CHAPTER 1

Loretta fluffed her shoulder length brown hair and sighed as she sat in her car watching the vampires go in and out of the seedy looking club. She really needed to get her hair cut. She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn it so long, usually preferring to have it a lot shorter. It made life a little easier when she shifted to wolf form, her fur more sleek and figure hugging.

She wasn't usually a girly girl, preferring to be more of a warrior; a hunter and protector. Her sleek, well-honed body was testament to that as was her position as Beta in the Hanlon pack. But ever since the night of the war last year she felt a little part of herself changing inside. She was letting her hair grow, paying more attention to how she dressed and moved. Christ, she'd even caught herself considering trying on some nail polish the other week.

She shuddered at the memory. Thankfully she had managed to restrain that girly impulse. She could just imagine the taunts she would have gotten from the other Betas if she'd shown up with bright red painted nails. Still, they probably would have looked pretty spectacular, almost as if she had talons which were dripping with blood. The image made her think of 'him' and her insides suddenly got all warm and tingly.

If there was a hard way or an easy way to do something, she always managed to select the hard way. She had been so close to death that night that it had taken her days to realise what meeting him signified. Only when she was back on her feet and getting around unaided did she finally realise just what had happened and just how screwed she really was.

Loretta sighed again and opened the car door, well toned, shapely legs rippling as her feet hit the sidewalk and she climbed out. She was here to see an asshole and it didn't look like he was coming out of the dive in front of her anytime soon. Which meant she had to go inside.

Her wolf stirred deep inside her, excitement warring with trepidation at the thought of walking into the nest of vampires on her own. They could kill her in a heartbeat and there was a good chance they would. Her only hope was that the man she was here to see would be present and would stop anything bad happening to her. Or at least she hoped he would.

She slid her hands down the sides of her deep crimson mini dress, her lips quirking in a little smile at the brevity of it. Cedar said to go in with all guns blazing and then had taken her shopping to buy the item that was now clinging to her like a second skin. She might as well be walking in completely naked, the dress showed off her body so much. Now that would have been amusing, watching the shock on the vampires' faces as a naked Were walked into their territory.

Squaring her shoulders, Loretta leaned into the car and grabbed her matching purse before straightening and locking the door. She couldn't put it off. Jared needed to know what was going on and the only way they could find out was by asking the man she was here to see. Heels tapping loudly on the tarmac, she crossed the road quickly and entered the aptly named club The Dive.

Sharp eyes quickly took in the large open room, the dark secluded areas which would afford humans with little or no view but were easy to penetrate for a Were. There was a medium sized dance floor with a few swaying bodies on it but mostly the room was full of private leather clad booths. A quick scent told her there were maybe a handful of humans present in the room but the rest were vampires, who were suddenly turning to look at her as she strode quickly across the room towards the bar against the right wall. She knew they could instantly scent she was a Were and that they would not be happy with her presence in their domain.

The brief, fragile acceptance which had begun between their species almost two year ago had broken down pretty quickly after almost a hundred vampires died in the abortive attack on the Hanlon compound. Now they were back to where they started, the majority of vampires detesting all Weres and the pack ready to kill any vampire who was not a personal friend of theirs.

Loretta reached the bar and stared intently at the man behind it. The music had died and a silence hung over the room as she felt close to a hundred and fifty pairs of eyes boring into her back and one pair staring at her face as intently as she was staring at him. The bartender's beautiful face twisted into a grimace of disgust as his hazel eyes swept her with contempt. He hissed loudly into the silent, tense room.

"No dogs allowed," he growled loudly, hissing again when she hopped up onto one of the bar stools and rested her hands on top of the bar.

"Andrei hired you," Loretta countered, forcing an amused drawl into her husky voice. It was better to let the entire room know as quickly as possible that she knew their boss. It would halt any action on their part for a moment. She knew he was their boss even though vampires didn't run in packs and have Alphas the way Weres did.

One meeting with the vampire all those months ago told her all she needed to know about him. He was a cold, ruthless killer with the most amazing smile and laughing brown eyes which he used as his best weapon to fool others into thinking he was harmless. Andrei Romanov was anything but harmless. He ruled these people in the room and he set Loretta's wolf on edge and her heart thumping with excitement. She'd always liked to live dangerously but Andrei was a step too far on the wild side even for her. That hadn't stopped her from volunteering to come here.