“I’m glad to hear it. One thing that reassured me it was the right time to return was the fact the MC has gone national now. I saw the beer up in Vermont, for Christ’s sake. I knew to be impressed then.”
He snorted. “Yeah. The IPA is doing well. The brewery is under my umbrella actually. I oversee that particular facet of the business.”
“How many facets are there?”
“You’d be surprised. We have a garage chain, which is Mundo’s baby, the brewers is mine, some real estate and stocks, but that’s mostly Justiss and Mars’s territory. Kiko handles the Clan side of things with Mars’s backing. Graver deals with the brand. He’s the youngest so he knows more about that shit than we do. All the publicity is his scene. Then Major deals with another aspect of the home front, Clan welfare. His mate’s a healer and so’s he. The MC has grown. We’ve got more residences under our watch than ever before. It’s a lot of work for two people, but it keeps him and Pip busy. Chris, he’s mated to Ava, Mars’s daughter, he’s diversifying at the minute. He worked a lot with Mundo and Graver, but we’re trying to get into the food scene. We have a line of bars but we want to get into restaurants now.”
“All the Council seems busy,” she remarked.
“Yeah. We are. Most of the brothers work for some part of the chain.”
“You’ve got a whole cottage industry going on, haven’t you?”
He chuckled. “Not sure it could be considered cottage if I’m honest. It’s too big for that.”
“What caused the change?”
“I can explain that once I’ve spoken to Mars.”
She eyed him. “Such secrecy.”
“Mundo probably blabbed about it a long time ago, but I’d prefer Mars to know what I’m telling you.”
“That’s because he doesn’t like me.”
Her assessment wasn’t wrong. Jarvis shifted in his seat. “You’re an acquired taste.”
She laughed at that. “Well, it’s as you say. I went out of my way to avoid most of you. And I probably did present the worst side of myself. It was easier that way.”
“Would have been easier to accept the Claiming,” he said on a low growl.
“For you, maybe. But I had things I wanted to do. And,” she said on a deep exhalation, “I’ll admit I had no idea you’d be so fluid when it came time to talk of cubs. I’ve never been all that maternal. That isn’t to say I don’t want them eventually, but I don’t know when. When I realized what you were to me, all I thought was you’d make me have cubs.”
“Goddess,” he hissed. “I’ve bitched at you about presenting a poor show of yourself, but I mustn’t have done much better. You’ve really thought some shit about me, haven’t you?”
She grimaced. “It’s not like that. I was young and scared. I saw things differently. And then, when I went out of my way to avoid you, only hearing things about you from second-hand accounts, I guess I just built up a picture in my head. It was never going to be accurate.”
He conceded that because Cinda had left Texas a long time ago, and yet, his opinions on her revolved around the time when she’d lived here before. That was impossibly unfair. Still, he didn’t have much else to work on.
With time they’d address that particular problem.
“I think we’re both going to have to relearn each other. Maybe, it’s not even that. Maybe we have to go back to the beginning. Start from there.”
She bit her lip. “I think that’s probably smart.”
“So, we can agree on something then? ” When she cast him a look, he teased, “That’s because I’m smart.” When her grin widened, his Bear rumbled its contentment with the situation.
This morning when he’d awoken, neither man nor beast had expected to end the day with their mate at their side. And though the Bear was displeased at his constant delays in Claiming Cinda, at the same time the man could control those urges.
One, because he was still a little confused about the entire damn situation which had exploded out of nowhere.
Two, because he had duties to his Clan. As facile as the Bear could be at times, as primitive, it understood that the Clan was everything. Without it, his world would destabilize, and now he had a mate, that was the last thing he needed.
Mates needed protection. They needed that above all else. The Bear responded to that realization and wasn’t kicking up too much of a fuss about having to wait to make Cinda his.
As she pulled into Channelview, within a few moments they were driving down the long dusty road that led to the clubhouse.
In the harsh light of day, the drive to his home wasn’t appealing. The road was rough and ready, and they’d never asphalted it mostly as a deterrent. Land either side of the road was filled with wild brush, messy and unkempt. As they approached the clubhouse, it looked cold and hard. Not a place to bring a mate, he reasoned, even though all of the Council had brought their females here and the majority still lived within those walls.
Somehow, he couldn’t see Mundo and Cinda living together peacefully again.
It just wasn’t going to happen.
Even though the MC had become the largest Clan around, back in the days before it had existed, most of the Bears had kept to themselves and lived isolated lives. He knew Mundo and Cinda’s father had preferred that kind of lifestyle, which meant she’d been raised to not appreciate being a part of a group.
A fact he knew to be true considering she’d led such a nomadic existence. Spending more time with humans than with Shifters.
As they approached the gate, he winced at the barbed wire that ran along the fences either side of the opening, and the prospect at the sight of him in the Porsche, gawked at the car.
Jarvis opened the window and leaned out to holler, “What the hell are you gawking at, Erick? Open the damn gate?”
Erick peered at him through the bars, squinting. “Sir? Is that you?”
“Yeah, of course it is.”
“That’s a pretty dumb question,” Cinda commented
“It’s the Porsche. It’s blinded him,” Jarvis teased.
When she chuckled and revved the engine, Erick leaped into action and opened up the gate. With a roar, the beast of a car rumbled into the clubhouse’s front courtyard and pulled to a halt behind ten or so bikes which were parked out front.
As she braked, men flooded from the garage; Sammy and Spyder as well as Mundo. Spyder was Mundo’s new son-in-law, and Sammy was Spyder’s brother.
Mundo was wiping his hands on a dirty rag as he studied the car, eying it up like a man might eye up a fine woman. He whistled as he looked it over, then, as he caught sight of the driver, stopped studying and gawked.
“Cinda?”
His astonishment would have been amusing if Jarvis hadn’t been filled with satisfaction. Cinda had come to him first.
Mundo had had no idea she was here, which meant her first priority was the mate bond.
Perhaps that made him a selfish prick, but fuck, he’d been pushed on the back burner for decades. It was nice to know he registered on her list of priorities somewhere.
Cinda shot him a grimace, which had him frowning before she climbed out the car. Jarvis joined her within seconds and was privy to the awkward welcome between brother and sister.
“It’s good to see you, Mundo,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Mundo, stacking his hands on his hips, replied, “And you, Cinda. What are you doing here? In a Porsche?” He shot a look at Jarvis, reared back and demanded, “And with Jarvis?” He shook his head, not in denial, but like he needed to clear the wool form between his eyes. “What the fuck’s going on? Since when could you afford a Porsche?”
“Since I wrote a couple of books and won some big awards, dumbass,” Cinda retorted with a snap. Jarvis, sensing all was not well—not that it took a genius to figure that out—moved beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulder.
“The car doesn’t matter, Mundo. Dear Goddess, aren’t you glad to see your sis?”
Mundo pulled a face. Cinda wasn’t offended though because she didn’t stiffen, and also because she was busy pulling a face back.
Spyder snickered and Sammy frowned. “They’re not like us, huh?”
Cinda’s head tilted to the side at the kid’s voice. “Who are you?”
Mundo pointed to Spyder. “That’s Jessie’s mate. Sammy’s his kid brother.”
“Less of the kid,” Sammy replied, but Jarvis knew it was a long drawn out argument.
In comparison to the Council who were geriatric in human years, Sammy, Spyder, Ava, Jessie, and the rest of the cubs, be they mature humans or not, were all kids. A fact of endless irritation to the lot of them, but it was touch shit.
Mundo just rolled his eyes, and said, “As you can tell. They’re both humans.”
“Why’s Sammy here?” Cinda asked, more curious than anything else.
“Because this is home. He’s wicked with engines, so I hired him to work for the MC.”
Sammy whistled as he eyed the Porsche. “Forgive me, Miss Cinda, if I say that you’re driving a beauty.”
She grinned. “I know. It was a gift from my publisher.”
Even Jarvis jolted at that. “A gift?”
She nodded. “My last book did well.”
Mundo cleared his throat. “I didn’t even know you were writing books. Thought you were still getting in trouble with articles.”
“I’ve written two. Still mostly working on articles and editorials though. They’re my passion. Just like engines and bikes were always yours.”
Mundo gnawed at the inside of his cheek. “It’s good to see you, Cinda.”
“Great to see you too, Mundo.”
“How long’s it been?”
She shrugged. “I last saw Jessie when she was about eighteen? It’s only been a couple of years. I can’t believe she’s mated.” To Spyder, she narrowed her eyes. “I’ve heard all about you, of course. You hurt her, I’ll hurt you.”
The low threat of violence in her tone had Jarvis’s Bear rumbling with pleasure. Spyder didn’t have a similar reaction. He backed up, eyes wide. “Yes, ma’am. I have no desire to hurt Jessie.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” she almost purred.
“How come you knew she’s mated?”
To her brother, Cinda grunted, “Just because I don’t talk to you doesn’t mean I don’t talk to Christie, Jessie, and the boys.”
Mundo frowned. “What the fuck’s wrong with me?”
“You stink, buddy,” Jarvis retorted, making Spyder and Sammy chuckle. Mundo just glowered at him.
“No, seriously. Why didn’t you keep in touch with me?”
“Because we’ve never gotten along,” Cinda said simply. “Distance and time never changed that, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to be close to my nieces and nephews. Are they all here?”
Jarvis shook his head. “The twins are doing something for Mars still. Jessie is, though.”
“She’s in the clubhouse,” Spyder offered.
Cinda nodded. “I’ll go and find her while you talk to Mars, Jarvis.”
“Sure. I’ll find you when I’m done.”
“Okay.” She reached up to grab the hand he’d rested on her shoulder. Squeezing his fingers in a gentle farewell, she maneuvered out of his hold and headed for the clubhouse entrance.
As she went, Mundo and the boys watched her leave. Hell, so did Jarvis. Damn she had a fine ass.
Mundo shook his head in confusion. “I’ll never understand her.”
“She’ll probably never understand you,” Jarvis tried to console.
“You’re not close, are you?” Spyder murmured softly, his gaze flashing over to his father-in-law.
“No, we never were, and like she said, time and distance hasn’t improved on that.” He rubbed his chin, uncaring that the gesture spread oil all over his jaw.
“She’ll be sticking around if you want to change that,” Jarvis told him carefully.
“Why will she?”
“She’s my mate.”
Mundo gawked at him. “Cinda?”
He nodded.
“My sister, Cinda, is your mate?”
Another nod.
“You only just figured it out?” Mundo scowled at him, then shook his head. “Something’s not right. How come it’s taken you so long to realize she’s your mate? Is she messing with your head? She can do that. She should have been a Cat Shifter, not a Bear.”
Jarvis sighed. “She used birth control to suppress the hormones. She hid in plain sight.”
Mundo gawked at him harder. His mouth falling agape after he murmured, “Bro, I hereby give you permission to spank her ass for that.”
Jarvis grinned. “It will be my pleasure.”
“And that’s the last I want to hear about my sister’s sex life.” Mundo shuddered. “Dear Goddess, man. I don’t know whether to congratulate you or commiserate with you. She’s a piece of work.”
“Yeah. I know.” Goddess, did he. But she was his, and bizarrely enough, to both man and beast that was all that counted. He clapped Mundo on the shoulder. “I need to speak with Mars before I do anything.”
“You still haven’t Claimed her?” Mundo asked, astonished.
“No. Not yet. I need to speak to Mars. Is he in the Council room?”
“Yeah. I saw him go in there an hour ago,” Sammy piped up, but he looked as curious as the other two. Sammy might only have been a human male but he was coming to learn a lot about Shifter behavior.
It was common knowledge that once a male recognized a female as his mate, that was it. Boom. The Claiming had to happen there and then.
Jarvis’s Bear was in complete agreement, however when Cinda’s safety was at risk, the Bear completely understood this little detour.
“I’ll see you guys later,” he said as he headed along the same path Cinda had taken moments before.
Nodding at familiar faces, greeting a few, he headed up the main staircase and stopped at the second floor. Striding toward the Council room, he knocked on the door, and when Kiko called out, “Come in,” opened it and stepped inside.
“Jarvis? I didn’t expect you back until later.”
Jarvis eyed the Prez who was rocking back in his seat. Annette was perched on his lap. Kiko was to his right, and they had a pile of papers on the table which were obviously under discussing.
It wasn’t his business unless they made it so at the next Council meeting, so he ignored the unusualness of Annette’s presence in here, and said, “I have news.”
Annette scrambled off her mate’s lap. “That’s my cue to get out of here before you dump something else on my to do list.”
“There’s no need to go because of me,” he told her easily, watching with a wry smile as Mars grabbed her butt.
She shook her head. “I’ve things to do and no time to have my ass spanked.” She shot him a wink then bent down to kiss Mars. The Prez pouted but laughed when she whispered something in his ear.
After she’d left the Council room, Mars cocked a brow at him. “What kind of news?”
“The cops came today to take away the amnesty box.”
Mars’s eyes flared wide with interest. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” A few months back, Jarvis had managed to twist a few arms, and legs, at the precinct closest to the shelter. He’d made arrangements for a box to stand in the reception area. It was locked and alarmed so it couldn’t be tampered with, but the kids with weapons they’d found or wanted to dump could put them in the box without fear of reprisal.
Jarvis and the MC had taken advantage of that box when an old enemy, the head of the Cartel who’d used Sammy and Spyder to try to trigger a war between them, had offloaded some guns on their doorstep.
Those guns had committed only the Goddess knew what crimes, and if they were found in MC hands, the police would sure as shit throw the book at them.
“You’re sure none of this can fall back on us?”
Jarvis
shrugged. “As sure as I can be. The police agreed to the amnesty. There’s been a wave of knife crime in the neighborhood, and I think they were hoping that they could look for trace evidence on whatever was dumped there.”
“Which kind of goes against the term ‘amnesty’, doesn’t it?” Kiko pointed out gruffly.
Jarvis shrugged. “I guess. We can only ask for so much though, right? I’d hope that the kids have seen enough CSI-type shows to figure out they needed to clean the damn knives and guns of fingerprints and the like.” Jarvis took a seat opposite Mars at the head of the table. “Not much else I can do for them. At least those weapons are off the street.”
Mars nodded. “And those guns, in particular, are out of our hair.”
“Even better.”
Jarvis nodded at Kiko’s satisfied statement, then turned to look at Mars. “Cinda’s back.”
Mars’s eyes widened, but Kiko snorted. “Trouble this way comes,” the VP stated with a chuckle as he rubbed his jaw. “Cinda, I always did like her.”
“That’s because you were the only one idiot enough to like She Devils.” Mars rolled his eyes. “Jarvis, do you remember that bunny he used to love? The one who set fire to his underwear drawer?”
Jarvis chuckled. “Harlow. Back in the nineties. Goddess, she was a psycho.”
“And this psycho here nearly fell for the nutcase.” Mars grunted. “Your taste in women always was shit. I guess it’s a good job the Goddess decides on who our mates would be, otherwise you’d have the fucking lunatic in my clubhouse.”
“Mischa’s a hot head,” Jarvis countered. “Don’t underestimate her fire.”
Kiko shot them both a smug smirk. “Oh, I don’t. In fact, I live and breathe that fire every day.”
Mars grunted. “I don’t need to know any more about your sex life, thank you very much.”
Mischa and Kiko were caught, at least once a week, getting down and dirty in some part of the clubhouse. It was as common as seeing a brother with a bottle of beer in their hands.
Most of the brothers just rolled their eyes and strode on, letting the couple get to it. That only changed if one of their kids were the unfortunate ones to fall upon the rutting couple.
Kiko smirked. “It will be good to see Cinda,” he said, changing the subject. “What’s she doing back in Houston? I thought she was over in Philadelphia writing something about gun crime.”
JARVIS (MC Bear Mates Book 8) Page 7