Page 3 of Bane of Hate and Silver (Primordial Inheritance #1)

“We’ve already been too exposed,” Luca added, seemingly undaunted by the orders of his leader.

“Don’t you see how old she is? Look at her eyes,” another werewolf added.

The Alpha’s eyes met hers. Solid, pure, silver.

With a vampire’s age came increasing strength and skill.

He baulked. Fidgeting, his body language betrayed his false bravado.

He was losing confidence in his ability to win against her one-on-one.

As he should. “As I said, our species have coexisted in peace for years.”

Long moments stretched out between the immortal creatures.

In a show of good faith Jules raised her hands palms out and took one step back, but she did not remove her stare or threat from the Alpha until he mirrored the action.

“This is not over,” Carson said under his breath as he turned to walk back toward his pack.

“I didn’t think it was,” Jules said under hers as she took a few more steps backward, still unwilling to turn her back on the Alpha.

Her gaze caught on the Beta, Luca, one last time. He seemed to be peering into the deepest depths of time and age through the windows of her eyes. She nodded at him and he at her, neither looking away for a long moment. Then they did, going their separate ways.

Jules returned to Eileen and Gabriel, who had hovered nearby during the confrontation. “So, shall we enjoy this art show?” Jules asked, gesturing toward the art gallery down the block. Gabriel looked at her in disbelief, while Eileen was staring at her in wide-eyed wonder.

“Oh, relax, both of you.”

Luca Cain looked away from the strange and beautiful creature.

He’d never seen a vampire before, heard of them yes, but had never come into contact with one personally.

She wasn’t like the rumors suggested. Not a walking corpse at all.

Although technically dead, she was definitely full of strong and fiery life.

“Luca let’s go!” his best friend Kyle called.

Luca turned. It wasn’t until then that he realized the pack had moved on toward the parking garage while he still stood outside the building she’d entered. He stared through the glass doors of the art gallery, watching the red-haired vampire as she chatted with the other female.

“Luca!” Kyle called again.

“Coming,” Luca called back and made to follow the rest of the pack.

“So, she was hot, you know, for a dead person,” Kyle said when Luca joined him. Kyle was a thirty-seven-year-old werewolf who had stopped aging in his late twenties. He was tall and lean, but shorter than Luca by a few inches. His dark hair hung to his shoulders when it wasn’t pulled back.

“Have you ever seen one before?” Luca asked him as they walked a few paces behind the rest. Luca was in his eighties, yet he looked to be a few years younger than Kyle.

“A couple of them,” Kyle said, “but none as hot as that.”

“You two need to cut that out before Carson hears you,” Ben said, falling back to reprimand them.

Ben was yet another member of Carson’s inner circle.

He looked to be in his early thirties, but Luca didn’t know how old he really was.

Old, like really old. “Vampires may look enticing boys, but remember they are soulless, immoral beings. Trust me, I’ve known the worst of them in my years. ”

Kyle shrugged, and Luca nodded. Ben had a lot more life experience than either of them. He probably knew what he was talking about. Ben patted Luca on the shoulder and then moved back toward the front of the group.

“Cover for me?” Kyle asked when they’d reached the side-by-side parking spots that contained Kyle’s sleek motorcycle and Luca’s soft-top Jeep.

“Don’t I always?” Luca asked rhetorically.

“Yep. I don’t know why you put up with me,” Kyle commented playfully.

Luca laughed.

With a wink Kyle hopped on his motorcycle, leaving to go see his biggest secret.

Luca unclipped and pushed the top back on the Jeep as the other pack members started to pull out of the lot themselves.

He always preferred the top-down drive when the weather was favorable.

His route took him straight through the town’s center.

The smell of the sea surrounded him as his drive paralleled the coast. The balmy air blowing his hair wildly.

Luca loved this town. But he was seeing none of that this time.

Luca’s mind was racing as he processed the events that had transpired.

Or rather, as he thought about the fiery, petite, stunning, dead, vampire coven leader.

There was something about her. Something he’d felt.

He was curious about her, and he couldn’t figure out why.

Once Luca got back to the place he tentatively called home, he pulled past the cars belonging to various Den members and parked his Jeep on the side of the house, under his bedroom window.

The Den was a six-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-story crap pile on the far side of town.

In which, Carson crammed the six members of his inner circle. Luca and Kyle included.

Luca looked up at his closed, second-story window forlornly.

Sometimes, he preferred to jump directly into his room, rather than deal with the chaos that was life at the Den.

Luca sighed and walked through the yard to the front door.

On his way, he passed one of the two shutters remaining on the front of the house and ran a finger along the chipped, white paint.

As he entered, the front screen door squeaked and banged shut behind him.

“Luca,” Carson called as he walked quickly past the family room.

Luca backed up a few steps without turning around.

“Where’s Kyle?”

“He went for a run,” Luca lied easily.

“Are you sure?” Carson asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Yep.” Luca nodded and then moved down the hall before Carson could ask him any more questions.

Kyle flew through town toward her home, the wind roaring all around him. He came to a speedy stop in front of the old apartment building, just in time to see the love of his life walk from her family’s apartment. Her older brother, Adam, followed closely behind.

“Dad doesn’t always know what’s best Adam!” she shouted when he grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

“Neither do you!” He shouted back.

Kyle turned off the ignition and dismounted but kept his distance. Relaxing against his motorcycle, content to wait for the fight to fizzle out.

“Why is he here?” Adam questioned, catching sight of Kyle.

“Kyle’s a part of my life, Adam. Deal with it.” Hayley pulled her arm free and turned away from her brother.

“Dad’s not going to like this!” Adam shouted after her, shoving his hands into his pockets and storming back inside the apartment.

Hayley ignored him as she reached the motorcycle.

“Do you two ever get along?” Kyle asked, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her into him.

“We have our moments.” She smiled at Kyle in a way that suggested her brother and their quarrel were no longer on her mind.

“Hello, wife.” He smiled and ran one hand through her long, brown, sun kissed, hair.

“Hi, husband.”

He bent down slightly and met her in a kiss. Hayley was all tone curves, full breasts, and rare beauty.

A few weeks back, Kyle had done something that, when discovered, would not be easily forgiven.

Kyle had whisked Hayley Reynolds, now Hayley Reynolds-Cooper, off to Las Vegas and married her.

The marriage was legal by the United States standards, of course.

However, pack laws were quite different.

When the Alpha of your pack had his eye on a mate, marrying her was severely looked down upon.

A little over a month ago, Carson had demanded that Hayley’s father grant him his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Mr. Reynolds had not immediately complied, but Kyle would not take the risk that he would relent; damn the consequences.

Their kiss deepened, Hayley fisted his hair, while his hands slid from her waist to her muscled ass.

“Get a room,” another one of Hayley’s brothers, younger and still attending Aboit High, commented as he walked past them.

“Good to see you too Landon!” Kyle called after him.

He waved once but didn’t turn around.

“Let’s go somewhere we can be alone,” Hayley whispered.

“I had an idea about that,” he whispered back, rubbing his nose softly against hers.

Carson growled and resumed his pacing. Having Luca as his Beta was truly a pain in the ass, but it was Luca’s birthright.

Not only had he been in line to inherit his father’s pack before they were massacred, but he was a descendant of Stephen Cain’s family line.

Those facts alone gave Carson no choice as to who his Beta had to be.

The fact that he couldn’t entirely trust Luca was an annoyance that had to be swallowed.

As Carson paced, his anger only grew. Of course, Carson knew that there were a few vampires in Aboit. But until now, they had seemed to understand that this was his town. They had certainly never challenged him before.

Defiance could not be tolerated; humiliation even less.

The little vampire bitch had damaged his reputation with his pack.

How could the pack trust him if they saw this weakness in him?

Something needed to be done to repair the damage that tiny, dead girl had inflicted. The vampires needed to be dealt with.

“I am not fond of vampires,” Ben complained as he joined Carson in the common room.

Ben was one of the only pack members that didn’t make it a point of avoiding him when he was angry. Carson saw value in that. “Yes Ben, something must be done,” Carson said, with fury in his voice and conviction in his heart.