Undesirable Mate

by Oliver, Lisa

  “In theory, definitely,” Pearson agreed. “Up until yesterday, we all thought like you did. Teric was another troubleshooter, as you know, and still has friends in the council buildings, so he was able to give us our first leads, but further investigation shows without doubt Malcom doesn’t like species-mixing in wolf packs. He didn’t intend on you finishing this mission either, just so you know. From emails we intercepted, sent to a cohort, it seems your death was deemed collateral damage.”

  Kellen heard Phillip growl beside him and he tightened the hand holding his mate’s knee. He knew the feeling, definitely, but now was not the time to lose composure.

  “You mean I was expected to find out about Devin, try to kill him, be killed in the process, and then what? It’s not as though I’m that important to anyone or anything before I came here.”

  “But your death would provide the catalyst needed for Malcom to send in troops, take out the wicked vampire and decimate our pack in the process. Sorry we’re late, Alpha, but I had to take a call.” It was Teric’s voice that Kellen heard and he half-turned in his chair, watching as Teric and Kyle came into the office, both of them sitting down quickly, Teric taking the chair next to Levi who smiled at him.

  Kellen had never had a lot to do with the cat-shifting assassin. The man had always kept to himself, barely ever made friends, and traveled a lot for his job. To find him in a pack situation, and apparently so at home there, was unusual to say the least.

  “Seems Malcom is old school,” Teric continued, scanning his notes and peering over Levi’s shoulder. “So he doesn’t believe gay shifters, or them finding their true mates is a natural occurrence either. That’s why he also had such a strong interest in Cam.”

  “I’m missing something here. Cam is a wolf shifter, an omega. He gets special treatment from the Council because of it, or he should have.” Kellen was confused, and that was leading to frustration, which was bordering on anger. It was bad enough hearing he was essentially sent on a suicide mission, but something wasn’t adding up.

  “It’s quite simple, from a wolf shifter perspective,” Pearson said, perhaps understanding how Kellen felt. “Wolfists, as I’m sure you know, believe wolves should only mate with wolves. Ace was one before he met Devin, which is quite ironic if you think about it. The Council was aware that Ace had threatened Teric for being a cat shifter in a wolf pack. However, we never bothered to tell them that since Ace has mated with Devin, he was reinstated in the pack, along with his new mate.”

  “What I found out last night,” Teric took up the tale, “was that apparently if Ace had tried to knock me off, the Council would have had a reason to come in here, again with force – either to avenge my death because of my position with them; or to kill me because I’d taken out Ace who is, of course, an innocent wolf shifter.”

  “But what does that have to do with Cam, your omega?” Kellen was sort of following along, but he was still finding it hard to believe that the Council, or parts of it, could act so totally against the laws laid down for all shifters and paranormals to live by.

  “When Cam got restitution from the New York coven, he became an exceedingly rich young man. Our whole pack has benefitted from that. Combined with Pearson’s and Devin’s net worth, without even considering the other property our pack members own, the value of the club grounds and things like that, this whole pack is considerably richer than others.”

  “But he should still be protected by the Council.” Kellen still wasn’t getting it. Oh, he could understand the little bits, but not how they all fit into one big picture.

  “You’re missing the point,” Pearson said patiently. “We never registered Devin formally as a pack member; well we did add him to our pack list, not by his full name or title, but we did note that he’s a vampire. He asked us not to divulge his age, status or anything else, and that was a fair request. It should never have been important to the Council anyway because I say who’s allowed in this pack and who isn’t. Cam was found by this pack, because he’s Roger’s mate, you’ve yet to meet either of them. He was abducted from here after the mating by two members of the New York coven; and when we went in and got him back, we informed the council in case there was any backlash against them. We got a restitution deal for Cam, which did in effect make this pack a whole lot richer and the Council was informed that the matter was settled, with no threat of reprisals from the vampires.”

  “What Malcom has done is simply take a number of random occurrences, all from within this pack, and used them for his own agenda,” Dante spoke up for the first time. He ticked off the points on his fingers. “He knows there’s a vampire in the pack, but not who. He knows we saved an omega from vampires. He wants this pack banished off the face of the earth because we’re gay, this pack is hard to get into, Pearson’s known affinity for male omegas, and because the Alpha doesn’t have a problem allowing other species into his pack, all of which tick his anger boxes. If he eliminates this pack, with all of us gay with no dependents, then all of the resources go to the Council, which for him would be an added bonus.”

  Kellen leaned back in his chair, his head running through the various scenarios in his head. Put in context, it was not surprising Councilor Malcom hadn’t answered his call. It wasn’t unusual for men in his position to be busy and Malcom would be assuming that Kellen was just following his orders like a good little soldier. Under normal circumstances, that’s exactly what he would have done. He’d never had a reason to care about the consequences of his actions – he was a troubleshooter, so he went in and took care of trouble. Only this time…

  “What do we do?” He asked. “I take it you have a plan.”

  “Have you spoken to your two body guards since you went to find Phillip last night?” Dante answered with a question of his own. Kellen felt his face heat up. The simple answer was no; he hadn’t bothered to contact the two men tasked with his safety since he’d gone off after Phillip. He’d left his friends trying to dig any dirt up on Councilor Malcom. He said as such to Dante.

  “Perhaps you could call them in here then,” Pearson said firmly. “If they have information we can use, swell. If not, we may have to confiscate their phones and computer equipment so that they don’t have an opportunity to report in to anybody.”

  “You want us all to go underground so to speak.”

  Pearson nodded. “What we expect is that if you and your men don’t get in touch within a few days, then the Council is going to be coming down on my neck, trying to work out what’s happened. They already expect Devin to kill you, which under normal circumstances I would have to report. However, if none of us say anything…”

  Kellen could see the soundness of the idea. “The Council would come here, or probably Malcom at least, seeing as no one else knows what’s going on, and we could deal with the threat because they’re on your territory. Sounds good.” Then a random thought ran through his head and he slapped his forehead in frustration.

  “Shit! Tristan knows I found my mate. Malcom knows he came on this trip. I sent him home with a giant chip on his shoulder. He’ll squeal louder than a fucked pig if he thinks it’d get me into trouble.”

  Beside him, Phillip growled, and even under trying circumstances, Kellen could admit it was impressive, and more than a little cock-stirring. What he didn’t understand was why Steel, Levi, Kyle, Teric and even the Alpha pair were smiling.

  Finally, Steel said in a voice that sounded like gravel. “We already spotted your ferret as a key leak. He’s definitely associated with Malcom. We…well, let’s just say he didn’t make it to New York. He’s kicking his heels down in the cells. I thought you might like to interrogate him. Turns out your cock wasn’t the only thing that was keeping him interested on this trip.”

  Kellen wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or pissed off. From the muttering going on beside him, he guessed which way Phillip had decided to go. He grimaced at Pearson. “You guys have been busy. How about we call in Cain and Prism, get an update from them
, and then my mate and I’ll go down and talk to the ferret. If you have no objections, of course.” Fuck, must remember Pearson is Alpha, no giving orders here.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Chapter Eleven

  There were times when Phillip wished the voice in his head had a mute button. As he was walking with Kellen down to the cells, he decided this was one of those times. They were headed down the long hallway in the basement; their footsteps were the only sound in the empty space – well that, and his inner voice.

  He’s gonna want that ferret as soon as he sees him, you know that, don’t you?

  That guy’s got everything going for him that you ain’t.

  How could you tie a man like Kellen to you for life – you know you’re just gonna disappoint him.

  When are you going to get it through your head that you ain’t worth anything. You should let Kellen go, let him have his ferret, let him…

  “Phillip. Phillip!” Strong hands gripped his biceps and Phillip found himself with his back to the wall, a worried Kellen in front of him.

  “Why are you stopping? Would you rather see your old fuck-buddy alone?” The wince on Kellen’s face made Phillip feel guilty and he wished he’d censored the words before they came out. His inner voice kept bitching.

  Of course he would – he ain’t gonna get blown if you’re pathetic ass is there, is he.

  “Knock it off! You’re thinking too hard. It’s not doing you a bit of good,” Kellen said firmly.

  “Well what do you…” Okay. He got it. The conversation was apparently over, and joy of joys it turned out that Kellen’s mouth was a mute switch, at least for his addled brain. As soon as their lips touched, every thought Phillip had went right out of his head. The harsh way Kellen devoured his mouth, the force of the man’s tongue checking out his gums, the hardness and heat of his mate’s body all combined to render Phillip mindless, and so freaking horny it hurt.

  “Don’t think I don’t know how hard this’ll be for you when we go in there. But not being there’ll fuck with your mind even more,” Kellen said when he finally finished his lip assault and seemed satisfied with what could only be a blissed-out expression on Phillip’s face. “You’re a fucking strong wolf shifter, with a possessive nature that rivals my own. But know this. No matter what I had with that little fuck, it was exactly that – a fuck-fest and nothing more. You, you are the best thing to ever happen to me and believe me, you’re worth far more to me than anyone I’ve ever been with.”

  Phillip felt his brain come online again and he half-wished it hadn’t. His inner voice could be a nasty bitch. But he needed to be sensible about this. Neither one of them were virgins. Phillip had screwed more than a few of the subs in the club and Kellen would have to handle that if it ever came up in conversation. And from what was said in Pearson’s office, Kellen had been played by the little shit, and he could imagine his mate wasn’t too happy about that.

  “All I’ll ever want from now on is you,” Kellen said, his voice a lot softer this time. “You don’t know me well enough to trust me yet, and only time will take care of that, but know this. The moment I took one whiff of your scent, Tristan was dead to me, as was anyone else that I’ve had my cock in before.”

  “Is that supposed to be romantic?” If so, Kellen could probably do with a few tips; although it was kinda sweet.

  “Did it work?” It wasn’t so much the words but the hopeful expression on Kellen’s face that had Phillip smiling.

  “We’ll work on it,” Phillip promised, giving Kellen’s chest a little push. It was like trying to shift a tank. “Let’s go sort out your little ferret friend, because Pearson is waiting on our report, and then I’ll show you the suite I use when I stay at the club.”

  “And a meal?” Kellen said as he moved back, but he put his arm across Phillip’s shoulder as they headed for Tristan’s cell. “I plan on needing energy later.”

  “You’ll need it if you want me to claim you,” Phillip said with a lot more sass than he felt. He hadn’t missed the flash of shock on Kellen’s face when Pearson had mentioned it. Somehow he felt it might be quite some time before he and Kellen had a double claiming. But his mate surprised him yet again.

  “It’s definitely on the agenda.”

  Well, fuck me with a feather duster, I might just get double lucky tonight. There was a spring in Phillip’s step as the two men entered Tristan’s cell.

  /~/~/~/~/

  Kellen wanted to spit in disgust at the picture his former bedmate made as he opened the door of the cell – the little opportunist clearly planned to use his God-given talents on anyone who walked in the door. Tristan was dressed in nothing but a bright purple thong, the same color as his hair, leaving nothing to the imagination. Sprawled across the single mattress, his smooth tanned legs bent and his feet flat; if Tristan coughed both he and Phillip would have a clear view of his asshole, which was probably plugged. A casual arm flung over his eyes, gave the impression that Tristan had been caught sleeping; but Kellen had fallen for that ruse before, and wasn’t about to again.

  “Lost an argument with the washing machine, or sacrificed your clothes in a bid for freedom?” he asked, staying well away from the bed. He swung a chair that sat at a small table around, and straddled it. Phillip did the same thing with the other chair, and Kellen found himself hypnotized by the flex of Phillip’s ass and legs as the man got himself settled. How could he have ever thought the fling he had with Tristan was enough?

  “Kellen. Sweetheart. You came.” Tristan wore the mask of fake shock well, his hand moving from his face, to cup his balls, ostensibly to cover them, but all that move did was push them out and make them more obvious. There was a time, not that long ago, when Kellen would have pounced on a brazen move like that; but now his stomach soured at the thought this little slut had played him for a fool.

  “Have you finally come to get me out of here?” Tristan added, sitting up, and crossing his legs when he noticed Kellen hadn’t responded to his first bid for attention. The boy was a good actor, there was no other word for it, and yep, he was wearing the red plug that Kellen had shown a fancy for. “Honestly, I have no idea what this pack thinks they’re doing; but they accosted me, Kellen, accosted me, after you assured me that I’d be safe. Why the hell did you leave me to fend for myself in a pack of heathens?”

  A rumble sounded from deep in Phillip’s chest, and it crossed Kellen’s mind that his sweet mate had been doing a lot of growling since they’d got to the club. Kellen decided that anger was a better look on his mate than despair, but they needed a diplomatic approach when handling a ferret. He decided to play the fool and see what came out. He just hoped Phillip trusted him enough to play along.

  “I didn’t ask you to come with me, Tristan. I explained I’d be busy in meetings all day and that you’d get bored. Did you upset someone on your way to the car?”

  Tristan snorted and waved his hand. “Oh you and your tricks, you funny, funny man. I know you were just trying to rile me up yesterday. You didn’t really mean for me to leave you. But now you’re here we can all go. Let’s get out of here, grab your goons and the four us head back to New York, okay? Face it, this place has nothing going for it.”

  “I can’t do that, Tristan. You know that. I’m here on a job, a very important case for the Council. I just don’t understand why you got yourself locked up. Cain said he got you packed and you were on your way back home. What the hell happened?”

  “Ha!” Tristan said loudly. “Your buddies don’t do what you tell them. They just brownnose when you’re in the room. Cain tried to rape me while I was getting a few things together; not for the first time I might add.”

  Kellen knew that was a lie – Cain and Prism were too honorable, hated Tristan and frankly wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole even if he was begging them. More likely Tristan tried to seduce Cain and got rebuffed. If Tristan had a genuine case against his best friend, then he wouldn’t have mentioned them all going back t
o New York together.

  “I shifted and managed to escape, but then Prism caught me and threw me out of the room with no clothes on. None of my stuff, nothing except this thong. The guard must have thought something fishy was going on and locked me up down here. Oh Kellen,” Tristan squeezed out some tears. “It’s been just awful. Why didn’t you try to find me? I was stuck here all night. I’m cold, I’m hungry and I just want to go home.”

  Phillip coughed out something that sounded suspiciously like “fucking liar” and gracefully swung to his feet, moving to the other side of the cell. He peered over the small dividing wall that gave the illusion of privacy if a prisoner needed to use the facilities, and a smile blossomed over his face. He reached over and snagged a bag; Tristan’s bag.

  “These the clothes that Prism kept? You’d probably be warmer if you put them on,” he said with an evil grin, throwing the bag at Tristan’s head. The ferret caught it easily, and hurriedly dumped it on the floor.

  “I didn’t know they were there.” Tristan threw Phillip a dirty look, but when his face turned back to Kellen he was all doe-eyed. “So can we go now? Have you cleared it with the Alpha? Can we get out of this place?”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Kellen said. “I told you, I’ve got a job to do. Councilor Malcom would be pissed at me if I didn’t follow instructions and you know how important my job is to me.”

  “More important than me?” Tristan wailed, the man’s eyes squeezed tight as he tried to force tears. “You’ve got to get me out of here. These wolves, they’re crazy, or evil or something. They’re probably waiting for the next pack run and then they’ll force me to shift, hunt me down and eat me.”

  To Kellen’s surprise, Phillip laughed. “Eat you? The pitiful mouthful you’d make wouldn’t be worth the effort.”