by Macy Blake
Nick glanced his way as the little boy settled against Victor’s chest. He scowled for a moment— not at Victor, though. In concern. Another thing he’d learned about Nick since he’d taken over managing the finances of this project: almost every thought the alpha had revolved around the cubs in his charge. The thoughts that weren’t on the cubs were on his hellhound mate, Jedrek.
As if conjured, Jedrek emerged from a room down the hall and began walking his way. Victor tried not to panic even as he awkwardly patted the little boy on the back. Jedrek would know what to do.
“Hey, Gus,” Jedrek said softly. “You okay?”
The little boy nodded against his chest.
“You want to come to me?”
A small arm wrapped tightly around Victor’s neck. The alpha-mate’s brows rose in surprise.
“No worries, Gus. You can stay with Victor. Alpha is almost done.” Jedrek patted the boy on the head gently before glancing at Victor. “They’ll be done in a minute.”
Before Victor could protest, Jedrek went back down the hall and disappeared into one of the many rooms. Gus settled against Victor’s chest and popped his thumb into his mouth. Victor tried not to shiver in disgust. So many germs. It couldn’t be healthy for him to put his thumb in his mouth like that.
Victor considered trying to remove it but yet another door opened. This time a giant of a man Victor had never seen before stepped into the hallway. His breath caught in his chest as the man practically squeezed through the doorway, his broad shoulders touching the frame on either side. He looked scruffy, too, from his ragged plaid shirt, opened to reveal a dirty, one-time-probably-white undershirt, to his faded, torn jeans. He was scruffy all over, and he needed a shave. And a haircut. And a good dry cleaner. But more importantly, he was a stranger.
Victor couldn’t help it. He instinctively turned away, shielding Gus from the newcomer. Of course, his action caught Nick’s attention and before he could blink, the alpha was out of the room and glancing down the hall.
“Riggs,” Nick growled. “You’re late.”
But he placed a calming hand on Victor’s back and gave him an approving nod. Victor let out a shaky breath as the newcomer shrugged and continued down the hall.
“Doesn’t look like you were waiting for me.”
Nick huffed. “No. But Victor was.”
“I’m not here to meet Victor,” Riggs said. “I’m supposed to talk to you.”
Nick huffed again, and the bear cub in his arms let out a snuffling growl. Nick began to sway back and forth as he rolled his fingers through the cub’s thick, black fur. The cub settled, and Nick turned his attention to the little boy in Victor’s arms.
“You okay, Gus-Gus?”
A little nod against Victor’s chest.
“You want Victor to be your friend today?”
Another nod.
“Cool. You hungry?”
This time a shake.
“Excellent. Puteri!”
The brownie popped into existence between them.
“Yes, alpha?”
“Can you take Jett to his bed for me? I think he’s feeling a little better. Bring him back if he doesn’t settle.”
“Yes, alpha.”
Puteri accepted the cub— who was honestly as big as she was— and the two of them vanished moments later.
“I will never get used to that,” Riggs rumbled.
Victor wouldn’t either. Brownie magic was… well, magical and unlike anything that existed in their realm. They were lucky to have her. She’d been charged with providing service to Nick’s brother, Sawyer, and his mates after a particularly nasty incident in the fae realm. No one ever discussed the details, but apparently a grave offense had been done to the Chosen One himself. Instead of holding a grudge, Sawyer had brought Puteri back to their realm and asked her to do this service for him. Victor had the impression that Sawyer’s actions had saved her life.
Nick didn’t seem bothered by the brownie’s show of power. He shrugged and began walking down the hall. Within moments, a young boy was at his side, his attention on a tablet clutched in his hands. He was older than Gus, the little guy in Victor’s arms. Victor guessed he was six or seven to Gus’s one or two. Nick didn’t say anything to the newcomer. He simply put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and continued walking. Victor and Riggs followed him.
“Nick?” Riggs said softly.
“Yeah, man? What’s up?”
“What was… wrong? With the bear cub?”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot Jett’s one of your kind. Growing pains, man. He was up all night. Poor little guy.”
Riggs grimaced. “I remember that. My mother used to put a special ointment on my joints. I can ask her for some.”
“That’d be great,” Nick said with a smile. “We appreciate any and all help.”
Nick led them into the kitchen, where a really gruff-looking man stood at the stove. A woman bustled around him, ignoring the grumbling complaints he barked out every other breath. If Victor didn’t know them both, he’d be worried, but Walt was a familiar fixture around the compound. He and his wife, Shelly, were part of the hellhound pack, even though Shelly was human, and they showed up frequently to help cook for the horde of mouths they had to feed daily.
“Walt, what’s cooking my friend?” Nick asked.
The little boy at Nick’s side lowered his tablet and stared adoringly at the cranky cook. No one other than Shelly stared adoringly at Walt. He’d made grown men cry with his stare. Victor had literally seen a dragon turn away from Walt with teary eyes after one of Walt’s infamous tongue-lashings.
“Was gonna make chicken tacos.”
“Yum,” Nick said. “I wouldn’t mind a taco.”
Walt huffed.
Shelly grinned over at them, then stared longingly at the little boy beside Nick. “Hey, Ryan. How are you today?”
Ryan shrugged.
“You forget your words?” Walt growled.
“No,” Ryan said softly.
“Good. Cause I need help. You gonna help?”
Ryan’s face lit up. “Yes.”
“Get over here then. What are you waiting for?”
Ryan shoved the tablet into Nick’s stomach and ran around the counter. Victor about passed out when the hellhound crouched down and pulled the boy into a gentle hug.
“Rough day?” Walt whispered.
Ryan nodded.
“Yeah. Me, too. Better now that you’re here. Wanna learn how to shred chicken?”
Ryan nodded again.
“Good. Let’s get to work. We’ve got people to feed.”
Walt lifted Ryan and carried him over to the sink where they began washing their hands. Nick nodded approvingly, put the tablet on the counter, and led the way out of the back door. He stretched and let out a yawn.
“What just happened?” Victor asked once the door closed behind them.
Nick grinned and began walking toward the construction area at the other side of the property. “Walt and Shelly figuring out that Ryan’s supposed to be theirs.”
Victor blinked, and Riggs coughed. “What’d you say?”
Nick scowled over at the big man. “What?”
“Walt? As in hellhound Walt? Terrifying, I will cut out your tongue if you don’t shut up Walt? That Walt? With a kid?”
Nick stopped moving, and his face took on the scary alpha expression he rarely used. “You doubt me?”
Even his voice was frightening. Gus raised his head.
“No,” Riggs said. “You say it’s okay, and I believe you. But Walt? Really? Man, he terrifies me. I went in the kitchen for a snack and he threatened to gut me. I about crapped my pants.”
Nick’s expression returned to his normal smirk, and he shrugged. “He’s not that scary.”
Victor couldn’t help it. He snorted out a laugh. Nick turned to glare at him, but it quickly faded.
“Fine. He’s a little scary. But not to Ryan, and that’s what matters. Now will you two shut up so w
e can get to work? I’ve got shit to do today.”
“Um, what about…” Victor glanced down at Gus before looking back to Nick.
“He likes you. It’s fine.”
“I need to work.”
“You will. Just with him. He doesn’t like a lot of people so this is important. Just shut up and do your part already, Vic. Sheesh. What? He too heavy for you? Your wee griffin arms too weak to—”
“Nick.” Victor glared out the rest of his protest and wasn’t at all surprised when he was ignored.
Nick laughed and kept walking. “That’s what I thought. Damn, it’s a beautiful day. Hey, you two met before?”
“No,” Riggs said.
“Right. I was supposed to introduce you. Jedrek reminded me this morning, but then I got distracted because… well, you can imagine how my mate distracted me.” Nick waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Not that they needed any clue. The alpha couldn’t keep his eyes, or his hands, off of his mate. “Anyway, Orson Riggs, this is Victor Eastaughffe. Riggs is the new foreman. Victor is the money man.”
Victor scowled. “Pardon me? I didn’t see a resume—”
“Met Riggs in town,” Nick said. “We took some of the older kids to the big library, and then we stopped by Mikey’s coffee shop for treats.”
“And you gave him a job?”
“Standing right here,” Riggs said.
“He passed the background check,” Nick said. “And the Puteri test. Plus, Robin likes him.”
And that was the vote that mattered. The little girl had her alpha wrapped around her fingers.
“Still right here,” Riggs complained.
Victor glared at him, uncaring that he was incredibly handsome beneath all that scruff with big brown eyes that seemed very kind even if his shirt suggested it needed to be washed. Those details didn’t matter. “What experience do you have? This job is of critical importance and the timeline can’t be altered. We have kids counting on—”
“Nick explained. I can handle it.”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “Besides, I talked to Eduard. He says you can stay here for a while until the construction is done. I told him we needed you on-site to make sure everything got handled the right way. Like I know shit about invoices and packing lists and whatever the fuck else all this shit entails.”
Nick was a lot smarter than he pretended to be. Victor knew it. Nick knew it. Nick knew Victor knew it. He glared at the alpha. Nick simply smirked. “I made my decision. You two are going to be working together for a while. So stop your bitching and get to it. I need an update.”
Victor made a mental note to strangle his cousin. Eduard knew he wouldn’t want to live at the compound, surrounded by all of the kids all of the time. It was enough to turn his hair from red to gray. He’d agreed to handle this project, but he’d never agreed to be constantly with the kids. Kids weren’t his thing. They were dirty and germy and needy. He had responsibilities. All of this stuff didn’t magically pay for itself, as much as Nick liked to pretend it did. It took the majority of his time to manage all of the moving pieces that went along with the orphans and their needs in addition to his familial duties, which now included managing his cousin’s finances along with that of his powerful mates. Victor didn’t have time to—
Gus raised his head and stared at him, bringing Victor’s mental tirade to a screeching halt. Blue eyes met his own, searching for something. Victor had no idea. He’d probably start crying again after realizing Victor wasn’t who he wanted after all.
“Juice, peas,” Gus said softly.
Victor sent a panicked glance toward Nick. The alpha huffed out a laugh and jogged back toward the door they’d just left. He returned a minute later with a small bag that he tossed to Riggs and a sippy cup that he handed to the little boy.
“Shouldn’t I, um, put him down?” Victor asked.
The hand with the dripping wet thumb grabbed his tie. Victor tried not to wince.
“No,” Gus said.
“Man, he really likes you,” Nick said. “Riggs, how many of these cottages are going to be ready by the end of the month? I want to start bringing in more potential parents, but no one’s leaving here with one of my kids until I know they’re gonna be able to handle it. I’ve gotta work out a process, but I need a place for ‘em to stay. And, you know, maybe live.”
Riggs began updating them on the different stages of completion on the dozen cottages currently being built on the property next door. He seemed competent, much to Victor’s surprise. The last foreman had done the first phase, which had basically involved prepping all of the plots for the infrastructure required for a building project of this magnitude. Water, electric, sewer, the roads. Before building could begin, all of the infrastructure had to be in place. Basically, they had to get it all laid out and ready for the houses to go up. As far as their permits were concerned, they were developing a subdivision, and that meant a lot of red tape on Victor’s end.
They’d found a competent foreman at the beginning of the project and had used a family connection of the griffins for the project design. The foreman had been on loan from his pack, even though they were paying him a pretty penny to be there. But then his pack had some issues and he’d been needed at home. Which left them with a spot which had been filled by this guy whom Victor had never even heard of.
How the hell could Nick trust a random stranger with this job? They had to get the cottages completed before they started finding parents for the cubs. It was Nick’s number one priority after taking care of the kids. He’d said from the beginning that he wanted to offer permanent places in his pack to any of the adoptive parents he found. He wanted to stay the alpha to the kids if he could, even though he knew some of them would go off into the world without him. Victor really didn’t want to be around the first time that happened, though.
He tore his thoughts away from that idea, ignoring the way his heart clenched at the thought. He needed to focus on this Riggs person and why Nick had decided he should be trusted with the job. They needed someone with experience. They needed someone highly skilled and very organized. And sure, he sounded competent. And he looked the part in his beat up jeans and dirty tan boots. But looks could be deceiving.
“Bear,” Gus said, pointing at Riggs.
“That’s right,” Nick said. “He’s a black bear. You’re not a black bear, though, are you Gus-Gus?”
Gus shook his head adorably. “Bed Banda.”
“Close enough, buddy. Red panda. It’s almost like a bear, right?”
Gus grinned and held out his juice cup to Nick.
“Man, you’re cute. Okay, I’ve gotta go help the teenagers with their reading class. They get a little testy so it’s better that I’m there to keep them calm when they get frustrated. Vic, can you get Riggs up-to-date on everything? Jed and I told him what we could, but I know you’ll have a million other things we didn’t even think of.”
“Sure. You going to take—?” Victor tried to peel Gus off of him but the little boy clung tighter.
“Nah, he’ll let you know when he’s done. Just call Puteri and she’ll bring him back. You can take him outside the wards, but only to the construction site. And, you know, if anything—”
“I’ll call Puteri. I promise.”
Nick nodded and bounded away. A group of older kids had gathered at the opposite end of the rec building and their alpha greeted each of them by name.
“Bird,” Gus said and pointed at Victor.
“Griffin,” Victor said.
“Fin,” Gus repeated. He held out his juice cup to Victor.
He really didn’t like kids at all. But he might be willing to make an exception just this once.
About the Author
Macy Blake believes in unicorns and fairies, in moonbeams and stardust, and that happily ever after comes in all colors of the rainbow. When she’s not busy at the day job, she loses herself in paranormal romance, living vicariously through her favorite sexy fictional heroes. These days yo
u can often find her pounding away at the keyboard, trying to capture the magic of her own worlds.
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www.macyblake.com
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Also by Macy Blake
The Chosen One
Sweet Nothings (prequel)
All or Nothing
Nothing Ventured
Next to Nothing
Nothing Gained
Stop at Nothing
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Hellhound Champions
Hell On Earth
Hell To Pay
Give Him Hell
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Triad of Magic
Mind Magic
Body Magic
Soul Magic
Mind Magic