Melody glanced up from changing Blair’s diaper and smiled at her new cousin. Blair screamed with laughter when he saw Fortrayn. Stretching up his arms, he demanded, “Ride! Ride!”
“Not this evening, buddy.” Fort bend and tickled the little boy’s dark brown belly, his nostrils assailed by the sweet, mouth-watering smells of clean, baby-powdered infant.
“Hey, Fort, we’ve missed you. How are you?” Melody dragged him down to drop a sisterly kiss on his cheek. “You haven’t been around lately.”
Fort cleared his throat. “No, I’ve er ... er ... been busy.” He exchanged a speaking glance with Hunter. The Alpha covered his smile and a wicked wink with the book he held in his hand.
“So, will you be eating dinner with us tonight?”
“Sure, if I can bring my ... friend. Would you mind?” He tugged on Rosa’s hand, urging her into the room behind him. “I want you to meet someone. Melody, this is Rosa Isyasia Montalvo. Hunter knows her as my boss. I need to introduce her to both of you as my bond-mate.”
Hunter dropped the book he’d been pretending to read, eyes flaring. “She’s your ... what?” He frowned. Keeping his back toward the women, he allowed his eyes to glow with the heat of his anger. “Excuse us, ladies. We need to talk.” He started for the door, his mouth tight with displeasure.
“No, Hunter.” Fortrayn stood firm. “I know what you want to say, but nothing you can say will change my mind.” He recaptured Rosa’s hand. “We’re bonded. I fully accept the consequences of what I’ve done. We are here because we need your assistance. Pack law prohibits you to aid us, I know. I wouldn’t ask you to go against it, but we’ve talked it over, Rosa and I. She doesn’t want me to face the two wulves that attacked her on my own.”
Hunter slowly sank back down, the glow in his eyes fading. “I’m all ears.”
“Wait.” Melody hefted Blair up and settled him on her shoulder. “Let me put the baby down. Don’t dare start until I get back.” She headed down the hallway toward the room that had once been the library but now served as the nursery.
Hunter crossed his knees and twined his fingers together. “So, Rosa, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How have you been?”
She blushed and tightened her grip on Fort’s hand. He didn’t say anything to ease her embarrassment. Hunter was his family. She needed to learn he would never hurt her.
“How am I? In the last five hours, I’ve learned some astonishing information, Mr. McCallum. Earth is host to aliens living among us, who consider us ... fodder, and two of them have marked me as their full-moon snack. I’ve discovered the man I’ve worked with for the last three years ‑‑ the man I love ‑‑ is one of these aliens, and I suppose that makes you one, also. Only, instead of killing me, he is intent on saving me at great cost to himself. Other than that, I am fine, thanks.”
Hunter leaped to his feet. Observing her through flinty eyes, he demanded more information. “You were attacked? When was this?”
Fortrayn cleared his throat. “Uncle, do you recall a certain night when I had ... er ... pressing plans that you vetoed? That would be the night.”
“Ah. I see.”
Fort imagined he did.
“In that case, it would seem my actions are what got you into this situation. I apologize, kids.” Hunter steepled his hands and tapped his lips with his fingers. “I have no choice but to help you deal with these rogue wulves.” He grinned. “My defense to the Pack council will be that my orders prevented you from protecting your fling, as was your duty.”
Fort bit back a smile when Rosa bristled at the title “kid.” At thirty-six, she hardly considered herself a child. She’d soon learn a wulf’s life span made her vaunted age a joke. “Thank you, uncle.”
“I am nobody’s fucking fling!” Rosa snarled, confronting Hunter as if she hadn’t feared him minutes ago.
Fort cringed. Oops. He’d forgotten to warn her wulves usually considered humans only a temporary sexual feast.
A grin stretched Hunter’s mobile lips as he nodded to Fortrayn. “No harm, no foul ... just checking her alpha-ness.” Sauntering over to stand before them, he dropped a kiss on Rosa’s cheek. “You are so right, my dear. You were Fortrayn’s forbidden fling. You’ve now turned into his forever. Welcome to the family.” He held out his hand to Fortrayn. “Congratulations, pup. You’ve done well for yourself. Your Rosa is a brave, feisty woman.”
“I think so.” He returned the pressure of Hunter’s handclasp, glad his cousin approved of his human mate.
“I promise you, if I can, I’ll find a way to mitigate your banishment.”
“Damn it, Hunter and Fort!” Melody stood in the doorway, hands clenched at her hips. “Didn’t I tell you I’d be right back? You two pigs went and started without me, anyway.”
With a laugh, Hunter stood up and crossed to his irate mate. Slipping an arm around her thick waist, he hugged her close. “We barely scratched the surface, nosy woman. Let’s go eat. We’ll fill you in over dinner.”
Chapter Ten
“After three years, I’m finally getting to meet your daughter. What time do we pick her up, again?”
“Andrea’s plane comes in after twelve, but I’d like to be at the airport today by eleven forty-five.”
Fort finished buttoning his shirt before turning and taking Rosa in his arms. “You sound nervous.”
I am. I haven’t seen my daughter for almost a year. That bastard kept her longer than he promised. Every time I tracked him down, he changed locations.
“As Andrea’s new stepfather, I won’t allow your ex-husband to jerk either one of you around.”
She wanted to believe him.
Then do so.
Hell, I keep forgetting you’re piggybacking in my head.
You’ll get used to it. And stop thinking about how much money he has. My family has just as much money as his. Hunter is Alpha Prime-in-waiting of the Western America Pack. He has enormous power. Even if the Pack banishes me, he’ll make sure no one and nothing messes with my new family.
He dropped his arms and picked up his jeans. Stepping into them, he zipped and buttoned, making sure his cock settled comfortably in the tight denim. “Do you think she’ll like me?”
“She’ll love you ... just like her mother does.”
“I was thinking ... maybe I shouldn’t bite her in fur-form. Since it’s not a mate-bite, it doesn’t have to be that concentrated. I wouldn’t want her to be frightened of dogs for the rest of her life.”
His nervousness was cute. It showed how much he cared. “Fortrayn.”
He almost tripped over the doorsill. “Yeah, hon?”
“You’re waffling.”
“She’s going to be my daughter. I don’t want her scared of me.”
“Don’t worry. Andrea is very much like me: pragmatic.”
Fort nodded, accepting her assessment of her daughter’s character. She turned her back to him and indicated her zipper. “Get this for me?”
He stepped behind her, pulled it up, and dropped a kiss on her shoulder before moving to the dresser and loading his pockets with wallet and keys. “Okay, once we pick Andrea up from the airport, this is how it will play out. Andrea will go stay with Melody and Blair while we rendezvous with Hunter. We’ll deal with your two rogues, return to gather up our pup, and head on home.”
He had it all planned ‑‑ everything slotted away in its neat little cache. He’d gone to such trouble for her when none of this was his fault. It wasn’t fair to him. Because of her, Fortrayn’s Pack would ban him. His own mother and father would shun him, forced by the Pack to deny him aid or company.
Rosa ached for him, feeling his pain more deeply than he felt it himself. She took in a great breath and held it. She owed him the chance to back out, to leave her once they dealt with this crisis. Determined to do so, she prayed he wouldn’t snatch for the chance to break with her.
“You know, once this is over, you wouldn’t have to stay with us. Biting Andrea wouldn’
t be necessary.”
He bristled. His hackles actually rose. She saw the bulk of fur under his shirt.
Never mention my leaving you, or your leaving me, in my presence. Like our descendants, the wolves, we mate for life.
She beamed. “Yes, sir. I won’t mention it again, sir.” Gracias el Senior, for that!
* * * * *
The three of them returned ‑‑ Hunter and Fort bloody but victorious ‑‑ to Hunter’s townhouse. Slapping themselves on the back, the boys crowed over how they’d routed the two bullies.
“They’ve been acting this way since the fight,” Rosa informed Melody with barely contained disgust. “Honestly, I think they were more bullying than those other two. They claimed it was a genuine mistake.”
Fort grunted. “You can say that now because they pretended to recognize my claim through the bond-mark. If I hadn’t bonded you ...”
“You didn’t have to kill them.”
Fort sobered. A frown distorted his handsome face. “Yes, I did. Anyone who hurts you courts death. Rover marred your thighs with his claws, and his partner let him. They scared you and stalked you. Besides, they were lying. Hunter and I could smell their deceit. They planned to catch us off guard and take you, regardless of the bond-mark.”
Rosa waved away his argument. “Yes, I know ‑‑ murder, rape, and mayhem ‑‑ you’ve said it a dozen times.”
Hunter’s booming laugh filled the room. Melody hushed him. “Stop that noise, Hunt. Andrea just got Blair to sleep. If you wake him, there’ll be no playtime for you tonight.”
Hunter almost swallowed his tongue. His voice low and gruff, he warned her, “Don’t tease me, woman. This is full-moon night.”
“And?” Melody crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Your point is?”
He lunged for her, catching her about the waist and swinging her up into his arms. He made it look so easy. “If Fort doesn’t gather up his crew and head home, they’re gonna see me fuck your sweet chocolate pussy into pudding.”
“Hunter!”
He laughed, dipped his head to hers for a decadent kiss of lips and saliva and tongues. “Yeah, that’s how you call my name when you mean it.”
Rosa, looking on with a slight smile, thought of how deceptive appearances could be. These men didn’t rely only on the physical for the strength they wielded. They were strong inside, where it truly counted. Far from being monsters, they epitomized, for her, the true essence of what made a male a true gentleman.
“Fort ‑‑” Hunter paused long enough to nod at his cousin and Rosa. “‑‑ lock the door behind you.” Looking back over his shoulder, Melody smiled and winked at Rosa, sharing a woman’s moment. A slender hand on his shoulder was all it took to halt Hunter’s steps.
“Welcome to the family, Rosa. I think you both ought to know ...” She paused, caught Fortrayn’s eyes, obviously thinking of just how to phrase her next statement. “I believe Andrea and Blair are going to be true cousins.”
Fort froze. Hunter set Melody down and stared into her eyes. “What are you saying, Mel?”
“While you were gone, your father sent Wynston with a message for you. The kids were playing in the living room, and before I could intercept him, he’d dropped down to play with Blair, as always. His eyes went funny, and he sniffed at Andrea. She slapped him on his nose and told him to get lost. Next thing I know, he’s backing up and taking off, mumbling something about having to report this to the Alpha Prime. When I asked him what was wrong, he said, “She smells just like Blair. She is unripe, but she is still Breed.”
Hunter stiffened. “Where is she now?”
“In your study. Apparently, she’s not into TV. I told her she could read until her mom got back.”
Morphing as he ran, Hunter flashed down the hallway, Fort a half-second behind him, both shaking off the clothes entangling their wulfen limbs. Heart pounding with fear, Rosa brought up the rear. Skidding to a stop in the doorway, she clutched her chest, tried to ease her breathing.
Everything looked normal. Andrea sat cross-legged in a giant wing chair, her long black hair falling forward over her gamine face, attention locked on the open book she held on her lap. She looked up and saw the two wulves eyeing her, muzzles edging close to her crotch.
Rosa gasped as her daughter’s small hand flew out and slapped Hunter’s muzzle. “Get your nose outta there, Uncle Hunter! You should know better.”
Behind her, Rosa heard Melody convulsing with laughter as Hunter drew back with a yip of surprise.
Fortrayn changed shape and flopped onto the floor at Andrea’s feet. “Holy hell,” he breathed. “I gotta sit down. Hunter, what am I gonna do? I can’t protect her by myself!”
Rosa didn’t understand the commotion. “Anyone want to clear up my confusion? Please?”
Andrea looked up at her mom and heaved a world-weary sigh. She patted the cushion of the chair. “Mom, you better come sit down, too. I have something to tell you.”
Stunned at the grown-up tone of her baby’s voice, Rosa crossed the room and perched on the edge of the chair beside her daughter. Fort leaned his head against her knees, and she buried her fingers in the thick fall of his hair, seeking courage. Something told her she was about to learn some truths she might rather live without. “Okay, Drea, I’m ready to listen.”
“Mom, dad’s a Breed, and I am like him. When I first went to visit with him, he told me all about what we are. I didn’t find out until this year that his boyfriend is a wulf.”
“What?”
“C’mon, Mom! You knew he was homosexual. That’s why he left us.”
Rosa’s hands clenched into fists as scalding anger made her see red. “I didn’t know he was exposing his own daughter, an impressionable young girl, to that lifestyle, though.”
Andrea shrugged. “They live openly together. It’s their choice, Mom. Anyway, Pablo started hinting he had a friend that needed a mate. That’s when Dad stopped hiding me and let me come home. He didn’t think he could stop Enrique from taking me away. He said Pablo wasn’t alpha enough to refuse him.”
“Por Dios!” Rosa stuffed one fist in her mouth to stop from screaming. The other one tugged Fortrayn’s hair between her fingers. He reached up and loosened her grip, entwining their hands together.
“It hurts to think my niña had to go through this alone!”
“Not anymore!” Fortrayn swore. He swiveled to face his stepdaughter. “Somehow, I promise I’ll protect you, Andrea. Do you believe me?”
The fourteen-year-old nodded, a half-smile on her face. “I believe you’ll try.”
Frantic, Fortrayn turned to Hunter. “Oh, god, Uncle, even my stepdaughter knows I’ll fu‑‑ uh ‑‑ screw this up!”
Hunter morphed to skin-form. “You all need to calm down. Fortrayn, you won’t have to do it alone. The Pack will back you up. That’s one good thing about being stepfather to a Breeder ‑‑ they sure as hell won’t throw you out. It would mean throwing Andrea out with you, and the Pack can’t afford to lose even one Breed.”
Rosa shook her head. “I still don’t understand.”
Melody sighed. “Rosa, your ex-husband is a Breed. Male or female, Breeds breed true. That makes your daughter a wulf Breeder, a descendant of a modified human-wulf female. If she mates with a wulf, her children are born wulf. There are very few of us. She’ll have her pick of the richest, strongest men in the country.”
“No, she won’t.” Fort was shaking his head, his eyes still large and shell-shocked. “I’m calling Chase. I’m betting he’ll be here tomorrow afternoon, at the latest.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t she a little young for Chase’s purpose?”
“Yes. However, I don’t plan to let him have her right now.”
“Fortrayn, how can you talk about giving my baby girl away?”
“I’m not going to some man I don’t even know!”
“Do you trust me?” Fort took hold of their hands, linking his small family.
An impat
ient sigh lifted Andrea’s immature bosom, but she gave a jerky nod of her head. Rosa’s gentle touch answered him before her words came. “I’ve already answered that question numerous times this week. Ask another.”
“Okay. You know I’d die to protect you and Andrea?”
They both nodded, cinnamon eyes, so much alike, grown wide with new fear.
“Well, without Chase’s help, more than likely I’d just die, and Andrea, you would be taken anyway.”
He dropped Andrea’s hand and took both of Rosa’s hands in his. “Honey, as she grows, your daughter will attract every mature wulf in San Francisco and beyond. The law-abiding will offer for her, then challenge when I turn down their offer. The desperate ones won’t be so nice. She needs a level of protection that I can’t supply. Chase is one of the richest wulves in the world. His power base is beyond anything you can imagine. He is our ‑‑ her ‑‑ only chance.”
“Make him come so I can see him.” Her little chin set at a pugnacious tilt, Andrea made her demand. “I’m not mating with any ugly old wulf who isn’t as smart as me. If I don’t like him, you’ll just have to find me someone else.”
Epilogue
The phone rang in the middle of the night, snatching him out of sleep. Groggy and disoriented, his first thought was of his mother. Perhaps she called to tell him about his father’s death and order him home.
Hope failed when one of his servants brought the cordless phone to the bedside.
“Sir, it’s your cousin, Hunter McCallum.”
“Why the fuck would I want to talk to Hunter?”
A tinny voice yelled out of the receiver. “Because, you sorry sack of Alpha Prime-in-waiting shit, we’ve found you a Breed!”
Sleep fell away like early morning mist parting before the warmth of the sun. “Where is she?”
“Don’t you want to know who she is? What she looks like?”
“No. She’s breathing. That’s enough.”
“Well, cuz,” Hunter drawled, baiting his counterpart, “in this case, a little more might be required.”
Chase paused, analyzed his cousin’s words, looking for hidden meanings. “Cut to the chase, Hunter ... what’s the catch?”
Werewulf Journals: Fortrayn's Forbidden Fling Page 5