Walk on the Striped Side

by Jessie Lane

  “What’s the catch?” she croaked.

  “The spell will tie your lifeline to his. That’s what will give you immortality, but if Gage dies, so do you.”

  She felt tears sting the corners of her eyes. As far as conditions went, that one was doable. Sure, there was a risk in both of them dying while the kids she was currently incubating were too young, however she would have to take that risk. She loved Gage too much to walk away from him again, and she wouldn’t want to live without him anyways.

  “I’ll have to go thank your grandmother for this. It doesn’t solve everything, like how I want to beat your brother within an inch of his life for shooting me up with his baby batter without talking to me first, but now I don’t have to live in fear of him dying because of me.”

  One side of Alec’s lips tipped up. “I’m sure that baby batter is exactly why Babushka made the offer. She’s probably hoping for lots of cubs. If you’re not careful, she’s going to talk Gage into keeping you barefoot and pregnant, but don’t shoot the messenger for telling you that. So, anyways, like I was saying, a hundred years from now, you and I can sit down and write it all down. We can pretend it’s our version of that vampire flick with Tom Cruise in it.”

  Elena gave him a crazy look. “You mean, Interview with a Vampire?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “You do know it was a book before it was a movie, right?”

  Alec scoffed. “Do I look like I read, sister?”

  She gave him a probing look. “I have this feeling there’s so much more to you than your looks, Alec Ivanov.”

  He playfully pushed her shoulder. “Are the pregnancy hormones kicking in already, woman? Don’t get all mushy on me for God’s sake. Anyways, we’ll write all this shit down, and then maybe you can turn it into your own book.”

  Much to Elena’s horror, she found herself tearing up at Alec’s poignant points about the life she could have with Gage. Was she pissed beyond belief that he’d done something so drastic as to impregnate her without her permission? Hell, yes. Could she understand that he’d done it out of desperation at the thought of her walking away? Yeah, she could understand that, too.

  Placing a hand on her flat tummy, she wondered what the next nine months would bring. Would Gage run out in the middle of the night to buy her pickles and ice cream if she was craving it? The combination of the two sounded rather nasty, so she kind of hoped he didn’t run out and buy that for her, yet perhaps he’d buy her a yummy chocolate cake instead.

  She tried to imagine what their children would look like with his exotic green eyes and her olive complexion. Would they have his stark, black hair because of their tigers, or would they have her dark brown hair instead? And just that fast, her mind was playing tricks on her because she pictured two little boys with Gage’s black hair, proud cheekbones and her nose. One boy would have his father’s tiger eyes, and the other would have her turquoise ones. And as the two of them grew older, they would be hell on wheels with her feisty, Amazonian blood running through their veins, driving their father absolutely insane in the process.

  That little visual brought a smile to her face.

  “So are you going to go in and tell my brother you forgive him for being a high handed idiot?” Alec quietly asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

  Feigning annoyance, Elena sighed, “If I have to.”

  Alec gave her a big smile. “Go give him hell, sweetheart.”

  She was ready to do just that, but she had to do one more thing before she went in. She stepped up to Alec, grabbed his face with both hands, and pulled him down until she could press a chaste kiss against his cheek. “Thank you.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m awesome and you’re so disappointed that you’re stuck with my moronic brother for the rest of your life instead of me. It’s going to be a hard sacrifice settling for him when you could have had me, I know, but don’t worry, I’ll still drop by here at the most inconvenient times to cock block him and embarrass you. I have to teach my future nieces and nephews these things, you know.”

  Elena lost all of her good will and humor towards her brother-in-law. “Not if you want to keep breathing, you won’t.”

  ***

  He was pacing like a caged animal in his living room, talking to himself while he walked back and forth, back and forth across the floor. Elena stood on the other side of the French doors, watching him as he walked and talked himself to death. She’d give anything to have those shifter superpowers right now so she could hear what he was saying, but short of using some top secret equipment from the government, she would never be able to hear through closed doors or walls. It was a crying shame. She bet the man was punishing himself much worse than she could ever do so at this point.

  She was just about to go inside when she noticed something moving across the floor, undetected by her frantic tiger, and her eyes zeroed in on it. At first, she thought it was a very stupid mouse that was in danger of becoming an anxiety snack for Gage and his temper, yet then she noticed the mouse was traveling forward in jerking movements. It was that damn robotic mouse she’d bought and left here when she’d kidnapped his Babushka and sister! How the hell had that gotten out of his nightstand drawer?

  Looking through the door’s glass over to the beginning of the hallway, she saw Alec peeking around the corner with a devilish grin on his face. How the hell had he gotten in the house before she had? Elena grabbed the door handle, prepared to open the door and rip Alec a new asshole for acting like an idiot again, when an angry roar shook the glass in the door.

  Looking back to Gage, she found him stomping the poor robotic mouse into teeny, tiny pieces under his foot. He looked like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum. If that was what their kids ended up like, she was so screwed.

  Opening the door, he was so busy smashing that toy to smithereens that he didn’t even hear her come in. She called his name, but he didn’t hear her, so she called it again. Still nothing over the loud growling and stomping of the pathetic toy. This time, she yelled, “Gage!”

  He stomped his foot one more time and roared at her until she thought her eardrums would bleed and the windows would blow out. When his voice gave out and he finally stopped, Elena crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

  “Done with your hissy fit?”

  Gage’s angry and unfocused eyes looked at her and then widened as if he was just now realizing who she was. He roared again in answer, only it was at her this time and not some poor robotic mouse.

  “You drive me crazy!”

  She shrugged as she walked closer to him. “Yeah, but you love me anyways. And I have good news. According to your brother, your grandmother knows a witch that can make me immortal by tying my lifeline to yours. That means I can drive you crazy for eternity.”

  Gage processed what she’d said. “You’ll be immortal?”

  “Apparently so. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

  “Yes and no,” he answered.

  “Yes and no?” she parroted.

  Gage nodded back. “Yes and no. Yes because having you for eternity is beyond my wildest dreams. It makes me the happiest man on earth.”

  “And no?” Elena asked with a scowl.

  “No because I’m going to have to think of some kind of weapons vault that can lock you out until the end of time. Sometimes I think you’re a little too unstable to play with my toys.”

  “You back stabbin’, motherfucking—”

  He closed the distance between them and shut her up with a kiss that fried all of her mental circuits. She felt everything he hadn’t said in that kiss. How happy he was that he no longer had to worry about her leaving him long before he would ever be ready to let her go. His lust, his passion and all of his hope concentrated on her lips. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.

  Breathless, he pulled away. “I love you, mate.”

  “I love you, too, cat, but you won’t really keep all of the weapons locked away from me, will
you?”

  He shook his head. “No. Only until you’re around three hundred and have given me a whole litter of cubs.”

  Sneaky fucking cat!

  EPILOGUE

  Elena

  Elena slammed open the door to her aunts’ house and stomped inside with Gage following silently behind her. He was like her goddamn shadow ever since she had become pregnant. He barely left her alone long enough to use the bathroom. “Is Delta here?”

  Chloe and her aunts walked out of the living room to meet her in the foyer where she was standing.

  Looking a little concerned, Aunt Indigo answered, “No. Why?”

  Elena shook her head. “She was supposed to meet me at the McPhee Pack bar and never did. I thought I’d come by and check on her today. She was pretty upset over that guy.”

  “What are you doing going to a bar! You’re pregnant for Pete’s sake. You don’t need to be taking my unborn nieces or nephews into a freakin’ bar!” Chloe screeched at her.

  She felt her left eyebrow twitch in annoyance and clamped down on her inner urge to smack the crap out of her older sister. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve been pregnant for like a week and you’re pulling this shit on me already? It’s not like I was going in there for shots and to get piss drunk! I went there in the hopes of getting Delta drunk so she’d finally tell us what happened with the douche nozzle that broke her heart. And you can’t tell me where I can take my unborn children. They’re my unborn children, you twat waffle!”

  Chloe narrowed her eyes and growled, “You’re lucky you’re knocked up, bitch, or I’d lay the smack down on you right now.”

  She snorted in amusement. “The only thing you’re capable of laying the smack down on is a credit card at some ridiculously expensive hooker’s clothing line store, so don’t get all high and mighty with me, you over-priced piece of fluff.”

  The two sisters lunged for each other, however they were stopped by their two aunts stepping in between them and Gage grabbing Elena gently around the waist to prevent them from fighting.

  Aunt Thea gritted out between her teeth, “Can you two act reasonable for one damn day?”

  Elena and Chloe stood there in stubborn silence, refusing to answer the question.

  Finally, Chloe murmured, “You think she went to see the guy? I could never get her to tell me his name.”

  Aunt Indigo ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “It’s possible. She wouldn’t tell any of us who it was. The fact that she has refused to give any of us his name makes me think that we know him. Why else would she keep it a secret?”

  Elena pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “So we start calling people. I don’t think it’s Alec, but we can start with him.”

  “It’s not Alec,” Gage chimed in.

  Elena had to love being mated to a man of few words.

  Rolling her eyes, she continued, “There are the guys on Gage’s unit, Jenna’s brother, and Jenna’s SWAT team partner.”

  “Kent?” Chloe asked as if surprised.

  Elena’s brows furrowed at her sister’s question. “Yeah, Kent. Why?”

  A mask fell over her sister’s features, turning them blank. She twirled a piece of her long hair around a finger. “I don’t think it’s Kent. We’ve been… spending time together,” she answered nonchalantly.

  With that answer right there, Elena was certain of one thing; they’d fucked.

  “God, you are such a whore!”

  Chloe tried to lunge for Elena’s hair to start a catfight, and somehow small Aunt Indigo held her off.

  All four of them were yelling now. Aunt Thea at Elena for calling her sister a whore. Elena at Chloe for being a whore. Chloe at Elena for being such a judgmental stick-up-the-ass. And Aunt Indigo at Chloe for trying to start a fight with her pregnant sister.

  There’s no telling how long the four of them would have stood around, yelling at each other like only family can do while Gage silently watched, because suddenly a loud banging on the door got their attention, so they shut up.

  “You think it’s Delta?” Chloe whispered.

  The four women ran for the door with Gage prowling behind them, shoving each other out of the way to be the one to answer it in the hopes that it was the youngest Demos sister on the other side.

  Aunt Thea was the first one to get there, so she grabbed the door knob and flung the door open in haste without looking through the security peephole to see who it was.

  What they found on the other side of the door wasn’t Delta, though, which caused all of them to deflate a little in disappointment. No, standing there were two men Elena didn’t know. Both tall, trim, fit and incredibly good looking. Both sporting red hair, green eyes and pale, creamy white skin that would stand out in a crowd. And both of them looked so similar in appearance that you would have thought they were brothers if one of the men didn’t look old enough to be the other man’s father. Of course, on the younger man, all of that handsomeness was marred by the thunderous scowl on his face, which was currently being directed at her. What the fuck had she done to deserve that look?

  Aunt Thea’s voice finally filled the confused quiet. “Can we help you?”

  The younger man turned his scowl from Elena to Aunt Thea. “Yeah, you can make sure that crazy bitch,” he thrust an angry finger in Elena’s direction, “never gets near another flame thrower or pistol again! She almost killed us!”

  Everyone turned their heads to stare at her in silent accusation. Where was the loyalty in this family? It wasn’t like she was a homicidal serial killer running around and killing people for fun!

  She held her hands up in the air. “I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about, guys. Honest. I’ve never seen him a day in my life and Gage took all the weapons away from me and hid them after he told me that I was preggers.” She pointed to the man who had stolen all of her fun away from her as proof.

  Her aunts and sister turned their glares back to the man who was still glaring at Elena. The stranger took a small step forward, however the older man put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

  “Calm down; this is not why we came here.”

  “Then why are you here? And who are you?” Aunt Indigo asked.

  The older man’s shoulders stiffened. “My name is Manus Campbell and this is my son, Deo. We came here because we know what happened to Delta and we’re worried about her. Would you please let us come inside so that we can discuss things with you?”

  Chloe pushed her way to the front of the pack and pointed a finger in Manus’s face. “You tell me what happened to my sister this very second or I castrate you where you stand.”

  Manus sighed in frustration. “I see Aggie passed on her temper to you girls.”

  After dropping that little verbal bomb, they all went deathly quiet. Until Chloe’s temper kicked back in.

  “Who the hell are you, buddy, and why are you talking about my mom!”

  Weirdly, Manus looked to Thea and Indigo, hoping for some recognition or perhaps help, yet there was no help coming from her aunts.

  His shoulders slumped a little as he muttered, “I see she took it to her grave then.”

  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Chloe. Elena stepped up to stand beside her sister as Chloe started to unfold the document. The words were faded—the paper was a wrinkly mess as if it had been crumpled and uncrumpled many times—but the words at the top were still bold and legible.

  STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

  BUNCOMBE COUNTY

  OFFICE OF REGISTER OF DEEDS

  Application, License and Certification of Marriage

  Scanning her eyes down the document, Elena took in the words and felt her heart speed up. What in the holy flying monkey shit was this? Her mom had been married to Manus? Suddenly feeling light headed, she looked back up to the man, who nodded his head as if answering her unspoken question.

  “I’m your and Chloe’s step-father, Delta’s biological father…” puttin
g his hand back on his son’s shoulder, he continued, “and Deo is Delta’s twin brother.”

  Elena’s vision swam with tiny black dots. Her legs wobbled like jelly and she felt like she was on one of those Tilt-A-Whirl rides at a carnival. She tried to keep herself standing up straight, yet she lost the battle and started to lean dangerously to the side. Everything around her felt like it was in a tunnel. Even Aunt Thea sounded like she was in a tunnel when she heard her shout, “Someone grab her! She’s going to pass out!”

  Several hands grabbed her at once and she tried to push them off, but they easily over-powered her until she found herself reluctantly, and slowly, walking towards the living room couch. Once they sat her down, someone had her bend over and put her head between her knees. She heard Aunt Thea tell her to take deep breaths. Right. Breathing was good, she reminded herself. Vital, even.

  After a few moments, she slowly sat back up, feeling a bit better. There were no more dots in her vision, however she wasn’t exactly feeling like her old self yet. Her aunts were sitting on either side of her while Chloe, Manus and her newly discovered half-brother, Deo, stood in front of her on the other side of the coffee table… staring at her.

  Elena ignored the stares because she wasn’t used to looking weak in front of anybody, especially strangers. All of this was too much to process. Her mother had been married and she had a step-father and half-brother she’d never known about. There was one thing that kept repeating her mind.

  “Why?”

  Manus’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline at her question. “Are you asking why she married me?”

  Elena nodded.

  Manus shrugged. “It was the only way I would give her a child.”

  This comment caused Elena to scowl at him. “Are you trying to tell us that our mother married you for some whacked out, baby-making business arrangement?”

  Manus’s features softened and he gave her a small smile. “It wasn’t just a business arrangement. I loved your mother very much. I just refused to give her a child without some kind of permanent attachment to her. So she agreed to marry me if I would help her produce a child, but instead of one baby, we made two.”