by Fel Fern
“Yes. Her concern for you, combined with your worry and love for me, is what’s keeping me standing right now,” Daryl said, placing his hand over his forearm. “Deacon, I don’t believe in ghosts, but now, I wonder. They fought so hard, you know.”
Deacon stilled at those words. For so long, he let anger and the thirst for revenge grow inside him, taking strength from those two emotions. He thought it would be enough to lead his pack, to make sure the Devil Hills community survived the future. Being with Daryl, he understood he had to be more. Deacon might be a monster, but his Esper mate had a big heart that beat for both of them.
“Tell me more,” Deacon insisted, hoping Daryl heard the plea in his voice. With his mate, Deacon didn’t need to be strong all the time. Even Alpha werewolves had their share of hesitations and doubts, but Daryl was his mate, his better half. Daryl understood, would never judge. His Esper accepted of him, flaws and all.
“They fought hard,” Daryl said. “I think they knew the humans who came would bring only destruction, so they put up a hell of a struggle so the humans would turn their gaze away from the rest of the pack.”
“From me,” Deacon said grimly. “I ran right into the direct line of fire, though.”
“That’s okay. It was in your nature,” Daryl said. “As the future Alpha, you wanted to see if there was anyone worth retrieving.”
“They killed them all, would have ended me, too, if Santino and Sabine hadn’t drag me back to safety.”
This time, Daryl twisted in his arms and hugged him fiercely. “You must have been so young,” Daryl whispered.
“They got to my father through my mother. She was a shifter, but she was born unable to shift, practically a human,” Deacon said. “The humans knew about the mate bond, that by killing her, they’d get right to my father, and once the Alpha falls, so does the rest of the pack.”
Deacon sucked in a breath and told Daryl the truth. “I thought by mating you, I’d lose my edge the way my father lost his.”
Daryl looked hurt, but the Esper didn’t interrupt him.
“I didn’t change my mind because I nearly went crazy at the thought I’d lose you somehow, that you meeting those fugitives might put you in harm’s way. Well, that’s part of the reason, but seeing you there, arguing with Lance, with Santino, I realized one important thing.”
“What’s that?” Daryl asked as Deacon cupped his cheek.
“You have my mother’s kindness, that’s true enough, but you’re a thousand times stronger than she was. You’ve killed once to protect your brother even though it wrecked your soul to do that. You’d do it again to defend those you care about.”
Deacon could hear Daryl’s fast-beating heart. He thumbed his mate’s jaw and zeroed in for a rough and bruising kiss, liking how Daryl leaned in close for more. His mate parted his lips so Deacon could thrust his tongue down his throat. The mate bond between them pulsed, stronger than ever. He released his wide-eyed panting mate.
Daryl rested his head against his chest. Sensing his mate needed comfort, Deacon simply held him.
“For the longest time, I’d been horrified by what I did to my dad. I knew he’d never stop hurting us, he’d sell us to Discipline Squad without guilt. I reacted out of instinct but regretted that action for the rest of my life. I thought my Esper abilities were a curse that prevented my brother and me from living a normal life, then I came here.”
“Yes,” Deacon said with a smile.
“Remember what you told me before you realized you had the hots for me?” Daryl asked.
Deacon snorted. Sassy little mate. “I did, but remind me anyway.”
“You told me I no longer needed to hide what I was, even encouraged me to train with another Esper to understand my powers better. Thanks to that, I knew how to help others with my gift.”
Deacon shut his eyes, his wolf completely sated inside him, at peace when most of the time it was turmoil when they visited this site.
“Thank you,” Daryl eventually said. “For bringing me here.”
“I should be the one thanking you, little Esper. You helped me understand the feelings of those who’ve departed. For the longest time, I was angry at the world, at my parents for letting themselves be weak. In the process, I’ve forgotten one vital fact, the value of their sacrifice.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Let’s head back,” Deacon suggested. “We’ll get lunch, and I have some duties to attend to. I’ll get Santino to arrange those lessons and Sabine to tell you what you might need to expect, being the Alpha’s mate.”
Another person, a non-shifter, would have been overwhelmed by those words, but not Daryl. It seemed his mate expected that.
“Looking forward to it. If I do well in my lessons,” his cheeky mate began, flashing him an innocent look that made Deacon want to claim him all over again. “Will I get a reward?”
Deacon flashed him a toothy grin. “We’ll see,” he replied.
Chapter Thirteen
Daryl landed on his ass on the training mat once more. He groaned, glaring up at Santino, who crossed his arms to look down at him, frown on his face. When they first started training sessions, they did it out in the open. Predictably, a number of unmated pack members came to observe Santino, shirtless, jogging pants slung low on his hips and his six-pack abs visible.
Thankfully, Santino concluded they got nowhere, especially with his squealing fans nearby, so they settled for training in the basement, or rather converted training space, of the house Santino, Sabine, and Sylvia shared. Their only distraction was the playful pup who sometimes sat on one side to watch them intently, mimicking her uncle’s fighting moves.
“You’re not trying hard enough,” Santino said. “Get up. We’ll do this again.”
With a snarl, Daryl dragged himself to his feet. “I don’t see the point of all this. If I come up against a shifter, I’m dead anyway,” he grumbled.
Two weeks had passed since Deacon gave him the mate mark. He thought he’d encounter some hostility from pack members but had been surprised to be welcomed into the fold with open arms instead.
Why are you all surprised when you’ve been one of us from the start? You may not have a wolf in you, Esper, but you’re certainly shifter enough to handle being mated to an Alpha, Jared had told him earlier that week.
Being Deacon’s mate came with certain responsibilities, though, but Daryl enjoyed reaching out and speaking to the weaker packmates who weren’t warriors, who were too scared to approach Deacon or any of his enforcers.
“If an enemy can come close enough, you can you use your abilities to kill,” Santino said plainly.
Daryl shuddered. He only used his abilities once to manipulate emotion, toward Dave’s and his abusive father when he’d been a kid. That incident scarred him mentally for life. He’d done it by accident, forced all the anger his father directed at them back to himself. Overwhelmed by rage, his father ended up having a heart attack.
“I’m never using my abilities in that way again,” he whispered. Deacon understood, the Alpha knew it would kill him inside if he took another life again. Plus, he wasn’t an Esper kid who didn’t understand his powers or how to control it anymore. Since Santino wore his famous scowl again, he added, “Unless it’s an emergency, in case Deacon or those I love are endangered.”
“I don’t understand you at all. You’re an Esper powerful enough to end a threat by a single touch, and yet you’re holding yourself back,” Santino complained. “Whatever. Not my business. Come at me again. Try to land a punch this time or we’ll be at this the entire afternoon.”
Daryl groaned. Every inch of his body ached. He agreed to training sessions with Santino and Sabine because they insisted an Alpha’s mate should be able to defend himself. Daryl preferred Sabine’s way of fighting, though, a martial arts style which used a stronger opponent’s strength again him.
Santino was all brawn, but Santino wanted him to learn how to come up against a physically stro
nger opponent. He saw the logic, but sometimes, Santino could really be a pain in the ass teacher. A few seconds into their next sparring match, Daryl panted. All his hits naturally missed.
The enforcer was too fast and Santino claimed he held himself back.
“You’re tired already?” Santino demanded.
“Can we continue tomorrow? I promised Zane we’d get coffee together,” he muttered.
Santino narrowed his eyes. “Why? Your wolf friends no longer good enough for you?”
“Hey, that’s uncalled for. Jared and the others have their duties, and I always hang out with them every other day. Zane’s feeling a little lonely. The Baxters are fitting right in, but he’s saddled with Walt, who can’t exactly do things on his own sometimes. I want to be a friend to him.”
Daryl knew the enforcer never did warm up to the fugitives, especially Zane and Walt.
“Once they hit the thirty day limit for visitors, they’re gone,” Santino stated.
“I know that,” he blurted.
The Baxters had proven themselves willing to pitch in, help out the community, but Zane still remained afraid of the paranormal residents in town. It wasn’t the other Esper’s fault. His cousin had been broken by the Discipline Squad, after all, and he’d been like Zane once, forced fed the Humans Matter’s propaganda that all paranormals were monsters.
“Again,” Santino repeated.
Pissed, Daryl clenched his fists, aimed his punch at Santino’s face. The werewolf easily sidestepped again, one moment in front of him, the next at his back. He barely dodged Santino’s next blow, nearly tripping when Santino attempted to sweep his foot from under him. Annoyed, he did a cowardly thing. Daryl feinted, avoided one punch from Santino, only to ram his elbow toward Santino’s privates.
Surprise registered on Santino’s face. The enforcer grunted, avoided the full effect of the blow. Santino growled, cupping his genitals.
“What the fuck?” Santino practically yelled at him.
He crossed his arms, feeling half guilty and half satisfied. “Sabine says to go for a man’s most tender place when all else fails. Seems to work. Don’t you think?”
Santino trained those angry eyes on him. Surprisingly, unlike most werewolves, Santino and Sabin’s pupils never changed color but retained that cool silver color. “What the hell is my sister teaching you?”
“What he needs to survive,” said a new female voice.
Daryl found Sabine by the stairs. In her arms was a rowdy and dirty white wolf pup. Seeing him, Sylvia turned those bright blue eyes on him and gave him a cheerful yip. If he sensed no emotion from Sabine, he could feel pure, unfiltered joy from Sylvia. He grinned, unable to help himself, and walked over to the pup to rub at her ears.
“This training session should have ended an hour ago,” Sabine told her brother, who growled at her. Then to him, she asked, “Have you eaten lunch?”
He shook his head. Daryl had been surprised there had been a caring side to her, too. Most of the time in public, she seemed calm, indifferent almost, but in their home he saw a different side to her. Sylvia jumped from her arms and shifted.
“Mama made mac and cheese and hotdogs. I left you and Uncle ‘Tino some, even though I was hungry,” the little girl told him.
“I’d love some,” he told Sabine. Then to the wolf pup, he gave her a serious, solemn look. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
She beamed up at him.
“I think you need a bath,” he heard Sabine mutter to her daughter as all of them went back upstairs.
Sylvia turned her nose up at that, but nonetheless grabbed her mother’s hand. “Do I really have to, Mama? Can I have a bubble bath?”
“Sure.”
Back in the kitchen, he noticed Sabine had plates and cutleries out, the food left in two bowls.
“If you want something other than kid’s food, I can make you something else,” Sabine offered.
He shook his head. “This is good, thank you. Besides, Sylvia saved us some.”
Sylvia nodded sagely. Both mother and daughter disappeared to the bathroom. Daryl looked at them thoughtfully. Santino put on a fresh shirt, and Daryl realized the other enforcer watched him.
Daryl grabbed a plate, famished, and piled plenty of food on his. Santino glowered at him. “Hey, if you don’t hurry, I’ll end up eating everything,” he teased.
Santino grumbled something under his breath and took a plate, too. Daryl was hungrier than he realized. Santino, too, seemed the same, because they ate ravenously without speaking for a couple of minutes.
“Beer?” Santino asked him after.
“Yes, thanks,” he said as the enforcer grabbed two cans from the fridge and handed him one.
“I wanted to let you know for all my complaining, I appreciate you and Sabine training me,” he said, after they took a few sips. “I heard from Deacon you guys seldom let anyone but him into your home. I really appreciate the gesture.”
The siblings were very private, he realized. Somewhat kept themselves from other packmates, too.
Santino took a long pull, and Daryl thought the other man chose to ignore him. He was surprised when Santino spoke again, “I have my own place in the woods, but after Sabine’s mate died, I moved back here.”
“So you can look out for your sister and your niece?” he asked.
For all his bad reputation and cold attitude, Santino was really a caring individual. Since shifters mate for life, if one half died, the other soon followed. It was a sad but true fact. Learning that, he realized that must be why he sensed only emptiness from Sabine sometimes. The only times she looked alive was when she was with her daughter.
“Back in those days, she forgot things a lot.” Santino looked at his bottle, mind probably elsewhere. “Don’t know why I’m telling you all this anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s one of the side-effects of being close to an empath,” he joked. Jared once told him that for some reason, it was just easy talking to him. His brother and other packmates mentioned the same thing, as well as his mate. Deacon was worried that he might get overwhelmed when packmates unburden all their problems on him, but he didn’t mind.
Santino said nothing else as Sylvia came flying back into the kitchen, hair still wet, her mother behind her.
“Oh. Food gone,” Sylvia complained, then looked at him, then at Santino. She had a mischievous look on her face. “Dessert, Uncle ‘Tino?”
“Why didn’t you ask Daryl?” Santino grumbled.
“Smart girl. She probably senses you’re more susceptible to her charms,” Daryl fired back, then noticed Sabine looking out the window. He’d seen that look of distraction on Santino and her face before, it meant they were communicating with Deacon.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Walt has been found on the border road with a gun in his possession,” she said.
She answered him, much to his surprise and pleasure. Before, the siblings sometimes kept information from him. Good. This meant they were beginning to trust in him, their Alpha’s chosen mate, but the news unsettled him.
“Where did he get the gun?” he found himself asking. “I saw Joe and you pat them down thoroughly before letting them into town two weeks ago.”
“It appears Zane woke up this morning realizing Walt was missing from the room they shared. He alerted some of our packmates about Walt’s disappearance,” Sabine finished.
“I’ll go,” Santino said with a snarl.
“No, I think it’s better if I do that, brother. You might end up ripping that Esper’s throat out before he can give us answers,” Sabine told him. “Yes?”
Santino swore. He noticed most of the time that to packmates, the siblings constantly disagreed with each other, but he’d spent time with them more now to understand they worked like clock-work when it came to Deacon and the pack.
“Fine. You go. I’ll watch over Sylvia and Daryl,” Santino answered.
Sylvia walked up to her mother before she ex
ited the house. Sabine looked surprised as Sylvia touched her hand.
“Be careful, Mama,” the little girl whispered. Sabine bent down, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and ruffled her hair, expression uncommonly soft.
“Be good,” Sabine told her.
Sylvia obediently went to Santino’s side but didn’t ask about her dessert again. Sensing worry from her, Daryl said, “Don’t worry, Sylvia, your mama’s strong.”
She nodded, biting her lower lip.
“I’m surprised you didn’t start on your whole ‘I don’t need a bodyguard’ routine,” Santino told him dryly.
“Well, I am the Alpha’s mate,” he ventured. “I’m aware I’ll also be putting him at risk if I act recklessly again since we’re connected by the mate bond.”
“Huh, so even a person as stubborn as you can learn a lesson.” Santino looked thoughtful. “Let’s head to town, look for Zane. See if we can get more answers out of him.”
“Really?” he blurted.
Did the enforcer know he wanted to talk to Zane? Daryl knew he could be of help. Zane might be tight-lipped when it came to his family, his cousin Walt, but the other Esper might open up to him, tell him more about Walt.
The mention of a gun worried him immensely. No one had to spell it out for him. Walt must’ve had some kind of outside contact. That road border used to be heavily patrolled, especially after Dave and Daryl arrived in Devil Hills, but he knew security had been relaxed when there was no new visit from the Discipline Squad.
What if Walt formed some kind of arrangement with the Discipline Squad? When Daryl tried doing a read on Walt’s emotions, all he got was a jumbled mess of confusion.
“I’m not repeating myself,” Santino said. “You want to go or not?”
“I do. I want to talk to Zane. See if he knows anything,” he said, although those words filled him with dread.
What if Zane knew something about his cousin? Zane was scared all the time. That was what he got from the other Esper. Daryl always attributed that to Zane’s fear of the paranormal, but what if there was something more to that? He swallowed, not wishing to entertain the notion Zane might have lied to him, to them all. What if Zane lied for his cousin? If placed in the same position, Daryl saw himself covering up for his brother, too.
