Page 13 of Tempest

Which was utter bullshit. The Council never had any issue dictating to witches and seers, creating laws to hold them in check, or using them to attack those deemedenemiesof the Council.

One of many reasons why Cash hadn’t exactly cried over the Council getting overthrown last year.

It had turned out, though, that vampires hadn’t all been killed by the hunters—despite their best efforts. Some had managed to flee across the ocean, hiding alone or in small groups in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the last decade, they’d begun to slowly come back, oftentimes being smuggled into the country by Liam’s mobster brother, Quinten.

Cash didn’t know what had changed that had drawn them back to North America since Finlay was pretty closed-lipped about his past and vamps in general. Until last year, the Council had still been ruling the parahuman community with total authority, and while hunters had lost some numbers—some clans even moving toward killing for money rather than fanatical beliefs—they were nowhere near being considered not a threat.

He had no idea how Finlay and Liam knew each other either. Liam hadn’t shared much when he’d introduced his second-in-command to the pack. He’d simply stated that they had knowneach other for a while, that he trusted Finlay, and that he had agreed to come and serve as his Second.

The only other vampire that Cash had met since then worked for Liam’s brother up in Chicago. The elder Amato had recently declared himself alpha of his own pack, despite the fact that he was human. It hadn’texactlybeen a surprise, considering the man surrounded himself with parahumans and had been leading them for years, but it was still unprecedented.

Nero, the vampire who worked for him—and was now officially one of his Enforcers—came down to Silver Oak sometimes to check in on Liam, though he never called it that. He’d show up every few months, hang around the Alpha House, flirt shamelessly with everyone he encountered, then disappear once more.

Cash had asked Finlay once if he and Nero were friends, and the vamp had just shrugged and said, “Of a sorts.”

When he’d pressed for an explanation of what that meant, Finlay had told him, “He slaughtered half my family a decade ago, and I’ve owed him a debt ever since.”

And then just walked away.

Like that was a completely normal thing to say.

Vampires were so fucking weird.

And while he was far from harmless, Cash had grown to trust him and knew he wouldn’t harm Ore unless he proved to be a threat to their alpha. It was frustrating sometimes the number of things his alpha and Second kept to themselves though. He knew it wasn’t fair to compare, but everyone else in the pack he’d known basically since birth. Everyone knew everyone else’s business—there weren’t exactly secrets in a pack as small and close-knit as theirs.

He hoped one day Liam and Finlay would feel comfortable enough to share more about themselves. It would be hard for some pack members to fully trust them until they did.

As soon as Ore’s cute little ass hit the chair next to his desk, Liam tossed his phone over his shoulder at Finlay without looking. The vampire caught it with a twitch of an eyebrow.

“If my brother gets his head out of his ass, let me know. Otherwise, hold that for me so I don’t throw it across the room.”

“Again,” Finlay murmured, tucking the device in the pocket of his jeans.

Liam curled his lip at the vamp, then focused on where Cash still stood at the door.

Answering the unasked question, Cash said, “Alpha Amato, this is Ore. He’s having some difficulty remembering anything from before he woke up inside our territory.”

The scent of surprise and disbelief filled the air around him, but no one spoke. Liam turned to the eagle, his wavy, blond hair just short of his shoulders and giving him a rather pirate-esque look. The faint scars at the base of his neck didn’t help and were another subject Liam didn’t talk about.

“Ore. Interesting name. Is that short for something?” Liam asked, dropping his feet from his desk and sitting upright.

“Forester, sir,” Ore said quietly, tugging at the hem of his borrowed T-shirt.

Rachel caught the gesture and threw him another look, but Cash ignored the leopard, keeping his full attention on Ore so he could pick up any discrepancies in his heartbeat or scent.

“I see. But you prefer Ore?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you think it’s strange you remember that but not what happened to you?”

Apprehension spiked in Ore’s scent, and he licked at his lips before shrugging. “I couldn’t say, sir. Pops said I was hurt p-pretty badly.”

The small stutter ripped at Cash’s heart. He had to clench his hands into fists to keep ahold of himself, his panther alreadygetting pissed at the fear and dismay Ore was displaying, his fingers twisting so hard in Cash’s shirt it was a surprise it didn’t rip.

“So you don’t remember what brought you to my pack?” Liam said. His voice was calm, but there was a thread of disbelief.

Ore shook his head. “No, sir. It’s all just… missing. I don’t know what happened, how I was hurt, or why I came here.”

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