by Tl Reeve
“Heard that boy,” Kal growled from his chair. “Don't care who your mate is, I'll beat the ever-living snot out of you if you ever refer to me as an old man again.”
Emma froze, unsure if the big alpha was joking or serious. Her gaze fluttered to Kal. He looked pissed off. But, then again, when had she seen him when he hadn’t? How did his mate, or his pups, deal with his constant bad mood? Catching her stare, Kal winked at her, and she swore she saw the corner of his lip turn up, every so slightly.
Nico chuckled, seemingly not bothered by the older man’s words.
“I'm joking, bear,” Kal said after several long, tense moments. “You gotta figure me out, and quickly. Otherwise, it's going to be a difficult transition for you.
“Shit,” Caden laughed, elbowing his twin. “I’ve known you all my life, and I’m still trying to figure you out.”
“He's like a Tootsie Roll lollipop,” Keeley said from the picnic table. “Hard outer shell, with a soft, gooey center.”
All the Raferty males snickered, except Kal. He turned to glare at his mate, who seemed totally unconcerned. “Fuck, mate. Are you trying to totally kill my rep?”
Emma jumped when Bodhi gasped her elbow and whispered in her ear. “Let's escape what's about to become an epic shit-show of what my uncle is really like.”
“Was he joking?” she asked as he led her away, toward the front of the house.
“Yeah.”
“How can you tell?”
“Body language and his eyes.”
Emma stopped following Bodhi. “I looked at his eyes. He seemed ... intense.”
“He’s always that way, pinky. It’s just who and what he is. His entire body was relaxed, including his shoulders, and he had a twinkle in his eye.”
“If you say so.”
“I do, now if you don't mind, I'd like to get out of range of all of them.” Bodhi made a sweeping gesture toward the bridge which connected the twin brothers and their mates’ homes. “To the right of Caden's home is a path, it has a beautiful view of the desert. If we make it that far.” Bodhi wiggled his brows at her.
Neither of them said a word as they trekked through the little bit of trees. Bodhi was in the lead, walking through familiar territory while she picked her way, slowly. Ever observant of the rocky pathway. Bodhi had been patient, stopping to help her before she even asked. Like he realized hiking hadn’t been her thing.
She smiled and glanced up at him after they crested the large boulder overlooking the basin of Window rock.
“Look,” he whispered.
The last thing she wanted to do was break the connection, but she did, following his gaze. “Oh, wow, it’s breathtaking.”
The different hues of browns, and reds, mixed with the scattered greens from the bushes, trees, and some blooming flowers. Small, wispy clouds floated along the darkening sky, casting them in shades of purple and pink.
“It’s even better at sunrise,” Bodhi assured her, sitting down on the rock. Emma followed, feeling the warmth of the rock, on her ass and thighs. “In the summer, during the hottest part of the day, you can’t even sit up here. The rock is so hot, you can literally fry an egg.”
She didn’t doubt it. “This is your favorite spot?”
“Yeah. I spent a lot of time here. I called it my thinking rock,” Bodhi said, lightly patting the rock with affection.
Leaning back, Emma rested her weight on her hands braced behind her. “Tell me about your childhood.” She hated breaking what she considered a moment between them as they peered out at their view. She did it because Bell had been one hundred percent correct. Bodhi made all the efforts in their relationship. It was her turn now.
“What do you know?”
“Not much. I mean” —Emma reached for his hand— “obviously, Hayden’s been very vocal, and I’ve put pieces together. I just don’t have the full picture.”
“I was raised as an orphan.” His admission shocked the hell out of her. “Jace is my dad. He was taken, held against his will because the Paranormal Bounty Hunters wanted to breed his gifts as a shifter and get more powerful beings. I'm a product of those experiments. As is Hayden, and many others are, too. The orphanage, you've been to, provides a haven for those who are lucky enough to escape. Jace had no knowledge Hayden even existed till she arrived, unexpectedly, in Window Rock. He, on the other hand, escaped with me.”
Emma kept silent, even though she had a ton of questions, Bodhi had been on a roll, and she sensed this conversation, once he got it out, would never be spoken of again.
“Jace arrived back home, skinny, half-dead carrying me, a newborn baby, who he wanted no part of. One of my uncles, I suspect Kal, took me to Mrs. Martin, who at the time, raised all of the unwanted foundlings in and around the pack lands, and asked her to take care of me until Jace healed and was ready to deal with me.”
“Oh, Bodhi,” she whimpered, feeling the pain of his abandonment at the hands of his family through her mate’s words.
“It sounds much worse than it actually is,” he assured her. “My uncles, they were always around, helping me with school, keeping me busy or giving me advice. I never went without.”
“Did you know?” She kept her gaze locked with his, afraid if she looked away, he’d stop talking.
“That I was a Raferty?” He gave her a sardonic smile. “Yeah. I figured out relatively quickly Jace had to be the one who sired me.” It didn't go unnoticed to Emma, Bodhi's voice seemed detached and without any of the emotion she normally associated with him. “He was the only one who went out of his way to avoid me. And, I'd been around a lot. My uncles realized I'd be safer with Mrs. Martin.”
“You were family,” she interjected.
Bodhi turned his attention to the view in front of them. “I am, and I can't fault them, they were worried about their sibling's wellbeing. Jace was the priority, not me.”
The utter sadness in his voice had her heart breaking for Bodhi. It also made her want to march back to the house and kick every one of their asses for causing her mate this pain.
“You were a baby, Bodhi. The priority. Therefore, you should have been the one they were concerned with, not a grown adult,” she spat.
“Depends on how you look at it. The Raferty brothers didn’t have the easiest start in life, either. They weren’t familiar with the concept of love. They did the best they could with a hurt brother and new baby.”
Emma didn’t miss the bitterness and disgust in his voice. “You hated him, your father, didn't you?” she stated when she realized the underlying emotion she had trouble deciphering from him.
“For a long time. Then, I forgave him. He’d been suffering, and I realized he was in no shape to care for a young child.”
“Stop making excuses for him,” she huffed out.
Bodhi wrapped his massive arms around her, before pulling her onto his lap. “It’s in the past, and I’m over it.”
Emma snuggled into his chest and sighed. “Somehow, I’m not exactly sure if what you’re saying is true. How’d you come to finally live with him?”
Bodhi chuckled. “When my aunts Keeley and Danielle came to town, trouble followed. I ended up staying with Loraine till dad pulled his head out of his ass and mated Blake and her. Not before Keeley and Danielle found out who I belonged to, though. Both of my aunts were infuriated when they found out the details of why I wasn’t in the Raferty home. Aunt Keeley handed Jace his ass, with Dani as back up. Kal had to step in, holding his mate back.”
“Why did he have to hold her back?”
“She broached the subject with a bat to his chair, knocking him on his ass. Kal was afraid she and Dani were going to take their weapons to my father's thick head.”
“I know the feeling,” she muttered.
“Family isn't always perfect, pinky. They make mistakes, stumble along the path of life and with each other. Dad found his way and righted the situation between us. Yeah, we had a couple of rough times where Kal or Caden stepped in to deal
with an issue, instead of dad. He learned, he coped. His mates helped healed him and showed him how to give and receive love—bringing us to the here and now.”
“Can I be mad at them for a while?”
“Till we get back home.” He secured Emma in his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather pillow, then stood. “The littles are most likely done eating and should be running around. Which means it's time for the adults to eat.”
“I can walk,” she tartly informed him.
“Yeah, but I want to hold my mate,” he growled, before leaping from the boulder on the ground. “Now, you can walk back.” Bodhi allowed her to get her legs settled under her before he released her. Ever the opportunist, he leaned in for a kiss.
Emma went back into, what she called, a Bodhi haze, wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbed the hard outline of his cock against her belly.
“Tonight.” He all but snarled when he broke the kiss.
With a firm smack on her ass, he led her back down the path they came up, arriving back in his uncles’ backyard a short time later. Bodhi had called it; the kids had already eaten and were running around the massive backyard, while the adults were at the table.
“Held dinner for you, boy,” Kal called out when they meandered over to the waiting group. “Caden wanted to send a search party for you. Rapier talked him out of it, though.” Kal scratched at his beard. “We figured you'd get pissy if we saw you fucking your mate in the woods.”
“Kalkin Raferty, knock it off,” Keeley snapped behind him. The alpha didn’t even look contrite after his mate smacked at his arm. “Don’t believe him, Bodhi. I held dinner.”
“Keep that shit up, mate, and you’ll be holding something else,” Kal growled out, wrapping a massive, tree-trunk of an arm around his mate when she attempted to scurry away from him.
“Littles are present,” Mac called out. “You ought to know the rules, Kal, since you made ‘em.”
Rules? Emma mouthed to Bodhi who was watching her.
Instead of answering her, he just shook his head and gave her a look of promise to explain later. She’d take him up on it, too.
“Guests first,” Dani said, handing Emma a sturdy, plastic plate.
One thing was sure, this family did not mess around when it came to food. It looked as if a whole pig and cow had been butchered for this meal. Two entire picnic tables were filled with platters of meat and side dishes.
“Get the line moving,” Hayden hollered. “Once those guys.” —she gestured to her uncles— “get their paws on the meat it disappears in a hurry.”
Bodhi pulled her to the table, loading his plate and hers with every piece of meat and side. Her plate weighted a ton, and after dessert, which she knew Keeley had made, they’d have to roll her out of there.
Because both picnic tables were occupied, the adults stood in little clusters, eating. Hayden, Nico, Bell, Christoph, Jackson, Zoe, and Rocky stood with her.
“Oh, fuck me,” Nico growled, his focus on her right shoulder. “Trouble, twelve o'clock.”
Emma turned, catching sight of Gwen making a beeline towards them. Her long hair had been platted into pigtails, which rested on the tight, skanky, black tank top covering her breasts. Breasts—which were unbound—going by the amount of jiggle she had with each step. Her long legs were bare, and her shorts, even though Emma couldn't see it, had to be revealing at least half of her ass cheeks going by how short they were.
“Hi, everyone,” Gwen said as she sauntered up beside Bodhi. “You busy, Bodhi?”
“Now, why would you think he’s busy? I mean, the entire Raferty and Dryer families are here, and we’re obviously having a dinner. A dinner which is for family only,” Zoe stressed. “Last time I looked, that isn’t you.”
“Oh posh,” Gwen exclaimed. “Considering I’ve been intimate with Bodhi since we were both fourteen, I consider myself family.”
“You’re not family,” Bell snarled.
“Who the fuck are you? And, why the fuck are you still here?” Gwen curled her lip in disgust as she gave Emma the once over. Then, a twinkle of superiority filled her gaze.
“His mate,” Hayden said with glee as Bodhi tucked Emma into his side.
“Impossible. She's a cow,” Gwen smirked. “A fat cow to be exact. Really.” The other woman gestured to the plate Emma forgot she was holding that went tumbling when Gwen flicked it. “You don't really need to be eating all of that food, sweetheart. I suggest you go take a gander in the mirror and then cut back to one meal a day. Preferably a yogurt or maybe an apple. If you're lucky, you'll be looking like me in about a year.” Gwen's gaze flickered back to Bodhi as if Emma no longer existed in her world. A series of growls could be heard from behind Emma and to the right where the adults and the rest of her friends were. “We need to talk, you've been avoiding me for too long, lover. The full moon is approaching, and I think it's time we mated.”
“Excuse me?” Bodhi growled. “You don’t come into my home and disrespect my mate or my family.”
Gwen rolled her eyes. “There is no way in hell you mated, that.” Gwen gestured to Emma. “How do you even find the hole to fuck her? She’s all fat.” Gwen’s entire face twisted in disgust.
“Oh, shit,” Zoe mumbled, dropping her plate, its contents mixed with Emma’s. Zoe moved, heading toward Hayden who was currently struggling against the death grip Nico had on her.
“Let me go, Nico,” Hayden hissed, clawing at his forearm. “I’m finally going to give that bitch the beat down she deserves.”
“Is there a problem here, Gwen?” Kal snarled, stepping into the circle behind Emma.
“Nope. I just need to speak to Bodhi.” Gwen sniffed the air. “When did we start letting bears into the pack? Bad enough we have all species of felines, now we have a bear.” Gwen batted her long, clumpy lashes at Kal as if she didn't just question his authority or slam his pack. Even Emma could see he was pissed, and every ounce of it was directed at Gwen.
“That would be me. I’m the bear,” Emma responded, her voice wobbled, and her stomach rolled as all her old fears came rushing back.
Damn it.
For every step, she took forward to shedding her insecurities, something always happened to make her take five steps back.
“We just letting any type of shifter in now, alpha?” Gwen asked.
Kal lunged for her, but Keeley stopped him, pulling him down, whispering something in his ear. Kal nodded his head at her before facing Emma and placing his massive hands on her shoulders.
She shook uncontrollably as his grip tightened, and his gaze softened, then leaned down. “My pack. Your pack. Our pack. Welcome, Emma Monte. Mate to Bodhi Raferty.” His nose brushed against hers in a gesture she assumed meant she was now considered a full member of his pack.
Silence filled the backyard, the only sound Emma could hear were the bugs. Bodhi had at some point left her side, perhaps seeing her and Gwen together, he realized his mistake and picked the other woman.
“If you want to beat the hell out of her, I’m game. I’m not on duty tonight, and neither are my brothers,” Kal grumbled low enough, so only she could hear him.
“It’s not really my style,” she admitted, not caring who heard her, or knew her heart was breaking.
“I know. You're a lot like my mate. You'd prefer to run and hide, than stay and fight for what you so desperately want and, more importantly, deserve.” Kal's voice was gentle, caring even. This must be the man Keeley saw and loved. The warm, gooey center. “Trust him. Have faith in him, Emma. He won't let you down.”
And, there stood the problem. All through her life, those she had counted on, depended on, constantly let her down. Why should Bodhi, treat her any differently?
“I see you made your decision,” Kal said with surprisingly no sarcasm in his words. “I’ll allow it this time. Like my mate, you’re going to have to fight for what you want and not let others decide for you. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to take the trash out. It’
ll give you the time you need to run.”
Kal released her, turned, and stormed toward the group of young shifters around Gwen. He pushed through them, then snagged Gwen. He hefted her up into a fireman’s hold and marched down the long driveway with the nasty blonde screaming her head off for Bodhi.
Emma didn't stay around to see the outcome of the incident, instead, she took off into a dead run, heading for the back door of the house. She needed the sanctuary her room would provide for her before she broke down completely.
Chapter Eleven
Jackson and Christoph held Bodhi back, while Nico did the same to Hayden. How dare Gwen show up at his uncle’s house and think she could just cozy up to him? Hadn’t he been clear enough? Obviously not, or else she wouldn’t be standing on Kal’s property causing a scene.
“Get out of here and don’t come back,” Bodhi spat. “I’m mated.”
The girl glanced down at her nails and snorted. “I knew you liked the chase, but you don’t have to pretend that wildebeest is your mate for us to go running.” She went to touch his arm, and he snarled at her. “Come now, lover. Let me remind you of what you’re missing.”
“I should have wasted you a long time ago,” Hayden muttered. “All you are is trailer trash for shifters. You have no respect for authority. No respect for mates. Hell, you don’t even respect my uncle who is the Alpha of this pack.”
“I’m surprised Nico even took you back.” Gwen slid her gaze toward Bodhi’s twin. “I heard the twit from the bar really loved bouncing on Nico’s dick.” She licked her lips in a salacious way.
“That’s it, you’re out of here,” Kal growled as he lifted the little bitch over his shoulder and carried her away. “Son,” —he glanced at Bodhi— “you have bigger issues on your hands right now.”
Bodhi tracked his uncle’s gaze as Emma headed for the house. Shit. In fifteen minutes, Gwen had destroyed everything he had been building with Emma. Part of him resented the fact Emma still didn’t believe him, but the other part of him understood, as well. Here he professed his love for her, and the skank of the week showed up wanting to ride him off into the wild, blue yonder.
