by Lynn Hagen
“In jail,” Keata answered.
“What!” Melonee pressed her hands over her stomach as she gaped at Keata. Everything seemed to be falling apart at a rapid rate. “Why is he in jail?” There would be no talking reason with her dad if his mate was behind bars. Maverick had to be spitting mad right now. Melonee ground her back teeth and wondered if she was going to have the happily ever after everyone else had or if she was doomed to a life of madness. All she had ever wanted was the happiness she saw in the other couples. Was that asking for too much? Was wanting a family of her own with two loving mates not in her cards? It seemed she had hurdles the size of the Empire State Building to jump over and they kept getting larger by the day. She ached inside to have a life with her mates, in this house, with her family.
But it didn’t seem like she was going to get her wish.
She strode across the room and yanked the scarf out of Fire’s mouth. “How much do you owe those bastards?”
Fire raked his eyes over her from head to toe, and then back up again. “I see why Ruttford kept you all to himself.”
“If you don’t answer me, I’ll gift wrap your crude butt and hand you over myself to those henchmen. Now tell me how much you owe.”
“Fifty thousand dollars, sweet cheeks.”
Melonee felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She didn’t have that kind of money. Hell, she didn’t even have a fourth of it. “How did you rack up that kind of debt?”
“Let me go and I’ll show you.”
“Be nice!” Johnny growled at the man. “Or I’ll kick your butt.”
“Where are we going to find that kind of money?” Melonee asked.
“Honey, if you can come up with fifty grand, I can use it to—”
Melonee shoved the scarf back into his mouth. “First of all, I’m not your honey or your sweet cheeks. It seems you need a lesson in how to treat a woman. Secondly, your days of gambling are over.”
That was if Fire lived past Maverick trying to kill him. She turned back to Carter. “Why is Cecil in jail?”
Carter dipped his head toward Fire. “For trying to get this asshole back here. Fire was at an illegal boxing match. The police raided it, and Cecil, Blair, and Oliver were arrested.”
Melonee hadn’t known about Blair and Oliver being there. Kota and Micah were going to kill Ruttford. She just knew it. As soon as they found out it was Ruttford’s brother who had caused all of this, they would find a way to blame her mate. A sudden heart-stopping thought occurred to her. “Does Maverick know it was because of Ruttford’s brother?”
“Unless Cecil said something, no,” Carter answered.
She knew Cecil wouldn’t rat her out, which made her feel all the worse for what was going on. She had to get him out of the clinker. “Where are they being held?”
“New York,” Carter answered and then told her where in New York. Melonee had an urge to deck Fire for this. It was bad enough she was dealing with an irate dad over her mating. Fire had to go and make things worse.
“Keep him hidden,” she said as she walked from the room. Maybe she could sneak out with her mates and go to New York and rescue the three. There had to be a way to get them released and the charges dropped.
Melonee froze when she saw Adam walking toward Maverick’s office, Ruttford close behind. What in the dickens were they up to? Her dad would eat them alive in the mood he was in right now.
She took off down the hall, but didn’t reach them in time as Adam walked into Maverick’s office. Melonee wanted to scream in frustration. Was the man insane? She was about to lose the damn human before she even got to know him.
Coming to a halt outside Maverick’s office door, she stood there holding her breath. Ruttford stayed by the door, leaning against the wall. When Melonee glanced at him, Ruttford just shrugged his shoulders.
“I demand that you let me go,” Adam said as he stormed over to Maverick’s desk. Her dad was sitting in his usual position—feet on desk, hands clasped across his stomach, only his eyes were dark, lethal.
Maverick studied Adam, his eyes darkening further, telling Melonee he was at the edge already. “I suggest you go back to your room, human. Count your blessings that you are still breathing.”
“Do you know who I am?” Adam asked in a tight, angry voice. “There will be people looking for me when they don’t hear from me.”
Melonee flew forward and yanked on Adam’s arm when Maverick slowly stood, murder in his light-grey eyes. “Apparently you don’t know who I am,” he thundered as his eyes shifted to wolf and his canines slid from their sheath. Melonee truly feared for Adam at the moment. She could tell by the tic in Maverick’s jaw that he was about to eviscerate her mate. “Tell me, Adam Nyte, why did you come to Brac Village?”
Adam swallowed and took a step back, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. “You’re not a fairy.”
Maverick growled.
Melonee yanked on Adam.
Ruttford cursed and came to their side.
“What did you call me?” Maverick asked as he began to walk around his desk. Melonee pushed Adam into Ruttford’s arms.
“Get him out of here!”
“Not before he answers my damn question,” Maverick said low and with lethality in his voice. “Why did you come here, Adam?”
Melonee turned, glancing at her human mate, waiting for the answer.
Adam stood, spine straight, locking eyes with Maverick. “I came to buy the town out so Kenyon Corporation could level it and build a shopping mall and luxury homes.”
Melonee felt as if her world had just shattered at her feet. No, this couldn’t be true. Her mate hadn’t deceived her. He just couldn’t have. She saw the green bleed from Ruttford’s eyes as he released Adam, staring at him as if the human had sliced his heart out.
“Tell me, Mr. Nyte,” Maverick continued. “Does Brac Village seem like a prime location for what Kenyon Corporation plans to do? We are way off the beaten path, not easily accessible. Why would a large corporation want this land?”
“It is not my job to ask why,” Adam answered. “I seal the deal for companies looking to acquire certain properties.” Adam didn’t sound as confident as he had a few seconds ago. Melonee was wondering where Maverick was going with this. She knew her dad and knew he was leading up to something.
“It should be your job,” Maverick replied. “You should know when you are getting into bed with the devil.”
“What did you do?” Melonee asked her mate. “What have you done to us?”
Adam glanced her way. “Nothing. I took on a contract. There was nothing special or different about it.”
“I haven’t lived as long as I have without knowing a few things,” Maverick said, moving closer to Adam until he was towering over the man. Melonee knew she should save her mate, but she was rooted to the spot, fear of what Adam had done paralyzing her.
“It’s just a midsized corporation that wants to buy this land,” Adam defended.
“No,” Maverick said as he shook his head. “We’ve been investigating Mr. Kenyon for some time, Adam. He may own Kenyon Corporation, but he is also the head leader of the vampire hunters, and you have just invited him to Brac Village.”
Chapter Twelve
Maverick took in deep breaths, telling himself he couldn’t kill his daughter’s mate, no matter how badly he wanted to. The Ultionem had already met when Maverick had discovered what was in Adam’s briefcase.
He had told Micah and Ludo to find out what they could about Adam Nyte, and the two sentries had gone through the human’s belongings to find the files on everyone in Brac Village. The Ultionem had voted against Maverick killing Adam—which he was still debating on whether he should listen to the other leaders or not.
What they had to figure out was how to get Mr. Kenyon’s eye off of Brac Village. Adam’s files were pretty damn detailed. That meant the head vampire hunter knew more than he should about Maverick and his town.
“Did you just say vamp
ires?” Adam asked as he turned a little pale. “I could have sworn you just said vampires.”
“You’re a goddamn idiot,” Ruttford snapped at Adam. “Do you know what you’ve done?”
Even though Maverick wanted to pound Ruttford into the floor every time he either heard the man’s name or laid eyes on him, he liked that the elf knew how grave the situation was. He would never tell Ruttford that, though.
He would rather be beheaded than admit that Ruttford had just gained a small grain of respect from him.
“But he said vampire,” Adam repeated. “And what’s with his teeth?” Adam waved toward Maverick.
“You have no clue what’s going on here, Adam,” Melonee said. “You have no idea the crap you just stepped into. If Mr. Kenyon confirms his suspicion, Brac Village will be crawling with vampire hunters. What if he finds out there are more than vampires in the world? What if he finds out about the different preternatural creatures? We are so screwed.”
Maverick could hear the hurt in Melonee’s voice and knew she was still reeling from Adam’s betrayal. He wanted to gut the man for making his little girl angry. And she wondered why he was so against her mating these idiots.
Everyone thought him dimwitted in this house, which pissed Maverick off. He knew about Ruttford’s brother being held in one of the rooms. Did they think he wasn’t aware what went on under his roof?
Right now he would deal with Adam.
Then he would deal with Ruttford.
Then he would deal with everyone else who thought he was a fucking idiot.
“How could you do this to me, Adam, to us?” Melonee yelled as she fisted her hands at her sides. “How could you come into our town and think you could destroy it? What kind of monster are you? Don’t you know how hard it was to build this place up, to make jobs for the townspeople relying on my dad for their income? Who in the hell are you to come in here thinking you can take that away from us? You are one sneaky bastard, and I’m starting to regret mating you!”
That, Maverick hadn’t known about. He threw his head back and howled as the three stared at him for a second and then took off from his office. He felt his timber wolf trying to break free as he tore from his office and chased them down.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!Ruttford could already feel his balls being torn from his body as he raced to get away from the alpha. He had told Melonee over and over again she needed to work on her subtlety.
And he couldn’t even shimmer his ass out of here.
“What’s going on?” Hawk asked as he walked out of the den.
“Maverick just found out we mated Melonee!” Ruttford shouted as he and Adam followed Melonee down the hall, racing to get away from Satan. He could hear Hawk curse as they rounded a corner and kept going.
“Wait!” Melonee shouted as she came to a skidding halt. “He’s not going to kill us.”
“Us?” Ruttford asked in astonishment as his eyes flickered toward the hallway he knew Maverick was coming down.
“Okay, me, but he won’t kill you two because I’ve mated you.”
“Are you willing to bet our lives on that?” Adam asked, looking as if he were about to faint.
“You are still in the doghouse,” Melonee snapped. “How could you?”
“I didn’t know you when I took the damn contract,” Adam defended. “And I sure as hell didn’t know about vampires and…what is Maverick?”
“A timber wolf shape-shifter that you just pissed off,” Ruttford said. “I can hold my own, able to defend myself in a fight, but even I’m terrified of that man. Do you know how damn big he is in his wolf form?” And Ruttford couldn’t shimmer out.Fuck.
The three spun around when they heard nails clicking on the wooden floor. Ruttford swallowed when he saw Maverick slowly come around the corner…in his wolf form. His head was hung low, his grey eyes filled with murder and locked onto Ruttford.
Pushing Melonee and Adam behind him, Ruttford stood in front of them, his arms out wide. “You can kill me, Maverick, but I won’t let you hurt them.”
The hallway seemed to flood with sentries as they surrounded Maverick. The wolf gave a low, warning growl, but the sentries didn’t budge.
“You can’t kill them,” Storm said as he stood in front of Ruttford. “Trust me, you’ll regret it in the morning.”
Maverick snapped his jaws at Storm, but never took his eyes off of Ruttford.
“You have to let her grow up,” Gunnar said. “You can’t keep her under your thumb forever.”
Maverick whipped his head toward the sentry, his growl growing deeper.
“Think about this,” Remi warned. “As badly as you want to mount their balls on your wall, youwillregret it.”
Ruttford tried to keep Melonee behind him, but she shoved her way forward, dropping to her knees in front of the extremely large wolf, cupping Maverick’s face. Ruttford couldn’t breathe. She looked so small compared to Maverick.
“I love you, Dad. You took me in and gave me a home, showed me what being a part of this family was all about.” Melonee ran her hands through his fur. “I’ll always love you for that. I remember getting into so much trouble with you, the pranks we pulled, the fun we had staying up late and watching horror flicks.” Melonee wiped at her eyes and then hugged him. “I may be grown up now and mated, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still get into trouble and watch late-night movies. I want to live under your roof, but I can’t if you don’t accept my mates.”
Maverick nuzzled her neck and then moved forward to stand in front of Ruttford. He snapped his jaws, a loud growl rumbling up from his chest. Ruttford just knew he was about to be eaten. Maverick’s head was level with his. To stand there and stare the alpha in his face was truly terrifying. The fur around his muzzle crinkled as he bared his teeth.
It was not comforting that Maverick’s ears were laid back. Ruttford knew for a fact that meant the wolf was about to attack.
To his surprise, the horse-size wolf backed away. Ruttford wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or brace himself for an attack. He wasn’t taking shit for granted right now. He nearly collapsed in relief when Maverick disappeared around the corner.
“Go sit in the den until we are sure he isn’t going to kill you,” Kota said as the sentries strode away.
“What…in the fuck…was that?” Adam asked from behind Ruttford.
“My dad in a very pissed-off mood,” Melonee snapped as she walked away.
Adam sat on the suede sofa, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this mess. When he had accepted the contract from Kenyon Corporation, he had no clue he was being used. It was all clear to him now. The reason the files were incomplete was because Les and Mr. Kenyon hadn’t a clue what was going on here. They had wanted Adam to fill in the blanks.
He was nobody’s lackey. Adam didn’t appreciate being used this way, any kind of way. But he wasn’t sure if saying he was nullifying the contract would work in this situation. There were bigger players here than Adam had ever come up against.Vampire hunters? Really?
And what in the hell had Maverick turned into? Ruttford had said that Melonee’s dad was a wolf shifter, butthatdid not look like any wolf Adam had ever seen on television. He was so big that he looked like he could have swallowed them whole. Adam had never been that damn scared in his life.
And Kenyon had sent him here like a sheep to the slaughter. How in the hell was he going to get out of this?
“Who are you?”
Adam looked up to see twin boys staring at him. They both had dark-blond hair, but one had blue eyes while the other had grey. “I’m Adam.”
Adam had never dealt with kids before and felt a little awkward as they stood there staring at him. Where in the hell were Melonee and Ruttford? They were supposed to be in here with him.
“Are you here visiting?” the one with the blue eyes asked.
Adam clasped his hands together, glancing around as he nodded. “Sort of.” He wasn’t about to tell them he had been kidnap
ped.
“Sort of?” the grey-eyed one asked. “What does that mean?”
“It means Maverick thinks I should stay here for a little while,” he answered. He was a bit surprised when then gave him anohlook.
“He grounded you, didn’t he?” the blue-eyed one asked. “My dad grounds me and Matthew sometimes.”
“What about your mom?” Adam asked, trying to keep to topics they should be familiar with.
“We don’t have a mom,” Matthew, the one with the grey eyes, replied as he climbed up onto the couch next to Adam. “Just two dads.”
The twin brother climbed up on Adam’s other side. “How many dads do you have?”
Before today, Adam would have said this was the weirdest conversation he had had. But after dealing with Melonee and Ruttford, and then Melonee’s family, this was mild in comparison. It still shocked him that these two were being raised by two fathers. “One.”
“That’s weird,” Matthew replied. “Me and Maddox have a whole bunch of uncles, too.”
Adam couldn’t help it. “Any aunts?”
Maddox shook his head. “Nope, just Melonee. We have a sister, though.”
“Wanna see a trick?” Matthew asked as he scooted off the couch and pulled a deck of cards out of his back pocket.
“Sure,” Adam replied as he sat forward.
Matthew flipped the cards in his hand. They flew up into the air and then landed on the floor, scattering everywhere.
Adam waited for Matthew to finish his trick, but the kid just stood there. “What’s the trick?”
“It’s called fifty-two pick up. Uncle Tryck showed it to me,” Matthew announced proudly. “But I hate when I have to pick the cards up.”
He sounded so downtrodden that Adam moved from the couch, knelt on the floor, and helped the young kid pick the cards up.
“Thanks,” Matthew said when Adam handed him the cards he had gathered.