Nadia started to stir as morning turned into early afternoon. Alex was in his office with Juniper, Max, and Cole, as Elias brought in the breakfast he had just retrieved from a messenger for Nadia. She realized she was alone. Thoughts of what happened last night swirled around in her head.
Downstairs, voices carried through the floorboards. Alex's low rumble, Juniper's concern, and Max's sharp laugh. The meeting had begun without her.
The sound of a knock on the bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts. Elias, careful and deferential, carried a tray. The food was bright and fresh, with fruit, coffee, and pastries. All human nourishment, and she smiled.
"He thought you might be hungry when you woke, and he said he was sorry for having to greet your guests, and to come downstairs when you're ready."\
Elias's eyes were carefully neutral, but there was something knowing in them. He set the tray on the nightstand and said,
"I'll leave you to it then."
"Thank you, and you are?" she asked with an inquisitive brow.
"Oh, forgive my manners. My name is Elias Ward. Vampire. I help with some things around here."
He stood at a respectful distance, hands clasped in front of him. There was a formality to his bearing, old southern courtesy mixed with vampire deference.\
"I apologize if my presence is unwelcome. Alex wanted to ensure you had everything you needed this morning in his absence."
His eyes flickered briefly at the mark on her shoulder, visible above the sheet. Recognition flashed across his face, ancient vampire knowledge reading the claiming instantly.
"They're discussing the Order situation downstairs. Alex asked that you join them when you are ready. There have been... developments."\
He moved toward the door, giving her privacy.\
"The shower is through there if you need it. Fresh clothes have been provided in the closet. We shall see you downstairs."\
"Very well," she nodded, with acknowledgment yet an indifference that shook Elias for a moment. Then he settled with the thought: she is a queen in her blood. No wonder he wants her. He shook his head, nodded, and returned to the others downstairs to allow her to do as she saw fit.\
Elias descended the stairs as he rejoined the group in Alex's office. Juniper looked up immediately, reading his expression.
"She's awake and composed," he said with a thoughtful expression.\
Max smirked from her position against the wall.\
"Of course she is. Alex doesn't do fragile."
Alex's head turned slightly, attention momentarily divided between Elias and the scattered files on his desk, the Order intel, bombing reports, and security footage spread across it.\
"She'll be down shortly," Alex said. It wasn't a question. He knew her. Already he knew she wouldn't hide upstairs, wouldn't play the frightened human. She'll come down ready, present, and equal.
Cole shifted uncomfortably, clearly out of place among vampires and vampire politics.
"So why am I here again?" he asked, looking at Juniper.\
She just gave him that look of, " Oh, shut up, you know why. And he looked at his shoes, having found them ever so interesting.\
"So about this Marcus Webb meeting tomorrow..." Juniper piped up, trying to get the ball rolling. Not wanting to be here any longer than necessary.\
Alex's focus snapped back to the table, but his fingers drummed once against the desk. Waiting. Listening for footsteps on the stairs.
Nadia sipped the coffee as she got up, not really interested in what was on the tray at the moment. She walked into the shower and got cleaned up, remembering the passion from last night. The water cascaded over her. Steam rose and clouded the mirror. Her skin still bore his marks, the bite on her thigh a dark bloom, the claiming mark on her shoulder tender and unmistakable. She touched it without thinking; her body remembered every deliberate touch, every moment of surrender.\
Downstairs, Alex's head lifted slightly. He felt the phantom pull of the bond, her awareness of him, even from a distance. Juniper noticed the shift in his expression, the way his posture straightened.
"That's her, isn't it?" Juniper said quietly.\
Max watched with undisguised interest.\
"He's never looked like that before," she said with a sassy grin.\
Alex said nothing. Didn't need to. The answer was written across his face, ancient, certain, and entirely hers.
He cleared his throat and glared at them, then looked back at the table, clearly stating it was not their business, just as Nadia walked into the closet to find that Max had actually gone to her house and brought some of her clothes over. Nadia grinned, then shook her head. She mumbled under her breath, "I guess Max made that choice for me." She chuckled, got dressed, and grabbed some fruit on her way downstairs.\
Alex's glare effectively silenced the room. Max straightened slightly but didn't lose her smirk. Juniper exchanged a look with both Cole and Elias, all of them understanding they had crossed an invisible line.
Footsteps on the stairs drew everyone's attention. Alex's posture shifted, still commanding, but alert in an entirely different way.\
Max tilted her head as Nadia appeared, noting her clothing choices with satisfaction.\
"I took the liberty of retrieving some of your things. Your address was... easy to find."\
Alex stood as she entered, his eyes taking in every detail, the way his marks were hidden beneath fabric, the casual confidence in her movements. The room felt different with her in it. Charged.
Juniper offered a genuine smile.
"You must be Nadia. I'm Juniper."
Cole nodded respectfully from his corner, while Elias maintained his formal distance.
"The fairy turned vampire. Yes. I know of you." And she does, for the bond between them conveyed much to her, more than she anticipated, in her dreams last night. And she doesn't really care for her. She's a liability, weak yet strong-willed, and has a soft spot in Alex's heart.
Juniper's smile faltered slightly. She felt the shift in the room, Nadia's assessment cutting through pretense like a blade.\
"Well... that's... direct."
Alex's expression didn't change, but something dangerous flickered in his eyes. He moved closer to her, a subtle claim of territory.
"Nadia knows what she needs to know."\
His voice carried weight. A warning wrapped in protection.\
"Juniper's here because the Order is escalating. The bombing last night wasn't random. They are hunting anything connected to us."
Max watched the exchange with fascination, clearly enjoying the tension.\
Alex's hand settled near the small of her back, not quite touching. A gesture only she would understand. He guided her to his lap at the desk and continued.\
"The meeting with Marcus Webb has been postponed until tomorrow, and we need to refine the approach. Nadia's psychological profile could be the difference between negotiation and bloodshed."
"So I take it you are wanting me to include Juniper and Cole in this, but you know that they will eventually figure out they're not entirely human... right, Cole..."
She called him out and surprised the entire room, for the only one who knew was Juniper... or so Cole thought.
Cole's entire body went rigid. The air in the office shifted.
Alex's eyes narrowed slightly, not surprised, exactly, but as though he had just reassessed her. He glanced back at her with something that might be respect.\
Max laughed, a sharp sound that cut through the tension.
"Well, well, well. The counselor sees more than most," she said with glee.
Cole's jaw clenched. He stepped forward, defensive.\
"I'm not..."
Juniper put a hand on his arm, her expression pained.
"She's right. Cole's a shapeshifter. Has been since birth."
Elias remained silent; he had already suspected this. Alex studied her with renewed interest, her perceptiveness, her ability to read people beneath the surface lies. That was exactly what he needed.\
"Your assessment skills are sharper than I anticipated."
His tone carried approval tinged with acceptance.
"This is precisely why you are invaluable tomorrow night."\
Nadia looked at Cole, then Juniper. "I think Cole would be more useful as covert. How small can you shift yourself into? Can it be small enough to hide within a bag?"
Cole's expression shifted from defensive to calculating as he ran a hand through his hair. He exchanged a glance with Juniper.
"I don't know. The smallest I have ever gone is a squirrel. I might be able to fit into a small duffel bag if I'm careful."\
He stepped closer as he started to think tactically.
"I could scout the church perimeter before the meeting as a dog. Get a sense of their numbers, positioning, and weapons. If they are planning an ambush, I'd know."
Alex nodded slowly, approving of the strategy. He thought that would keep her safer.
"That works."\
Max leaned forward with increased interest.
"If the counselor thinks like a strategist, I'm starting to see the appeal."
Alex's hand finally touched her back, deliberate, grounding, and making his claim clear to everyone in the room.\
"Tomorrow night, then. Cole scouts at dusk. Nadia meets with Marcus at eight. We monitor from a distance, and Juniper keeps her pulse on the emotions of the room."
His eyes locked on hers.
"You'll wear a wire."
"No. I'm not going to do that. They will search me. Cole, let's have you also be my emotional support animal. They wouldn't think anything about that. And during meals, I want you to feel around, smell out anything you can while we are all together. In another space, it should be easier."
Cole nodded, understanding the brilliance of it immediately. A service dog at a religious meeting. No one would question it. No one searches it.\
"That's smart. Real smart."\
Alex studied her with quiet intensity.\
"You are not just thinking like a strategist; you're thinking like someone who understands human blind spots."\
She just shrugged her shoulders, not being overly smug but not entirely humble either.
"A service animal puts them at ease. Makes me vulnerable, sympathetic. They will lean into that and make assumptions."
He moved to the laptop and pulled up a map of the abandoned church on Magnolia.
"Cole goes in as your support dog. You establish rapport with Marcus, and he'll want to talk. That's his weakness. Pride in his cause. You'll draw that out of him."\
Max tilted her head.\
"And when they realize what they are?"\
Alex stiffened at the thought.\
"They won't. Not until it's too late."
He looked at Nadia.
"Are you ready for this?"\
"Yes, but I need you close enough to feel the bond. If I'm in distress, you'll know it instantly. Then you can do what you need to do. If not, stay back until we return. I mean it, Alex, don't get all possessive and barge in. It will ruin everything."
Alex went very still. The bond between them pulsed with his acknowledgment, ancient and certain.\
"The moment you feel fear, I'll know, and I will come for you."\
His hand gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. There was no negotiation in his gaze, only promise.\
"You won't be alone in that church. Not for a second."\
He released her and turned to Cole.
"Stay close to her. If anything feels wrong, you shift, and we will move in."\
Max watched the exchange with fascination; she saw something she had never witnessed in Alex before, genuine vulnerability masked as dominance.
"Juniper, you'll monitor from the van with Elias. Cole's senses will feed you information."
Alex moved back to the map, but his attention never fully left her. The bond hummed between them, a living thing, anchoring her to him from across distances.
"Tomorrow night, we end this," Juniper said. "But I thought I was going to go in with them to support her. Don't you think she could use backup?"
Nadia looked at Alex, then back at her, and said,
"I'm sorry, not this time, not now that you've turned. You're a liability now that you're not human... at least in this situation."
Max smirked from her spot against the wall and thought, well, she's always a liability.
They spent the next few hours coordinating, and then Cole got fitted with a micro wire inside his canine ear. No one would check a dog's ear for anything, and if it set anything off, it would be easily dismissed as his microchip. Everyone said their goodbyes, leaving them alone for the evening.
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