by Jana Leigh
Chapter Six
Bane slammed into the main house. His Clan leaders were standing in the living room with several other of the Clan members. Cat looked at him with a startled expression, which quickly turned to worry when she saw the look on their Second’s face.
“What is wrong,” Cat said quickly, after she excused herself.
“I need to talk to Orfeo,” Bane said stiffly—talking to Cat about this would be weird.
“No, you need to talk to all of us. Tripp, Orfeo, office now,” Cat called and pulled his arm, trying to drag him into the office. When he stood still and she had to keep tugging, she stopped, turned, and stomped her foot. “Knock it off, and come with me.”
Bane rolled his eyes and allowed her to pull him to the office. Once they were all inside, Bane knew if he could blush, he would right now. This was awkward.
“Sire, Frederica and Marshall are here, and settled into the villa,” he started and his leaders looked at him with interest.
“ANNNNNNDDDDD,” Cat said, motioning with her hand trying to get him to elaborate.
“Fuck,” Bane yelled and made Cat jump. Orfeo looked shock at his outburst and Tripp laughed.
“Someone has a female issue.” Tripp grinned.
Cat looked at him and smiled, “Fredi is your mate?”
Bane looked uncomfortable and said, “Cat, can I talk to Orfeo and Tripp alone?”
“Ummmmm, hell to the no, this is news, gossip, I am the Queen of the Vamps and I will be in on this juicy tidbit so spill it,” Cat demanded and sat on the edge of the desk.
“Fine,” Bane said grumpily and then said, “Yes, Fredi is my mate, and more good news. Marshall is my mate, too.”
“Dude, my brother is your fucking mate? This just keeps getting better and better,” Tripp said and looked at Bane with a grin spread across his face.
“Not possible,” Orfeo said slowly and looked at Tripp and Cat. “We are the only Triad Vampire mates.”
Cat rose from the desk, looked at her mates, and laughed. “Men are so arrogant. I get the whole prophesy thing is like all-important to you. But get a grip, did you really think we were the only ones in the world there is something written down about? Jeeze, and if I remember correctly we were all hung up on the fact that it said SHE would be the key. Let’s spitball here, men, what if it meant the women in the Senate are the key, get it, we all have special blood.”
Orfeo paused and looked at Tripp and Cat with shock, how could they have been so stupid. Of course, Jax had special blood also and now Fredi, the women were the key to the Senate coming together.
Bane looked at his leaders and shook his head, what the hell were they talking about? And seriously, why did he care? He shook his head and held up his hand, “There is more.”
Cat laughed and looked around to her friend and head of their security. “Of course, we have to plan a celebration.”
“Not so fast,” Bane said grimly. “They don’t want me as their mate.”
“The fuck you say,” Cat exclaimed and pushed a button on the desk. “Have Jax and her mates come to the office please.”
“Why are we bringing them in?” Bane demanded, his humiliation would be complete with Brin, Dante, and Jax coming.
The other Senate members walked in laughing, they had obviously been in the dinner party going on that Bane interrupted.
“What’s up?” Jax said and bumped Bane with her hip as she walked by.
“We have an issue,” Cat said with determination. Orfeo explained to the others what they thought was happening.
“I have not seen this,” Jax said and frowned. “Are you sure she is really your mate?”
Bane threw up his hand in frustration. “Really? You too? What is wrong with you people? I know she is my damn mate, I can feel it.”
“Calm down, Superman,” Cat said and walked to him. Superman is what she called him and he called her Cat Woman, Jax was Wonder Woman. Since Bane was the head of security, there were times where he had guarded them himself, they were too important. Now, when the girls went off the compound, he took them.
“Calm down? My mates are denying me, one of them has a stick stuck up his ass, sorry, Tripp, but that is your brother, and the other broke my fucking nose earlier. You calm down,” Bane roared and Dante walked to him.
Cat turned on Tripp. "What is wrong with Marshall, he is logical. He won't accept my friend as his mate. Tripp, I will kick his ass, family or not."
"Cat, Marshall has always been serious, I don't know what is going on with him, but he would have a good reason for his actions. Or at least think he does anyway. When I see him, I will ask, okay," Tripp smiled at her as she stared daggers back at him.
"Hey, can we focus back on my problem," Bane said.
“Dude, I thought your nose was just crooked,” Dante said to his friend as he examined his nose.
“Fuck off, man,” Bane growled and stood straighter. They may be Senate members, but he was no slouch, if they pissed him off, Bane could do some damage. Orfeo understood they had pushed him too far and held up his hand.
“Enough—Bane, explain everything to us,” he commanded and his HOS began to tell them everything that happened.
“Aww, cute, she was sorry she broke your nose,” Jax pointed out and smiled.
Bane glared at her and then continued. No one said another word until he was done. Then there was stunned silence, his friends and superiors looked at him with various looks on their face. The men were trying not to laugh, while the two women were looking like they were going to cry.
“That is so messed up,” Jax said and then looked at her mates, who coughed to make noises to cover their laughter. “And if you two are going to be pricks, you can go back to the party. Remember though, tonight when we are all snuggled in bed, you are going to be alone, because I will be sleeping in the guest room.”
“Hey,” Dante protested and then grudgingly looked at Bane. “Dude, sorry, we get it. But you know over the years that we have watched you get any woman you want. It’s hard for us to think there is someone who is beyond your reach.”
Cat stood, walked to Bane, and put a hand on his shoulder. Her mates rolled their eyes; she was a sucker for a dude in distress.
“Maybe we should think about this clearly. It was a shock to her, to them, I mean think about it. They had already been told there was just going to be the two of them, and you fall out of the sky. Maybe they were startled. Yep, you are going to have to woo them. Especially Fredi, Marshall you can take him out for a beer, do the crotch shift, compare dicks or whatever you men do to bond, and then you will be good. We just need a little plan to get this moving along,” Cat said and clapped. “Breakfast tomorrow will be the start, and then we will be able to see what their reaction is, Jax and I can take care of Fredi for the day, you take Marshall, and we are all good. Before you know it, they will see how we see you.”
Tripp snorted and said, “A pain in the ass?”
“A man whore?” Dante laughed.
“Guys, no, an arrogant asshole,” Brin said.
“Hell no, a muscle bound prick,” Orfeo said with a smirk on his face.
“Hey look, Orfeo made a joke and smiled.” Bane frowned. “This must be bad, or I am dying, shit, tell me I am dying, please,” he begged and the girls laughed. “Seriously, thanks for the help, and all of the fan-fucking-tabulous glowing references guys, I feel so much better knowing that Jax and Cat are going to spend all of their free time helping me out.”
The men glowered at him and he returned their gaze with a pathetically innocent face.
“I will call Quin and the New Council, maybe they will be able to shed some light on all of this, but until then, we go with the assumption that we need to find these females. It is imperative we find the women from the Senate, if we have figured this out, than Roarke and Diavolo will, too,” Orfeo said.
They made a plan for the following day and Bane left to go to his lonely room behind his office. He found his mates, he
thought, and they were just out of his reach. This completely sucked.
***
The next morning, Bane walked over to Fredi’s villa, knocked on the door, and waited—any other time he would have walked in, since he was the HOS on the compound. Orfeo explained to everyone that lived on the compound that Bane would have total access to the homes in case there was a problem.
It may seem weird, but they were not discounting that one of the newcomers was helping the Rouges, it would pain them all to think about it, but it was a serious possibility.
Marshall opened the door, nodded coldly, and held open the door. Bane paused and then stood in place and said formally, “The Heads of the Senate and the other members are having breakfast in the main house, they request your presence for breakfast so they can talk about what is going on.”
Marshall frowned at the stoic demeanor of Bane and felt a tinge of guilt in his chest, fuck, he was going to have to apologize. “Listen,” Marshall said slowly, and Bane interrupted and held up a hand.
“It will be served in thirty minutes, just follow the path, it will lead you back to the patio,” Bane said, turned around, and prepared to leave.
Marshall’s frown deepened. Then Fredi stepped into the doorway, Bane had to grit his teeth together and hold himself stiff in order to not grab her and drag her back into the villa and fuck her brains out.
“Bane?” Fredi said.
“I was announcing breakfast, I will see you there, I have a few things to take care of before then,” Bane said briskly and turned and walked down the path, shit, he had no clue it was going to suck this bad.
In the middle of the night, Bane decided he would step back and let Marshall and Fredi be mates without him. He couldn’t hurt her by being in a constant fight with Marshall, and thinking about it, the man rubbed him the wrong way. He was a fucking asshole, and Bane just didn’t think he could live like that, under constant tension. It was not his personality, so first thing this morning he went to Orfeo and his mates, told them his plan to back off, and argued with Cat for about an hour before her mate declared it Bane’s decision. Even Tripp couldn't believe his brother was being that difficult.
His Queen was pissed but nodded at him. The only thing she asked was to try to get along with Marshall, he was going to be a member of the Senate. Bane agreed and even went as far as to offer to tell them about breakfast.
It had gone well. Bane felt a twinge of wanting, but he had been able to hold his mating urge in check, and later, when he was done putting on the stupid brave face in front of his Queen and Jax, it was back to work—something he could handle.
***
“You know this is not going to work,” Fredi whispered as she watched Bane, her mate, walk away from them. Marshall sighed and nodded.
“I know, sorry, I guess it caught me off-guard, with everyone telling me I was your anchor—I was shocked. I didn’t mean to drive him away. I feel it, too, he is our mate, we are not whole without him. I guess I have a bit of sucking up to do,” Marshall said.
“Can I ask? What exactly do you feel?” Fredi said and looked up at Marshall. She knew the dynamics of the Chosen was triads, some of the guys acted like brothers, and some like lovers. Neither would bother her, but she wanted to know which way the wind was blowing.
“It is like he is my long, lost brother, meeting him just made things click, and I can see us being friends, and mates to you. But do I find him attractive—no. As weird as it sounds, knowing he is a vampire, I don’t think I would have a problem feeding him,” Marshall said.
Fredi let out the breath she was holding. She wanted both her mates right now, and getting Marshall to soften up was apparently the way to go about this. They hurt Bane and it was their responsibility to make it up to him.
“We need a plan,” Fredi said and walked inside. “We have a half an hour,” Fredi said over her shoulder and Marshall nodded and closed the door.
***
They walked into the dining room at the main house and saw that Orfeo and Cat were locked in an embrace. Cat was sitting on Orfeo's lap and they were kissing passionately. Bane cleared his throat. They broke apart and Orfeo slowly set Cat on her feet.
Orfeo rose from his chair to address them, "Welcome, Marshall and Frederica. I trust you rested well?"
"Yes, thank you,” Fredi answered as Cat approached her. The two women eyed each other for a moment, then Cat nodded and turned. "I am so glad that you're here. Everyone should be here in a minute. Let me get you some coffee.”
Fredi felt her stomach sink, shit they already offended the Queen. Of course, Bane had spoken to them, he was friends and their HOS, but damn, it was an added stress she didn’t need. Besides, her cool demeanor was a constant reminder to how she fucked up royally.
"Hey, welcome. Man it's so good to see you,” Tripp said as he entered the room, shook Marshall's hand, pulled him into a hug, and nodded at Fredi respectfully.
Brin, Dante, and Jax walked in and Jax stared at them with intent before walking forward. “I had a dream.”
“Oh shit, here we go,” Cat sighed and sat down with a cup of coffee.
Jax kept eye contact with her and said with a dispassionate voice, “The females need to be found. Diavolo and Roarke know about them and they are already ahead of us. One of them they had and she escaped. Quin and the New Council Pack moved her somewhere, but she needs to be brought here for protection and to find her mates. The women need to understand if they do not take their triad, they will be the downfall of the Senate first, and then the New Council.”
Fredi nodded but didn’t say anything. Marshall stood behind her, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, “We know we made a mistake.”
Bane felt a burst of hope and then he looked at Marshall, who still looked pissed about sharing their mate. This was not going to work if they were fighting all the damn time, maybe Cat was right. They needed to have a plan.
“Sooo, I am assuming that you are accepting the mating with Bane. Because if denied, he will have to be sent away, losing a mate for a vampire will cause them to go mad. I have no problem getting him out of the way. Hey, maybe we can find a new man for you to mate with,” Cat chatted animatedly.
Jax snorted, “Yeah, there are plenty of them crawling out of the woodwork and coming here. I am sure we could find a more suitable mate for you. Bane is a little rough around the corners.”
Bane looked at his friends with a surprised expression. Cat met his eyes and glared at him, and shook her head. He finally turned and looked at Fredi, who looked pissed.
“You will not send my mate away. How dare you think I would deny him in anyway,” Fredi fumed.
“But you did, now didn’t you?” Cat said softly and looked at Marshall, who was looking uncomfortable.
“Oh hell to the no, you don’t get to talk about my mating. Marshall and Bane are going to take some time, get to know each other. Marshall said he felt the pull to Bane as if he was his missing brother or something. You don’t get to tell us what we are feeling. I know he is my mate, and I didn’t deny him, I was in shock, I made a mistake by letting him leave. It will not happen again. But I suggest you keep your nose out of our business,” Fredi stormed and Cat raised a hand when Orfeo went to step forward and protect her. Jax laughed quietly, and stood next to Cat and clapped.
“Well said, however, you hurt my friend again, and I will kick your ass,” Jax said.
Cat stood up and pushed a hand down her outfit as to straighten it. “Ditto, however, I won’t be so nice. Hurt MY brother again, and I will kill you.”
“What a good way to start out the day: threats and coffee,” Bane said and then stepped forward and kissed Cat on the cheek and then Jax. Fredi growled behind him and he turned to her surprised. “I say we start over again. This is all just a weird misunderstand.”
Marshall nodded and looked at the people around them. “Hello, I am Marshall, and this is one of my mates, Fredi, we are happy to be here.”
"Dude, you are suc
h a dork," Tripp said as he faced Marshall.
"Shut up, dumbass, or I will call mom and tell her how bad you miss her, little brother," Marshall said back with a smirk. He knew just what to say to get Tripp to close his mouth.
Bane grinned at the accepting words, felt the tension leave him, and nodded. “Orfeo, Cat, Tripp, Jax, Brin, and Dante, these are my mates and new Senate members.”
“You are now part of the Senate, too, Bane,” Orfeo said softly and firmly. Shit, he hadn’t thought about it. Bane looked at his Sire in panic.
“Don’t worry, we will be easy on you. Now on to the real business,” Cat laughed again, and said, "It is nice to have another woman around here all the time. Jax and I are overwhelmed most days with all the beings moving in and the demanding men to keep up with.” She looked at Fredi and rolled her eyes.
Tripp lightly smacked her on her ass and he turned to put his arm around Cat. "Good to see you again. How is everyone back in Milliken?"
"Good. Mom sent a few things for you, I will give them to you later. Quin and Jaden asked that we conference with them around lunchtime,” Marshall said.
"That will be perfect. It will give us time to chat while they are in conference,” Cat said to Fredi.
The men all shook hands, while Jax hugged Fredi and welcomed her. "Another White Wolf I hear, this is interesting. I am so happy you are here, welcome,” Jax said and smiled at Fredi.
Orfeo cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Can we all sit down now and eat? We have a lot to discuss."
They all sat down at the table with Orfeo, Cat, and Tripp on one side and Marshall, Fredi, and Bane on the other. Jax, Brin, and Dante sat as well while the staff came in with plates filled with all sorts of delicious smelling items and set them in front of everyone. They ate in silence for a while, then Orfeo began to discuss the security with Bane and Dante while Marshall was telling Tripp news from home. Fredi focused on eating, trying to ignore the heat from the two men on either side of her.