Clea (Gillham Pack Book 17)

by Catherine Lievens

  “Boys! I was wondering when you were going to come by,” Clea’s mom said, putting down the basket she was holding and hurrying toward Clea. Clea hugged her, burying his nose against his mom’s hair.

  He was happy with the pack, but he couldn’t say he hadn’t missed his parents. They were trying to mate him off in an arranged bonding, but he knew they were doing it because they wanted him to be happy. They were, even though their own bonding had been arranged.

  It wasn’t what Clea wanted, and he knew his mom would back down once she knew about Christian. True mates trumped arranged bondings.

  Clea’s mom pushed away from him and went to hug Sei. Sei looked like he was about to face the inquisition, and he probably would. They both would.

  “So, why are you here?” Clea’s mom asked once she was done hugging Sei. “I’d like to think you were missing me, but I’m not foolish enough to believe that.”

  “Aww, come on, Mom. I did miss you.”

  “But that’s not why you’re here. Has Sei told you about the bonding ceremony we’re organizing? I know you haven’t agreed yet, but you’re old enough and I want you to have someone to rely on.”

  “Yeah, about that...”

  Clea’s mom narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you here, Clea? Are you going to tell me you won’t bond? That I’m organizing everything for nothing?”

  Clea looked at Sei for help, but Sei stuck his tongue out. Clea obviously wasn’t going to get any help from him. He wasn’t even sure why he’d brought him along, honestly.

  “Why don’t we go sit down?” Clea asked. Maybe his mom needed to be sitting down when he said this to her. He didn’t want her to hurt herself.

  He should have known it wouldn’t be easy. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down, and he knew he’d give in. He always did. It was his mom for God’s sake.

  “I met my mate,” he blurted out, because why not? He might as well be as fast as he could.

  Clea’s mom gasped and pressed a hand over her mouth. “Your mate?”

  “Yes. Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?”

  She slapped Clea’s arm and turned to scowl at Sei. “And you knew about this? Why didn’t you tell me? You knew I was organizing his bonding ceremony!”

  Sei raised his hands. “It’s none of my business. Clea had to be the one to tell you when he was ready, not me. And don’t even think about trying to make me bond, because I won’t. I’m fine on my own.”

  “We’ll talk about you later.” Clea’s mom turned to him and pointed at him. “And you, young man, are in trouble.”

  “Look, Mom, I didn’t even know you were organizing my bonding ceremony.”

  “You would have if you’d called or shimmered by, and I don’t believe one second that Seisyll didn’t tell you about it.”

  “I did,” Sei said.

  Treacherous bastard, Clea told his cousin.

  Sei just stuck his tongue out at him again.

  “Now tell me about your mate,” Clea’s mom said, and it wasn’t a suggestion.

  “His name is Christian, and he’s a bat shifter. I met him during the fight against the other council a few weeks ago. He was fighting for the other side, but he didn’t want to, and I helped him move his entire family to Gillham. He’s been avoiding me because he’s only been with women until now, but we’re working through it.” There. Now Clea’s mom knew everything there was to know, or at least everything Clea was ready to tell her.

  She wasn’t satisfied. Of course she wasn’t.

  She gestured at Clea to continue and he sighed. “All right. He’s thirty-four, the first of three sons. He works with pack security, he’s tall and has dark hair and eyes. Is that enough?”

  “No. I want to meet your boy and his family. Would tomorrow evening be all right? You can shimmer them here for dinner.”

  “Mom—”

  “It wasn’t a suggestion, Clearrain.”

  “Of course it wasn’t, but I don’t know if Christian is on shift tomorrow. That’s all.”

  “Then when you go back there you’ll ask him and call me. I expect to meet your mate by the end of the week.”

  “Mom...”

  “Next week at the latest.”

  Sei snickered, and Clea glared at him. Shut up.

  You know you might as well give in.

  We’ll see what happens when you meet your mate.

  I won’t be crazy enough to tell my mom until I’m sure he can take it.

  You know she’ll find out anyway.

  Probably, but at least my mate will know what to expect. I really hope I’m invited to this dinner. I can’t wait.

  “Stop talking, you two. Clearrain, I need to know what your mate likes to eat and if he’s allergic to anything.”

  “Mom, he’s a shifter. I don’t think they can be allergic to anything.”

  “Well, you better ask, because I won’t be responsible for killing him just because I served him tomatoes or something.”

  Clea had no idea how to answer that. “I’ll ask him and let you know when I call you.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me earlier. Wait until your father finds out. He went out this morning to talk with Muriel’s parents. We thought she might be a good match for you. She has wide hips.”

  Clea wasn’t going to touch that declaration with a ten feet pole. He was too scared to ask.

  But of course, Sei wasn’t. “Wide hips?”

  Clea groaned.

  * * * *

  “When are we going to meet him?”

  Christian groaned and put his fork down. He took his napkin, cleaned his mouth, and drank some water before looking at his mom. God, the hope and happiness in her eyes almost broke Christian’s heart. She wanted him to be happy, but she hadn’t said much about the fact that he’d been pushing Clea away. She’d given Christian time even though he knew she’d probably wanted to bash some sense into his head.

  “I don’t know, Mom. We really just talked once.” They’d done a bit more than talking, but it hadn’t gone far. Still, Christian couldn’t wait to do it again, so much that it surprised him, and scared him a little. He was supposed to want Clea. They were mates.

  But once Christian had realized it would mean wanting a man, he’d thought it would be different, that maybe he’d have problems with it. That he wouldn’t want to spend time with Clea, that maybe his body wouldn’t work.

  None of that was a problem.

  Christian’s body reacted every time he thought of Clea. It wasn’t only physical, though. He wanted to kiss Clea and touch him, of course, but he also just wanted to be near him, to talk to him, to cuddle. It made Christian wonder what the fuck was wrong with him and if this happened to everyone who met their mate.

  “But you’re going to see him again, right?”

  Christian nodded. “Of course I am.”

  Christian’s mom smiled softly. “Good. Then I expect you to bring him here for dinner soon.”

  That was going to be a great conversation to have with Clea. “Can’t it wait a few weeks? We barely started talking.”

  “So? He’s your mate. You’ll spend the rest of your life talking to him.” She narrowed her eyes. “What are you hiding from me, Christian? Have you already fought with Clea? What did you do?”

  Christian threw his hands in the air. “Why do you think I did something?”

  She pointed at him with her fork. “Because you avoided him for weeks. He’s clearly such a sweet man, so if something happened between the two of you, I’m sure it was your fault.”

  Zane snickered and Christian narrowed his eyes at him before grinning and looking at his mother again. “We haven’t fought. In fact, things are going great, so don’t worry. Wouldn’t you rather know when Iggy and Zane are going to give you grandkids?”

  Her eyes widened and she turned to Iggy. Christian’s grin widened when someone—it had to be Iggy—kicked his shin. It hurt, but he didn’t care. The spotlight wasn’t on him anymo
re, and from the way his mom was cooing at Iggy, it would stay that way for at least the rest of the meal.

  Christian looked at Alexander, who looked both worried and amused. They needed to talk. Christian wanted to know what was going on with Nuallan. He didn’t think the man was Alexander’s mate, but there was something there, and Christian didn’t want his brother to get hurt. Not that Nuallan would hurt Alexander, at least not willingly. It took only one glance at the guy to understand that whatever he’d done in the past, he’d been forced to do it.

  No one knew how, although maybe Alexander did now that Christian thought about it. Alexander and Nuallan were thick as thieves. Christian didn’t understand it—Nuallan was quiet most of the time. How could someone get to know him that way? But Alexander had obviously been able to get under Nuallan’s defenses, and it was a good thing. Unless Nuallan hurt Alexander, of course.

  “Mom, we’re not having kids,” Iggy protested, and from the glare he gave Christian, Christian knew he was going to pay later.

  “Why not?” their mom protested.

  “Because we’ve been mated for, like, five minutes.”

  “I was already pregnant with Christian one month after I mated with your father.”

  Christian’s dad made a strangled noise, and Christian shared the feeling. He didn’t want to think about his mom being pregnant, or even worse, how she’d gotten to be that way. Ugh.

  “Yeah, well, I can’t get pregnant, and I’m only twenty-eight. We have plenty of time to make decisions about that. Christian’s already thirty-four, though. He should have kids before me.”

  The attention turned back to Christian and he tried to kick Iggy under the table, but when his foot made impact, Zane grunted and scowled at him. Christian grinned and shrugged. It wasn’t like he’d done it on purpose.

  Christian’s dad snorted at Iggy’s suggestion. “Your brother isn’t even mated yet. How is he supposed to have children?”

  “Can we please stop talking about me having kids?” Christian protested. “Really, it’s not like it’s going to happen anytime soon. I’m sorry, Mom, but you’ll have to make do with babysitting the pack’s kids in the meantime. Unless Alexander decides to find himself a woman, of course.”

  Alexander looked like he wanted to strangle Christian and Christian stuck his tongue out at him.

  Alexander shook his head. “No women for me.”

  “Why not? Is it Nuallan?”

  The entire family looked at Alexander. Christian knew he wasn’t the only one wondering about those two. He just wanted to know if Nuallan was his little brother’s mate. That was all.

  Alexander shook his head. “Why do all of you think me and Nuallan are together?”

  “Maybe because you spent Christmas with him instead of with us? Or because you spend almost your entire day, every day, with him. You come home only to eat, pack leftovers for him, then go back.”

  Alex huffed. “What do you want me to do? I’m his guard.”

  “You’re not his only guard.”

  “But I’m the one who failed him.”

  The happiness seemed to disappear from the room as everyone became serious. Christian shook his head. “You didn’t fail him. You couldn’t have known he’d try to kill himself.”

  “I should have.”

  “We all thought he was a ruthless killer, which he obviously isn’t. Has he told you why he tried to kill Kameron? What his tribe leader had against him that pushed him to become a killer, or at least to try to?”

  Alexander shook his head. “No. I tried, believe me, but he doesn’t really talk to anyone, not even to me.”

  Christian frowned. “I thought you were best friends or something.”

  Christian’s Dad snorted again. “We all think he’s your mate, son. Let’s say it as it is.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s not, and we’re not together either. We don’t like each other that way.”

  “As long as you’re sure.”

  “Why? Would there be a problem if there was?”

  “Of course not. We’d welcome him into the family.”

  Christian’s mom reached out and patted Alexander’s hand. “We’ll welcome him even if he’s only a friend. Do you think Kameron might let him out soon? He could move here with us. That way there would always be someone with him and we’d be sure he wouldn’t try to hurt himself again.”

  Alexander shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I could ask, but Nuallan did try to kill him. It’s only right he’s locked up.”

  “Oh, come on,” Christian said. “Everyone knows he didn’t want to do it, and that there has to be something he’s not telling. His tribe leader probably has his family or something. I don’t get why he doesn’t want anyone to help, but he’s not going to hurt anyone else, except maybe himself.”

  Someone knocked on the door, and Christian was more than happy to be able to get out of the conversation. He wanted Alexander to be happy, no matter what that entailed, but his brother was stubborn. All three of them were, and when they were convinced of something, there usually wasn’t a way to convince them it was wrong. If Alexander thought he was doing the right thing sticking with Nuallan while he was locked up, then no one would be able to make him change his mind.

  Christian went to open the door, his eyes widening when he saw Clea and Sei on the other side. “Hey.”

  He was happy to see Clea, even though he knew that as soon as his mom found out Clea was on her doorstep she’d pull him inside and Christian might not see him again for some time. He didn’t understand why Sei was there, but he was Clea’s cousin, so in a way, he was family. Christian’s mom had gained two more people to nag. Sei and Clea would be so happy.

  Clea looked uncomfortable to say the least, and Christian arched a brow in a silent question. Clea shifted from one foot to the other and Sei rolled his eyes.

  “We went to see Clea’s mom,” he said. “She wants to meet you and your family. Dinner’s next week. No will not be accepted as an answer. Be ready.” Sei shimmered away, leaving Christian blinking at the spot he’d previously occupied.

  Clea groaned. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For what will happen next week. My mom is pretty intense.”

  Christian smiled. “I know all about intense mothers. Want to come in?”

  * * * *

  Clea wanted to say no, if anything because he wasn’t sure he’d be up to dealing with another mom so soon after having to deal with his own. He didn’t want to offend anyone, though, so he nodded.

  “She won’t hurt you. She’ll probably try to talk your ears off, and for fuck’s sake, don’t mention children, but she’ll love you. They all will.”

  At least Clea already knew Iggy, Zane and Alex. He hoped they were there too. They wouldn’t help much about Christian’s mother’s attention being all on Clea, but he could use the support. Hopefully, they wouldn’t throw him under the bus instead.

  “Sure. What’s meeting your mom, right?”

  Christian shook his head, and to Clea’s surprise, he leaned forward and kissed him softly. “I know meeting my mom makes you nervous. I’m freaking out about meeting yours. But we’re going to have to do it sooner or later, and you’re here.”

  “All right.”

  Christian kissed Clea again and took his hand. He pulled him into the house and Clea looked around. The place was new. Kameron had had several houses built recently, and this was one of them. Clea knew Christian’s entire family lived there, although Iggy and Zane actually had their room in Kameron’s house. Kameron didn’t need Iggy twenty-four seven like he had before, though, and Iggy and Zane spent time with Iggy’s family.

  Clea couldn’t imagine how Iggy had felt when he’d left his colony and his family behind thinking he’d never see them again. He himself had had a hard time leaving his tribe behind and he’d known he’d see them again any time he wanted to.

  From the noise, it was obvious everyone was in the same room, and when Cle
a followed Christian in, he was mortified to see he’d interrupted family dinner. “I’m sorry. I can come back later, or another day,” he told Christian, but Christian shook his head.

  He sat on one of the chairs that had a half-empty plate in front of it and pulled Clea along, pushing him into the empty chair next to his. Clea noticed there was another empty chair, next to Alexander, but it was the only one. Every member of the family had a seat, and there was one for their mates too. It was sweet, and it struck Clea. He was part of this family too now.

  He looked up and smiled at Iggy. The smile slipped and he swallowed heavily when his gaze crossed with Christian’s father’s, but the man just rolled his eyes and pushed the bread basket closer to Clea. “No one’s going to hurt you, son.”

  Clea shook his head. “I know.”

  “Yeah? ‘Cause you look like we might try to eat you. We’re not big enough to do that, even in our animal form.” He grinned and Clea slowly nodded.

  “I knew that.”

  “Of course you did.”

  Christian’s mom placed a plate in front of Clea. It looked and smelled good, but his own mother had already forced him to eat dinner. “Oh, thank you, but I already ate.”

  Christian’s mother patted Clea’s shoulder. “Eat however much or little you want. It wouldn’t be polite for us to eat while you just stare at us.”

  She sat back in her seat and everyone started eating again. Clea wasn’t sure what he’d expected—probably something closer to what he knew would happen when his mother met Christian’s family. There would be lots of chatting, of telling Christian how good he looked and Clea how thin he was and that he should eat more. Christian’s family looked tame next to Clea’s over-active mom.

  “Will you be taking leftovers to Nuallan?” Christian’s mom asked Alex.

  Alex nodded. “Sure.”

  “Why don’t you bring him here tomorrow evening? He can eat with us.”

  Clea’s gaze slid to the empty seat next to Alex. He thought it was reserved for Alex’s mate, but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t sit there. Unless Nuallan was Alex’s mate, of course, in which case there wouldn’t be a problem.