Half-Breed

by Marcia Colette

  Vaughn brought his left hand up to his chest and flashed a gold band around his ring finger. “Surprised? You two aren't the only ones living in wedded bliss."

  Matt laughed and embraced me. “I think disappointed is more like it."

  "Oh, shut up,” I said, slapping him on the arm.

  Instead of giving us the grand tour, Vaughn and Aiyana led us upstairs to the second floor where the majority of the bedrooms waited. Equally spaced wall fixtures would light up the oak hallway at night. During daylight hours, tall windows at opposite ends of the house let in plenty of light to illuminate the floor. The house looped around from one corner to another corridor that couldn't be seen from the staircase. The same lights, photographic art, and hard wood floors adorned the hall.

  Our guest room was a corner room, which meant a lot more space than I realized. The huge room had hardwood floors around the edges and a huge cranberry Persian rug at the center. All the mahogany furniture was carved with a vine-like pattern and had the same lemony fresh scent as the downstairs. The same cranberry pattern covered the curtains of windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling. A shimmering gray comforter and multiple matching pillows decorated a king size bed. The room also came with its own fireplace and flat screen television hanging just above it.

  Matt claimed the desk by putting his laptop there. I claimed a dark gray lounge chair by relaxing on it. Feeling like the rich and famous for a few days would be the vacation we'd never had. I couldn't wait to make love to Matt in our bedroom that befitted royalty. Too bad there wasn't a rope to summon a servant.

  Before Vaughn and Aiyana left, they invited us to come down and enjoy the food and music since they just got the barbecue pit going. Twiddling my fingers, I watched as they closed the door, Aiyana giving me a wink before disappearing from sight.

  "This place is great!” I shouted, throwing myself on top of the plush duvet.

  Matt strolled away from the huge window and bounced down beside me. “I could live here forever.” He slid his hands behind his head and rested on his back.

  "Hold on.” Propping up on my elbows, I looked down at him. “What happened to us having our own home?"

  "We're still getting our own house. I just think we should live closer to the den is all.” He stared at me before reaching up to remove a strand of hair from my face. “Baby, what's wrong?"

  "You've had more time to get attached to everyone than I have. Sometimes I wonder if you really want a house to call our own.” I fell back on the firm mattress, looking up at the textured ceiling. “Don't get a house because of me. I want you to want it, too."

  Matt turned over so that part of his body rested on top of mine. “I want a house because I can't see us living any other way. This place is great, and I'm sure we'll always have a room here. But I can't live in a room with you. It's like nails on a chalkboard; we both need space. A house means more than stability; it means freedom. Besides, we're still planning to have kids, so we'll need the room."

  I smiled. “Then we had better start looking soon, because I wouldn't mind living closer to the den, either."

  "Are we still getting woods out back?” Matt slipped his hand under my shirt, rubbing skin against skin.

  "Lots of woods and three to four bedrooms for the kids. And house guests, of course."

  "We better look for a bigger living room, too. We didn't make it as far as dishing out bedrooms the last time Stephan and Aiyana stayed over.” His hand came to the hourglass shape of my side, fingers creeping around to my lower back.

  "I sort of like having company over."

  "As long as they don't come over when we're romping around the house naked and watching Saturday morning cartoons."

  I started getting up. “We should go before we get too comfortable."

  Matt shoved me back on the springy mattress. “Shut up and kiss me before I hurt you.” He lowered his head for a kiss and moved his hand up to my breasts. Consecrating our room must have consumed his thoughts too.

  * * * *

  After getting lost in the mansion for a good ten minutes, we finally figured out how to get to the backyard. We stepped onto the covered patio and entered into a surreal, utopian world. Groups of two or more huddled together in various parts of the backyard, sipping their beverage of choice and talking up a storm. Approximately three dozen adults joked and laughed as though they didn't have a care in the world, enjoying themselves in their garden paradise. Small children ran through the yard while five teens hovered off to the side underneath a tree. An enormous barbecue pit had smoke billowing in the air. A man with a wide back and smoke gray hair turned quarter-profile to a table beside to him and picked up a plate stacked with T-bone steaks.

  Beyond the crowd was a small pond where large gold fish swam and children poked at the water. A little boy around six or seven stopped chasing a little girl around the same age and threw his frog back into the water. The little girl sneaked up behind him dangling a worm and another chase ensued. Heaven help them when puberty hits and they experience their first change. If they were lucky maybe it would wait until they were sixteen.

  Surrounding the back and sides of the manicured lawn was a lush forest. From where we stood on the patio, I couldn't tell how far back it went. But from the looks of the den, it wouldn't surprise me if it covered more than the three hundred acres Seth claimed.

  "There you two are,” Isabella said as she approached us. She wore a yellow shirt, tight enough to show off her cleavage, and matching pants. She kissed my cheek before Matt could plant a kiss on her lips. “I was wondering when the two of you would come down and be social. There are many people you have to meet.” She grasped my hand, leading me away from the patio.

  I looked at Matt, who trailed behind us, smiling and shrugging his shoulders.

  Before I could turn, a small African-American child bumped into my legs and fell backwards on the grass. He couldn't have been more than three years old. Tiny dimples appeared on his chubby cheeks, enhancing the features of his thick eyelashes, dark curly hair, and medium brown complexion. I knelt down, smiling and offering my hand. He placed his tiny hand in mine. Once he got on his feet, he rubbed his cheek against my face. A strange tingle stood the hairs on the back of my neck on end. He carefully balanced himself while snuggling his entire face into a tuft of my hair, seeking out my scent. Small, silken lips and a tiny nose tickled my neck, enticing me to snuggle into him. I tipped over and fell forwards, taking him down with me. We both laughed.

  "Quentin,” Vaughn shouted as he made his way across the lawn. Chuckling to himself, he glanced at us shaking his head. “Boy, what am I going to do with you? Already hittin’ on the womenfolk.” He reached down and lifted little Quentin onto his shoulders and offered me a hand. “I guess you don't think this is my son and the young lady over there under the tree is my daughter."

  "Vaughn,” Matt chuckled, “you've got more secrets than anyone I know."

  He snorted. “Does that include your wife?"

  The smile fell off my face. If that was meant to be a joke, I sure as hell didn't find it amusing.

  "Sorry about that,” he said. “Didn't mean to drag the skeletons out of the closet when we're supposed to be having a good time. Like your wife, my daughter has me at a loss."

  "Why?” I asked out of honest curiosity.

  Vaughn sighed and shifted the beaming toddler on his thick shoulders. “Kids. She's thirteen years old and already letting human kids have an influence on her. Her mother won't tolerate it and neither will I."

  "She's at that stage,” Matt said, making it a statement as he gazed in her direction.

  The teenaged girl had beautiful eyes and high cheekbones. She stood about as tall as me, long legs making up most of her lean body. Where most women had breasts that filled out and a rounded rump to fill up the sag in their pants, she had flatness. Standing with the other teens her age, she glanced back at her father and stiffened her chin into a half smile. A look that said she tried to get al
ong, but she was not quite fitting in with the others. Between the long lashes that brought out eyes like her little brother's and the straight hair that came an inch past her shoulders, she reminded me of the teens on those Disney Channel shows. Normal and unassuming.

  "She hasn't had her first menses yet,” Vaughn said. “But that's not the problem.” He dropped his attention as an intense look traversed his face. “Colleen's human."

  Okay, my turn to drop a jaw. If this man hit me with any more surprises I'd fall flat on my face. “But you're ... Isn't your wife ... Aren't you two...?"

  Matt glanced around the backyard. “Where's your wife, by the way?"

  "She's out on one of her ‘Ansel Adams’ trips, as you called it. Doing some shots for a calendar in Yellowstone National Park."

  "Well, it looks like you two have a new friend already,” Isabella said. She looked up at Quentin. Standing on her tip toes, she stretched her arm to tickle the bottom of his shoeless little foot. “And I can see you've started your integration with the sweetest little morsel of all."

  Quentin broke out in laughter and lifted his feet away from her.

  Isabella wrapped her arm around mine. “Vaughn, would you mind showing Matt around while I take Alexa? These two spent the last four years of marriage constantly together and it's time they learned to separate."

  I wanted to continue that conversation with Vaughn, but I knew better than to pick at a scab. He tried to hide pain behind those eyes. That much I could tell from his body language. I doubt having a human daughter shamed him or anything, because werewolves were too fond of their children. But maybe bringing a human daughter into this world hurt him more than anything he could have imagined. As nosy as I wanted to be, I shrugged it off and went with the flow.

  Isabella brought me to meet several women, all of whose names I couldn't remember to save my life. Recalling who was a member of the Georgia Pack and who wasn't made things even worse. Two pure-blood members of the house had family visiting from out of town. Since they were in the last days of their vacation, the pack wanted to give them a nice send off. Other than myself being half human and Colleen being all human, there were three other humans in the crowd, whom Isabella informed me knew nothing about the pack. I guess they bent the rule regarding familial humans lingering around the house and grounds. I conversed with the humans—getting in touch with my human side and all—until someone called me over and introduced me to another person. Several times, I scanned the backyard looking for Matt. He spent a good portion of his time sitting around the picnic tables and having beers amongst the fellas. He fit in so well and so fast that it made me a tad jealous, but yet, thrilled to see him interacting with a pack again.

  When the food came off the grill, hoards of people gathered around the buffet table. Matt volunteered to get plates for us while I scoped out a place to eat. Strangers ribbed me about my human appetite when they got the scoop from Stephan and Aiyana on our first meeting. Matt returned to a spot where I had a blanket spread out underneath a tree. Others wandered by asking if there was enough room, because the picnic tables filled up fast. We unfolded more of the blanket and made room as more people stopped by. Someone got another blanket and laid it out right next to ours, inviting more people over for our picnic lunch. I couldn't believe the sense of family they had. This place really was a heaven on earth.

  "Who did Seth throw out of the pack?” I asked. I really wanted more information about Vaughn, but my instincts warned me to leave it alone.

  "His twin brother,” Stephan replied. “It happened about seven or eight years ago. Hugh fell in love with Isabella to the point that he started stalking her. When Seth told him to back off, Hugh found his kicks in prostitutes and strip bars. He only slept with women that looked like Isabella. When they turned him down, his rage got the better of him and he ended up killing them. The police traced him all the way back here, but Seth wouldn't give up his brother to the law even if it was just to question him."

  "They must have had enough evidence to search the grounds,” Matt said, then shoved a sticky barbecue rib in his mouth

  "They did. Once the police searched the house and grounds, they assumed he had skipped town and gone back to London. When Hugh made contact, Seth told him not to come back. Excommunicating someone is hard enough, but when it's your own brother, it deadens something inside."

  "He condemned his brother to a life on the run,” I surmised. “Been there, done that, ain't going back. So is that why Seth's so aloof?"

  "He's always been like that,” Aiyana said. “I think he's gotten worse since then. Seth goes running with us sometimes, but he doesn't take part in any of the practical jokes or sports like he used to. He isn't much for muscles, but he's the best football player in the house. Hugh was the biggest practical joke player, though. Since his absence from the pack, Seth doesn't participate in much of anything anymore."

  "His good sense is another reason,” Jared said.

  He sat next to Matt. I remembered his name because this was the Jared who my husband defended in court. Here was a clean-cut guy who wore his auburn hair a little long and had average muscle build underneath. He was a network administrator for Georgia Power who wanted to buy up houses and rent them out using the allowance his rich parents gave him once a month. From his expensive gold watch and pinkie ring, I'd say his parents bent over backwards trying to please their spoiled brat.

  "Seth isn't a wuss like you,” Evan said, lying on his stomach, plate stacked with more meat than anyone else's. He didn't seem to notice that his long brown ponytail had draped into his food and picked up barbecue sauce on the ends.

  Jared threw a roll at him. Evan snatched it out of the air and thanked him for the extra food. Not saying a word, Jared got up, approached Evan, and yanked him off the blanket by the ankles. Evan rolled, taking the chicken leg from his own mouth, and thrusting it in Jared's face. The two tussled until Jared came out on top and Evan's arm locked behind his back, waiting for him to shout “uncle” before he stopped.

  Danielle, who sported a blond French braid half way down her back, approached them. She had a bottle of hot sauce in her hand, and was trying to force it down Evan's throat. Stephan got up and joined in the fun by tickling Evan on the sides and getting him to open his mouth long enough that they could pour the bottle down his throat.

  This type of behavior I expected from the kids, but when it came to roughhousing and acting up, there weren't any age requirements around here. I almost wanted to help, but given how powerful they were they'd crush me before I could get my hands on anyone.

  Danielle finally got the hot sauce down Evan's throat. Everyone dove off him. He jumped to his feet, pink puffy eyes tearing, spitting up hot sauce. He ran to the table with all the drinks and started loading up on the bottled water. The whole backyard burst out in laughter as he guzzled one after another.

  "Serves him right,” Danielle said. She sauntered over to the blanket and sat down in front of Evan's abandoned plate. “Do you know how long I've been trying to get back at him for putting spiders in my drawers? It took me a week before I could shake the thought of eight legs crawling around in my underwear."

  Danielle had dazzling blue eyes to go with her model-like curves. She wasn't much in the chest area, but she had a pretty face and an easygoing attitude. Like most of the pack, she was a full-blood. While her parents ran the spa in Savannah, she worked as the assistant manager at the spa's café.

  "Who's that?” I asked, “The blond leaning against the tree talking to Vaughn."

  Aiyana stretched her neck up. “That's Adam. You guys have been married longer than he's been a werewolf."

  Vaughn put his hand around the back of Adam's neck and led him away. His blond hair brushed the top of his shoulders, a natural part down the middle giving him a tunnel vision effect. His blue eyes looked exactly like Danielle's, but Aiyana would have said something if they were related. He had broad shoulders and wonderful muscle tone underneath. He glanced at me before
walking away, hanging his head low.

  "Is he in trouble with Vaughn?” I stuck my fork in Matt's plate, grabbing a piece of his T-bone steak.

  "I hope not,” Stephan said. “Vaughn is his mentor while he's here."

  "Mentor?"

  "Aren't you a nosy busybody?” Matt said, swiping his finger across my nose.

  I smiled. “Mind your own business, you creep. This is an educational moment in pack dynamics.” Boy, was that stretching it, even if I say so myself.

  Stephan chuckled. “She's got a point, Matt. Anyway, Adam's on probation in the house and with the human law. He spent some time in prison. A month after he got out, a werewolf bit him."

  "What was he in for?"

  "Grand theft at the age of fifteen and tried as an adult. He would have gotten out sooner, but he got in more trouble while he was there and ended up killing his cell mate."

  Well, this pack was just a pack of intrigue, wasn't it? Thank goodness I wasn't the only delinquent around here.

  Chapter 25

  While everyone sat around waiting for the food to finish being digested, someone brought up the idea of a soccer game. I sat the game out for health reasons. After witnessing everyone ganging up on Evan, I decided I valued my attached limbs more. When I saw how rough it got, I knew that sitting out of the game was the smartest thing I did all day. Their idea of soccer included driving your opponent into the dirt and doing whatever it took to get the ball in the goal.

  The back door opened and Adam stepped onto the patio. He leaned against the wall a few feet from me and scanned the playing field. It seemed as though he isolated himself, rather than being isolated by the pack. The minutes ticked by as he watched from the sidelines, making no attempts at joining in the fun.

  "Why don't you jump in?” I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun.

  He shrugged and shook his head. “Nah. They're having more fun without me."

  His voice sounded nothing like the hard-edged, prison gruffness I expected. It was smooth and shy, a friendly jock voice that could have raked in millions of dollars in television commercials. It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up being the loner in prison who had nothing to do with the crowd and kept his back against the wall. How he survived, I didn't know.