by Lynn Hagen
Sidney bounced around for the next two hours. He could tell he was irritating Torem, but his mate took it in stride.
Wow I have a mate. Holy schizophrenics! I really, really have a mate. “Do you have a bingo hall?” Sidney asked.
Torem looked over at him as if he had lost his mind. “Bingo?”
That was the reaction he always got when he mentioned the word bingo. He couldn’t help it. Sidney enjoyed the game. “Yes, bingo.”
“I’m not sure. There’s a bunch of old ladies that hang out in the grocery store. I could ask them,” Torem offered with a slight smile pulling at his lips.
After what felt like forever, they passed a sign welcoming them to Pride Pack Valley. “Is this where you live?” Sidney asked, sitting forward and looking out of the window. It didn’t help. All he saw was the dark of night.
“Home, sweet home,” Torem grumbled.
Torem pulled the truck to the side of the house and parked it. “We’re here.” Sidney was bouncing like a Ping-Pong ball inside. He’d never seen anyone that high-strung. Not even the young pups in town with their parents had acted this hyper. He was going to have to wean his mate off of the sugary drink. He’d have to get that bag of condensed sugar out of Sid’s hands.
Sidney’s mouth fell open as Torem pulled up to the house. “Holy, shit cans Batman, look at that place.”
Torem looked up at the expansive house, unable to see what his mate saw. The only thing that house represented to him was bad memories. He couldn’t wait for the new one to be built and this one to be destroyed.
That thought lead to Dino.
Oh, fuck. What was he going to do now? Although Sidney was a shifter, Dino was human. How did you explain to a human that you were a wolf? Avanti, another soldier who lived here, had a human mate, as well as a shifter. The human mate, Craig, didn’t seem to freak out when he was told, so maybe Torem would get lucky as well. Torem also had the job of explaining to Sidney about Dino. He wasn’t sure now would be a good time considering Sid was bouncing around from the Red Bull. Later—he’d already had too much excitement for one day.
Torem showed Sidney and Chey into the house. He took his brother to the bedroom across the hall from his. Torem pointed to the door as he turned to his brother. “My room is right there. If you need anything, just knock.”
“Gotcha.” Chey yawned and waved, walking through and closing his bedroom door.
Torem led his mate into his bedroom. “It’s been a long night. Why don’t you go ahead and get some sleep?” Torem could see the dusting of pink in the sky from the sun rising. He hadn’t had sleep in twenty-four hours and could feel the lack of sleep taking its toll.
“Are you kidding?” Sidney asked as he waved his hands in a frantic motion in front of his body. “I want to have mind-boggling sex. I thought mates were supposed to do that?” He bounced around.
Torem ran his hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I think if we had sex right now, I’d have to peel you off of the ceiling. Go take a hot shower. It might help relax you.” Torem stood in the middle of the bedroom and watched Sid open every drawer, rummaging through them and then walking to the closet and searching through that as well.
He still couldn’t figure out what the hell his mate was looking for. Sidney had done the same thing in the truck. Instead of questioning him this time, Torem let it go. He allowed his mate to explore his new home.
Sidney, finally, after twenty minutes of going through his personal items, wandered into the bathroom. Torem heard the shower start and shook his head, shoving the clothes back into the drawers, and closing them. He closed the closet, telling himself he’d deal with the mess in there after he’d gotten a good night’s sleep.
Or day, seeing how it was early morning now.
Torem stripped down to his boxer briefs and crawled into bed, luxuriating at the feel of the soft mattress beneath his weary bones, as his eyes started to close.
His eyes immediately popped open when his mate jumped on the bed. “I’m not in the least bit tired. What is there to do around here?”
Torem growled and pulled Sid down and shoved the blanket over his exuberant mate. “Sleeping, that’s what there is to do. Try it, you just might like it.”
Sidney fidgeted around for at least ten minutes. Finally Torem gave up and removed his arm from around his mate.
“Go explore, just remember which bedroom is ours. And be careful of the vampire.”
Sidney whipped his head around, his eyes wide. “Is there really a vampire here?” his mate asked with excitement lacing his voice.
“Yes, and he’s a really nice guy,” Torem mumbled tiredly.
Sidney pumped his arm in the air. “That is so damn cool.”
“There are humans, too. They already know we’re shifters. I’m just making you aware of it.” He yawned again.
“No biggie, no biggie. I have no problems with humans. They’re cool.”
Torem’s eyes followed Sidney as his mate walked out of the bedroom door. “Lord help everyone in this house. Here comes Sidney on a sugar rush.”
Jasper, Toby, Minsheng, Yasuko, and Craig watched an extremely hyper man practically race into the living room, bouncing around, and chatting away to himself.
“So, which one of you is the vampire?”
Jasper had no clue who the hell this quirky man was. “We buried him in the backyard before sunrise. Who the hell are you?”
The guy laughed. “My name is Sidney, but Torem likes to call me Sid. Chey calls me Sidney though. I’m Torem’s mate.”
Toby pulled from Jasper’s arms and greeted Sid. “I’m Toby, Jasper’s mate, and Zeus’s.”
Sid looked at Toby, astonished. “No fricken’ way, man. You have two mates? That rocks.”
Toby looked bewildered at Sid. “Yeah, so do you. Don’t you?”
Sidney bounced around in place as he shook his head. “Nope, all I have is Torem.”
Minsheng groaned next to Jasper. “More mates. How many going to come?”
Sidney grinned and walked over to Minsheng. Jasper had an urge to warn the new guy…but didn’t.
“You are a cute little human.”
Minsheng growled and hopped up from the couch, kicking Sid in his shin. “I not cute and I not little. Take words back.”
Jasper jumped up and grabbed Minsheng, pushing him toward the door. “Why don’t you go find Rave? You seem to like to harass him the most.”
Minsheng glared at Jasper and then stomped away, Yasuko following quickly behind him.
“What the heck is wrong with that little dude?” Sid asked as he rubbed his abused leg.
“He missed his Flintstone vitamin this morning.” Jasper walked closer to Sid. “You’re a shifter, aren’t you?”
Sid began to bounce around again, looking around the living room. “This is so cool. It’s a nice setup you got here.”
Jasper noticed how Torem’s mate dodged the question. If he didn’t want to answer, Jasper wasn’t going to press him.
“Yeah, it’s cool here,” Craig said. “But we mostly hang out down at Theo’s. There are more people to mingle with and the music’s pretty cool. And Theo makes the best food. Okay, maybe not Theo, but it’s still good.” Craig chuckled.
Jasper watched Torem’s mate closely. There was something very different about him. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. “So, you’re mated to the sour mood Torem?”
“I don’t know about sour. He seemed pretty nice the whole trip here, especially when we were getting shot at.”
“Shot at!” Craig gasped. “How the hell were you getting shot at?”
“Looong story,” Sid said. “Anyone want to shoot some pool? Does anyone know where at bingo hall is? I’m hungry. Is there a kitchen here?”
Jasper’s head spun at the rapidly fired questions. Did the guy focus on one subject for more than a millisecond? “The kitchen is down the hall. You’re welcomed to anything in there. I’m really not sure about a bingo hall. I haven’t heard
of one around here, and maybe later we can shoot a game. Toby and I have things to do in town.”
“Speaking of which,” Craig piped up. “I need to get to work.”
Jasper watched as Craig left the living room.
“Well, welcome to your new home, enjoy exploring it.” Jasper grabbed Toby’s hand, getting as quickly away from the hyper man as possible.
There was just something about Sidney that niggled at him, and Jasper would figure it out.
Chapter Three
Sidney couldn’t believe how quickly he cleared the room. He placed his hand in front of his mouth and blew out his breath. His breath didn’t stink, so that wasn’t it.
Sidney couldn’t understand what he had said or done to make everybody run. He decided to take Jasper up on his offer and go find the kitchen. His feet skidded to a halt on the wood floors when Sidney saw the largest man he’d ever laid eyes on sitting at the kitchen table eating the biggest bowl of cereal he had ever seen.
The man’s spoon stopped midway between bowl and mouth and stared at him. Sidney felt like a deer caught in headlights and too afraid to move. No sudden movements, his brain warned him. Maybe the giant hasn’t seen you yet.
The guy set his spoon back into the bowl and sat back, watching him intently. “Are you Torem’s brother?”
“Uh, nooo, I’m Torem’s mate, Sidney.”
The brown skin around the man’s eyes crinkled as he smiled and then began to chuckle. “No shit, my Beta has mated. Go figure.”
Sidney walked into the room, feeling a little more comfortable, and sat down at the table with the man. “Why does everyone seem so surprised about Torem finding his mate?”
“It’s a long story.” The guy chuckled again.
Gee, those words sounded familiar to Sidney. “I’ve got all day.”
“I’m Zeus, the Alpha of the house.”
Sidney smiled. “I’m Sidney, mate to the Beta of the house.”
“That you are.” The Alpha grinned.
Sidney had no clue what to say, so he got up and started opening drawers and cabinets, the fridge and freezer was next. He had no clue what he was looking for, but he’d know when he’d found it.
Zeus stood, taking his bowl to the sink and rinsing it out, placing it in the dishwasher. Sidney thought his neck would snap as he tilted his head back to look up at the Alpha. He thought he was tall at six one, but the man had him beat hands down. And good lord, could the guy be any more massive?
Sidney had an urge to grab a chair and pull it up to the guy and pat him on his bald head. That wouldn’t be one of the sanest things to do, Sidney thought.
Feeling the need to get away before he did something stupid, Sidney walked across the room, ready to get back to Torem, when the Alpha stopped him. “Did you forget something?”
Sidney looked at him and wondered what he could have forgotten. The Alpha chucked a thumb over his shoulder. “All the drawers and cabinets, the fridge and freezer are still hanging open. Maybe it would be a good idea to close them all before you left.”
Sidney looked around the massive guy to see he was right. He crossed the room and closed everything up and then went back to Torem’s bedroom.
Counting bedroom doors on his way back to Torem’s room—that was the only way he remembered—Sidney pushed open the sixth door on the right side of the hall.
The room was pitch black. Sidney knew this couldn’t be right. It was light from the early morning in Torem’s room when he had left, now there was none? Sidney had to have the wrong room.
Sidney gulped when he heard a hiss. He spun around to run from the room but slammed into the door, accidently shutting it closed instead.
A small light glowed, and Sidney spun around to see someone had turned a lamp on. That’s when he saw a tall man with dark hair roll over on top of a shorter one, a protective move. The largest of the three swung out of bed with agility. He had black hair to his shoulders and very green eyes that narrowed on him.
Sidney saw that the man was naked seconds before the guy shifted into a wolf, advancing menacingly toward him.
Oh shit, this was not Torem’s bedroom. “I’m Sidney, Torem’s mate. I’m in the wrong room,” he threw out, hoping that saved his ass. He wasn’t sure it would work though. The way everyone acted about Torem mating, that may have been the wrong thing to say. Maybe Sidney should have introduced himself as Torem’s brother’s best friend.
The wolf shifted back to his human form, and Sidney’s balls unclenched. The man standing in front of him didn’t look like he played around and Sidney wasn’t into having his ass handed to him.
The guy grabbed a pillow from the bed and covered it over his groin. “His bedroom is the next on down on the right,” he growled.
Sidney nodded absently, his eyes darting over to the man with long black hair that still lay on the bed, looking at him with narrowed black eyes. That must be the vampire, or it might be the one tucked under him.
Sidney reached behind him and turned the handle, quickly scrambling from the room. Once he cleared the door, he leaned against the hallway wall with his hand over his erratically beating heart.
“That was too damn close. I need a Red Bull.” Sidney panted as he walked one more door down and then turned around, opening Chey’s door, peeking in on him.
Sidney found his best friend sleeping like the dead. Closing the door quietly, he crept back across the hall.
This time, Sidney opened the door and popped his head in. When he saw Torem fast asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Sidney stopped when he got to the end of the bed and watched his mate sleep. His fingers ran over the smooth wood of the footboard, as he finally got a good look at his handsome mate. That five o’clock shadow was a big turn-on, and Sidney wondered how it would feel scraping across his skin.
Just the thought of Torem touching him had Sidney’s cock jerking.
Sidney pushed his shirt aside and skimmed his fingers across his erect nipple. Oh hell, he was standing here touching himself while he watched his mate sleep. How perverted was that?
His other hand snaked down and unsnapped his jeans as he slid the zipper down. Sidney pushed his jeans down his legs, toed his shoes off, and kicked the denim the rest of the way off. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Okay, now he was really a pervert because he was standing there naked and watching his mate sleep.
He eased his way onto the bed and crawled up to where Torem lay. Sidney pulled the covers aside and then pulled them over his body as he snuggled close to Torem’s warm skin. Sidney knew Torem was tired but couldn’t help it. He was hornier than hell and wanted his mate.
Torem lay on his back, one hand over his chest. The other rested above his head. Sidney leaned forward, and with the tip of his tongue, he caressed the peak that sat on top of the brown disc. Sidney sucked it into his mouth and felt the excitement build in him at the taste of his mate.
Sidney blew a puff of breath out and over the wet skin and watched it pebble, grinning at his masterful work. He glanced up at his mate to be sure Torem was still sleeping before Sidney situated his body between Torem’s legs. His mate instinctively, even in his sleep, spread his legs apart.
Sidney groaned when he saw Torem wearing underwear. His mate wasn’t supposed to be wearing underwear to bed. His gaze dropped further as he looked over Torem’s inner thighs, noting the black dusting of hair that covered Torem’s legs. That was a very sexy sight indeed.
He leaned forward and shoved his nose into his mate’s crotch and inhaled deeply, his body coming alive at the masculine and musky scent between Torem’s legs.
Sidney propped one arm on his elbow and reached with the other hand and peeled back the fabric around Torem’s thigh, revealing a gloriously flaccid cock. His tongue flicked out, batting back and forth across the crown, and then he began to gently suckle it.
Torem moaned and shifted around, his cock starting to har
den. Sidney groaned when he felt Torem’s hands brush through his hair. He pushed the material back further as he took more of his mate’s cock into his mouth.
“Take them off,” Torem commanded.
A pulse of lust shot through Sidney at the command. He leaned back and grabbed the waistband as Torem lifted his hips and then his legs. Sidney tossed the material aside and then lay back down between Torem’s legs. Now that he had a full view, he marveled at the sight of the cut cock.
His thumb chased around the head and then massaged the bundle of nerves just below the cockhead. Sidney licked the skin and then traced his tongue down the multitude of veins.
Torem groaned and wrapped his hand around the base. Sidney inhaled the scent of his mate’s fingers and then licked each one. He couldn’t seem to get enough of his mate’s scent. It hit his system quicker than any energy drink could, and the buzz was a thousand times better than any sugar rush he had experienced.
“Suck it, baby.” Torem’s voice was strained, and Sidney decided to have mercy on his mate. His tongue followed the large vein back up to the flared head, and then Sidney parted his lips, taking Torem’s cock into his mouth.
Sidney’s eyes closed at the salty taste of skin and pre-cum. He pushed to his knees, his fingers digging into Torem’s thighs, as he worked his mate’s cock down his throat.
“That’s it, baby, take all of me.” Torem encouraged him.
Sidney’s cheeks concaved as he rode Torem’s cock with his mouth. Torem’s hips joined in and soon began a seductive dance with mouth and hardened shaft. Sidney’s tongue decided to get in on the play and skated over and around Torem’s dick.
He lowered his head, the skin silky and smooth under his tongue. Sidney could taste pre-cum dripping down the back of his throat as he took pleasure in pleasing Torem.
Sidney had to reluctantly back off, his jaws were beginning to ache. His eyes darted down at the wondrous sight of Torem’s sac drawn close to his body. Torem’s hand began to stroke his saliva-soaked cock as Sidney lapped at the wrinkled skin, sucking one side into his mouth.