Pack Master (Vampire Kings 3)

The vampire king followed Henry into his own office, trailing him with an expression that was quite difficult to read but most likely meant pain for someone.

“I’m here to help,” Henry repeated.

“Yes, you mentioned that.”

“It’s obvious you've been handling Will like a pup, and I don’t blame you for that. He acts like one more often than not. But now that he can turn when he pleases, it’s time to change approaches.”

Maddox stepped on the rug. It squished, because it, like almost everything in his home capable of taking on water, had taken on water.

“What do you want destroyed, your property, or your relationship?”

“Should I have to choose between them?”

“At the moment, it is inevitable. He didn’t intend to set a fire, and he certainly didn’t bring the fire department. What’s happened tonight is a series of unfortunate events.”

Maddox looked at him with that elegant, ancient gaze that suggested he was humoring Henry.

“I know I brought you here to help. Maybe I should have made it more clear. I want you to help Will. Not me.”

“You’re the rational, older, more powerful being. How you handle him is how he will behave.”

It was starting to feel like an episode of a particularly British show Maddox had once watched. Super Nanny. Henry was a heavily tattooed wolf version of the Super Nanny, and he, it appeared, was here to tell Maddox what Super Nanny inevitably told the parents of every out-of-control brat in existence: that it was actually all their fault.

Maddox took the news the way any Midwestern couple would. He took great and immediate offense. Unlike a Midwest housewife, however, he knew how to hide it behind a veneer of calm rage.

“He was locked away while we cleaned. He should have been cleaning with us. And he should be compensating you for all losses. More importantly, he should care about the house because it is where he lives. Every wolf needs pride in its den.”

“All good points well made,” Maddox had to admit. This human wolf was not as stupid as he seemed when he was crossing a vampire king.

“I think Will’s probably come to his senses by now,” Henry said. “I’m going to take him out and talk to him about what he’s really angry about. The fact that we’re going to destroy his father.”

“Your wolf form is very impressive.”

The first words Will heard as he slid from beast back to man were ones of compliment, coming from Dante.

“Thanks,” he said. Nobody seemed to remember the spanking thing. He'd managed to overshadow it with his awesome wolfness. Cool. Very cool.

The door behind them opened. Henry emerged, followed by Maddox. Will found himself looking to Maddox for signs of emotion. Anger. Forgiveness, maybe. He didn’t see anything. He saw a dark wall of hidden emotion, with perhaps just a hint of wait until I get you alone behind it.

“Come with me,” Henry said. “Put some clothes on first.”

Will glanced at Maddox. Maddox nodded, inscrutable. Will obeyed.

A few minutes later they were walking down the city street. Will found that he liked walking with Henry. He felt a similar way to the way he felt when he was out with Maddox — protected.

“Where are we going?”

“I saw a place that sells a hundred kinds of ice cream a few blocks from here.”

“I don’t want ice cream.”

“I do,” Henry said simply.

Henry got a fudge ripple cone. Will got nothing. A spanking was as close to juvenile as he wanted to display himself being tonight. Together they went to a nearby park. Will thought about warning Henry about the vampires that wanted his head, but he didn’t bother in the end. He’d decided to see what Henry was made of.

“Your father is a monster, William. You know that as well as we do. That’s why you brought him back. I know that you feel loyalty to him. That is the pull of blood.”

“He’s not your monster to slay.”

“Who else will? Maddox won’t. You won’t. He’s loose and killing innocents. He has to be stopped. I think you know that as much as you resent it. And I think it’s half the reason you’re struggling with your own appetites.”

“What do you eat? How do you take flesh without killing?”

“We used to take from those recently passed.”

“Like jackals, you mean. You won’t make your own kills. You chase ambulances? Come upon roadside accidents?”

“Our kind has survived as best they can. There are new advancements. Lab grown flesh. Never was a human, so no moral issues. You, we, can indulge as much as we like without guilt. Or sometimes we get donated flesh.”

Will frowned. “Why didn’t Maddox mention that to me? About the lab stuff?”

“He is a vampire. They feast on more than mere flesh. They drink blood, and they take it direct from the living thing. We are harder to feed.”