This new job wasn’t anything to talk about really. Until now I lived like a college student so I didn’t exactly have a lot of money. I ended up leaving college, since there were more important things to do, like killing the vampires. I never took studies seriously anyway, it was just all party and fun for me. So now that I lived at Scott’s place I needed a job. Fortunately, the Dead Dog, a pub on the edge of the city, was hiring a waiter.

Unlike me Matt decided to stay in college, he sent an application for online classes and exams. Yuri and Scott had their own jobs too, though Yuri’s dad, Nikolai still gave him an allowance.

The first half of my shift was quite uneventful. There weren’t many customers here, so I mostly just talked with the owner, a nice lady named Tania. What I was dreading was my break, because I told myself I would call Daniel then.

This wouldn’t be the first time I fed a vampire. I’ve done it once before and it wasn’t a bad experience. On the contrary actually. Maybe it was the idea of doing this with someone I admired as a child that made me change my mind. Especially since I knew he wanted to fuck me. It was probably a good idea to take Yuri with me.

I went out the back door and after making sure I was alone, I dialed Daniel’s number.

“Ah! Just the man I wanted to hear! How you doin’ Reid?” he said when he picked up, sounding way too enthusiastic.

“We need to talk,” I said simply.

“Alright, Black Rose? Let’s say tomorrow? Nine pm?” he suggested eagerly. I didn’t like that at all.

“I think something more private would be better…” I said, stressing the private part.

“Oh? You gonna finally pay your debt? Can’t wait.” He sounded downright wicked. It made me shiver.

“I’ll give you my blood, but we need to talk about something.” I kicked at the snow in front of the door, feeling my muscles tensing and relaxing.

“Hm… I think I get what you’re saying. So how about the hotel you stayed in last time?” His voice got a bit more serious. Did that mean he was willing to help?

“Sure, if you pay for it,” I said. It was way too expensive for me.

“Alright, cheapskate.” He chuckled. “Tomorrow, nine pm. Don’t be late.” And he hung up.

Well, that was that… I sighed and hid the phone back in my pocket. Small clumps of snow started falling down from the dark clouds above. My wolf huffed inside my head. Yeah, I agreed. This was a nice weather for a hunt. Maybe when I got back I could get Yuri and Scott to go for a run with me.

I went back inside, brushing snow from my hair. “Hey there are new people at table six,” Tania told me the second I walked in. I took out my notepad and walked to the table, still daydreaming about a hunt.

“Hello, welcome to the Dead dog, what can I---” I stopped suddenly as the scent of foreign wolves hit my nose. I looked up from my notepad and found three guys just staring at me with uncertain expressions. Oh oh… I felt my wolf raise his haunches, baring his teeth. These guys didn’t smell like the Ghealach pack nor like the Silver hearts. They were loners.

“Guys!” One of them hissed at his companions and lowered his eyes quickly. As if realizing only now what they were doing they lowered their gazes aswell. My wolf, pleased by their submission, eased down. Alright, at least one of them was smart.

The smart one was the first to talk. “We’re sorry for barging in. We just arrived in the city so we don’t know the territories yet. Are you a Silver hearts pack member or are you…” he swallowed hard, “…a Ghealach?”

What was I supposed to say? They looked quite nervous, ready to jump up and defend themselves. It was three on one, it was probably only because they knew there were packs in this city that they lowered their eyes. They obviously weren’t looking for trouble.

“I’m… a loner actually,” I said in the end. That made them look up and I could clearly see them sizing me up again. “But my name is Reid Ghealach.”

Oh, how their eyes widened in surprise and the threat disappeared from them, replaced by awe and fear. “You… seriously? I heard about you. You’re the one that got kicked out of the pack right?” the one on the right asked.

Oh great… Didn’t know I was also famous among lone wolves. “Yeah, that’s me. So are you guys getting anything?” I could feel Tania burning a hole in my back.

“Uh…” They looked really unsure as they picked up the menus and looked them over. In the end, they decided to get three beers, two lamb stews, and a smoked salmon. My wolf growled quietly when I turned my back on them, but it didn’t seem like they would attack me. Wolves passing through the city weren’t anything unusual, most didn’t cause trouble. Most being the keyword. I should tell Father about them.

While Tania made the food I got a good look at them. The smart one seemed to be the oldest, probably late twenties. He had brown hair and quite pretty blue-green eyes. The one on his right that seemed in awe of me was the youngest; he looked barely eighteen. He had black hair and brown eyes and there was the start of what seemed like his first facial hair on his cheeks. The last one was a tall blond with blue eyes who had a bit of a mean look to him. He kept glancing my way with cautious curiosity.

“Here you go, enjoy.” I smiled as I set the food on their table. “You can just holler if you need anything else.”

“Um… Actually,” the smart one stopped me before I could leave. I turned around and raised my eyebrow. “Do you… Do you know where the Silver heart pack house is?”

Now that was interesting. The Silver heart pack house, something a bunch of loners would avoid at all cost. But somehow I didn’t think they were just asking to avoid it, if that was the case they would’ve asked about the Ghealach pack house too. And I knew from personal experience that Elliot, the Alpha of Silver hearts was keeping quite busy by recruiting new members. The current theory was that he wanted to be bigger than the Ghealach pack, because the alphas of the north were looking for a King that would rule all packs of the north. That was another problem everyone was ignoring in favor of dealing with Baltazar.

“Why do you want to know that?” I asked.

“Well…”

“Toby,” the blond growled warningly.

“What? He’s a loner too!” Toby argued, frowning at his friend. So Toby was the most dominant, the other guy was probably very close to his level and the young guy… was too busy eating.

“Did Alpha Elliot offer you a place in his pack too?” I turned the last chair at the table around and straddled it, leaning my arms on the back. It should make me seem like a less of a threat.

They all looked at me in surprise. “But aren’t you a Ghealach?” the small one asked.

“Yeah, but I got kicked out, remember? I came back to attend a funeral and I guess I’m sticking around for a while. Need a bit of time to think about the offer,” I explained, hopeful to gain their trust.

“Oh, sorry to hear that. My condolences. Death sucks,” Toby said, grimacing sympathetically.

“Thanks uhh… Toby?” I asked just to be sure.

“Yeah, I’m Toby, this is Clay.” He pointed to the blond. “And this is Ricky.” He pointed to the small guy who smiled and gave a little wave.

“So you guys are looking to join the pack?”

“Yeah… Is the rumor true?” Toby asked which made Clay grunt disapprovingly.

“What rumor?” I raised an eyebrow.

Ricky leaned towards me and whispered, “Loners all over the North America are saying that the Silver heart pack is accepting loners into the pack. It doesn’t matter who you are or why you’re a loner in the first place, if you come here, they will take you in.”

Mass recruiting, huh? I knew something like that was happening, but… accepting any and every loner? That seemed really risky. Could Elliot really keep all of them under control? What would happen when a loner became more dominant? Bigger packs had a tendency to split. What the hell was Elliot doing?

“I don’t know if that’s true, but he did offer me a place, so I guess he’s not too picky.” I shrugged. I took out my notepad and wrote down the address of the Silver heart pack house and then two phone numbers. “Here, that’s the pack house. The city is made up of three territories. The Ghealach part is marked by a blue moon graffiti, the Silver heart is marked by a silver heart. The last part belongs to the Purgatory vampire clan, their mark is a dagger,” I explained then pointed at the first number. “That’s Elliot’s number, you can tell him you got it from me, I don’t mind. The one under it is mine… Just in case you get in trouble around here, or just want to hang out.” I smiled and handed them the paper.

“Oh, this is great! Thanks!” Toby smiled shyly and put the paper into his pocket. Clay didn’t seem quite happy though. Actually, he outright glared at me. My wolf growled quietly in the back of my mind.

“What?” I asked, keeping my friendly expression on. He didn’t answer, just kept staring. “I haven’t given Elliot an answer yet. We might become packmates one of these days. So why not be nice?” Nope, not a chance. I have decided long ago… I couldn’t possibly join a pack that rivaled with my family.

“I guess…” he grunted and sipped his beer.

“Alright, I’ll let you eat.” I got up, but before I left I couldn’t keep myself from saying, “And Clay? I would advise you not to provoke me… I am much more dominant than you.” I turned my gaze on him and let my wolf show, changing my mossy green eyes into cold gray. He froze, fear visible on every inch of his face. “Don’t worry, I don’t attack without a good reason.” I smiled and ruffled his hair, pushing my wolf back. “Enjoy your food guys and good luck with Elliot.”

“Thanks, Reid! Let’s go eat together next time, yeah?” I heard Ricky call after me as I walked back to Tania behind the bar.

“Sure thing Ricky!” I called back but didn’t turn around. They stayed for an hour or two, eating and chatting and casting me curious looks every time I walked by. My wolf gave a sigh of relief when they left, finally not feeling watched. The rest of the day went by without an incident. I was feeling quite restless though by the time I parked my car in front of Scott’s house.