The Seed of the White Tiger by JJ Jones

It was a beautiful buffet made for everyone in attendance, and it had an over abundance of breakfast meats.
     
    “I think that this is their food.” Dom pointed to the table.
     
    “At least some of it is.” Another attendee muttered. He obviously wasn’t extremely happy about the thought of giving up the sausage on his plate. She could hear Gregor asking the guard to check to make sure they got the right food.
     
    It didn’t take long for several people to come into the room and start rearranging the food and that would make everyone happy. There was an equal amount of vegetarian options now in both rooms, along with a good selection of breads and eggs and meat. Dom licked her lips and grabbed a plate to dig in. “That was a brilliant move of his.” Someone else in the room noted.
     
    “What do you mean?” Dom asked him.
     
    “Gregor had planned this last night. He wanted to help establish a better rapport with them or something like that.”
     
    “That makes sense.” Dom sat down at the table to listen to the talks.
     
    “Have we gotten anywhere on the land?” Gregor asked the other shifters in the room with him.
     
    “We’re letting them live there for now.” Dom knew from context that the wolf was speaking.
     
    “There hasn’t been any fighting.” The coyote was happy to report the fact.
     
    “Well then, let’s see if we can get this hammered out. It’s a very simple process in which each party gives something and each party wins.” Gregor explained. Dom could picture him standing at the head of the table, looking at the two men sitting near him.
     
    “After breakfast.” The coyote must have been licking his lips at the savory aromas that were emanating from the table.
     
    “Yes, let’s eat.” The wolf agreed seeming just as hungry as the coyote.
     
    “Since everyone seems to be in agreement, who am I to argue? If this keeps up I might just be able to go home early.” Gregor’s pleasant demeanor rang through in his voice. Dom didn’t know if she was imagining it or not, but she thought that she heard a slight edge under his good humor. If it was really there, she knew that it was because of the vampires that might be threatening these talks. She wondered as she ate how long it would take him to bring up the threats that had been happening for the last day.
     
    They finished eating, or at least were slowed down because Gregor started to talk again. “Well, now that we’ve got some food in our bellies, I wanted to tell you about something I’ve recently found out.”
     
    “What’s that?” The coyote asked. You could almost hear him panting for the information as he spoke.
     
    The wolf’s response was much more measured. “Is there a problem?” He asked. Dom could hear him chewing through the speaker.
     
    “We seem to have some others that are interested in the talks.” Gregor’s voice was deadly serious. The lightness of his previous words was gone and Dom could almost see the goofy grin leaving his face, only to be replaced by a scowl that indicated how much danger everyone was in.
     
    “Who?” The coyote asked.
     
    “Is it the vampires?” The wolf asked. His voice grew quiet.
     
    “Yes.” Gregor’s answer was firm. “Did you know anything about this?” He asked.
     
    “They threatened my mate.” The alpha wolf admitted. “They caught her outside of the grocery store and told her that if I came to these talks they would kill her and my children.”
     
    “That sounds very familiar. They threatened the young woman who was letting me stay at her house.” Gregor explained it carefully. He didn’t want to refer to her the wrong way.
     
    “I’ve smelt her on you.” The wolf stated. “They threatened your mate, as well?”
     
    “We could help you out. We can post guards on her to keep her safe.” The coyote volunteered eagerly.
     
    “That would be very kind, but I don’t think that she would like that very much.” Gregor told