Sometimes you need to listen only to your heart rather than to what other people say.
Darin hasn’t actively been looking for his mate, even though he wants nothing more than to meet him. He’s lonely and he works too much, so he’s been hoping for a miracle—for his mate to walk into his bakery. It hasn’t worked yet, but then a man walks into the mansion’s kitchen and declares he’s Darin’s mate, and Darin gets the miracle he’s been waiting for.
Ira has known Darin was his mate for a few months, but he’s been burned by people who should’ve loved him before, so he took his time before deciding to talk to him. Now that he knows Darin won’t hurt him, he takes advantage of a trip to Whitedell to finally properly meet his mate.
Darin and Ira don’t wait to mate, even though they know their families might not be happy about it. But what their families think isn’t their only problem, and when the hunters attack again, Ira will need to fight for his mate and his friends.
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Darin
Copyright © 2016 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0688-2
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Darin
Whitedell Pride Book Eighteen
By
Catherine Lievens
Chapter One
Someone grabbed Darin from behind just as he was pouring the flour into the bowl. He squeaked, and the flour packet slipped from his hands. He watched as it hit the kitchen floor and flour exploded from it, covering the floor, the cabinets, and parts of Darin.
“Well, shit.”
Taylor put Darin down and Darin twirled around. He hit Taylor’s chest, but Taylor didn’t even wince. “What did you do that for?”
Taylor shrugged. “Just wanted to play around.”
“Why don’t you go play with your mate?”
Taylor pouted. “He’s studying.”
“And you thought you could come and bug me instead?”
Taylor made puppy eyes and batted his lashes. “Yes?”
Darin huffed and crossed his arms on his chest. “You need to go get the vacuum cleaner and clean the mess you made.”
“Technically, you were the one who made it. You dropped the flour.”
Darin arched a brow and stared Taylor down. He knew his friend, and he knew Taylor would give in and clean it up, because Darin wouldn’t spend time with him if he didn’t. And he wouldn’t be allowed even one of the cupcakes Darin was experimenting with. Taylor just stared back, so Darin said, “Drunken cupcakes.”
“Drunken on what?”
“Piña Colada.” Darin pointedly looked at the flour, then at his bowl, then at Taylor again. Taylor shuffled, and Darin saw the exact moment when he gave up. His shoulders slumped and he pushed his hands in his pockets, like a pouting kid. “Fine, but I get the first one.”
“Deal. Now go get the vacuum cleaner and get to work. I want to finish them sooner rather than later.”
Taylor scurried out of the kitchen and Darin took the bag of flour. It was still half-full, but it had been a new one. He shook his head at the waste and grabbed the bowl. He sidestepped the mess, shaking his legs to get most of the white powder off, and measured the flour again. He put it in the bowl, added the baking soda and the salt, and by the time he set the bowl aside, Taylor was back, vacuum cleaner in hand.
Darin let him get to work and started on the next step. He beat sugar and butter together as Taylor worked, pointing out spots Taylor had missed twice. He got a scowl in return both times, but he didn’t care. He already had enough stuff to clean up when he baked, so he wasn’t about to clean up someone else’s mess.
Taylor turned the vacuum cleaner off and put his hands on his hips. “There, done. Is that good enough for you?”
Darin inspected the kitchen and nodded. “Good.”
“Aww, don’t compliment me too much, I might get a big head.”
“You already have it!” Darin yelled after Taylor as Taylor went to put the vacuum cleaner back where it belonged.
Darin added the eggs to the mixture of butter and sugar and carefully mixed them. Taylor came back in, Nysys trailing behind him, and Darin groaned. “Don’t touch anything,” he warned the Nix.
Nysys gave him his most innocent face. “Me?”
“Yes, you. Stop playing innocent, you know your hands are itching to do it. I’ll kick you out of my kitchen if you misbehave.”
Nysys slumped in one of the stools by the counter. “What am I, a kid?”
Taylor and Darin looked at each other and answered together, “Yes.”
“You remember how many times you made something explode in here, right?” Darin asked as he added part of the flour mixture to the eggs, butter, and sugar.
“I’m better now!” Nysys declared. “I’m taking lessons, and I haven’t made anything explode in at least a month.”
Darin added part of the rum mixture he’d kept on the side and mixed. “A month? Wow. I feel like I should give you a medal or something.”
Nysys started to swat Darin’s arm over the counter, but Taylor caught his wrist before he could. “Don’t hit him. We wouldn’t want him to screw up the cupcakes.”
Nysys’ eyes went shiny. “Oooh, what’s he baking?”
“Piña Colada cupcakes.”
“Mmm, do you think they’ll be enough to make us drunk?”
“I highly doubt it,” Darin answered. “There isn’t that much rum in them.”
Nysys pouted. “Spoilsport.”
“You can take the rest of the rum bottle if you want. Just make sure to replace it if you finish it.”
“I think you’d better stay away from the alcohol,” Taylor told Nysys. “Remember how it went the last time?”
“Hey, we didn’t actually paint Dominic’s office pink!” Nysys protested.
“That’s only because Jonah stopped you. Keenan had already managed to find the paint and everything.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask why pink,” Darin said as he filled the cupcake liners.
“Because Dominic could do with a bit of calm, and everyone needs a feminine touch in their lives,” Nysys told him.
“Did you know that pink was a boy color until the 1940’s?”
Nysys cocked his head. “How do you know that?”
“Jayden.” That said it all. They all knew how Jayden was with his books, and how he tended to talk a lot and about things that didn’t actually have anything to do with each other.
“Ah. But see, pink was a good idea. It’s a manly color.”
Darin chuckled. “I don’t think Dominic would’ve been as enthusiastic as you are.” He o
pened one of the ovens and put the first tray of cupcakes in. He closed it, opened the second one, and repeated the operation before starting to fill liners again. He always had to bake a lot of cupcakes, and even then, not everyone in the pride managed to taste them. It was a first come first served kind of thing, and that meant that some people, much like Taylor, tended to hover in the kitchen when he baked.
That was why Darin wasn’t surprised when the kitchen door opened ten minutes later and Keenan, Delevan, and Isaiah came in, Trevor close behind them.
“What is it this time?” Delevan asked as he hopped on one of the stools.
“Piña Colada,” Darin answered him. “I think I’m going to buy one of those small blackboards. I’ll put it on the kitchen door and write what cupcakes I’m baking, just to let everyone know.”
“Don’t you dare,” Nysys said. “Then we’d have to share.”
“I’m baking about fifty of them.”
“That’s only one per person! It’s not enough.”
“Yeah, well, unless you or someone else volunteers to clean up once I’m done, I’m sticking with fifty.”
They all looked at each other. Darin pressed his lips together and mixed powdered sugar with the cream cheese and butter. “I don’t hear anyone,” he sang teasingly
“I can help you if you need me to,” Trevor finally said.
Darin smiled at him. The man was painfully shy and usually kept to himself. The only people he really interacted with were his siblings and, more marginally, their mates. Darin knew Trevor knew who his mate was, and he thought it was a pity that Trevor still hadn’t told the man about it, but then he’d never been shy. He didn’t know how it felt.
“That’d be nice. I can pay you in cupcakes.”
Trevor smiled softly. “How many?”
“One for you, one for your mate.”
Trevor looked down. “I don’t...”
“You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to. I can give you one of those little boxes, and you can leave it at his work place or, I don’t know, somewhere else.”
“Oooh,” Nysys said. “Like a secret admirer thing.” He sighed. “That’s so sweet and romantic.”
“You say that only because you want me to give you free cupcakes.”
“Well, yes, but it really is sweet.”
Trevor was a nice shade of red now, so Darin redirected the conversation. He handed Trevor a dirty bowl. “There, you can start cleaning up.”
Nysys was still talking about romantic stuff, but at least it didn’t have anything to do with Trevor anymore. Darin checked on the cupcakes, took the first batch out, and stuck a new batch in. He batted away a few hands and put some frosting in his pastry bag, batted away another hand, and waited for the cupcakes to cool enough that he could frost them.
* * * *
“You didn’t have to come. I could’ve asked someone who hasn’t already tried this.”
Ira waved Yanis’ words away. “I wanted to come.”
“And you’re still not going to tell me why?”
“Are you asking me? You haven’t before.”
Yanis hummed. “That’s because I hadn’t realized there was more to this than just giving a friend a ride.”
“And how did you come to that conclusion?”
Ira could hear the smile in Yanis’ voice when he answered, “Ira, you don’t do things for others.”
“That’s not true.”
“Okay, so you don’t do things for others if they don’t benefit you in any way.”
“You make me sound like an asshole.”
“You kind of are.”
“Aww, thanks, Yanis. I feel the love.”
Ira turned into the mansion’s private road. Yanis was right—he didn’t have to be there. He’d already met Adan, and he wasn’t the man’s mate. But he was Darin’s, even if Darin still didn’t know it. Ira had slowly collected information on the man Fate had decided he’d get to spend the rest of his life with, because he wanted to know who he was going against.
“Well, you kind of are an asshole. You can’t deny that.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not that bad.” Ira reached out of the window and pressed the intercom. A crackled sound came from it, then a voice asked, “Yes?”
“Ira.”
There was a buzz sound and the gate started to open.
“You’re not that bad with people you like.”
“See?”
“But those people can be counted on the fingers of one hand.”
Ira blindly swatted Yanis. Yanis groaned when Ira’s hand knocked on his stomach hard enough to hurt. “That’s not true.”
They got out and Yanis hurried around the car. He wiggled his fingers at Ira. “Not true? Let’s count, shall we?” He held one finger up for every name he mentioned. “There’s me, and don’t I feel lucky about that? Then there’s the guy you met here.”
“Wes.”
“Yeah, him, although I’m not too sure just how much you actually like him, but still.” Yanis started to lift a third finger but paused. “I think we’re done. Wow, a great amount of two people you care for.”
“You’re really making things worse than how they really are.”
“Name a third, then.”
“Darin.”
Yanis scrunched his nose just as the front door opened and Isaiah waved them in. “Who’s Darin?”
Ira grinned. “My mate.”
Yanis stopped cold just before entering the house. He grabbed Ira’s arm and pulled him backward. “Your mate?”
“Yup.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
“Nope.”
Yanis rolled his eyes and let go of Ira. Ira finally stepped in and took his jacket off, adding it to the long row of jackets hanging from the hooks on the entrance wall.
“Why not?”
“I haven’t even talked to him yet.”
“Let me guess. You had to check his background to be sure he wouldn’t try to play you or something.”
“Yeah.”
Yanis sighed and shook his head. He shrugged his jacket off and hung it. “It’s not good for you to be this suspicious of everyone, even your mate.”
“I think it’s good. Spares me more pain.”
“Not everyone is like your parents.”
“And thank god for that. Still isn’t a bad idea to check, just in case.”
Ira headed toward the infirmary, Yanis trailing behind him. “And what did you find out about your mate?”
“He’s good. Been in a lab for a while, like us. Baker. He has his own shop in town.”
“Mmm, cakes. I like cakes.”
“Cupcakes.”
Yanis grimaced. “I’d rather have the adult size thing, but fine.”
Ira shoulder-bumped him. “Who said you were going to have some of his cupcakes?”
“We were just talking about how I’m one of the few people you trust.”
Ira pushed open the infirmary door and went straight for Jared’s office. The door was open, like always, and he looked inside. Jared was sitting at his desk, reading some documents, and Ira knocked against the doorframe. “Hey, doc. I brought the next one.”
Jared looked up and smiled, but Ira could see it wasn’t a happy gesture. “Ira. Are you making driving your friends here a habit?”
Ira shrugged. “No. I actually have another reason today, but I wanted to say hi and ask how things were going first.”
Jared rose from his chair and rubbed his face with his palms. “Always the same. To be honest, I’m losing hope. We’ve had dozens of shifters coming in, but so far, nothing.”
“You knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
“I know. I still hoped, because nothing else worked.”
“Maybe you’ll be lucky with Yanis.”
Jared looked at Yanis and smiled. “Maybe. Ready to give it a try?”
Yanis nodded, and bo
th he and Ira followed Jared out of his office and into Adan’s room. Ira looked at Adan. He could see the man wasn’t in good shape. He was thinner than he’d been last time, and still looking at nothing.
Or at least he was until Yanis sat next to him on the bed. Then Adan’s gaze snapped to Yanis, and even if he did nothing else, it was the most Ira had seen him move. He looked at Jared, a brow arched in question, but Jared looked as surprised as he was.
Ira looked at Adan again, and he knew they’d finally found his mate. Yanis was leaning against Adan’s side, his nose buried in Adan’s neck. Jared cleared his throat and Yanis looked up, his eyes suspiciously damp looking. “Is he your mate?” Jared asked softly.
“Yes,” Yanis croaked.
Jared nodded. “Do you want us to leave you two alone for a bit?”
“Please.”
Ira and Jared left. Jared leaned against the wall just outside Adan’s room. He looked shaken, and Ira didn’t know what to do. “Do you want me to call someone? You don’t look so good.”
Jared held a hand up. Ira waited for him to gather his thoughts, and when Jared looked up, he was collected again. “I’m just very surprised,” Jared said. “And I’m already thinking about what we should do, where we should start.”
Ira nodded. He was torn—he’d decided today was the day he’d introduce himself to Darin, but now one of the few people he thought of as a friend might need support. He sighed. Of course he was going to stay right there and wait for Yanis to come out. Meeting Darin could wait.
Ira tapped his fingers on his leg and waited. He looked up right away when the door to Adan’s room opened and a slightly better looking Yanis stepped out. He smiled at Ira, but his eyes went straight to Jared. “What’s wrong with him?”
Jared gestured toward his office and Yanis followed him. Ira hesitated. He put a hand on Yanis’ arm and Yanis paused to look at him. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“I... I don’t know. I have no idea what I’m doing, to be honest.”
“You’ll be fine. Tell you what—you go with Jared and listen to what he has to say. I’ll go try to find Darin and finally introduce myself to him. You can find me whenever you’re done here and we’ll talk about what Jared tells you and what’ll happen next. Okay?”
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