A slim, dark-haired young man stepped out through the front door. “You’re early. I’m still packing.” He walked up to Abel and pulled him into a hug. “How are my nieces and nephews?”
“Busy. Good. They’re great pups.”
Duke held out a hand. “Cas. How’re things?”
Cas, Abel’s younger brother, grinned and took Duke’s hand to shake it. “Fantastic. I’m going home.” I could hear the excitement in his voice.
He turned to me. “So, Bram. You’ve grown up a lot since I last saw you.”
I stepped forward and shook his hand. “Considering I was eleven the last time you saw me, that’s not surprising.”
He laughed. “I like that. You’ll keep that big lug on his toes, all right.” He punched Duke in the shoulder.
“He doesn’t need Bram to keep him on his toes,” Abel said. “Go look in the van.”
Cas raised his eyebrows, and leaned over to peer into the van. “Holy shit! They both yours?”
Duke put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Both of ours. Jedrick is on the far side, and Isolde on this one.”
Cas pressed his face close to the window, squinting to get a better look. “They’re both red-heads.”
“I like red heads,” Duke said calmly and gently pulled Cas away from the van. “Help us get stuff in before these two wake up, and then I’ll help you get your stuff out so you can go home.”
“Oh, we’re spending the night. I want to give you the run down on everything that’s going on here and introduce you to a few locals who are friendly.”
Oh. I’d been looking forward to having the house to ourselves—our first real home together. But it was a good idea for Cas to fill us in face to face, so we could ask questions and he could take us around if necessary. Actually, him staying was a relief, once I let go of the idea of being alone together the first night. The idea of friendly locals made me recognize the low anxiety that had been humming in the background of my thoughts for the past month. I wasn’t counting on friends, but I didn’t want to have to worry if I took the pups for a walk. But then I realized. “Abel, you’re spending the night too?”
He nodded. “We’re leaving the van with you, just in case. Duke’s going to see that you learn to drive in the city, and get a driver’s license for outside the enclave.”
My heart jumped up into my throat. “Uh, is that necessary?” Or even a good idea, given the rumply fender still in evidence on the van. I wasn’t terribly good at parallel parking.
Duke smacked my ass possessively and headed for the back hatch of the van. “Definitely. Come on and grab a couple of bags.”
I sighed and followed him. Funny. A year ago I would have pouted and hung off him to coax him into changing his mind. Or squawked and made a fuss about his casual affection. Now, I just pushed it all aside and did what needed to be done. I must have been growing up.
With the four of us working at it—well, three and a half, once the pups woke up—we were moved in in no time and everything Cas wouldn’t need for tonight was boxed up in the front room. The sun began to set and Cas made a last minute run out for supplies for the evening, coming back with the cab of the truck half full of beer and spirits and food. I was surprised that he’d felt it necessary to buy food, until I saw the bags of potato chips and snacks, licorice and chocolate and popcorn and other strange things that made my mouth water, they looked so interesting. Cas grinned as he carried the bags past me in the kitchen and my head turned automatically to track him.
“We might as well have some fun, right? Can’t get this stuff in Mercy Hills, and I just got paid for that research gig I did this term. Might as well have some fun with it.”
“Cas,” Abel said from the doorway. “You should hang onto that.”
“It’s my share of the money. The pack got its part. And I bought fruit for the pups. Fresh stuff. Blueberries, Abel, blueberries!” He dropped the bags against the far wall of the kitchen with a grin and patted Abel on the back on the way by. “Speaking of, where are they? I got a ball too.”
“Cas, I really appreciate it, but they’re too young for fruit,” I told him. “They’ll love the ball though. Isolde has her first teeth now, so anything she can chew on that isn’t me or her Da is appreciated.”
His disappointed expression brightened. “Good thing I bought two then.”
For a twenty-five-year-old, he was awful excitable.
I made hamburgers for everyone, with store bought rolls, which was a novelty to me. Once everything was cooked, we sat around the back yard eating and talking while the pups crawled around on a blanket on the grass. I decided I didn’t like the store bought as well as the ones I made, and that I would keep making bread while I was here.
Being so much smaller than everyone else, I finished eating long before the rest of them. “Duke, can you watch the pups while I get their bottles ready?” One thing I’d insisted on was bringing plenty of formula with us, in case we were so busy there wasn’t time to run to a store to get some. I had extra stock of everything necessary, including food that wouldn’t spoil, like cheese and pasta and powdered milk. I’d wanted to be prepared.
“Sure.” He reached out with one foot and tipped Jedrick over onto his side. “Got you!” Jedrick squealed and grabbed for his Da’s shoelaces. I shook my head in disbelief as the other two got into the silliness and, before I’d even made it to the back door, they were all on the ground, teasing the babies.
Karma struck just as I got inside, with Cas’s yell of , “Ow! She bit me!”
That’s my girl.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
We stayed in the back yard until it started to get dark, talking about this and that. Duke and I fed our babies while the conversation flowed around us. Cas promised to take me the next morning for a quick tour of the college and to pick up any last minute things I decided I wanted, which was really nice of him. We talked about the neighborhood, and Cas drew a map for us with all the important places on it. Two grocery stores, pharmacy, clothing—for us and for the pups—gas station, park, toy store, book store, hardware store. “There won’t be a mechanic in the house any more. Rholan graduated in the spring and he’s gone back to Green Moon. I’m not sure—if the van breaks down, you might be just as well to see if Mac can come out and look at it. I really can’t vouch for any garages around here. And if you get sick, there’s one doctor that will see you for sure—Adelaide mentioned him to me when I came out here—but he’s retiring soon, and he’s not that enthusiastic about shifters anyway.” He turned to me. “You can maybe keep your ear open for someone who accepts our insurance and doesn’t mind that we turn furry on occasion. Oh, and only go to the grocery stores I mentioned. I got chased out of the one down by the mall about five years ago and I don’t think it’s changed any since.”
“That’s good to know,” Duke said. He adjusted Jedrick on his lap, tilting him just right to get the last of the formula in his bottle. “I don’t think I want you doing the grocery shopping,” he said to me. “I don’t want you and the pups taking that risk.”
“I can look after myself,” I said, nettled. I was an adult, managing two pups and a mate who sometimes felt like a third one. I could handle grocery shopping.
“And if someone gets in your face while the pups are with you?” he asked in a truly reasonable tone that set my hackles all on end, even though I technically didn’t have hackles in human form.
“I’ll tell them to get out of my face,” I said firmly. “And keep shopping.”
Duke opened his mouth to say something and I was getting ready to stand my ground when the heavy push of Abel’s power rolled over us and squashed us flat. Metaphorically speaking. What really happened is that all three of us froze and the babies’ eyes widened and they started to cry and try to get down.
“Shit,” Abel muttered and the power disappeared, replaced with a faint sense of approval and a promise of safety. “Didn’t mean to do that.” He looked embarrassed. “But we
only have tonight and half of tomorrow to sort this out. Bram, you’ve never been outside walls except to the doctor and the hospital, you’re going to have to trust our judgment on this.”
No, I didn’t have to trust their judgment. I got along fine with all sorts of people. Yeah, humans might be a little uncomfortable, but part of the reason for us being out in the community was to get humans used to us, right? After all, Laine had encouraged it, and Abel used to. I didn’t know what was wrong with him right now.
Abel sighed. “You’re not listening, Bram. I can tell.” He looked like he might say more, but Cas held up a hand.
“Why don’t we do a field trip?” He looked around the group. “Bram, you have a grocery list?”
“Half of one.”
“That’ll be enough.” He turned toward the alphas. “You coming?”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
Duke stood up. “I am. I’d rather do this with backup the first time.”
“Duke—” I began, intending a protest.
He shook his head. “Do this for me, okay? I’m a nervous alpha.”
“You’re the least nervous person I know,” I said dryly. “But all right. If everyone goes, that means I don’t have to carry babies and groceries on the way back.”
As we gathered our bags and headed out to the van, I thought I heard Cas say, “Oh, no worries about that.”
This grocery store was way closer than the other two, and the thought that maybe I’d been wrong to push Cas on this began nosing around. He wouldn’t send me to the others if there wasn’t a problem with this one.
Boy, was I right.
We were hardly in the door when the looks started. Staff became obviously alarmed, and I could hear the whispers flying around us. An old man stared at us and grumbled about fucking mutts being in the store. A woman with a toddler in her cart spat at us and told us to get out. And then, the final insult, after about a dozen more, was the staff member very obviously following us around in case we, I didn’t know, stole something. Or ate a customer or whatever.
But, as much as it made me nervous, it also made me more stubborn. I got over my amazement at the rows and shelves of food and began calmly filling our cart, chatting with the pups, while the alphas kept a wary eye out and maintained a kind of perimeter around me, which I thought was foolish. So far, there’d only been words. No one had tried to get close.
Until another old lady, grizzled like the witches in puppy tales, and her only slightly less repulsive friend, began to yell at us. At me, in particular.
“This store isn’t for your kind. You shouldn’t even be here! Dirty, vicious beasts. You shouldn’t be allowed to breed.”
The friend was on her phone and it sounded like she was calling the police on us.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered, and craned my neck, trying to figure out where the baking aisle was. I wanted a big bag of flour, not the tiny thing that we already had in the kitchen. Sugar, yeast, and shortening for making bread. Spices for cookies and muffins, and more herbs for main courses. We needed potatoes and a big bag of rice and—oh, Lady of Wolves—fresh produce! I ignored crazy lady in the aisle behind us and poked Duke in the back. “Go find me carrots and a turnip and anything else over there that you want. Apples, a squash, other stuff the babies might like. Peas?” I wanted oatmeal too, that I could grind down into cereal for them, because it was about time they started on solid food. “Cas, a big bag of rice? Can you grab one and meet me in the aisle with the flour and stuff?” I didn’t wait for them, but powered on through the aisle, heading for the sign that read ‘Baking Supplies’.
The alphas trailed behind me, stubbornly refusing to do what I asked. “Guys,” I said, doing my best to keep my temper and remember that they were alphas. “Really. Go get the stuff and come right back. I’m okay.” Barring the crazy lady following us around the store, shouting things I was glad the twins weren’t old enough to understand yet, though her tone was making them anxious.
“I’m not leaving you by yourself,” Duke muttered, his eyes flicking back and forth, watching for threats.
I turned to Abel. “I guess you’re no one.”
Abel frowned at me. “You have two babies with you. If something happens, I can’t defend you if I’m holding one of them. Let’s just get out of here.”
They didn’t understand that a kitchen needed these sorts of things, or they’d starve. They’d just keep eating until there was nothing left but each other’s ankles to chew on. Silly alphas. “I’m fine. I want to get settled in tomorrow.” I turned to Cas. “And yes, I see what you mean. How are the other ones better?”
“The closer of the two pretty much ignores us. I think we’ve been around long enough, maybe, or they’re more interested in our money. They other one, there’s staring, but I think it’s more that they don’t see us very often, so we’re a novelty. A few people might get upset, but the store itself seems to feel our money is as green as anyone else’s.”
I nodded and pushed the cart around the end of the aisle. “Then that’s where we’ll go next time.” Ah, flour. “Cas, put that in the cart, like a good alpha?”
Cas gave a snarling sigh and looked at Abel. “You didn’t warn me about him.”
“I tried.” Abel’s eyes lit momentarily with amusement. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Fuck,” Cas muttered, and bent to pick up the flour.
Something went flying through the air and clipped him on the side of the head. He fell to his knees, one hand braced on the bag of flour, the other over his ear. As I watched in horror, blood began to seep out between his fingers and down the side of this face.
Abel spun to face our attacker, and Duke grabbed Isolde, who began to wail at the top of her lungs. I was right behind him with Jedrick, and I hunched over my little boy to protect him, and he clung to me like a vine while I went to see what had happened to Cas. “Cas, you okay?”
“Yeah.” He staggered to his feet, his eyes wandering a little. They didn’t seem to be quite focusing on the same point either. “I need a rag or something.” A can of soup rolled away under the shelves. It must have been what was thrown.
“I have some clean ones in my bag.” I ignored the argument that was starting at the end of the aisle between Abel and the humans, and pulled the cart forward. “Here.” I dug out a clean cloth and handed it to him, then checked out the disturbance. “Abel, come on. We need to take your brother home.” Dammit. I put Jedrick back in the cart and took Isolde from Duke. “Go get the vegetables. Now.” I shoved him in the direction of the produce and stormed over to grab Abel by the back of the shirt. “Come on. Take your brother out to the van.”
The old woman grabbed a box of something, it had a slice of cake on the outside, and lifted it to throw it. Abel put a hand up to catch it, but I stepped around him.
“I don’t know why you’d be so cruel. You’ve frightened the babies. Is that how you like to think about yourself?”
“Dammit, Bram, this isn’t home!” Abel yelled at me, and I could see fear in his eyes.
The old woman launched the box at me and I batted it aside. “Stop that, right now! I’ve looked after pups with better manners than you!” Abel grabbed me and began to haul me away while the human yelled curses and kept throwing things. I was ready to scream and tears of rage were pouring down my face. I let Abel hustle us off to the front of the store, only to have the manager meet us there.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave,” he said firmly, but his eyes were wide and I smelled fear off him.
Abel opened his mouth to say something, but I got my shot in ahead of him. “Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t buy hundreds of dollars worth of food here now if you were the only place in the city.” I gave him a stern look, then turned away to check on Jedrick. And my mate, who was giving off waves of murderous intent. “Come on babies. Let’s go somewhere else.” I slung my bag over my shoulder and sailed out of the building.
The alphas
followed me in silence, but I could feel and smell their tension, and, really, it had cast a shadow over the evening. “We can go to a different one,” I told them, hoping to lighten the mood.
“It’s too close to curfew,” Cas said as he unlocked the van. “We can go tomorrow on the way back from the college.”
“Oh.” Well, that spoiled things. “Do you want to go to a clinic?” Isolde had stopped crying, but now she was super clingy and didn’t want to go into her seat. “It’s only for a moment, baby girl.” I soothed her into it with our little song, but her eyes stayed focused on me, as if she was afraid to let me out of her sight.
Cas smiled darkly from his seat behind the wheel. “The only one that will see us is closed. I have some super-bond glue. Abel can put me back together, kind of like a broken dish.”
Ouch. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t think it would be that bad.”
He chuckled. “That was about normal for that store. Don’t take it personal—they hate everyone. Except the white humans.”
I covered Isolde’s ears and nodded for Duke to do the same for Jedrick. “Shitheads,” I said, then uncovered the pups ears again. That made the alphas laugh and the mood lightened enough that a funny thought was finally able to break through the worry and shock as we pulled out of the parking lot. I began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Duke asked.
“When I grabbed my bag, one of the pups’ dirty diapers fell out into the cart. I hope they have fun putting that back on the shelf.”
We laughed all the way back to the house.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
The day after our shopping adventure was spent holed up in the house. I made a fantastic breakfast for everyone with what I had on hand, including the blueberries Cas had bought the day before in pancakes, before Cas took me for my tour and another shot at a grocery store. The side of his face was black and blue and swollen, but he didn’t seem to hold it against me. “It’s just what they do.”
Duke's Baby Deal (MM Mpreg Shifter Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 3) Page 26