Envy [The Angel Pack 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More ManLove)

by Maggie Walsh

  Raith opened the paper and began to read. His eyes went wide and flicked up in Josh’s direction, then back to the page. After a few minutes he dropped his arm and stared blankly at the floor.

  “Raith, what is it?” Micah asked. Raith held out the paper to Micah. Micah took the note and read it. Josh sat and watched his facial expressions as he read. Once Micah was done he folded the note and handed it back to Josh as their eyes met. “Do you have any idea where we can start looking for him?”

  “You―” Evan cut himself off, his eyes were wide open in surprise.

  “Yes, Evan?” Micah asked.

  “You want to go find him and bring him back?” Evan asked in shock.

  “Of course we do. He’s my son,” Raith said angrily.

  “That’s not what I meant, Beta. This is just the first time anyone has offered to help me with the boys in anyway. All the other packs made us run. They didn’t go out to bring us back. It just surprised me for a moment.”

  “I understand, Evan. But you do need to remember that the Angel Pack is like no other pack you have ever heard of. We are all truly family here. Even if Matthew were not Raith’s son, my nephew, or Josh’s mate, we would still want to find him, bring him back, and help him. So do you know of anywhere he may go?”

  “I don’t know, Alpha,” Evan answered.

  “He may have tried to go see his grampy in Montana if he were still alive. Other than that, I have no clue,” Josh said.

  “He may have gone back to what he was familiar with, back to where he grew up outside New Orleans,” Raith offered.

  “It’s a place to start,” Micah agreed. “Why don’t you grab Rory, Adam, and Vik, and head down to New Orleans? We’ll start looking around here to see if he’s still around. I’ll have a few of the enforcers head over to the bus station to see if anyone has seen him.”

  “That’s a good idea. Thanks, Micah,” Raith said as he stood.

  “May I come, too, Beta?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Josh. This witch coven down there is all kinds of crazy. I have the feeling that if Matthew did head down there, then this coven may try to grab him. You don’t have any powers yet and it may get dangerous.” Josh’s face fell and he looked toward the window as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I think Raith is right, Josh. We’re not sure how his mother’s coven will take too kindly to us trying to bring him back if he is there. Plus, your other mate needs you right now. The council is meeting tomorrow to discuss Milo and his special circumstances. I’m sure he would like you there.”

  “Shit. Thank you, Alpha. I need to talk to Milo and let him know what’s going on.”

  “May I ask you a question, Josh?” Micah asked.

  “Of course, Alpha.”

  “If it’s too personal, you can tell me it’s none of my business.”

  “You want to know how long Matthew and I have known we were each other’s mates and why we didn’t tell anyone?” Micah nodded. “We’ve known since the minute we met. We didn’t tell anyone at first because we were both in denial. Both being only seventeen we thought there was a mistake somehow. Once we both accepted it, we were afraid that some of the alphas we were with would have used it against us. We knew we couldn’t claim each other until we both turned eighteen and we were afraid that we would get separated because people wouldn’t trust us to control ourselves. We also didn’t want to hear all the comments that would have surely come from everyone every time we got within two feet of each other. It was hard enough being so close to each other and not being able to touch each other or claim each other without having to deal with all the bullshit, too.”

  “I can understand that. So when can you claim each other?”

  “I turn eighteen in a month and Matthew two weeks after that.”

  “So then you’ll have how many boys over eighteen, Evan?” Raith asked.

  “I have three boys, including Bailey, over eighteen right now,” Evan answered.

  “Wait a minute,” Raith interrupted and everyone looked to him. “You said Matthew is turning eighteen in about six weeks?”

  “Yes, that’s what his records said,” Evan answered.

  “There’s something wrong here. If Alison is to be believed and Matthew is my son, then he should already be twenty. Going by when we were together and adding nine months, then Matthew should have turned twenty about four months ago,” Raith said.

  “Everything I have states that he was born on August 6th and he’ll be eighteen. Maybe Matthew isn’t your son, Beta,” Evan said.

  “No, I know he is my son. I am positive of it. That trip I took was almost twenty-one years ago and during the summer right, Micah?”

  “Yes, I remember it. It was about a week after July 4th when you went to New Orleans.”

  “So if we go from about mid-July and count nine months…that’s around mid-April. Matthew should already be twenty.”

  “I don’t understand any of this. So what you’re saying is that when I turn eighteen, Matthew and I could claim each other right away and we don’t have to wait anymore?”

  “Why don’t you go check out the hospital records while you’re there, Raith? See if you can find a record of the birth.” Micah looked at him.

  “That’s a good idea. But if what I think is true, Josh, then we need to find him soon before your mating heat starts.”

  Josh nodded his agreement. “I like Milo and we’ve been getting to know each other, but it broke my heart when Matt was so upset about Milo getting to claim me first. I kind of have to agree with him on that. We’ve spent so long together and we talked about being each other’s first. It just didn’t seem fair.”

  “Why don’t you go spend some time with Milo, Josh? I’ll have him moved to one of our guest rooms so you can talk in private. Raith, get going to New Orleans. I’ll call Dante and ask him if Viktor can go along. He can call Tempest to expect you. Evan, maybe you can do some digging around in the human social services files and see if you can find anything.”

  “I’ll do that. I can also start digging around in the hospital records. See if they have anything on his birth.”

  “Good, everyone get going. I’ll let the council know what’s going on because of Milo and inform them that I’m moving him into the main house.” Micah stood and headed to his desk.

  “Will they give you any grief over it? I mean, Milo did kill a few of our kind,” Josh asked in concern.

  “No, we have already decided that we would move Milo from the cells. He’s been very open and honest with us and he shows genuine remorse for what he did. On the few occasions we let him out to spend time with you, he has never made one move to run or shown any aggression. We have taken under consideration his state of mind during that time and any one of us would have done the same thing if we were in his shoes. From what he told us, he received phone calls from some mystery man, telling him where to look for paranormals. This stinks of Malachi. We have been trying to locate family of the ones he killed to try to talk with them and see what they would like us to do with him. We believe they should at least be given a voice. But so far we haven’t been able to find anyone,” Micah explained.

  “As much as that makes me happy for Milo’s sake, it also makes me sad thinking none of them had any family,” Josh said sadly.

  “I know. We’ll keep looking for them. But in the meantime, we’ll put Milo in one of the guest rooms and he’ll be grounded to the pack house for now.

  “Thank you, Alpha. And thank the council for me,” Josh said. Micah nodded and gave Josh a small smile. Raith, Evan, and Josh left to go follow Micah’s orders.

  * * * *

  Cass rolled across the grass on his back, arms wrapped around his stomach and face contorted in pain. “Stings like a bitch, doesn’t it?” the deep voice asked from above him. Cass opened his eyes to find Laylen, his Legion warrior instructor, standing over him, looking down at him with a smirk on his face. Laylen had been by the pack
house for three days straight now helping him learn how to control his powers. It turned out that his powers had been manifesting and were about to make an appearance any day, but when that fucking demon spear impaled his shoulder and for some reason didn’t kill him, it amped up his power and morphed it. The demon’s power was in that spear and was now inside Cass. The demon who threw it didn’t make it through the battle, so now Cass was the lucky vessel that got to keep it.

  Lucifer figured that his original power would have been electricity and that was why the spear didn’t kill him like it should have. The demon spear and the power balls were powers of controlled electricity. So his body just accepted it and added it to his own power. Trippy shit. So now he could control electricity, create electrified spears in the palm of his hand, and create energy balls that if someone were to be struck with, it would be like them sticking their tongue in a light socket…on the sun.

  Laylen held out his hand and Cass reached up and allowed Laylen to help him up. “I can’t seem to get the hang of creating those spears.”

  “You only just started learning a few days ago. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ll get it. Just remember, the key is to stay calm as much as possible until you have complete control over your powers. If you don’t, you could hurt someone,” Laylen explained with a bright smile.

  Damn, the man was fucking hot, and he loved to flirt. The half angel, half demon was about six-eleven and approximately two hundred and eighty pounds of all hard-as-hell muscle, covered by yummy tan skin. His short black hair was cut close, but had just enough to grab onto when rolling around between the sheets. And his eyes, damn they were beautiful, a rich deep blue that Cass just wanted to look at all day. And don’t even get him started on the man’s tattoos. He had them everywhere, well as far as Cass could see. He had tribal tattoos down both arms in full sleeves, a Celtic knot on his left abdomen the size of a saucer, a beautifully scripted Hell’s Warrior written across his massive chest above his nipples, and two huge black wings that took over most of his back.

  “Stay calm he says,” Cass flirted back.

  Laylen gave him another hot smile and licked his lips. “You know, the best way to stay calm is to…um…find release some other way,” Laylen said with a mischievous grin.

  “Oh yeah, and what kind of release would that be?” Cass returned the flirty mischievous grin.

  “Hey, Cass,” a deep voice came from behind him. Cass turned to find Valor, the fae warrior and Cass’s sometimes bed partner.

  “Hey, Val. How ya doin’?” Cass answered.

  “I saw you training over here and I thought I would come by and say hello,” Valor said without taking his eyes off Laylen. Cass rolled his eyes as he watched Valor eye fuck Laylen. Yeah the man was hot as hell and worth drooling over but really? Right in front of him? It wasn’t like they were in a relationship or anything. They just liked to fuck like rabbits whenever they could. But Cass found himself getting pissed at Valor showing him such disrespect. He definitely wasn’t jealous. There was none of that to be found. He just didn’t like Valor trying to hook up with someone else in front of him. Especially someone that he himself was trying to hook up with.

  “So who’s your hot friend?” Valor asked.

  Cass looked at Laylen and noticed the man looked just as pissed as he felt. Hmmm, wonder why that is? Cass thought to himself. “Valor, this is Laylen of the Legion Warriors,” Cass introduced.

  “Well hello, Laylen. Tell me, did it hurt?”

  Cass rolled his eyes dramatically at the corny pick-up line.

  “Did what hurt?” Laylen answered with a clenched jaw.

  “When you fell from heaven, because damn, sweet thing, you are an angel,” Valor said in a smooth voice and licked his lips again.

  Laylen stared right at him, stone faced. “Yes I am an angel, and no, it didn’t hurt. I didn’t fall, I was chosen.”

  “It was a pick-up line, Laylen,” Cass explained.

  “Yeah, I know. A bad one, too. Damn, son, don’t you know anything from this century? That was truly pathetic.” Laylen’s whole demeanor changed and he laughed as he spoke.

  “It’s a classic,” Valor defended.

  “It’s the twenty-first century. Get some new material, man. And let me help you out, that line sucked when it was new, too. Hey” ―Laylen stepped back and held his hands up, palms facing out, and a big smile on his face―”but if you like to be known as the lame fairy who am I to judge.” Laylen’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Valor huffed.

  “Man, that was older than the crust in your underwear,” Laylen said with a laugh.

  “As old as that lame-ass joke,” Valor said with a laugh and then the two men embraced, patting each other on the back like old friends.

  “Oh man, it’s good to see you again. What are you up to these days?” Laylen asked as he released Valor and smiled at the man.

  “Same shit, ya know. So they let your sorry ass out of hell. Who did you piss off?” Valor asked.

  “Lord Lucifer and Phen asked me to come and help my new friend here with his powers,” Laylen explained.

  “Damn, if they sent this asshole that means your powers are some kind of energy and strong at that.”

  “I’m guessing you two know each other,” Cass said coolly. He felt himself getting angrier.

  “Me and the dickless wonder here go way back,” Laylen said with a laugh and ducked as Valor took a swipe at him and missed.

  “Yeah, what is it now four thousand years?” Valor asked.

  “Something like that. Who the hell keeps track after a few millennia?”

  Cass’s head began to hurt as a throbbing pulse beat against his skull. He pressed the palm of one hand against the spot and closed his eyes.

  “Hey, hold on there, buddy. Take it easy. Like I said, control the anger or someone can get hurt, including you,” Laylen said and placed a comforting hand on Cass’s back and gently caressed him, trying to calm him.

  “How the fuck do I control it when I don’t know when it’s coming!” Cass yelled angrily in Laylen’s face.

  “Hey, Cass, you okay, brother?” Christian came running to his side.

  “I feel like I want to rip someone’s insides out and stomp on them. I can’t take much more of this shit, Chris,” he said to his best friend.

  “I know, Cass, but hopefully with Laylen’s help it will get better. How about we head inside and have a beer, try to relax? What do you say?”

  “Yeah, okay. That sounds good,” Cass answered and looked at Laylen. “Are we done for today or do you still want to do more?”

  “No, Cass, we’re good for today. I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll try it again. You did pretty good today, but maybe four hours is too much. We’ll pull back a little tomorrow.”

  “Are you okay, sexy?” Valor asked in concern.

  “Yeah, I just need to sit down. Thanks, Valor,” Cass said and walked toward the house with Christian by his side and Valor and Laylen behind them.

  They entered the kitchen and closed the door. After a few steps, Cass turned to thank Laylen, but stopped when he saw the look on the angel-demon’s face. He stood stone still, eyes staring, fixed on something across the room, and a gorgeous, bright smile on his face. Even his eyes seemed to glow. “Laylen?”

  “Son of a bitch,” he whispered in awe.

  Cass looked behind him and saw Lexi, Bailey, Xander, and Zane sitting at the table having lunch. Haven stood next to Lexi talking. He turned back to Laylen. “What’s up, man?”

  “Who is that stunning creature?” Laylen asked, his eyes never leaving the men across the room.

  “Which one?’ Cass asked with a laugh.

  “Really, they’re all gorgeous.” Christian snickered.

  Laylen shook his head. “No. Yes they are all very attractive, but that one is the most stunning creature I have ever seen,” Laylen said and began to cross the room.

  Haven’s head suddenly snapped
in their direction and his eyes locked with Laylen’s. His eyes went wide, his jaw dropped, and he sniffed the air. “Holy shit,” Haven whispered in shock.

  “My mate is the most beautiful creature that the gods have ever made. The gods have truly smiled down upon me this day,” Laylen said as he stared in awe. Haven’s eyes locked with Laylen’s. The corners of his mouth rose in a small smile. Laylen swiftly crossed the distance and scooped Haven up in his arms. He held him tight as he lifted Haven off his feet. Haven’s arms instinctively wrapped around Laylen’s neck as he held on.

  They looked into each other’s eyes for a split second before Laylen claimed Haven’s lips in a scorching kiss. Haven opened to his mate and thrust his tongue against Laylen’s. They held each other tight as the kiss deepened and the two claimed each other with their tongues.

  * * * *

  Crew laughed to himself as he walked down the hall toward the kitchen, clutching Haven’s cell phone in his hand. He wondered if his mate was always forgetful or if he forgot his phone because of the events of the last three days of sexual bliss.

  Haven had been about to leave the pack house and head back to the pride when he realized he didn’t have his phone. Crew ran back to his room to get it while Haven waited in the kitchen for him. He couldn’t wait until Haven returned tonight so they could…

  Crew’s delicious thoughts stopped cold as his body froze at the sight before him. His mate, his Heaven, was wrapped in the arms of another man and the two were kissing so fiercely that it looked like they were trying to swallow each other’s tongues.

  A pang of jealousy hit Crew in the chest as he felt his heart rip inside him. He knew it was too good to be true. He knew the happiness would never last for him. His parents had been right. He was worthless. How much worth could he possibly have if his own mate could cheat on him moments after their mating? It was like a bride or groom fooling around with someone else while they were on their honeymoon. It only proved that he wasn’t worth someone’s love. Gods he was so stupid and pathetic that no one wanted him, not even his fated mate.