by Cree Storm
Pascal giggled and felt his cheeks heat up. Twix looked at Zen. "I remember you. You were at the club when my cousin and I went into labor."
Zen held out his hand. "I'm Zen. I'm the bouncer at the club. How is your little boy doing?"
Illan and the others groaned when Twix pulled his cell phone out and immediately sat down next to Zen. "He is growing so fast. I can't believe how smart he is."
Zen moved over to make more room as Twix went from one picture to the next. Illan cleared his throat, saying, "Twix, I think you're crashing Pascal's date."
Pascal shook his head. "It's fine."
Twix gasped and pulled his phone back. "You guys are on a date? How sweet is that? Now Zen, you be good to our Pascal. I would hate to have to kick your ass. You seem like a nice guy."
Zen laughed. "That is the second warning I got today. Trust me, I have no intention of hurting Pascal in any way, shape or form. He's my mate."
"Holy crap! Toby! Get out here!" Twix shouted.
Pascal's eyes went wide. "Toby doesn't need to come out here."
"Nonsense, he should get a chance to meet his new brother-in-law to be. Well unless―" Twix stopped talking as he pulled Zen's shirt collar back.
"Way to go, Pas! Congrats, man," Avery replied with a high five that had Pascal shaking his hand and hissing.
"Thank you, Avery," Pascal replied turning even more red than he had been a few moments ago.
"Wait, isn't that a bite mark, and―Oh shit, you claimed each other! This is amazing, Pascal. I'm so happy for you. You're going to love being mated and―"
"Twix, we are not officially mated," Pascal quickly said.
Toby came from out of the kitchen. "Ollie just called and said you found your mate and you were here. I wanted to congratulate you both."
"Thank you, Toby," Pascal replied. "Zen, this is my brother, Toby."
"Hey there. I've seen you around Maddox a time or two. Holy crap! You two mated already! Damn, I'm really surprised. Pas is normally one to think things to death. You mustbe one hell of a convincing man," Toby said with a laugh.
Pascal wiggled uncomfortably in his seat, muttering, "Our mating is not complete, Toby."
"I see his markings myself, Pas," Toby insisted, leaning over Zen to get a better look.
Illan got closer to Pascal, saying, "Maybe so, but Pascal's scent hasn't changed."
"What? My brother isn't good enough for you?" Toby practically snarled.
"Toby! Don't talk to Zen like that," Pascal hissed.
Toby turned to Pascal. "I want to know how it is you mated with Zen and he hasn't mated with you? You are a hell of a catch, Pascal. You're good looking―Well, as far as a brother sees his brother at least."
Avery snorted, "Pascal is very sexy. Hell, if I wasn't mated I'd go for him."
Illan and Justice both growled, and Avery rolled his eyes, saying, "I'm just saying, he is small and delicate, but he's still all man. With his beautiful brown eyes, and the way his hair is brown on one side and white on another. People pay for hair like he has. However, it's his inner strength and beauty that is the real turn on. Pascal is one of the sweetest, nicest men I know."
"Hey, I'm sweet!" Illan argued.
Justice coughed, but Twix laughed a full belly laugh. Illan looked hurt, until Avery got face to face with his large mate, saying, "Illan, your strength and love are sexier than even Pascal's hair. It's your loyalty and willingness to go at any lengths for our people that makes me love you more and more every day."
"Gods, you two are hot together right now," Justice muttered.
"You three back up or I swear I'm going to get the fire extinguisher and pull the pin. We're trying to talk with Pascal, remember?" Twix said with a wave of his hands.
Zen sighed. "Look, Pascal and I agreed we wouldn't complete our mating until we can both say we love each other. I would love to complete our mating, but with my history, I can't."
"Your history? What's wrong with your history?" Toby asked.
Pascal pursed his lips. "Toby, stop. There are some things that happened and Zen explained it all to me. I understand his reasoning behind it." Shrugging Pascal then said, "I think it's sweet."
Toby nodded at Pascal then turned back to Zen. "So, what's this history, and is it going to come back and bite my brother in the ass? Cause I have to tell you, if anything happens to my brother―"
"You're going to want to kick my ass. Yes, I've gotten a lot of that today," Zen replied with a sigh.
Shaking his head, Toby replied, "No, I'm going to have my mate Nash kick your ass. I'm not much for fighting."
Illan pulled up a chair to the table and sat. "Zen, if there is a problem, we are willing to help."
Shaking his head, Zen replied, "No, it isn't a current problem going on. Like I said, it's my past. My dad got with a woman and fell in love. He thought she loved him. After I was born, my father learned that she had been lying to him for years. He learned that not only did she never love him, but she was married already and her husband found out about my father and me. The man was on his way to my dad's place and so she tried to burn me alive in the barn."
Twix gasped, "Oh, by the God's! What kind of parent would try to kill her own child?"
"Lucinda Brady was many things, but she was never a mother. She was abusive and nasty," Zen replied in disgust. Then quickly said, "The day my father got me out of that barn and brought me to Maddox was the best day of my life. We were the two musketeers. I helped him with his landscaping company until Charles Fowler came in and forced me out of business."
"Oh, how terrible," Toby rasped, dabbing his eyes.
Shrugging, Zen replied, "We got by. I did jobs around Maddox, and when Rhys opened the club I got the job as a bouncer, so it is what it is."
Pascal leaned in. "You were in landscaping?"
Nodding, Zen replied, "Yes, I loved it. Well, flowers were actually my real passion, but I love all plants. I was hoping to earn enough money to reopen my dad's old place, but it's hard to save up and live on a bouncer's wage."
"Damn, fate does know what she's doing, because Pascal is kick ass with plants of all kinds. He's the only guy I know that will sit and talk to a tree," Toby snorted.
"It was a honeysuckle shrub, not a tree," Pascal muttered.
Zen gave a sappy smile to Pascal. "I talk to my Delphiniums all the time."
"Oh, those are so pretty and they are like my honeysuckle flowers. They attract butterflies and hummingbirds. I can sit outside for hours and just watch them come and feed off my flowers," Pascal said with a sparkle in his eyes.
Illan cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this interesting conversation, but―"
"Illan," Justice said in warning.
Illan turned to his mate. "What? I said it was interesting, and I have some important questions to ask Zen."
Justice rolled his eyes as he let out a deep breath. "Fine."
"If my nose does not deceive me, you're an elephant shifter, correct?" Illan asked.
Nodding, Zen replied, "African elephant, like my dad."
"So, your mother―Lucinda Brady, you said, right?" Illan asked trying to sound casual, but Zen could hear something else in the man's voice he couldn't quite figure out.
"Yes," Zen replied.
"What was she?" Illan asked.
Zen sighed, "She was a dragon."
Illan sat back, licked his lips and looked at his mates before looking back at Zen with an intensity he didn't understand. "And do you happen to know who her husband was?"
"I'm not sure," Zen answered.
Illan sat forward once more looking more anxious. "Please, I need you to think about this carefully. Are you sure your dad never mentioned a name that you didn't know?"
Zen shrugged. "My dad never said, but I heard him talking to my uncle once. He was really upset because a guy named Salem Brady had gone to his place looking for my dad. I guess it could have been him."
Twix gasped, "Salem Brady―"
Illan
put his hand up, stopping Twix from saying anything else. Then said, "Zen, can I ask you to stay here for a bit longer?"
"Well, if Pascal doesn't mind. We were going to have dinner anyway," Zen replied a bit confused.
Turning to Twix, Illan went to say something and Twix replied, "I'm calling Jett now. He can get Zev here."
Looking at Justice and Avery. "Each of us take one of my clutch and get them here immediately. I think Zev is going to need them."
"Who is Zev and why are you contacting your clutch?" Zen asked in complete confusion.
Pascal sat forward. "Illan, is everything okay?"
Illan gave Pascal a gentle look, saying, "Yes, Pascal, everything is fine. If you will just bear with me a little longer, I would rather Zev be here before I say a word."
Pascal stood and sat next to his mate, taking his hand, he softly replied, "I trust you, Illan. We'll wait."
CHAPTER 6
Zev couldn’t understand why Illan wanted them at Twixie’s so urgently, but he was starving after a day at the fire station and was hoping to take his mate for dinner anyway. On the drive over Jett was uncharacteristically quiet, which made Zev anxious. It must be something big for Illan to want them there and Jett to be so closed lipped. Maybe his mate had run his mouth again and had gotten into more trouble. It was only two days ago that Jett had finished working at the council building landscaping the outside grounds. What could his mate have possibly done now?
Zev smiled as he thought that was a dumb question. His mate loved getting into shit and he loved the man more for it. Most people didn’t understand how he could love Jett so much and not scold him for all the crap he pulled, but Zevdidn’t give a damn. Even though Jett did put his foot in his mouth more times in one day than most did in a lifetime, Zev wouldn’t change his beloved for the world. Jett brought him more laughter and joy then anyone ever had in his life before. And so much love that Zev felt like it was overflowing out of him for the world to see.
Zev looked over at the man he loved more than life itself and released the steering wheel with one hand, reached over, and grasped Jett’s hand in his. Jett turned from looking out the passenger window and looked at him in question. When their gazes met, Jett smiled at him. Whenever Jett did that, and with that soft smile he now gave him, Zev fell even more deeply in love. Jett truly was his everything, and the knowledge that his mate felt the same, brought more pleasure to Zev than he could explain. Just like this look Jett was showing in his eyes right now, let Zev know that he truly was the luckiest man in the Universe.
“Are you okay, mate? You’re awfully quiet.”
“I’m fine, sweets. I was just thinking of how cryptic Twix was on the phone when he called telling us Illan needed us at Twixie's right away. I haven’t done anything new that I can think of that would have pissed Big Daddy off, but who knows? Maybe he found out I replaced all the toner in all the council building copy machines with fuchsia ink? Or that I emptied all the water bottles they use to make coffee and filled them with vinegar?”
Zev looked away from the road and raised a brow at Jett in amusement. Then burst out laughing. “Where the hell you come up with this stuff is beyond me. The way your mind works, my love, makes me happy you’re on our side or we’d all be in big trouble.”
“You would never be in trouble from my devious mind, mate,” Jett said as he raised their joined hands and kissed the back of Zev’s hand. “Well, not in that way anyway. When it comes to things I can do to you in the bedroom though, all bets are off.”
Zev chuckled and winked. “Yes, I know, and have been more than a willing sex slave for your pleasurable games.”
“When we get home after this, how about we take a flight together and see how fast we can fuck in mid-air as we plummet back toward the earth and see who comes first before we have to pull apart? We can pretend we are eagles.”
Zev laughed as he beamed at Jett before looking back to the road again. “Deal. I love when we do that.”
Zev pulled into Twixie's and found a parking space, then turned off the engine. He and Jett got out and met around the back of his truck and reached out for one another, locking in an intimate embrace as their lips brushed together lovingly. He loved how strong and fierce his man could be, but Zev also loved how soft, gentle, and loving Jett could be.
“You two need to get a room. You do know there are small children that could run by and think two bulls are fighting to the death with you two groping at each other,” Finn’s sarcastic voice came to him.
Yeah, he loved his best friend, and his mate’s twin brother, like his own brother but the man needed to go away. Couldn’t he see they were busy loving on each other? “Jealous?” Zev asked as he pulled back from Jett’s kiss but didn’t release him.
Finn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because I am hot for my twin. Eeww. And you forget, I have two hot mates that rock my world.”
“Yeah, but I doubt either of them are as fucking passionate as my mate. When your brother fucks me, it’s like the world itself shakes.”
“Oh, come on, man. I told you never to tell me shit like that about you two. Now I have that image stuck in my fucking head,” Finn bitched as he walked past holding Marco’s hand.
“Me too, keep talking,” Marco said.
“Marco,” Finn said in warning.
“What? Live porn right here? You may not be able to watch it because you’re right, eew, but I can sit back and enjoy it.”
“Finn couldn’t handle it even if he and Jett weren’t twins. Jett is just too damn hot for him to handle. My lover is like having five mates all loving on me at once,” Zev countered as he and Jett joined them going into Twixie's.
“I really am a bad influence on you, aren’t I, mate?” Jett said proudly, laughing.
“Yes, you are, Jett,” Illan replied as they walked into Twixie's.
“Bad influences can be so good sometimes though, right, Big Daddy? My bad influence on leaving that ménage porn link on your computer seems to have helped if the grunts and groans coming from your office while your mates are visiting is any indication,” Jett said calmly with a sweet, innocent smile on his face. His mate was such a pain in everyone’s ass and could do it with such a straight face, that all it did was make Zev laugh and love Jett more.
“Illan? You learned that move from watching porn?” Avery asked as he plastered himself against Illan’s chest and looked at Illan with heat in his eyes.
“We’ll discuss that later, baby,” Illan grumbled as he cupped Avery’s cheek and returned the heated look.
“Or maybe try it again?” Avery said salaciously and kissed Illan quick.
“Alright, before they all start fucking on the tables and scaring people away, what did you call us all here for, Dad?” Day asked as he walked through the door with his mates.
“Someone from our past has risen up from the grave so to speak,” Illan replied as he stepped back to the side so they all could see Pascal and Zen sitting at the table.
“You called us here to show us two hot men? Well, thanks for that, Big Daddy, but I already has me a man,” Jett teased.
As soon as Zev laid eyes on the large man sitting at the table with Pascal, an ominous feeling washed over him, something inside him screamed in warning, but he also got a sense of familiarity. Something about the man’s size, that was a few inches taller than his six feet seven, if Zev had to guess, and this guy was also heavier than his two hundred and seventy-five pounds. This guy was a muscular monster of at least three hundred and twenty pounds. But it was the long wavy black hair past his shoulders and the goatee that had Zev curious. When Zev met the gaze of the large man he couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped, as his body locked up. Every muscle screamed at him for release as he tensed staring into mountain meadow green eyes, identical to his own.
Jett moved closer, wrapping his arms around him and Zev welcomed the comfort. He had a feeling his life was about to change. “I know those eyes,” Jett whispered. “I’ve met Zen before at t
he club and thought they looked familiar, but I never put the two together until now. He has your eyes, mate.”
Jett just voiced what he couldn’t. This man, though not identical to him, did have a lot of the same looks. Zen? So, this was the bouncer from the club in Maddox that he had heard about. Zen? Zen, Zev? What the fuck?
“Zev, son, I would like to introduce you to Zen Antiff. Zen is the bouncer over at the Male Den in Maddox and, as we just found out today, Pascal’s mate,” Illan said.
Zev heard what Illan said, but he still couldn’t move. He could only stare at the large man. Which he noticed, Zen was stuck doing the same as he sat there quietly not breaking their connection.
“You found your mate, Zen? That’s wonderful,” Rhys exclaimed, then slid into the booth next to Pascal and hugged him. “Congratulations, Pas. You have found yourself a good man here.”
“Thanks, Rhys, and I know,” Pas replied softly as a blush crept up his face.
“Why don’t we all move into the back room for a little more privacy,” Justice offered and everyone moved to follow.
The mountain of a man stood and faced him, standing only two feet away. They continued to stare at one another and Zev could see fear and trepidation enter Zen’s eyes. Zev didn’t feel any aggression coming off the man, only a sense that he was nervous, maybe a bit scared. Zev could also see that Zen was shy.
Zen finally broke their connection and looked to Pascal. He held out his hand toward Pas, and the little Santorini fox immediately slipped his smaller hand in his and they grasped one another. Pas rose from the booth and he and Zen turned, following everyone else to the private room.
Once everyone was out of their sight, Jett stepped in front of him, his eyes showing his concern. Jett raised a hand and cupped the back of his neck as he brought their foreheads together. “I feel your fear, babe, and your confusion. Just know that whatever is going on here, that I have your back, and whatever you decide once we find out what it is, I stand by you, without hesitation.”
Zev felt tears gather in the backs of his eyes. Yes, Jett loved to play and tease, but this was his man, too. This right here. The man with the heart bigger than anyone Zev had ever met. The man who was loyal, loving, and giving to those he loved. The man that Zev would forever be grateful to call his man, his mate.