have a feeling you’ll soon get your fill of battles, Joe.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I glanced around the overflowing table at them all. My pack. My people. My family.

As though she knew what I was thinking, Lucy grinned. “We’re the Silver Claw Pack,” she said, proud that she’d been the one to give us that name. “No matter what comes, we’ll handle it. We’ll protect Silverwood. Right?”

“Damn right,” I agreed.

“Besides,” Max said, after dabbing at his lips with his napkin, “it’s not exactly quiet, not with all the activity at the office.”

The office wasn’t quiet, but it was a different sort of noise. Clients came in to request a housecleaning, sure their houses were haunted. Most of the time, they were right. But it rarely went beyond a visit to a home to help a spirit cross over.

But Gavin Voss, the Iron Fang alpha of Ironridge, Colorado, was definitely causing some issues. So far, he’d mostly just been irritating. Feeling us out, planting the occasional warrior to spy, things like that. He’d never said what he wanted, so we could only assume he had, for some reason we didn’t understand, decided to come all the way from Colorado to try to take over Jakeston. And that meant taking out the wolf alphas who ruled it.

Remy Simon drained his beer, then thumped the bottle down on the table. “You know a fight is coming,” he said, satisfaction in his voice. “And a big one. Voss wants Jared’s pack. He even wants your pack,” he said to me. “Not because you have a pack full of wolves, but because you’re an alpha.”

I nodded. “He wants Silverwood, and he wants Shadowfield.”

“More than that,” Rick said, “he wants to take out the alphas who will keep him from expanding his territory.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” my mother said.

As always, the very thought pissed me off. “Jared and I will destroy him, and Jared will take his territory. He’s been warned.”

“Bastard doesn’t listen real good,” Remy said. “But he’ll learn his lesson.”