by Anya Nowlan
“Don’t know yet,” Dante shrugged. “We kicked ass on the ice and got along great with the team, but there was an incident with the Solomon twins.”
Douglas’ face scrunched up at the mention of the Solomon name. He was well aware of the rivalry between the two sets of twins, probably more than most. There had been a fair share of problems between them over the years, things only those involved knew about. And who else could Dante and he vent to than their dad?
Tyler and Trent had had it out for them ever since Dominic and Dante snatched their first pro contract right out from under the Solomons’ noses. At first, their dislike for the Kenners stayed on the ice. But then they started spreading rumors and talking trash about Dominic and Dante behind their backs.
The last straw was when one of their fabrications about Dominic and Dante doing drugs landed the Kenner twins on the front pages of some shady tabloid. There was no proof, of course, and people quickly forgot about it, but it was still infuriating as hell.
So maybe sneaking in to their locker room and filling their skates with Jell-O hadn’t been the most mature response, but it was the funniest, Dominic grinned to himself.
“Those mutts,” Douglas huffed. “Never did like those boys. What did they do this time?”
Dante looked uncomfortable all of the sudden, and Dominic didn’t exactly know what to say, either. They both knew Chloe was their mate, but their relationship was complicated and not really something they were ready to discuss with dad.
But it was too late. Douglas knew immediately something was up.
“Alright, out with it,” he demanded.
“Dad, we’re not teenagers anymore. We don’t have to tell you everything about our personal lives,” Dante reasoned, meeting their father’s stern gaze head-on.
“So it’s about a girl,” Douglas chuckled, looking from Dante to Dominic. “You forget, I know you boys better than anyone.”
“We only met her a short while ago. It’s not a big deal,” Dominic said, hoping to curb his father’s curiosity.
“Don’t feed me that crap. You wouldn’t be so secretive about her if it was just another groupie,” Douglas said, waving that ludicrous notion away.
Douglas grew quiet for a moment as Dominic and Dante exchanged knowing looks. They never had managed to keep anything from their father. They’d thought they were better equipped to handle his interrogations as adults, but it seemed they had been wrong.
“Wait a minute…” Douglas said, narrowing his eyes. “She’s not your mate, is she?”
Dominic groaned, not wanting any part of this conversation. Not only was he not particularly thrilled about discussing his love life with his dad, he knew it could bring up another, more painful topic - his and Dominic’s mother.
Their father didn’t like to talk about her much, and they hadn’t prodded. Not having known her, it was easier for them to just avoid the topic. She was gone, and no amount of talking about her was going to bring her back or make her more real for the brothers.
The silence filling the room was loaded, giving Douglas the answer to his question whether the brothers wanted him to know about Chloe or not. It was then that something unexpected happened. A huge smile stretched across their father’s face, as he got up and picked a bottle of Scotch and some glasses from a nearby cabinet.
“Congratulations, boys. You’re in for a wild ride,” he said, filling the glasses and plopping them down in front of Dominic and Dante, not forgetting about himself either.
“O-kay,” Dominic stretched out, glancing over at Dante, who looked just as confused as he felt.
Douglas had never even talked about fated mates with them before, so the brothers had assumed it was either because it was too hard of a topic or that he had been disappointed in the concept, with their mom dying only a year after she and dad had gotten married. Since he’d never even dated anyone after that, they’d figured he wasn’t big on romance.
“Stop acting like I just grew a second head,” Douglas chuckled, sitting back down. “I’m happy for you. Finding that one person that makes you whole is a wonderful thing. And whoever she is, she might even get you two to grow up.”
“Hey,” Dante interjected. “I resent that. I know Dominic is still pretty much a child, but…”
“Stop your whining,” Douglas said with a dismissive wave. “You might not run after every skirt you see and throw parties just because you’re bored, but you sulk like an angsty teenager with journals full of bad poetry.”
Dominic snickered to himself, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at his brother.
“I always thought you two might even each other out eventually. That Dominic could learn to take things more seriously from you,” Douglas continued, pointing his chin at Dante, “and that you’d learn to not worry so much from Dominic. Now I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, or it would have happened already. Mates have a funny way of sanding off your rough edges, though,” he finished with a knowing smile.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Dante sighed.
“It’s only as complicated as you make it,” Douglas replied, raising his glass at them.
Dominic couldn’t help but think his father was right. Were they creating their own problems? And if so, could they also make them disappear?
Thirty
Dante
Waving goodbye to Douglas, Dante was walking to his car with Dominic at his side. Something about the dinner kept nagging at him, and his bear was growing restless. Dad had always been tight-lipped about their mother, and now he was suddenly cheering them on about possibly finding their mate?
Something doesn’t add up here.
Dominic had already noticed the frown on his face.
“Now what’s wrong?” he asked, in a tone that only annoyed Dante even further.
Stopping at his car with his keys jangling in his hand, Dante turned to face his brother. Douglas had already stepped back inside after watching them reach their vehicle at the end of the small road leading up to the house.
“Do you ever remember dad telling us stories about mom? Or telling us anything except basic information about her?” he asked.
“No, not really,” Dominic replied, brows knitting together. “I don’t think we ever asked, though. She was always going to be a stranger to us.”
“I remember asking,” Dante countered. “Dad would show me her picture and tell me about where she grew up and that she was a nurse, but that was it. After a while, I stopped trying to get anything more out of him.”
“I didn’t know that,” Dominic said, sounding surprised. “Why are you bringing this up now?” he asked, leaning on the car.
“Because I don’t get the congratulations. Was mom even that special to him? We’ve known Chloe for mere weeks, but I can’t even imagine losing her,” Dante admitted, well aware he was sounding like a character from a daytime soap at the moment.
Dominic looked like he didn’t know what to make of what Dante was saying. Dante couldn’t blame him, he wasn’t exactly sure himself of where he was going with this. It seemed Chloe asking for space had drudged up things he would have rather forgotten.
“Of course she was special to him, she was his mate,” Dominic frowned.
“But how do you know, really, if someone is your mate? And is the whole ‘mate’ thing really that important, if dad can’t even come up with a single story to tell us about mom?”
“Is this your way of freaking out? Chloe asked for space, and you try to convince yourself, once again, that mates don’t exist? Come on, Dante…” Dominic rolled his eyes at him before pointing his chin at the car door. “Can we hit the road now, or are you going to have another crisis of faith or something?”
“Can’t you take anything seriously?” Dante raised his voice, getting even more agitated. “I get that you’re still a child, but I actually care what happens with us and Chloe, and what a relationship with her would mean for us and our lives.”
Eyebrows
raised, Dominic stared him down. He was no longer casually leaning against the car. No, his shoulders were tensing up as his lips thinned into a line.
“You have some nerve,” Dominic shot back. “You’re the one who’s being a child. I told you from the start I thought Chloe was my mate, while you were still stuck on your anti-commitment kick, thinking that saying you don’t believe in things that have been a part of shifters’ lives forever made you better than everyone else, somehow.
“Get over yourself,” he growled, all hint of playfulness gone.
The air grew thick as they glared at each other, both worked up.
He doesn’t even get what I was trying to say, Dante scoffed to himself.
“No wonder Chloe wanted a break from you,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he opened the car door.
“Okay, that’s enough,” was all that Dominic said before rushing him.
They both went tumbling down into the dirt, with Dante squirming to get out from under his brother.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled, feeling his blood start to pump faster.
“You’re being a bigger asshat than Tyler Solomon, that’s what the hell is wrong with me!” Dominic replied, trying to wrestle him into a headlock.
The primal instincts within Dante were rising up as his bear clawed its way closer to the surface. He had more than enough control over his animal side to not actually hurt Dominic, so he let the wild power inside him flow outward, twisting up his muscles and stretching his skin in the process.
As his body realigned itself, taking on a wholly different, but still very familiar form, Dominic hopped off of him with a low growl. Letting his own shift take over him, Dominic’s frame rippled and contorted, and before long, there were two huge grizzlies staring each other down in front of Douglas’ house.
Fueled by emotion and definitely not reason, the two bears lumbered closer until their heavy bodies clashed together. Gripping each other, they stood on their hind legs, either one trying to push the other down.
But wouldn’t you know it, they were evenly matched.
Dante snarled, baring his teeth, even though he wasn’t going to use them. He might be angry at Dominic, and Dominic at him, but they were still evidently holding back. If they weren’t, the ground around them would be covered with blood and fur by now.
“Dominic and Dante Kenner! What is the meaning of this?” Douglas’ voice boomed over their growls and roars.
Dominic and Dante stared at each other, reluctant, suspended in time for a moment. Neither one wanted to be the first one to back down, yet neither one wanted to piss their dad off even further. He already sounded mad as hell.
“Paws on the ground unless you want me to whoop your asses,” Douglas warned, walking closer.
Letting out what sounded like a dissatisfied purr, Dominic sank back down on all fours, and Dante followed suit. Ignoring the anger still pulsating inside him, Dominic pulled his bear back, willing it to disappear back beneath his skin.
Bones snapping back into their earlier places, the shift seamlessly flowed backwards until both Dominic and Dante were back in their human forms, avoiding each other’s gaze.
“Anyone want to tell me why you two just wanted to bite each other’s heads off?” Douglas demanded, crossing his arms in front of him.
“He started it,” Dominic said sullenly.
Douglas scoffed at that.
“I thought I’d gotten past having to moderate your fights, but I guess I was wrong,” he said.
“We had a disagreement, is all. Nothing to worry about,” Dante replied.
“You might sell that shit to everyone else, but not me. You’re not leaving before I find out why my sons are suddenly at each other’s throats like they were back in middle school,” Douglas shot back. “I thought things were finally moving in the right direction with you two.”
By his tone, Dante could tell the man wasn’t playing around. And he knew his dad well enough to know Douglas would get to the truth, sooner or later.
Exchanging a glance with Dominic, Dante let out a sigh.
It was now or never. Time to ask the question he’d always had in the back of his mind, whether he had been aware of it at the time or not.
“Why did you never tell us about mom? Was she really your mate?”
For a second, Douglas looked taken aback. This wasn’t what he had expected to hear, clearly. From the corner of his eye, Dante could see Dominic was looking uncomfortable at his side, busying himself with brushing dirt off his clothes.
“Come on,” Douglas sighed, leading the way to his porch, motioning for his boys to follow him.
The twins followed him up the steps as his sank into one of the chairs looking out at the front of the house. Dominic and Dante followed suit, each studying their dad carefully.
“The fact that you would even ask if she was my mate tells me I’ve screwed up. Your mom… She was…” Douglas trailed off, seemingly struggling with finding the words. “She was my whole life,” he finally stated, giving his sons a weak smile.
“You never really talked about her,” Dante quietly interjected.
Douglas gave him a long, sad look.
“And you think that’s because I’ve forgotten about her or that I didn’t care that much in the first place?” Douglas asked, arching a brow at him. “You couldn’t be further from the truth. I loved your mom with all I had. And when she died, I felt empty, broken. I would have fallen apart if it hadn’t been for you two.
“You were a part of her, so I dedicated myself to being the best dad I could be, to make your mom proud. To cherish her memory. I made you my life. I taught you how to skate, I took you to all your practices, I came to all the games I could… Because you were all I had left,” Douglas said before looking away.
This was the most vulnerable Dante had ever seen his dad. Douglas was the kind of tough as nails man’s man that never even got teary-eyed at a wedding. To now see him choking up over a love he lost some thirty years ago…
I’ve been an idiot, Dante suddenly realized, feeling like he should smack his forehead with his palm.
“It was too painful to talk about her,” Dante said after a moment, with Douglas’ silence stretching on.
“It still is,” Douglas agreed. “You two used to ask me why I didn’t date, why I never called the single moms that gave me their numbers at practices and games.
“It was because I already had my love. There’s nothing like that out there for me, anymore. Your mom was the love of my life, and no woman could ever compare to her. I’d rather be alone than to try and pretend to have those feelings again.”
Dominic was silent at Dante’s side, listening to what their father had to say. Their fight was already all but forgotten, all their attention now on dad.
“I didn’t want to burden you with all of this,” Douglas said with a wave of his hand. “Seeing you happy, chasing your dreams, that was what gave me joy. I thought talking about mom would only make you sad.
“To be completely honest, I think it was actually because it would make me too sad. I know now I made a mistake. I should have shared my memories of her with you, no matter how painful it was.
“But I can tell you one thing for sure, though. Even now, knowing how it all ended with her, I’d do it all over again. I got to spend five amazing years with her. And while losing her almost destroyed me, it was also her memory that kept me going.
“It was all worth it, for that time we had together. If I could tell you boys one thing,” he said, turning to look at Dante in particular, “then it’s to not be scared of love.”
Dante could feel his eyes widening at that.
“I know, I know. Not the type of thing you’re used to hearing from your old man,” Douglas chuckled. “But it’s the truth. There’s no greater joy for a shifter than finding their mate. Now you can drive yourself crazy, trying to predict the future, overanalyzing every little thing. Or you can enjoy sharing your s
oul with someone.”
The sincerity in his father’s voice, mixed with how Douglas’ eyes were now shiny with tears caught Dante off guard. He had been so wrong about everything, he was even having trouble processing it. Hearing how his dad talked about mom only reminded him of his own feelings for Chloe.
I do want to share my soul with her, as incredibly sappy as that is, he realized. No more holding back. No more excuses. Chloe is our mate, and there’s no way I’m letting her slip through my fingers. If that means giving her a little space… fine. I can do that.
Thirty-One
Chloe
Almost everyone had already left the office while Chloe still sat at her desk, having finished her work almost an hour ago. She had thrown herself into her tasks, only to become paralyzed by her thoughts about Dominic and Dante once they were all done.
She didn’t want to go back to an empty home, and she didn’t want to see the boys, either. Which left her at somewhat of a standstill. Knowing she might come to regret it, she opened up her files on the Kenner twins, scrolling to the page that listed their previous agents.
Dante and Dominic were somewhat new to TP, only being represented by them for a little over a year. She already knew Sally had been their last agent, and that she had only lasted six months with them before being let go.
Sally’s predecessor, a Katherine Fields, didn’t fare much better. She had been assigned to the brothers only seven months before the men were handed over to Sally. Closing the documents, she did a quick Google search to see who Dominic and Dante worked with before they signed on with TP.
She was surprised to find out they had been working with a man called Richard Sloan for almost three years before coming over to Top Performance. Chloe was well aware that her judgment right now was influenced by her meeting with Trent and Tyler, but she couldn’t help the doubt creeping in to her mind, either way.
Was the way the brothers seemed to move from one female agent to the next a coincidence, or a pattern? Were their relationships with Sally and Katherine more than just professional?