by Lynn Hagen
Torem lay over Sidney, still buried inside of him. He didn’t want to leave the warmth of his mate’s body just yet. Torem laid his cheek on Sidney’s chest and smiled over at Dino, listening to Sidney’s heart slowing to take on its natural rhythm. The fast pace was slowing as Sidney sighed and ran his hands over Torem’s head.
Chapter Eight
“So who was the guy?” Torem asked as he helped Sidney toss the scrap material into the wheelbarrow.
“I don’t know. He said his name was Tristan, but then Quinn whisked him away.”
“Quinn?”
“Yeah, tossed a blanket over his head and carried him out caveman style.” Torem saw the distraught look in Sidney’s eyes. His mate wasn’t telling him all of it.
“What else, Sid?” He tossed the used caulk tubes in the wheelbarrow and pulled Sidney close.
“He had scars all over his back, like someone had been whipping him for a long time. They were horrible.”
Torem pulled his mate into his arms, not caring who was around. Sidney shook his head back and forth, his fingers curling into Torem’s T-shirt.
“If Quinn has him, I have a feeling he’s safe. That guy may be human, but I have a feeling Quinn is a force to be reckoned with.”
“He is,” Dino said as he sauntered over. “What’s wrong, angelo?”
“I was just telling Torem about Tristan.” Sidney released his shirt. Torem kissed his temple and then went back to picking up the clutter on the jobsite. Dino had invited him to come along this morning, and Torem had agreed. It felt good to get out and be productive. Maybe he’d help until his new home was complete.
“He’ll be fine. Quinn won’t let anything happen to him. I just talked to him this morning. He’s staying home to take care of Tristan right now.”
“Dino, what are you going to do when this job is done?” Torem asked. He had thought about it last night and still couldn’t think of a way to keep Dino in Pride Pack Valley after the job was complete. There just wasn’t much rebuilding to do here.
Torem had always been a little insecure, but the thought of Dino leaving them had his stomach in knots.
Dino must have read his unease because he moved closer to Torem, his hand running down Torem’s arm. “I was already thinking of getting out of this business. My men and I were talking about it before this job even came up.”
“Then what will you do?”
Dino smiled, and his hazel eyes sparkled. “We’ll think of something.”
That still didn’t tell Torem if Dino was staying, and he didn’t want to sound clingy and needy. He dropped it for now. “Come on, Sid, we wouldn’t want the boss to catch us goofing around.”
“Yeah, I hear he can be a real prick.” Dino chuckled as he left the two to do their work.
Sidney sat at Theo’s Bar and Grill, staring at the man he was told was the vampire residing at the house. Trevor didn’t look like one. Okay, so he was pale, but that didn’t automatically make him one.
“Are you expecting me to start running around here and biting necks?” Trevor asked.
“Maybe. You, uh, ever do that before?” Sidney gulped. He’d never met a vampire and wasn’t sure how they behaved in public places.
Trevor took it in good stride, laughing at Sidney’s question. “No, I haven’t gone on a bloodlust before. But I could be persuaded if you joined me.”
Sidney’s grin split his face as he rubbed his hands together conspiratorially. “We could start with that annoying barmaid that keeps hitting on our men.” Sidney grabbed his beer from the table and pointed with the neck of his bottle at the woman who was being overfriendly with Dino, Torem, and Knox.
“She is a bit too friendly. You knock her out and I’ll do the rest.”
Sidney laughed, holding his side as a tear rolled down his cheek. “You can suck on her all you want. I’ll pass.”
“I’ve never sucked on a woman. Think she’ll taste like chicken? I hear everything tastes like chicken.” He laughed as well.
“What’s so funny?” Sammy, Trevor and Knox’s mate, asked as he climbed up onto a stool.
“Nothing, beautiful.” Trevor cupped Sammy’s chin and kissed him.
Sidney smiled when strong arms circled around his shoulders. Dino, he’d know those arms anywhere. “I see you two are having fun over here.”
Sidney leaned his head to the side for a kiss. “Trevor and I were just discussing how chicken tastes.”
Trevor grinned. “Yeah, although I hear there is a wide variety to choose from.”
Sidney lifted his bottle and took a drink, enjoying his time here. The people that lived with Torem all seemed pretty nice. It would be prefect if Jasper would stop following behind him and sniffing. Sidney knew he had to tell his mates. The Alpha’s mate already suspected something wasn’t right with him.
“You ready to go?” Dino tightened his arms around Sidney’s shoulders and then let go. “We have to start early tomorrow. We have a lot of drywall coming in.”
Sidney nodded and finished his beer, setting the bottle on the counter as he turned and slid off of the stool. “I’m ready.”
Torem joined them, and they left Theo’s. Sidney inhaled the night air as they walked from the tavern. It was warm and fragrant, the smell of the forest and Theo’s tangled together to give off an intoxicating scent. Torem walked around to the driver’s side as Dino and Sidney went around to the passenger’s.
Sidney was knocked into the truck as Dino was pulled away from him. He had no clue what was going on until he saw Dino on the ground with two wolves pinning him down. Sidney shifted without thought and attacked.
“Shit,” Dino shouted as he got to his feet and opened the truck door. Sidney could see him searching for something, but he pulled his attention back to the wolves.
A warning growl ripped from Sidney’s chest as he circled the two wolves. He could hear Torem fighting on the other side of the truck.
Were these wolves crazy? This wasn’t like his hometown. There were humans here that weren’t aware that were-creatures existed and they were fighting right in the middle of the street.
Trevor and Knox came out of the tavern just then. Trevor hissed as Knox ran to help Torem. Sidney crouched down, ready to spring as Trevor came to his side.
“Nice look.” He chuckled.
Sidney chanced a glance over his shoulder to see Dino standing there with a heavy jack in his hand. What the hell was he going to do with that? There was no way Sidney was going to allow his mate to fight these wolves. His front paws pushed back, moving closer to Dino.
“Hell of a revelation,” Dino said as he gripped the jack. “We’ll talk about keeping secrets later.”
Sidney wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. One of the wolves was stupid enough to lunge forward, and Sidney attacked. His powerful jaws opened, and he locked them onto the wolf’s head. With two thousand pounds of force, he crushed the wolf’s skull.
Sidney dropped the dead were-shifter and roared so loud, Dino dropped the jack and clamped his hands over his ears, as did Trevor.
The second wolf took off, Sidney giving chase.
“Sidney!” he heard Dino call, but Sidney needed to take care of the threat to Chey and this pack.
His pack.
Sidney no longer felt like he was an outsider. The entire pack of Grey wolves had made him feel welcomed, and Sidney was going to defend them.
His front legs stretched and then hit the ground, his speed eating up the distance as he grew closer to the wolf. Sidney skidded to a halt when he scented more wolves in the night air. He wasn’t familiar with his new pack’s scent yet, and he was taking every precaution.
Sidney watched as the offending wolf got away, cursing in his mind. The threat would continue as long as Remus’s men continued to live.
“Shift back now!” Torem commanded as the other wolves stalked out of the forest.
Sidney was too frightened to do as Torem demanded. The furious look on his mate’s face had
him trembling. He was warned growing up to hide who he was for fear that the wolves would perceive him as a threat and kill him.
“Sidney, shift back.” Torem’s tone softened. “No one is going to harm you.”
Sidney yowled and then took off. He couldn’t chance it. They wouldn’t accept who he was, not after discovering his shifter form. He shot up a tree and climbed along the branches, praying he was out of sight.
“Get your ass down here,” Torem shouted from below.
Sidney yowled.
“Don’t you dare get lippy with me.”
Sidney’s tail swished back and forth. There was no way he was coming down. Torem was too angry with him, and he had heard the growls from the other wolves. Mate or no mate, they would tear him apart. His adoptive mother had warned him not to expose himself, and stupid him did it anyway.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a jaguar?” Torem shouted up.
Because I knew this would be the reaction, duh.
“Come down, angelo,” Dino shouted as he joined Torem. “No one here will harm you,” his mate said with conviction.
As much as Sidney wanted to believe him, he knew Dino couldn’t take on an entire pack of wolves to defend him. It warmed his heart to know that if he did survive this, he still had one mate that would stand by him.
“Sid, come on down. I promise I’m not that angry,” Torem shouted up.
“I’ll go get a harness and climb this fucking tree to get you,” Dino warned.
Hell fucking no. Sidney watched as the rest of the pack joined his mates below. They were all in human form, but a mob was a mob, no matter what form they took.
“We accepted a vampire. Do you think we wouldn’t accept you?” Zeus spoke. He didn’t need to yell, his deep voice carried up to Sidney. None of them needed to shout, his hearing in shifter form was perfect. Maybe they did it out of habit?
Sidney watched Torem try to climb the tree. Was he crazy? He could fall and hurt himself. Sidney yowled at his mate.
“Then come down. I’m not going to allow you to stay up there.” Torem grunted and pulled at the bark as his feet sought for leverage. The man was going to fall!
Sidney hesitated, afraid this was a trick.
“Are you out of your mind, Sidney? Get your ass down here,” Chey said from below. “I’ll give you a Red Bull.”
Sidney yowled.
“Yes, I promise, I’ll buy you one right now if you come down. These men aren’t like our pack. Mom warned you not to show your true self to them. Not to your mates, dumbass. Now get down.”
He was going to eat Chey. The guy always made him feel shameful when he was doing something irrational. Sidney mentally sighed and then began his descent.
If these wolves attacked, he was going to smack Chey.
“Wow, a jaguar.” Bryck chuckled.
“He looks cool.” Trevor grinned at him. “Now we can go get that barmaid.”
“What?” Knox and Sammy asked.
“Inside joke.” Trevor laughed.
“Shit, baby.” Torem knelt in front of him, cupping his furry face. “You should have told me.”
A purr rumbled through Sidney when Dino began to stroke his spine. Man that felt good. His cat had been dying to get out. Being in the closet, so to speak, had been suffocating to his jaguar.
Sidney didn’t want to shift back yet. He felt free for the first time in eons. He rubbed his body against Torem’s legs, begging his forgiveness.
“We’re okay. Just promise you won’t hide any more secrets from your mates.”
Sidney licked his mate’s hand and then started walking toward the house. “Do we need a leash?” Dino teased. Sidney batted a large paw at him.
“Let’s get him and Chey home. I don’t want the other wolves discovering the jaguar or the Omega among us.” Zeus led the pack back to the house.
“Shit, I’ll need a ride in the morning to get my truck,” Torem said to Dino.
“You got it.”
Sidney padded into the house with the rest of the men. Minsheng and Yasuko stood in the foyer gaping at Sidney. “We have pet now?” Minsheng asked.
“It’s Sidney,” Dino informed him.
“Cats, dogs, vampires, mates, what crazy world I come to live in?” Minsheng rolled his eyes and grabbed Yasuko’s hand, pulling him away.
Yasuko pulled his hand from Minsheng’s. “I like it.” He knelt down and ran his small hands over Sidney’s head. “Is beautiful.”
Sidney ate up the attention. He nuzzled his head into Yasuko’s hand. The small man giggled and scratched behind Sidney’s ears. Oh man, that feels sooo good.
“I think he likes you.” Dino chuckled.
Sidney rolled to his side and exposed his belly. Yasuko scratched him there, too. He liked this guy. Sidney got to his feet and roared, running up the steps and down the hall. He head butted the bedroom door he heard the voices behind. Something was compelling him to react this way, and he couldn’t figure out what. All he knew was that he needed to get inside.
“Back up.” Torem pulled Sidney back and swung the door open.
Sidney bounded in and crouched, giving off a warning growl.
“Kamiko, come here.” Torem held his hand out.
Sidney kept his eyes on the large man crouched in a protective stance in front of Kamiko. He didn’t smell like any creature he had ever come across before. Sidney had met everyone in the house. He knew who Kamiko was, but the man in front of him was a stranger.
“Yeah, about him.” Zeus ran his hand over his bald head. “Men, this is Takeo.”
Dino’s head was spinning. He wasn’t sure how normal all of this was to the shifters, but to find out demons existed, really existed, was a bit much to absorb right now. He had adjusted to wolves being in the world, his brain worked out that there were vampires, and he even accepted that Sidney was a jaguar. But fucking demons?
Too much was coming at him too fast. He needed time to sort all of this out. Within a week his world went from humans only to all kinds of paranormal bullshit. Dino feared his brain was going to overload with all of this information and he would be left a vegetable.
He needed a damn drink and he needed to be around his men right now. “I’m heading home.”
“Wait, Dino.” Torem and Sidney were hot on his heels. “It’s not like we knew. This is a shock to us as well,” Sidney pleaded.
Dino spun around. “Shock, you want a fucking shock? Try being in my shoes. You grew up in this world. I didn’t. My brain is fucking hurting right now.”
“Are you leaving us, or do you just need time?” Torem asked solemnly.
“I don’t know. I need time, I guess. I’ll be at home.” Dino spun back around and jogged down the steps.
He made it home after getting a ride from one of the shifters and walked through his front door. Dino stood on the threshold, feeling weary. Why did his home feel so alien to him?
He dropped his keys on the kitchen counter and leaned against the fridge, his forehead rocking back and forth on the freezer. His hands gripped the top of the appliance as he exhaled. “Fucking demons.”
“You okay, boss?” Mickey asked as he walked into the kitchen.
“No.” Dino didn’t want to talk about it and had a feeling he couldn’t even if he wanted to. He walked over to the table and sat down, wondering if he could cope with all of this.
“Catch.”
Dino looked up too late. The beer bottle hit his chest and then hit the floor, shattering.
“I meant right now, not tomorrow.” Mickey grabbed a towel and the trash can, bending down to clean the mess up. The smell of hops stung Dino’s nose.
“I can get that.” He grabbed the broom and dustpan and helped Mickey clean up the broken glass. You accepted everything else, what’s one more thing?
Dino emptied the dustpan and stored it back in the small closet. “Where’s Quinn?”
“He’s been barricaded in his room all day with some little twink. I only saw him c
ome out once. Must be some good ass.” Mickey grinned.
Although it irritated the shit out of him for Mickey to talk that way about Tristan, especially after seeing his scars, he wasn’t going to correct the guy. Mickey was straight and wouldn’t be a part of the shifter world, so there was no sense in telling him about it.
Dino left Mickey to put the trash can away and clean the towel out as he made his way to Quinn’s bedroom door. He knocked, hoping he wasn’t disturbing them.
“Yeah?” Quinn asked when he cracked the door open. “Oh, hey, Dino.” He opened it wide and allowed Dino entrance. Tristan was fast asleep on the bed, curled up in a blanket.
“How is he?”
Quinn sighed and walked over to the bed, Dino shut the door. “He’s been sleeping a lot, and I can’t get him to stop calling me sir. He’s like this scared little deer that won’t look you in your eyes or make his own decisions. I asked if he wanted soup, and he told me he would eat whatever I gave him. It’s frustrating as hell. He waits for me to tell him what to do. Fuck, I even had to tell him to use the bathroom when he stood there squirming around.”
Dino wanted to question why Quinn cared so much. Although the man was a nice guy, this was above and beyond, but he kept it to himself. “Give him time. It looks like he’s been through the wringer. Did he say where he was from?”
“No, I asked him, but he starts shaking anytime I bring up anything about him.”
Dino felt for the guy. Even though Tristan wasn’t his mate, he wanted to protect him.
Mate? Could Quinn be Tristan’s? Is that why he was being so protective of the man? Dino needed to get Mickey out of here, house him with Jake and Steven.
There was too much beyond worldly things going on, and Mickey didn’t need to witness it. Everything around Dino was becoming more and more complicated. “I’m heading to my room. Take tomorrow off, and call me if you or Tristan needs anything.”
“Thanks, Dino.” Quinn walked him to the bedroom door and closed it behind him. Dino could hear Quinn engaging the lock. Yeah, he needed to get Mickey out of here.
Dino showered and crawled into bed, tossing and turning. His mind kept going to his mates and wondering what they were doing. “I have got to stop walking out on them.” Dino exhaled.
