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Reece

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I was just returning from the office for a meeting with an emissary from the vampires when I noticed that my Little Bunny was training in the yard. She was getting a lot better than even when we trained last week. She was faster than all three of the guards. And I watched proudly as she changed into her ice form at will. She was truly amazing.

I noticed the scent of the emissary long before I saw him. He was closer to the house than I was, having taken the long way home to stretch my legs, all four of them. I scanned the area around the house with my wolf eyes, trying to see where he might be.I thought that it was weird that they wanted to meet during the day, but if the vampire was particularly old, or some what older, he would be less vulnerable to the sun, I guess this wasn't a newly made vamp then.

That was fine with me, I would rather not have a fresh vamp that didn't know how to control themselves, especially around my mate. I didn't often deal with vampires, even though my family has been dealing with them going back a very long time. The emissary coming today was actually from the company run by the vampire that my great-grandfather knew. Apparently, that vampire knew my family back when they still lived in Europe before coming over on the boats to America.

I had never met that vampire, nor the one coming today, but I was not so immature or inexperienced that I didn't know how to react around them. Still, it was a little unsettling that I was having a hard time pinpointing their location as they approached my house. I guess this is part of that whole shadow walking that I had heard of. He must be approaching the house in the shadow of the trees.

I focused my eyes on the shadows, looking for the slightest hint of movement. There! That's him, it's gotta be. I noticed a slight flicker of movement in the shadows as if he would appear for just the barest fraction of a second before disappearing again, only to reappear in the shadow of another tree. So, that's how they can move so easily in the daylight even if they were still sensitive to the sun. And it explained why his scent seemed to drift in and out, making it even harder to pinpoint him. That was actually a little unsettling.

I realized that Trinity had noticed his scent too. She had most likely noticed mine as well, which didn't disappear and reappear, and she probably didn't think too much of the other scent at first. But I noticed that her ears pricked up and she looked to be on guard. She had noticed the strange scent but couldn't see who it was.

The vamp moved quickly, approaching my mate in the blink of an eye. I was glad that he wasn't close enough to see her training, I didn't need other groups knowing about her ice wolf just yet. At least, I hoped he hadn't seen it. I should get down there, now. I took off running toward the yard as quickly as I could.

"Can I help you?" I heard Little Bunny's voice. She was making it known that she was talking to the individual that she didn't know. I don't know if she knew that I was there and listening, or if she just didn't know how to adjust the frequency of her telepathic communication yet. Or perhaps it was harder for her to talk to someone without me hearing it unless she was making it an explicitly secret conversation.

"Do not speak to me inside my head, wolf. That is not an ability you should have, not as a wolf or a woman." I heard the condescending tone in the man's thickly accented voice. He had better watch his tongue around her. He was likely to catch hell from me and my little mate.

"Excuse me?" I heard Trinity's voice as if it were spoken aloud now. Did she shift back into her human form? No, I could still see her beautifully furry self standing in front of the man.

Now that I looked at the man directly I wanted to laugh. He looked like the stereotypical vampire. I had met at least three vampires before this one and they looked like normal people, if a little more pale or a little too aristocratic. What the hell was wrong with this man?

The vampire emissary standing in front of my mate was around five-feet-eight inches tall with black hair, a pasty white face, and all black clothing. He screamed emo goth punk, except he looked like he was in his thirties and not some teenager that was rebelling against daddy. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the whole goth thing. But there's always a clear difference in those that are truly goth and embrace the look and those that are doing it for the attention. The vamp looked like the latter of the two. I wanted to laugh if I wasn't currently running to meet up with them.

"Humph!" I heard the vamp scoff as I got closer to them, even just that sound seemed accented with what sounded like Dutch or something similar. "Why is a worthless woman like yourself even out here. Shouldn't you be inside the house, cooking, or cleaning, or raising kids, you know something womanly. Why is a woman even learning to fight? Why can't you be more like Selene, the goddess of vampires? She was a beauty that worshipped men, she never tried to emulate them, so disgusting." Oh this man was already on my nerves, I could just imagine how my Little Bunny was going to react.

"Look, mister, I have no idea who you are but you don't have the right to come to my house and start insulting me." She snapped at him.

"Luna, let me handle this." Vincent stepped in between my mate and the vampire, already having shifted back and wearing nothing but a pair of dark jeans. "Sir, you're a vampire correct? Did you come for a meeting with the Alpha?" Vincent was very diplomatic, but I noticed the slight restrained note in his voice. He hadn't taken kindly to his Luna being insulted by the newcomer.

"Indeed I am, pup, where might I find him." The man's condescending tone knew no bounds apparently. I saw Vincent tilt his head as if he was confused by the man's attitude toward them.

"He should be here any second now." Vincent answered, knowing full well that I was running all out to where they were. He had no doubt caught my scent several moments ago. I saw the twins, Shane and Shawn, walking out of the trees, also wearing their jeans and nothing else, having gone to shift back after Vincent had returned to handle the man's attitude.

"How unprofessional of him. An Alpha who doesn't know how to greet his important visitors properly. How disgraceful. Ugh, I don't know why we even deal with you lot." His sneering voice and whining tone was really grating at me.

"Look, whoever you are, Reece will be here any moment now and he has been extremely busy, your attitude is not appreciated." I heard my mate defending me, the sound of it brought a swell of affection to my heart, but it was chased away by rage at the man's next words, and actions.

"Do not speak to me you filthy woman. Women should know their place." He blinked out of the area he was in only to reappear in the shadow laying directly in front of my Little Bunny. I watched in horror, rage flowing through me, as he struck out with his foot and kicked her on her left upper flank.

My little bunny yelped in pain and was sent flying directly toward me. I shifted and caught her before she had gone more than ten feet. I saw red when looking at the man. I couldn't blame the guards, they had been standing protectively in front of her as they should have been but that made no difference when he blinked out of one spot and reappeared in another.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I roared at the man as soon as I had caught my tiny little mate in my arms.

"Alpha?" I heard the three guards shout in surprise as they heard my roaring voice.

"Shawn, please take her." I instructed the guard closest to me, reluctantly handing her over to him. I now stood in front of the vampire stark naked and righteously pissed off. "You come to my home, seeking a meeting with me and you attack my mate. What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you think I will let that slide?" I snarled at him.

"Just try doing something about it." He taunted me, snarling right back at me.

"Just watch me."