“Oh, we’re not.” The young-looking man grinned at Perry. “I have every intention of pinning him down and getting a ring on his finger one day. Just not yet. I didn’t want to keep Michaelson though, so I had it changed.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.” Thinking about what Perry had said moments ago, Ves continued, “I wanted to thank you. Without you and all Perry and Jake and the rest, Raff wouldn’t be here. I know we might have our difficulties, but we wouldn’t have the chance to sort things out if he wasn’t alive, so thank you.”
“Oh.” Charlie’s cheeks flushed ever so slightly. He waved what Ves said away. “Um. I…”
Perry stepped closer and put his arm around his mate. Charlie leaned into him as Perry kissed the top of his head. Ves’s stomach tightened at the intimate moment between the mates. He wanted that with Raff.
“You’re welcome. I’m um, going to finish supper.”
Watching him get back to work, Perry sighed. He spoke in a voice quiet enough his mate would be unlikely to overhear. “It’s been three years since he escaped and we went on to get the others out, and he still has trouble letting go of guilt he didn’t get them out sooner. And that it was his stepfather in charge of the whole operation.” He raised his voice again. “Did Kedi say if he would be here for supper?”
“He’s off somewhere with his guitar. I’ll put a plate aside for when he gets in.”
“Kedi’s your son, right? Does he play a lot?” Ves asked.
“Yes,” Charlie replied. He started dishing up the meal while Perry sorted out tableware and cutlery. “I met him in…there. He was only thirteen at the time, and he came to live with us when we got out three years later. He didn’t have any family. We didn’t adopt him officially, but he took Wyndham as his last name once he turned eighteen. As for him playing, we have no idea. He disappears with it frequently, but we’ve never heard him play. It was the first thing he ever asked for, but he’s been pretty secretive about it ever since. Neither of us wants to push him on it if keeping his playing to himself makes him happy.”
“So, what brings you to us this evening, Ves?” Perry asked once they were all seated in the dining room.
Ves appreciated Perry’s straightforward question. “We’ve spoken briefly on the phone, but I wanted to see you in person to talk about the logistics of moving my coven here and to ensure my doing so is all right with you and your pack.”
“Do you have a site in mind yet? We’re fairly rural here. Don’t vampires prefer urban areas?”
Ves grimaced. “Yes and no. It’s easier for our young ones to have a decent life if we’re in a heavily populated area. They can’t go out during the day, so they need places where businesses and the like stay open later. Also, it’s easier to keep a low profile with our blood needs. In the old days, we would have had to feed sparingly off the locals if there weren’t many locals around. Nowadays with blood banks and busy nightclubs, it’s easier to keep our needs met. But along with that is the local populace’s familiarity with who we are. We have to move about once every decade to twenty years, so people don’t notice us not aging. I’m hoping the most promising place Freddie has found will be close enough to Whithowe, Penrith, and Carlisle to keep our younger ones happy, but far enough away that we won’t have to move again quite so soon. It’s not like it was a hundred years ago. Cars and other technology do make life easier, even for vampires. One thing I will need to talk with you about our pack and coven-owned businesses. We tend to work in fields that can be moved with us when we go, or coven-owned businesses. Some are looking for employees and some of our younger ones are looking for jobs but don’t want to work in any of the options available to them. I was hoping the coven and pack would be able to help each other out.”
Perry stayed silent for a moment. “That sounds like a really good idea, actually. I know Jake’s restructured over at AlphaSec, Allan has the construction company. Betts owns several restaurants. Pretty sure all three of them are looking for people. Tell you what, how about I ask around and you do the same, and we can have a meeting in a few weeks with all business owners in attendance and we can see what everyone needs then. We can also make note of everyone looking for jobs beforehand. Daniel might be able to help. Some sort of private online job-employee searchable sort of thing. Maybe Keiron, too.”
They talked the possibilities over until Charlie stood and began clearing the plates away. Perry stood to help him. “No, sit. Sit. I’ll take care of it.” Perry sat back down. Perry brushed a hand against his mate’s lower back and let it linger on his waist when Charlie reached for his plate.
“You know, between you and me, I’m tired, too. I told Raff I would give him all the time he needed—that I wouldn’t push him into anything before he was ready, but I’m tired of being away from him. I’ll stick to what I promised him. I will, but I need to be closer. I need to be able to at least see him occasionally.”
“Ves, he’s your mate. I don’t know how you’ve managed to stay away as long as you have. He might be a vampire, but he’s a member of my pack. Your honesty’s appreciated. I spent the same amount of time without Charlie. I felt like I was dying every day without him, and I didn’t know where he was. You’ve known Raff is here, and you still managed to do as he asked.”
Ves felt even worse about what had happened earlier now. “Mostly.” At Perry’s raised eyebrow, he continued, “He overheard me talking earlier. He burst in and we argued. Things got heated and we got…let’s just say we got carried away. I’m not sure he’ll ever let himself get that close to me again.”
“I only know some of what he went through that led to him and his friends leaving the coven they grew up in, but what I do know isn’t my story to tell. Don’t give up on him. I never gave up hope I would see Charlie again.”
“You were kind of an idiot once you did, though.”
Perry and Ves turned to see Charlie leaning against the doorframe.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, you were and you know it.” Charlie smiled, but it was soft and loving. “Keeping me at arm’s length because you thought it was what I needed without ever asking me.” He pushed off the doorframe and walked over to put his arm around Perry’s shoulders.
Perry put his around Charlie’s waist and hugged him close. “I’m sorry.”
“No need. We’ve been through all that. All that matters now is we’re together.” Charlie looked over at Ves. “That’s all that will matter to Raff in the end. I know more about what he’s been through than Perry does, though not everything, and all I can say is give him time. It’s good that you’ll be closer. I think you being farther away let him push everything to the back of his mind. You being here might make him work through his issues.” His gaze went back to his mate. “Once that happens, no one will be able to tear you apart.”
Ves suspected Charlie was talking about himself and Perry again, and it looked like Perry knew it, too. The alpha hugged his mate tightly around the waist, and then it was Charlie’s turn to kiss the top of his mate’s head. Charlie slid a hand down the back of Perry’s head and played with the short hairs there.
Ves was glad to be distracted from the couple and their happiness by the sound of a door opening and closing elsewhere in the house. He didn’t begrudge Perry and Charlie what they had found together. He just wished he could have what they did with his own mate.
“I’m home,” a voice hollered. “Hey, is it okay if I eat upstairs? Guys?” The young man poked his head around the door. His entire demeanour changed when he saw Ves. “Oh, um, hello.”
“Hey, Keds, this is Lord Sylvestre Desmarais, head of the Desmarais coven. Ves, this is Kedi.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir.” From loud and cheerful, Kedi’s voice had gone quiet and apprehensive. He shrank back and didn’t step into the room.
“You too, Kedi. Seriously though, Lord Sylvestre Desmarais every time is going to get old. I’m just Ves. You can add my coven’s name if you like, but please, just Ves if you’re intro
ducing me around.”
“Sure,” Charlie responded. “And Keds, it’s fine to eat upstairs, but please bring your plate down as soon as you’ve finished.” The last was called after him with increasing volume as Kedi disappeared off to the kitchen.
Ves didn’t bother holding back his grin. “Teenagers. They never change. Well, it’s about time I left you to it. It’s a nice enough night. I thought I might go for a walk.”
“Watch your step if you head out to the lake. A lot of rain came down in the storm the other night. It’s okay on the lookout point, though,” Perry said.
Charlie laughed. “The kids went to the lake today. They came back still shifted, and you couldn’t tell who was who, just a load of brown and very muddy puppies. Jess and I had to hose them down before letting them go home. It was nice to meet you, Ves.”
After saying his good-byes, Ves wandered through the woods. He followed the heavy scent of humidity, the tang of dissolved minerals, and various pondweeds drifting on the air until he reached the lake.
When he got to the lookout point, he perched on a log and sighed. The night was quiet and still, but despite that and his heightened senses, it was a couple of minutes before he realised he wasn’t alone. The black wolf lay mostly hidden under the thick foliage of a large bush at the edge of the small clearing on the lookout. “Sorry to intrude.” The wolf flicked an ear in his direction but didn’t otherwise move. “I won’t bother you.”
Sadness and longing poured off the wolf. Ves could sympathise. There was something he couldn’t explain about the wolf, something he identified with at a soul-deep level. He wondered who the wolf was and if they shared the same problem—longing for a mate they didn’t know they would ever get to have.
A few minutes later, a howl sounded somewhere off by the pack settlement. The wolf heaved itself slowly to its paws as if its young form weighed several hundred pounds and trotted off through the trees. Ves was left alone with his thoughts.
Chapter Three
Raff
Thundering down the stairs to the basement apartment he shared with Andre, Raff had a wild urge to check if actual steam was pouring from his ears. He was so angry it was a distinct possibility. His ears. His nose. Maybe flames if he breathed out.
“Fuck that man. How dare he? I bet he thinks I’m going to just fall into his arms now.”
“What’s going on?” Andre stuck his head out of his room. “What’s the matter with you? Holy shit, you stink!”
Raff paused pacing near the bottom of the stairs to bare his teeth and growl at him. “Ves is what’s wrong with me.”
“I kinda guessed that with him being what you stink of.” Andre came all the way out of the room, body stiffening and shoulders squaring for a fight. “What’s he done?”
“He…no, that’s not fair. It’s not him I’m pissed at, it’s me. I caved.”
“You fu—”
“No! Well, almost. Shit. Guess it depends on your definition. How would you classify him jacking us both off?” Raff stopped pacing and thunked his head against the wall.
“No wonder you reek. Come on, you need to get out of your head for a while.”
“What?” Raff rolled his head to look at Andre, but his friend had already disappeared.
“Go get changed. Gym clothes,” Andre called. “Feel free to rinse off in the shower first.”
“Arsehole,” Raff grumbled, but did as he was told.
Five hours later, dripping with sweat and aching all over, Raff limped back to his room for another shower. Andre had driven him through a punishing workout in the gym, followed by three hours of sparring practice. Their sparring had been an hour longer than a normal session and had gathered a crowd of spectators. Both had to hold themselves back when practising their skills against any of the wolf-shifters in AlphaSec. They were all good fighters, but vampires had enough of an edge in just about every area—speed, strength, agility, sight, hearing, smell—which would come in useful in a fight, so they only got to really test themselves when they went up against each other or multiple shifters at once. Having the night shift at AlphaSec most nights, they usually did their workouts when everyone was asleep, so it was a rare thing for the others to be able to watch, especially with the extra aggression Raff needed to work off. While night had fallen, it was still early enough for plenty of spectators to accumulate.
Andre poked and prodded at him, doing everything he could to piss Raff off during the session, until Raff had pinned him a succession of times. The last one, Raff had him pinned facedown and clamped his fangs across the back of Andre’s neck. He hadn’t broken skin with his teeth, but he’d been unable to stop himself from proving his dominance, and Andre had tapped out.
Even Butch had looked a little concerned that Raff might actually murder his friend. Raff didn’t think Butch had ever realised that while Andre was bigger, Raff was the dirtier fighter, something Butch should appreciate given his own capabilities versus his six-foot-seven or so best friend. It would be interesting going up against Butch actually. He didn’t think he’d ever gone one-on-one with that particular wolf-shifter in the three years he’d lived with the pack, and every time he’d seen the man fight, he could swear Butch was holding back. The shifter never truly smelled of exertion or tired muscles.
Raff hobbled into the bathroom and over to the large shower cubicle. He turned the water on and the temperature up and began stripping his clothes off. Not much of it would be wearable again. What didn’t have holes and tears was covered in blood.
“Shit. I didn’t think we’d gone at each other that hard,” he mumbled tiredly. Andre had waved off his offer to help clean up the gym floor. Looking down to toe off his trainers, he realised they were soaked with dark red liquid, drying to rusty brown. “Fuck, really? Even my socks?” His shoes, squishy with blood around the ankles and lace holes, and socks joined the pile in a corner of the tiled floor, all of it to be binned once he was clean and wouldn’t leave bloody smears on everything he touched.
He climbed into the shower, wincing. The hot water felt like needles against his skin. He put his hands on the wall above his head and let his head fall forward so the water pounded his shoulders and the back of his neck. His hair hung around his face, creating a dark brown curtain the water streamed down over. The bottom of the shower stall swirled with red. What the fuck am I going to do? How am I going to stay away from him when he’s living closer? It’s all I can do now not to get in a car and go throw myself at him. He trembled with the need to go to his mate. Even now after Andre had put him through a punishing workout, he wasn’t sure if the tremors running through him were from exhaustion or fighting his body’s need to be with Ves. But then the man who had sent him running from his birth-coven slithered back into his mind.
* * * *
The slimy looks and uncomfortable vibes he got from Maurice ramped up once Maurice challenged Raff’s father for leadership of the coven and won. Reeling from the death of his parents, Raff had barely noticed. They had been mates, and his mother had followed his father when he died. Maurice hadn’t needed to kill him. An official challenge rarely resulted in the death of the loser anymore, but Maurice had seemed to delight in tearing his heart from his body. He’d looked at Raff when he’d done it and grinned, eyes filled with feral glee.
Raff didn’t know how much time passed before Kourey, Guillaume, and Bastien had rushed into his room, demanding to know why he was mating Maurice.
“What? I’m not. Why would you think that?”
“He says you are. Raff, I thought you were waiting for your true mate, the same as us,” Kourey asked. Disappointment shone plainly in his innocent eyes.
“I am. Why would I mate the man who killed my parents?”
Maurice might not have laid hands on Raff’s mother, but having been the one to end his father’s life, the man was also responsible for the death of his father’s mate.
“Raff, he’s announced it to the whole coven,” Bastien said quietly.
&n
bsp; “I did. You better get used to liking the idea of mating me because it’s going to happen either way.” The door had opened again without any of them noticing. The man standing there was the same height as Raff, but his body was thicker with more obvious muscle. His light brown hair was cut ruthlessly short and made his head appear too small for his body. Maurice. Vampires had to work to achieve that kind of muscle. They had to work at it for a long time. They were naturally slim creatures, though far stronger than their appearance would lead even shifters to believe, so for Maurice to be as muscled as he was had to be the product of serious dedication. He’d only joined the coven a couple of months before he challenged Raff’s dad, and since then they’d had other new arrivals. Several of those men were arrayed behind Maurice as he stood there staring Raff down. His dad should have known he couldn’t trust Maurice long before Maurice killed him.
“I’ll never mate you.”
Maurice didn’t even blink. He just stood to one side, and the men behind him rushed in and grabbed his friends. They all sagged in the holds the men had on them with barely a struggle, and Raff got a whiff of something sharp and astringent in the air. Had they drugged his friends somehow?
“You’ll get them back when you cooperate. If you don’t…” Maurice laughed like a Bond villain. “Well, you might want to give some thought to what I’ll do to them to persuade you. I can guarantee they won’t be enjoying the time you take to come around to my way of thinking, so you better be quick about it. You’re going to be mine, Raphael. I didn’t go through all this for nothing. You as my mate will bring my leadership legitimacy. No one will be able to object then. Plus, I’ll have you in my bed. I didn’t do anything about it before because your father would have thrown me out of the coven. Now he’s the one who can’t do anything about it. I’ll be able to fuck you any time I want, and there’s nothing anyone can do. I’ll be back to see if you’re ready to submit to me tomorrow. I can’t wait to see your perfect skin covered in my marks and my come.”
Trusting His Vampire Lord Page 2