Shifting Love's Hunger Read online

  “Will it now? I was not given much choice in the matter. It seems like we have security well in hand.”

  Mark nodded. “I am sure you do. We want to help make it even better.”

  “You can try, but it feels like you are just going to change out the people I trust with your own.”

  “I suspect you have good security, but this is all we do. We have consulted on top-secret government facilities. We have ex-special forces people. This is what we are built to do. I don’t see how your people can match us. Do you want good enough or the best?”

  Nadine eyes got cold. “You know we have the best spies in the world, right?”

  Mark laughed. “And we have the best hunters. Spies are for gathering information, not protecting it. Your boss selected us.”

  Nadine’s face softened. “It’s all true, but you have never worked with us before. Why should I trust you, Mark? You’re not the Alpha or even your brother.”

  “I am as good as my brother and I want this to work more than anybody. Besides, you aren’t just getting me, but Chloe as well.”

  “No offense to Chloe, but she doesn’t know anything about security.”

  “Maybe not yet, but she will help me and my people integrate better with you. You wouldn’t get that with any other security company.”

  Nadine laughed. “Welcome on board. I wanted to see how you would act when pushed. Good job for being the first man to ever stand up to me in my own house.”

  Mark nodded. “You will find all of our people to be professional. I am happy I met your expectations.”

  “Let me take you on a tour. Please be advised that many of the performers are Human who don’t know anything about us being Veiled.”

  “Thank you for the warning. I wouldn’t have said anything outside of your office, but I will make it a point to remind our staff to treat this as if it was a Human facility.”

  Mark took a deep breath. That could have gone badly. It was good they went to B&K first. Was that why Chloe wanted to do the studio last? Mark looked at Chloe and she winked at him. She seemed to be relieved this test was over. Nadine led them on a tour and Mark was able to see the actual level of security. They only had one guy that watched the video cameras and worked as escort when someone showed up for business reasons. For the most part, they relied on their own abilities to feel safe. Mark found they even went to public events like the AVN Adult Video Expo with no bodyguards to protect the talent.

  Mark got a good look at some of the sets. They ranged from bedrooms to dungeons. There was one large set that took up a full floor of the building.

  They walked up to a door with the red light flashing over it. “This set should be almost ready for a break. Please be quiet while they are working.”

  Nadine quietly opened the door and let them in. The set was of a modern bedroom with a long picture window made to look like it had a view of the Hollywood hills. There must have been twenty people watching the performers go at it. Several camera men, a couple of makeup people, and guys holding boom mics. Mark had no idea what the rest of them were there for. He wondered if the onlookers could be a security issue. He would need to talk to Nadine about that later. He also noted no one had badges. The studio would need to adapt a more secure culture as well as physical security.

  The director yelled, “Cut! Performers take thirty while we set up for the next scene.”

  The two performers walked off to get cleaned up, while a crew of guys started changing out set pieces.

  A naked woman walked up to the group. “Now what do we have here? Is this my new co-star?” She put her hands on Mark’s chest. “Oh my. Where have you been hiding?”

  Mark stood there like a deer in the headlights.

  Chloe pushed her back. “Hands off, Stormy! This one’s mine.”

  “Sorry, Chloe. I can see the attraction, but thought you might want to share your good fortune.”

  “Come along, Mark. It’s time to go.”

  Mark followed along. “Thanks, Chloe, we do have a lot of work to get done and very little time to do it.”

  The group went back to the office area. Mark shook Nadine’s hand. “Nadine, it’s been a pleasure, but I think you will need to make a number of changes to keep your people and content safe. I will put together a project plan and get back to you in a couple of days.”

  Chloe nodded. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day for us. We can show ourselves out.”

  ***

  Chloe would need to talk with Mark later about his performance in there. If this was any indication, Vampire porn stars were going to wrap his people around their fingers and she would look like a failure. Clearly, Stormy saw something in Mark. Normally, she didn’t hit on guys like that; she preferred they fawn over her first and beg her to sleep with them. This sparked a touch of jealousy, she hadn’t known she was capable of. Was she letting the job cloud her feelings? Chloe was impressed by how he handled Nadine.

  They got settled back in Mark’s car.

  Mark looked at his watch and smiled at her. “We made good time. We should be able to get some shopping done before dinner tonight.”

  Chloe stared at him; she would let her eyes do the talking.

  “What? Did I do something wrong?”

  “What was the deal between you and Stormy?”

  Mark started the car.

  “Are all of your people going to have a problem being professional?”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve seen some of her videos and was a little stars truck. It won’t happen again.”

  Chloe smiled. “It better not, mister. You’re mine.”

  Mark looked down like a whipped dog. Chloe laughed and lifted his chin up and kissed him. “It’s okay, she does that to all the guys.”

  Mark looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “You’re not mad at me?”

  “Do you think I kiss people I’m mad at?”

  “Sorry, I guess that was a stupid question.”

  “I understand what it’s like to be faced with something like this. I grew up with these people and it can be hard for me at times with all of their game playing.”

  “You’re right. Twice today I have fallen short in the face of Vampires yanking my chain. Please help me with this, and I will try and help you make a good impression in front of the Pack.”

  Chloe patted his leg. “We are in this together.”

  He smiled and got the car moving. “Right you are! We better go find the stuff we need for the house.”

  Chloe could tell she was making a connection with Mark, but she was not looking forward to meeting his parents. She suspected they would be much harder to navigate than the Vampires Mark faced so far.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Dinner with the parents

  MARK’S SUV MANAGED to hold some of the items from IKEA, and the rest would be delivered tomorrow. They got everything into the house together.

  Mark looked at the boxes and dreaded the assembly. “Chloe, why don’t you get the kitchen stuff organized while I assemble our new bed.”

  “Yell if you need help!”

  There was no way Mark was going to admit to needing help for what should be a man’s job. He looked at his watch and figured he had about two hours before dinner time. He thought he should be able to get it all done before it was time to get ready.

  Mark removed the air mattress and got it deflating in the spare room. He hauled the mattress in and set it against the wall. First challenge: where would the headboard go? Crap. There was really only one place for it and he had placed the mattress in the way. He moved the mattress to the other side, dragged in the headboard and unboxed it. Mark had let Chloe pick out the bedroom stuff, hoping letting her pick the bed would cause less friction. The headboard was a medium brown solid wood affair. It looked like something he would have picked out for himself. So far, so good. He brought the rest of the parts of the bed frame in one by one and found the instructions. Why did they have to only use pictures? Great, he needed two screwdri
vers. Time to go check the SUV for tools. The tools in the SUV were mostly to change tires. He did find a Swiss Army knife, so it would have to do. He got working on the putting everything together.

  “Mark! You about done? We’ve got thirty minutes until dinner time and I don’t want to be late.”

  ***

  Chloe did not hear an answer so went to check on Mark.

  “I thought you said it would be a quick, easy job.”

  Mark looked up from his piles of parts. “Sorry, I am doing the best I can. I should have gotten some tools for this. It doesn’t need much, but having to make do makes everything take longer.”

  “Really? The guy at the store said it should only take about twenty minutes.”

  Mark was turning a little red in the face. “I can do it!”

  “It’s fine, Mark. Set down the pocket knife and come here for a moment.”

  Mark put the stuff he was working on down and went to Chloe. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s all right. I don’t want to be late to your parents. I bet you can finish this up quickly with proper tools after dinner.”

  “You’re right. I can borrow some tools from my father. We’ll need them tomorrow anyway when the rest of the stuff shows up.”

  She touched his chin to get him to look her in the eyes. “No worries, okay?”

  Mark seemed to be chilling out. The last thing she needed was to deal with his male ego while trying to impress his parents. She wondered what to wear; she wanted to look more like a wife or girlfriend than her Clan business wear.

  “Mark, what are you going to wear to dinner?”

  He looked down at what he had on and shrugged.

  “Really? You’re not going to clean up first?”

  “It’s no big deal, it’s just dinner.”

  “It might be just another family dinner for you, but I need to impress them.”

  “Why? Our fate is already decided.”

  He sure was taking this as all business. Maybe he saw this as just a job.

  “I need us to be able to work together. You would want to show the proper respect if invited to dinner by Greta, right?”

  “Okay, I understand your position. How can I help?”

  “What should I wear?”

  “Something nice, but not too formal. Maybe a step above casual without being overly sexy. Do you have something like that?”

  “I have Clan business clothes which makes me look like a hostess at a five-star restaurant, slutty night out, or workout clothes.”

  “Let me take a look.”

  Mark found his way through the mess to the walk-in closet and looked through what was hanging there. He grabbed some stuff to show her. “What about these designer jeans, this top, and those boots?”

  She glanced over his selection and he was right. It was casual and still had a touch of sexy that was a part of her. The jeans were tight-fitting and stretched in all the right places to make them really comfortable. The top was a soft micro-ribbed stretch knit jersey that extended over the jeans. The boots were brown suede with two-inch block-heels. She did not expect Mark to have such good fashion sense. He better not turn out to be secretly gay.

  “Thanks, Mark! I think that will do nicely. I’m going to take a quick bath and get ready.”

  He gave her a boyish grin. “Great! I can’t wait to see you dressed up in them.”

  She frowned. “Wait a minute; was this for you or your parents?”

  Mark laughed. “Why can’t it be for both?”

  She socked him in the arm. “It can be as long as it’s also the best to impress them.”

  “Wear that and you will be the person I am proud to introduce to my mother. Not that I wouldn’t be proud of business Chloe, but I think this is your best chance with them for this situation.”

  “Thank you for being honest with me. I will be ready to go in twenty minutes.”

  Everything needed to go right with his parents, she hoped he was right about the clothes. As she got into the shower, the sound of Mark changing his clothes made her smile. It was good that he could take direction. Leaving the bathroom, she discovered Mark had given her space to get ready without an audience. Well, the windows still needed drapes.

  Dressed and ready to go as promised. Mark was waiting in the living room, wearing jeans and a polo shirt; a good match for how she was dressed. A grin formed, as she thought of Mark’s reaction when he had change clothes again before they went to Greta’s Place. That was the price they would have to pay for having dinner with his parents.

  They walked next door. The enormous house was set in from the road and not visible from the street when they had passed it earlier.

  Chloe gasped. “You never told me you lived in a mansion! Did you have servants? I feel really underdressed now.”

  “It’s not a mansion, just my parents’ house. It had to be large enough to be able to take Pack members in when needed, and no, we don’t have servants.”

  As they approached the large oak doors, they suddenly opened. “Welcome to my home. You must be Chloe.”

  “Chloe, this is my mother, Felicia.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Felicia waved them into the house. “We are ready to start dinner. Please follow me to the dining room.”

  She felt a wave of cold coming off Felicia. This was exactly what she didn’t want.

  Chloe was amazed by the house. It was not at all like she expected from the outside. It was mostly done in Mission Style. “I love your house. It’s very warm and inviting.”

  “Thank you, Chloe. It’s something we put together over many years together. We went with things that would hold up to our children’s rowdy behavior at times.”

  Mark groaned. “Mother!”

  They entered the dining area; it was set up for the four of them but looked like it could also handle quite a crowd.

  Alistair stood as they entered. He pulled back a seat to his left and smiled. “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Price. Please have a seat here.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  He helped her with the chair. “Please call me Alistair.”

  She smiled back at him. “Only if you all call me Chloe.”

  “Chloe, can we get you something to drink?”

  “I’m happy with whatever Mark is having.”

  “Son, please serve the wine while your mother brings out food.”

  Chloe looked towards where Felicia went. “Can I help?”

  “Don’t be silly, dear. Tonight, you are our guest.”

  Felicia first served Alistair, then Mark, and then went and brought back food for Chloe and herself.

  Felicia took her seat opposite Alistair. “Chloe, I hope you find the food to your liking. Mark did not say anything about what you like.”

  “It looks wonderful, Felicia.”

  Dinner looked delicious: sliced roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner rolls, and steamed carrots.

  Chloe took a bite and smiled. “This is as good as it looks. Thank you so much for inviting me over.”

  Mark told stories during dinner of how well Chloe helped him manage the Vampires they had met that day. Alistair pushed him to keep the details for his report at work tomorrow. He did not want to talk too much business in front of the ladies. After some chocolate cake for dessert, Mark and his dad went off to find some tools to borrow.

  Chloe looked over at Felicia. “Can I help clear the table?”

  “That would be welcome, dear.”

  Chloe grabbed as many plates as she could carry and followed her to the kitchen.

  “Please set them in the sink; I will take care of them later.”

  “Thank you for such a wonderful dinner. I am looking forward to being part of Mark’s family.”

  Felicia pointed at some bar stool next to a kitchen island. “Please have a seat and we can talk while the men are doing their thing.”

  Chloe took a seat.

  “I want to put it out there
: I don’t approve of you being my son’s mate.”

  “I’m sorry. I thought you also had an arranged marriage. I expected you to be the one person in the world who knew what I might be going through.”

  “It’s true it was arranged, but you are not Pack.”

  Here it comes. She needed to show a strong front.

  “When you mated the Alpha, it was for the good of both of your Packs, right?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “This is also for the good of your Pack and my Clan. I wish I was like you, but I can’t choose who my parents were.”

  “Why you?”

  “I could have turned this down, but I saw the chance to make a difference. When I met Mark, I could tell he is special man who could use my help. I didn’t want to see what would happen if he got paired up with someone else from our side. I’m not like other Vampires, who live to party and would see the Pack as food. I see a proud people I want to partner with. I think over time, Mark and I could come to love each other.”

  “I could stop this right now if I wanted to. I’m as much Alpha as Alistair and the person chosen has to answer to me.”

  Chloe boldly looked her in the eye. “Where I am from, our women are the strength and run everything. I would be honored to serve you as my Alpha.”

  Felicia took a long hard look at Chloe. “Do you actually believe what you said?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I do.”

  Felicia laughed and held out her arms. “Welcome to the family. We are going to have to work hard to keep our men in line. I am not sure Mark is up to this task.”

  Chloe returned the warm hug with a tear in her eye. She backed away and smiled. “Mark did great today, but I can tell he has a lot to learn in order to handle the Vampires he will be working with. I can help him succeed; it’s my job as his wife and partner.”

  “Do you understand that once you go through the mating ceremony, you will be bound to obey the Pack Alphas?”