Forever Mate: Mikhail & Jace (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Stormy Glenn

  Someone was threatening all that he held dear, and that meant someone was going to die.

  He took in the scene in a glance. Liam had informed him of the three pickup trucks full of men parked out in front of the house. He didn’t have a total headcount because some of them men had gone around to the back of the house before Liam could count them all, but there were more than ten men attacking the house, some in human form, some in shifted form.

  Mikhail jumped onto the back of the first man he reached, ripping his throat out before the man knew he was being attacked. Mikhail moved to the next man, catching him just as he was starting to shift.

  He never made it.

  Mikhail dropped the man on the ground and stood over his bloody corpse as he looked for the next one to die. He roared loudly when he spotted Ezra Craigen sneaking around the side of the house, and took off after him.

  He raced around the side of the house and ran to the back door. Ezra was standing on the steps leading to the back porch. Mikhail shifted in a breath and stalked toward the man.

  “Ezra!”

  The older man spun around, pointing the gun in his hand at Mikhail. For a moment, fear showed on his pale face, but then he grinned as if he truly thought he was going to win this confrontation.

  “You’ve gone too far this time, Ezra.”

  “I haven’t gone far enough,” Ezra replied. “It won’t be enough until you and your brothers are dead.”

  Mikhail crossed his arms, staring Ezra down. “Do you really think the rest of the pride will accept you as alpha after what you’ve done here today?”

  “It’s not up to them.”

  Mikhail cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sure they would be happy to learn that.”

  He couldn’t believe the gall of Ezra. He didn’t understand that an alpha’s duty was to his pride, not the other way around. Mikhail and his brothers kept the peace, enforced the laws laid down by their elders. They ensured that their pride members were safe and happy. Ezra just wanted the glory and the power.

  Ezra raised the gun in his hand. “They will never hear anything about this. Once you and your brothers and your little whores are gone, I can tell them anything I want.”

  Mikhail ground his molars together as he raged inside but remained calm outside. Ezra was finally showing his hand, fully admitting that he intended to kill Mikhail and his brothers and their mates. If Mikhail had witnesses, it would be an instant death sentence for Ezra.

  As it was, just Ezra and Mikhail stood there. The battle around them seemed to have moved to the front of the house. No one saw the gun Ezra held on Mikhail or heard the man’s traitorous words.

  Mikhail tensed as he watched Ezra’s finger tighten on the trigger. There was too much distance between him and the gun for him to reach it before Ezra shot him, but he had to try. He refused to give up without a fight.

  Hell, for all he knew, Ezra could be a horrible shot.

  Ezra pulled the trigger as Mikhail leapt toward him. Mikhail felt a searing pain in his shoulder as he was thrown back onto the lawn and knew the man wasn’t a horrible shot but he wasn’t a great one either.

  He had a chance.

  Mikhail climbed to his feet, pressing his hand against the gunshot wound in his shoulder. The bullet had gone straight through, and strangely enough, Mikhail was grateful for that, especially since he suspected that Ezra and his boys were still using silver bullets.

  “I find you guilty of treason and attempted murder, Ezra Craigen. The sentence is death.”

  Ezra pulled the trigger again. The shot went wide, just barely missing Mikhail. It gave him just enough time to jump at Ezra, shifting as he did. The moment his paws touched flesh, Mikhail started ripping and tearing with his claws. He heard Ezra’s last gurgle of breath as the man dropped to the floor of the wooden porch. Mikhail made a couple of more swipes with his claws to make sure that the man was dead then padded silently into the house.

  Ezra was dead, but the fight wasn’t over.

  Mikhail growled when he spotted a body down on the floor just outside of the kitchen entrance. All he could see were booted feet and jeans. But he could smell blood.

  Another man appeared in the doorway, crouched over the top of the body on the floor. Mikhail growled low in his throat as he stalked closer. The figure froze. Mikhail could hear the man’s heart thundering.

  He growled again.

  The man turned…and all of the fight went out of Mikhail.

  He shifted. “Jace.”

  “Mikhail?”

  Mikhail started to step toward his mate when Jace’s eyes suddenly blazed with fury. His eyes rounded when Jace raised the flat cast iron skillet. Mikhail knew that they had known each other just a short time, and they were still working on their relationship, but he thought they had moved beyond this.

  When Jace let loose with the skillet, tossing it across the room, Mikhail just stood there, shocked that his mate would do such a thing. It sailed so close to his head that Mikhail felt it brush through the hair next to his ear. It landed with a thud and a loud scream, followed by another thud as the man dropped.

  Mikhail’s eyebrows shot up when he looked down at the body on the floor. He didn’t know if Luke Craigen was dead or not, but he had one hell of a goose egg in the center of his forehead.

  “Stupid bigoted asshole!” Jace snapped as he walked over and kicked the guy in the side. He kicked him again and then leaned down and picked up the skillet. “Gay does not mean sissy, you jackass!”

  “He called you a sissy?”

  “No!” Jace’s nostrils were flaring as he turned, his eyes smoldering with anger. “He assumed because I was gay that I wouldn’t be able to fight him off. They all did.”

  “Uh, sweetie, I think it was because you are human and not shifter, not because you’re gay.”

  Jace’s eyes narrowed. “Same thing.”

  Mikhail laughed as he grabbed the skillet out of Jace’s hand and set it on the counter then pulled the man into his arms. He pressed his face into Jace’s hair. “I am so glad you are okay, Jace. I would have died if anything happened to you.”

  “I’m fine,” Jace mumbled into Mikhail’s throat. “I’m just pissed.”

  “I noticed.” Mikhail chuckled as stared down at the unmoving body by the door. He hugged Jace to him one more time then let his mate go. “We need to check on the others and make sure everyone has been taken care of.”

  Jace nodded.

  Mikhail hurried over to the bottom drawer by the stove and grabbed the roll of industrial tape he kept in there. He went to each of the two men down on the floor and taped their hands behind their backs. If they lived, and woke, he didn’t want them rejoining the fight.

  Once he was done, he took Jace’s hand and guided him out of the kitchen. Most of the downstairs was clear and unharmed although there was a faint smell hanging in the air that made Mikhail’s nose hairs burn and his eyes water.

  “God, what is that stench?”

  “Tear gas,” Jace said. “I told you they threw that stuff through the windows.” Jace stopped and leaned down to grab something off the ground. When he stood, he held out a gasmask. “This will help.”

  “No, it isn’t that bad.” It must have dissipated somewhat.

  “Mikhail.”

  “Honey, I don’t want to wear a mask in case I have to shift suddenly. It would hurt a lot and probably destroy the mask.” Mikhail frowned when he realized Jace wasn’t wearing one. “But maybe you should use it.”

  Jace shrugged. “I don’t need it.”

  “Jace—”

  “Look, I’m not just another pretty face, Mikhail.”

  “I know that.”

  “Well, what you don’t know is that back in college, Bay, Rue, and I got involved with an underground movement to advance gay rights. It started out simple enough, just carrying signs and protesting.”

  “What happened?” Mikhail just knew something happened.

  “An opposing faction started showin
g up at all of our protests and getting violent. The riot police were called in more than one occasion, and we got tear gassed. After the first time it happened, Bay made us all take a self-defense course that included becoming accustomed to tear gas, water cannons, bean bag bullets, and tasers.”

  Mikhail’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “There’s a course in this?”

  “Well.” Jace grinned. “It was taught by this drag queen that survived the White Night Riots in San Francisco in 1979. After the riots, the police raided a gay bar. Several people were beaten and arrested by the police in riot gear. He decided that he needed to be prepared for whatever might happen, so he learned a lot and then he started teaching classes to the LBGTQ community on how to survive a police raid, a violent protest, or even simple harassment.”

  “I don’t get it,” Mikhail said. “If you know all of this, then what happened when Stefan got shot?”

  “The one most important thing I learned from all of the stuff this guy taught me was that you should always try to diffuse a situation before it becomes violent. You only fight as a last ditch effort to defend yourself.”

  “Then why didn’t you defend yourself when Peter Craigen attacked?”

  “Well, one, he had a gun, and no amount of fighting skill can save you from a bullet. And two, if he had pulled the trigger, there was too much chance of him hitting someone else. I couldn’t take that chance. My friend taught me that. It’s the same reason Rue didn’t use his knives. It wasn’t our best option at the time.”

  That was actually a pretty good reasoning.

  “Sounds to me like this man would have made a good alpha.”

  “Oh no.” Jace laughed as he shook his head. “This guy was all queen.”

  Mikhail chuckled as he tossed the gasmask on the table by the kitchen door and started walking through the house again, dragging Jace along with him by the hand. He wasn’t going to let go of his mate unless he absolutely had to.

  They found a couple of more unconscious men in the living room and used the duct tape to tie them up. Mikhail recognized them as some of the more hotheaded members of his pride, and he started to wonder if he needed to thin the pride out. Not everyone was going to be happy with every decision he made, but Mikhail refused to have traitors in his pride. He’d disband the damn thing before he allowed that to happen.

  “We need to check upstairs,” Jace said. “I sent Liam up there with my cell phone when this all went to shit. I didn’t want him involved in the fight. He never took those self-defense classes.”

  “All right, come on.” Mikhail wanted to check outside and see what was happening out there, but he could see the desperation in Jace’s eyes. His mate really needed to check on his friend.

  He went first, going quickly and quietly up the stairs. He paused at the top when he saw three bodies on the floor, two unconscious but one of them clearly dead. He tied the hands of the unconscious men behind their backs like he did for the men downstairs. Mikhail sniffed the air and then followed his nose to one of the bedrooms that faced the front of the house.

  The door was locked.

  Mikhail knocked softly. “Liam? It’s Mikhail and Jace.” He was a little surprised at how fast the door was unlocked and opened. Liam must have been standing right on the other side. “Hey, how are you?”

  Liam’s bright little smile widened. “I’m good.” When he stepped back to allow Mikhail and Jace into the room, Mikhail saw Yuri stretched out on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. His brother had more than one long, deep scratch on him, but they all seemed to be healing.

  Liam shut the door then hurried right over and climbed up onto the bed, curling into Yuri’s side.

  “Stefan and Zus?” Mikhail asked.

  Yuri shook his head. “I haven’t seen them. I came up here after Liam. I took out the two men in the hallway but got injured enough that I needed to shift and heal.” Yuri smiled as he glanced down at his mate. “Liam got me in here to the bed and then kept watch over me while I healed.”

  Considering their size difference, Mikhail wasn’t sure how Liam accomplished that, but he was thankful he did. “Thank you, Liam.”

  The little man just smiled.

  “Can you stand?”

  Yuri nodded. “I’m good.”

  “I want to go find Zus and Stefan.”

  “And Rue and Bay,” Jace added with a huff.

  “Of course,” Mikhail said quickly. “I assumed they would be with their mates.” Or hiding in a closet, but Mikhail wasn’t about to admit that to his mate, not with the peeved look Jace had on his face.

  Yuri climbed from the bed and then reached back for Liam. The two men followed Mikhail and Jace out of the bedroom. Mikhail made sure that Jace and Liam were between him and Yuri as they checked the rest of the rooms on the second floor.

  Stefan’s door was locked just like Yuri’s had been. Mikhail prayed that was a good thing. He knocked lightly and then waited. “It’s Mikhail.”

  The door was unlocked and pulled open, Stefan standing there. Mikhail scanned his brother from head to toe, checking for injuries. Except for a long scratch down his cheek, which was already healing, he seemed fine.

  “Bay?”

  The corner of Stefan’s mouth kicked up as he stepped back. Bay sat on the bed behind Stefan. His face was pale and his clothes disheveled, but he seemed fine. Mikhail couldn’t even detect any injuries on the human.

  “Have either of you seen Zus or Rue?”

  “Rue went outside after Zus,” Bay said. His face drained as he dropped his gaze to his hands. “I was going to go after him but I needed to find Stefan. I came upstairs to get my car keys and Stefan was here and…and I just couldn’t—”

  “Bay, it’s okay.” Stefan walked over and sat down on the bed beside him, grasping his hand. “Mikhail understands.”

  “I wish I did,” Bay muttered so low that Mikhail almost didn’t hear him. He probably wouldn’t have if he hadn’t been watching the exchange between the two men.

  Mikhail’s heart went out to his brother when he saw the sadness in his eyes. Stefan patted Bay’s hand and then let it go, standing. Mikhail wanted to growl at Bay for making Stefan feel such sorrow. Unfortunately, as much as he would like to set Bay straight, he knew he needed to let the two of them work it out.

  Stefan’s smile was forced and wobbly as he faced Mikhail “Why don’t we go see if we can find them?”

  Mikhail ground his teeth together. “Good idea.”

  “Stefan,” Bay said when they started for the door, “can I speak to you for a moment.”

  Mikhail paused when Stefan did, staring over his shoulder at the man still sitting on the edge of Stefan’s king-sized bed. He grew concerned when Stefan just stood there, staring at Bay without saying a word. “You need to talk to him, Stefan.”

  Stefan’s shoulders slumped, but he nodded. Mikhail waited for a moment to see if he was still needed, but Stefan just stood there, Bay sitting on the side of the bed. Both men were silent.

  Mikhail patted his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll meet you downstairs, Stefan.”

  Mikhail walked out of his brother’s bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t hear any voices start speaking, so maybe he needed to rethink his decision to stay out of his brother’s mating. Stefan and Bay weren’t doing a stellar job at working things out on their own.

  Mikhail could only hope things worked out soon. He didn’t want to think of the heartache his mate and his brother would go through if Bay decided to stay in the city. It was looking more and more like Jace and his friends came as a package deal.

  And that meant they all needed to be happy.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jace’s heart slammed in his chest as he stepped out onto the front porch after Mikhail and saw all of the people out in front of the house. There had to be at least fifty people standing there. Some just stood there and stared at Mikhail.

  Others were craning their necks trying to get a better look at
Jace. It was creepy and stalkerish and made Jace want to step behind his mate and hide.

  For just that reason, Jace squared his shoulders and stepped up beside Mikhail. After fighting to stay at Mikhail’s side—and not die—Jace refused to let a single one of them see just how scared he was.

  Mikhail gave his hand a small squeeze and then stepped to the edge of the porch. “What’s the meaning of this?”

  It was only as one of the crowd stepped forward, his eyes dropping to something in the yard that Jace realized it was one of the men that had attacked the house. The guy’s hands were bound behind his back. His eyes shot daggers at Mikhail. There was no doubt in Jace’s mind that if the man had been free, he would have gone for Mikhail’s throat.

  “We wanted you to know that we don’t support Ezra or what he did,” Mike, the man that had stepped forward, said. “We came just as soon as we learned Ezra and his boys were going to attack you.”

  “We arrived too late to do much good. The fight was pretty much over by the time we got here,” said another man as he stepped up next to the first one. “Zus ordered us to tie these guys up before he took off around the side of the house to see if there were any more.”

  “There’s a few in the house,” Mikhail said. “What is left of Ezra is by the back door.”

  There were a few gasps from the crowd. Jesse glanced at Mikhail to see what his reaction was. The man didn’t seem too concerned so he tried not to be as well, but it wasn’t easy. Jesse didn’t know these people. He didn’t know who he could trust beyond the three friends he had arrived with and Mikhail. He was pretty sure he could trust Mikhail’s brothers as well, but that might take a little longer. He didn’t know them as well as he knew Mikhail.

  “Ezra is dead, Mikhail?”

  Jesse couldn’t tell if the guy who spoke was relieved or horrified.

  “Him and his boys attacked not only my home but my mate and the mates of my brothers. He had no reason to do this other than his own desire to lead this pride.”

  Nearly every eye in the crowd turned to look at Jace. It was all he could do to stand there and not give in to the shaking of his knees. But Jace wasn’t stupid. He might not know much about this shifter world, but he had watched enough Animal Planet to know that showing fear could get him killed.