“Oh my God, are you all right? We heard what happened with your ex? Is Will okay? How are you doing? Were you hurt? Have you two already mated? I heard you were getting married, so I thought maybe you’d want to wait until then. When are you getting married anyway? Will it be a Christmas wedding? Are we invited? I know you probably won’t want to have us, with what happened between Will and Heath, but I’d love to be there. I haven’t been to many weddings because shifters don’t usually have them.”
Mal looked at Heath, and he was pretty sure there was terror on his face. Jayden was still hugging him, but now he was looking up at him and talking a mile a minute. Mal couldn’t even keep up with the changes in topic. Jayden had gone from Paul to the wedding and was now talking about... bear mating rituals?
Heath laughed and put his hands on Jayden’s shoulders. Jayden snapped his mouth shut and sheepishly smiled at Mal. “Sorry. You really need to learn to interrupt me when I talk too much. Everyone does it. I don’t mind. And it’s useful, especially if you want to manage to put a word in. I’m told giving me cookies works, too, and, well, something else too, but only Heath can use that method. Not that I think you don’t have oral sex with Will, but you can’t with me. Do you have oral sex with Will? He told me he and Heath used to switch, but he didn’t say anything about oral sex. I guess most men love it, though. Do you?”
“Umm, yes?”
“You don’t look convinced. I’m sure—”
Mal gave Heath a grateful glance when Heath put his hand on Jayden’s mouth and pulled him away. “Sorry about that,” he said to Mal.
“It’s fine. Just... a little much. Or very much, really.”
“I know all about that.”
“I’m not sure how you manage to live with him. No offense, but does he always talk so much?”
“He does. I just learned to ignore it most of the time. It gets easier.”
Jayden sputtered and Heath let him go. “I’m right here, you know?” Jayden protested.
“We know, we know. How could we not? You just tried to talk Mal’s ears off.”
“I didn’t! It’s not my fault my mouth gets away from me.”
The glance Heath gave Jayden made Mal think he was thinking about Jayden’s mouth not talking, and he really didn’t want to think about that, so he cleared his throat. Heath and Jayden both turned to look at him, Heath’s cheeks slightly flushed. “Are you looking for Will?” Mal asked.
“No, we were looking for you,” Jayden answered. Heath pinched his side before he could say more, and he snapped his mouth shut.
Heath nodded. “We heard about what happened with your ex, like Jayden said. We wanted to make sure you were fine.”
Mal was a bit puzzled at that. He didn’t have anything against Heath and Jayden, but it was a bit weird. Heath was Will’s ex-boyfriend. Why was he worrying about Mal?
Heath seemed to realize what Mal was thinking and he sighed. “I know it’s weird, but I don’t really think of Will has my ex. I don’t even remember him. He’s just... a friend, as far as I’m concerned.”
Mal crossed his arms on his chest when a stronger gush of wind blew. “No offense, but I don’t think you’re that good a friend. We haven’t seen you in months.”
Heath shrugged. “I don’t think Will exactly likes having me around, and you can’t deny the entire situation is weird as fuck.”
Mal relaxed. “Yeah, okay. Anyway, I’m fine.”
“Do you think we could see Will anyway?” Jayden asked, bouncing on his feet.
“Jay, I don’t think he wants to see you, not after you quizzed him on our sex life to get tips,” Heath told Jayden.
Mal didn’t want to know what they were talking about. Jayden had already said too much for him to be comfortable with. “He’s not here,” he said before Jayden could have another word-vomit.
“Of course. He’s at work?” Heath asked. Mal nodded, and Heath continued. “I’d really like to talk to him if it’s all right with you and him. I know we don’t have the best relationship, but my family’s been asking about him. They miss him.”
Mal sighed. He knew about how Heath’s family had welcomed Will with open arms years ago, and about how he’d grown up with them. He also knew Will hadn’t called or visited them since Heath had mated with Jayden, and he could see why they were hurt. God knew if he’d had a family he wouldn’t keep so much distance between them, even if they weren’t his blood family, like in this case.
Mal stepped to the side and gestured at Heath and Jayden to enter. “Come in. Give me the time to put shoes on and grab my coat, and we can go to Kam’s house. That’s where Will works now.”
It took Mal only a few minutes to gather everything he needed. He poked his head in Simon’s room, but he wasn’t there, so Mal left a note on the kitchen table, telling whoever came home first where he was.
Heath and Jayden followed him outside and into the woods. The day was cold, but it was sunny. Mal knew he felt the cold more than shifters, and he wished the houses were closer to each other, but it was good exercise to walk back and forth. At least it wasn’t raining or snowing, but he had no doubts it would in a few weeks at most. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
Mal didn’t knock when they got to Kameron’s house. He’d gotten used to the fact that the house was always open, as long as everyone kept to the ground floor. The upper one was invitation from Zach or Kameron only, and it was more than fine with Mal.
The TV was on in the living room and Mal peeked inside, his brows raising on his forehead at the sight that greeted him. Simon was watching TV, and Will was sitting next to him, asleep.
Mal gestured at Heath and Jayden to follow him, and when Simon looked up as he entered, he pressed a finger to his lips to keep him quiet. He sat on Will’s other side after taking his coat off and looked at Simon. “What’s wrong with him?”
Simon shrugged. “He said he was tired.”
Mal put his palm on Will’s forehead to check if he had a fever, and Will jerked. He looked at Mal, his eyes wide until he recognized him. “Shit. You scared me to death.”
“Sorry. Are you all right?”
Will rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just a little tired.”
“How come?”
Will grinned. “It might be because you kept me up until two in the morning.”
“Oooh, I want to hear all about that!” Jayden exclaimed. He started to sit on the couch between Will and Mal, but Heath grabbed his arm and steered him toward one of the other couches instead.
Will blinked at them, and Mal leaned toward him. “Heath wants to talk to you,” he said in a soft voice.
Will sighed. “I imagined he’d come by sooner or later. His parents?”
“Yeah. They’re worried about you.”
“How do you feel about visiting them this weekend?”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
Will smiled and kissed Mal. The front door opened and slammed closed, and someone stomped in the living room. “Where’s Kameron?”
Mal looked at the guy who’d talked. He was small, but Mal couldn’t ignore the aura of power that wrapped around him. The guy was probably deadly, and Mal had no doubts he’d kill anyone of them without problems.
Another guy stepped behind him, and Mal relaxed when he saw the smile on his face. “Jeesh, Quincy? Do you always have to be an ass?”
“We’re not here to be nice to each other,” Quincy said. “And I told you not to call me Quincy. I hate it.”
“Fine. Being civil won’t hurt you, Quinn. I swear.”
Quinn rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m Quinn Wallace, and this is Malik Ayodele. We’re council members and we’re here to help save your asses from that asshole who’s bent on killing all of you.”
Mal blinked at the guy. He sounded like an asshole. Malik wasn’t, though. He came closer and leaned forward to shake their hands. Quinn rolled his eyes, but Malik ignored him as he went from Heath t
o Jayden, then to Mal, who also got a wide, reassuring smile, as if Malik knew he was human and not entirely comfortable with shifters he didn’t know. Malik shook Will’s hand next, but when he got to Simon, he froze. Simon blinked up at him, and they both stared at each other for a few seconds.
Quinn huffed. “Are you done being polite? We need to find Kam.”
Malik straightened and held a hand out to Simon. Simon didn’t hesitate to take it, and Malik gently pulled him up. Simon was standing closer to Malik than he’d stand near anyone else, and Mal gave Will a perplexed glance. Will wrapped his arm around Mal’s waist and pulled him closer. “Remember when we met? That first moment, when the world around us froze because we knew we’d found the special someone we’d been looking for?”
Mal gasped. “They’re mates?”
About the Author
Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men. She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that was what she really wanted to write.
After graduating from college in English language and translation, she divides her day between writing, reading, taking care of her son and reading some more.
You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
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