by Jana Leigh
His brothers were always getting him into trouble with people. Because he was his father"s favorite, his brothers tended to take out their childhood issues on him. His older brother had made the deal the Alpha had talked about earlier. When he went to the Old Council to tell them about their lost Pack mate, his brother had upped the price without telling him. It had led to a huge fight, but the wolves did not know about that.
The Sidhe used their abilities to flash in and out of places and finding things for income.
He was one of the best trackers of his family. They used him mercilessly and Dalton allowed it because, one, he was able to travel around the world on jobs, thus leaving his brothers at home. And two, because he loved the money that he got. Dalton did love his extravagances and did not apologize for it.
However, no matter what the deal, he never overcharged for his services. The only time he ran into problems was when his brothers arranged for a deal instead of his father.
That was the way it was in their family. His father was in charge of the family business until one of his sons mated. Then they would take over. But his father had taken his mother on several long vacations over the last few years, and since he was the one who actually did his job, he was never in the office when a call came in. No, that was his oldest brother"s supposed job, and one he fucked up every time.
His father had been pressuring him over the last few years to hurry up and pick his mate. He wanted Dalton to have the business, not his brothers. They were lazy and stupid. N0ne of them had gone out to seek their mates, figuring that their mates would find them. In the meantime, they fucked everything in front of them that had two legs and were willing. Then they would brag to him about their conquests.
Dalton did not listen very often; it bored him to listen to his brothers" sex life. For one, they never took a man or woman on a date. They only fucked. No romance, no wooing, they were pigs. Dalton was choosey; he preferred to take his time and get to know a person before he had sex with them. Unusual for a Sidhe, yes, but it was who he was.
He loved to find small presents for his prospective lovers and then woo them into his bed. His brother called him a dipshit, but his partners called him a romantic. None of them went away unhappy, in fact, most begged him to stay.
Looking around the room as the large Alpha introduced everyone, Dalton nodded and smiled accordingly. Laughed when Jaden growled at him, and then they turned to the man who had caught his eye. My gods, he was gorgeous. Big and muscular, with short black hair and a masculine face. His features were not what you would consider handsome; no one would say that about this man. They would say rugged, or manly.
His muscles bulged out everywhere, leaving one to wonder if the man could take out a person with one swipe.
“And this is Blaine. He is the one we are seeking the unusual shifter for.” Quin said and Dalton looked at the man, smiled his sexiest smile, and then frowned.
“Wait, what? You are looking for an unusual shifter for him. Why?” Dalton said looking around the room. Maybe the man was a psycho. A half-breed shifter and Sidhe could only have very special powers. That is why he had never heard of such a thing.
The elders said that if a Sidhe was able to breed with a shifter, the results would be too much for the world to handle. “Is he nuts?”
Dalton frowned and looked around the room as everyone laughed at his statement.
Well, it was a valid question. He wanted to ask the rest of the room if they were crazy also since they were asking him to find a fictional person, but stopped himself before he could. The men were big enough to kick his ass if they wanted to. Because he was called before the Alpha, he had to be released before he could leave. That is what really sucked about his powers when Alphas were involved.
A small woman, he thought she was the female Alpha, came up to him and patted him on the chest and smiled. “You have not been here long enough; give it time, you will get used to the mass craziness we call home.”
“No, he is not crazy. And it is none of your business why we need to find the shifter. We just do, so let"s get down to it. How much will this cost us?” Jaden snarled and pulled his mate back from him.
Dalton laughed and looked out of the corner of his eye at the male named Blaine. He could feel the pull toward him, and knew that he was his mate. He needed to stay with him and convince him of that. It seemed from the look on the man"s face he was going to have a lot of convincing to do. It suited him just fine. He would court his mate and find the one who they needed at the same time.
“How about this. I need a place to stay for a while. You know, while I find this person. I need a base so I can flash in and flash out safely. I mean if you really want to find this person, it is going to take a while. I have never heard of a Sidhe like this, so I will have to go to our Elders first. It is going to take longer than you think.” Dalton said looking at the man he wanted out the corner of his eye. He was fibbing a little, but whatever it took to be with his mate, he would do.
Jaden frowned and looked at his mates and the rest of the people in the room. Dalton cringed a little when he was asked to step out in the hall so they could talk about it.
Then he smiled when he realized his big hunk was following him out.
When they reached the large hallway and shut the door behind them, Dalton did not waste any time. He figured that stating his claim was what needed to happen, so the big man knew where he was coming from.
“So, Blaine. I assume you are feeling it too?” He smiled and gave him his best flirting face.
“Uh, well, if you mean the mating. Then yes, I do. Now ask me if I am going to do anything about it.” Blaine growled and looked at the man.
“What? Don"t like men?” Dalton teased, and then looked a little worried, what if he really did not like men?
“Don"t really care, one way or another, I am a wolf. He only sees mates, not sex. Not that it matters, because until I get the rest of the shit sorted out, I will not be claiming anyone.” Blaine said calmly, but his wolf was butting him from the inside trying to make him go to his mate.
Dalton took the information, rocked back on his heels, and pondered for a moment before saying. “How much do you know about the Sidhe?” He asked.
“Not much, magical fairies that are supposed to help protect the Council. What else is there to know?” Blaine shrugged and looked away from the man.
“Okay, so we have a little work to do. Why are you ignoring the obvious?” Dalton said and stepped a little closer.
Blaine looked at the gorgeous man and growled. He wanted nothing more than to claim his mate, but something held him back. He never questioned his feelings; they are what guided him daily. And right now, his feelings were telling him that something was incomplete. They needed to seek more before they claimed each other.
“Because my wolf says to.” Blaine said quietly.
“Oh.” Dalton said frowning. This conversation was not turning out like he wanted it to.
He knew he was going to have to woo his mate, but he was not ready for the rejection he felt. Then Blaine grasped his hand and Dalton closed his eyes. He saw a brief flash of the future and gasped. Had his mate given him this picture?
“What the fuck?” Dalton exclaimed and stared into the eyes of his mate who looked as surprised as he did.
“Uh, well, don"t know what to say about that.” Blaine said frowning as he looked at their hands that were joined. He had never had something like that happen before. A flash of the future came when they touched. He saw a woman, small, voluptuous and very beautiful. She had long brown curly hair, creamy tan skin and she looked terrified. She was running down an alley, Dalton and Blaine were standing at the entrance as she ran toward them away from a dark shadow that was chasing her.
“Has that ever happened to you before?” Dalton demanded. He felt a compelling need to find the woman and protect her. What the hell was going on?
“I guess you could say I am a bit of a Seer. Sometimes, I can see the
future; it is not always accurate or timely. For instance, I have a vision too late to do anything about it and other times it has taken days for something to happen that I have seen. I just live with it.” Blaine said and shrugged, hoping that his mate was not going to be disgusted or afraid of what he could do. Normally, he would never tell a stranger what he could do, but obviously there was something going on.
“So, what we saw was in the future? Did you feel the same pull as I did? Is she our other mate? Is it possible that we have two mates? I have not heard of a shifter having two mates until the New Council was joined. Wait; are you one of the Chosen?” Dalton said letting his hand drop and began pacing.
Dalton thought for a few moments and then looked back at the man who was standing there shifting back and forth from foot to foot looking nervous. “Well?”
“That is why we needed to find the unusual shifter. It sounds as if they can tell who is a Chosen and who is not. They can see auras or something like that. My heritage is in question. I have no clue who my parents are. Actually, they think that I am one of the Chosen. The Chosen one born in March, the Seer, that is who they think I am.” Blaine said looking at his shoes and waiting for a response. “I am the one who is not sure. I won"t join their Council until I know for sure.”
It was silent. Blaine looked up and saw the stunned look on the man"s face before his smile appeared and he rubbed his hands together. “My mate is one of the Chosen? That means I can torture Jaden for years. What fun this will be!” He said and Blaine frowned at him. “What? Did you think I was going to run screaming in the other direction? I mean, don"t get me wrong, this is a lot of responsibility, but I am not the scum your friends think I am. I will explain later, but for now, let me ask you something. Did what we just saw mean that our other mate is in danger?”
“Let"s go and talk to Quin and Jaden. I think the timetable has just been moved up.” Blaine said grimly and walked into the room without knocking.
Dalton did not care what their decision was, because either way he was staying. It was just a matter of if he was going to have to hide, or be allowed to do what he needed to in the open.
He looked around the room when they entered and grinned before saying, “We have a little announcement before you make your decision.” Casey stepped forward and told him he was being allowed to stay in the Pack guestroom.
The New Council had not been prepared for Dalton to announce that he and Blaine were mates. And before they looked for the unusual shifter, they were going to have to go and look for their third mate.
Chapter 4
It had taken very little to get the Council to agree that they needed to find the woman that both Dalton and Blaine had the vision about. It seemed a little too easy to Blaine, but then he also thought the New Council, and especially Quin, was trying to make him understand that he was one of them. He tried to talk to Blaine alone on several occasions before Dalton and he left to find the woman, but each time he found a way to avoid it.
Blaine refused to believe that he was the Seer of the Council. He had met the woman who was the current Seer, there was no way he could ever be as powerful as her. It was impossible. It was not something he could think about right now. He had a mission and one he needed to do quickly. Blaine felt the woman would not last much longer if they did not do something soon.
Dalton had called his family for help. His father was more than happy to send people when he found out that his son"s mates were involved. It seemed the older Sidhe was counting on his son to get him an in with the New Council. Since his older brother had made the mistake of trying to renegotiate with the Old Council, his family had been passed over for assignments. Not that it had mattered much, his family still made money from their jobs, but the prestige of serving the Council had been tarnished.
His brother had paid dearly for his mistake. His father had taken his position and given it to the next brother in line. Unfortunately, no one realized that Dalton had not been in charge when his brother had fucked up. Dalton and Jaden had gone round and round about this on several occasions. He tried to explain to the Alpha that his brother had been the one to change things, but the stubborn jackass had refused to listen. Now Dalton just liked pissing off the guy. It was fun to make him growl at him.
Since they had been given the okay to go and find the woman, Blaine had barely said two words to him, outside discussing how to find their other mate. He figured it was because of the whole Chosen thing. The man had serious issues about refusing to accept his destiny.
Dalton had gone to the small store that was in the town of Milliken, Colorado and bought small gifts for his mate to leave for him in various places. He wanted his mate to know that he was thinking about him. The first day when Blaine had found a new wallet on his dresser with all of his stuff put in it, he had been pissed.
Blaine"s wallet had been about to fall apart, but he had made it himself. Something he did to pass the time in the winter. Every winter his brothers and father did the same.
He had never actually purchased a wallet and so when he found all of his stuff placed in the wallet, he thought that someone had taken offense to his hand-made things. Of course, Dalton had reassured him that he had just wanted to surprise him and give him a small gift. This, of course, was after the large man had stormed into the New Council Pack house growling and grumbling about someone invading his space.
Jaden and Quin sat in the corner and laughed when Dalton had told him that it was a gift from him. Dumb asses thought it was funny that Dalton was having issues with his mate.
Jaden had laughed his ass off for hours about the two completely opposite men being destined for one another. He told Blaine to make sure that he watched his wallet when Dalton was around, which of course led to Dalton's idea. This was going to be harder than he thought to woo his mate. The man did not have a romantic bone in his body.
He really only cared about eating, sleeping and working. Other than that, he did not talk to Dalton. It was frustrating.
The second gift that he left him Dalton thought was perfect. He found a small PDA for his mate, since he was so anal about being organized. He left it on top of his new wallet the following day and once again, the big man had come storming into the Pack house yelling that Dalton needed to stop touching his stuff. It had taken an hour to explain to the man that he was just trying to make life easier for him. Once again, Jaden and Quin sat and laughed, though this time they were joined by Darien and Devon. It seemed the Alphas had told everyone how entertaining it was to watch the two men together.
***
The plan to look for their missing mate was going slowly. They could not tell where she was or when she was supposedly going to be in danger. For all they knew it had already happened. The thought made Blaine sick to his stomach, but he was still hoping that he would have another vision that would help them.
In the meantime, Dalton was making his life hell. The man was sex on a stick, walking around the Pack house looking too good to resist. It was driving him crazy. He was always doing things for him. It was not just the gifts. He ordered food for him at the diner, and Blaine had been surprised when it all arrived in separate containers.
Obviously, his mate noticed that he did not like his food to touch. The small things made him irresistible.
Several times he thought about suggesting that Dalton and him try and have another shared vision by touching, but he was afraid that if they did touch, he would not be able to resist the man. It took all of his power not to throw him on the nearest bed as it was.
His parents loved Dalton too. That probably irritated him more than anything, because his mom talked about him constantly. Since Dalton had won her over by getting her a gardening book, then helping her weed and plant, it had secured his place in her heart.
Now that was all she talked about, Dalton this and Dalton that. Every time he talked to her, she sung his praises.
Looking around the compound to make sure that he was not going to run into Dalto
n, Blaine quickly moved toward the Alphas house. He needed to get permission from them to have Dalton flash him into a meeting with one of the Sidhe Elders. Dalton thought the man knew more than what he was saying.
***
Kira sat on the bed and looked at the wall of the hotel room. She had been there for three days. Three days of hiding, three days of not talking to anyone, three days of ordering take out. It sucked. She was going to go crazy if she did not get out of there soon. On one hand, she could leave and get some fresh air, chance the people that were looking for her found her somehow. On the other hand, she could stay in the room and cuss the Gods for not sending her another vision, so she would know when the hell she was supposed to leave. Once again, it sucked.
She flopped back on the bed and groaned when she thought about having to leave her phone again. At least she could have entertained herself with her Facebook account if she had her phone. Kira was addicted to the games on that site. She played scrabble with her friends, and they would wonder where she was if she did not play her word.
Well, if anyone was checking on her, at least her friends would confirm that she was gone. She could just imagine what they had posted on her account by now.
Sighing she rose from the bed and pulled aside the curtains for about the millionth time and looked out into the parking lot of the rundown hotel she had been hiding in. She could afford to go to a nicer hotel, but she figured that she would be much easier to find if she did that. So Kira chose to find a place that she was sure rented by the hour, holed up in a room that stunk of smoke and beef jerky.