A car driving past honked its horn, and Alex jumped back, then suddenly laughed. Cyan grinned in response.
“What a mood buster.”
Alex smiled. “Yeah.”
“I should go and let you go in. Can I see you again?”
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.” Cyan gave him another kiss then stepped back. “Go inside.”
“Bye, Cyan, and thank you.”
“No need to thank me, Alex. I’m here whenever you need me.”
Alex walked over to the door of the apartment building, waved at Cyan, and then walked inside. As soon as he entered his apartment, he rushed over to the window and waved again when he saw Cyan still waiting.
Cyan smiled and waved back, then Alex watched him walk away. At last, he felt like he was in a place where he might be able to be more than just Cyan’s friend.
It was slow, but he was making steps in the right direction at last, and with Cyan’s help, he might be able to find the pieces of himself that existed before the vampires got him.
Smiling, Alex got ready for bed. Tomorrow was a new day, and he finally felt ready to welcome it.
❊❊❊
Cyan felt like he was walking on air. He’d left Alex in his apartment and was walking back to his truck, but he was bursting at the seams and needed to tell someone.
Teal!
Christ, Cy. My head almost exploded. What the... what?
I kissed him.
Okay. Who?
Alex, numb nuts. I kissed my mate.
Really? You did? That’s great, Cy. That explains the shouting.
Shit, sorry. I can’t believe I did that. I’m... I’m relieved and happy and excited and, Teal, I might actually have a chance to be with my mate.
Cy. I’m happy for you. I know how much of a toll this was taking on you. I’ve seen the weight loss, and if I’m honest with you, I was starting to get worried.
Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, and now I’m making you talk about emotions and shit. I know how much you love that.
You’re still my brother, my twin. I’ve felt glimmers of your emotions over the past few weeks. It’s been hard, but right now, I can tell you’re bursting!
I am. I really am. I’ll be home in ten.
I’ll have a beer waiting for you.
Cyan drove home with a grin on his face, his mind replaying their kisses over and over again. He’d finally kissed his mate, finally touched him. It didn’t matter to him that they were going slow. They were moving forward together, and as long as Alex felt comfortable and safe with him; that was all that mattered.
If he wanted to have any sort of future with Alex, he needed to go at his pace and make sure Alex only took things further when he was ready. Yes, of course, Cyan wanted to jump into bed and have sex with Alex, wanted to fuck and bite his mate, make him his; it was instinctive after all, but Alex was nowhere near ready for that.
That day could be months away from now, and Cyan needed to remain patient, despite everything in him telling him otherwise. He was a shifter, and his whole body wanted to mate with Alex. He wanted to hear his cries of passion, his moans of lust. One day...he told himself...one day.
He parked outside his house and strolled into the living room. Teal stood with an open can of beer in his hand that he immediately gave to Cyan.
“Congratulations.”
“It was just a kiss,” Cyan muttered, shrugging.
Teal stared at him, and he felt his skin flush. “Just?”
“Fuck off.” Cyan grinned.
“You almost blew the top of my head off.”
Cyan sighed, but he still smiled. Alex was amazing. Cyan was so lucky to have such a strong man as his mate. He would do anything and everything he could to help Alex be the best he could be, make him feel more like himself again.
“He left home at sixteen,” Teal told him. “Mom’s trying to get him to get his high school diploma so he can go to college if he wants.”
“She would. She thinks of him as another son. She’s been keeping me informed on how Alex was doing. I wanted to know but I didn’t, if you know what I mean. It was hard being so far away from Alex even though I knew it was what he needed.”
“I was getting worried for you, bro. Seeing you waste away.” Teal gave him a pointed look, one Cyan acknowledged.
“I was. I was losing my focus at work, home...”
“Eating, sleeping. Don’t think I don’t know you spent most of the night awake. I could hear you moving around.”
Cyan winced. “Shit, Teal, I’m sorry.”
“Nah,” Teal shook his head. “You’re in a better place now; that’s all that matters, and besides that, Mom would have kicked your ass if you’d let things go on much longer.”
“She did come over. Threatened to kick my ass at one point,” Cyan confessed.
Teal snorted. “I’m surprised she waited as long as she did. Man, she only has to give me the look and I’m ready to do anything she wants.”
Cyan chuckled. “She still gives me the look.”
“And we still run around doing whatever she wants. Who would have thought? We are grown men, for goodness sake,” Teal laughed. “Mom will always be in charge.”
“Even Dad toes the line.”
Teal sighed and took a sip of his beer. “We need to find Sky.”
“Has Hunter or Carter been able to find anything?”
“They’ve been doing some sort of backtracking on the IP address but nothing so far. Apparently, the company we identified has nothing to do with it.”
“It was clearly just something to distract us with, to make us waste time chasing it down. They know we know obviously. We need to find the mole. That fucker needs taking down.”
“They do. Who turns against their own kind? We have enough going on as it is; did you know we’ve had hunters in the forest?”
“What? When? There are ‘no hunting’ signs posted everywhere.” Cyan stared aghast at the thought that one of his family or friends being shot and killed while in their animal forms.
“Let’s just say they’ve been persuaded not to hunt here again.”
“Indigo?” Indigo didn’t tolerate anyone breaking their no hunting rules.
“Dad. He caught them, and he had them charged. They won’t be back anytime soon, but it means we need to increase patrols.”
“We’ve already increased them to protect our new residents. You’ve missed out on a few developments.”
Cyan winced but nodded in agreement as Teal continued. “It’s too much at once. We need more help. Indy’s going to talk to the council.”
“What about Euan and Logan?”
“Both on board. With Euan and Vir’s background, they are best placed to oversee the shifts for the patrols, and Logan wants to be included.”
“Well, what great way to ruin my mood. When’s the meeting?”
“Don’t know yet but sometime soon. We can’t wait on this. Deacon and Liam will be there too. They’ve also had someone go missing.”
“The sooner the better then,” Cyan agreed.
They couldn’t have their kind being hunted and experimented on. They weren’t ready to be exposed to the world now, and if they ever did decide to reveal their existence, it would be on their own terms. They had to put a stop to this now before anyone else died.
Chapter Thirteen
“How many dates now?” Viridian asked Cyan. They were standing in their mother’s living room before the meeting started. Viridian had asked them all to come over to discuss the leads that had recently been discovered, and Indy wanted to discuss the council meeting that had occurred
“Four.” Cyan grinned. Four amazing dates. Alex had a wonderful dry sense of humor, and Cyan was enjoying getting to know him. Alex made him laugh, and they’d shared quite a few kisses that always left Cyan wanting more.
“And?”
“And what?” It was fun to tease his brother.
Vir rolled his eyes, causing Cyan to g
rin. “You know what the ‘and’ is for.”
“We’ve kissed, that’s all, but I’m not telling you anymore. You’re my brother, Vir.”
“And you are the first one of us to find his mate; I’m a little jealous.”
“I would be too, if the shoe was on the other foot, but we are taking things slow. Alex dictates the pace.”
Vir nodded. “You’ll get there. One day at a time.”
“So will you. I’m hoping me finding my mate means you all will too. I want to take things further,” Cyan admitted. “But I know I have to wait for some sign from Alex that he’s ready, but I have to admit I’m itching inside with the need to make him mine.”
“It’s who we are, isn’t it? We’re shifters. We’re not just cats or humans. We’re a blend of both. That’s what makes us who we are, and as shifters, once we have met our mate, it is in our DNA to want to protect them, make sure they’re safe, make them ours.”
Cyan nodded. “And no divorce or cheating. We’re really lucky.”
“Yeah, we truly are.”
“So, who are we waiting for?”
Vir straightened. “Euan’s heading over. Hunter and Carter managed to access one of the files they’d copied.”
“It must have been tough. They’ve been working on it, what, two months now?”
“At least. It had built-in safeguards.” Vir shrugged. “I don’t know all the shit Euan was telling me. Hunter said he and Carter would come over, but he’s out on a mission with Rescue, Inc. I think they all are.”
“The fires in Cali,” Cyan muttered. “God, I hope no one gets hurt. Losing your home is bad enough, and here we are complaining about the rain and snow in winter.”
Vir nodded then tilted his head. “Euan’s here.”
“Does he miss it?”
“Rescue, Inc.? He hasn’t said, but I think he does. That’s why he wants to be involved.”
“He certainly has the experience and a vampire for a mate in Logan.”
“Logan and his brother, Lewis, have proved to be useful.”
“They do patrols, yeah?”
Vir laughed, throwing his head back. Cyan had to wait as Vir got himself under control. “Oh man, Euan almost had a stroke when Logan told him he would be part of the patrols. When Lewis joined in, Euan threw his hands in the air and stomped out, muttering under his breath.”
“Are you still laughing over that?” Euan glared at Vir. “Oh well, all I can say is that the make-up sex was phenomenal.”
“Don’t want to know.”
Euan grinned. “The things my mate can do with—”
Vir slapped his hand over Euan’s mouth, but Cyan could tell Euan was smiling behind it. “So...”
Vir removed his hand, and Euan blew a kiss at him. “So, the company we were led to believe is involved—”
“Come on through. Everyone’s in the kitchen. We need to have this conversation where everyone can hear it,” Cyan interrupted as he walked toward the kitchen when he heard Euan mutter.
“What’s Anna made?”
“Pecan pie. She knew you were coming over.”
“If I wasn’t gay...”
“Let’s not go there, yeah... She’s my mom.” Vir threw Euan a disgusted look.
“I know she is, but she is an amazing cook. She’s been giving Logan cooking lessons. I don’t know where he fits it in. He has school, patrols, and now cooking.”
“He’s happy.”
Cyan glanced over his shoulder at Euan, catching the look on his face. “Yeah.” Euan smiled, the love shining through and Cyan smiled in response. “My mate is.”
“Euan. Where’s Logan?” Anna asked.
“Hi Anna, Frank.” Euan kissed her cheek, then shook Frank’s hand. “He’s got a chem test tomorrow,” Euan said, answering Anna’s question.
“He’ll do all right. He’s smart.” Frank smiled and pulled out a chair. “Right, sit down everyone and then Euan can tell us what Hunter and Carter found.”
Euan smiled, taking the drink Anna gave him and opened the laptop he’d brought in with him. Switching it on, he pulled out several sheets of paper from his bag and put them on the table.
“Dynamic Industries. A leader in renewable energy.”
“Sound eerily familiar,” Vir muttered.
“They aren’t like the vampires with some master plan to take over the world. They were started by some college kids several years ago. The kids grew up poor and were looking for a way to help other families out.”
“That’s good, but how did their logo end up in a lab that had captured shifters in it.”
“They were supplying wind turbines.” Euan turned his laptop around, so everyone could see the screen. “They had no idea and still don’t. Carter gained access to their data and did what he does best. He found nothing except orders.”
“Shit,” Cyan muttered.
“One good thing though.”
“What, Euan?” Anna slumped in her chair, and Frank held her hand. “Where’s my Sky?”
Sapphire, who was sitting next to Anna, leaned against her. “We’ll find her, Mom.”
“One of the owners is a shifter.” Euan suddenly grinned. “Roman Dubois.”
“What?” Frank asked, stunned. “Roman?”
“Checked genealogy and yes, he is a relative.”
“He is?” Frank asked, still stunned at the revelation.
“I am.”
Everyone turned to stare at the young black man standing in the kitchen doorway. Frank stood and stared at him. “You’re family? Where? How?”
Roman grinned. “My great grandfather is your great, great uncle. They had a falling out apparently when your great grandfather moved to the States. Dad moved here when he mated with Mom. I never knew about you until Carter spoke to me.”
“I need to bake him a cake,” Anna whispered hoarsely. “Come, sit down, Roman. Is there just you?”
“Oh, no, but I am the youngest. There are”—he coughed then grinned—”nine of us.”
“Nine,” Cyan blurted out. There was six of them, but nine?
“I know. Nine of us. We didn’t have much growing up, which is why I started this company. I’m sorry about your daughter, Mrs. Dubois. We’ll do everything we can to help.”
“Where do you live?” Indigo asked.
“San Fran,” Roman said with a wince.
“We can talk about this later,” Frank said. “Let’s find out what’s going on. I just want to bring my daughter home.”
“I gave Carter full access. Unfortunately, it looks like they created a fake account. All leads have come up dead,” Roman said.
“Nothing at all?” Sapphire asked in a quiet voice.
“No, but I know Carter’s still looking. They placed their orders under the name Cooper. Said they were a construction company. The web page looked legit. No red flags were raised, and they paid on time.”
“No reason to look further,” Indy muttered. “Wonder why they chose that name?”
“Could just be one they chose at random. We need to go back through all the data we’ve got from that lab we hit. We managed to copy some before they shut us out,” Cyan said.
“We want to be involved,” Roman said. “We’re all shifters, and when we discussed it in our meeting, it was unanimous. We want to help. We can’t have people hunting and experimenting on our kind. The odds are against us as it is. This needs to be stopped.”
“Thanks, Roman.” Indy glanced at everyone around the table. “We need to move on. The council agreed to increase patrols, and we’re looking into using more tech for surveillance in areas we don’t normally reach.”
“Agreed.” Frank sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before smiling at Anna and reaching across to squeeze her hand. “We need to free those they have, but my top priority has to be Sky.”
“We checked out the locations they arranged deliveries to. All are now empty.” Roman sighed. “They know how to cover their tracks. I’m thinking whoever is ru
nning this op has experience at this kind of thing; they are too well organized.”
“That’s what we thought too,” Vir confirmed.
“We have a possible location for her.” All eyes turned to Euan, and he nodded. “A possible location. Nothing definite. Do you want to hit it tonight or gather some more concrete evidence first?”
A chorus of tonights echoed around the table.
“Let’s suit up then.” Viridian stood. “Back here in one hour. I’ll call Deacon and let him know.”
Cyan also stood. Tonight might be the night they brought Sky home.
❊❊❊
Alex stared at the message from Cyan, his stomach sinking. Sorry. Can’t make it tonight. Tomorrow?
Alex bit his lip. Was Cyan getting bored waiting for him? His eyes itched, and he scrubbed at them. It was stupid to feel upset because Cyan had canceled. Cyan would have a good reason not to be able to meet him. He always came. Always responded when Alex texted him.
Tomorrow’s fine. Is everything all right?
It will be. Take care, Alex, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Alex stared at the four walls of his apartment. “I can do this.”
He stood and wiped his clammy hands on his jeans, then grabbed his jacket and wallet and left his apartment. He jogged down the stairs and paused by the door. He could do this.
He pushed it open and stepped outside. He closed his eyes, waiting for the fear and panic to overwhelm him, but to his surprise, it didn’t. It was still there, lurking under the surface but nowhere near as bad as it had been. Maybe he was finally making progress, moving on.
He headed to Sam’s, hoping they had some lemon tarts left. He’d tried one and fallen in love with them much to Cyan’s disgust, because according to him, nothing tasted better than chocolate. Well, except lemon drizzle cake.
He pushed open the door to Sam’s, pausing to inhale the beautiful scents of coffee and cakes. He loved the smell here and soon found himself salivating over the slices of cakes and muffins and cookies displayed. Alex wasn’t fussy. He’d tried quite a few and loved them all, but the lemon tart was one of his favorites and luck was with him. There was one left.
He ordered his coffee and tart and turned to see Anna sitting in the corner. She smiled and waved him over. When he received his coffee, Alex walked over to join her. Sitting next to her, he sighed.
What He Needs (Salutem Book 1) Page 8