“Yes, we have a lot of fey in the area who help us out.” He glanced at me, “No trumped-up bullshit charges required.”
After a bit, George turned into a packed parking lot of a plain gray cement building with a flashing sign of Walt’s Bar in the window. “I see news of your arrival spread.”
“So… not a bunch of day drinkers. That’s good.”
George laughed, “Some of them are, but no, they’re here for you. You’re kind of a big deal.”
“We will see how big of a deal it is when I explain how much danger I put you in by running here.” I opened my door and hopped down. I tried to smooth my horribly wrinkled shirt to no avail and sighed at my frumpiness. I should’ve changed at the airport. What a first impression I’d make.
Chapter Three
I wish somebody would say something. Maybe I should say something? No, probably not, they’re still getting over the shock of what they just heard. I should give them another minute or two. I glanced at the door, George was on the other side, probably with what seemed like a million shifters I saw briefly on the way in as well. I didn’t get a chance to see everybody or meet anybody for that matter before George whisked me upstairs to a spacious apartment. Although, with every single Lupinski staring at me, it felt small at the moment.
The Lupinski Clan’s Alpha, Walt, had met me at the door. I was surprised by his appearance; a bit badass with his well-worn motorcycle jacket and big black steel-toed boots. He had brown hair, blue eyes, a little beard, and a huge welcoming smile. Both of his ears were pierced as well as his nose which Reef and some of the others in my pod would look down on; they were so old school. He positively beamed with love when he introduced his human mate, Andy. She was stunning, with long beautiful brunette hair, aqua colored eyes, and perfectly pert, almost duck-lips without trying. Her smile lit up the room, and it was easy to tell how she was the catalyst that brought such massive change to the clan. When Walt met her, he refused to let her go and abolished the Good of the Clan law to make sure he, nor any other shifter, ever had to give up their fated again.
They both gave me huge bear hugs. That must be a thing with these shifters since everyone, well, almost everyone, gave me a hug when I was introduced to them. When Walt and Andy hugged me, as well as the others, I could feel the power radiating off their bodies and had a glimmer of hope that things might turn out okay for my pod and me.
Next, I met Walt’s identical twin, Nate, and his mate, Sydney. He was identical to Walt but more clean cut with a button down shirt, slacks, and no beard. She was a surprise; I had no idea the States had any leprechauns. You could tell what she was by her eyes; they were gold, her hair was too, making her relatively powerful. I wasn’t sure she knew yet, but it’s rude to ask a shifter what they are, it would be like asking a random lady you see on the street when her due date is. Bad fucking idea.
I knew a little bit about Nate and Walt from what information that had trickled into my pod. Nate was born first and should’ve been Alpha, but as George said, we all contribute to the Clan in our unique way. He started Lupinski Productions with Sydney’s help. Now they were partners as well as mates of the fastest growing production company in all of Georgia. They changed the world of shifters by creating cameras and spells that allowed them to be pictured without a blending of forms. One of the reasons we needed to stay away from cameras was pictures tend to show us as we indeed are.
Ja’Lyn, Beta of the Lupinski Clan, was next. She had the same brown hair and blue eyes as her brothers as well as a matching smile. Her husband, Henry, was not with her. She seemed relieved that he wasn’t. If I were a betting woman, I would guess she was a victim of the Good of the Clan law like me.
The Lupinski Clan former Alpha, Graham, and the previous Beta, Abe, were also present with their fated mates, Melanie and Samantha, who happened to be Andy’s mother and grandmother; hopefully, I can be around long enough to hear that story, it had to be good. If the Lupinski kids were standing next to Graham, there would be no mistaking that he was their father and Abe another relative of some sort. Just like Andy, with her mom and grandma, all had similar features, although you’d be hard-pressed to guess Mel was a grandma, the sixty-three-year-old didn’t appear older than forty-something.
As the idle chit-chat was ending; the how was your flight? I’m so happy to meet you! Oh my fucking God, how cool is it that you’re a dinosaur? I’m so writing you into the next book, etcetera; there was a couple of knocks on the door. It opened immediately, and the most handsome man I have ever seen in my entire life walked in.
He was tall and built like a truck. His shoulders were broad and rounded like boulders, his tee-shirt stretched over his chest showing the definition of his pecs, and the sleeves looked as if they were about to burst. I didn’t get the chance to see, because he didn’t turn around yet, but I bet he had the sweetest ass I had ever seen too. He had light brown hair and blue eyes and was staring me as hard as I was staring at him. Someone said it was Jeff. The sound of his name snapped him out of whatever we had going on between us. He continued into the room, and a shook my hand. I was a little bummed about that since everybody else hugged me. I wanted to see if my arms could fit around that massive chest of his, or if he could wrap his arms around me and pick me up like I weighed nothing.
I could feel Jeff staring at me as I told my story but I avoided making eye contact with him because I had a task to do; I couldn’t afford any distractions. Judging from the Lupinskis expressions, they were equal parts stunned and pissed off by the time I was done explaining everything. There wasn’t any noise from the hallway either. I don’t think anyone in the clan had any inkling whatsoever what was happening to us, and every single one of them was about to lose their shit.
It was Mel that spoke first, “Did you know about any of this Graham?”
“No, they were inactive members of the Clan when I became Alpha.”
“But what about what happened to her father, Dad? How can you not know someone within our ranks suffered a fate worse than death?” Ja’Lyn asked.
“My father was the Alpha in 1934 if he knew about it, he never told me.”
Sam questioned Abe, “Why hasn’t anybody gone to check on them?”
“We have never run the Lupinski Clan as a dictatorship; we don’t force shifters to be our ranks. Although in hindsight, we knew they were there to be; we should have gone to check at some point.”
“I wouldn’t feel so sorry about that; you might not have found us with the magic we have. And if you had made it in, you wouldn’t be able to tell what was going on by observing. Reef would make sure everything appeared above board.”
“And he wants to mate with you,” Jeff spoke.
I tried to glance at Jeff quickly, but got caught up in his eyes, my heart was racing a little, and I had lost the ability to speak, so I nodded my head. I’m not sure how long we’re staring at each other before Andy cleared her throat breaking the spell and I looked at her. She had a shit-eating-grin on her face that quickly changed to guilt, “Edi, I’m so sorry you have all been living in this hell. But rest assured, we will take care of this. We won’t let this injustice stand.”
“I’m not sure—”
Andy cut Walt off, “Not sure? You are the fucking the Alpha, correct?”
“Yes,” Walt sighed and grinned at the same time, it must have been an inside joke.
“Inactive members are still shifters, and we can’t let these atrocities continue.” Andy looked to the other Lupinskis, “We will fix this, period. Maybe we should take the rest of the day, and brainstorm.”
“I thought I was the fucking Alpha.”
“You are, and I’m the Alpha’s Mate, and women get shit done.” Andy replied and then toward the door, “George, you can come in now.”
The door opened, I saw George and several other shifter heads poking in. They all had smirks on their faces. “How can I help you, Alpha Andy?” George declared with flair and the rest of the shifters in the room a
nd in hallway snickered.
Andy giggled and asked, “Will you put Edi’s baggage in the back of Jeff’s truck, please?”
“Wait. Why? I thought I’d be staying with George, you know, my family.”
“Jeff has a decent sized pool, and you need water.” Andy declared.
“Well, I—”
“You’ve had a couple of rough days, and I’m sure you’re exhausted. A shift might be what you need before we get to work on this tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I, uh—”
Walt shared a grin with Andy, “As my mate so eloquently said, you should go shift and rest. Jeff, you’ve been so overwhelmed lately, perhaps some company whose every emotion you don’t have to internalize might give you some peace tonight.” He and Andy did another knowing grin at each other, those two were up to something different than taking care of my tired ass.
I tried to express to George with my facial features to save me, but he gave Walt a quick nod and said: “I will move those bags straightaway.” He shrugged at me, turned on his heel, and walked back out into the hallway out of sight.
The Lupinskis were sharing smirking glances with one another, except for Jeff who seemed confused yet somehow undressing me with his eyes at the same time.
“All righty then, I think it’s time for you two to go.” Andy clapped her hands once to get everyone’s attention. “We have research to do. Nate and Sydney, can you reach out to our fey contacts and see if anybody has enough magic to take down the barriers the pod have. Ja’Lyn contact the European Lupinski Clan chapter and see what the fuck they knew when and why we were not informed. Abe and Ma, research our laws and see what our legal options are. Graham and Grams brainstorm possible storm-the-castle plans we can put together quickly.” Everyone nodded their agreement of their assigned tasks and then looked at me, “Edi. I don’t want you to think about this again tonight, we have plenty of time to figure this out.”
“Not too much time, I have no way of communicating with everyone back home. I have no idea how long they’ll be able to keep up the appearance that I’m still there, and Reef will hurt everybody I care about if I don’t get back soon.”
Jeff growled a little which shocked me but before I could say anything Walt stood from the couch and helped Andy up, “Okay I think it’s time for you two to go.”
“But—”
“No buts, you rest, and we will figure out the rest,” he glanced at Jeff who was grinding his teeth and then said to me, “We’re not letting you go anywhere near that poor excuse of an Alpha, we won’t let any harm come to you.”
“I’m more afraid for everyone else.”
George reappeared, “You’re all set to go.”
I began to stand from my cushy seat on the recliner when Jeff appeared in front me so fast it made me fall back down.
“Sorry,” he smiled and offered his hand. I placed mine in his and felt a little jolt of electricity flow through my body as he helped me up. He let go of my hand then motioned to the door with his head.
I looked at everyone in the room and everyone I could see standing in the hallway. My eyes watered a bit and said, “Thank you all so much for helping me in any way that you can and welcoming me in such a loving and kind manner. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
There was a chorus of ‘see you tomorrow’s’ as Jeff, and I left the apartment. All of the other shifters lining the hall were grinning at us and each other with similar expressions the Lupinskis had. We walked downstairs, through the bar, and out to his truck in the parking lot without saying a word.
Chapter Four
Jeff opened my door and helped me into the truck then asked, “All set?” I nodded because I was severely tongue-tied and couldn’t say anything, he shut my door then walked around, and climbed into the driver side.
Those two words were the only ones he spoke on the drive. He had given me side glances; I caught him staring and had to say, “Whoa,” once when he started veering off the road but other than that, barely any interactions.
I have to admit I was staring at him myself. He was beyond gorgeous, and although my feelings were dulled, I had a slight tingle in the pit of my stomach. It was a bit confusing and had a passing thought of what it could mean but discounted it immediately and chalked it up to the consequences of the naughty thoughts running through my head.
Jeff gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and I watched the muscles in his forearms contract and ripple like the waves in the lochs. I was so fascinated with the movement I didn’t notice we had arrived. I felt the truck rock as he put it in park in front of a detached two-car garage to the left of his modest one-floor cabin in the woods. It was the kind of house you would have drawn as a kid. The door was in the center with two windows on either side, a triangle roof with a chimney, the porch started at one end and went around one of the corners where I could see a little bit of a wooden fence beyond. It was an adorable home, but the landscaping was exquisite.
The path from where he parked to the front of the home was lined on either side with daylilies of every color and style imaginable. In front of the porch were at least three feet of garden space filled with roses, shorter ones in the front and vined climbing roses up the posts of the deck in the back. There was a fountain in the middle of the yard made with giant boulders where clear water ran over into a small pool that had water lilies and other water plants. Around the fountain there were orange, yellow, and red mums bursting with color like fireworks. There were two stone benches as well. Past the fountain was a large tree that was almost barren due to the season but it still had a few red leaves that clung to its branches, one of which held a two-seater wooden swing gently moving in the breeze.
“Does someone in the clan have a landscaping company? The design is extraordinary.”
“Yes, but I designed this.”
“You have a real talent. Walt mentioned you’re finishing up your degree. Is that what you’re studying? Landscape Design.”
“No, I’m studying nutrition and exercise science. I’m a personal trainer now and want open my own gym one day.”
“That’s cool.” I began to feel little self-conscious. I hadn’t worked out a day in my life other than hard labor, of course. Generally, I couldn’t care less about my extra pudge or cushion, but sitting next to this absolutely beautiful man without an ounce of fat on his body, my old fears came back. Is that why he’s staring at me that way? Is he going to ask if he could help me lose that last thirty pounds?
The butterflies that had been going nuts stopped moving until he said, “How long have you been working out?”
“What?” I tried to only glance, but Jeff’s expression caught me. He was staring at me with such intensity, honesty, and lust, that I became a bit short of breath.
“How long have you been working out?” He outlined above my biceps and then squeezed my arm. “Your arms are exquisite.”
I couldn’t help myself and giggled, “I was thinking the same thing about you.” I couldn’t look away, even if I wanted to. The blue in his eyes was so unique and beautiful, it reminded me of the ocean off the coast of Scotland. Unlike my dull brown eyes, his had a story behind them. He still had his hand on my arm, and his thumb was moving back and forth in a slow pattern. The butterflies came again, as well as a tingle where he was touching me. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of these sensations; was I just horny? Or could it mean something more? Doubtful.
Not sure what to do next I panicked and asked, “Did you hire the Hemming brothers to do the work? I imagine you are very busy.”
He sighed and let go of my arm as he leaned back in his seat and surveyed the front yard, “No, I did this, all of it. I needed something to take my mind off things. As Omega of the Lupinski Clan, I can be overwhelmed by everybody else’s feelings, fears, and worries. I needed a way to escape, that’s also why my house is so much further away from everybody else’s. I still feel everyone’s connected energy, but this way, I don’t necessarily have a physical react
ion to what they’re feeling at the moment. It’s different with you though.”
“You can’t feel anything? Probably because of my wish.”
“That’s not it. I can most definitely feel you, but it comes in subtle flashes.”
“Once a moment becomes a memory, I can’t feel it anymore. Curse of my wish.”
“I wouldn’t call it a curse. I like the flashes.” He gave me an evil grin. “I love what I feel when I do this.” He lightly stroked his fingertips down the length of my arm to my fingertips and back up again. The feelings washed over me like a wave. Every nerve ending came alive as if he was touching me everywhere all at once, but once he moved his hand within seconds, the sensations disappeared. It took me a second to realize that my eyes were closed. When I blinked them open again, Jeff had moved significantly closer over the bench seat. I felt tingles, excitement, and lust by looking at him. I desperately wanted to enjoy the fleeting moment, but I hadn’t felt anything in so long, an unwanted flash of nervousness came over me. Jeff instantly seemed concerned, backed off, and said, “Do you want to go see your pool?”
“It’s not my pool.”
“I’ll have to see about that.” Jeff opened his car door, jumped out, and practically sprinted to my side. He gave me his hand to help me climb down, and those wicked feelings along my skin came back instantly. He let go, grabbed my suitcase out of the bed of the truck, and then led me inside.
The interior of his home was exquisite as the outside: heavy wooden furniture and a giant squishy black leather sofa and recliners, fireplace with an intricately carved mantle, and a giant table surrounded by eight chairs and there were another two chairs on either side of a matching buffet.
“I have to make two more chairs to fit all of us.”
My mouth dropped, “You made all of this.”
Covet the Curves: a Romance Collections Anthology Page 4
