Chapter Four

Kade had analyzed a lot of outcomes for this but enjoying it hadn't crossed his mind.

"Fair enough, as I said earlier,  we don't attack each other, we don't team up with other cities to attack each other…" He started to list off, watching Rome relax slightly. "You report to me…"

He casually dropped such a controversial sentence, calmly waiting for the explosion that he knew would come.

"What?" Rome shot to his feet, his eyes a blazing gold now, fangs lengthening. 

"Fuck you and get the fuck out of my club." He jabbed a finger at Kade barely keeping his rage in check.

Kade couldn't deny the way his blood heated up at Rome’s explosion, he wanted to see it again.

It was like toying with a wild animal, sooner than later, he would get bitten or worse.

Unless… there was also the option of taming it.

Sharp blue eyes flicked over Rome, there was no question about the possibility of them being equal allies. 

Kade planned to be in control of the Dark Ring by putting Rome under his thumb.

This was what Kade had been after all along and they both knew it.

"Now, now, don't be too hasty." Kade drawled, his gaze going heavy lidded as he stared up at Rome. 

"You don't have to make up your mind now and my requirements are open for discussions of course." He continued in a casual tone, ignoring Rome’s explosion.

Draken’s hair stood on end at this, he could see why Big Tim and Ron had been edgy around him.

Kade was a dangerous man.

Rome could sense it, afterall they were both cut from the same cloth.

There was no easy way out of this, Rome was about to get dragged into a messy deliberation.

The only way out would be to haggle, literally. 

He would have to make this as unbearable as possible for Kade, throwing him off the proposal entirely was the only way to win without scrapes.

It had all happened so fast, he didn't even get the chance to try to divert it.

He knew he should have shot his heart out when he had the chance.

Rome slowly sat down, his eyes still a wary gold. "It would be rude to shut you down so quickly then." He said dryly, daggers shooting out of his eyes.

"Glad you're starting to see things my way." Kade finally gave a slight smile, it was malicious, all sharp glinting teeth and bad intentions. 

Rome wasn't backing down, he didn't get to where he was out of sheer luck.

He had worked for it, worked extremely hard.

In any other situation, he would have enjoyed this even because he always won in the end.

But Kade was a very bad match up for him, the Alpha King unsettled him so easily it almost terrified him. 

It was just irritating though, he had been caught off guard this time, next time he would take his pound of flesh back.

"Not so fast." Rome gritted out. "I still have to get a detailed list of your requirements and I'll have to prepare mine." He pointed out, regaining some of his composure.

"Not to mention this reads like a threat, what are the consequences if we do not come to an agreement?" Rome turned the tables on Kade, putting him on the spot.

"There are no consequences, a healthy relationship can't be built on threats." He countered calmly, ice blue eyes roaming lower than Rome's face.

Draken just watched on in consternation, Rome had forbidden him from saying a word and he couldn't be happier at the moment. 

Because the last thing he wanted to do was get caught in the middle of whatever the fuck was going down.

"I just made the trip here to informally suggest the proposal, you don't have to think too hard about it. We have all the time in the world." Kade drawled.

Rome frowned, something about that last sentence seemed off to him.

Silver Blood was a powerful Pack and a fast growing City, Rome knew better than to piss off the King. 

Most Cities ignored the existence of the Dark Ring and that had worked in everybody's favor for decades.

He couldn't help but think King Kade had ulterior motives, or maybe not.

If Rome were the King of a City, he saw himself doing the same.

The Dark Ring was neutral ground but if a Pack War broke out, they held the key to the win.

He wasn't about to be a subject to Kade and he wanted to make that very clear.

"I'll think about it for a week." Rome said calmly. "If I don't get back to you in a week, know that I've

rejected

your 'nice' proposal." He said the word nice like there were rocks in his mouth.

"I have no disputes with that." Kade shrugged. "This is a fine establishment you've got here, am I welcome anytime?" He added charmingly. 

Just like that Rome's composure shattered again, the silver in his eyes fading.

"Ghost caters to all customers, as long as they aren't proving themselves difficult." He replied as vaguely as possible as it was to mask an outright no.

Kade nodded at this, rising to his feet. "I look forward to a repeat of this." He said cordially, putting out a hand for a handshake.

Rome got to his feet as well, they were roughly the same height but polar opposites in every other way.

"As do I." Rome replied with a grimace, wishing he could shake the Alpha King with a fucking shotgun.

He put out his hand as well, taking a sharply indrawn breath when their skin made contact.

The sliver of electricity that had crackled through them had been very unexpected and very unwelcome. 

Rome had to force himself to not snatch his hand back when Kade held on for slightly longer than was polite, he doubted the other Alpha cared for mundane things like social cues.

"I'll see myself out." Kade said conversationally after reluctantly letting go of Rome’s hand.

It had been callused and rough, he had clearly lived a hard life and Kade wanted to know all about it.

He wanted to take Rome apart and then put him back together, he wanted to own him.

There was no need to question it, he knew what he wanted and he was going to get it.

"You can keep the entourage," He added, sharp eyes drinking Rome hungrily in. "I don't need your men to tail me around like they did earlier." His tone was casual, friendly even but the dangerous look in his eyes belied his words.

Rome knew that his men would get wasted for no reason if he insisted on having King Kade tailed.

He had no use of tailing him anymore anyway, he wanted the Alpha King out of Ghost and out of the Dark Ring as soon as possible. 

Rome’s response was a dark and heavy silence, a firm hand on a gun as he watched Kade saunter out.

He had slipped on his long overcoat over his broad shoulders, the material sweeping elegantly like it had a life of its own.

Kade left in a wake of rich smoky amber and tumultuous emotions rolling around in Rome’s middle.