Clea (Gillham Pack Book 17)

by Catherine Lievens

  Kir cocked his head and looked past Christian. “I’m sorry about Quinn. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s a bit prickly. Anyway, you won’t have to be around him for long. We’re leaving later today.”

  Christian watched Kir turn around and head back to his bedroom. Once he was out of sight, he turned to look at Anthony. “Are you all right?”

  Anthony’s eyes were still wide and he looked like he didn’t know how to answer Christian’s question. “I didn’t mean to go where I shouldn’t have. I didn’t know.”

  Christian patted Anthony’s shoulder and gently pulled his hand away from his throat. The skin was red and he might get a bruise, but his speech was normal, so he’d probably be fine. “It’s fine. You and Dan should probably stick to the living room for a little while, at least until someone explains a bit more about this place and what we want from you.”

  Anthony’s eyes went round. “What you want from us? What can you want? We don’t have money, so our families can’t pay a ransom.”

  Christian frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Are you going to keep us here until you get paid?”

  “Are you asking me if we kidnapped you?” So the guy might not have had the best encounter with Quinn, but no one else had tried to hurt him. Christian was mildly offended by the fact that Anthony seemed to think he and Dan were prisoners. “Do I have to remind you that you and Dan were the ones who trespassed? It’s not like we took you from your beds or something.”

  Anthony grimaced. “Sorry.”

  “We just want to ask you to work with us,” Clea intervened before Christian could say anything more. It was probably a good thing. Christian didn’t like Anthony much anymore.

  “Work with you?”

  “Why don’t you come with me? Let’s go back to the living room, and I’ll explain more once Dan is there with us, all right?”

  Anthony nodded and walked away. Christian started to follow him, but Clea shook his head. “I can take care of them on my own.”

  “I know that.”

  “So you don’t need to come with me.”

  “What am I supposed to do, then?”

  Clea shrugged. “Go home?”

  Christian pouted. “I don’t wanna.” He’d have to talk with his mom, who was freaking out about meeting Clea’s family the following evening. She’d been baking up a storm since Clea had invited her, so much that Christian and the rest of the family had been eating cookies for breakfast and dessert over the past few days. He was starting to be scared of chocolate-chip cookies.

  “Go fly around the forest then.”

  That actually sounded like a good idea. Christian’s fun had been interrupted earlier. Clea would be fine, so Christian wouldn’t have to worry about him. “I’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

  Clea nodded. “I’ll be here. Now shoo. Go.”

  Christian left Clea in the entrance and stepped outside. His boots were by the door, but he ignored them and started stripping instead. He left his clothes on one of the benches on the porch dedicated to that and shifted, taking flight as soon as he was in his bat form.

  He flew above the forest. He loved the feeling of the wind, and even the cold. He loved flying, and he hadn’t had the opportunity to do it for pleasure often in his life.

  He’d never been so glad that his family had managed to get away from the colony. It was weird to live with wolves and the hodgepodge of other shifters and creatures who lived in Gillham, but it wasn’t as difficult as Christian had thought it would be in the beginning.

  He’d never realized how closed off from the world the colony had been. They hadn’t even had much contact with other colonies. Alpha Dell hadn’t wanted them to, maybe because he’d been scared they’d realize there was another way to live, a way that didn’t include having to do whatever the alpha wanted them to do.

  Of course, Christian still had to do what Kameron ordered, but it wasn’t the same. Kameron would never force him or anyone else to do anything they didn’t want, like become a fighter for the pack. Christian and his brothers hadn’t had a choice. They’d started training to become soldiers when they’d been teenagers. They hadn’t had a choice, and now fighting was the only thing they knew how to do.

  It was useful, but sometimes Christian wondered if maybe he’d have done something else with his life if he’d known there were alternatives. Maybe he could have owned his own business, or been an artist. Maybe he could have been a lawyer or a doctor.

  He didn’t know, and he hated feeling like he’d been robbed. At least his life was different now. He had Clea, something he wouldn’t have had if he’d stayed with the colony. He never wanted to lose Clea. He’d do whatever he needed to do for that not to happen.

  * * * *

  Clea wasn’t looking forward to having dinner with both his parents and Christian’s family. He liked Christian’s family, and he loved his parents, but it didn’t mean he wanted to have to spend time with all of them together. His mom would strangle him if he didn’t go, though, and he had to shimmer Christian and everyone else.

  At least Sei would be there. Not that Christian thought he’d be very useful, but he would accept any help. Maybe he could hint to his mom that Sei wasn’t mated yet. Clea didn’t want Sei to be bonded to someone he didn’t love, but he knew Sei wouldn’t have problems telling both his mother and Clea’s what he wanted or didn’t want. It would take the heat off Clea, though, at least for a while.

  “You look like you’re walking to your death,” Sei said from Clea’s bed.

  “We’re going home for dinner. With Christian and his parents. I am walking to my death.”

  “You’ll be fine. It’s not like your mom can do anything about Christian. You’re mated to him.”

  It was still hard to believe. Clea hadn’t expected Christian to be ready for that anytime soon, yet he had been. He’d stepped into being with Clea and mating as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and Clea couldn’t help but wonder if it was really that easy. He was waiting for something to happen, even though he didn’t want it to. He just had a hard time completely trusting their happiness.

  “You’ll be fine,” Sei said as he leafed through his magazine. “I don’t know why you’re flipping out. I should be the one to flip out. I know your mom is going to try to fix me up with someone. How much do you want to bet that she’ll have a date waiting for me tonight?”

  “I’m not going to bet against a sure thing.”

  Sei pointed his lollipop at Clea. “I expect you to save me if the guy is a creep.”

  “It could be a girl.”

  Sei shuddered. “If it’s a girl, I’m not staying.”

  “What, you don’t want to check her hips? See if they’re wide enough to give you a hundred kids?”

  Sei tried to kick Clea, but Clea sidestepped him. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and rolled his eyes when he saw it was a text from Dan.

  I still don’t know what you are.

  Clea just knew Dan was going to do something stupid if he found out Clea was a Nix, like start calling him Tinkerbell or something. For some reason, it seemed to be what humans first thought of when fairies were mentioned. Clea wasn’t letting anyone call him Tinkerbell.

  And you’ll never know.

  Aww, why? We’re colleagues. Buddies. I should know.

  We’re not buddies.

  *pouts*

  Clea rolled his eyes. He still wasn’t sure if Dan was for real. Anthony seemed to be a little freaked out by shifters, although that could be because of his encounter with Quinn, but Dan was having the time of his life. Clea had had to pull him away from Quinn because Dan had wanted to ask him what he shifted into, and Clea didn’t think he’d appreciate Quinn’s answer.

  I’m almost at your house.

  Clea’s eyes widened. Why are you coming here?

  Because I want to meet more shifters, and I need to talk to you.

  About what?

  What do you th
ink about Kameron going on TV?

  Clea put his phone away. “We need to leave.”

  Sei looked up. “What? Why? We still have almost an hour before we need to be at your mom’s.”

  “Dan’s coming here.”

  Sei sat up. “I want to meet him.”

  “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  Clea could imagine what kind of trouble Sei and Dan would get into together if they met, and he didn’t want to be there to see it. “You can stay, but I’m shimmering over to Christian’s house. Remember you need to help me to shimmer them all over to Mom’s house.”

  Clea shimmered, not waiting for an answer. He knocked on Christian’s front door, smiling when Alex opened the door. Alex frowned, though. “I thought we were supposed to leave in an hour.”

  “We are. I’m just avoiding someone.”

  Alex grinned and stepped aside so that Clea could walk in. “Who are you avoiding?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Christian’s showering, if you want to sneak into the bathroom with him,” Alex said instead of asking more questions.

  “I’m not here to have sex with your brother in the bathroom you all use.”

  Alex grimaced. “Right. I hadn’t thought about that. Okay, you’re coming with me to the living room. I’m not letting you anywhere near the bathroom.”

  Clea wasn’t surprised to find Nuallan bundled up on the couch. He still wasn’t sure whether Nuallan was coming with them for dinner or not, but he didn’t want to ask. He knew Nuallan and Alex’s relationship was peculiar. No one knew if they were just friends or something more, or if they were mates, no matter what Alex said.

  It was a possibility, but Clea didn’t think there was anything between Nuallan and Alex. They did spend a lot of time together, and they touched almost all the time, but the more Clea watched them, the less he thought there was anything sexual between them.

  He sat in an armchair in front of the couch so he wouldn’t spook out Nuallan. “You’re out.”

  Nuallan nodded, but that was all the reaction he gave Clea. Alex sat beside Nuallan and Nuallan inched closer. Alex wrapped an arm around Nuallan’s shoulders and Nuallan leaned against his side, but he didn’t touch Alex in any other way, not like Clea might have done if Christian had hugged him like that. He didn’t touch Alex’s thigh, didn’t kiss him, didn’t even look at him.

  Of course, it could just mean that Alex and Nuallan weren’t into PDAs, but Clea didn’t think so. “Are you coming with us?” he asked, trying to think about something they could talk about.

  Nuallan shrugged without looking at Clea. He kept his gaze on his hands, which were folded in his lap. Clea had no clue what that meant, so he looked at Alex, but Alex shrugged too. Clea pressed his lips together. What was he supposed to do to get an answer? Not that it mattered, since his mom was sure to have cooked enough for an army, but still.

  Clea had thought maybe Nuallan would be happy to be around Nix again since as far as he knew, he’d been around them all his life, at least until he’d been thrust into the pack’s life. Clea didn’t know what Nuallan’s life had been like in his tribe, though. No one did, except maybe Alex, and he wasn’t sharing.

  Nuallan’s life couldn’t have been good, though. He’d ended up trying to kill Kameron, and it was obvious to anyone who knew him that it hadn’t been a decision he’d made of his own volition.

  “So...” Clea started. “I hope you’re ready to meet my mom.”

  Alex chuckled. “She can’t be that bad.”

  “She’d not bad exactly, just... forceful, I guess.”

  “She did want to mate you off to a girl you’ve never met.”

  Nuallan looked up from behind his long blond hair. Apparently talking about Nix traditions succeeded in getting his attention. Clea wasn’t sure that was a good or a bad thing, though. He didn’t want to remind Nuallan of bad things that might have happened to him.

  “Yeah, well. She just wanted me to be happy. Her bonding with my dad was arranged, and they love each other. It’s what she knows.”

  “But she’d not going to create problems now that you’re with Christian, right?”

  “Nope. I told her me and Christian are mated and she accepted it. We’re fated mates, after all. She can’t say anything against that.”

  Alex snorted. “Yeah, that might be true for good people, but trust me, some people don’t care in the least about fated mates.”

  “I know, but my mother is not one of them. Like I said, she just wants me to be happy.”

  Nuallan jerked, and Clea and Alex both looked at the other side of the room.

  Sei slumped onto the arm of Clea’s armchair and glared down at him. “You didn’t tell me Dan was so—so—argh, I don’t even know what he is.”

  “You could have knocked,” Alex groused, and Clea shared his opinion. Sei was being rude, but then he’d just spent some time with Dan. Dan could do that to a person.

  “Sorry.” Sei didn’t look sorry at all. “But really, that guy is nuts. He started squealing when I told him Clea and I are Nix.”

  Clea groaned. “Did you explain to him what that means?”

  “Well, yeah. I told him we’re fairies, or at least what most humans think of as fairies. That’s when he started squealing.”

  “He’s going to be a pain in the ass when I see him again.”

  “I think he’s already a pain in the ass, but luckily for me, it’s not my ass we’re talking about.”

  Clea glared at his cousin. “Yeah, well, it’s not mine either. There’s no way he’s getting near my ass.”

  “Why are we talking about Clea’s ass?” Christian asked from the door. Clea turned to look at him, and his breath hitched.

  It was still puzzling to him that he could have such a mate. He’d always thought his mate would be a Nix. Nix were usually short and slight, with only a few exceptions. Christian was the opposite of that.

  He was tall and muscled, and he looked fucking good with his hair still damp from his shower. Clea had won the jackpot when it came to mating.

  Now he just had to pray his parents would think the same thing, because God only knew how much trouble his mother would be if she didn’t.

  * * * *

  Christian hadn’t known what to expect, but it wasn’t this.

  Clea always talked about his tribe, and for some reason, Christian had imagined his parents lived in a hut in the woods or something. Technically, they did, but it wasn’t what he’d imagined at all.

  The hut was more like a big, luxurious cabin than a hut. It was built completely out of wood, of course, but it had a door and windows, and even a porch with a few chairs and open boxes that probably held flowers during the summer.

  Clea’s mother opened the door as soon as they arrived, and Clea groaned. He leaned closer to Christian and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For this.”

  Before Christian could ask what Clea meant, he found himself with an armful of small woman. His eyes went wide and he looked at Clea for help, but Clea was snickering. Christian glared at him and awkwardly patted his new mother-in-law’s back.

  “Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet you, Christian,” she gushed. “I can’t say I’ve heard much about you, since Clea kept you hidden until you were mated, but it’s still a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

  Christian’s mother-in-law finally released him and he had to fight the urge to hide behind Clea, just in case she decided to hug him again.

  Luckily for Christian, his mother-in-law’s attention was now on the rest of his family. He snickered when she hugged Alex, whose eyes were as big as Christian’s had probably been earlier. Nuallan hung back, half-hidden behind Alex, and when Clea’s mother tried to move around Alex to get to him, Alex shook his head.

  Christian was surprised to see that Clea’s mother stopped. She cocked her head, but she didn’t ask for
explanations. Instead, she turned to Zane. “Are you another brother?”

  Zane looked scared to answer. “Uh, I’m Iggy’s mate, so I guess that makes me Christian’s brother-in-law.”

  Clea’s mother opened her arms. “You’re family, then. Come here.”

  Christian shook his head at her enthusiasm. He turned to look at Clea, but he was gone, and Christian saw him entering the house. He wondered if he should wait outside, but Sei bumped their shoulders together. “Come on, let’s go in. My aunt still needs to hug a few people, and I’m freezing my balls off.”

  Christian followed Sei inside. Alex and Nuallan trailed behind them while Christian’s parents chatted with Clea’s mother. Sei was right—it was freaking cold out there, and Christian wondered why everyone didn’t come inside.

  The house looked great. It really wasn’t as rustic as he’d imagined it would be. There were no electronics that he could see, and it was illuminated by candles, but the furniture was refined, and carpets covered the polished floors.

  The house also smelled heavenly. Whatever Clea’s mother was cooking, Christian wanted to eat it. His stomach grumbled and Sei arched a brow at him. Christian shrugged and mirrored Sei as he took his boots off and left them by the front door on a rack.

  Clea was nowhere to be seen, so Christian stuck close to Sei. He followed him, and the delicious scent grew stronger. They entered a kitchen illuminated by more candles and a huge fireplace. Something was cooking in it, but it was covered, so Christian couldn’t see what it was.

  Clea was sitting at the table, talking to an older version of himself. Christian wanted to berate him for leaving everyone out there at his mother’s mercy, but instead he slid into the chair next to Clea’s and held his hand out to what had to be Clea’s father. “I’m Christian, Clea’s mate.”

  Clea’s father smiled. “Call me Chaltan.”

  Clea nodded. He was surprised at the fact that Clea’s parents didn’t seem to mind he was a man. His own family didn’t care, of course, but Clea’s mother had tried to marry him off to a woman. The way she and her mate didn’t seem to care what Christian was felt a bit weird.