Mandalay didn’t believe him but shrugged. “If you say so.”
“Please, trust me.”
“I will,” Mandalay assured him. “If your uncle turns out to be a slave-driving trainer from hell, you’re going to lose major trust points.”
Nic smiled. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” he murmured. “Because I’d hate to be barred from your home.”
Mandalay grinned. “I won’t go that far yet.”
After they finished their meal, Nic left. He did get that picture with a message from Nic shortly after.
Mandalay found it hard to focus on the laundry and the cleaning as his mind kept wandering back to his mate.
His. Mate.
He had almost given up on finding a mate as his father’s pressure to date women closed in on him. Mandalay had begun to fear that he’d give in just to shut the man up.
Hurting a woman he could never love was the last thing he wanted to do.
He finished wiping down the trashcan and put it back under the sink. As he washed his hands, the doorbell rang. Mandalay dried his hands and hurried to see who it was, hoping it was Cairo. His friend hadn’t answered his phone when he’d called him to talk about his date.
Looking out the peephole, he saw the man Nic had called his uncle. Short black and whiskey brown eyes like Nic’s—the man was handsome.
After taking a breath and letting it out, Mandalay let him in.
“Mandalay, I’m Seven, Nic’s uncle.” The man offered him a smile as he stuck out his hand.
Mandalay shook it noting the firm grip of the lean older man who easily stood at six feet.
“Hi.” He motioned Seven in. “Can I get you a drink? I made some iced tea-lemonade a little while ago.”
“That sounds nice,” Seven said with a smile.
Mandalay led the way to the kitchen. “Nic said you could train me. What did he mean?”
“He says you might have some empathic abilities,” Seven said. “Clairvoyance is strong in our family. Nic is one of the weakest talents, but he’s a fair judge of character. He has good instincts.”
“Really?” Maybe Nic had seen the future when he’d touched his mother’s stomach twenty-five years ago. “He’s clairvoyant?”
“A little bit,” Seven said. “That should make for an interesting relationship for the two of you. I can see your telepathic communications being enhanced, and with a bit of practice, you can send him pictures any time.”
“I can? I’m not clairvoyant.” Mandalay retrieved glasses from the cabinet before taking the glass pitcher from the fridge.
“Sure you are,” he said. “Clairsentience is one part of clairvoyance. They’re all connected to a degree. You just might be better at one than the other.”
“You’re going to teach me how to improve.” He poured liquid into the glasses and then looked at the older man, trepidation snaking through him.
“Yes. Some of what you do will be so very simple as communicating with Nic.”
“I don’t understand.”
Seven frowned. “One of the best ways for you to gain confidence and gauge your success is by working with someone you already know and who knows what you’re doing. He’ll give you positive feedback rather than humoring you like your parents or friends might do.”
“Oh.” Mandalay nodded, fear still an icy hand on his spine. Gaining more skills wasn’t what he needed. “So what do I do first?”
* * * *
After organizing his squad into two groups, Nic sent them off to their work and sat back at his desk to think a few things over. He wasn’t sure he could trust Jody. At the same time, Jody had done nothing to give him reason not to.
Nic’s family had left the pack to live among the humans for his mother’s work as she pursued her career as an artist. His father had supported the family as a counselor at a drug addiction center while he got his doctorate in psychology.
Nic had pursued a degree in the same field but had decided to move back here when Xavier asked him to. He hadn’t wanted to be a hunter, but his father had assured him he had the mark of one.
His parents hadn’t come back, but Nic had thought he might be of some help to the pack. Besides that, his mate was here, and he had rather live his life near him than not.
A rap on his door pulled him out of his reverie. “Come in.”
The door opened, and Reno stepped in, his face a mask of consternation. “Why don’t we have anyone to question about last night’s attack?”
“No one wanted to live?” Nic asked coolly, and Reno lifted a lip in a silent snarl. “I’m not taking your shit today, Reno. So, if that’s the only reason you’re here, then get out.”
His relationship with the man wasn’t a strictly adversarial one, but they were never going to be best friends. Reno was one of the wolves who’d rather gays didn’t live here.
“It’s not,” he muttered. “I got wind of something at the station yesterday that’s left me a little concerned.”
“What?” Reno was a cop with the local PD.
“Blacktooth was trying to get a team settled up here.”
“That might have been them that attacked,” Nic commented.
“I also heard, the man leading that team was shipping out to New York,” Reno said. “So, the possibility of it being them is slim. I want to know if you noticed anything yesterday when you when to do recon.”
“I told Jody everything I saw and heard already.”
“He told me. What did the guy, Beaker, look like? If he’s one of us, I think we should haul his ass in and find out what’s going on.”
“I talked Jody out of that,” Nic said. “We need to wait. Let them think they’re still on track.”
“Maybe what you heard was just talk to throw us off, make us think they’re leaving when they’re trying something different.”
“I don’t think so,” Nic said. “They had no idea I was listening. Anyway, I don’t want to blow this by charging in too soon.”
“What choice do we have?” Reno demanded. “We don’t have the vast resources Voss has. We won’t get a second chance at taking them down.”
“That is why we need to do it right from jump,” Nic told him. “I’m already on it, Reno. Let me do my job while you do yours.”
“I’m not going to risk this pack being taken by Blacktooth and Wildhead.”
“That’s fear talking,” Nic muttered. “You’re a wolf, so man up, man.”
Reno growled at him. “We’re outnumbered.”
“We’ll be fine,” Nic gritted out, at the end of his patience. “Now, if you don’t have anything else—”
“I’m worried Jody got in too deep when he went undercover,” Reno admitted with a pained expression. “They could have turned him. He’s the only one who came out of this without a scratch.”
“Maybe they didn’t have time to get to him,” Nic mused.
Nobody had really been after them. Securing Jody’s alliance could have been more about a plan B than a necessity.
“Maybe nobody ever really paid much attention to him, and they realize what a threat we might be now that they can’t secure the cats.”
“We’re right in the middle of two cat prides that defeated them or at least beat them back,” Reno murmured. “They want the tunnels. With control of them, they’d have a considerable chance of taking down both cat prides.”
“So, there would be more than one mole in our pack,” he said. “We have to find the ones Jody didn’t weed out before.”
“You don’t think we got them all?” Reno asked.
“Beaker is a good indication of how deep they’re buried. These are men and women who know how to keep a secret. We won’t smoke them out by torturing Beaker. We have to be smarter than them.”
“What’s your plan?” Reno demanded.
“They assume we’re running an investigation to find out who the inside man was if there was one. We’re doing that. No one knows we have a few clues where to look. Let me han
dle it. I’ll let you know when I need your help.”
“Don’t cut me out of this, and don’t discount Jody and Kimble. X didn’t completely trust him.”
“Did he trust you?”
“Yeah, but maybe he just didn’t trust gays,” Reno said. “I’m not saying Jody is in on this. I’m just saying, don’t rule him out.”
Nic nodded. He wouldn’t rule anyone out, including and especially Reno. He seemed to have plenty to gain by getting rid of Jody, namely control of the pack.
Chapter Ten
Mandalay removed the apron he’d pulled on before he started dinner as Serena breezed into the kitchen.
“Hey, Manly,” she said. “Got a hot date tonight?”
“Yes.” He faced her apron in hand. “You mind getting lost?”
She laughed. “No. I have a date, too. I’ll head to Mom and Dad’s after to give you and your man some time alone,” Serena told him. “How much time do I have?”
“He won’t be here for thirty minutes,” he said. “So, hurry up.”
“I’ll grab some stuff and head out. Did he say what last night was about? Is Blacktooth setting their sights on us again?”
“We didn’t talk about it,” Mandalay told her. “We took a nap.”
“Right. Healer and law man. Can you deal with that? There will be nights when you’re all alone because he’s out patrolling or protecting Jody.”
Mandalay shrugged. Seven had asked him the same question after running through a couple of exercises with him. The man had been surprisingly talkative and forthright.
“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “It’s too soon to start speculating anyway. We might not mate for months, if ever.”
“Right,” she said with a laugh. “Your breed doesn’t back down from claiming its mate, so you better start thinking about it. That way it won’t ruin your relationship later down the line.” She gave him a wave. “I’m off.”
Mandalay sat down at the table. He knew all about his breed and the sometimes volatile nature they possessed. They had been known to fly into rages when not getting enough attention from their mates.
He had learned to control his abilities—the snow ones—early. He hadn’t been able to go to school until he had.
He could freeze things with a touch of a finger or stop a heart with an icy exhalation. He’d realized years ago he had an odd ability linked with his skill set as a snow wolf. He’d kept that carefully hidden, not wanting even his parents to fear him. Today, that ability had been reawakened with the brief training session.
Mandalay had felt the power of the ability just waiting to be unleashed like a part of his animal.
“I’m gone, Manly.”
He got to his feet and rummaged for candles for this evening’s meal. He was putting them on the table when he heard something. Mandalay headed from the kitchen, the animal automatically coming awake, picking up the scents.
Something was out of place. The wolf took over his mind fully as he glanced around the living room.
Dirt. Something piney. Something acidic.
“Who’s there?” Mandalay called as he backed toward the kitchen and his cell phone.
The sharp energy charged the air, made his wolf prickly like it always did when he was around wolves with a dark nature. He’d met a few in the last few years, but none of them had hurt him or tried to. He’d shaken it off, but he couldn’t now since he hadn’t invited the threat into his home.
“I’m calling security,” Mandalay called. “You better get out before my boyfriend gets here.”
The faint sound of a chuckle had him going cold all over.
“Who is it? You know I won’t forget your scent, and he’s going to kick your ass for messing with me.”
Something broke from what sounded like the half bath and Mandalay sprinted for the kitchen. He raced to the island and grabbed his phone and input Nic’s number.
“Yeah, baby?” he asked distractedly.
“Someone’s in my house,” he whispered. The front door slammed, and Mandalay jumped.
“What? Can you get out?”
“The door just slammed. I don’t know if they left or trying to get me to come out.”
“You can defend yourself, but if you’re afraid, stay put. I’ll be there in five, okay?”
“I’m in the kitchen,” he said, moving to the stove and the clean copper pot just hanging out there.
“Put the phone down and prepare to defend in case they come in,” Nic ordered.
Mandalay did just that and grabbed the pot. He’d rather not use his abilities on his packmates unless he had no choice. After all, they were family of a sort and he was a healer.
First do no harm applied to them though not a true enemy, he admitted.
Mandalay gripped his weapon tighter and stood there for what seemed like an eternity with it raised, ears straining. He heard the door open and footsteps on the wood floor. His breath stopped.
“Mandy, it’s me,” Nic called.
With a sigh, Mandalay put down the pot just as Nic ran into the room.
“Are you okay?” Nic asked. “I think it was just some dumb wolves screwing with you.”
“What? Who?”
“I saw them running from the house. They’d started spray-painting something on the door.”
“What?” he asked dully.
“Nothing of import, but it is going to get them the kind of attention they weren’t looking for.” He pulled Mandalay into his arms for a hug. “Let me check things out. Stay here.”
Mandalay nodded and stayed dutifully where he was, anger biting his ass. Jerks.
He thought they’d gotten past messing with him. Maybe he should give them a jolt of cold and let them see how it felt to have someone do something mean to you just because they could.
He stalked from the kitchen, tracking Nic by scent up to his bedroom.
“I don’t think they came up here,” Nic said. “They did write a stupid little quip on the mirror in the downstairs powder room.”
“Assholes,” he muttered.
“Yeah, they’ll be punished,” Nic assured him, reaching for Mandalay. “Jody has been talking about implementing a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of crap.”
“Good,” Mandalay snapped. “I hope they get ‘bigot’ painted across their foreheads or something.”
“Good idea,” Nic said with a grin. “I’ll suggest a safe alternative to Jody.”
He ran his hand up Nic’s chest. “Make them wear a scarlet b for a whole month.”
“That can be arranged,” Nic said with a laugh. “I worried when you said someone had gotten in. You really need to be prepared to protect yourself, pretty baby.”
“I know, but I have you now. You can do that for me.”
“I can,” Nic murmured. “And I will gladly.” He stroked his thumb along Mandalay’s jaw before lowering his head. “So, does that mean you’re going to accept my claim?”
Mandalay pushed his fingers into Nic’s hair and tugged his head down until their lips met. “I’m still thinking about it,” he said in a teasing tone.
“Let’s see if a kiss or two can convince you.” He brushed his lips against Mandalay’s, and Mandy’s parted for him. His tongue swept in, and Mandalay groaned as he tightened his grip on Nic’s hair.
Mandalay rubbed against Nic, the kiss making him dizzy. Both man and wolf enjoyed the feel of Nic’s solid body so much he wanted to crawl up it.
Nic deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking Mandalay’s, setting him on fire. His cock hardened, and Mandalay ground the still swelling flesh against Nic’s, and Nic gripped his hips, grinding back against him before breaking the kiss.
Panting, Nic nipped his bottom lip before reaching for the edge of Mandalay’s polo shirt and pushed his hand beneath to caress skin.
“Mmm, you feel good.”
“Take it off me,” Mandalay urged. He was almost too far gone to say anything else. He needed, wanted, Nic’s touch and wasn’t of the mi
nd to tell him to stop.
“Are you sure you want to do this so soon?”
“Now, next week. I want you. That’s not going to change.”
Nic pulled the shirt up, and Mandalay lifted his arms to help him get it off easily. Nic tossed it away and stared down at him.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he breathed out as he lowered his head and swirled his tongue tip around a tight flat nipple before licking over it and scraping across it with his teeth.
“Nic.” Mandalay moaned as his eyes closed.
Nic sucked at his nipple, sending shards of breathtaking pleasure through him. Mandalay caught his bottom lip between his teeth on a gasp of pleasure.
Nic pinched his nipple before flicking his tongue over the rosy peak and then laved it, ramping up the sensual heat. He rolled the vacated nipple between his fingers before kissing a trail to the other.
“Oh, baby, yes.”
Nic flicked the tiny bud with his tongue and bit it lightly. Then, he sucked hard, and Mandalay caught his breath. It was so damn good, his knees almost buckled. Nic blew over the damp flesh and Mandalay growled softly.
“Nic,” he cried. No man’s touch had ever felt so good.
Nic lifted his head and reached for the button of Mandalay’s pants as his mouth claimed Mandalay’s again. He pushed Mandalay’s jeans down his thighs and stepped back to take in the sight of the black briefs.
“Undress,” he ordered tightly.
Mandalay pushed his pants down beneath his mate’s watchful gaze as desire rose higher in him, making his skin hotter. He kicked the pants aside before pushing down his briefs.
“Take off your clothes for me, mate,” Mandalay urged huskily. “I want to see every inch of you.”
Nic gave him a slow smile and shed his own clothing, and Mandalay pushed him back onto the bed before moving over him. Mandalay kissed the side of Nic’s neck as he glided his hand down his shaft and back up.
He tightened his grip a little and played his thumb around the crown, tearing a hiss of pleasure from Nic.
“Mandy,” Nic growled and reached up to set Mandalay’s hair free from the ponytail it was in. Nic combed his fingers through the silky locks before raising up, but Mandalay pushed him back onto the mattress.
Wolf’s Fall Page 7
