“Ezekiel, spare her.” Her grandmother had stopped crying long enough to beg. “Let her have a normal life. With a normal man. Don’t take her away from us.”
“Oh for Pete’s sake,” Ezekiel muttered. “You act as if I’d marry her and take her to a different land. My house is at most a fifteen minute walk from yours.” Daniel could tell Ezekiel’s patience was quickly coming to an end.
“But the last woman to take a werewolf to mate died in childbirth,” the older woman continued. “And the one before her disappeared in the middle of the night.”
Daniel scoffed at the claim. Marcella disappeared all right, with half a million dollars of her husband’s money and her former high school sweetheart. Daniel loved how people left facts out whenever it suited them.
But instead of bringing up that little tidbit, Ezekiel took the higher road. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to Yvonne.”
His friend’s assurances had no effect on Jasper. “How can you be sure?”
“Oh, stop it, all of you.” Yvonne sounded as disgusted with everything as Daniel was.
“I think it’s a fair question.” Jasper plodded on as if she hadn’t spoken. “How can he be sure he won’t be putting you in harm’s way?”
Christ on a cross. Enough was enough. Rising from his seat, Daniel joined his friend and faced the pestering sheriff. “Because he won’t be the only one protecting her. I will be too.”
“And how do you plan on doing that? You can’t be with them every second of every day. I know you’re friends and all, but eventually you’ll have to go home,” Jasper said.
“Not if their home is my home.”
“What do you mean? Are you planning on moving in with them? Sharing a house?”
Daniel met Jasper’s unflinching gaze and answered honestly. “And a bed.”
Chapter Two
Ezekiel could see it now. Before the night was over, he was going to have to kill the sheriff. The annoying elect-a-cop was messing everything up. Just seconds ago he would have sworn Yvonne was on the verge of saying yes. Now she was all slack-jawed and shell-shocked, staring at him and Daniel as if they’d grown extra heads. This wasn’t the exact way he’d hoped on breaking the ménage news to her, not with this crowd, and not in this manner.
“What did you say, Daniel?” Jasper’s icy words drew Ezekiel’s attention away from Yvonne and toward the sinewy man with the tin badge. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.” Jasper’s hand went back to the butt of his gun.
His tough-man action made Ezekiel want to laugh. If his hand on his gun was supposed to be a threat, it was a poor one. Even on Ezekiel’s worst days he could make it across the room and break every finger in the sheriff’s hand before Jasper could pull the gun out and point it at his friend. How sad. The man who was supposed to protect the town didn’t know much about half of its inhabitants.
“I think you heard me just fine, Sheriff.”
“You’re planning on joining them.” Disgust filled Jasper’s face as he looked from Daniel to Ezekiel. “In bed.”
“Or the floor, or table, or couch.” Daniel shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “I’m not all that particular.”
Unfortunately for Daniel, Jasper didn’t take too kindly to his sense of humor, and he unsnapped his holster, which earned him a growl from Azarel.
“Careful there, Sheriff,” Lehi said softly. “We’d hate to hold elections before your term is up.”
To Jasper’s credit he didn’t flinch or take his hand away from his gun. The man had balls, even if he didn’t have brains. “Tell me again, Lehi, how your pack’s goal isn’t to make our townswomen whores.”
“It isn’t,” he replied. “This is the first I’ve heard of my son’s plan.”
And there was a reason for that. This was really no one’s business but his, his mate’s and the man who would soon be her second husband. Everyone else could eat shit and die if they didn’t like it.
“Then tell me, Lehi, how do you feel about it?” Tyrone asked, moving closer to his daughter.
Ezekiel didn’t bother to look at his father. He already knew Lehi would support him. His father knew how important Yvonne was to him and that Ezekiel wouldn’t share his mate with just anyone. This wasn’t a decision Ezekiel had made on the spur of the moment, nor was it one he made lightly. He knew Daniel loved Yvonne as much as he did and neither one of them wanted to lose her.
“I feel…” Lehi was cautious with his words. As always. “This is a discussion between my son, Daniel and their mate.”
“Well I’m disgusted by it.” Tyrone’s lip curled with revulsion.
“What’s disgusting about it?” Daniel asked.
That was a question Ezekiel wanted an answer to as well. Although triads weren’t common, their union wouldn’t be a first in his pack. True, the last time a wolf had shared his mate knowingly had been over thirty years ago, but that didn’t make what he was suggesting all that unacceptable.
“How can you even ask that of her? My daughter is not a whore.”
There was that word again. “On that we agree.” Ezekiel looked at Yvonne again and willed her to trust him. “I treasure Yvonne more than I do my own life. I would never do anything to purposely cause her harm or bring shame to her name. But I want her in my life and I would do anything to have her, even share her.”
“But will you give her up?” Jasper asked. “That seems a far nobler act to me than inviting another man to your bed.”
“I never said I was noble.” His words brought a small smile to Yvonne’s lips before she turned wary again. Damn it. He didn’t like that look. He didn’t like her doubting him.
“Boy, you ain’t never lied,” Jasper snarled.
That was the last straw. “Call me boy…” Ezekiel slowly turned his head until he was looking at Jasper again, “…one. More. Time.”
When Jasper opened his mouth as if he was going to do just that, Yvonne broke free of her grandmother and stepped quickly in front of Ezekiel to block his path. Her red shawl lay like a puddle of blood at her grandmother’s feet. “Please, Zeke. Don’t.”
Zeke. Fuck. She had to pull out the big guns. “Get rid of him before I do. Permanently.” He spoke low so only she and the werewolves in the room could hear, but he didn’t once let his gaze waver from his prey. Jasper didn’t know how close he was to becoming roadkill.
“I will.” She licked her full lips as was her way when she was nervous. “Just don’t go all furry on me.”
As if he would need to change forms to take Jasper out. But still, he did enjoy having options. “I make no promises.”
Yvonne shot him an annoyed look before she turned around and faced her disapproving audience. “Jasper, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Of course.” Smirking, the sheriff took a step forward. His cocky smile was going to be the first thing Ezekiel smashed in when the opportunity afforded itself. And it would. Soon. “I’ll do anything for you.”
Oh brother. What a waste of brain matter.
“Take my father and grandmother home.”
Jasper’s pompous look disappeared in a blink of an eye, much to Ezekiel’s immense satisfaction. Served the self-righteous bastard right. He was still going to fuck him up though.
“You have to be kidding me. I know you’re not picking this fre—”
“Watch yourself, son,” Lehi warned the sheriff. The man’s anger stunk up the room and gave Ezekiel one more reason to want him dead. Not that he needed many. “It’s fine to disagree, but we’ll all be respectful in here.” Lehi glanced at Ezekiel. “All of us.”
“I’m not picking anyone.” Yvonne glanced over her shoulder at Ezekiel. “Tonight. I need time to think. But first I need some questions answered.”
Ezekiel nodded. He could give her time, as long as he didn’t have to give her up.
Seeing his agreement, Lehi walked over to Tyrone and placed his hand on his old friend’s shoulder. He led him away a few feet and le
aned forward to speak softly to him. At first the mayor was stiff, but he began to relax a bit as the conversation wore on. From where they were standing, Ezekiel couldn’t clearly make out what was being said, as he assumed was his father’s intention. Ezekiel didn’t have a clue as to what the two men were discussing, but he trusted his father to act in his and the pack’s best interest.
“Azarel.” Yvonne faced his brother and smiled weakly. “Can you please step outside as well? I know Ezekiel will probably tell you—”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Yvonne.” Azarel’s potshot was missed by a scowling Jasper. “And by the way, welcome to the family, little sis.” With a wink to Yvonne, he turned and walked down the aisle. As he passed the sheriff, he let out a low growl that made Jasper jump and Ezekiel and Daniel laugh.
The brief moment of hilarity earned Ezekiel a frown from Yvonne and a censoring look from his father, but it was well worth it to see the sheriff’s true nature come to light. It was funny how his gun gave him balls but not courage. Didn’t it figure? Jasper was just another bully with a badge.
By the time Azarel was out the door, Lehi and Tyrone were through talking. The tension between the two men seemed all but gone, which Ezekiel could only hope meant good things. Tyrone smiled when Lehi offered him his hand, making Ezekiel wonder if he had to worry after all. There was something very self-satisfied about the other man’s grin.
“My word is my bond,” his father assured Tyrone, much to Ezekiel’s confusion.
“I’m counting on that.” Tyrone shot Ezekiel and Daniel one more disgruntled look before going to his mother’s side and helping her rise. “Let’s go home.”
Unfortunately, Jasper wasn’t so easy to get rid of. “What the hell,” he fumed. “Mayor, are you really going to leave her here?”
“Yes. Nothing is going to happen tonight. Lehi has given me his word. Yvonne has three days to make up her mind, and whatever her decision is, they’ll honor it with no grudges held.” Tyrone sent his daughter a pointed look. “I’m sure she’ll make the right choice.”
Three days! Ezekiel glanced at his father in outrage. Maybe he shouldn’t have trusted him after all. He’d said he’d give Yvonne some time to think, but he meant hours, not days.
Tyrone’s answer apparently left Jasper displeased as well. “If she has three days, then why does she have to stay tonight?”
“Because she…” Yvonne crossed her arms over her breasts and turned to face the sheriff, “…is a grown-ass woman and can make decisions for herself. Now will you please leave so I can ask a few questions? In private.”
“Well, why is he allowed to stay?” Jasper gestured to Daniel, who for once just smiled and kept his mouth shut. Maybe it was possible to teach an old dog new tricks after all.
Yvonne tilted her head to the side and placed a hand on her hip, as she did whenever she was annoyed. “Oh why do you think, Jasper?”
Hmmm. The more he was around the sheriff the more Ezekiel worried for the future of Jasper’s bloodline. The man was dumb as a stump. This was not a good sign for his offspring.
“Fine,” Jasper said stiffly. “I just want to go on the record to say I think this is a piss-poor idea.”
“Fine,” Yvonne sighed, clearly agitated. “It’s on the record.”
“Good.” Without saying another word, Jasper turned and stormed out of the room. Yvonne waited patiently for her father and grandmother to leave the hall before picking up her wrap and facing Ezekiel and Daniel once more.
“Now which one of you wants to explain to me what the hell is going on here?”
Ezekiel and Daniel shared a quick look. Yvonne’s mood didn’t bode well for the conversation at hand. His mate was grumpy. Three days might not be long enough after all.
Confused and frustrated, Yvonne wrapped the shawl around her and stared at the two men in the room. Two men who before today she would have called sane, rational people.
Like the fool he pretended to be all too often, Daniel waved his hand widely over his head in an exaggerated manner. “Pick me.”
“Fine.” If he wanted to be the first one to walk the plank, who was she to say no. “Go, Daniel.”
“Before you start chewing our asses, can we grab the snacks from the back?”
Out of everyone in the room, Daniel was the one who appeared least troubled by the revelations made today. Normally, his ability to turn lemons into lemonade was something Yvonne loved about him. Normally. “Snacks,” she muttered through clenched teeth. Was he serious?
“Yes.” He rubbed his stomach. “I’m starving.”
“You can eat? Now?”
Daniel laughed. “Darling, I can eat anytime. Don’t you know me well enough yet to figure that out?”
“I thought I knew you.” Yvonne felt as if she was completely out of her depths. “I thought I knew both of you, but I guess I was wrong.”
“You weren’t,” Ezekiel said quietly. “You do know us.”
Yvonne snorted and tightened the wrap around her, comforting herself in the only way she knew how. “I certainly don’t feel as if I do.”
“But you do,” he insisted, much to her annoyance.
“Right now I feel as if I don’t know anyone in this godforsaken town, including myself.” Especially herself. How could she be so blind?
In all her life, Yvonne had never felt as stupid as she did now. How was it she’d spent all this time with Ezekiel and Daniel and not once known they wanted her? Singular or together. She considered herself to not only be a really good judge of character but also a very astute individual, someone who wouldn’t miss the obvious. So how in the hell had she?
“I think Daniel’s right. I think snacks might be in order.” She couldn’t eat a thing, but she needed time to process everything. “Let me go make a tray.” She had to do something before she had a nervous breakdown. Tense beyond belief, she started toward the kitchen.
“Yvonne.” Her name on Ezekiel’s lips stopped her in her tracks.
Everything inside her yearned to turn around and run into Ezekiel’s arms, so he could make it all better. But how could he make it better when he was half the problem? “I’ll be back, Ezekiel. I need a minute.”
“But you will be back.”
It was less of a question and more of an order, but she was too weary to fight with him now about his caveman ways. Instead she nodded and continued on toward the kitchen. The heavy gazes of the men weighed her down as she silently made her way to the kitchen. When she entered the smaller room, she let out a relieved breath.
Looking around, she tried to focus on anything but the subject at hand. Noticing the cluttered island, she made quick work of cleaning it up. When that was done she searched for something else to do. She wasn’t quite ready to go back yet, and it was better to keep busy than actually grab the cookies as she’d said she would. Spotting the crumb cake on the counter, she walked over to it with a new sense of purpose. Cake was much more filling than cookies. And it would waste more time than simply putting cookies on a plate and carrying it back to the waiting men.
With a new goal in mind, she carried the cake caddy to the island and popped open the locking latches so she could remove the plastic dome. Carefully she transferred the sweet dessert from the base to a cutting board and grabbed a knife to begin slicing it.
Yvonne wished she was at home or at her shop, somewhere she could put her anger and frustration to good use. Desserts never tasted better than when the dough was pounded by fists of fury. Besides, she could use the extra treats, because she knew come tomorrow her shop would be the busiest on the block. Thanks to Ezekiel’s pick, she was now the belle of the ball. She could only imagine how the tongues would wag once everyone caught wind of Ezekiel’s plan to bring Daniel along for the ride.
Shit. Maybe she should hire help.
“Eww.”
Startled, Yvonne glanced up from the cake and looked straight into the faces of the two people she least wanted to see right now.
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Great. Just great.
Daniel walked over to her and glanced at the island with a curious look on his face. “What’s that supposed to be?”
Frowning, she followed his gaze and let out a frustrated grumble. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t heard the men approach nor had she noticed how she’d turned her crumb cake into just crumbs.
Wonderful. Not only had they ruined her night, they ruined her dessert as well. Angry, she looked up at Daniel and snapped, “Metaphorically, your face.”
“Ouch.” Daniel wisely took a step back.
Ezekiel, on the other hand, wasn’t as smart, and he moved closer to the island—the only thing standing between them and certain death if she got her hands on the two men. No, two traitors.
“You don’t really mean that,” he said, in his calm and infuriating manner. For a werewolf, Ezekiel was light on the short fuse. Well, with her anyway. Several times tonight she wasn’t so sure Jasper was going to leave the hall in one piece, let alone alive. “Do you?”
“No, I don’t,” she admitted begrudgingly, but the fantasy was sort of fun for a second. “If I wanted to do you harm, trust me, you’d already be on the floor in pain.” She dropped the knife on the island with a loud thud and picked up the crumbled mess, tossing it into the trash, cutting board and all. What a freaking waste.
To add insult to injury, Ezekiel, king of responsibility, reached in to the trash. He took out the board and calmly placed it back on the island. “I don’t like to see you upset.”
“Then you might have thought about dropping a hint or two over the last few weeks that you were thinking about this.”
“I don’t know how I could have made my intentions any clearer.”
“You might have tried to, oh I don’t know, say something.” Her bitterness overflowed into her words, but she couldn’t have held it back if she tried. “And you,” she said, turning her rage onto Daniel. “You could tell how upset I was out there. Did it occur to you to maybe tell me what was going to happen?”
Smug boy wasn’t smiling now. In fact he looked anything but pleased. “I thought you would figure it out.”
The Better to Eat You With: Urban Fairytales, Book 2 Page 3
