Page 9 of New Blood

For a few seconds, he didn’t react, simply allowed her to work through the pain the news had caused. But even he couldn’t stand here forever, letting her punch him to her heart’s content. It was time to stop her.

He grabbed Eve’s wrists, wrapping his hands around them tightly, before pushing her back and shaking her so she would come to her senses. She stared at him then, tears streaming down her face, her mouth open as if she wanted to scream again, yet no words came out, only the gurgling sound of a sob that worked its way up from her chest.

When the sound of the first sob finally echoed against the bare walls, Ransom pulled her against his chest to comfort her. He felt her warm breath against his skin, her tears soaking his shirt as she wept. Hesitantly, he stroked his hand over her back in a comforting gesture he’d used many times on his own sister. It had always helped her. Maybe it would help Eve, too.

All of a sudden, he felt Eve’s hands on his chest, and before he could figure out what she wanted to do, he found himself pushed back with such force that he hit the wall behind him.

Eve glared at him with tearstained eyes. “If you tell anybody what happened down here, I’ll cut your throat, I swear it!”

Her threat sliced through him. So much for trying to offer comfort to a grieving woman. He should have known better: a woman like Eve would never want to be seen as weak.

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want anybody to know that I actually cared enough about your grief that I touched you. Trust me, I won’t make that mistake again.”

She tipped her chin up, her eyes still blazing with anger. “If you do, it’ll be your last one.”

Uppity bitch!

5

Jude watched as more and more people entered the large living room in the Gallagher mansion, now fully dressed, yet not any less hostile than during their fight with the vampires. He remained near the fireplace from where he could look at everybody as they entered. From the few photos of the Gallagher family that the Werewolf Alliance had in their database, he recognized most of the assembled. The men—the alpha’s two remaining sons, Byron and Thaddeus, and his nephews, Spencer and Owen—looked ready for a fight. If they were as strong as their muscular bodies suggested, they would be formidable opponents. However, in order not to let things escalate now, he’d have to be careful as to how to handle these four.

He exchanged a quick look with Parker and Grant, two of his team members who stood near the door, standing sentry to maintain order. They knew their job and would act quickly, should any member of the Gallagher pack want to cause trouble.

Two women entered side by side, and their physical similarities were evident immediately. They were mother and daughter, Flora and Violet Gallagher. Violet, William Gallagher’s niece, was pretty, her features delicate, though he knew that as a werewolf, she was stronger than a human female. Her eyes were puffy, and it appeared that she’d cried. It wasn’t hard to guess why: in Cameron, she’d lost a cousin, and he had to assume that they’d been close.

Her mother, Flora, didn’t show any signs of tears; her face a steely mask, most likely a protective mechanism to shield herself from bad news. She looked like a woman who’d gone through a lot in her life and knew how to soldier on despite the hurdles in her path. She also gave off the impression that she was in charge here. He would do well to make her an ally early on, because she could either pave his way for an easy transition or litter it with obstacles.

A large black man entered the room, followed by two women and another male pack member. The women remained behind the two men, and he only caught glimpses of them. It appeared they preferred to remain unnoticed. It wasn’t unusual. The lowest-ranked women in a pack often worked without drawing any notice to themselves, used to being invisible. This pack was certainly no different. The youngest and the weakest didn’t want to be noticed. In any case, the Alliance didn’t have any photos of these pack members to match them to. He would have to get more information on them at a later time.

There were loud footsteps and cursing when Austin and Mason finally marched in with William Gallagher between them. The latter growled at him and tried to shake off Austin’s hand, which was gripping his elbow.

“Take your fucking hand off me!”

Jude caught Austin’s glance and gave an affirmative nod, indicating that there was no need to keep an iron grip on Gallagher. He wasn’t going anywhere, at least not right now. From his facial expression, it was obvious that he was ready for a confrontation.

When Jude heard more sounds from the foyer, he looked past Gallagher. A young woman, her hair flying, charged into the room, Ransom hot on her heels. He recognized the woman from her photo. This was Eve, William Gallagher’s daughter. It appeared that she’d already made one enemy: Ransom. His pissed off facial expression was hard to overlook. And pissing off Ransom was no easy feat. The San Francisco transplant wasn’t easily offended and didn’t give a fuck about what people thought of him. He didn’t have a resentful bone in his body. So what had this gorgeous woman done?

And she was gorgeous, he had to admit that. A slender figure with curves in all the right places, a fine facial structure, long wavy hair, and stunning eyes that could pin any man to the wall and let him hang there for good. Yeah, she was trouble. That much was clear. Nevertheless, he knew what his duty was. She was the highest-ranking female of childbearing age, and she therefore had to be his first choice. Never mind the fact that nothing stirred in him when he looked at her. Beauty alone didn’t turn him on. He needed more from a woman. He just didn’t know what this more consisted of. Clearly, he hadn’t found it yet.

Jude let his gaze wander over the assembled again when the last members of his team, Wendell and Francisco, entered and approached him.

“House is clear,” Wendell reported.

Jude gave a nod of acknowledgement. “And the vampires?”

“They’re gone,” Francisco said. “I made sure of it. The gate is secure right now, but we’ll have to reset the alarm system later. Looks like the vampires hacked it.”

“Alright. Take care of that after we’re done here.”

Jude directed his gaze back to the assembled and cleared his throat.

“Now that everybody is assembled, let’s begin,” he started.

The private conversations and murmurs died down, and everybody looked straight at him.

“I’m Jude Beaumont, and I’m here by authority of the Werewolf Alliance.”

“We don’t recognize the authority of the Werewolf Alliance,” Gallagher said in a raised voice, glaring at him with open hostility. “We’re independent of them. And I’m the alpha here.”