Flynn, Joyee - A Zane Po' Boy [The O'Hagan Way 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove)

by Joyee Flynn

  “Why would that be a concern?” Brian asked, shooting me a confused look.

  “You’ve seen him, Brian,” Isaac answered gently. “He’s not fit to go out on missions, but we’re so short on warriors nowadays that they can’t be too picky. But the other warriors have started refusing to go out on missions with him, stating that he’s a wild card and takes dangerous risks. Much more of that and they would have benched him, maybe permanently.”

  “Being a warrior means that much to him?” I didn’t think any job was that important, but Isaac was making it seem as if Zane would die inside if he got fired.

  “First thing you have to know about being mated to a warrior is that it’s not just a job, but who they are. It’s a calling,” Rory explained.

  “But Dillon gave it up so easily?” Brian was as confused as I was. I didn’t get it either.

  “Mostly because he was worried that our father would kill your brothers if he came back. He didn’t fully give it up, but their safety was more important to him.” That part we knew, but Dillon never made it seem like a big deal. Maybe it was different for everyone? “Plus, Dillon had put in his time. He spent centuries being a warrior. Zane is still pretty young. He’s not even a hundred. So he still has, or had, I guess, that drive to save the world.”

  “Okay, we can handle him being a warrior if he’s not reckless,” I said quickly. At this point, we didn’t have a leg to stand on to demand anything. “So part of this plan consists of saving his ass with the warriors as well.”

  “Exactly,” Isaac replied as he pulled up to huge iron gates. He pushed a button on the call box and identified himself and who he had in the car. There was a beeping noise and the gates started to part. We drove up to the main house, parking in front before climbing out and heading to the main doors.

  “I’m surprised the Mariuses were on board with this plan,” I said quietly. “It seems that it would go against their morals.”

  “Please, they’re even more nuts than any of us most times,” Rory replied with a snicker.

  We were let inside and shown to what the butler called the sitting room. I would never get used to these huge mansions. This one room was bigger than several of our bedrooms back home combined.

  The walls were painted a deep red that went well with the leather chairs and couch. There was also a huge fireplace in front of the seating area. Logs were crackling pleasantly in the fireplace that was surrounded by a mantel made from some type of dark wood. Possibly cherry. Above this impressive mantel I noticed several massive paintings of mountain scenery.

  They must have each been about four feet tall. I found myself getting lost in the intricacy of the detail of the water, the sky, the trees. Eventually I turned me head and saw a bar on the other side of the room. The same cherrywood had been used, and the top was comprised of this beautiful black stone, which I assumed was granite. Several partially empty bottles and four crystal glasses decorated a corner of the bar’s surface.

  A drink definitely sounded good right about now.

  “So we’re putting the last-resort plan into effect?” Desmond Marius asked as he walked into the room with his wife, Elena, his son, Micah, and Micah’s mate, Dr. Riley. All of their faces wore expressions of concern.

  “I can’t think of any other way to save him,” Isaac answered with apparent weariness.

  “We can’t either, Isaac. You’re doing all you can to help Zane. Don’t beat yourself up,” Elena said gently, giving Isaac a hug. “Good to see you, too, Rory.” Then she turned to us. “And I had a long talk with your mother. She was very clear that if you screwed up in any way or moved a toe out of line, I was to tan your hides and send you right home for her to beat.”

  “Aye, that sounds like our ma,” I admitted, wincing. Upon Desmond’s insistence, we all moved to take our various seats on the couch and chairs. Once we were settled, Elena spoke again.

  “You both look very different,” she gasped, eyeing us over intently with her kelly-green eyes. “I remember you being much smaller.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and adjusted the folds of her silver dress a bit before resting her hands in her lap and returning her gaze back to us.

  “Everyone handles grief and rejection differently,” Brian mumbled with a shrug. “Zane might have stopped eating and drinking blood, losing all that weight. We went the other way, working out like crazy to try and distract us from the pain.”

  It was true. We both put on at least thirty pounds of muscle. We were about five ten and had gone from slim one seventy to more meaty and toned two hundred pounds.

  “You really never got what he was trying to say,” she said in a softer, more understanding tone.

  “We thought he just wanted us for sex and we not be good enough to keep,” I whispered, rubbing me eyes roughly when they started to burn. I would not break down right now when me mate was suffering. “We might have flown off the handle, but not all this can be deemed as our fault.”

  “No, you’re right,” she sighed. “Zane could have run after you and made you listen to what he was trying to say. I’ve learned a lot about him these past few months, and I understand why he didn’t, but I just want to throttle you all. This could all have been so much easier.”

  “Ya understand what about him?” Brian asked, and I was curious, too.

  “It’s not my story to tell.” She gave us an apologetic look filled with sadness. “But your mate has had a hard life full of rejection. That’s all I can say without betraying his confidence.”

  “That’s fair. Thank ya for being there for our mate when we not be,” I said quietly.

  “It’s not been easy,” Desmond admitted, shaking his head. “We threw a party a few months after you left, to celebrate Elena winning the Council seat. Zane got drunker than I’ve ever seen anyone be while still being able to stand. He didn’t behave very well.”

  “More specifically, he asked if I would be okay if one of our remaining single sons took him as a sex slave.” Elena winced when we gasped. “He said his mates didn’t want him, but my son’s mates seemed so happy that maybe one of the other single three could just keep him until they found their mate.”

  “Oh dear lord,” I groaned. The situation was even worse than I thought. It never crossed me mind that our mate might need to mend fences with other people than Isaac and Rory for the way he’d been treating them. Zane didn’t have an easy road ahead of him. But we’d be there every step of the way…if he’d let us. And that was a really big if.

  * * * *

  Brian

  The whole situation was out of control, and I doubted Zane would ever forgive us. From everything we’d heard about him, Zane was a good man. For him to go so off the farm and act like we saw at the warrior compound, and now what Elena told us. Well, me heart just hurt.

  “So what be the plan?” I asked quietly, hoping I was man enough to hold it together long enough to help Zane.

  “I’m going to go in and check on him as the warrior doctor and inject him with a sedative,” Riley explained as he held up a wicked-looking gun with a needle on the end. “Micah’s going to help Isaac get Zane out of the compound and to the Dragos estate while he’s unconscious.”

  Desmond nodded and then took over the plan. “The letter I wrote told the warrior coordinator who handles assignments that Isaac would be in Greece for six weeks working on a security check. That’s all the time I could get you without raising too many questions.”

  “So we basically have six weeks to get through to him and get him back on the path to mending and being his old self. Best-case scenario, forgiving you guys as well and realizing he has something to live for. Hell, live happily ever after, too.” Isaac hugged Rory, not sounding as if he had much faith in that outcome. I didn’t blame him.

  “You need to keep your tempers in check and be willing to make sacrifices for this to work. You can’t just demand he come back to Ireland and do what you want. That will never help.” Rory gave us a sharp look that didn’
t brook any argument.

  “We already resigned ourselves to the fact that if he forgives us we’ll be staying here permanently,” I agreed quickly. “We be fine with that as long as he wants us here. If he doesn’t, we understand we’ll have to let him go. We just want him happy.”

  “Okay, let’s do this,” Micah said with a firm nod. “I want to be back before our daughter wakes up from her nap.”

  “There were a lot of people around when we were there,” I replied, me eyes going wide. “We’ll get caught.”

  “We were there during the lunch break of training. Everyone will be back to their tasks and the living quarters should be quiet and deserted.” Isaac checked his watch just to be sure. “If we wait until the night, everyone will be back in their bunks. One slight sound and we could have a lot of people showing up. We need to move now.”

  I glanced at me twin, both of us nodding in agreement. “Okay, we’re in. Let’s move.”

  We said our good-byes to Desmond and Elena, who wished us luck. Then we hopped back in Isaac’s car, Micah and Riley taking their own so we didn’t have to drop them off after kidnapping our mate.

  In a million years I never thought I’d be saying that. But then again, I never thought meeting our mate would go like this either.

  Less than an hour later, we were back at the warrior compound. We followed Riley, waiting in the hall, hiding while he knocked on Zane’s door.

  “Fuck off! I’ve had my fill of visitors today,” our mate shouted, breaking me heart with the pain I heard in his voice.

  “It’s Riley, Zane,” he said gently as he opened the door. “I know you hate me showing up, but I have to fulfill my duties as doctor.”

  “Fine, can we just get this over?”

  “I’ll be quick, I promise.” Riley walked in, leaving the door open so we could get in there quickly when we needed to. “Shirt off.”

  “Yeah, I know the drill,” Zane grunted. There was a few moments’ pause before our mate yelled, “What the fuck, Riley?”

  That was our cue. We raced in the room, Isaac leading the way. Sadness was written all over our mate’s face as he realized we set him up.

  “Why?” he gasped as he swayed while sitting on the bed.

  “Because I won’t let you die any more than you would let me,” Isaac said gently as he knelt in down in between Zane’s legs, cupping his face. “Please, buddy? I need you to fight. Things aren’t ever as bad as they seem.”

  “I trusted you,” Zane slurred. “I thought you loved me and were my brother.”

  “I am,” he whispered before planting a kiss right on his mouth. He kept his lips there until Zane passed out. I glanced at Rory who had the same expression I was sure Banning and me had. Mouths hanging open with shock. Isaac laid Zane back on the bed, turning to us with wide, tear-filled eyes. “I didn’t cheat.”

  “Did you use tongue?” Rory asked with a calmness I wasn’t feeling. Glancing over at Banning, I saw he wasn’t either.

  “No, I swear, my love. It was like that kiss Elena gave me after she won the Council seat,” Isaac sputtered.

  “Kisses aren’t always sexual, Isaac,” Riley said gently. “They’re just a sign of love and a kiss can come in various forms.”

  “Our daughter kisses us on the lips all the time.” Micah chuckled, nodding in agreement.

  “I just didn’t want him to be scared,” Isaac whispered as he hung his head, tears still running down his cheeks. “I know he felt betrayed, and I needed him to know we were doing this for the right reasons because we love him.”

  “I know, my love,” Rory said gently as he wrapped his arms around his mate. “I’m not mad. Just don’t get in the habit of kissing everyone often.”

  “Deal.” Isaac chuckled, snuggling up against his mate. He shot us a look as if trying to gauge if we were about to rip his balls off.

  “Aye, ya love our mate, but ya not be in love with him. No, we not be mad. I’m glad ya thought to comfort him and he’d let you near him. He would have freaked if we tried.” Banning sighed, and I knew it to be true.

  “Let’s get him out of here before anyone notices,” Micah said quickly. We nodded and got to it. Banning, Riley, Rory, and I quickly packed some essentials for our mate while Micah and Isaac lifted him up.

  “Fuck, I can get him by myself,” Isaac whispered as he moved Zane over his shoulder. “He’s deadweight, but there’s not enough meat on his bones where it’s hard to carry him.”

  “We’ll fix that,” Banning said with more conviction than I felt. “If we have to tie him down and promise hourly blow jobs to get him to eat and drink the blood he needs, we will.”

  “To be a fly on that wall when you promise him that.” Riley snickered. Yeah, I felt along the same lines. But then again, looking over me sickly mate, I’d offer up me nuts if that’s what it took to get him better.

  Chapter 3

  Zane

  I groaned as I woke, bright lights blinding me, and suddenly I was feeling like I had one hell of a major fucking hangover. I grabbed my head, wondering what the license plate was on the car that hit me. Then, suddenly, I remembered what happened and growled. I sat up in bed, wishing I hadn’t moved so fast as dizziness swarmed me.

  “You kissed me after Riley shot me,” I snarled. I could scent Isaac in the room from the moment I woke up. “Care to fucking explain that one?”

  “I didn’t want you to be scared,” he answered quietly. I blinked several times, trying to dispel the effects of whatever drug I was given. “You looked so hurt and betrayed. I was trying to let you know I wasn’t betraying you, but I couldn’t think of any other way to save you. And I refuse to let you die.”

  “I’m not dying,” I grumbled as I glanced around the room. The walls seemed to be made of steel and the furnishings were sparse with only the bed I was lying on, a nightstand, the metal chair Isaac was using, and a table in one of the corners. It was depressing and prisonlike to say the least even if there was an Xbox and a TV with a stand against the wall. “Where the fuck are we?”

  Isaac stared at me for a moment as he thought about his reply, his light brown eyes conveying the pain he felt when he looked at me and at what I had become.

  “I had this built in the basement so you couldn’t escape it. Desmond bought you six weeks with the Council. You stop this self-destructive path and start taking care of yourself and I’ll let you out. But I will not stand by and watch you kill yourself or try to get killed on missions!” His hands were now balled into fists and his jaw clenched.

  “Is that what you think I’ve been doing?” I asked, the anger dissipating from me for the first time in months. “You think I’ve been trying to kill myself?”

  “Zane, you’ve lost over a hundred pounds. You don’t eat, you don’t drink blood, you take huge risks on missions, you always come back injured. You almost died this last one.” I could see the grief and misery on him as much as I could almost feel it coming off of him in waves. “I love you, man. Don’t leave me. You wouldn’t give up on me, and I’ll be damned if I let you.”

  I thought about it a few minutes. While he wasn’t correct that I was trying to kill myself, he was right that my way of dealing with the grief wasn’t working. I eyed Isaac over. He was my best friend, one of my only friends really, and the only family I had.

  “Are you going to make me spend time with my mates?” I asked hesitantly. I was willing to give his way a try, like an intervention, or six-week sabbatical, but I had conditions.

  “I think you should, Zane,” he answered slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “They’re sorry. You could have run after them just as much as they should have given you a chance to explain. They thought you didn’t want them. You thought they didn’t care enough to give you time to think. In the end, does it really matter how it went down when both parties are hurting and want to be with the other?”

  I shrugged. What he was saying made sense, but the pain I felt wasn’t really listening to reason. “Can you
just give me a bit to wrap my mind around seeing them again first? I need to think about what I want. I never got the chance last time.”

  “That’s fair. I can do that.” There was a pause before he spoke, eyeing me over suspiciously. “Why are you being so accepting of this? I thought you’d throw a fit and hand me my ass for doing this.”

  “Because you’re right,” I whispered, my eyes burning as I hung my head in shame. “My way hasn’t been working, and I kinda hate who I’ve become. I’m not trying to kill myself, but I’m so fucking depressed that the idea of food, blood, or doing anything makes me just want to go back to sleep. And taking risks on missions? I just jump right in because I’m afraid I’ll get another dizzy spell or pass out in the middle of something.”

  “You’ve been passing out?” He sounded horrified that I was in worse shape than he had guessed.

  “Yeah, not eating will do that.” I snickered, wiping my eyes. “It’s just when I finally can make myself eat, the shit they serve at the warrior compound makes my stomach churn. And I don’t want the blood because it reminds me that I can’t drink from my mates.”

  “I know, Zane. We’re going to go slow and get you healthy. Maybe they can just come in and play a game with you.” He gestured to the TV and Xbox. “And I’ll have the cook make whatever you want, but you have to start eating again. You’ll feel better if you have some strength.”

  “Steak?” I asked with a smile. If I was being kidnapped, I should at least get some good stuff.

  “You can have surf and turf for every fucking meal if you want. I just want you to eat something.”

  “Okay, bring it on.” I chuckled. Maybe forced captivity wouldn’t be so bad.