8 Mine to Love

by Megs Pritchard

  “You don’t want to upset him?” Carter nodded. “I know he was kicked out when he told his parents he was gay.”

  “It’s a vampire thing. The higher up the hierarchy you are, the less tolerant you are,” Hunter added.

  “Not just vampires,” Dean muttered. “I was lucky. My parents aren’t bothered at all.”

  “Neither are mine,” Carter said. “So, like I said he was kicked out and from what little he’s said, he pretty much managed on his own.”

  “How did he end up on the council radar then?”

  “His parents probably. If they have money, they’ll want to get him out of the way. Can’t have the gay infecting people,” Hunter sneered, shaking his head. “They really need to move with the times.”

  “They are, Hunter. Their views are the same as everyone else’s. They don’t give a shit about humans unless they are to be blood slaves and as for any vampires that don’t meet their criteria, well, fuck them too.” Carter stared at his drink. When he looked up, he stared out of the window. “I saw what they did to people who disobeyed them. Look at Spencer. He almost died when they found out what he was doing.”

  “How is he?” Dean asked. “Have they mated now? I know Romeo gave him his blood.”

  Romeo hadn’t wanted to mate Spencer until he was completely healed and after everything his body had been through, it had taken longer than expected. He had recovered, eventually.

  “They have and they’re living with Chester and Silas.”

  Dean raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? I hadn’t heard that.”

  Hunter nodded. “Both Chester and Silas thought it would be best considering what Spencer knows. The last thing they want is for the vamps to get their hands on Spencer. Fuck knows what they’ll do to him, if they get their hands on him again, and we all know they’ve improved security since we pulled Carter and Spencer out.”

  Dean looked over at Carter, who was nodding in agreement. “Are you two monitoring them?”

  Carter grinned. “My virus was epic! It wiped out everything. Sure, they’ll have paper documents somewhere, but they’ll have to rebuild the system and re-input the data. Their security systems are back on-line, which we’re using, but everything else is still down.”

  “Luckily, Carter backed everything up and we have access to it all.”

  “Weapons?”

  Hunter nodded. “We know exactly what they have, the quantity, and the location.”

  “We’re all meeting tomorrow to discuss it. Although I know Jacques’ focus is on the slaves.”

  Carter winced. “I wish I’d done more.”

  “What could you have done? You didn’t know what had happened to him.”

  Sighing, Carter muttered, “I should have known when I didn’t see him.”

  Hunter rubbed the back of Carter’s neck. “How could you have known? He doesn’t blame you. He told you himself, didn’t he? He knows it wasn’t your fault.”

  “You’ve spoken to him?”

  “Yeah.” Hunter sighed. “It was uncomfortable to say the least. Carter feels guilty and Jacques doesn’t want him to. They’re meeting up tonight and hopefully—” Hunter stressed the word “—hopefully, they can move on.”

  “I know. I can’t help the way I feel.”

  The waitress arrived, and they placed their order, waiting for her to leave before talking again. “He’s in a good place now. He has Miguel and all of you. He’ll recover. It will take time, but he’s making great progress. I think being involved helps him.” Dean shrugged.

  “It does. Miguel said its given Jacques purpose and with Sacha and Alessio involved, we seem to be uncovering more information all the time.”

  “This Tierney Corporation. It’s legit?”

  “Absolutely.” Carter nodded. “The last thing they want is to be investigated for any reason. Everyone who works there has some part to play in what they are planning. That’s why they don’t advertise. They don’t need to. They work exclusively for vampires but if you look at their clientele list, it has certain vampire companies on their books. Keeps it above board.”

  “They’ve had decades to think about this. We already suspect it started before we came out to humans.”

  “I don’t understand why you hid yourselves in the first place. We were all living together and then the vampires disappeared for a while and then reappeared. Why?”

  “The story put out doesn’t hold when you think about it. Vampires scared of attack? Why would we be scared when humans knew about us? I think we hid ourselves so plans could be put in place to takeover at some point.”

  “Seems more likely. And what is this about mates?” Dean asked. “Mates were rare, but the team has several now.”

  “I think that was all for us commoners,” Hunter spat out. “Keep mates solely for the elites and let us think they were a myth.”

  “My head hurts,” Carter mumbled.

  Dean chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Mine too. This goes back far further than we first thought and it’s so detailed. They covered all their bases.”

  “Yeah. They’ve planned this well and if they execute it, I can’t see it failing. We are our own worst enemy.” Hunter sat back when the waitress arrived with their food. “We’ve caused them to delay commencement with the virus Carter used, but it won’t be long before they are ready to move forward once more.”

  “It scares the shit out of me. What if they do it and we’re not ready? We don’t have enough people or weapons.”

  “We don’t need to go in all guns blazing. Destroy their food storage, remove the slaves, and they’ll have to stop.”

  “Don’t forget the weapons. We can’t leave them with the number they have.”

  Hunter shook his head. “No, you’re right, we can’t. It would have to be a coordinated attack. All three at the same time. We’re going to need a lot of people for it to work.”

  “We’ve been talking.” Carter pointed at Hunter. “If we can hit the three areas we’ve discussed and release the information to the press, then the authorities would need to get involved.”

  “Especially if we have evidence of the slaves and the weapons in front of them.”

  Dean nodded. “And we have documented evidence and statements from the slaves. The authorities would have to act, they couldn’t be seen doing nothing.”

  “I always wondered why we never had a human-vampire agency,” Carter mused.

  “The council said we didn’t need one because vampires would follow human laws,” Hunter answered.

  Dean snorted, shaking his head. “And now we know why they said that.”

  “Like we’ve said. They started planning this years ago.”

  They all sat in silence and Dean stared at his food, not hungry anymore. Sighing, he picked up his cutlery and ate his food. He couldn’t wait for this to be over and they could all move on with their lives without this constant threat hanging over them. He wanted to have a future with his mate, and a family of their own, but that was a long way off.

  There was too much that needed to be done first. The Tierney Corporation needed to be taken down and all those involved imprisoned. They had to make their plans and make sure they were fool proof. They couldn’t fail with so many lives at risk. The future of everyone depended on it.

  “It feels overwhelming,” Dean admitted.

  “It does,” Hunter agreed. “I thought I was joining a company to save people, not save the world.”

  “So, tonight, we’ve going over what we know.”

  “And the information I got. There’s so much we still need to go through. I hadn’t realized how much there was until we opened up all the files and started going through it. There are thousands of documents. Some hold nothing important, but others do, and we have to go through them all to make sure we don’t miss anything vital.”

  “I’ve been working on the locations. They have places I would never have thought to look.”

  “Most are congregated in a ten-mile r
adius around the Tatton grounds.”

  “Yeah,” Dean agreed, “But they have some in locations I wouldn’t even have thought of. In the middle of the city, for instance. Why would you want a place there if you were going to turn the power off? The city would be a disaster zone.”

  “If the place was well fortified and stocked, then they could hold out for months there and be able to relay information back to HQ. Once the city is deserted and there are no obvious signs of life, the vampires would be able to move out and initiate the next phase of their plan.”

  “Makes sense.” Dean agreed. “They’ve thought of everything. I have to admire them for that. They’ve planned for every outcome.”

  “So it seems, but we know now, and we can work with the information we have. We can go through more at tomorrows at the meeting.”

  Dean nodded and carried on eating. Tomorrow they’d plan but tonight he had a date with his mate and he couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Eight

  Wyatt sat in the pub waiting for Dean. He’d arrived early hoping Dean wouldn’t turn up and hoping he would all at the same time. Fucking connection. Being mates sucked.

  Sighing, Wyatt sipped his beer and stared at the door, his foot bouncing she chewed on his lip, his eyes never leaving the door. Dean said he would be there for eight and it was five to now, so where was he?

  Wyatt growled. Why did he have to meet his mate now when he was so young and Dean was human to boot? Not that he had anything against humans, he’d just never seen himself settling down with one. He’d been raised to believe they were weaker, slower and needed taking care of but staying with Donnie and Jeremy over the last few months had changed all that and proved it was all a pack of lies.

  Jeremy was as strong as Donnie, just as quick too. Their connection was vibrant and sometimes Wyatt was surprised he couldn’t physically see the bond in front of him. Their connection was so obvious and at times Wyatt had thought he could reach out and touch it. It was the same with Sacha and Jared, and Chester and Silas. In fact, in all the mated couples he’d seen.

  Would it be the same for him? If he mated with Dean, would they have that same level of closeness, that same depth of emotion, or would his mate leave him one day? He closed his eyes as tears threatened. Would his mate cast him aside for someone better? His family had, so why wouldn’t Dean?

  He chewed his lip, staring at the largely untouched pint in front of him. It had been just him and parents, they’d had him late in life and had loved him unconditionally, until he told them about his sexuality. He’d watched the surprise cross their faces, before his dad had shut down, his face turning to stone.

  No emotions showed, not even a hint. They hadn’t even shouted. Merely asked if he was sure, and when he told them he was, they’d politely asked him to leave. When he’d tried to talk to them about it, they’d refused to listen.

  He’d packed a bag, gathering every essential he’d need, and left. He’d walked down the path and turned back to look at the home he’d grown up in, hoping they’d be there watching him and change their minds, but the door was closed. He’d looked at the window and watched his dad close the curtains, shutting him out of both their house and their lives.

  So, as that chapter of his life ended, he walked into the next, not knowing where it would take him and what he was going to do.

  He turned up for work, only to be told he was no longer employed. Of course, he wasn’t. He worked for a vampire-owned firm and obviously his parents had told the owners about him, so not only was he homeless, he was unemployed as well.

  In less than twenty-four hours, his dreams for the future turned to ash.

  Seven years he’d survived by himself. He’d had good times and bad, working shitty jobs that barely paid the rent, at times struggling to find blood, but when sex was involved, he always found someone willing.

  He enjoyed sex, enjoyed the feeling when he was fucking. It didn’t bother him who was on top, he liked it both ways. He liked threesomes too and had had a few over the years. That would all have to end now he’d found his mate though.

  He’d heard Jeremy and Donnie often enough to know the sex would be great. They were not quiet. Would he scream Dean’s name the way Jeremy screamed Donnie’s?

  By the sounds Jeremy made, Donnie fucked like a god. In fact, many times Jeremy had shouted that word. Would he do that too?

  He’d never really been a screamer. The most he’d said were things like, harder, faster, fuck you’re tight. He winced as he recalled it. But he’d enjoyed it at the time and it was nothing to be ashamed of. He doubted Dean was a virgin, so why should he give a damn about enjoying sex?

  He sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. What would his parents do if they knew about Dean? Would they welcome him back? Would they apologize for their mistakes?

  No, they wouldn’t and why, after all this time, did he want them to? Because he missed them. Even though they’d thrown him out, they were still his parents and a part of him still loved them, still wanted to see them.

  Wyatt dropped his head in his hands, closing his eyes. Why after all these years was he thinking of them?

  “Wyatt,” Dean muttered.

  He heard a chair being moved and then Dean was there sitting next to him, his hand on the back of Wyatt’s neck, offering comfort. Wyatt tried to resist. He’d done without comfort for years, but right at that moment, he needed it.

  He leaned into Dean, and Dean moved his hand from the back of Wyatt’s neck to his shoulder, pulling closer. Wyatt turned his head into Dean’s neck, soaking up the comfort Dean offered him.

  He didn’t know how long they sat there like that for, but not once did Dean complain. He merely sat there holding him. Wyatt hadn’t known how much he needed someone to be there for him. Someone who didn’t want anything in return.

  He relaxed into Dean’s embrace and sighed. Opening his eyes, he looked around the pub and not one single person was watching them.

  “No one minds, Wyatt. No one cares. It’s just me and you. Take all the time you need. I’ll be here for you, always.”

  “Why?” he asked quietly.

  “Because you’re mine and I’m yours.”

  Wyatt sat up and stared incredulously at Dean. “That’s it? It’s that simple to you?”

  Dean frowned, tilting his head. “Yes, it is.”

  “Oh.” Wyatt looked away. “I’m... I don’t know...”

  “I’ll just get a drink. Take a minute, Wyatt.”

  He nodded and watched Dean walk to the bar, and yes, he did notice his ass. Groaning, he dropped his head in his hands. His mate was delicious, and he seemed like a really nice guy. What was there to hate?

  Dean came back and sat down next to him, a small smile on his face. “You feeling better now?”

  Wyatt nodded, looking away when he felt his skin heat up. “Yeah, thanks.”

  “So, how was work today?”

  Wyatt blinked at the change of topic. “Fine, thanks.”

  “How are the ladies doing? Talking you to death?” Dean grinned, and Wyatt found himself responding.

  “Yeah. They mean well, but they do ask a lot of questions.”

  “They do the same every time they see me. They know about us. I get asked things like, ‘when are you taking that nice young Wyatt out for a meal? You’re not getting any younger you know’.” Dean mimicked their voices and grinned. “They saw me earlier and let’s just say they know far too much about gay sex.”

  Wyatt choked on the beer he’d just drunk. “Shit. What did they say?”

  “Hmm. Something about showers, cleaning, and stretching.”

  Wyatt grimaced. “They really shouldn’t know about that.”

  “Oh, and Bernice asked me to set a camera up in the bedroom so they could watch.”

  “What!” Wyatt practically shouted. He glanced around the pub seeing several people staring at him and lowered his voice. “She said what?”

  “Yeah, seriously, she did. What does she say to yo
u?”

  “Not that, but I’m sure they keep it tame because it’s Jeremy’s shop. I’ve never seen them outside of work.”

  “They’re lovely but very nosy.” Dean chuckled. “They keep things interesting. Hasn’t one of them been married a few times?”

  Wyatt nodded. “Edith. Apparently straight men are useless in bed and need a diagram to help them find their way around a woman’s body. I’ve heard in graphic detail about a woman’s body, her vagina and clitoris.” Wyatt gulped his beer. “I needed to bleach my ears afterward, but Jeremy finds it hilarious.”

  “He’s probably used to them by now. They go in often, don’t they?”

  Wyatt nodded. “A few times a week and the business is doing really well. He’s been asked to cater for a birthday party.”

  “That’s great news. Have you learned a few culinary tricks?”

  “Puff pastry is harder than it looks and way more fattening too. I’ve seen Jer add a whole packet of butter into the mix. A whole packet! My heart actually stuttered in my chest.”

  Dean threw his head back laughing. “But it tastes so fucking good.”

  “It does, but it’s so unhealthy. I didn’t eat any but went for a run after. I felt like I had to.”

  “It’s a nice treat. I’m partial to chocolate cake.”

  “It is a nice treat, but far too many people see it as part of their everyday diet. Jer makes healthy alternatives and-” Wyatt leaned forward, whispering, “-I like chocolate cake too.”

  Wyatt watched Dean, unable to slow his attraction to him. Damn the mating bond, but really, who was he kidding? He liked Dean. He made him laugh and appeared interested in him. He asked questions and showed he was listening. He talked about himself and his family and would answer Wyatt’s questions. He was gorgeous too.

  Wyatt pursed his lips. He could feel his fangs and it worsened the longer he was with Dean. He wanted to bite him and take what was his. This must be why mates found it so difficult to stay away from each other. He wanted to fuck Dean, but he wasn’t ready for the repercussions if he had sex with him. He didn’t think he would be able to stop himself from biting him.