.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

[TWO SLOW DANCERS]

1.01 || chapter one

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

"Come on, Cam. Stop being a wimp, get out of the car and walk up there. What are they gonna do? Eat you?" 

Camille rests her head against the headrest behind her, looking up at the Hale House with a slight frown on her face. While she understood the, admittedly very stupid, reasoning behind her father specifically asking her to come alone, it didn't mean she liked it. She would have at least liked for Chris to come with her. But no, the option had been Kate or go alone and somehow, coming alone was still better than coming with Kate because at least this lowered the chances of Kate somehow instigating war with the Hale pack. Didn't eliminate the risk, but it at least lowered the probability.

She glances towards her phone when it beeps before fishing it out of her bag in the passenger seat, rolling her eyes at the message on the screen.

Gone in or are you hiding in your car?

She starts to type back a snarky remark to her brother before pausing and glancing around. He might have a point, but he didn't have to know that. She was not giving him an upper hand, she decides as she goes back to her message before tossing her phone back into her bag. "Okay," She mutters, her hands braced against the steering wheel as she tries to relax.

And then a rapping on her window startles her, drawing out a few curses she definitely would have gotten a slap from her mother for. She looks over at the window to see a pretty brunette standing outside her car. Sloane, Talia's younger sister, her brain supplies as she rolls down her window.

"So, you've been out here for an hour already. Are you coming in for the meeting or staying out here for another hour? Because Talia doesn't typically appreciate tardiness. She might appreciate you working in your mental breakdown around the meeting, though." Sloane remarks.

"Mental– How do you know I've been out here for an hour? You just got here." Camille retorts defensively.

"Well, you're braver than my brother was giving you credit for. He's been watching you from that front window and updating me the entire time you've been out here." Sloane says, gesturing at the house and Camille looks towards the house briefly.

She'd had a feeling someone had been watching her. She didn't think it was be from a position as blatantly open as the front window directly ahead of her. Now she just felt like an idiot.

"Come on. Talia will have made tea. It's much nicer hot." Sloane says, patting her car door before walking up to the house and Camille drops her head back against the headrest with a soft thud.

She really would rather be literally anywhere else right now. Well, maybe not anywhere but definitely somewhere else.

The brunette sighs before pushing open her car door as she grabs her bag, swinging it shut behind her. Sloane's still waiting by the open front door for her, now accompanied by who she could only assume was the aforementioned brother. And since it didn't seem likely Talia would have her human brother greet an Argent at the door, this was probably Peter, the youngest of the four.

"What were you doing? Having a pre-meeting nap?" Peter remarks dryly.

"You get inside. Haven't you been told about being assholes to our guests?" Sloane asks lightly and Peter rolls his eyes, tilting his head at the Argent on their porch.

Camille slips her hands into her pockets as he stares at her, wrapping her fingers around the talisman hidden within as she fights the urge to shift in discomfort. "Come on. Talia's in the study with Eve." Peter says.

'Eve' must be Evelyn Starling, the Emissary. It was rare for the Emissary of a pack to be known to anyone but the Alpha. Rarer still for an emissary to be a witch rather than a druid. So, Camille had been surprised when she heard of the witch. She hadn't, however, counted on the woman being in the meeting. She was just hoping that the talisman was enough to prevent her from noticing too.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

"I would have thought, for all his posturing, Gerard would have at least taken the time to turn up himself." Peter remarks half-way through the meeting and Evelyn and Sloane simultaneously jab their elbows sharply into his ribs.

"Peter apparently has never heard of tact," Sloane says firmly and the werewolf shrugs unapologetically  "But he does have a point. Why did he send you? If he were to send anyone besides himself, we would have presumed it would be the matriarch. And to our knowledge, that isn't you." She continues.

"No, that's my sister-in-law. But she tends to work behind the scenes." Camille responds. It should be her, but she couldn't be trusted in the role, apparently. As if hunting her entire life and rejecting her witch side wasn't proof enough she could be trusted with the role. "I happen to be the tactful one." She adds.

"Christ, how low was the bar?" Peter remarks and Talia sighs.

"Probably higher than the one you've set." Camille retorts and Sloane looks down with a snicker as Talia sighs again, pinching the bridge of her nose briefly whilst Evelyn jabs her elbow into Peter's ribs again when he opens his mouth to retort.

"Peter." The Alpha says firmly and he shrugs. "Camille, the peace treaty." Talia prompts and and the brunette hums.

"Currently, I am staying in town and my brother, his wife and their daughter are staying in town. All we are interested in, is ensuring the safety of the people in this town. My father and sister are likely to pass through but very unlikely to stick around. Chris and I have no interest in your family. We know you're interested in the same things we are. That you're not threats. We'd just ask that we be treated as such also." She says and Talia hums.

"What of Kate and Gerard?" Sloane asks.

"If they pass through, they'll adhere to the treaty. It was my father's idea to begin with. He asked me to come here." Camille responds.

"And we're just supposed to take your word for it? Because we know you're so very trustworthy. A hunter we've never met." Peter remarks.

"Well, I'd consult my crystal ball for you but I forgot to bring it." Camille retorts and he hums.

"Maybe try planning ahead and packing appropriately next time." Peter says.

"I am willing," Talia starts pointedly, drawing Camille and Peter's attention away from each other and towards the Alpha. "to accept your request for a peace treaty  But it is, of course, entirely contingent on you ensuring that you and your family uphold your promises from today. If you don't, well, I'm aware Peter's made a reputation for himself as my Left Hand." Talia says and Camille hums softly.

"We have no intention of breaking it. Unless we're given cause to." Camille responds.

"Then we offer the same sentiment." Talia says and Camille nods shortly. "I think that's all for today. Peter will show you out. And he'll refrain from any further smart remarks." Talia says and Camille nods as she stands whilst Peter rolls his eyes.

"After you." Peter says, opening the study door and Camille raises a brow at him briefly before walking past him with a head shake with Peter following her, closing the door behind him.

"Twenty bucks says he tries to kill her in under a month." Sloane remarks lightly.

"Twenty bucks says he tries to sleep with her in under a month." Evelyn counters and the brunette glances at the witch and Talia just sighs impatiently, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, you're on."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.