When she looked in Conor’s direction, he bared his teeth at her. Shay stared in horrified fascination as they began to change. There were fangs, but nothing like she’d ever seen. These chops would have done a saber-toothed tiger proud. She felt movement and noticed quite a few of the people backing away.
“What the hell is he?” someone asked.
Nikolai took up position in front of Conor. “He’s one of the ancients, a rare breed. Breeds like him are the reason for the vamp-shifter wars of old.”
Conor did something else, something that caused the noses of those gathered to twitch.
“He smells like a shifter,” someone muttered.
“How can that be? He’s a vamp!” someone else said.
Rory pushed Shay behind him. She tried to shove him out of the way, but he held her in place. Pinching him on his side, she scolded, “Quit that. Conor’s a friend.”
“I don’t know what the hell he is, but until I do, you’re staying where it’s safe.”
Shay sighed. “Again with the commands.”
“Why don’t we all sit down while Nikolai—or Conor—explains,” Alex suggested. The ones Shay identified as pack immediately complied.
Rory led Shay to the table, giving Conor a wide berth. Shay looked over her shoulder and winked at Conor. When she noticed Nikolai watching, she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. Nikolai was so dignified and formal in his old-world way, Shay couldn’t help but try to loosen him up. Shannon burst into laughter when she saw.
“What are you doing?” Rory asked.
“Nothing,” Shay responded innocently. “You know since he and Nik are family, that means Conor’s related to you as well, don’t you?”
“Shay…not another word.”
“I’m just saying…”
“Shay!”
She hummed the theme to The Addams Family under her breath, smiling wickedly when Rory’s chest rumbled with a low growl. He pulled out a chair, sat, and tumbled her into his lap, snarling when she tried to scoot into the empty seat next to him. Figuring she’d done enough for the moment, she subsided. Besides, he smelled really good. Shay turned her nose into his neck and inhaled, then licked the skin for good measure. Rory was instantly hard beneath her hip.
“Shayla, behave, please.” Rory sighed. “I’d like to hear this.”
She muttered under her breath but settled down. Now that her belly was full and bladder empty, another need was making itself known. She felt her sex clench. This Conor thing better not take too long.
When only Conor remained standing, he asked Alex, “What is it you would like to know?”
“How is it that you’re able to identify potential true mates?” Alex asked.
“And why do you smell like a wolf-shifter when you’re a vamp?” Rory added.
“He was talking to Alex, not you,” Shay couldn’t resist pointing out.
The man shushed her. Shay would have commented, but Kiesha was glaring at her. Okay, so this whole thing might be a little important. She could tangle with Rory later. Shay wrapped an arm around his neck and leaned against him, squirming as she tried to get comfortable. Sitting on Rory was like sitting on concrete. There was no give, no softness in his body. He shifted until she was held securely in his arms with her back against his chest, and she sighed. She wasn’t completely satisfied with her position, but this was as good as it got.
RORY EXAMINED CONOR as he stood before them. The man was an enigma, and he didn’t like puzzles. Even his wolf senses couldn’t detect exactly what Conor was. It didn’t help that his scent kept changing.
“My mother was a wolf-shifter, my father a vampire.”
Conor’s words caused an explosive reaction. Furious outbursts and heated denials filled the room. Even Shay quit her squirming, sat up, and took notice. A vamp and a shifter breeding? Impossible. His da had been well versed in the old ways and he’d never mentioned it being possible, but if it were…
His gaze shifted to rest on Shannon.
One voice rose above the rest. “Vampire and shifter matings are forbidden.”
“Aye and there’s a reason that is so,” Conor said quietly. “I, and others like myself, are the reason it was forbidden. Imagine a being with the combined strength of a vampire and shifter and none of the weaknesses.”
A weighty silence filled the room. That would be one damn powerful being, Rory thought.
Conor looked Rory in the eye. “You’ve the right of it. A damn powerful being indeed,” he said. “Such matings were rare. Offspring even rarer, but it happened. Like shifters, vampires mostly kept to their own kind. Then the plague hit, annihilating humans and decimating our old, females, and young. No species was exempt from the carnage.”
A gloom settled over the room. Even the lighting seemed to dim.
“Only the strong survived. Those that were left focused on surviving, rebuilding their clans, families…packs.” Conor’s gaze scanned the room. “Instead of pulling together, it was every man…every species for himself. What resources remained were fought over, many times to the death. The weak got weaker and the strong…more vicious.”
His focus turned inward. “Out of the darkness stepped a leader, a being like myself, both shifter and vampire. He managed to unite what was left of the packs, convincing them that the path to survival lay in banding together. Laws were written and obeyed or death was swift. ‘Protect the young and elderly, our women treasured above all.’”
Rory stirred at the familiar tenets. He wasn’t the only one.
“The wolf-shifters began to grow and thrive. Others noticed. Some of the other groups allied themselves and strengthened as well. Others remained apart, isolating themselves. Some died out…or were never heard from again.”
It was as quiet as the grave in the room. Barely a breath could be heard.
“Among the vampires a leader arose, only she wasn’t as…benevolent. For her it was all about power. Like Mangus, Fiala was half-vamp/half wolf-shifter. Unlike Mangus, she ruled by might. Those who opposed her were captured and killed. She wasn’t satisfied simply having vampires under her thumb. She wanted to rule the world.”
“Sounds like she had a screw loose,” Shayla murmured.
“There was a war,” Conor continued.
He heard Alex declare softly, “The vamp-shifter wars.”
Conor nodded abruptly, acknowledging Alex’s comment. “Many fled…hid. My parents among them. Fiala was finally overthrown, but by that time vamps and shifters alike had grown to fear and hate half-breeds such as myself. We were hunted. Matings between the two species were forbidden. My father died protecting us. By then I was old enough to hide what I was, mask my scent. My mother found a pack that took us in, and I was raised as a wolf.”
“That answers one question,” Rory stated. “What about the other?”
“I’m somewhat of a genealogist. As a near immortal, I’ve had plenty of time to indulge my habit,” Conor said.
Shayla snorted. “The man’s a freakin’ psychic, is what he is.”
“That too.” Conor smiled and his eyes…their color changed and began to swirl and glow. Rory clutched his mate to him, a hand pressed protectively against her stomach where his cub rested. He tensed, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
“Cool trick with the eyes. What else can you do?” Shay asked, sounding impressed, to Rory’s disgust.
Conor threw back his head and laughed, a deep belly chuckle that released the tension in the room. When he stopped, his eyes were back to normal. Or what Rory assumed was normal. With this guy, it was hard to say.