This was a surprising opener and I looked to Abel.
“Where should we sit?” the brunette asked like they were indeed at a party and had assigned seating.
“Show them their seats, Chen,” Abel ordered, and Chen moved, showing the women the seats that Jian-Li and I never took.
They followed Chen like they hadn’t a care in the world.
The other men drifted to their own seats, doing this cautious and alert.
Abel went to his and pulled me back in his lap.
The women watched this, and the minute my ass was settled, the brunette, smiling enormously, looked across the table at the blonde and declared, “Told you wolf traits would win out.”
The blonde shrugged, grinning. “It seems you’re right. Lucien will be disappointed.”
“Perhaps you’ll tell us who you are, then you can explain what the fuck you’re talkin’ about,” Abel growled.
They looked to him, appearing not offended in the slightest by his less than stellar hosting skills. The blonde spoke first. “Sorry. Very rude. I’m Leah, Lucien’s wife. He’s a vampire. Like a superhero one.”
“And I’m Sonia,” the dark-haired one stated before I could process the idea of a superhero vampire. “Queen Sonia, but no one calls me that unless Callum is feeling kingly, which is a lot since he is king. That being King of the Werewolves.” Her shoulders straightened and her eyes locked to Abel as she stated, “And I’m a she-wolf.”
Holy shitoly, female werewolves were hot.
Leah followed this with a quiet request. “Are you going to tell us who you are?”
Abel apparently wasn’t because next he demanded, “Explain what you meant about wolf traits winning out.”
“The lap thing,” Sonia shared, tipping her head to me. “Wolves hold their mates close in every way. To their hearts. In their minds. And when something like this is going down, even if it’s just lunch, they hold them on their laps.”
Wow.
Well, that explained that.
I looked to Abel, who I was surprised to see was looking at me and doing it like he didn’t even know I was in his lap.
This I took as him putting me there but not really paying attention to the fact he did. He just did it.
Out of instinct.
“You’ve been raised as human,” Sonia said softly, and both Abel and I looked to her.
“I have,” Abel shared.
“I was too. It’s a lot to take in when it all starts coming at you,” she replied.
“You were raised as a human?” I asked.
She nodded, then shook her head, then lifted her hand and waved it in the air before dropping it and saying, “I was, but by vampires. Though, I didn’t know they were vampires because I didn’t know there were vampires, or werewolves for that matter. It was all quite a shock when I found out and I didn’t handle it very well. But now it’s all good.”
Wild.
“Can you please give us your names?” Leah asked quietly, and Abel’s hand at my hip tightened.
“I’m Abel and this is my mate, Delilah.”
Both women smiled, but only Leah murmured, “Abel and Delilah.”
Abel looked to Sonia. “Are there many like us?”
“You mean here in Serpentine Bay, or generally, throughout the world?” she queried.
“Both,” Abel grunted.
“No to the first,” she answered. “Callum, Lucien, Gregor, and Yuri have been going out to see if they can sense any, but none since the night you were, well…attacked.”
“We’re very sorry about that, by the way,” Leah stated, leaning into the table, her head turned toward Abel and me. “It isn’t very vampire unless, of course, it’s provoked, and we know you didn’t do the provoking.”
“It isn’t very wolf either,” Sonia put in. “Unless someone is drunk or in a very foul mood or it’s Christmas.”
“Christmas?” I asked.
“That’s just the she-wolves,” she replied.
I stared.
“What we’re saying is,” Leah cut in, “this was an unprovoked attack. The King of the Werewolves and The Vampire Dominion know this, they condemn it, and they’re very sorry it happened to you.”
“We all are,” Sonia added.
“And supernaturals throughout the world?” Abel prompted without indicating he accepted their apology, though he didn’t throw it in their face.
“Thousands,” Leah said.
“Tens of thousands,” Sonia countered.
“Loads,” Leah stressed.
I felt Abel’s body, already tense, grow even tighter.
“You’ve never seen one,” Sonia guessed.
“No,” he grunted.
“I was raised by them but was having my wolf traits suppressed.” My head jerked at this bizarreness, Abel’s body grew even tighter, and she shook her head sharply as if physically pushing herself to get to the point. “Long story. That’s all good now too. But what I’m saying is, I didn’t know my kind even existed. You do. Can’t you smell the difference?”
“I can. I just never smelled one other than those who attacked Delilah and me,” Abel replied.
“Not in your life?” Sonia asked.
“No,” Abel answered.
“Interesting,” Sonia murmured.
“Why?” Abel rapped out.
This could go on for a while and the women were our guests.
Not to mention, I’d barely had a bite to eat and I was starved.
“Okay,” I cut in semi-loudly. “How about this? We let these ladies fill up their plates. I get them some drinks. We let them eat. And then we can interrogate them some more.” I looked down at Abel and asked gently, “Work for you, baby?”