Page 5 of Fangs for the Memories
“Szívesen,” he responds happily.
I feel a strange warm glow I’ve been understood. Languages were never my strong subject, but I’ve always been keen on trying to learn some of the local languages when I travel, so I’ve been doing my best, in between wedding planning and managing my business, to learn a little tourist Hungarian.
Wheeling my cases through the lobby to the elevators, I finally notice what’s been bugging me since I arrived.
The place is deserted. There are no other guests milling around, not one. Admittedly I came in on a late flight and it’s now ten in the evening, but even so. I’d expect to seesomeone.
I shake off the feeling. I’m being paranoid. It’s been a day.
As I get into the elevator, my phone starts to ring. A glance at the screen shows it’s my mother calling.
Which is absolutely the last thing I need.
Ferenc
“What do you mean?” I keep my voice low and even, despite every desire to shift and start removing heads. “How can the shipment be lost?”
“Your cousin…” The lesser wolf standing in front of me with his compatriot balls his fists to stop his hands from shaking.
“What about Max?” This time I can’t hide the growl.
“He had it diverted,” the second wolf says with a little more confidence. A confidence which swiftly departs as I unfold myself from behind my desk.
My office is deliberately intimidating. Dark wood, heavy furniture, and the scent of cigar smoke which most werewolves dislike, but I enjoy. It comes from the smoldering butt in the huge onyx ashtray on my desktop. I know it’s already disorienting the two beta wolves. I pick it up and give it a few puffs.
Their eyes water.
“So, let me get this straight. Mycousin, Max, told you to divert the shipment.” I pause as they nod. “And you did this without checking with me.”
Their moving heads stop suddenly.
“We thought…”
“You didn’t think,” I snarl, grabbing the nearest by the throat. “That’s the problem.” I pull him closer to me, his feet lifting from the floor as I use my height and strength to every advantage. “No one but me gives the orders, got it?”
“Yes, Mr. Kóbor.” His friend’s eyes are darting all around the room, looking for an escape, while the one in my clutches wriggles and chokes. “We understand. We’ll find the shipment for you.”
I release the hapless wolf from my grip, and he drops to his knees, coughing.
“Don’t bother.” I turn my back on the pair of them, walking back around my desk. “Get out of my sight.”
The pair of them nearly get stuck in the doorway, they’re trying to get out so fast. Both know they’ve got away lightly, very lightly, but if Max is involved, there’s no point punishing either of them.
I am not a monster, no matter what the humans call us or what the other syndicate families think of me. I’m firm but fair. Not like the vampires. They always bite first and ask questions later.
I only bite when there is a reason, and then I will ensure my victim doesn’t live long enough to tell any tales.
My phone vibrates on the desk. No surprises to see Max’s name appear.
Whatever those two wolves professed not to know, someone has alerted Max to the fact I know what he has done. I decide to let him stew, sitting back down in my chair and propping my feet up on the dark wood, I continue to enjoy my cigar as I look out over Pest from my office in Buda, the Danube sliding past, slowly, inexorably as time itself.
When my phone vibrates again, it’s my mother calling.
“Mother,” I answer with a sigh.
“Feri, I have found you a match,” she says, her voice metallic down the phone.
“How many times, Mother? I do not want a mate. I do not need a mate. If I choose to take one, it will be of my choosing,” I respond with practiced ease.
