Always Gotta Make It Complicated

By tenshinrtaiga

Disclaimer: I don't own The Covenant or The Nine Lives of Chloe King

Summary: Third in The Witch Uniter series. Things are getting more complicated for Chloe as she juggles her new boyfriend, being friends with her old boyfriend and of course, The Order. And it doesn't help that her friend's lives are becoming just as complicated as hers.

A/N: Sorry this is a bit short, but it had to end here for the next chapter.

The air was tense as the five occupants of the table alternately stared and glared at each other. They were sitting outdoors at a nearby café and, other than to give their orders, had not said a word to each other. The Mai were offended that they had to be near a Jackal, Kai was angry at the Mai for instigating problems with his Pack, Reid was angry that the situation was even happening and Chloe… Chloe was just puzzled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Chase casually walking down the street, pretending to be just another pedestrian heading toward the nearby street market. He was her ace in the hole in case things got complicated. Chloe hoped that he had been checking in with Caleb because she hadn't had the chance.

It appeared the two Mai had reached the end of their ropes. "Why is the dog here?" Nikki snapped out.

Kai growled. Literally growled. His eyes turned yellow as his teeth began to grow into fangs. Chloe subtly reached out a hand under the table and put it on his thigh, trying to calm him. He was changing in public; who knew who was looking? Seeming to realize this, Kai calmed down and shifted back. "You attacked us," he replied, considerably calmer, knowing that he had Chloe on his side.

Lilah sniffed indignantly. "We did not. You attacked us."

"Because you-"

"Enough," Chloe interrupted, her tone mild. She didn't need to hear this; she was there, she knew what happened. She turned her full attention to the two Mai girls. "Why are you here?"

"We told you." Nikki smiled. "We're here to see you."

"Then why were you at the Jackals'?" Reid asked, taking a sip of his black coffee.

"The Uniter is closely guarded by the strongest witch coven in the world," Lilah replied, looking at the blond boy pointedly. "All we knew was that she currently lived in San Francisco. So we created a situation so that she would come."

"And what would you have done if I hadn't come?" Chloe asked curiously, sipping on her soy caramel macchiato.

"We knew you would," Nikki said with a shrug. "We asked around. The rumor mill told us all about you and what you've been up to here. Originally, we planned to start something with that Mai boy you dated, but reconsidered when we realized that he was Valentina's nephew. So we turned our attention to the other one, the Jackal boy." She sneered at Kai who glared right back.

Chloe gave a small sigh. It was a clever plan. They knew that Kai had direct access to her and so the minute the Mai began causing problems for his Pack, they knew she would be called.

"And we come back to the why. Why do you want to meet me?" she asked.

"Because you're the Uniter!" Lilah grinned. "The most powerful supernatural in the world, destined to unite our kind under your rule. We had to meet you. We had hoped that you would come to Sao Paulo during one of your international trips, but you never did. And then you moved to San Francisco, the supernatural mixing pot city, and we realized that you wouldn't come to us. So we decided to come to you."

"But why!" Chloe cried out in annoyance. "You want to meet me just because I'm the Uniter? That's it? There has to be more to it than that."

"Not really," Nikki replied. "You're our leader now. Why shouldn't we want to meet you first?"

When put like that, it did seem to make a good amount of sense. But at the same time, Chloe couldn't help but feel that it wasn't the total truth. She gave a small sigh. "Please apologize to Kai for instigating a fight with his Pack."

Nikki and Lilah shared an incredulous look. "What?" they demanded in unison.

"You caused problems with their Pack for no legitimate reason. Apologize," Chloe replied, enunciating her words clearly.

Again, Nikki and Lilah shared a look before sighing. "Sorry," they said with a grumble.

Chloe turned to look at Kai. "Satisfied?"

He shrugged. "Eh." He gave the two Mai a searching look before standing up. "Guess so. They're your problem."

Chloe stood up and gave him a tight hug before he left. She then sat down, looking at Reid out of the corner of her eye. She wondered if he was jealous. If she were still with Alek, she knew that he would have been. Alek would have pitched a huge fit at her seeing her ex, especially if that ex was a Jackal. But Reid seemed calm, completely at ease with her and Kai hugging in front of him.

Chloe gave a fond smile. That's one of the things she loved about Reid. He had complete trust and faith in her. He knew he had no reason to be jealous. She itched to lean forward and plant a kiss on his cheek, but knew she couldn't in front of the Mai. Later, she promised herself.

"So what now?" Reid asked. "You've met Chloe. Mission accomplished. Are you heading back to Sao Paulo?"

"No way!" Lilah replied. "We met her, but we still want to get to know her." Lilah turned to face the strawberry blonde. "Come out with us tonight," she invited.

Chloe blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Yeah!" Nikki spoke up. "We'll go to dinner, hang out, go out clubbing… It will be fun!"

Chloe hesitated. "Sure," she agreed, surprising even herself.

"What?" Reid hissed lowly despite knowing that the Mai could hear him.

She shrugged casually, but there was something in her eyes that said she would explain later. Reid gave a small huff, but settled back down. "I'm going too," he stated.

The two Mai glared slightly. They wanted to be alone with Chloe, get to know her without outside interference. "Fine," Chloe agreed, standing up. "We'll meet up tonight at Escalate. It's a restaurant and a club. Nine pm?"

"We'll see you there," Nikki replied, a satisfied smile on her face as she and Lilah left.

Chloe and Reid meandered down the road. As soon as the two girls were out of sight, the duo were joined by Chase and Kai. "So what are you thinking?" Chase asked curiously.

"Nothing. They're up to something. I'm just gonna play it by ear until they give it up."