She laughed. “Humans think supes are strange,too.”

Supes was the abbreviation that wasused for supernatural creatures, everything from witches toshifters to fairies.

Leaving Lance in the reception area, shewalked up the stairs to Caleb’s office. His office, like the otherson the floor, was made of glass, so she could see he was feedingfrom the neck of a scantily clad brunette.

Caleb lifted from her throat and said, “Comein, Aubrey.”

“I thought you ate right at sunset,” shesaid, sitting down in the plush chair across from the enormousmahogany desk. He licked the wound on the woman’s neck. It healedinstantly. He set the woman on her feet, patting her butt andpointing to the door.

The woman, a regular blood donor for herbrother, gave Aubrey a dirty look and stalked out of theoffice.

“She likes you a lot,” Aubrey mused.

Caleb pulled a handkerchief from his pocketand wiped his mouth. “I know. I told her there was nothing betweenus but the donations, but she keeps trying to worm her way into mychamber.”

“So drop her.”

“She’s a honey-blood.” At her arched brow,Caleb said, “Because of her ancestry, she has sweet blood. It’srare, and so damn tasty.”

“You vampires always think with your fangs,”she said, laughing.

“And I do usually feed right after sunset,but I had a meeting, so I took bagged blood to stave off my hunger.Now, what can I do for my favorite sister?”

“Only sister.”

“See? You’re the favorite.”

Tossing the invitation to him, she watchedwhile he read and then looked at her. “Are you going?”

“Should I?”

He handed the invitation to her and leanedback in his chair, rubbing his chin with his fingertips. “I don’tsee why not. If you want to go, then do it. If not, then don’t.Take guards with you, and for hell’s sake, don’t do anything toembarrass me.”

“As if I ever do.”

His brow arched. “During the June full moon,photos of you and two wolves made it to the tabloids.”

She blushed. At least she’d still had most ofher clothes on. A tabloid photographer had been recording thepack’s full moon celebration and had noticed her and her two wolfpals heading off into the woods and decided to see what the sisterof the master vampire of Belle Terra was doing. He’d gotten aneyeful for sure.

“I promise to keep my clothes on.”

He rolled his eyes. “Good grief, girl.”

She stood and walked around the desk to kisshim on the cheek. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Keep your clothes on.”

“I already said I would.”

“Some things bear repeating.”

With a wave, she left Caleb’s office, metLance at the foot of the stairs, and walked back to the hotel.After spending the evening thinking about the fight, she decided togo. It couldn’t hurt to see what it was all about. If nothing else,she’d get to wear a pretty dress and get out of the house for thenight.

Chapter Two

Saber-tooth tiger shifter Alaric cracked hisneck as he sat up in bed, his body drenched in sweat. He’d hadanother dream. Normally sex dreams were something he enjoyed, butduring the last year he’d begun to regularly dream about a femalewith dark brown hair and creamy skin. Over and over he foundhimself rolling around in bed in his dreams with the woman he wascertain was his truemate. The only problem was that he had nofucking clue who she was or where to find her. When the dreams hadfirst started, he’d ignored them, expecting to find his mate atsome point. As the nights turned into weeks, he’d decided totravel, hoping to stumble upon her. Joining up with the NWFA hadbeen the easiest way to travel.

The human government had regulations when itcame to shifters moving around the country. They were required toregister with each city they stopped in and state their business.Joining up with the NWFA had meant that Alaric and his pride hadn’tneeded to register with anyone because they were employees. Itsaved him a lot of red tape.