Flynn, Joyee - A Zane Po' Boy [The O'Hagan Way 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove)

by Joyee Flynn

  “Fair enough. What ya want to be asking me?” I thanked him when he brought out another tray from the sideboard cabinet and helped me set it up for me twin and mate.

  “Well, about the vineyard, there’s a bunkhouse on the edge of the property that needs some work done,” Rory explained, twisting his hands as if needing to burn off some nervous energy. “I still have some ties to the shifter community, and they know of a few people who’ve been exiled like I was. And I’d ask Isaac but he’s important—” His eyes went wide, his face reddened, and he sputtered helplessly as he tried to fix that one. I gave him a smirk.

  “Ya mean he be one of the founding families in the area and under everyone’s watchful eye,” I said, deciding to help him out.

  “Yes, thank you,” he sighed, his face still bright red. “You know I’m not an elitist or anything. Hell, I’m a poor orphan.” Rory gestured around the grand-looking dining room. “I mated into all of this. So I don’t want you to—”

  “Rory, I get it.” I chuckled as I held up a hand to cut him off. “The O’Hagans be a founding family in Ireland, too. It comes with a certain level of scrutiny like being in the government or something.” I glanced around at all the fancy decorations. The ornate, gold chandelier glittering down at us from the ceiling was beautiful, and there was an intricate tapestry depicting some scene with a tree, a man, and a horse. “Though not all of us get the perks of being filthy rich.”

  “Yeah, I’m still adjusting to it,” Rory said with a sigh, running his hands through his disheveled white hair. Then he flinched as if realizing something. “If you’re part of a founding family, then you’d be under the same scrutiny. Damn, this won’t work then.”

  “What won’t work?” I asked in frustration, ready to throttle the cat. “Spit out the problem and I’ll try to help find a solution!”

  “Okay, fair enough,” he replied with a nod.

  We ended up sitting by the table and grabbing a cup of coffee. The food would keep a little while longer. I had a feeling whatever was going on with Rory had been bothering him for a while and he needed to get it off his chest before he blew.

  “When a shifter is exiled, either for being gay or whatever other crime he committed in the eyes of the pack, they’re left with nothing. I barely had five minutes to stuff what I could into my backpack before they literally tossed me out of the house where I was staying.”

  “That’s horrible,” I whispered. Maybe me newfound intrigue in shifters wasn’t so interesting if this was how they treated their kin.

  “And it doesn’t always take much to get thrown out. I was gay,” he fumed, shaking his head. “I knew someone who got tossed because he was getting too big and the Alpha basically realized the guy might challenge him one day. So he was exiled.” Rory looked at me with pleading, tear-filled eyes. “It wasn’t so bad for me because my parents were dead, but when a shifter is exiled, that’s it. There’s no going back, no talking to your family unless they want the same fate, and no hope.”

  “Ya want to help in some way?” I surmised, not against the idea but not sure what to do either. “How?”

  “You’re going to be growing a huge vineyard, and just from what I’ve seen you guys can do on the estate, you’re going to need all the help you can get. I can contract some help to fix the bunkhouse and—”

  “No, I get the logistics of how we can help them once they’re here,” I said quickly, stopping him again. “How do we get them here? We can’t just put out an ad in the paper. And how do we know the ones who were exiled for bullshit reasons versus ones who aren’t good people? I won’t bring risks or harm to me family by trying to help shifters.” Me words came out in a firm tone.

  “No, no, I get that. That’s totally fair,” Rory rambled, nodding in agreement like an obedient puppy. Or cat, I guess. “I’m not saying we open a halfway house or make it public knowledge. The shifter community is like high school, all gossip. When one of us gets exiled, it’s huge news we all talk about. And we all know why. The pack is told the reasons.”

  “Okay, but ya were exiled, right?” I asked, pinching the bridge of me nose. Something was missing in this picture. Rory gave a quick nod, looking like even talking about it still felt like a kick in the nuts. “Then how do ya know about any exiled shifter? Shouldn’t they all not be talking to ya?”

  “Oh yeah. They’re totally not supposed to, but rules are made to be broken,” he answered with a giggle. “My pack wouldn’t want to since that’s where I was exiled from. But I know people from different packs or species of shifter, and it’s hard to keep track sometimes of who’s been exiled or not. I get e-mails from the few friends I had, but it’s not like I can just walk onto pack land and say hi.”

  There we go, I sighed mentally, finally understanding. “Okay, how many are you talking about rescuing to start with?”

  “I know two who have nowhere to go and are living on the streets. Granted, they might not be in that area long, but I was just told about them. Oh, and I found a wolf a few months ago.”

  “Come again?” I asked, me eyes going wide in response to his nonchalant statement.

  “I found a wolf when I had to go into the city to meet with an art dealer to look at some painting for the house and others we wanted to sell off. He’s a wolf shifter. I think he’s stuck and can’t change back to human form.”

  “That can happen?” Okay, at this point, I felt like me eyes were going to bug out of me head.

  Rory nodded sadly, looking so forlorn. “In cases of extreme trauma. He’s tame. He knows what’s what, so he’s not feral like he lost a mate or anything. I think someone’s hurt him bad.”

  “Will he ever shift back?” This was fascinating and creepy to me. Being stuck in an animal form for the rest of me life sounded like hell.

  “No one can tell. I’d take him to see Riley, but I don’t think he knows enough about shifters to help. And Riley’s important, being the Council’s appointed doctor for the warriors. He’d have to report the wolf. What if the guy was abused and got away only so we would hand him right back?”

  “Aye, that would be bad,” I agreed, rubbing the back of me neck as the gravity of the situation sank in. “Okay, let’s go check out the vineyard while Isaac and Zane be at work. We’ll look everything over, start making lists of what needs to be done, hopefully start getting the greenhouse together.” I paused, realizing something. “Did ya say you already bought it or were going to buy it for us if we wanted it?”

  “Oh, no, we bought it and put it in your names last week.” Rory chuckled, his light mood returning.

  “How did ya know we’d—” I started to ask, but then realized I didn’t want to know. There’s no way they really could have known for sure, and Rory might take the next hour explaining his lucky guess to me. “Ya both took a big chance that we’d stay.”

  “We know, but it was worth it. Besides, the Council wanted one of the vampire families to buy it since it abuts the warrior compound. Isaac saw it as win-win.” He paused, hope filling his face. “And if we can get more shifters here, maybe Riley can test their blood, too, and it can help the warriors. Help keep our mates safe and strong.”

  “Good deal.” I chuckled. It was hard to keep up with Rory and how vampires did things around here. But we would. “So we figure out what needs to be done and I’ll talk to me mates. Also, if ya hear of any shifters overseas that be needing help, me ma would welcome them with open arms, and the farm can always use more help.”

  “I don’t know of any, but I’ll keep my ears open.” His smile was so bright it made me glad I was giving our new friend hope. We both stood and grabbed our loaded trays. “And I’ll fess up to Isaac what’s going on. I don’t want to have Zane keeping secrets from his best friend. Hell, it’s been killing me to hide the wolf. I just didn’t want to get him tangled up in anything because I wanted to help.”

  “Good luck with that.” I laughed, not envying him. But then again, I wouldn’t have kept something like hiding a
wolf shifter from me mate for months.

  “Yeah, maybe I should give him a blow job first and relax him some,” Rory muttered as he walked away with his tray. That was one idea. I threw back me head and laughed as I followed him out of the dining room. We parted ways at the top of the stairs and agreed to meet by his SUV after the warriors went to work.

  When I got to Zane’s room, I had a little trouble opening the door, but then suddenly it was yanked open.

  “I woke to a missing mate,” Zane grumbled, narrowing his eyes at me. I raised an eyebrow and lifted the tray a little higher as if to show him what I had been doing. “Oh.”

  “Did ya think I changed me mind and ran away?” I teased, walking into the room and setting the tray down. When I turned around, I saw Zane looking at his feet. Oh fuck! “No, Zane.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged and adjusted the towel wrapped around his hips as he sat down on the bed. I could still tell he was worried, so without another thought in me head besides making him feel better, I moved to him and plopped onto his lap. “It’s just you were gone a long time for only grabbing breakfast.”

  “Oh, Zane,” I sighed, pulling his head down for a kiss. Mmm, minty fresh! “Rory had something he needed to talk to me about.”

  “Why did you leave our bed without waking me?” he asked hesitantly, seeming lost as he absentmindedly rubbed me back.

  “Honestly? Because I woke up and you were in the middle of us and I was worried ya would freak out. Also, because ya needed as much sleep as you could get after last night. I went to get food and started talking to Rory. That’s all, Zane. We not be going anywhere without ya ever again.”

  “Really?” His eyes lit up with hope.

  “Aye, really.” I chuckled. “Ya claimed us, boy-o. Ya be stuck with us now.”

  “Good.” Zane gave me another kiss as Brian walked out of the bathroom, freshly showered. “And I knew I was in the middle of you.” He shrugged, acting like it was no big deal when I knew it was. “It just felt right. I’m not saying I’m cured and being surrounded won’t still freak me out sometimes, but last night, it was all I wanted. I wanted to be sandwiched in between my mates.”

  “A Zane sandwich,” I purred, wiggling me eyebrows at him.

  “No.” Brian burst out laughing. “Shane and Sean told me they called sandwich already with Dillon. We not be allowed to take it. Liam and Lorcan make Caleb footlongs. I think we be running out of innuendos.”

  “A Zane Po’ Boy,” our mate whispered so quietly that I barely heard him when I was sitting right on his lap.

  “That not be nice,” I chastised gently.

  “But I was a poor boy,” he replied with a soft smile. “And while I’m not that boy anymore, it’s who I was. Money doesn’t matter or my shitty childhood as long as I have you both. I can be in an Irish Po’ Boy sandwich.”

  I wasn’t sure I understood that, but it seemed important to Zane in some attempt to overcome his past. I glanced at Brian, who I could feel wasn’t comfortable with it either. We both nodded and turned back to Zane.

  “Whatever ya want, me love,” I said with a smile. “We’ll make our first Zane Po’ Boy tonight.”

  “I’d like that.” His eyes flared with lust for a moment and then he frowned. “Are you guys okay after last night? I wasn’t exactly gentle.”

  “Don’t ya dare apologize for that,” Brian growled as he sat down on the bed as well. “We loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to do it again in our own house.” He smiled at Zane wickedly.

  “Agreed,” I said firmly. Zane smiled and nodded, not asking anything else about it. Good. We had other things to deal with instead of guilt that shouldn’t be felt. “Speaking of our own house, I need to talk to ya both about a few things.”

  They both looked at me apprehensively but nodded. We ate, and I explained everything Rory had told me. I couldn’t hold in me laugh when Zane’s jaw fell open and he dropped his fork after I told him about the wolf.

  “I’m not against helping,” Zane said when I was done. “And I like the idea of you guys having extra help when I might be taking short trips a lot. But we need to swear that we won’t ever keep things from each other like Rory did. I’m not judging him, I understand why he did it, but I won’t have secrets in our mating.”

  “Right answer,” I purred, giving him a heated kiss.

  “Aye, we be agreed in that.” Brian chuckled. And for the first time since we’d met our mate, I didn’t doubt that things would work out anymore. We were so on the same page, as mates should be.

  Chapter 9

  Zane

  “He was trying to protect you, Isaac,” I said again with a sigh. I was sitting in Isaac’s office in a chair across from the desk where Isaac was, waiting to hear from my mates that they liked the vineyard before officially agreeing to my promotion.

  “I know,” he replied in a distant monotone. Part of me just wished he’d start bawling and get it all out. This slow, eating-away-at-him distress was way worse than just crying. The theory that men, warriors especially, didn’t cry be damned. A heartbreak was a heartbreak whether you had a pussy or a dick. “My head understands it.”

  “Buddy, I hate to say you’re overreacting,” I said gently, raising a hand to hold him off when he snarled and his eyes flashed with anger. “I’m not saying you are. I’ve not been mated to someone for almost a year, so I can’t know what you’re going through. But Rory loves you. He didn’t keep the wolf from you because he was boinking it on the side. He made a judgment call, thinking it was the best thing for you. He was wrong, but he didn’t have any ill intent.”

  “But he lied to me. I can’t help but wonder what else he’s been lying about.” His voice was still that awful monotone.

  “Enough,” I growled, not willing to listen to my best friend question the loyalty of his mate and my new friend. “Rory’s not a cheat. He’s completely loyal to you. I’ve never seen someone so in love with their mate, almost to the point of it being sickening.”

  “I know, I do, but that fucking voice is in the back of my head.” He sighed, looking like a lost puppy.

  “Well, if that wasn’t an invitation to beat you upside the head, I don’t know what is,” I replied with a chuckle, trying desperately to lighten the mood. I saw his lips twitch, and knew I was finally getting somewhere after an hour of comforting him. “Rory is new to our world. Shifters don’t have warriors and founding families or the same rules as we do. He did the best he could in a tough situation, trying to protect his mate.”

  “True,” he hedged before groaning again and letting his forehead drop to the desk. “He’s going to kill me for the way I blew up and accused him of cheating.”

  “With who?” My eyes went wide, not thinking Isaac had said the evil thoughts aloud to his mate.

  “The wolf.”

  I just gaped at him for a few moments. “Isaac, the wolf is stuck in animal form.” Ewww.

  “I know that, but I said if he’d been keeping the wolf from me, how did I know the wolf really can’t turn into a man and they were having an affair?”

  “You. Idiot,” I gasped as I burst out laughing.

  “Shut up,” he growled as he lifted his head, but I couldn’t stop. It took me a few minutes to calm back down.

  “Did you smell a random man on your mate?” I asked, deciding to deal with this logically.

  “No.”

  “Did Rory seem less interested in sex or not as affectionate?”

  “No.” He winced, realizing where I was going with my line of questioning.

  “He ever slip out when it was an odd time or you ever realize you didn’t know where he was?”

  “No! Okay? I suck. My mate is great and always lets me know where he is, what’s going on, and never treats me like anything other than the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” He was breathing heavily after his outburst.

  “Want me to look up the number for a local florist?” I asked with a smirk. Might be good information to have
myself since I had two mates.

  “No, I have them on speed dial,” he mumbled as he pulled out his cell phone. I threw back my head and roared with laughter. At least I wasn’t worried about Isaac and Rory anymore. They were going to be just fine…as soon as Isaac was done groveling.

  * * * *

  Brian

  “Rory, honey, ya have to calm down,” I whispered as our friend started hyperventilating again. He’d long since cried out every tear in his body, probably dehydrating himself in the process.

  “Isaac’s going to leave me,” he whimpered, pulling his knees tighter to his chest. “He’s going to throw me out and tell me to hit the road. He already thinks I was cheating on him. I just lied about finding a wolf. Well, technically I didn’t lie. He never asked me if I had found a wolf lately.”

  “Lying by omission still be lying,” Banning said gently. I wanted to smack him. We all knew that. Why rub it in?

  Rory’s facial expression didn’t change. He still had that look of complete loss and sadness. “I know, but I was trying to protect him.” I think he would have said more, but Hester, one of the house staff, came into the study with a smile on her face.

  “You need to come see this, Rory.” She gave him a wink and left the room.

  “I don’t wanna,” Rory whined. Banning rolled his eyes as we dragged him off the couch and out of the room. When we got to the main entrance, our friend bitching the entire way, I gasped. “I didn’t order flowers.”

  “They’re for you.” Hester chuckled and handed him a card. “Isaac mess up again?”

  “I did, but I guess he thinks he overreacted,” he said, finally smiling. We glanced over the dozens and dozens of white roses in vases littering the foyer. “I love him so much.”

  “Then call him.” Banning snickered, bumping his shoulder into Rory’s.

  “Right!” His eyes were as wide as his smile as he stared at his haul. He pulled out his cell and pushed a few buttons.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I love you. Will you forgive me?” Isaac rambled the moment he picked up the line. We could all hear the conversation given our enhanced vampire hearing.