by Macy Blake
They looked fearful. Nick didn’t blame them. He knelt down and held out his arms. “Come on. I’m hungry. And I really need a nap.”
He was hit by three bodies a second later, each of them clinging to him. Nick pulled in a breath and let out a rumbling purr. He looked down, startled at the sound.
“That’s new,” Solomon said.
Nick scowled at him, even as he pushed to his feet. These ones were all little, somewhere between Sophie-size and the twins size.
“Hide your faces,” Nick said. “Close your eyes, okay?”
Three nods against his chest.
He carried them into the hall, and Keziah paled.
“Come on. Let’s get them home. Hey, do we have any cheeseburgers? Man, I could really go for a burger.”
Solomon stepped up beside him, as they walked toward Jedrek and the door. “I have a connection. How do you feel about chimichangas?”
“I feel hungry, Solomon.”
“We just ate,” Jedrek said.
“And?”
Jedrek shrugged and opened a portal. “I could eat.”
Nick carried the kids through, and Keziah dropped the wards once they were all through and the portal closed again. Nick took them to where the others waited. The kids were still up— way past their bedtime and he was not taking the blame for that no matter how much Izzy glared at him.
The twins were shifted and Sophie was running around with them like a little crazy person. “Hey, little monsters. I made some new friends.”
“Nick! We want to play with Simba!”
“Simba?” One of the heads against his chest poked up.
Nick groaned. “Fine. I’ll shift. But only if you stop calling me Simba!”
The kids in his arms raised their heads, watching eagerly.
“You guys wanna shift, too?” They looked suspicious. “You can if you want. But if you want me to shift, I have to put you down. I kinda need all my arms and legs, you know?”
“That’s good,” Ben rumbled quietly. “If we know what they are, we can help them better. Remember how Nana made sure I had fruit?”
Ollie nodded. “Still does. Blueberry fiend.”
“Blueberry?” One of the kids perked up at that.
Ben grinned.
Nick knelt down and sat them down. He leaned his head against each of theirs in turn, then opened his arms. All three of them were wearing not much more than oversized T-shirts, so when they stripped and changed, Nick was met with a couple surprises. One, in the form of two tiny tigers. His breath caught. But the other, was a blur of dark fur. A long fluffy tail wrapped around his neck, and what felt like fingers gripped his hair.
Ollie’s mouth fell open. Ben looked stunned.
“Uh, guys?”
“Is that a marmoset?” Ben gasped.
“What’s a marmoset?” Nick grumbled.
“A kind of monkey.”
Said monkey leapt off of Nick’s head and landed on Ollie. It wrapped around him and began to pluck at the rainbow-striped streaks in Ollie’s hair.
The little tigers chuffed at him, so Nick stripped and changed, letting out another of his roars. All the kids ran to him, and he made sure he marked them all as his. His chest puffed out. He shook out his mane. And then he ran. Not too fast, because there were a lot of little legs and he wasn’t that much of a jerk. His mate joined him, running by his side. Leandra caught up a minute later. Even Solomon joined in. Ollie ran along, too, still in his human form and with their new monkey shifter on his head. They darted down the street to the gate, then turned around and walked back.
Nick couldn’t help feeling proud of what they’d done. If this was his mission, it was a good one. He could get behind this. He had purpose. But man, he really needed a nap.
Nick woke up in his favorite position. Jedrek was sprawled out on their bed, and Nick was using him as his personal body pillow. He tucked his face back into Jedrek’s neck and breathed. And choked. Not that Jedrek didn’t smell amazing. He did. But he also stunk. They probably should have taken the time to shower after the whole bloody witch guy thing, but Nick hadn’t had the patience. By the time they got the kids fed and settled in a giant sleepover on Izzy’s living room floor, Nick had wanted nothing more than to you know his mate. And they’d you knowed multiple times before they passed out in exhaustion.
Now, though, the cloying scent of other swarmed Nick’s nose. He didn’t like it. He poked Jedrek in the side. “Again?” Jedrek groaned.
“Was that a complaint”
Jedrek snorted. “No. What’s wrong?”
“You smell weird. Come shower.”
“What?”
“You smell like that witch guy’s blood.”
Jedrek groaned. “You’re just noticing this now?”
“Yeah? So?”
“We’re going to have to change the sheets then.”
“Yeah? So?” Nick poked him again. “Come on. It’s grossing me out.”
Jedrek rolled over and glared. “You fucked me unconscious and now—” he turned his head and glanced at the clock, “—less than three hours later, you wake me up and want me to shower?”
“Yeah? So?”
Jedrek huffed. “Fine, but if you wake me up again after this, we’re going to have words.”
“Nah. I’ll just fuck you unconscious again. I don’t mind. It’ll be fine.”
That got him a smile.
Jedrek wandered into the bathroom while Nick took the sheets off the bed. He took them outside and dumped them off the side of the porch. He went back inside, then realized he didn’t know if they had any other sheets. Oh well. He’d slept on worse. He’d just pull the blanket up. Not like they needed one anyway. Jedrek kept him warm enough.
He went into the bathroom where his mate was already under the steaming water. He had his head tipped back, water pouring over the mohawk, pulling it to a point on his shoulders. It pointed due south. To one of Nick’s all-time favorite spots. Damn, Jedrek was so gorgeous. He could write an ode to his ass. If he had a clue how to write an ode. But he could probably figure it out.
But now, he wanted to not be outside the shower anymore. He opened the door and stepped in.
Jedrek lifted his head and wiped the water out of his face.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t be dumb. You know you are. Why can’t I keep my hands off you?”
Jedrek shrugged. “Like I care.”
Water dripped over Jedrek’s chest, down his body. His cock was just right there, water pouring off of it. And suddenly, Nick was very, very thirsty. He dropped so his knees and ran his hands down Jedrek’s thighs. “So fucking perfect.”
He didn’t give Jedrek a chance to argue with him. He sucked the tip of his dick into his mouth, swirled his tongue around the ridge, then gave it a nice, hard suck for good measure.
Jedrek groaned and moved his legs apart a little further. Nick wrapped his fist around the base, pulling and stroking, even as it grew harder in his hand. He continued working the tip, knowing exactly what drove Jedrek over the edge. He raised his other hand, teased his balls, gripped them in his hand, rolled them. Jedrek’s legs trembled.
His mate began to move his hips, chasing the release Nick had so expertly built. He gave his balls a tug, felt them tightening his hold, and sucked harder on the tip. Jedrek groaned, spurting his release into Nick’s mouth. He eagerly drank it down, and a purr began in his chest.
“Oh fuck,” Jedrek yelled. “Fuck. Fuck.”
He came harder, and Nick focused on getting it all. His. Jedrek was his. No one else ever got this.
When he released Jedrek from his hold and looked up, Jedrek stared at him with hungry eyes. He pushed to his feet, his cock sticking out proudly. Jedrek eyed it and licked his lips. Then he groaned.
And looked at his arm in dismay.
“Are you kidding me?” Nick snarled.
Jedrek turned off the water and jumped out of the shower,
snagging a towel as he ran back into the bedroom. Nick leaned against the tiled wall and scowled. He shook his fist at the ceiling. “I know you did this on purpose.”
He swore heard the goddess’s tinkling laughter in reply. He gave his dick one last sad look before climbing out of the shower and shifting into his lion form. He wasn’t in the mood to get dressed. Fuck pants. Fuck them hard. He wanted to roar his displeasure, but he’d already gotten in trouble for that once in the form of a scathing text message from Izzy that said if he couldn’t come quietly, he didn’t get to come at all because she’d drop off all six kids in his living room and let him deal with them. Needless to say, he’d come quietly the next time. And the time after that.
Jedrek appeared fully dressed in the doorway and grinned down at him. “Time to go to work.”
Epilogue
Jedrick
Nick stormed into the bar and stomped immediately to the back where Jedrek sat on a stool, performing his duty as bouncer for the bar. Jedrek couldn’t stop his grin if he tried, even if Nick looked like he wanted to disembowel someone.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” Nick demanded.
Jedrek wisely kept his mouth shut. Instead, he reached for his mate’s hips and pulled him between his thighs. Nick’s eyes flared the beautiful golden yellow Jedrek loved so much.
“Do people think I’m stupid? I will cut a bitch.”
Jedrek couldn’t help it. He laughed.
Nick growled.
“Oh, come on, love. You can’t expect me not to laugh at that.”
“Yeah. Maybe. And don’t think I don’t know that you decided to take this shift at the bar on purpose.”
They both knew he had, so Jedrek didn’t bother trying to deny it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help; he did. But damn, the idiots coming out of the woodwork were enough to make him crazy.
“You ever see that movie Annie?” Nick asked.
“Can’t say that I have.”
“I can, unfortunately, say I’ve watched it like a hundred times. Not because I wanted to, but because it was Mama Thea’s favorite. And, I will tell you that I loved that woman. You know I did.”
“I know,” Jedrek said.
“But she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. And she’d sing that Tomorrow song at the top of her lungs and it was torture.”
“I believe you.”
“Sometimes, I think she did it to make me crazy. But when Sawyer was little, he loved it, too. So he’d want to watch it with her, and he wouldn’t watch it without me and Mikey. He was such a brat.”
“He loved his big brothers. Still does.”
“Whatever. Anyway, there was this scene where the rich guy offers up this huge prize for Annie’s real parents and all these scumbags line up and are basically asking for a handout. They don’t care about Annie. They just want the money. That’s what I’m dealing with, Jed. Scum bags. Asshole scum bags who think I’m an idiot.”
They’d spread the word that they had cubs in need of parents. There were too many of them to handle on their own, and Nick hadn’t really wanted to have them in one big place like an orphanage, even though that option had been on the table. No, he’d wanted them to have parents, like he’d had with Mama Thea and Papa Smith. Like Ben and the others had with Vaughn and Sam. Problem was, finding people Nick liked enough to let them actually live in the compound with the coven, because Nick had claimed them all as his pack, and he wasn’t letting then live anywhere else. To say that Nick was overprotective was an understatement. He’d become almost as bad as Zaire. Jedrek loved it.
“What can I do?”
“Nothing. Keziah wants to tweak the wards a bit and only let people with good intentions in. Course, I told him that might be a problem, because whenever you’re around, I never have good intentions.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’d say your intentions are very, very good. Fantastic, even. In fact—”
“No, don’t distract me. Wait. Scratch that. Distract me a little.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Walt barked from the kitchen window.
Nick turned and glared. “Walt! I have needs.”
“Yeah, well, I have eyes. Go fuck somewhere else. I’m making you nachos.”
“Oh, I’ll wait to fuck then.”
Jedrek grunted. “Hey.”
“Walt’s nachos, Jed. What do you expect me to do?”
Walt’s nachos were a thing of beauty. Everybody with half a brain knew it. And all they had left in the freezer was a weird casserole with asparagus in it that neither of them were willing to try. Nick would probably call Viv again and bat his eyes at her or something. He always managed to get them a fridge full of food that they didn’t have to cook.
“So did you find anybody decent?”
“Yeah. I’m going to ask Solomon to grill them, though. Literally. Flamey eyes and all hellhound alpha scary. That ought to weed out the last of ‘em. Plus, I’ll gut anyone who does wrong by my kids.”
His kids. Jedrek tugged him closer. Goddess, it was hot when Nick got all growly and protective.
“How’s construction coming along?”
His mate had also had a meeting that morning with his brother’s mate, Eduard. Sawyer apparently had more money than… well, Jedrek would say God, but since Sawyer was one, that kind of lost its effect. Sawyer had more money than he knew what to do with, though, so he was basically funding the entire venture. Which was good. Because they now had a couple dozen mouths to feed.
“Fine. Eduard got the permits pushed through. They’re getting the fence put up first. No way am I not having a fence. And he found a contractor who was in between building subdivisions so they’re going to put up ours fast. There were a lot of zeros on the end of that check. A whole lot of zeros.”
“Glad Sawyer was able to help.”
“Yeah. He’s good at this shit. I’m just glad Eduard was able to get the land all around us. Zaire had tried, but Eduard’s bank account is a whole lot bigger than hers.”
Jedrek was well aware. He had a griffin managing his money, too. Not that he had as much of it as Sawyer or Eduard, but Nick would probably be surprised. The goddess made sure her champions were well provided for, and Meshaq had taught them early on to let the griffins handle it. What else was Jedrek going to do with a pile of cash? He’d insisted on paying for his and Nick’s place, though, and had secretly put in a call to Eduard for a favor of his own. It was a surprise for his mate. No cookie cutter monstrosity for them. He couldn’t wait for the final plans to be finished so he could show Nick.
“And he really got everything approved already? That’s incredible.”
“Eduard doesn’t mess around. I guess he’s going to send one of his cousins to help manage everything and keep the contractor on his toes. I don’t know. I just sit there and scowl and he does the rest. Sawyer wants to put in a community pool. He says the kids need a pool.
“Some of ‘em, maybe. Calder’s been letting them play in the stream.”
“Yeah. But a pool. They’re dangerous.”
Jedrek grinned and tucked his face into Nick’s neck. “We’ll put a big fence around it. And a ward.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Nick rumbled. "And I guess Sawyer and Henry spent a bunch of time researching playgrounds and stuff and came up with some plan. Did you know we've apparently made playgrounds too safe? There's a whole thing about it. I didn't understand shit about what they were explaining, but it's a thing.”
"Kids wanna be wild and free. Test their boundaries. I get that. We all survived."
"Yeah," Nick said. He kissed Jedrek's neck, then inhaled, before making a whimpering whining sound. “How much longer for those nachos?”
Jedrek chuckled and nipped at Nick’s throat. “Soon.”
“Good. Because I’m cranky. Next time, you have to stay with me.”
Jedrek didn’t protest. He’d find a way to get out of the meetings again. Nick knew it. He knew it. There was no use pretending otherwise.
/>
“Sam said I have to make a decision about school.”
“School?”
“Yeah. He said the kids need to go to school. And that decision was best left to their alpha.”
“That’d be you,” Jedrek grumbled.
“Tell me about it. But like I know shit about schools.”
Nick used that excuse a lot. Claimed he didn’t know. And maybe he didn’t. What Nick did have was finely tuned instincts. He may not know, but he could make a decision. It was crazy watching him maneuver through this new challenge. Jedrek loved seeing him in action. And the kids absolutely loved him. Jedrek had never seen anything like it, and he’d seen the total adoration Ben and the others had given to Vaughn and Sam. This was different. Nick was their hero, their savior. He wasn’t going to be their dad, though. He was their alpha. Jedrek hadn’t really considered the difference until he’d seen Nick with them.
He played with them, trained with them, comforted them, and kept them all in line. He treated them like packmates, equals. He listened, even to the smallest of the cubs, and if what they said made sense, Nick agreed. If he didn't, he told them no, and why. None of them had that before. Quite a few of them hadn't gotten up the nerve to try to negotiate, but the longer they spent in his company, the braver they became.
And then there were the naps. Epic naps which Jedrek had come to think of as puppy piles. Nick had cleared out the dining room of their house—like they ever used the table to eat anyway, and it really did get great afternoon sun—and he'd put in a bunch of pillows and soft blankets. Every afternoon, he'd give a giant roar. It had come to be known as the nap bell. After he roared, Nick would wander into the dining room, find himself a sunny spot, and lay down. He'd be snoring within seconds. And then the horde would come, tiptoeing the first days, then stampeding as they grew more confident. Nick ended up with the majority of the kids piled on and around him, sleeping away the last tendrils of the physical trauma they'd endured.
Well, most of them, anyway. One of the kids had stolen Jedrek's heart. They still hadn't figured out exactly what she was. They'd done everything short of take her directly to the goddess and didn't have an answer. But Jedrek didn't care. She wasn't well, that much he knew for certain. He'd taken to calling her Robin, because she had the prettiest blue eyes. She even had wings, even though they didn't work. They seemed to hurt her, and she had trouble walking sometimes. Jedrek had her on his shoulders more often than not, and Vaughn was already working on a way to help. It just made Jedrek want to hunt them all down again, demand answers, and then send them back to hell after he'd made sure they had enough punishment here.
