by Alanea Alder
“Mine.” He growled. Moe’s eyes had shifted to black.
“Mine,” he echoed.
Rhys felt his orgasm bearing down on him.
“Moe!” He thrust deep and Moe moaned. Rhys grabbed Moe’s long, thick cock and began to stroke him in time to his thrusts. It didn’t take long for Moe to buck into his hand as warm semen filled the space between them.
Leaning down he sank his fangs into the side of Moe’s neck. His blood was just as delicious as Abby’s but different. Where she had tasted faintly of cinnamon, Moe tasted like cotton candy. When he lifted his head, Moe sat up and on the other side of his neck opposite of where Abby had claimed him. Moe’s teeth pierced his flesh.
Their souls seemed to burst forward, as if they had strained for the past month to become one. His soul with a piece of Abby rose up and swirled with Moe’s soul which also had a piece of Abby with it. When they combined Rhys felt the mating bond between the three of them snap into place. He could finally feel what his mates were feeling and he was humbled.
Moe broke down sobbing, holding him close. His huge mate with a tender heart was so relieved that they could finally be one. He felt Abby’s hesitation. He looked behind them and motioned for her to join them. At the slight dip in the mattress Moe’s face lifted from Rhys’s neck and he snaked an arm over to Abby, pulling her close.
Rhys could feel the blossoming love she already had for the two of them, her fierce sense of loyalty and her deep-seated desire to be cared for.
“I love you, my mates. Thank you for not giving up on me,” Rhys whispered, his own tears dropping on Abby’s shoulder and between their bodies.
“Love you both so much already, it’s scary.” Abby was kissing any exposed piece of flesh and was gently running a hand over Moe’s face.
“Finally together, forever,” Moe said, and looked up to face them, tear tracks down his cheeks.
“You’re stuck with me now.” Abby grinned.
Rhys looked at Moe whose face somehow looked younger without the stress of not being able to claim his mate.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way, Abby Girl,” Moe said.
“Even if you blow up the house one day,” Rhys said, winking at Abby. She giggled and Moe groaned.
Rhys wouldn’t have this mating any other way.
Chapter 10
“Voice recorder?”
“Got it.”
“Cameras?”
“Right here.”
“Temperature gauges?”
“Right beside you.”
“Snacks and pie?”
“In the cooler.” Abby pointed to the large red cooler at their feet.
“By the way, wicked bite marks you’re sporting.” Rebecca smiled at her. Abby touched a hand to either side of her neck.
“Rhys is much more comfortable now feeding from us since there are no side effects.”
“Abomination,” Salsiby muttered under his breath.
“I’m sorry, did you say you wanted to get hit again?” Abby asked, raising her fist.
“Y–y–you can’t, the council will have you banned,” he sneered.
Abby let the anger she was feeling fill her eyes.
“I’m willing to take that chance. Of course it would be a very good hit, probably snap your skinny little neck,” Abby growled.
“Arkadia has become a godforsaken place since that human came here.”
“Yeah, well take that up with Fate, she’s the one who brought me here.” Rebecca glared at him.
“I think it’s in your best interest to finish your coffee in your room at the bed and breakfast,” Connor said, his voice flat.
“I don’t want to be around this trash anyway.” Salsiby stood and left.
“Why can’t I kill him again?” Rebecca demanded, stamping her tiny foot.
“Because he has done nothing wrong, you know that, Rebecca.” Ma smiled at the small woman.
“Not yet. He’s up to something, I can feel it.” Rebecca sighed and looked at the equipment in front of her.
“Hey I think he’s up to something too, but we can’t let him ruin our fun right?” Abby bumped Rebecca’s shoulder.
“You’re right. Okay. Let’s do this.” Rebecca’s smile returned.
“Are y’all sure about this?” Ashby asked, fidgeting with the recorder Abby handed him.
“Yup. Okay let’s move out.” Rebecca gave Aidhan a kiss and bounced toward the door.
Abby shook her head as she and Sebastian picked up the cooler. Behind them Ashby kept looking back at his son. Abby was betting the small man was trying to think of a reason to stay behind. Giddey sounded like he was wrapping up with Madison for the morning.
“Okay, I contacted the solicitor for the office space beside the delicious accountant Brice Marshall. It’s right across from Mojos which means I can get my happy hour on within minutes of leaving for the day. I’ve already arranged for the closing paperwork to be sent to you for your signature. All utilities have already been turned on in your name. Your office furniture and supplies should arrive from New York no later than Tuesday of next week. That scrumptious lion, Zane, is a wizard when it comes to shipping arrangements, completely antisocial though. I have set up an appointment request form online and posted the information for it on the door. Your new business cards will be here Monday. I have made special arrangements with the council to forward you all copies of any reference books regarding shifter law, we can start going through and setting up a regular caseload then. I’ve set up a database with all your notes regarding the laws you have been looking into, you know my set up. I’ve also established a reoccurring order at The Grind for your morning caffeine fix. If you need anything else, I’ll be on the ghost hunt and then looking for horny lions.” Giddey looked up from his phone before sliding it into his pocket with flourish.
“How?” Conner asked, looking stunned. Madison just smiled.
“I told you, he is an amazing personal assistant.”
Giddey preened.
“He’s only been in town twelve hours!” Connor’s eyes were wide. Abby shook her head.
“Coming, Giddey?”
“You betcha!”
Together they left the diner and walked around back. They crossed the dirt road that circled the town. They had walked almost half a mile when they saw the house. Up close even Abby was having second thoughts. It didn’t look this spooky driving into Arkadia. From the outside it looked like a life-sized replica of every girl’s dream doll house. The Victorian stood four stories high including the attic. It had a gorgeous wraparound porch and swing. With a fresh coat of paint it could be perfect. Abby tried to stay positive, until she saw a shadow move past the third story window.
Fuck!
“Awesome! Doesn’t it look perfect?” Rebecca was practically hopping up and down in excitement. Sebastian and Abby exchanged looks. It would be up to them to keep their group together.
“Spooktacular. This is going on Instagram.” Giddey held up his iPhone and took a picture.
“Are we going inside that?” Ashby asked. Abby felt sorry for the smaller man. He was ashen and nearly shaking.
“It’s okay, Ashers. I won’t let anything hurt you.” Rebecca wrapped an arm around Ashby and dragged him forward.
“Let’s do this,” Abby said, plucking up her courage. She and her men needed space and she wasn’t about to let a ghost keep her from what could be her dream home. She took the key that Ma had given her out of her pocket and walked past Rebecca and Ashby. She unlocked the door and let it swing open. A musty smell greeted them.
“I don’t like it.” Ashby quivered.
“Oh, Abby, look at the hardwood floors. They are in almost perfect condition.” Rebecca walked past the foyer into what looked like the parlor on the left.
“There’s no electricity, we’d have to have someone run a line to the house. That means there’s no appliances.” Abby made a mental note to ask Moe and Rhys what their carpentry and electrician skills we
re like.
“Here ghostie, ghostie, ghostie,” Rebecca called out. Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey edged closer to Abby. Rebecca turned and looked at them, her face beaming.
“We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”
“We’re going to stick with Abby,” Ashby squeaked.
“Yeah, she’ll need our help upstairs looking at all the rooms.” Sebastian explained.
Bullshit, y’all are sticking with me because I’m not inviting ghosts to start up conversations, Abby mused to herself.
“Good idea. I got down here covered. Now, if I were a ghost where would I be?” Rebecca turned and started taking pictures with her digital camera.
“On that note, let’s go, boys,” Abby said, and started up the stairs. Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey stayed close behind Abby as they made their way to the second floor. Once upstairs, even Abby had to admit Rebecca was right. The house was in surprisingly good condition for being so old. The detail in the woodwork alone was gorgeous.
“It’s actually really nice,” Giddey said, sounding as surprised as she felt.
“I know, I was just thinking the same thing.” Abby noticed that the second floor was divided by a large guest suite with bathroom. On the left of the guest suite was the master bedroom and bathroom complete with sitting room. On the right, three smaller bedrooms that shared a bathroom. Ma told her the third story was an open space that used to be a children’s playroom. She was hoping to turn that space into her office and research lab.
“You’d have lots of room here,” Ashby said, taking in the size of the bedrooms.
“Where do you think that door leads to?” Sebastian asked, pointing to the door at the end of the hallway.
“Probably the attic, like in Beetlejuice,” Giddey remarked.
“Yeah, the ghosts were in the attic in that movie,” Abby said, then realized what she said. Everyone looked at each other.
“That was just a movie, right?” Ashby asked, moving closer to Abby.
“Yup, Ashby, there are no such things as ghosts.” Abby nodded.
No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than they heard the first of five slams.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
One by one the opened bedroom doors slammed shut. Abby tittered nervously.
“That was just the wind, nothing to worry about.” Abby patted Ashby’s arm. A second later they heard five latches click open.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Again the five bedroom doors slammed shut.
“Okay fuck this shit!” Abby yelled. When she turned, she realized the boys were already making their way downstairs. When the small wooden table at the end of the hall tipped over her nerve broke and she ran down the stairs behind them. She came skidding to a halt in the foyer. Sebastian, Giddey and Ashby were staring into the parlor with identical looks of horror on their faces.
Oh god, Rebecca!
She pushed past them to find Rebecca standing in the middle of the room, holding up her phone.
“And this is a picture of Rhys and Moe, they are her mates. Aren’t they gorgeous? Yup, he does look like a fallen angel. Uh huh, I’m pretty sure Moe is quite handy.” Rebecca nodded smiling.
Nope, this isn’t happening.
“Come on Rebecca time to go.” Abby grabbed Rebecca’s wrist and hauled her outside. Everyone except Rebecca was breathless and shaking.
“That was rude!” Rebecca protested. Just then the front door slammed shut.
“Sebastian?” Abby said, pointing to Rebecca.
“On it.” Sebastian slung Rebecca over one shoulder. Giddey and Abby picked up the cooler and Ashby led the way back as they all ran back to the diner. Abby pushed the door open and was relieved to see her mates waiting for her. Their warm smiles of welcome turned into frowns of concern when they saw how hard she was breathing.
“AbbyGirl, what on earth happened?” Moe said, standing and quickly folding her into his arms. Instantly Rhys was behind her, effectively sandwiching her between their bodies. Instantly she felt safer.
“Becca! Sebastian, is she okay?” Aleks pulled Rebecca off of Sebastian’s shoulder and carried her over to a chair cuddling her in his lap.
“I’m fine, these four have lost their damn minds though,” Rebecca said, throwing her hands in the air.
The second Gabriel pulled Ashby into his arms the small man burst into tears.
“What happened?” Gabriel growled.
Ma took one look at the wobbly group, reached under the counter, and pulled out a brown glass bottle. Abby raised an eyebrow but accepted the mug Ma offered. As she expected it burned like hell going down, but the aftereffect felt like her stomach had become a cozy little fireplace. Rebecca was coughing and sputtering. Midget never could hold her liquor.
“Ma, what is that?” Sebastian asked, sounding less shaky.
“Just something I keep for medicinal purposes.” She eyed the shaking Ashby with concern.
“Connor can you bring out those Lava Fudge Brownies? I think they’re needed.”
“Sure thing, Ma.” Connor pulled a pan from the warmer and brought them over to the center table. It was only after everyone was seated with a mug of Ma’s “medicine” and a plate full of sin that the small group of ghost hunters relaxed.
“Okay, now what happened?” Moe asked.
“It was the damnedest thing. All the bedroom doors slammed shut one by one.” Abby shook her head at the memory.
“That doesn’t sound so odd,” Liam said, still rubbing Sebastian’s back. Sebastian looked up at Liam with a sick expression.
“Then they opened by themselves and slammed again.” His words silenced the diner.
“Was that what I heard? She said that Isaiah was playing,” Rebecca said, munching down on her brownie. She was the only one that didn’t look the least bit scared.
“It was definitely a ghost,” Sebastian said.
“Oh man! I wanted to see the ghost.” Rebecca pouted.
“Unbelievable.” Abby took another bite of brownie. It figures that the freakiest stuff would happen to Rebecca and she didn’t even realize it.
“Wait, who is she?” Aleks asked. Abby looked up, amused.
Good question.
Rebecca took a deep breath.
Here we go.
“Well, when they went upstairs to ghost hunt I poked around downstairs. The parlor was fantabulous, but the kitchen needs a complete overhaul, I mean who has a kitchen without a dishwasher and microwave these days? Anyway, that was when I met Ms. Whittaker. She walked into the kitchen and introduced herself, she was so sweet. She knew a lot about the house and was interested in who would be buying it. So I showed her pictures of Rhys and Moe, she said that Rhys looked like a fallen angel ready for sin and Moe looked like a kind soul and very handy. She said that the house needed a man like him to take care of it.” Rebecca licked her fork.
“Rebecca Morgan Arkadion. There wasn’t anyone in the front room with you.” Abby stared at her friend. Rebecca waved her hand in a pshaw motion.
“Of course there was.”
“Ms. Jane Whittaker was the last owner of the house. She died there when Aaron was a boy,” Ma said, looking at Rebecca oddly.
“I knew it!” Ashby exclaimed.
Abby wasn’t the only one staring at Rebecca.
“Come on y’all, stop playing. I think it’s funny you got together to pull this prank, but ha ha, joke’s over. Look, Ashby is having hysterics.” Rebecca pointed to Ashby who had attached himself to his mate.
“Rebecca, we’re not playing a prank on you. There was no one in that room but you,” Sebastian whispered. Aleks’s face was milky white.
“Right. Next you’ll be saying Ma is a ghost or Connor is a ghost or Mr.Wilbur is a ghost.” She waved her fork at them. Aleks frowned.
“Who is Mr.Wilbur?” he asked.
“Duh, he’s our mailman.” Rebecca looked at Aleks as if he had lost his mind.
“We don’t have a mailman! Everyone picks up th
eir mail at the Post Office once it’s delivered from Brighton,” Aleks exploded.
“That’s just silly. He saved my life last summer. I was about to step off the porch and he warned me about a Copperhead that was within striking distance.”
“What!” Aleks roared.
“Aleks, you’re being loud again.”
Ma sat down in the chair across from Rebecca suddenly. Her face had paled and her eyes were wide and shiny.
“Ma?” Connor asked, concerned.
“Jeb Wilbur died saving my life when Aleks was a baby. I was in a car accident on the road heading back up to the ranch, it was winter and there was so much ice. He was coming from the house after delivering the mail and found me trapped in the car. He got Aleks out first and bundled him up in his mail car then came back for me. He got me free and helped me to his car. He was walking around to the driver’s side when he was hit by another oncoming car that had lost control on the ice. We never filled the postman job after him, it didn’t seem right. It’s why everyone picks up their mail at the Post Office now.”
“Oh god.” Aleks’s voice sounded strangled. Rebecca looked around her eyes wide.
“I see dead people,” she whispered.
“Keep that shit over there,” Rian yelled, moving his seat back a few inches.
“No. Absolutely not! I forbid it! You get into enough trouble with the living!” Aleks ranted.
“This is so cool!” Rebecca laughed, ignoring her mate’s utter meltdown.
“I wonder what your range is? What kind of parameters are involved. I mean do they have to be dead for a long time? Can you just stand over a grave and be like ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are’?” Abby asked. Her scientific brain taking over.
“We can try the graveyard later.” Rebecca was practically shaking with excitement.
“Like hell!” Aleks growled.
“So, that house is off the list?” Rhys asked. Abby looked over to Rebecca.
“Did she seem okay with the idea of us moving in?”
Rebecca nodded.
