The leopard’s head appeared from the closet. “Probably wanted to bask in Andrew’s scent.”
It gave Soren the creeps. What happened next shocked him so much that he didn’t have the time to think about it too much. He shook the sheets out before laying them back down on the bed, and Andrew’s scent drifted right to his nose. The smell of cardamom and male enveloped him, and his tiger reared his head up, roaring in Soren’s mind.
Mine!
Soren jumped backward, letting the sheets fall on the floor. He couldn’t believe this.
“Soren? What’s wrong?”
“Andrew...he’s my mate.”
* * * *
“Xavier, maybe you should go back home.”
Andrew knew he shouldn’t have told the man what had happened, but Xavier had called him just as Dominic finished his rounds of the house, and having heard there was another man with Andrew, he had wanted to know who it was and what was happening. Once Andrew had told him everything, he had jumped in his car and come to him, and as much as Andrew was grateful for his support, with him there he couldn’t really talk with Dominic and his men. And what men they were...
Andrew had felt like he was about to start drooling when the big hunk of a Viking had entered his living room. Sure, the brunet was hot too, but the blond...six foot four of yumminess and hard muscles, long white-blond hair that fell in front of his stunningly dark blue eyes. Andrew’s cock had immediately taken notice, even if there was no way Andrew would have given it the time of its life with the Viking. He was a lot of things, but he was not a cheater.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
Andrew looked down at Xavier. The man was sweet, but as much as Andrew liked him, he knew he wasn’t the love of his life. He had met Xavier when he had talked with Jeremy’s colleagues about the man’s son. Xavier had worked with Jeremy and had had only nice things to say about him.
They had started going out, and while Andrew liked Xavier, it was just that—like. The man was a very good friend and the sex was nice, but it wasn’t mind-blowing lust and undying love. Andrew knew he should have felt guilty for it, but he had been clear before they had started dating, and Xavier had been okay with the fact that it was nothing serious. “I’ll be fine. Dominic is here, and I know he won’t leave me alone tonight.”
“Maybe you should go to his house like he suggested.” Andrew could see that the man was worried, and it made him smile. He cupped Xavier’s head and tilted it up, the smile broadening when he saw the man biting on his lower lip.
“I won’t give the stalker the satisfaction to see me run away, but I promise I’ll be careful. Dominic is like a brother to me, and he won’t let anything happen.”
Right now his Alpha friend was talking softly with his mate, doing his best to give Andrew and Xavier some privacy.
“If you say so.”
“Come on.” He grabbed Xavier’s hand and waited for him to say goodbye before walking him to his car. “Maybe you should stay away for a while. I don’t want you to be hurt.”
“I...it’s what you want?”
“Yes. I don’t want the stalker to see you. I’m afraid he could decide to target you because of what you are to me.” Xavier’s eyes told him he knew very well he wasn’t that important for Andrew, but he let it slide.
“Okay. I’m still going to call you in a few days though, just to check on you. Is it okay?”
“Sure.” Andrew leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Xavier’s lips before opening his door for him. He stayed there until the car had disappeared down the road before turning around and heading back to the house. He had left the door open and was surprised to see Soren standing on the last steps of the stairs.
Andrew closed the door, looking at Soren’s stiff stance and his clenched fists. He looked angry and like he was trying to keep himself from reaching out, although Andrew couldn’t imagine for what. “Everything all right?”
Soren grunted in response and waited until Andrew started walking to the living room before moving. Andrew felt the bigger man’s heat behind him and he wanted to touch Soren, to see if his skin was really as soft as it looked. He had to remind himself that he already had a boyfriend and bigger problems at that moment.
“So, you think the stalker is a shifter?” he asked Dominic as he entered his living room.
“Yes. I got his scent when I searched your house.”
“I can confirm it. I’d say a bear shifter, and you might want to change your sheets, because he rolled in them,” Soren said from behind Andrew. He hadn’t noticed the man had come so close, and he couldn’t stop the shiver that passed through him. What the hell was it with this man that pushed all his buttons and even a few he hadn’t known he had?
“In my bed?” God, only the thought made Andrew want to throw up and run away. How was he going to sleep in that bed from now on? He would have to buy a new mattress at least, and the sheets he would throw away.
Soren nodded. He smiled a bit at Andrew but his eyes were hard, although Andrew didn’t know if it was directed at him or at his stalker. “I’d also check if all your clothes are there, because the guy went through your closet and bathroom, and the hamper was open.”
Okay, this was becoming way too strange and creepy. “You think he stole my dirty underwear?”
Soren shrugged. “Don’t know, but it looks like it. I can’t say I understand the guy, but then I’ve never been obsessed with anyone, so...”
Maybe going to the mansion for a while wasn’t such a bad idea...but no, Andrew had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t run away or change his life. He could have an alarm system installed. He’d had had one installed at his office a few months ago, so he could call the same company.
“Do you know any bear shifters?” Dominic asked.
Andrew thought about it, but he already knew he didn’t. “No. The only shifters I know are you guys, and it’s not like I could smell if someone was. Maybe I do know some, but I’m not aware of it if that’s the case.”
“You’re sure you don’t want to come with us tonight?”
Andrew was so tempted, if anything because it would give him a reason to spend a little time with Soren, but... “No, thank you. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Dominic didn’t look convinced, and Andrew knew the man was about to lay down the law. Sometimes he tended to forget that while he had been close to Andrew for all of Andrew’s life, Andrew was not a shifter, and he was not part of Dominic’ s pride, not that Dominic hadn’t tried to make him a part of it. He had asked more than once if Andrew wanted to, and he still asked at least a few times a year, but Andrew’s answer was always the same. He wasn’t like them, and he had to learn to be on his own, without his lion big brother. He was not a shifter and he shouldn’t live like one.
“Okay. Soren, you’ll stay here with Andrew until we know something more about this stalker.”
Andrew saw Soren open his mouth, possibly to protest, but Dominic’s expression didn’t leave him any choices. That was one of the reasons Andrew didn’t want to be part of the pride. He wanted to do as he wanted not to obey Dominic even when he didn’t want to. Honestly, he would have said no to his friend if he had asked anyone else to stay with him, but Soren? He wouldn’t try anything with the guy, as much as he wanted to, but he had eyes, and he planned on using them as much as he could until Soren went back to the pride. Still...“Sure, knock yourself out. It’s not like you need all the men you can find for your new council thing anyway.”
“Andrew, don’t be a brat, it doesn’t suit you. Soren is the only man I can leave here, because until the enforcers move in, he’s the only unmated man I have.” Joshua snorted from where he was leaning against the wall. Andrew saw Soren scowl at him, but it only seemed to spur him on, and he started laughing. “Problems, Josh?” Dominic asked, raising a brow at his man. “You want to share with the class?”
Joshua shook his head and smiled at Dominic. “Nope.
It’s not my secret to tell.”
If looks could kill Soren would have already put his friend underground, although Andrew couldn’t understand what was going on between the two. Joshua had laughed when Dominic had said that Soren was unmated. Maybe he had found his mate and he hadn’t told anyone yet? Andrew didn’t know why, and he didn’t want to analyze what the reason might be, but he felt a pang of jealousy and anger at the thought of his Viking with someone else.
Wait, his Viking? He didn’t even know if the man was gay, for Christ’s sake! He had to remind himself that he wasn’t available, and even if he was there was no way he was going to do anything with a shifter. He didn’t want to get hooked only to be rejected once the man found his mate.
“Soren? You have something to say?”
* * * *
Fuck. Soren had two options right now. He could tell Dominic he didn’t want to stay here with Andrew, but his Alpha would want a good reason for that, and he couldn’t tell him anything in front of Andrew. Or, he could just say yes and endure hours and hours of time of being close to his mate without having the possibility of touching him. Shit, life sucked sometimes.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Dominic glared a bit, but he got it that it was a private matter, so he just hauled Ani up from his lap and gestured to Andrew’s kitchen. “Can we use your kitchen?”
“Sure. Make yourself at home.”
Soren followed his Alpha into the kitchen. Dominic held his hands up to stop Soren from speaking. “Look, I know we asked a lot from you lately since you’re the only one without a mate, but everything will be easier when the enforcers arrive and start to live with us. I’m asking you to do this because Andrew is a friend, a very good friend. I don’t want him to be hurt, and he doesn’t want to come and stay at the mansion, so please, keep him safe.”
Soren shook his head and chuckled. The situation was actually kind of funny. “Dominic, I don’t have any problems staying here for as long as it takes to find out who Andrew’s stalker is. In fact, even if you were to choose someone else as Andrew’s temporary bodyguard, I would insist on being the one to stay with him. He’s my mate, Dominic.”
Soren waited, unsure of how his Alpha was going to take the news. If Andrew was really like Dominic’s brother, Soren might be in trouble, not that it would be his fault, since he wasn’t the one choosing Andrew, but still. The only one who would do worse was going to be Delevan’s mate when he found him. Dominic might have found out Delevan was his son only a few months ago, but he was already crazy protective of the guy, just as much as he was of Ani, his mate.
The lion shifter looked a little stunned, but at least he was smiling, so Soren was almost sure his ass was safe. Almost. “Andy is your mate?”
“Umm, yeah?” Was there really a right answer to this question?
Dominic slapped Soren’s shoulder, sending him against the counter since he hadn’t been ready for it. The lion had used a tiny bit too much force, but at least he seemed happy about the news. “Damn! That means you’re like my new brother-in-law, tiger! I’m happy for the two of you.”
Soren didn’t think he had ever seen his Alpha exhibit so much enthusiasm, except when he was with his mate. “Thanks.” Soren was relieved. Not that Dominic would have hurt him or anything, not really, but it would have made life at the mansion hard.
“When are you going to tell him? He knows about shifters and mates, so no worries there.”
“I know, but he has a boyfriend. I guess that’s going to be the biggest problem.”
Dominic nodded. “I guess. You’re going to be good for him, though. Andy is very serious and has a hard time letting go just to have fun. He’s a bit...uptight, I guess, and you’re the exact opposite, since you don’t have a serious bone in your body. But I’m going to say one thing now and I won’t repeat it,” Dominic snarled a bit and showed Soren his teeth. He immediately tilted his head to the side and submitted to his Alpha. “If you hurt him...”
“I have no intentions of hurting him. I won’t deny he’s my mate and I have no intentions of waiting to mate with him unless it’s what he wants.” They’d had more than one case of that in the pride. Bryce had denied Finn for months and Joshua had denied Adrian. Sebastian had wanted to wait to claim Oliver, although since Oliver had been sick it had made sense at the time. All of them were happy now, but it hadn’t been easy. “I’ll wait for him to decide what he wants, and if he wants me I’ll wait until he breaks up with Xavier, but yeah, he’s mine.”
“Glad to hear it.”
They went back to the living room where Andrew and Ani were talking. Soren’s mate—fuck, his mate!—was beautiful. The chocolate color of his skin made Soren want to eat him up, starting from the pretty toes he could see peeking under the hem of his pants. He wanted to taste Andrew, to see if he did taste like the sweet treat or if he had a more spicy taste, maybe cardamom like his scent.
Soren was so enthralled in his thoughts that it took him a moment to realize that everyone was staring at him. Dominic’s smirk was all knowing—and irritating—but Ani’s smile was genuine. Dominic had probably told him everything through their mental bond, and the man looked happy for Soren.
Andrew...he looked a bit confused, but also smug at having caught Soren openly staring at him. Soren grinned at him, just to show him that he was in no way ashamed of what he had been doing.
“As I was saying, I’ll have Ani shimmer you home so that you can grab what you’ll need for tonight then, he’ll shimmer you back. I’ll stay with Andrew in the meantime, and you can come home tomorrow if you need anything else.” Dominic turned to Andrew. “I know you don’t like this, but I won’t risk you, Andy, even if I have to fight you every step of the way. Soren will stay with you until we find your stalker. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find out you like him.”
Andrew snorted, and Soren felt a bit offended. If his mate came into this already thinking he wouldn’t like him, it was going to be harder to convince him to give him a chance at least. “Are you playing match maker, lion? You know I already have a boyfriend.”
“I never said anything about boyfriends. I just said you might like him. It’s not my fault your mind is in the gutter.” Dominic gave his friend a toothy smile, and Soren wondered what the two men were going to talk about while he was gone. He trusted Dominic not to say anything, but he wanted to know what Andrew thought of him.
Ani gestured to him. Soren took his hand, and Andrew’s living room disappeared, replaced by his own room. Ani settled down on Soren’s bed as Soren opened his dresser and starting pushing things into a small black bag. “Andrew, huh?”
“You know him?”
“A bit, although I met him just tonight. He’s a big part of Dominic’s life. I’m happy you finally found your mate, Soren.”
Finding a mate was always reason for celebration in Soren’s opinion. He still couldn’t believe he had finally found his. He was only fifty-three years old, pretty young for a shifter. He hadn’t been looking for his mate, but seeing all the mated couples in the mansion had made him a bit jealous and envious. He wanted the closeness and the affection he could see between his friends, too. He wanted someone who would know and accept every side of him, even those he didn’t usually show to anyone.
Soren didn’t have a difficult past, quite the contrary. His parents had loved and supported him all his life, even when he had told them he liked boys rather than girls. He had done what he wanted, first some years in the army, then doing security and working as a paramedic around the States until Dominic had asked him to move in at Whitedell, and he loved living with the pride. He had friends there, a second family.
Still, he would never confess some things to anyone but Andrew. Well, he imagined he would someday tell his mate that he liked being dominated in the bedroom, but he also was a little ashamed of it. Looking at him, everyone assumed that because he was six foot four and muscled he was the top, the dominant one, and us
ually the only men who came onto him were of the twink-type. That was why he didn’t have a lot of experience being bottom boy, but he had always felt as if something was missing in his previous relationships. He didn’t want to bottom all the time, but he liked it, and he liked when someone else took control for once. He didn’t know if it was something Andrew would want to try, but he hoped so.
“Ready? You’ve been staring at nothing for about five minutes, Soren.”
He shook himself before grabbing his kit from the bathroom, then went up to Ani and took his hand. Time to go back to his mate.
Chapter Two
It didn’t take long for Ani and Soren to come back, but even then it was almost one AM before Andrew finally got ready to go to bed. He hadn’t eaten, but he really didn’t care. He probably should have asked if Soren wanted something, but he had no intentions to cook for himself, so cooking for Soren was definitely out.
He was standing at his bedroom door, looking down at the bed. He had already stripped the sheets and put them in the washing machine, but it wasn’t enough. Just thinking about that man rolling around in his bed made Andrew shiver in disgust, and he knew he would have to change the mattress at least, if not the entire bed frame, if he wanted to sleep in there again.
Andrew had already discovered that he was missing several items from his dirty clothes, and that was just disgusting, although it made sense if the stalker was a shifter. They heavily relied on scent, after all, but it didn’t make him feel better.
He would have to sleep in the guestroom tonight, but it meant Soren would have to take the couch. Oh, well. It was comfy enough for a few days.
Andrew went to get clean sheets and brought them to the living room where Soren was watching TV. They hadn’t had time to talk yet, but was there really anything to say? Andrew knew he was coldish and he didn’t like to mix with people, which was why he had been more than happy to start something with Xavier, although it made him feel slightly guilty. He knew he was with the blond only to avoid being alone, but he liked Xavier, at least physically, and he had been very clear when they had started to see each other. They had become good friends, and Andrew didn’t want to hurt him.
Andrew [Whitedell Pride: 9] Page 2