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In this chapter, the pack has a new packmate! It's time to hit the Strip and celebrate!

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After being coaxed out of the library by the pack, Kaiden was given basic explanations of the world he had found himself dragged into. The protectorate, mages, The Pure that he was almost victim to, the Auspices and his auspice the Cahalith, and most importantly the role that he now has to play to keep the balance between the Spirit World and the Mundane.

By the end of it, Kaiden sat at the dining table with David and Colin and was staring off into the horizon. Despite there being a wall in the way.

Colin, while sitting on the table instead of a chair, waved a hand in front of Kaiden's face. After he got no response from the newest pack member he turned to David and said, “He's taking it better than you did."

“I didn't take it that bad," David said with a scowl and crossed arms as he slouched in one of the dining chairs.

“David," Colin said like a disappointed parent that caught their child in a lie. “You were having panic attacks every few hours for the first few days."

“Can you blame me?" grumbled David.

“No, but that wasn't my point," said Colin.

“Does anyone actually take it well?" asked David.

Colin shrugged, “My mother did. But people like her are a rarity."

Kaiden broke out of his silence and asked in a soft voice, “Did you?"

Colin shook his head, “Oh no, I don't count. I always knew. I was born and raised in this world."

“You were born a werewolf?" Kaiden asked.

Colin shook his head again, “I wish. I'm a wolf-blood like you were."

He then explained to Kaiden what wolf-bloods were, and the different variety of tells they could have. He showed off his own tell, and both Kaiden and David averted their eyes when Colin stripped naked so he could put on his hide.

“So you're a red wolf," said Kaiden.

Colin nodded with a smile after changing back to Hishu, “You can tell the difference? Most people in Vegas can't. Well, the humans in Vegas I mean."

“Yeah, I'm not stupid," said Kaiden which made David glare at him and scowl.

Kaiden didn't notice David's glare and asked Colin, “So you lot are gonna teach me to do, well, everything?"

“Not everything, no," said Colin. “The basics will be taught by the elders in the protectorate. That's where you'll choose a tribe to join."

“You mentioned the tribes before," said Kaiden. “Who are they and what's the differences between them?"

“There are five Forsaken tribes. The Blood Talons, The Hunters in Darkness, The Iron Masters, The Storm Lords, and then finally my, and David's tribe, The Bone Shadows," said Colin. “All of them have their own specialities that set them apart from each other."

Colin continued, “The Blood Talons' speciality is killing things. If you need to guarantee something dies, send them. They can't really do much else though, and are at a complete loss when tooth and claw aren't enough."

“The Hunters in Darkness have a similar specialty to us Bone Shadows, but they're far too narrow in their goals. Focusing on just their own territories and the hosts of the Plague King and the Spinner-Hag. But I have to admit, they are superb trackers and trappers. If you need something found, or not let something escape they're the ones to go to."

“The Storm Lords are a cold bunch. They specialise in hunting the Ridden and the Spirit-Claimed which are spirits who crossed the gauntlet and possessed a human. Although I haven't gotten to it yet, spirits are the Bone Shadows specialty. Yet, for some reason, they think just because they're in the Mundane and in a human rather than a fetish that it's their prey? I don't think so."

Kaiden and David slowly looked over to each other as Colin talked about the different tribes. They shared a look with each other as they realised Colin's explanations of the tribes very clearly were just going to be demeaning all the others except the Bone Shadows instead of being a proper impromptu lesson on the tribes of the Forsaken.

“The Iron Masters-"

The sound of a book slamming shut came from the library and Lucas shouted out, “Okay, stop! Stop!"

Lucas stormed out of the library, into the dining room and sat down in one of the dining chairs. He gave Colin an annoyed look and said, “The Iron Masters, my, Jesse's, and Tsu'mara's tribe, specialise in humans. We specialise in adapting to the modern human world."

“To the detriment of the Hisil because humans are so rooted in the Mundane," said Colin. “Harmony has two sides, you can't focus so much on the Flesh."

“And you Bone Shadows focus too much on the Hisil to the detriment of the Mundane," snapped Lucas. “And a lot of the stuff your tribe insists on focusing on has been dead and buried for thousands of years. What use could it have to us now?"

The pair continued to argue for several minutes about their tribes. Kaiden leaned over to David and asked, “Is this a common argument?"

“It's new to me," said David watching the pair argue. “But I have an uncanny feeling that it hasn't been the first time this came up."

Lucas and Colin kept arguing, only stopping when Morrison came through the front door alongside someone else. A now familiar young woman with long curly brown hair, brown eyes and was dressed like a trucker with blue jeans, and a torn sleeve denim jacket over a flannel shirt.

Dixie Clawblade.

Morrison glowered at Lucas and looked at Colin with what seemed to be disappointment. He asked, “What are you two fighting over? It's usually Lucas and Madhouse, not you and Lucas."

Colin avoided Morrison's eyes and said, “Nothing, Elder."

Lucas nodded, “Yeah, it was nothing, Howlmore."

“Didn't seem like nothing," said David. “You were at each other's throats about our tribes."

David realised, at the exact moment that the words left his lips, that that was a mistake to say. Because both Lucas and Colin gave him furious glares.

Morrison stood tall and proud and said, “Ah, yes. You're gonna have to join a tribe. There's no better tribe to join than mine. The Iminir. The Storm Lords."

David, Colin, and Lucas all rolled their eyes. But Kaiden, wanting to hear a Storm Lord's perspective on their tribe, asked, “What are the Storm Lords?"

Like a soldier proud of his service, Morrison answered, “We're the oncoming storm. Ice is in our veins and iron is in our bones. We're the unstoppable killer, the death that walks behind. Where lesser predators would break from the hunt, collapsing from exhaustion and pain, we continue."

Morrison then continued, waxing poetic about the Storm Lord's reputation as leaders among the Forsaken, and their most renowned prey, the Spirit-Claimed.

Colin leaned over on the table with his head in his hands with a groan as Morrison continued to talk about the Storm Lords. He gave Kaiden a side eye and said, “You just had to ask a Storm Lord Cahalith to talk about their tribe."

“How was I supposed to know he wouldn't shut up?" Kaiden shot back. “You weren't exactly being impartial about the other tribes."

Kaiden then asked Colin, “What about the Bone Shadows?"

Colin perked up, happy to finally get to talk about his tribe. Before he was able to say anything though, David cut him off, “Most other tribes think we're insane. Even by this world's standards. I wouldn't blame them either. Because out of all the tribes we associate the most with the Spirit World, with spirits being the prey we hunt the most. The Spirit World is an insane, illogical place. You can't deal with something like that so often without becoming touched in the head or already being like that to begin with."

Colin jutted in, “It isn't just spirits we hunt."

David nodded and added, “We also hunt ghosts and other spirit-like creatures. And unlike the other tribes, more often than not our Sacred Hunts won't end with us killing them but with us binding them first to get information and secrets. That's our true speciality, ancient secrets and spirit dealings. So if there's anything about the Spirit World or otherworldly, the Bone Shadows are the ones to seek out for their advice."

Kaiden looked David over, his unkempt stubble and greasy black hair, his constant slouch, his crazy and demented eyes, and a constant fiddling with his hands. He certainly looked how David described Bone Shadows as being percieved.

He asked, “What tribe do you think I should join?"

Lucas, Colin, and Morrison all butted in. Saying Kaiden should join their tribes and why he should. But David spoke over all of them. “It's your choice. If you join mine, we'll be three for three. Three Iron Masters and three Bone Shadows. So we'd have both sides of the Gauntlet covered. But the three of us with the most experience, barring the Old Man, are Iron Masters, they can teach you a lot more than Colin or I can since I'm new and Colin is just wolf-blooded. But if you join the Storm Lords we'd have someone's who's the inbetween of both our worlds. Someone who hunts prey in the Mundane that came from the Spirit World."

“You didn't answer my question," said Kaiden. “What tribe do you think I should join?"

David remembered back to the first werewolf he met since he woke up after his First Change, the Iron Masters elder that he never got the name of, and what he told David.

“I think our territory would benefit most by having you join the Bone Shadows," answered David. “Having three packmates in each of the two tribes would be the best way to keep the balance between the Mundane and the Spirit World. Three to cover the Mundane, and three for the Spirit."

“But again," said David. “It's your choice. You don't have to make it right away. I'm sure you'll meet people from the other tribes that'll explain why you should join theirs."

Dixie spoke up, “So you lot done bickering about what tribe the pup should join? I'm on a schedule and we gotta get him and you lot to Vegas before the Pure launch their attack."

“Us?" asked David. “Why us too?"

“You have a new packmate," Dixie said with a huge smile, “That's a call to celebrate. Have some fun on the strip. Have some fun. Gamble, watch the mages do their weird stuff on stage with The Herd being none the wiser."

“I only just got a job a couple days ago," said David. “The Old Man said I can't just not show up so soon."

“They already know," said Morrison, which made David look at him in surprise. “As far as they're concerned, you're going to Vegas to train with the Metro Police for a couple weeks."

“What about our territory though?" asked Lucas. “We can't leave it unprotected."

Dixie made a face and scoffed, “You think I came here, through Pure territory, alone after you lot kicked the hornet's nest? No, I came with backup that'll look after Pioche while you all get R&R."

“And where are they?" asked Lucas.

Dixie pointed with her thumb over her shoulder towards the front door, “Outside talking to your other two packmates."

“Oh," said Colin. “So that's where they've been."

Morrison spoke up, “The pups are also too green to be going up against an entire pack of Pure. But I'm not going to leave this territory either. The locus here is too valuable for me to risk leaving it. It's the best outside of Vegas."

“Elder, I'd rather you go with them. They're your charges after all," said Dixie.

Morrison growled at her and his hands grew sharp claws.

Dixie stammered nervously, “But you can stay here if you want."

Dixie then quickly got the other packmates to pack some clothes, and ushered them out of the house. There they saw Tsu'mara and Jesse chatting with four, large burly men with full moon tattoos on their arms. The four men were paying the most attention to Tsu'mara, with them and Tsu'mara cracking jokes and laughing with each other.

Colin stopped and said in shock, “Oh, Luna. Those are Blood Talons Rahu."

He turned to Dixie and asked, “Don't you think that's a bit much?"

She shook her head and said, “You heard the Old Man. The locus here is the best outside of Vegas. The Protectorate can't risk it falling into the Pure's claws."

David noticed something missing.

“Where's your truck?" he asked. The only cars that were parked outside the house were Morrison's truck, the sheriff's department's SUV, and another plain grey SUV.

“I'm not bringing my baby back here after what happened last time. I only just got the last of the bullet holes repaired," said Dixie.

Both David and Lucas cringed as they remembered back to when they first moved in. When Dixie screeched off after Morrison started unloading a shotgun after they were dropped off unannounced on him.

Dixie spoke up to get the entire pack's attention, “Come one, let's get out of here ASAP in case the Pure decided to attack early because of me coming here."

The pack then started making their way to the SUV Dixie arrived in. All except Tsu'mara, she stayed with the four other Rahu. She said, “I think I'm gonna stay here to recover and get to know these four better."

“But we're supposed to be getting R&R," said Colin.

Lucas gave Colin a light slap on the shoulder, “Colin, she's a Rahu getting to know a pack of Blood Talons Rahu. That will be R&R for her."

The rest of the pack climbed into the SUV and Dixie drove off. But instead of going South following the way they first came to Pioche, she drove them North.

When asked why, she said, “The Pure almost certainly have some sort of detection set up to let them know when Uratha pass through their territory. So we can't let them know that five Uratha are leaving Pioche soon after five arrive. Going around will make them think Pioche only got reinforcements."

So they took an extra hour by going North through the mountains, then back South until they rejoined the US93. Going through Alamo back to Las Vegas. But not before stopping to let Matt Dane's pack know that they were only passing through, as was proper manners.

***

The pack opened the double door to their suite. The first thing they saw was a black roman bust on a gold line blocky pedestal in a small hallway. Outside of the hallway was a small living room with a central seating area with mismatching couches surrounding a large, blocky brown coffee table.

On either side of the living room were circular alcoves, the one on the left had a small circular dining table, and the one on the right had a bar area with a small island lined with four separating it from the living room.

The suite's walls were painted white with raised paneling.

In small separate rooms across from the circular alcoves, on the other side of the hallway was a small kitchen near the dining area, and across from the bar alcove was a door to a restroom with a grey marble sink top.

“Fancy," said Kaiden as he sat on one of the mismatched couches, a boxy white two seater.

“But not much of a view," said Jesse who had somehow got past all of them without them noticing and was standing in front of the window behind the central couch, which was a grey fabric couch. The window only showed a view of the roof and a wall.

“We're just pups," said Lucas as he walked in, dumped his duffel bag on the coffee table and sat on the couch in front of Jesse. “You expected the council to give us a Strip view? Consider yourself lucky that we got one of the Julius suites."

David said bitterly from the hallway, “He gets Caesars Palace and I got a fucking grungy warehouse.".

Colin slapped him on the arm for his language before saying, “That's because you were on short notice."

David pointed a finger at Kaiden, “And he wasn't? We only found out about him the day before yesterday."

“Can you not talk about me like I'm not here?" asked Kaiden from the white couch.

Colin just shrugged, which infuriated David. Colin said, “All I know is that the elders had plans to send Lucas and the others to Elder Morrison but had to delay those plans when Lucas had that vision of you."

“You still haven't told me what that was," said David with crossed arms.

“You still haven't asked him?" Colin asked him before turning to Lucas, “He hasn't asked you yet?"

Lucas shrugged, “I didn't even know he wanted to know it."

Colin pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, “Will you just tell him? He's clearly never gonna ask you."

He then stomped off to the bedroom which had its doorway next to the bar.

“Well, uh," said Lucas, watching Colin storm off, “Like a day or so before we were originally supposed to go to Pioche, I had a vision of a werewolf thrashing in a straight jacket, wailing in sorrow and agony as the two points of a crescent moon pierce his skull."

David threw up a hand, “That's it? How'd that dictate that I was supposed to join this pack?"

“It wasn't the content of it," said Lucas before he tapped himself on the chest. “It's the fact that *I* had the vision. The fact that an Ithaeur had a vision of another Ithaeur means that you were destined to join my pack."

“But the Moon Shadow Riders don't have an Ithauer. Their Elodoth told me that," said David. He jumped when he heard a drawer slam shut from the bedroom at the mention of the biker gang's Elodoth. “So how would they have even had a vision of me?"

“If they have a Cahalith, then they could've had the vision," answered Lucas.

“Why would they?" asked Kaiden.

Jesse answered with a laugh,"Cause they're the ones that have constant visions of the future. So strap in, you're gonna be getting those soon enough."

Lucas called out to Colin in the bedroom, “Do they have a Cahalith?"

“Yes," snapped Colin from the other room.

Lucas looked at David and said, “Well there you go. Their Cahalith not having the vision of you was probably all the more reason that the Council decided that you were destined for our pack."

“A fact that tool ignores," snapped Colin from the bedroom before slamming another drawer shut.

“What is his problem with their Elodoth?" muttered Lucas.

“You don't know either?" asked David.

Lucas shook his head, “He met them after he stopped tutoring me."

Kaiden spoke up, nervous. “Not to interrupt, but where's everyone going to sleep? There's only one bed."

“The bed," said everyone else in unison.

Lucas explained, “We all sleep in the same bed in Urhan."

Kaiden was shocked at the response. “I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you people."

David just groaned, “Don't bother. They'll know when you sneak into bed."

Lucas and Jesse smirked in response, with Jesse wiping away a fake tear and saying, “Our pup's growing up."

David scowled at the crossdresser who picked up the landline phone from the side table next to the couch Lucas was sitting on. He asked, “Room service is free for us, how much do you think we can get away with?"

Lucas snatched the phone from Jesse's hand and said, “If you feel the need to ask that question, then I don't trust you to order it."

Jesse snatched the phone back and was immediately tackled to the ground by Lucas where they started wrestling to gain control over the phone.

Hearing the commotion, Colin rushed out and said, “David!"

“What?" asked David.

Colin looked over to where David was still standing at the hallway entrance area and said, “Oh, sorry. Force of habit."

He then grabbed David's hand and started pulling David out of the suite, “Let me make it up to you. Let's hit the casino floor. I haven't played poker in ages, I'll show you how to play."

“You're just gonna leave me with these lunatics?" asked Kaiden as he quickly slid to the other side of the couch he was on when Jesse's and Lucas' fight got close to him.

“Yep," replied Colin before closing the door.

***

David sat at the poker table with Colin and two other players, a pretty Australian woman who kept trying to flirt with the dealer, and an overly pale man. He covered his nose with a hand to suppress a sneeze, the man had a strange stale and stuffy smell that David found offensive. He smelt like a retirement home, which was a massive contrast to the man who looked to only be in his thirties.

He looked around the casino floor as he waited his turn. They were in the centre of a round sectioned off area with blocky pillars with geometric roman designs. A large gold accented crystal chandelier hung above them. Matching crystals lined the ceiling in an umbrella pattern that led to the central chandelier.

The slots area outside of the tabled area drew his attention the most. A vast majority of the slot machines were manned by elderly people. But all of the people, no matter the age, had a blank, dead-eyed look as they mindlessly tapped the button to spin. They never moved from their respective slot machines. They didn't even look away from the screens. The only things that moved were the hands that constantly tapped the buttons.

David blinked and his eyes became golden as he looked into the Spirit World. What he saw was an orderly line of gambling spirits behind each slots player. They looked like Old West bandits, with bandanas covering their faces and only showing eyes that were spinning slot reels, and only had a single metal arm. They would hover around for a few moments before leaving. Most would rejoin at the back of the line, but a few would go elsewhere out of sight.

One spirit, though, spent a long time feeding off the essence produced by one of slots players. Long enough that the other spirits in line started getting agitated.

But a security guard, walking up and down the aisles of machines changed his route and started beelining for it. The spirit fled when it saw him approaching, fleeing out of the casino floor and freeing up the slots player for the next spirit in the queue.

The security guard stopped after the spirit fled and was about to return to his rounds when he noticed David's staring. He narrowed his eyes and stared David down, suspicious.

David tilted his head in a canine fashion, confused as to why the security guard would be staring him down. The guard noticed the head tilt and a look of recognition came across the guard's face. He smiled slightly, gave David a nod, and then continued with his rounds.

A nudge to his side broke David out of his thoughts.

“It's your turn," said Colin.

David looked at his cards. He had a three of clubs, a four and five of hearts, a six of diamonds, and a seven of hearts. He looked at them closely, trying to remember the hands that Colin quickly taught him as he was being dragged to the casino floor. A Straight, that was it.

He happily slid forward two green one hundred dollar chips and said, “Raise."

Immediately upon David sliding them forward Colin and the pale man said, “Fold."

“Call," said the Australian tourist, sliding forward two green chips of her own.

They revealed their cards and they both had Straights, but the tourist's started with a five of diamonds. She excitedly clapped and gave a gleeful squeal before taking David's chips.

David sadly watched them go when Colin whispered under his breath so only he could hear, “Don't make it so obvious you have a decent hand next time."

He then quickly added, “And shift your eyes back to normal."

David blinked his eyes back to his Mundane brown and continued with the game.

He tried to take Colin's advice to heart, but everyone almost always seemed to be able to tell when he had a good or bad hand. So what winnings he managed to claw for himself, he had quickly lost until all he had left was a single red ten dollar chip. He decided to cut his losses and leave the game.

As he got up to leave, Colin grabbed his arm and said in a shocked and embarrassed tone, “David, tip the dealer."

He then added under his breath, “Can you put some essence into the chip too? For luck?"

Colin looked pleadingly up at David in a way that could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

David's breath hitched in his throat, and being called out for not tipping in front of the others at the table, he couldn't help but relent to Colin's request. He discreetly bit his thumb, disguising it as nervously chewing his nail, and drew a small dot of blood. He put the blood on the chip and flicked the chip towards the dealer.

“Thank you, sir," said the dealer in a flat voice.

Colin continued playing long after David left, and unlike David, he was doing well. Great even. He won round after round. The Australian tourist had long since lost her happy demeanour, no longer having fun as she was on a horrible losing streak.

The pale man wasn't happy at all. He'd been glaring at Colin ever since David left. He was still winning rounds, but took a sudden dive in how often after David tipped the dealer.

Colin knew the essence he tricked David into bribing the spirit with that would be overlooking their table would only help him for so long. So he decided to play one last round. He looked at the tourist, she was sweating bullets. She clearly didn't have a great hand.

He then risked a glance towards the pale man. He couldn't get a bead on him, couldn't find a tell. He didn't break out in sweat, his face never twitched into a slight smile or frown whenever he looked at his cards. He was practically a corpse. Impossible to read.

Colin looked at his own cards, an ace, three, eight, Jack, and two of clubs. A flush. Not the best hand, but far from the worst either. If he was able to read the pale man like he could the tourist he'd be confident in this final round. If he folded, he'd still come out with a profit, but he'd lose most of what he won. He didn't want to waste the essence David spent on the chip.

So he took a risk.

As he looked at his cards he kept his face neutral except for a single eyebrow. He twitched it up ever so slightly to make it look like an unconscious micro expression from seeing a great hand.

“Raise," he said, sliding most of his chips into the pot. If his bluff failed, he'd come out having lost money.

“Call," said the tourist with a slight nervous tremor in her voice. She was banking on Colin bluffing with a much worse hand than he had. But she wasn't who Colin was worried about.

The pale man was silent for several moments, just glaring at Colin who kept a straight face under his scrutinising gaze. Colin prayed that the essence David paid was enough to get him through this final round.

Finally the man said, “Fold."

Colin showed his cards and he heard a groan of disappointment from the tourist. He looked at her cards. Three aces. A Three of a Kind.

He gave a sigh of relief and collected his winnings..

Colin risked a glance towards the pale man's cards and his stomach dropped. Four queens. A Four of a Kind. He looked up at the man and his mouth went dry as he saw the first clear and readable emotion from him since David left. He was furious.

“Well that was fun. But I don't want to tempt my luck any further," said Colin, injecting a mirthful tone into his voice and making it sound like he was genuinely lucky and didn't just cheat.

If he was in a Mundane human casino he'd be able to get away with it no problem as they wouldn't be able to find any proof. Since he used spirits to do it. But this wasn't a Mundane casino, it was a casino in the Las Vegas Protectorate. They would be able to prove he cheated and he did not want Elder Howls-For-Lost-Skies to find out that he'd been cheating at poker again.

Just before he left the table, he tossed a green one hundred dollar chip towards the dealer.

“Thank you, sir," said the dealer with a shocked but thankful tone.

Colin quickly made his way off the casino floor.

He realised he spent longer at the table than he expected and felt the call of nature before he was able to make it back to the pack's suite. He was washing his hands in the sink of the casino's public restroom when he heard the door open.

The hairs on the back of his neck raised and he looked up into the mirror to see who it was.

Colin saw in the mirror the pale man he cheated at the poker table enter the restroom with eyes trained on him. Colin was on immediate alert when he saw how the man held himself. Like a predator on a hunt. He moved not with the physical power that he was used to from Uratha, but with a feline grace.

He waited for an extra moment after the door closed behind the man before saying, “I wouldn't do that if I were you, leech."

He turned around and looked up, to see the man already standing over him. The deathly pale vampire was uncomfortably close to him having crossed the distance supernaturally quickly. Had Colin waited for just a fraction of a second more the leech would have struck. That unnerved Colin, at best he would've been killed and his body left in the casino's restrooms for one of the patron's to find and the vampire long gone. At worst, he suppressed a shudder, Embraced. Either way it would've proven a disaster to Kaiden's welcoming party into the Pack.

A pit of fear formed in the small wolf-blood's stomach, the encounter could still prove deadly to him if he didn't play his cards right. But despite that fear, he couldn't help but feel excited at the deadly game being played at that moment. Or, perhaps, it was because of that fear. Because, after all, where was the fun in the hunt if it didn't involve some amount of risk?

He was dealing with a vampire, their whole world revolved around social politicking and manipulation, so this was someone who was just as skilled a hunter in this regard as he was. If not more. He needed to act quickly, calling the vampire out as a leech and showing he was affiliated with the Uratha would only knock him off balance for so long. He needed to keep him off balance, and so he started to walk around him with more confidence than he actually felt to buy just a bit more time to find what buttons to push and, at the very least, come out of this encounter with all his blood inside his body.

The vampire's eyes followed him like a cat's would a mouse as Colin walked around him, ready to pounce at any moment. Colin took stock of the vampire. It was much easier to do so now that they weren't at the poker table. He still looked to have a little life left in him. So he must be on the younger side for a vampire. A few decades since he was Embraced at most but was old enough to need a little help to seem a bit more lively to The Herd. So he wouldn't be too low on the pecking order, but not so high that Colin was biting off more than he could chew. If he was higher on the ladder, he would've sent a lackey to deal with Colin, not deal with him himself. Colin smiled, he found his angle of attack, something that'd risk him losing his position on the rungs of the social ladder that the leeches care so much about would prove disastrous if it wasn't addressed.

“You know, Prince Rodriguez has a pretty good deal with the Protectorate," said Colin with mock concern. He wanted to be petty and just use the Vampire Prince's first name, Arnaldo, but he restrained himself. He knew that using such a diminutive in front of one of his subjects could prove fatal. “How would he react to one of his subjects jeopardising it by trying to perform an unsanctioned Embracing of a Wolf-Blood?"

Their jaw clenched and a flash of fear appeared in his eyes as he burst out, “I wasn't-"

He quickly composed himself and shut up, but that brief crack made Colin pause his circuit around the vampire and made butterflies fly in his stomach.

Colin had to keep himself from shaking with excitement, he could not only get out of this alive with what he cheated out of the vampire at the poker table. He could also leave with more.

A predatory grin spread across Colin's face and he resumed his circuit around the vampire, moving in closer for the kill, “How would he react to you not just trying to embrace a Wolf-Blood, but one that's the son of two elders of the Protectorate?"

And like a house of cards, the vampire's composure came tumbling down. He grabbed Colin by the throat and slammed him against a toilet stall's door. He snarled like a mountain lion in Colin's face, fangs visible. “I wasn't going to embrace you. He's made the rules painfully clear. He won't believe you."

Colin wheezed and he clutched at the cold hand at his throat, but still managed to show a smirk, “Oh, but it's not about who he'd believe. It's who he'd side with. You know that. A random vampire low on the social ladder, or the pack under the wing of the oldest Elder in the Las Vegas Protectorate."

The grip around Colin's throat tightened, but Colin's smirk still remained. They both knew that Colin dying would only damn the vampire, otherwise his neck would've been snapped already.

The vampire let him go and Colin let out a choking laugh as he tried to catch his breath.

Colin caught his breath and said, “How about this? I'll do you a favor and won't let the Elders or Rodriguez know about this, Mister…"

He trailed off, waiting for the Vampire's name.

“Donald. How would I pay you back for this favor?" answered the vampire through clenched teeth, and practically spitting the last word.

Colin leant back against the stall door and pouted, “Oh, Donny. You wound me. We both know that you don't cash in a favor immediately. You invest them."

Colin then gave a playful smile and beckoned with a finger, to make the vampire bend down to his level. His eyes hardened and the smile became false when the vampire initially refused, but both his eyes and smile softened again when the vampire eventually swallowed his pride and bent down.

“I'll be in touch," Colin whispered into the vampire's ear. He gave the taller man a wink before leaving the restroom.

It wasn't until he was in an elevator on his way back to the suite that Colin finally cracked. His legs buckled and he fell back against the elevator's wall. He let out a loud, shuddering breath and he fought to keep from hyperventilating. He clutched his chest as his heart threatened to burst from his chest. He hadn't come that close to genuine life threatening danger since he was almost kidnapped when he was seventeen by members of the Pure from the Ivory Claws tribe.

Once the elevator reached his floor, he stayed in the hallway until his breathing and heart rate fell back to normal. He also spent time to air out his shirt to make sure that the smell of fear was gone from his scent. He didn't need or want Lucas and David finding out about his run in with Donald for at least for another week or so. So that enough time had passed that the pair wouldn't immediately conduct a Siskur-dah and hunt the vampire down. That favour he cheated out of him was too valuable to waste.

Finally, after a time and he felt confident that he wouldn't set off anyone's alarm bells, he set back down the hall towards their suite.

When he entered the living room of the suite, he was welcomed with a shocking and confusing sight. David and Lucas sitting together on the white couch with Lucas quizzing him on numbered codes.

“Uh, what's going on here?" Colin asked in utter bafflement.

“Since the Sheriff's Department thinks David's here to train with Metro, I've been teaching him the Police 10 codes," answered Lucas as David read from a couple of stapled pieces of paper with a frustrated look.

“And he's letting you?" mouthed Colin so that David couldn't hear.

Lucas mouthed back, “It shocked me too."

Lucas then added out loud, “I'm also taking him to a range tomorrow so he can learn to use a gun. Needs one if he's gonna stay a deputy."

Colin then looked around and asked, “Where's Kaiden?"

Jesse then made himself known to Colin, speaking up from over at the bar where he already raided the minifridge, “Off with the representatives from the tribes."

“Any idea which tribe he decided to join?" asked Colin.

“He seemed to like the Bone Shadows representative," answered Lucas.

Colin perked up, “Oh, who was it this time?"

The room was silent, silent for too long. Lucas and David avoided Colin's eyes and Jesse had an amused smirk.

Colin let out a groan of disgust as he realised why.