by Lynn Hagen
“Nezat is something mothers use to scare their children into behaving,” Ken said. Ken looked at me. “Is this the minion you told me about?”
I nodded.
“Aw, come on,” Ken said. “I thought he would be a challenge. Does he look like a challenge to you, Jack?”
“Hardly.” Jack seemed unimpressed. “He looks like he wants his ass spanked.”
Bodin glared at me. “We’re far from done, pussy cat.”
I lunged for him, but Bodin was fast and was gone before I could get my hands around his throat.
“Fuck, he’s fast,” Jack said. “What the hell is he?”
I had no idea what Bodin or Nezat were. I’d been trying to figure that out since the two had darkened my doorstep back in the Smoky Mountains.
“Doesn’t matter,” Mikhia said. “Bodin needs to die.”
We just had to figure out how to kill him. “What myth have you heard about Nezat?”
Ken shrugged. “I’m pretty sure most information is exaggerated like most lore.”
“Nezat is supposed to be a mythical being who feeds on souls,” Jack said. “Not just any souls, though.”
“Chosen ones,” Ken added. “That’s how the lore goes. Nezat seeks out those with the purest of souls and feasts on them, sustaining him for another hundred years.”
Mikhia and I glanced at one another.
“What?” Ken asked.
“Remember I told you that my brother snuck into the pet-grooming shop and overheard that conversation?” I said.
Ken nodded.
“Dillon was referred to as a chosen one,” Mikhia said.
Jack cursed. “You better keep a close eye on him. I’m not saying the myth is true, but if I were you, I wouldn’t take any chances.”
* * * *
Dillon…
As soon as I opened my eyes, my stomach lurched. I shot out of bed and made a beeline for the bathroom, emptying the contents of my stomach.
I had no idea what had made me sick, but I sat on my butt and groaned. Now I wished I had brought my toothbrush with me, but I hadn’t planned on staying.
Shit. What time was it? My dad would have a fit if I came into the house in the wee hours of the morning. I was grown, but I still had to live by my father’s rules while living under his roof.
On wobbly legs, I got up and went to the sink to rinse my mouth. As soon as I came out of the bathroom, I heard voices just outside the motel door.
Yep, I was a nosy guy. I pressed my ear to the door to listen and wished I hadn’t.
“Dillon was referred to as a chosen one.” It was Mikhia who was talking. Chosen one? What the hell did that mean? Who had referred to me as that?
It was Jack who spoke next, or was it Ken? I sometimes couldn’t tell their voices apart. “You better keep a close eye on him. I’m not saying the myth is true, but if I were you, I wouldn’t take any chances.”
What myth?
“We’re not letting Dillon out of our sight,” Lucas said.
Okay, this was getting really weird. I had come there for a good time, and I’d gotten that in spades, but now it was time to go home.
I pressed a hand over my stomach when the queasiness returned. It couldn’t have been anything I’d eaten, because I had missed dinner. Maybe that was it. All the sex on an empty stomach had made me sick? Was that even a thing?
But what was really on my mind was the dream I’d just had. Fuck. I wiped a shaky hand over my forehead. I’d dreamed that I was in a house I’d never seen before, and I was holding a baby.
A newborn baby.
What did that mean? Whose baby had I been holding? Things just kept getting stranger and stranger.
I hurried over to my shorts and pulled out my cell phone to call Casey. My best friend answered on the second ring. “What’s up?”
Heat crept over my cheeks. “I did it.”
“Did what?”
I peeked past the curtains and saw all four men standing there talking. God, Lucas and Mikhia were so freaking hot. I still couldn’t believe I’d had sex with both of them.
Even now, staring at them, my dick stirred to life. “I handed in my V card.”
“No you didn’t!” Casey squealed. “Which one? Lucas or his brother?”
The heat surfacing on my face grew hotter. “Both.”
“Liar!” Casey erupted into a fit of laughter. “Please tell me you’re not lying.”
“Not lying.” Then I told Casey about the conversation I’d just overheard and how Jack and Ken were at the motel.
“Chosen one? What the fuck does that mean? You know what. I’ll be right over. The last customer just left, so I’m closing the café. I’ll be there in a second.”
I looked at my phone when Casey hung up. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I’d just had my cherry busted by two gorgeous, dangerous-looking guys who flipped every trigger I possessed.
Okay, maybe that was a big deal.
I stepped away from the window and grabbed my clothes from the floor. I dressed as I waited for Casey to get there. Now I wanted to know what the guys had been talking about. Chosen one? What the hell?
I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone rang. Drat. It was my dad. No way was I answering right now. Not when Lucas or Mikhia could walk into the room at any second. If my dad heard a male voice in the background, questions would start that I wasn’t ready to answer.
This was what happened when you let your hormones turn you into a slut. Now that I was no longer horny, I’d begun to worry. What if someone from town had seen me enter the motel? What if that got back to my dad?
Chills made me shiver at the thought of my dad making me see Reverend Goodstocke. I just might throw up again if I had to face that fraud.
The guy reminded me of Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard. I stuck my tongue out as I gagged. I couldn’t understand why anyone in their right mind would trust the reverend.
I spun and dropped my phone when the door opened. I was relieved to see Casey entering. My friend’s eyes rounded. “You weren’t lying!”
“Hush.” I ran to the door and closed it.
“You slept with both men.” Casey gripped my arms. “Oh my god! You’re such a badass. I wanna be just like you when I grow up. You’re my hero.”
I wished there was a dial on Casey so I could turn down his volume. “Will you stop talking so loud?”
“Why?” Casey asked. “It’s not like those two don’t know already.”
Sometimes Casey was dense. “That doesn’t mean I want them to know we’re talking about them.” I picked my phone off the floor and tossed it onto the bed. “And now my dad keeps calling me.”
“Crap. Did you answer?”
“No. He’ll want to know where I am, and you know I’m terrible at lying.”
Casey walked up behind me and draped his arms over my shoulders. “So, how was it? Did they rock your world? Blow your mind? Ruin you for other guys?”
I batted Casey away from me. “Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell.”
“Bullshit.” Casey grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Come on. My well is dry, and I’m living through you. Give me something to dream about.”
I didn’t point out that Casey worked around Jack and Ken, two men who seemed very interested in Casey, though Casey seemed oblivious to their heated looks.
“It was…amazing.” I smiled. “Why the hell did I wait so long to have sex?”
Casey gave an exaggerated sigh as he fell backward onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “How the fuck did the virgin get so lucky? I seriously thought you’d end up with twelve cats.”
So had I.
We grew quiet when Mikhia walked into the room. Casey glanced at me and smirked. “I’m gonna go see what the others are doing. Call me if you need me.”
He gave me a hug before he rushed out of the room. Now I stood there feeling awkward as hell. I knew Mikhia was the quiet one, the brother who’d had no interest in me before tonight.
; Mikhia cocked his head to the side as he sniffed the air. “You were sick?”
“Upset stomach.” I looked around, wishing I had something to do to occupy my hands, some kind of distraction so I didn’t feel so nervous.
“And now?”
“I’m feeling better. Thanks for asking.” I grabbed my phone from the bed. “But I really do need to get home. It’s late, and my dad is already gonna kill me for coming in the house at this hour.”
Mikhia held up his hands when I tried to walk to the door. “We need to talk before you decide to go anywhere.”
All I wanted to do was rake my fingers through Mikhia’s long beard as the guy kissed the air right out of my lungs. I wanted to be wrapped in Mikhia’s arms—while we were both naked—and let the tall, powerful man have his wicked way with me for a second time.
Mikhia sniffed the air again before his eyelids lowered to slits. “What’re you thinking about?”
Holy crap. Could Mikhia really smell my horniness? That was crazy. No one could smell arousal. “I…uh…nothing.”
Mikhia took a step closer as I sucked in a breath. He tucked his knuckles under my chin. “Were you thinking about earlier?”
How was I supposed to think when Mikhia was this close and touching me? It was as if I was powerless when it came to the York brothers.
Mikhia slid the palm of his hand across my cheek. “Tell me what you were just thinking about, beautiful.”
Beautiful? I held back a bark of laughter. That wasn’t a word I would use to describe myself. I wasn’t ugly, but I definitely wasn’t beautiful.
My breath hitched, and the room swayed when Mikhia drew me in for a kiss. A toe-curling, rock-your-world kiss that had me moaning into his mouth.
Mikhia slipped an arm around my waist and yanked me even closer. My mind turned to mush as I parted my lips and let Mikhia plunge his tongue inside.
I didn’t even care that I hadn’t brushed my teeth, and Mikhia didn’t seem to mind, either.
When I surfaced for air, I was panting to the point I nearly passed out. “You can’t go anywhere, sweetheart.”
“And…” I cleared my throat and tried to get my brain to reboot. “And why is that?”
All I wanted was another kiss.
A purr vibrated in Mikhia’s chest, reminding me of the dream I’d had that morning. It hadn’t been twenty-four hours, and I had met Lucas and Mikhia and slept with them.
Yep, that made me a complete slut, and I didn’t give a rat’s ass.
I just wanted more.
More time in Mikhia’s arms.
More time sandwiched between the two.
More time to have my mind blown again.
Mikhia nipped my ear, sending shock waves through my body. “Because you’re in danger, Dillon. Because you’ve just been mated to two black panthers. Because you’re possibly pregnant with our baby.”
My eyes rolled to the back of my head before I passed out.
Chapter Eight
Mikhia…
I cursed as I scooped Dillon into my arms and laid him on the bed. I hadn’t meant to make the human pass out. I just believed in total honesty when it came to mates.
It seemed that had been the wrong call to make.
Lucas walked into the motel room and frowned. “What’s going on?”
Shit. My brother was going to tear me a new ass for laying all of that on Dillon and making him faint.
“Did the others leave?” I stepped away from the bed when Dillon moaned. The guy was gonna flip out when he woke up. Tact had never been my strong suit.
“Don’t try and change the subject.” Lucas set a plastic bag that smelled like food on the dresser. “What did you do to Dillon?”
“Why does this have to be my fault?” I asked. “Maybe he was tired and decided to lie back down.”
“So he just fell asleep on his feet and you carried him to bed?” Lucas arched a brow. I hated when he did that. It was as if Lucas saw right through me.
“Fine.” I blew out a breath. “I told him the truth.”
“Which truth?” Lucas asked slowly.
“About him being in danger,” I said. “And that he was mated to panther shifters.”
“And?”
“Jeez.” I scrubbed a hand over my beard. “And that he could possibly be pregnant.”
Lucas looked as though he was ready to murder me. It wasn’t the first time he’d given me that look, and probably wouldn’t be the last. But I hadn’t seen him this angry in a while.
“Is that all? Why didn’t you just tell him we were axe murderers? That might have come off better than the truth.”
“Did you want me to lie to him?”
“No, but you could have been more gentle about it.” Lucas walked over to the bed and stared down at Dillon. “You fucking broke him.”
“How was I supposed to know he was that fragile?” I argued. “He took on two fully grown panthers without blinking.”
Honestly, I’d thought Dillon would run from the room screaming when he realized he was about to have sex with two men. I had to give Dillon props for not chickening out. I was also glad the human hadn’t, or we would have never known that Dillon was our mate.
“I don’t see why he fainted,” I defended. I really hated when Lucas was pissed at me. The last time I’d seen him this angry had resulted in a fight that our fathers had to break apart before Lucas and I killed each other.
“You don’t?” Lucas glared at me. “You told a human that he was mated to shifters and that he could be pregnant. Although that’s common in our world… Fuck, do I really need to explain this to you?”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” I snarled. “He needed to know.”
I turned my head when I smelled fear flood the room. Dillon was not only awake but watching us with a guarded expression.
“How much did you hear?” I asked.
“Pretty much all of it,” Dillon said. “The news just took me by surprise, though it shouldn’t have since I dreamed about it.”
“You what?” Lucas furrowed his brows. “What do you mean you dreamed about it?”
“Dreamed about what, kitten?” I took a seat on the edge of the bed, thankful that Dillon didn’t shrink away from me.
“You two.” Dillon sat up. “I dreamed about you two and two panthers sitting next to you the morning I met you guys.”
Was that even possible? I inwardly rolled my eyes. In my world, men could get pregnant and shifters existed, yet I was questioning Dillon’s ability.
“How is that possible?” Lucas grabbed Styrofoam containers from the bag and handed one to me then Dillon.
I flipped mine open. Fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Thank goodness the room had a microwave. I took Dillon’s container and reheated it before I did the same to my own.
Dillon sat up then shrugged. “My mom called it second sight. My dad is scared of me because I can do it, but as far back as I can remember, I’ve had dreams that come true.” Dillon pressed a hand to his stomach. “I even dreamed I was holding a baby. How can I possibly be pregnant, Mikhia? Men can’t get pregnant.”
I handed Dillon his food. “In our world, men get pregnant all the time.”
“Do you think that’s what Bodin meant by ‘chosen one’?” Lucas asked me. “The fact that Dillon is one of the humans who can conceive? If so, why is that so important to them? Ken said Nezat can steal and feast on souls. He didn’t say anything about needing a human who can get pregnant.”
“Maybe he’s looking to procreate.” I sat on the edge of the bed and bit into my chicken. “Maybe the creature wants baby evils running around. And you got pissy with me for blowing Dillon’s mind. You just dropped all that into his lap. The damn skin under his eye is twitching. Stop musing out loud before you give him a heart attack.”
Lucas’s brows shot up, as if he’d just realized Dillon was in the room with us. “Shit.”
“I think I want to go home now.” Dillon set his container aside.
“I’m sorry.” Lucas knelt in front of Dillon. “You shouldn’t have found all this out this way, but Mikhia is right. You need to know the truth.”
I ate as Lucas explained about Bodin and Nezat, how they’d killed our family, and how we’d tracked the two down to Hungry.
“Reverend Goodstocke,” Dillon said. “If anyone is evil, it’s him.”
I chuckled. “The guy who stopped you on the street outside the drugstore?”
Dillon nodded.
“I was thinking the same thing when I saw him,” I said. “He just has that greasy, grimy look about him.”
“He has a big white tent on the edge of town where he delivers his sermons,” Dillon said.
“We also know your boss is somehow in on this,” Lucas said. “Bert. Mikhia heard him talking with Bodin in the pet-grooming store where you work.”
“I never did like that asshole,” Dillon said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he was in on something diabolical.”
Dillon was focusing on his boss. I knew our mate was trying not to think of being pregnant. Whatever worked for Dillon in that moment was good, but sooner or later, he would have to face the fact.
I scooted closer and put my arm around Dillon’s shoulders and drew him close. “Whatever is going on, we won’t let anything happen to you, beautiful.”
Lucas, still hunkered down in front of Dillon, rubbed our mate’s knees. “We plan on keeping you safe.”
Dillon sagged into my side, and I was surprised at how good it felt to have him there. “I know how to get myself into a mess.”
“Technically, we got you into this mess,” I said.
After resting my chin on Dillon’s head, I glanced at my brother. Lucas gave me a look that said we would die to protect Dillon.
I never thought I would care about someone so much, someone who wasn’t related, but Dillon had stolen my heart that damn fast, and now I felt as if I had a purpose.
I was going to be a father. That was enough to knock me out of the dark space I’d been in since the attack at home. Lucas and I had a mate who was going to have our child. Maybe, just maybe, my future was starting to look up.