by Lisa Oliver
Fuck what a mess. As Damien drained the last of the bottle and sank back onto the bed he vowed to himself that he would make a much better impression in the morning. He would get organized, and find Bruce and his remaining cronies, including the traitor Drake. And he would find the time to introduce himself properly to Scott, and start making head roads into convincing the man that moving to Texas was going to be a good idea.
When Damien set his sights on something, he got it. He had waited far too many years to let his mate ignore him now. Damien knew how to charm the birds from the trees if he had too. Now all he had to do was charm Scott into his bed, and then onto Texas.
/~/~/~/~/
Scott woke early. Truth be told he barely slept. Having his mate under the same roof as himself was arousing, exciting and annoying, all in one go. He had wanted to find his mate ever since he realized he could have one. Hell, he had cleaned up his act and broken up with Claude, the wolf shifter Alpha owner of the BDSM club in the next town, because the man wasn’t his mate. And what did the Fates decide to land him with - a bigger Alpha, in a bigger town, who owned a bigger BDSM club, in Texas? It had to be a joke, right?
When Scott had dreamed of his mate, and he had dreamed of him often in the past months, his faceless dream man had been smaller than him. He had been loving, kind, gentle and sweet. He’d been the consummate bottom. Not that Scott minded either way, he was a switch. But when Scott had dreamed of his mate, he dreamed of the fact that he could both claim, and be claimed by his mate.
Like that was ever going to happen with Damien. No, Scott had to resign himself to life as a permanent bottom boy, and quite frankly, in Scott’s opinion that sucked. The more he thought about it, and he had thought about it a lot through the night, he was at a disadvantage in every facet of a relationship with Damien.
He didn’t have Alpha status, he was a beta wolf.
Damien was bigger, and far stronger physically, than Scott would ever be.
He owned a BDSM club, and Scott didn’t want to be a part of the BDSM scene - he wasn’t a boy or a sub. He definitely didn’t want a Master, he wanted a mate.
And the thought of Damien being loving, gentle, kind, and sweet, had Scott in fits of silent giggles. He tried to imagine it. He honestly did. But Scott just couldn’t see it.
Scott was also really upset. He knew Damien had had a really bad day. Shit they all had. But Damien had said nothing to him after he killed Isaac. There was no acknowledgement of Scott’s support of his mate, either during the fight or afterwards. Nope, afterwards, Damien, set out to get shitfaced drunk, and once Scott realized that Damien wasn’t going to stop drinking, he had gone up to bed. His mate didn’t want him enough to even speak to him - that much was obvious.
Not that Scott could really blame him. Beta wolf, smaller wolf, not that good looking. Shit, what did he have to attract and keep the almighty Damien? His skills as a mechanic? Yeah, like those assets were really necessary to a guy that runs a BDSM club. Damien deserved a big strong wolf at his side, or a perfectly submissive, gorgeous little twink. Scott was neither of those things, and obviously what he was, what not enough for his mate.
So, swallowing down the pain in his heart, Scott did what any self-respecting wolf did, when faced with a situation they didn’t want to handle. He went to work. Or in this case, he text his brother and Griff and made arrangements to meet Troy, Griff, and Diablo in the kitchen, in ten minutes. They were going to follow the tracks of the missing bear shifter and his cronies. Because once Bruce was dead, then Damien would be going back to Texas, and he would forget the fact that Scott was supposed to be his mate. And Scott…well, he would never forget Damien, but he would get on with his life. A sex-free one probably, thanks to the mating curse, but a life nonetheless. In time maybe the hurt of being rejected would go away.
/~/~/~/~/
By the time Damien staggered out of bed and into the shower, it was past eight o’clock. He quickly dressed, flicking his long dark hair down his back, and went downstairs. First order of business, find a huge cup of coffee. Then find his mate and start the charm offensive.
When he got to the kitchen Kane, Shawn, Lucius, and Vincent were arguing, and Dean was cooking breakfast. Ignoring the problem at the table for a moment, Damien found the coffee pot and the biggest cup he could find. Pouring a healthy dose of the black liquid, he wandered back to the table and sat down. The four men sitting there had all gone quiet.
“Well, what’s the problem this early in the morning?” He asked, taking a grateful gulp of his coffee. Hmm, that tasted good.
“I was trying to get my pig-headed brother-in-law to understand that his men just can’t go off looking for Bruce and the others on their own. That Bruce was our problem, and we should be with them,” Lucius said.
“Yes, well that’s a given, so what’s the problem. I’m sure Kane doesn’t have a problem with that,” Damien said easily, taking another gulp of coffee. A few more mouthfuls and he would start to feel half human again.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Kane rumbled beside him, “but it’s a moot point anyway. The boys have already gone.”
“What,” Damien spluttered, spitting out his mouthful of coffee. “What do you mean gone? “Who’s gone? When? Where?”
“Really Damien, you shouldn’t have tied one on last night,” Shawn said teasingly, as he got up to get the pot of coffee and brought it back to the table. “The when, is at first light. The where, is tracking Bruce and his cronies through the forest, and the who, is Diablo and Griff and the twins.”
“Why didn’t you bloody stop them?” Roared Damien. “They could all be fucking killed.”
“Griff didn’t text me to tell me, until they were ready to go,” Kane said quietly, “and by the time I got down here, they were already gone.”
“The boys apparently cooked this up between themselves. The plan is to track the shifters, and then try and drive them back to the house, where we will be waiting to help kill them off,” Shawn continued.
“Well, we’ve got to go after them,” Damien said decisively, already getting out of his seat. His unclaimed mate was out there in the woods with a killer bear shifter. He was damned if he was going to sit still and wait for the man to come home.
“NO,” Kane shouted. “Don’t you think I wanted to do that too? Don’t you realize I am worried sick about my boys? They are more than my pack, they’re my family. But Griff’s plan is a good one, and the best thing we can do for them is stay here.”
“It wasn’t Griff’s plan,” Dean said quietly as he put platters of food on the table. Bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes and fried potatoes. It all smelt really good, but Damien’s stomach was still upset at the thought that Scott was out there, somewhere, putting himself in danger.
“What do you mean, Dean?” Kane’s voice naturally softened when he talked to his Omega. “Griff made out like this was his and Diablo’s idea.”
“No,” said Dean. “It was Scott.” The smaller man glanced at Damien nervously before focusing his gaze on Kane. “Scott was upset at being rejected by his mate, so he and Troy convinced Griff and Diablo, to go with them to get rid of the threat of the bear shifter. He figured with Bruce dead the Texan pack members would go home.”
Oh great, now Damien felt really sick. His mate thought he had rejected him. Way to go, putting his own selfish needs to get drunk, over those of his mate.
“Why did Griff and Diablo go along with this, Dean? I mean I know Troy would support his twin in anything, but why did the other two go?” Kane’s was still talking quietly, but there was an edge to his voice now as well.
Dean glanced over at the clock and seemed to come to a decision. “They er, they wanted to protect us, all of us. They, oh shit, either Griff is going to kill me…or you will.” Dean broke off, almost in tears.
“Tell me Dean. I won’t get angry,” said Kane, who was already getting that way.
“The guys don’t plan on driving the bear back here. The
y plan to take him out where they find him. Griff didn’t want Bruce anywhere near you, Kane, and Scott didn’t want him near Damien, so Troy and Diablo went along with it. Griff and Diablo are going to take on Bruce, and Troy and Scott are going for the four wolves. They said they’d got it all worked out.” The small man was almost crying now.
“Why didn’t your men rope in me and Vincent to help out? That would have made the odds of them succeeding a little bit better,” Lucius asked from the other side of the table.
Dean sniffed loudly as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “They did talk about it real quick. But then Diablo pointed out that if this Bruce got away from them again, then he would immediately head back here, knowing that four of the men were away from the house. Scott and Griff didn’t want the Alphas here without protection.”
Kane slammed his fist on the table. “I will kill the pair of them once I know they are bloody safe. Shawn, can you get any idea of where they are?”
Tapping his head, Shawn closed his eyes muttering “wolf, wolf, wolf, no, not that one, aha, got it, Diablo, got you.” He opened his eyes. “Here look at this,” he said, “I can’t recognize the area.”
Shawn opened out his hands and a blue ball of light appeared. Peering inside of it Kane and Dean could see a really big black panther creeping leaping across from one tree to another.
“Okay, you’ve found Diablo,” Kane said, “Can you expand the picture out a bit so we can see the ground. I want to make sure the others are there, and see if we can pick up some landmarks.”
Opening his hands wider, Shawn expanded the energy ball and Kane leaned in for another look.
“Dean take a look at this, do you recognize anything?” He said shortly.
Leaning over Kane’s shoulder, Dean said, “Yes. That’s the path to the old mill on the west side of our property. I go there sometimes to paint and stuff.”
“You go by car right?”
Nodding Dean said, “Yes it’s a bit far to hike with my art supplies. You’ll need the SUV ‘cos the road’s a bit rough.”
“What’s the bet Bruce and his cronies are hiding out at the mill?” Shawn asked.
“Pretty bloody good,” Kane said as he got up from the table. “Which means we had better hurry otherwise the fight’s going to be over before we get there.”
All Damien could think of, as the men hurried to the SUVs parked outside, was that if his mate came through this unscathed, then he was going to bed and claim the little fucker and make sure he never left his sight again. In Damien’s opinion, he was getting too old for this type of shit. Too old to be chasing his mate all over the countryside, while the man was trying to get himself killed. Pleased he had a plan, Damien followed Kane and the others into the wagons, and out onto the road.
Chapter Five
Okay, so it might have seemed like a good plan when the boys set out that morning, but now Scott, Troy, Griff, and Diablo were confronted with the fact that Bruce and his four cronies were all holed up in the old mill, and this was not a situation any of the men had considered. They had all figured they would come across their quarry outside - where the fight had a level playing field. Trying to take on a bear shifter and four wolves in a confined space was not a good idea. Scott shifted to his human form and indicated for the others to do the same.
For the longest time, the four men studied the old mill from their hiding place about 200 yards away in the trees. There were no windows left in the old wooden building. Just wide gaping spaces where the glass had once been. The mill had been unused for more than fifty years, and was now unstable and falling apart. Trying to fight in that type of environment was risky and just plain stupid.
“What are you thinking, Scott?” Troy whispered.
“I’m thinking we need some bait to get those fuckers to come outside, otherwise we aren’t going to get anywhere,” Scott said tersely. “What do you think Griff, Diablo?”
Griff and Diablo shared a long look and Scott knew they were doing the whole mind mate connection thingy. He really envied them their connection and their love for each other, something he was never going to have, seeing as his mate clearly didn’t want him. Determined to nurse that hurt at a later time, he prodded Diablo and said, “well come on. What do you think?”
“Yes you’re right, we do need bait to get them to come out,” Griff answered instead. “The logical choice would be you Scott, seeing as you are the mate of Damien and all that, but shit I don’t want to get on that man’s bad side if something goes wrong.”
“You’ve only just met the man,” Diablo said to Scott in his chocolate velvet voice, “and he is not here as back-up for you. He is going to be really angry if you do this, you know that, right.”
“The man made it clear he didn’t want me last night, so I am sure whatever I do today will be of no interest to him,” Scott snapped out.
“But,” he continued, a sudden sparkle in his eyes, “There’s no reason we can’t use his name to get those assholes out of that mill. You with me Troy?”
“Of course,” Troy said getting to his feet. “But you do remember I have got a mate I haven’t met in person yet, don’t you? Let’s not go getting killed over this idea of yours okay?”
“What’s your plan, Scott?” This time it was Griff who spoke up.
“Simple. Troy and I will shift and approach the mill as though we are just doing some scouting. We make out we don’t sense them in there. We shift to human form, walking back towards here, arguing like brothers do, dropping Damien’s name and my mate status as we go and…”
“And then we come in like the cavalry,” Griff said sharply. “Damn, Scott it is going to be really risky if you two are in human form.”
“We could shift mid argument and act as though we are fighting,” Troy suggested. He grinned at his brother, “It’s not as though we haven’t done that before.”
“We’ve got to take that bear shifter out quickly,” Diablo said, “and I think I know how we can do that.”
He turned to his mate. “Griff, honey, when the guys come out of the mill, can you run in and help the twins? I need the space to get a run up on that bear. I figure with my weight and some speed behind me, I should be able to topple him in one go. But I need him clear of the others, and I need the distance to build up as much speed as possible.”
Griff grimaced, clearly not liking the idea, but the battle he and his mate had had with the other bear shifter the day before was fresh in his mind, and close quarter fighting with something of that size was not a good idea. The only chance they had of getting Bruce off his feet, quickly, was Diablo’s 400 pound shifted weight. He nodded and stroked Diablo’s face gently, noting the risk and accepting it.
“Right,” said Troy, “are we going to do this?”
The men beside him all nodded.
“For Kane and Shawn,” Griff growled.
“For the pack,” answered Diablo and Troy.
For Damien, thought Scott.
“Follow my lead,” Scott said to Troy as they shifted.
Moments later, he and Troy came out of the trees in wolf form and sniffed around the area of ground as though they were looking for a scent. The smell of the bear shifter on the ground wasn’t that strong, nor was that of the other wolves, but Scott could feel he and his brother were being watched from the mill.
He and Troy separated for a bit and then as they came back together Scott deliberately smacked into Troy’s side, causing his brother to growl at him. Scott shifted to human form and yelled at him.
“Oh come on, Troy, it’s not like I knew I was Damien’s mate. How was I to know he was going to fuck me in your bed? It was an easy mistake to make.”
Troy shifted and yelled right back. “You knew though, when you did it, didn’t you little brother. You could have stopped him. But no, just had to get your end away, just like normal. No thinking about me. But the bastard Damien didn’t claim you though, did he? Oh no, so right now you are just a fuck toy, and you bloody fucked h
im on my bed.”
Scott could sense movement by the door of the mill, and he deliberately started heading back towards the trees, knowing Troy would follow.
“He was gonna claim me, but he wants to do it in his own bed, not yours,” Scott yelled even as he kept walking.
“Yeah, like the great Damien would mate with you,” Troy yelled back, following Scott back towards the trees.
“He will.” Scott actually was angry now. “He’s my true mate, you hear me. Damien is my mate, mine, and you’re just bloody jealous.”
“Fuck toy, fuck toy,” Troy taunted.
“Fuck you,” yelled Scott as he shifted. Troy shifted just as quickly and the pair of them leapt at each other, clashing and rolling around in the grass, moving closer to the trees with each roll.
Scott sensed rather than saw when Griff ran past them in wolf form, huge and imposing. Griff was Kane’s cousin, and an Alpha wolf in his own right. Scott barked at Troy and they broke off fighting and headed towards Griff, who was loping straight for the four wolf shifters, who had come out of the mill and were fixated on Scott and Troy. Out of the corner of his eye Scott could see Bruce the bear shifter ambling out of the mill, well over seven foot tall, when on two feet and in his animal form.
The bear was headed straight for Scott. Problem was, so was Drake, Damien’s ex-enforcer. Crap, this could get messy, Scott thought, as he weaved to dodge Bruce’s claws and ran straight into Drake, head butting him in the rib cage. Drake went down with a thud and then rolled to get back up on his feet again, just as Bruce lunged over him, trying to get to Scott, who darted around his legs.
Scott headed in the opposite direction, hoping to draw Bruce out away from the others. Sure enough, he could feel the bear shifter’s breath on his flank as he ran. Just as he thought Bruce was going to swipe him with those huge claws for sure, he heard a loud yowl and Diablo burst from the trees in full black panther mode. Bruce was distracted by Diablo’s cry and had half turned from Scott, giving Diablo the perfect opportunity to leap on him. Both animals went down to the ground rolling, snarling and biting at each other.
