Kym Grosso - Tristan's Lyceum Wolves

“Ah, Jules, thanks for coming,” Tristan greeted her, reaching over to squeeze her arm, welcoming her to his home. “This, here, is a very important person of interest.” He looked down at Kalli, and continued. “She’s been roughed up and fed on by vampires. But I need her well enough to question. You should know that we think she’s sick.”

“Did she tell you that? What happened?”

“No, but during the car ride, she started freaking out, screaming for her pills. We managed to get them out of her car and gave her one. Alexandra claimed there was a strange taste to her blood. I don’t know.”

“So she’s been with Alexandra? How long?” Julie asked in a professional manner, yet she was well aware that the girl had probably been tortured by the bloodsucker.

“Yeah. About two days.”

“Can I see the pills you gave her?”

Tristan reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out the small bottle and dropped it into her hand. “Here, this is it. Logan grabbed her purse. I’ll see if he found anything else.”

Julie pushed down and screwed open the safety cap, and shook a few tablets into her hand. “Hmmm. Bottle’s not marked and neither are these pills. Could be some kind of generic.”

“Not sure, but she seemed damn anxious to take one. Almost like she was having some kind of a panic attack. As soon as she took it, she calmed right down. She’s been sleeping for a good thirty minutes now. But I really need to talk to her.”

“Okay, well why don’t you go take a break and I’ll get her cleaned up. Try to feed her something. Here, let me get my bag,” She walked back into the hallway, where she’d left her medical kit. Picking it up, she caught Logan’s eyes. She smiled and mouthed: “It will be all right.” She could tell he was worried about Tristan.

“Okay you two, leave me be. I’ve got some work to do,” she ordered.

Tristan stood, rubbing his hand over his face. Before he walked away, he turned again to Julie. “One more thing. She might be a runner. I’m going to have Simeon stand guard at the elevators. Unless she can sprout wings and fly out from forty stories, she won’t get far. But we don’t know if she’s dangerous, so be cautious, okay. Text me when you think she’s ready to talk. I’m gonna go downstairs for a while to Logan’s.”

“No problem. Will do, Alpha.” Julie knew Simeon wouldn’t let the girl out of the condo. He was one of the strongest wolves she knew. If anything happened, she’d call on him right away.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks, Jules,” Logan added.

Clapping a hand on Tristan’s shoulder, he walked down the hallway toward the elevators, relieved to get away from the girl for a while. Logan sensed Tristan’s frustration about not getting immediate answers, but even more overwhelming was his Alpha’s attraction to a stranger they’d just met. Unable to stop fate, he’d be damned if he didn’t fight tooth and nail to protect Tristan from being hurt. Despite his visions, he still wasn’t sure whether her nature was good or bad. Regardless, he was certain that the woman they’d just saved was about to rock Tristan’s world.

Tristan fell back onto the soft leather sofa and sighed. “Well, that was fucking fun.”

“Yeah, I hear ya. I was two seconds away from staking that vamp bitch tonight. Seriously Tristan, I don’t have your diplomacy skills,” Logan quipped. He went over to the bar and poured them each a sizable glass of whiskey.

“I know. If she didn’t keep the vampires in this city on such a tight leash, she’d be dead. And I’d be the first one lined up to kill her,” he declared flatly. And after tonight he meant it . How did someone torture a human like that and feel nothing? He just could not relate. It was as if the vamp was completely devoid of compassion. The only feelings she had were about her own needs.

“Not only is she narcissistic, she’s a true sadist. Not that I haven’t seen it before with other vamps, but damn, she’s nasty.” Logan fell alongside his friend, shaking his head and handing Tristan a tumbler.

Tristan took a large draw of the amber liquid, savoring the flavor as it danced over his tongue. “Thanks, brother. I swear I feel like I’m ready to punch something. I need to shift. Run. Something. I love the city, but it would be nice to just go wolf right now.”

“I hear ya.” Logan needed to run too, blow off steam.

“Have you got the purse?” Tristan asked. He needed to know more about the mysterious woman lying upstairs in his bed.

“Yeah, it’s over by the door. Not much in it. Standard girl stuff. There was identification. Name’s Kalli Williams. Twenty-nine years old. City address. Nothing really out of the ordinary for a human.”

“Any more strange pills?”

“Nope, nothin’. Listen, I know you’re frustrated, but the girl will wake up soon and we’ll get answers.” Logan wasn’t really sure that what he was saying was true, but he was always the optimist.

“Will we? I gotta tell ya that I’m not convinced that girl laying upstairs in my bed has anything to do with the fire. What do we really know? She’s guilty of taking a freakin’ snake? And while I’d like to know where the hell she took Eve, not even the vamps saw anyone go into Eden. I’m telling you, Logan, something else is about to happen. I know you saw it in your vision, but I can feel it and it’s not good. The meeting with Jax can’t come soon enough. I’ve got to know if he’s in on this.” Tristan raked his fingers through his hair.

“Well, friend, nothin’s happening for at least a couple of hours so we might as well just chill…maybe with Mira,” Logan suggested, slyly raising an eyebrow at Tristan.

A grin broke across Tristan’s face, knowing exactly what Logan was thinking, and it didn’t exactly involve relaxing. But after sporting a hard on for the last half hour in the car, he couldn’t deny that he needed to get laid as much as Logan did.

Soft knocking at the door got their attention. “Come in, Mir,” Logan yelled, unwilling to get up to answer the door.

Mira walked in with a clipboard in her hands, tapping it with a pen. Tristan and Logan watched as she slammed the door and started pacing, immersed in thought.

Without looking up, she began speaking. “Hi guys, just wanted to bring you an update. Talked to Willow, and about fifty percent of the pack will be moved in with her by the end of the weekend. Most of the others are going up to the mountains. You may need to talk to Zed and Nile; both want to stay in the city at their own places. I don’t know what’s up. They told Willow it was work related, but I’d bet you it has to do with a woman. Probably human.” She rolled her eyes and kept talking. “Um, let’s see. What else did I need to tell you? Oh yeah, I ran through the list of all potential clients. Most are screened and clear. I have one or two that still need clearance.”

She stopped in her tracks and looked over to the men, who were staring at her with wide grins on their faces, enjoying an adult beverage. “What? Am I boring you? Or is it that you’ve started without me?” she joked. She’d freed her long blonde hair from the confines of its clip.

“More like stopping,” Logan responded.

“Thanks for the update. I’m glad to see you have it under control,” Tristan replied, complimenting her work. She was nothing if not a type A person who could teach a course on responsibility. Her driven personality was quite congruent with her Alpha status within the pack.

“Want a drink?” Logan asked, toasting his glass up in the air.

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“Yes you are,” Tristan teased. He patted the cushion in between Logan and him. “Come, Mir. Sit with us. Relax a bit. It’s been a long night.”