by Maggie Walsh
“But I created him,” Dante whispered.
“But you are not to blame for his actions,” Dare said, then kissed Dante tenderly.
“I don’t understand. Why would you think you’re to blame for all of this, King Dante?” Josh asked, confused.
“The vampire that killed your brother, Frankie,” Micah began. “His name was Christoph, and he was a completely evil son of a bitch. Dante feels guilty because he was the one that changed Christoph into a vampire over a thousand years ago. But Christoph was evil long before Dante ever met him, and Malachi made him worse. Had Dante known what Christoph was before he changed him, he never would have done it.”
“It’s not your fault, King Dante. You had nothing to do with what he did to Frankie. I don’t blame you,” Milo said gently.
“You said was, Alpha. Does that mean that evil bastard is dead?” Josh asked.
“Yes. Christoph is dead. He had a battle with Dante and they almost destroyed each other. We thought Christoph was already dead, but suddenly he was up again. Noah showed up and made him pay for some of the things he had done. My Noah killed him,” Bastian explained with pride when he mentioned Noah. “I only wish that Noah would have healed him and Jesse could have brought him back to life, so that Noah could have ripped him apart again,” Bastian said fiercely.
“So Christoph was that vampire who killed my brother and he’s dead? And Malachi manipulated me into thinking that I had done all those things, and now he’s dead, too?” Milo asked.
“Yes, Milo. Your brother’s murderer is gone and you are innocent of all charges and free to go,” Micah said with a sad smile.
Milo sat there stunned and just stared into space. Josh wrapped an arm over his shoulders and gave him a hug. “Milo? Are you okay?”
Milo blinked and turned his head to look at Josh. “It’s over? It’s really over?”
“Yes. You’re free to do what you want now,” Josh whispered.
“I want to stay here with you if it’s okay with you and Alpha Micah of course,” Milo said and looked to Micah.
“Of course it’s okay, Milo. Even if you weren’t Josh’s mate, I would allow you to stay in Sanctuary if you wanted. But seeing as you are Josh’s mate that just means that not only can you stay, but you’re family now.” Micah gave him a big smile.
“Family?” Milo whispered in awe as tears formed in his eyes.
“Yeah, if you can deal with this big, crazy lot,” Lexi said with a laugh.
“I would love to be a part of this big, crazy lot. Thank you. All of you. I am honored,” Milo said in a voice filled with emotion as a tear fell from his eyes. Josh wrapped his arms around Milo and hugged him tight.
“So now that you’re free and you can leave without an escort, will you be staying at Evan’s or would you like a place of your own?” Micah asked.
“I don’t know. I guess Josh and I will have to talk about that. Do you want to stay with Evan after we mate or would you like our own place?” Milo looked to Josh.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Can we think about that for a while?”
“Of course you can. Take all the time you need,” Jesse answered.
“Until you mate, you can still stay here, Milo,” Micah offered.
“Thank you, Alpha. I think I’ll take you up on that. I need to go find a job. All the money from selling my parents’ house and the money I put away for Frankie’s tuition is all gone. I used it to…” Milo suddenly stopped.
“What is it?” Josh asked.
“I thought I sold my parents’ house to use the money to buy weapons to hunt paranormals and Frankie’s college fund to use for gas, food, and motels as I traveled across the country, but if I didn’t do all of that, then what happened to the house and all the money?”
“That’s a good question,” Micah answered, then smiled wide. “I know a brilliant computer whiz who can help you hunt around for those answers.” Josh gave Micah a big smile and laughed. Milo looked at him in confusion. “Come on. Let’s go give Evan the good news.” Josh stood up and held his hand out to Milo. Milo placed his hand in Josh’s and stood as well.
“Josh, before you go, can I speak with you for a minute?” Bastian asked. Josh looked at him in confusion and nodded. He released Milo’s hand and walked to the other side of the room with Bastian.
“What is it?”
“I don’t usually do this when I see inside people’s minds. What’s in their heads is their own business and when they want things to come out then that’s up to them. But I feel like I need to get involved with this one,” Bastian explained.
“If you saw something inside Milo’s mind that’s private, then it should be up to him if he wants to share it with me,” Josh said.
“I completely agree. But I will say this, you really need to talk to Milo about Matthew. He needs to know that Matthew is his mate too and what’s going on. Trust me,” Bastian pleaded.
“I know. I will. Now that he doesn’t have to worry about all of this, it’s probably time for us to have this conversation.”
“The sooner, the better,” Bastian said and gave him a pointed look. Josh nodded, and they walked back over to the others.
“Is everything okay?” Milo asked in concern as he took Josh’s hand in his.
“Yeah. It’s just something Bastian reminded me I need to take care of.” Josh gave him a small smile.
“So should we go see Evan now?”
“Actually, Evan is in my office. He and Josh came over to talk to me. The council and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do this now seeing as Josh was already here,” Micah explained. “Josh, why don’t you and Milo go have a talk and if you need us, we’ll be with Evan in my office.”
Josh nodded and looked at Milo with sad eyes. “Come on. There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Josh started walking toward the door as he pulled a confused Milo with him.
“Oh and Josh?” Micah called out, stopping them. Milo and Josh turned to face Micah. “Happy birthday,” Micah said with a big smile.
Josh returned the smile. “Thank you, Alpha.”
* * * *
Milo couldn’t take the silence anymore. He and Josh had been sitting out here by the pool for ten minutes now and Josh was yet to say one word. But Milo could see that whatever Josh wanted to talk to him about was causing him stress. “What is it, Josh? What do we need to talk about? Have you changed your mind? Do you not want me as your mate anymore?”
Josh flinched and looked at him with furrowed brows. “No. Of course I still want you as my mate. It doesn’t work that way. We are mates whether we want to be or not. It’s not a choice. Fate made us for each other.”
“But you can reject me,” Milo whispered.
“I’m not rejecting you. Look, Milo,” Josh said and turned to face him. “I really like you, and I love spending all this time with you while we have been getting to know each other. But there are a few things I haven’t told you. Something that I have been really nervous about telling you, and now I’m afraid I waited too long, and you might reject me,” Josh explained sadly.
“Josh, you have stood by my side through this whole thing. I can never repay you for that. I care about you a lot and I know neither of us is ready to say the love words yet, but I know I don’t want to be without you. I know I want to be your mate and I want to spend my life with you. And I know that those feelings are getting stronger.” Milo cupped Josh’s cheek as he stared into his eyes. “I know I want to kiss you and hold you in my arms. I want to feel your body next to mine, and I want to make love to you. So whatever it is that you want to tell me, just tell me. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
“You see the different matings around here right? How do you feel about them?” Josh asked cautiously.
“Well, I know that when I watch all of these men with their mates, that I want that too. I want what they have. It blew me away when you explained to me about mates, but in a good way. I want that.”
“Even all the
crazy matings you see?” Josh hedged.
“Well, I can’t say that I want the lifestyle that Viktor and Adam have, or even Raith, Aaron, and Rory, but they all do love each other, and their relationships are all beautiful. But I’m not into the BDSM thing. Why, is that what you have to tell me?” Milo’s eyebrows went up in shock.
“No. Gods, no. I’m not into that either. But what do you think of the tri-matings around here?”
“I don’t care if people have ménage relationships. Whatever floats their boat as long as it’s what they all want and they are consenting adults.”
“But what do you think about ménage relationships? Is it something you would want to have or is it something you would be against?”
“I never gave it much thought. These men are the first ménage relationships I have even witnessed. But I will say that they all love each other very much. I guess that can be exciting and have its perks. Probably makes for some really hot nights,” Milo said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
Josh chuckled and gave him a smile. “I’m sure it does. Think of the positions,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh hell. Don’t make me think like that when you can’t claim me. I take enough cold showers without having all of those images going on in my head,” Milo said with a laugh.
“So now that I got those images going in your head, what do you see? Me, you, and…who?” Josh asked hesitantly.
The smile dropped from Milo’s face at Josh’s question. When they started this and he got an image in his head, it was him, Josh, and Matthew that he saw, but how could he tell Josh that?
“You’re thinking of someone as our third, aren’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”
“No, I’m not,” Milo defended.
“Milo, I’m a shifter. We can smell deceit, and you’re lying. Please don’t lie to me. It’s okay if you’re thinking of a third. Before I go on with this any further, let me ask you this. Have you noticed who is in the tri-matings?”
“Yeah, I know who all the matings are,” Milo answered. He was starting to get really confused with where Josh was going with this conversation.
“Yes, you know their names, but do you know their breeds? Well, with the exception of King Dante and his mates. He got two mates because of his royal blood. I’m talking about the other tri-mates. There is one common denominator in each. Aaron is an ocelot. Storm is a white tiger, and Haven is a mountain lion.” Josh gave him a pointed look.
Milo stared at his mate as he tried to figure out what he was getting at. Aaron, Storm, and Haven were all…His eyes opened wide when the thought hit him. They were all feline shifters. Josh was a feline shifter too. So did that mean…
“Now the light is going on,” Josh interrupted his thoughts.
“So what you’re telling me is that you get two mates, too?” Milo asked in shock.
“Yes, Milo. We get two mates. We have another mate,” Josh said nervously.
“I thought you said it was rare that paranormals found their mates, but even the tri-mates are finding theirs?”
“Yes, but remember when I told you about the prophecy and how Fate said we would all find our mates before the final battle? We only thought it was for the inner pack, but it seems like it means the whole pack.”
“So we’ll be finding our other mate soon, maybe?”
“So you’re okay with having two mates?” Josh asked hesitantly.
“Yes, Josh. That means I’ll have two people to love and hopefully will love me back. It means my family is bigger now. I’m not alone anymore.” He took Josh’s hand. “So how long do you think it will take to find him? It will be a him right? Because I don’t think I can have sex with a woman. They just don’t do it for me.”
“Our mates are exactly what is perfect for us. We’re both gay. And our other mate is definitely a guy.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re still not telling me everything? You already know who he is, don’t you?” Milo asked cautiously.
Josh sighed heavily, then took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Yes. I have already found both my mates. I found my first mate almost a year ago, and then you. But because we thought we were both underage, we couldn’t claim each other.”
“It’s Matthew, isn’t it?” Milo asked in a whisper. Josh’s eyes went wide open as he looked at Milo in surprise.
“Why would you think it was Matthew?”
“Because of the way you looked at him whenever he walked by. And by the way he looked at you. I couldn’t understand why you were so upset when Matthew ran away, but now I do. And also because you said thought you were both underage. But we just found out that Matthew is actually twenty, not seventeen. Is that why I have felt so drawn to him? Like I felt drawn to you from the minute I saw you.”
“Yes. The mating pull is strong. You’ve been having feelings for Matt? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“How was I supposed to tell you that? I didn’t realize you had two mates. I thought I was the only one, so how was I supposed to tell you that I was having the same feelings for another man that I was having for you?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s a long story and I want to tell you everything. Then we need to go speak with the alpha.”
“Okay. Tell me. Then let’s go find our mate before your heat starts. That should happen soon, right?” Josh nodded. “Then we don’t have much time. So start talking.”
Chapter 3
“So what did you find? Anything good?” Ash asked as Matthew squeezed through the small opening. Once in, he adjusted the old broken door again and pushed the lock closed. He turned to face Ash.
“I hit pay dirt, man. The market down on Willow got a bread delivery. The guy dropped everything off outside the back door before the place was even open. I grabbed as much as I could carry and stashed it in that storm drainpipe over near the school. Then I went back and grabbed the rest,” Matthew explained as he started pulling fresh baked goods from the big duffle bag he was carrying.
“Oh shit, Maddy. Look at all of this. You hit gold,” Ash said all excited as Matthew handed him three large loaves of Italian bread.
“Thanks. So how’s he doing?” Matthew asked and motioned with his chin toward the sleeping form in the corner.
“Same. I’m really starting to worry about him, Maddy. If we can’t get him well soon, how are we supposed to get back to your pack in Pennsylvania?”
“We have to, Ash. I won’t give up on him. If it weren’t for the two of you, I would be dead right now. Failure is not an option. I will get you both back to my dad’s pack. Tonight when the sun goes down, we’ll go hit the drain and get the rest of the stuff I got. This shit has lots of carbs in it, so that should help him get some strength back. I think I may be able to sneak into the back of that Chinese restaurant. I’ve been watching it, and right before closing, they all head into the front to clean up. The kitchen is empty and hopefully I can grab some chicken and vegetables. He needs protein and healthy shit.”
“I don’t want you getting hurt or caught, Maddy,” Ash whispered.
“I promise that if it’s not safe, or I think I might get caught, that I won’t do it. They’ll be another opportunity another time. I won’t risk getting caught and not being able to come back here and help you two.”
“You’re a good man, Maddy. You remind me so much of your father and Micah,” the man in the corner said in a weak whisper.
“If only that were true,” he said sadly and went back to pulling rolls from the duffle.
“You are good, Maddy. Look at everything you have done for us since you came here. You find us fresh food, so now I don’t have to rummage around in the dumpsters. You found this great place to hide out, and it protects us from the elements. And you’re helping me take care of him. I have been doing this all alone for so long. I don’t know how much longer we would have survived had you not come along and found me in that alley,” Ash said.
“No, Ash, it was you two that saved m
e. Those wolves almost had me. If you guys hadn’t shown up when you did, I’m sure I would have been killed or at least taken back to their pack, and who knows what would have happened to me then. I owe you. Both of you,” Matthew said around the lump in his throat.
“You don’t owe us anything, Maddy. We help each other. Isn’t that what a family does? Helps each other out. Well, we’re family now as far as I’m concerned.” Ash gave him a bright smile.
Matthew gave Ash a sad smile and went back to emptying the duffle bag. Family. They were his family now. But this wasn’t right. He knew that now. He had a family, and he walked away from them. He had two mates and Evan, who was like a big brother. Then there were all the guys, who were like brothers to him, too. As well as his dad’s whole pack. They had taken them all in when no one else would. Hell, Evan had taken him in when no one else would. And this is how he repaid him? By sneaking out in the middle of the night like a little kid. Why did he always make the wrong choices? Why was he such a fuck up? But then again, if he never left and came here looking for his Grampy, he wouldn’t be here right now helping his new family. They needed to get going though. Those fucking wolves knew he was out here somewhere, and they were hunting him down.
He had overheard them talking down by the hardware store last week. They almost had him in the woods, but lost him when he fell into that lake of mud. They were saying how their alpha was pissed when they got back and told him about smelling a new wolf in town, but they lost him. The alpha wanted him found and brought in so he could find out what he was doing in their territory. But from what Ash told him, this alpha was one crazy motherfucker who would torture him and kill him just for being here. And if he found out Matthew was gay, the torture would be more severe.
So now he had those two asshole wolves running around town all the time hunting for him. That’s why he started going out scavenging in the middle of the night instead of during the day. Those assholes were always around during the day. He was exhausted and needed to get some sleep. Matthew made his way over to the beat up mattress in the other corner of the room and lay down.