With Love

by J. L. Langley

  The doorbell rang.

  They both groaned.

  Dev stood, pulling his pants up. “God, Cole has terrible timing. Guess there goes the nap?”

  Laine smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Chapter Six

  “Devlin, what do you think of the pack situation here? My Lainey isn’t happy and hasn’t been since that hooligan, Victor, took over the pack.”

  Dev turned away from the two redheads whispering across from him and looked at Laine’s grandmother. “I don’t care for it at all, Mrs. Campbell. How long has Victor been the pack Alpha, ma’am?”

  The older woman patted Dev’s hand and smiled. “Now, Devlin you’re supposed to be calling me Grammy. We’re family now.” She took a sip of her ice tea and smiled at Laine and Caroline, who had their heads together giggling over something, then looked back to Dev. “He’s only been in power a little over three years. George Marshal, the Alpha before Victor, was head of the pack for twenty-five years.”

  Cole snagged a nacho from the appetizer plate in the center of the table, his brow furrowed. “Grammy, how did Victor get the position? The traditional way? Or was he appointed or voted in?”

  Grammy beamed at Cole, who’d remembered to use her nickname, and reached for a nacho. “I believe he challenged George in the traditional way, and George stepped down to avoid bloodshed.”

  “And no one stood up to him?” Cole asked as he picked up his beer.

  Grammy finished chewing and shook her head. “No, Cole. No one wanted to cause a ruckus. We have a peaceful pack, or rather we had a peaceful pack, until Victor. My Edward was a Beta under George for many, many years. But Lainey? He wasn’t strong enough to be anything other than Omega. Lainey wasn’t born a wolf. Even though my Edward was, the gene skipped over my son Donald, Laine’s father.”

  Interesting. Dev had never met a “made” werewolf before. He glanced at Laine and couldn’t help but smile. Laine was laughing over something Caroline said. “How was Lainey made a wolf, Grammy?”

  Grammy frowned and took a quick drink of her tea. “Edward saved him from the accident that killed his parents. Edward and I were following the three of them back from a day trip we all took up to Charlotte. A drunk driver sideswiped them and Donald and Elaine were killed instantly. Laine was an infant.”

  Cole let out a long, low whistle, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Grammy, that must have been horrible. I’m guessing you saw the whole thing?”

  Grammy nodded. “Yes, Cole, I did, but at least we saved Lainey, yes?”

  Dev looked across at Laine again and smiled. “Yes, Grammy, at least you saved Lainey.”

  Laine peered up, his eyes wide. “Me? What are you guys talking about? Whatever Grammy is telling you, I didn’t do it.”

  Dev chuckled.

  Grammy laughed. “Are you accusing your grammy of lying, Lainey?”

  Cole snagged the last nacho, grinning like an idiot. “Laine, I somehow doubt you’re innocent. I’ve known you for”—he glanced down at his watch—“three hours and already I can tell you are pure mischief and probably as accident-prone as Caroline.”

  Caroline scoffed. “I am not accident-prone, Cole, you take that back.” She raised a brow at Dev. “Dev?”

  Dev held up his hands. “Oh, no, you aren’t dragging me into this.”

  Grammy leaned forward and patted Caroline’s hand. “It’s quite all right, dear. If you are anything like my Lainey, you’re a special young lady.”

  Caroline nodded, making her bright red hair fall over her shoulders. “See, I’m special.”

  Lainey giggled. “We’ll remind them of that the next time either of us does something stupid.”

  Caroline frowned at Laine, but it was evident she was trying not to laugh. “Hush, Laine, you aren’t helping our case.”

  Everyone laughed.

  The waitress showed up with their food, quieting the conversation for a few minutes. Dev was having a blast. He really liked Laine’s grandmother and Cole and Caroline seemed to like Laine. In fact, Laine and Caroline hadn’t quit talking since they’d met this afternoon. Dev had been right on the money when he’d thought Laine and Caroline would become fast friends.

  Laine looked up and met Dev’s eyes while the waitress was handing out their steaks. He grinned, his eyes twinkling, and mouthed “thank you” at Dev.

  Dev dipped his head, glad he’d put that expression on Laine’s face. Laine loved his shop, and the whole ransacking and threat today had shaken him up pretty good. Laine had finally confessed that Victor directing his anger on Laine’s things had him scared. Victor had always taken his anger out on Laine. Now, Laine was afraid it was a matter of time before Victor’s rage spilled over to someone Laine cared about.

  “Lainey, I have to tell you, I’m happy Dev found you.” Caroline nodded, took a bite of her baked potato and a quick swig of tea. “I really thought he wouldn’t have a mate or that maybe his mate would be a woman. Wouldn’t that be a mess?”

  Laine giggled and picked up the steak sauce from the middle of the table. “Oh Lord yes. I had the same fear for myself actually. Not that I don’t like women, but…” Laine shrugged and tugged on the lid of the bottle. It was a new bottle and the little plastic thing was still attached. “I guess I would have dealt with it, if that had been the case, huh?” He tugged on the cap hard, it popped out of his hand, flying across the restaurant and hit a passing waiter.

  Laine peeked behind him then snapped his head around, facing the table, his eyes wide as the waiter looked around to see what hit him. Caroline glanced at Laine, the bottle—still in Laine’s hand—and back to Laine before she started laughing.

  Laine smacked his forehead with his empty hand and groaned, but he too was laughing.

  Dev and Cole exchanged looks and cracked up.

  Grammy chuckled. “That’s my boy.”

  Cole cut into his steak. “Reminds me of the time Caroline threw the ketchup bottle across a restaurant.”

  Caroline groaned and took a bite of steak.

  Laine put some steak sauce on his plate and put the lidless bottle back. “Do tell.”

  Dev grinned, remembering the incident Cole was talking about. Caroline and Cole had been dating. “She was trying to put ketchup on her hamburger and she was shaking the bottle trying to get it to come out—”

  “She got it to come out all right. After she lost her grip and it went sailing over her shoulder,” Cole said.

  A huge grin spread across Laine’s face. He nudged Caroline with his shoulder. “How did you manage that?”

  Cole chuckled. “She was shaking the hell out of it and it slipped. Ketchup went everywhere, and the bottle broke when it hit the floor. She got ketchup on her back, my arm and all over the people at the table next to us.”

  Grammy covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. “You two should keep them away from each other. That sounds exactly like something Laine would do. They could be quite a dangerous team.”

  Dev nodded. “I actually thought that this afternoon. Maybe we need to add to the company budget, Cole. We might need a ‘bail Lainey and Caroline out of jail’ fund or maybe a ‘pay for things Lainey and Caroline break’ fund.”

  Laine snorted, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “Oh, come on, we aren’t that bad.” His foot rubbed Dev’s calf under the table.

  Cole took a swig of his beer and kissed his wife’s cheek. “If Laine drives anything like Caroline, we definitely need a ‘traffic ticket’ fund.”

  Caroline elbowed Cole and looked at Laine. “What kind of car do you drive, Lainey?”

  Laine blushed and glanced towards Grammy.

  Dev didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Apparently, Laine did drive as bad as Caroline. “Okay, Grammy, let me have it. Is he going to cost me an arm and a leg in insurance?”

  Grammy beamed at him. “Only if you can get him insured, Devlin.”

  Cole started snickering.

  “I’m not that bad,” Laine protested. �
�I’m a good driver.” He looked around the table. “Really.” He sighed and shook his head, overlong red bangs falling in his eyes. “Things just have a way of jumping out in front of me.”

  Grammy grinned. “I’ve had to replace our garage door three times, our mailbox six times. I used to have to buy him a new set of tires every six months from him hitting and rubbing up against curbs. He’s gone through a total of eight cars since the age of sixteen.”

  Dev’s eyes shot wide, staring at Laine. “Good Lord, Lainey.” Thank God Laine was a wolf and not easily killed. Not that that was going to keep Dev from worrying…much. He looked back to Grammy and very seriously asked, “Does Asheville have public transportation, Grammy?”

  Cole laughed so hard his face turned red.

  Caroline reached over and squeezed Laine’s shoulder. “That settles it. I’ll drive us to the mall tomorrow afternoon when the guys go on their business meetings.”

  Laine started giggling. “You’re supposed to be on my side, Caroline.” He mumbled something else and took a quick drink.

  Dev arched a brow at his mate and ran his booted foot up Laine’s leg. “What was that, Lainey?”

  “I said, my car is in the shop anyway.”

  Everyone laughed, including Laine.

  Laine excused himself while Grammy, Caroline and Cole were finishing up their desserts and Dev was waiting to pay the check. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a good time. He probably looked like a goober from smiling so big, but he couldn’t help it. The evening had gone way better than he’d imagined. He’d known Grammy would love Dev. How could she not? Dev was just… Laine sighed. His mate was a wonderful man.

  When Dev had told him that he’d invited Cole and Caroline, Laine had gotten a huge case of butterflies. He was terrified of not making a good impression on Dev’s friends. Dev didn’t have any family, Cole and Caroline were it, and it was important to Laine that they approved of him. He shook his head, chuckling to himself. He shouldn’t have worried. Heck, they had come to town specifically to meet him. They’d been anxious to meet Dev’s mate.

  Dev had told them all at dinner how Caroline had always been setting him up on blind dates. From what Dev said, Caroline couldn’t stand Dev being unattached. She had been convinced that because Dev was gay he wouldn’t have a mate like all other werewolves, so she’d gone on a mission to find him one. According to Dev, the last blind date she’d set him up on, she hadn’t even confirmed that the man was gay beforehand. She’d just invited the man to dinner telling him she wanted to introduce him to a “friend”. Turned out that the man wasn’t gay. Boy, what Laine wouldn’t have given to see that. Dev and Cole sure got a kick out of the retelling of the story.

  Laine opened the men’s room door, bumping a man on his way out. “Excuse me.”

  The man kept walking.

  Laine shrugged and went to the urinal. He did his business and zipped back up. He turned to go to the sink and ran smack dab into someone.

  “Hello, Laine.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit and damn. Laine peered up into Victor’s eyes and glared. “Get out of my way, asshole.”

  Victor cupped Laine’s chin and made a tsking sound. “Now, Lainey, is that any way to speak to your Alpha?”

  Laine slapped at his hand and stepped back. “Don’t touch me. You had your lackeys destroy my shop today. Wait till I tell Dev you’re here.” Laine was seething. No way was he going to stop Dev from busting this asshole up this time. The fucker had some nerve. Laine tried to step around Victor, but his arm was grabbed and he was jerked around and pulled up against Victor’s chest. “Let go!”

  Victor chuckled. “No, I don’t think I will.”

  Laine struggled, flailing and jerking, to no avail. Victor was a lot bigger and stronger than him. Damn.

  The larger man backed him up against the wall, chuckling, giving Laine even less room to maneuver. “I do like the way you struggle, Laine. You may be a wimp, but you’re no coward.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “I tell you what, Laine. You let me fuck you and I’ll take it easy on your loved ones. Speaking of which, where is your boyfriend?” Victor’s mouth crashed down on his.

  Laine wrenched his head to the side and used all his strength to escape the Alpha’s arms.

  Victor just laughed at him, holding on tight. “You know, if you’d have just kept your mouth shut—”

  “Fuck you. If you weren’t such an ass to everyone, I would have kept my mouth shut.”

  Again, Victor tried to kiss him.

  The door creaked open and a gasp sounded as Laine managed to bite Victor’s lip, drawing blood.

  Victor howled and let go with one hand, raising it up, making a fist. “You little shit.”

  “I don’t think so, asshole,” a deep voice growled.

  Victor was yanked away as his fist descended, missing Laine by several inches.

  Laine blinked, watching Cole pummel the man’s face. He sighed in relief. He hated to admit it, but he’d been getting a little concerned.

  Finally, after several blows, Victor bolted towards the door. When he got there he turned to glare at Laine and pointed his finger. “You will regret this, Laine.” He took off out the bathroom door.

  Laine sagged against the wall, taking a deep breath.

  “You okay, Lainey?” Cole came over to him.

  He nodded. “Thanks, Cole.”

  Cole frowned. “The Alpha?”

  Again Laine nodded. “Yeah, he—”

  The bathroom door flew open and hit the wall with a loud bang. “Lainey!” Dev came running in, looking around. His gaze fell on Cole, then Laine. He rushed forward, pulling Laine into his arms, practically crushing him. “I saw Victor running out, I thought… Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks to Cole.” He hugged Dev then leaned back. “I’m all right, really.”

  Dev glanced at Cole without loosening his grip on Laine. “You okay, buddy?”

  “Yeah. I’m good. We have to stop this guy, Dev.”

  Dev nodded. “Yeah…yeah we do.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

  Dev sat up in bed blinking and looked around. Laine was nowhere in sight. Laine hadn’t slept well last night. What the devil was the man doing up already?

  “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

  Lainey. Dev grinned and pulled the covers off. Whatever it was Laine had gotten into must not be that dire. His refrain of “oh shit” was quiet and only slightly panicky. Nevertheless, Dev probably ought to check it out.

  “Oh shit. Ooooh shit.”

  The smell of smoke combined with the rising alarm in Laine’s voice had Dev hurrying his pace. The smell came from the other side of the condo.

  Dev stepped through the kitchen door and stifled a laugh.

  Laine was standing in front of the stove in a pair of white sleep pants. In front of him was a two foot flame rising from a skillet on the range. Actually, Laine wasn’t standing, he was hopping from foot to foot, both arms—one with spatula in hand—flapping beside him. “Oh shit, oh shit,” Laine chanted as he leaped from foot to foot.

  Dev looked around for a lid to put over the frying pan. There weren’t any sitting out on the counter. “Lainey—”

  “Ack,” Laine screamed and jumped around to face Dev, one hand flying to his chest, the other brandishing the spatula. “Jesus H. Christ, Dev, you scared the shit out of me.”

  Dev chuckled. “Where are the lids to the pots and pans?”

  Laine used the utensil to point to the lower cabinet to Dev’s left.

  The smoke detector went off before he opened the cabinet door.

  Laine screamed again, jumping almost a foot in the air.

  Dev flinched as he scrounged under the cabinet and grabbed a lid that looked big enough. He passed Laine, who was still bouncing around, holding his hands to his ears now. Dev put the lid on the pan, dousing the flames, and turned the knob to kill the flame. “Open some w
indows.”

  “It’s so loud.” Laine ran over to the smoke detector and began beating it with the spatula.

  Dev opened the window above the sink and the sliding glass door leading out to a balcony. He was naked, but oh well, the neighbors were just going to get an eyeful because he wanted that annoying beeping to stop.

  Finally it did stop after Laine beat it into oblivion. Dev turned around to find Laine standing over the dead smoke detector, fanning his arms around, trying to get rid of the smoke, coughing.

  It was too much for Dev. He started cackling. He laughed so hard tears filled his eyes. Laine was going to be the death of him.

  “What?”

  “Lainey, you’re a mess. Am I going to have to ban you from cooking in addition to driving?”

  Laine snorted then erupted into a fit of giggles. He threw his hands in the air and tossed the spatula in the sink. “How do you feel about going out to breakf— You’re naked.” Laine’s gaze zeroed in on Dev’s dick and he licked his lips.

  Dev’s cock decided to show off for his mate, filling instantly under that heated gaze. He sucked in a breath and immediately coughed. He fanned his arms, trying to move the air. “Come on, before we suffocate.”

  Laine put both of his hands on Dev’s shoulders and dipped down, preparing to jump on Dev’s back.

  “Watch the—” He reached back to guide Laine’s legs around him.

  Laine’s thighs and knees gripped Dev’s hips, his feet never getting close to Dev’s more tender anatomy. “Cock?” Laine kissed his cheek.

  “Yeah.” He pulled Laine’s feet up and wrapped them around his waist, as Laine’s arms enfolded his neck. Ooh, Laine’s naked chest mashed against his back was nice. And, oh man, Laine was hard too. Playtime.

  “Mmm, never fear. I wouldn’t want to bruise it. I like the cock.”

  Dev chuckled. “You’re nuts.”

  “Yup, like those too.”

  Dev grinned and turned his head to kiss Laine’s cheek. He started walking back to the living room. He gave a quick glance to the sliding glass doors in the living room; Laine had pulled those curtains wide open too. Dev chuckled and shook his head. “If I’d known you had every curtain in the place opened, I’d have put some pants on.”