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"I’ll go give the bartender lum as he watched Beth pull a bottle of what looked like expensive chaave hio"

Lyra nodded and watched hiinning at the bar Beth was busy filling solasses with some sort of concoction Lyra had never seen before Looked like tonight was going to be a party At least no one could say wolves didn’t kno to have a good tiot on the back froliuard and nearly knocked hin

As she watched hiive that sardonic little smile to Beth, who looked suspiciously pink-cheeked, she found herself wishing, just a little, that things were different Stupid, she knew, but true It wasn’t every guy who could walk into a den of olves and navigate it without a scratch

Of course, he wasn’t out of the Inn yet And the sight of a very large, very fa a beeline for Jaden h the floor Looked like this was the night for baptiss to get between Jaden and the one pack a that to show any real interest in Jaden was to risk having hie it

"Eric," she said s casually (she hoped) in between "I see you’re introducing yourself Jaden, this is my cousin, Eric Black"

Jaden raised one sli form over Finally, he extended his hand "Pleasure"

As expected, Eric ignored the proffered hand in favor of simple intimidation He didn’t crack even an artificial solden eyes like all the Blacks, he would have been handsome if he didn’t always look like he was about to sentence souest," Eric said "I heard there was a cat va to believe it until I saw you for ot how small you vamps can be"

Jaden smiled blandly "Yes Tiny It’s a wonder you noticedwell off the territory to drink"

"Jaden is here to learn about us," Lyra said very deliberately "Not to cause trouble He’s our guest, and the Alpha expects hiaze on her, and she saw the violence she’d heard sojust below the surface

"He’s already causing trouble Everyone knows there was another vaeven one in is a et one, then another… then you’re overrun Like cockroaches Those things live forever, too, seems like"

Lyra looked around at the faces of her pack, watching the to see if she would stand up to Eric or back down, to see whether she would defend the vament If he accepts Jaden’s presence, then so do I So should we all He’s been a good Alpha" She looked around "Change can be difficult, but it isn’t always bad"

Eric’s expression hardened a uess we’ll wait and see Dorien is worthy of trust But I doubt a vampire is, no matter how pretty his pro shaken and unsure She was very good at keeping those things to herself But when she turned back to Jaden, he looked as though he could see everything she was feeling as plain as day

Suddenly, everything about the Inn--the people, the music, the noise--was tooall day felt like it was co, and she wanted to be the hell out of here before she cru with Jaden now seeet out of here," she said

He nodded, and his lack of co point she was "Lead the way," was all he said

She didn’t look at hiht behind her like a shadow People ood-byes, a few goggling at Jaden as though he was so a few cordial good-byes of his own and wondered whether it would make any difference It wouldn’t if Eric, who already had a crowd around hiainst hiest of theht, trying to convince herself that she could do as needed, that she had a real chance to clai, all she could see was Eric’s broad forlare

For the first tile shred of confidence that she would prevail

All she had was tattered hopes, an unwanted vampire, and dull despair

Chapter ELEVEN

LYRA UNLOCKED her little pickup with her keychain, jerked open the driver’s side door, and slid in Jaden quickly got in on the passenger side Once the doors slammed, they sat there silently for a moment in the dark She’d felt aard in the bar, but at least there had been people around as a buffer Now, it felt a lotthe key in the ignition, uncomfortably reminded of her first make-out session The car, the dark, the tension…