True Calling (Fantasy Book 2)

by Cree Storm

  “Humans don’t react well to things they don’t understand.” Linus softly said.

  “Then it’s going to be up to us to show him that paranormal or not, we are no danger to him. I say when the time comes, we just have Trevor shift and show him just how safe we are.” Micah said with a sharp nod.

  “Me? Why me?” Trevor gasped.

  Bo laughed, “Baby, you know as well as I do that you would be the best choice. Micah and Linus can’t, because they’re aquatic and I don’t think Berk will appreciate meeting Nolan’s Bengal Tiger.”

  “Yes well, what’s wrong with your cross fox or Chance’s tortoise?” Trevor asked with a huff.

  Chance quickly answered, “We’d have to get naked before shifting, Trev. That in itself would freak the human out. You on the other hand are a pygmy possum. You don’t have to strip down because your two-inch possum won’t rip your clothes off if you do shift. And Bo’s fox might not be huge, but it is far bigger than your animal. That means less to fear.”

  Trevor’s shoulders slumped, “Fine. I’ll shift for him when the time comes.”

  Nolan tilted his head to the side, “He’s here.”

  Everyone stood up and looked out the window. They watched as a man just a bit taller than Trevor got out of the car. He had sandy-blond hair that was pulled back in a ponytail and Bo couldn’t help but smile, “He’s cute.”

  “Who’s cute?”

  The six men quickly turned to see Garth standing there with his arms crossed and brow raised, “What are you guys up to?”

  The knock on the front door kept them from answering.

  CHAPTER 3

  Garth had been going downstairs to see if anyone had started lunch. He had been following up on another zoo issue like he had discovered when he found Chance and Micah so long ago. This one was being run by another shifter, though, and things weren’t adding up. He needed to go and check on it and see if it was something that would require him stepping in and then dismantling the owner and the fucking zoo. Garth hated zoos.

  But for now, he was starving, and his dragon could eat an entire buffalo at this point. Not that he would allow him to fly out and find him, but damn it, he was hungry. He wished they had hired that cook Bo and the others had nagged him about needing.

  He still didn’t understand why they felt the need for a live-in chef, but if that was what his family wanted to be happy, then that was what they would get. Besides, there was no way he could deny Linus when the little shit gave him those damn puppy-dog eyes. How a Viquita shifter could pull off that look was still a mystery to Garth, but damned if it didn’t work every time.

  “Hey guys?” Garth called out.

  No one answered. Garth looked in the large office Trevor used along with his mate and then did the same for the others and their mates. No one was where they were supposed to be at this time of day.

  “Okay, you shits, what are you up to?” Garth asked to no one in particular.

  Making his way down the long spiral staircase, he was surprised to hear voices.

  “He’s here.” Chance said, sounding nervous.

  Why would his quiet tortoise be uneasy?

  “He’s cute.” Bo said, surprising the hell out of Garth. That man had no eyes for anyone except his mate Trevor.

  Wanting answers, Garth went down the stairs, calling out, “Who’s cute?”

  The six men quickly turned to see Garth standing there. The look of unease and guilt was as obvious as the scent of fear, most likely coming from Linus, permeating the room Crossing his arms, Garth raised a brow. Something was going on here and he would have answers, even if he had to use intimidation to get them. Although with this bunch Garth knew that going that route wouldn’t do him much good. “What are you guys up to?”

  The knock on the front door kept them from answering, and when no one moved to answer the door, Garth dropped his arms down, saying, “I’ll get it.”

  Bo gasped, then moved as if his fox was in a hurry, “No, I’ll uh... I’ll get it.”

  Garth made it to the door first, “Oh, that’s okay, I think I can handle opening a door.”

  Garth had truly believed those words when they were spoken, he really did. However, when he whipped the door open, he hadn’t expected to be assaulted with the scent of Cinnamon and spice, and fuck wasn’t this guy nice. That blond hair in a ponytail that had Garth wanting to slide the band off and run his fingers through, just to test if it was as soft and silky as it looked, and then the man looked up, into Garth’s eyes and those absolutely stunning blue orbs was like looking at the most gorgeous sky on a cloudless day.

  “Um, hi. I... uh... I’m Berk.”

  Garth couldn’t speak. He couldn’t do anything but look at the man he knew was to be his for all eternity. What the fuck? Thousands of years Garth had lived and never... never had he even had an inkling about where or who his mate might be, and after all this time the guy just walked up to his door and rang the bell?

  “Uh, can... well, can I come in or, uh... I mean, I still have the job, right?” Berk asked nervously.

  Garth’s brain wasn’t registering whatever it was Berk was talking about and the only word that could go from brain to mouth was, “Job?”

  “Crap, please don’t tell me I don’t have it. I spent the last of my savings on the plane ticket to get here and I...”

  His mate sounding scared didn’t sit well with Garth’s dragon. Immediately wanting to calm the man, Garth said, “Calm down, lovely. My name’s Garth. Why don’t you come in and we can talk about this... job?”

  Berk picked up his bag and hesitated a moment before walking through the door. When he saw Bo and the others, he stopped, “Oh, uh... hi there. I’m Berk. Berk Carlos.”

  Bo walked forward with his hand held out, looking at Garth anxiously, then back to Berk, “Hi, I’m Bo, this is my ma... husband, Trevor.” Then Bo pointed from one man to the other making introductions.

  Why did Bo call Trevor his...? Taking in a deep breath Garth went stiff as a board. Human. No fucking way. His mate was human? Well shit.

  “It’s nice to meet you all. I’m sorry I had to help my family move to another state and between settling the sale of the restaurant and the house, then getting them to Florida, it took a bit longer than I’d hoped for. If you’ve found someone else, I really understand. I’d just need a phone to call my folks and see if they can get me a plane ticket and then call Mark to come back and get me to take me to the airport.”

  “Mark! Who the fuck is Mark?” Garth practically snarled. Was this Mark a boyfriend? Was he a threat to Garth’s mating? His dragon didn’t like that thought at all.

  Berk swung around, quickly saying, “The uber driver.”

  “The Uber driver? You’re on a first-name basis with an Uber driver?” Garth asked with a deep gravelly tone he couldn’t seem to control.

  Bo immediately stepped forward, and took the bag from Berk, “We haven’t hired anyone else. We’ve been waiting for you, Berk. Zotol says you are the one we wished for and that means you belong here with us.”

  Zotol? Garth knew that name from long ago. He couldn’t... wait he remembered that name. Zotol was a Jinn that Garth had met. But that couldn’t be. Garth had sent the man in the direction of his mate and the last Garth knew, Zotol was happily mated and living the life he deserved. Lucky bastard.

  “I don’t know if I’m the man, but I am the chef he said you guys wanted.” Berk said, sounding a bit less nervous than he had been a few moments ago.

  Trevor smiled, “How about we show you to your room and then we can give you the tour. We don’t expect you to start right this minute and I’m sure you must want to refresh yourself after such a long journey.”

  Just then Garth’s stomach rumbled so loud everyone turned to look at him. He felt his cheeks heat, “Sorry. I had just come down to see if anyone made lunch.”

  Berk smiled, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t one of you show me to my room so I can put my suitcase down and then ta
ke me to the kitchen and I can have a look-see at what you have I can whip up for lunch?”

  Bo quickly started to say, “Oh you don’t have to do that now. I’m sure you must be tired. We can...”

  “It’s what I’m here for and I really don’t mind. It’s nothing to toss together lunch, and besides, it’ll give me a chance to see if I need anything. I’ll also need to talk to someone about how I order what I might require for other meals. Where to go to get the foods I’ll need for future meals, and how to order possible appliances or special cooking equipment. Unless that’s going to be a problem. I mean I have some things in storage, so I could always just figure out a way to get that stuff here...”

  “Berk, whatever you need, you only need to let Bo know, and he will get it for you. Foods he can order, and they will be delivered.” Garth said.

  Shaking his head, Berk said, “The food I need to see for myself. I’m kind of a hands-on person. I want to smell, touch and even at times taste the product. I prefer things like farmer’s markets and stuff. There’s nothing like home-grown produce and freshly butchered meats. Is that going to be a problem?”

  Garth blinked and looked at his family. They didn’t go into town. Did they even have a farmer’s market? Did butchers still exist? Garth had no idea and from the looks of the other guys’ faces, they didn’t either.

  “How about I show you to your room. The guys can make their way into the kitchen while we get you settled in. Trevor, I believe you have some inquiring to do while I get Berk taken care of.” Bo said.

  Garth watched as his mate left the room. Trevor went to rush out after them, most likely to do his computer thing on butchers and farmer’s markets. “Not so fast, Trev. I think you and the others here have some explaining to do.”

  Trevor looked as guilty as the other four standing there. Surprisingly, it was Linus that spoke up first. However, his words didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. “We just wanted you to have what we do, Garth.”

  Trevor’s words didn’t help clear things up for him either, “You’ve done so much for us and never ask for anything in return. We just wanted to give you something for a change.”

  Holding up his hand, Garth looked at Chance. “Explain.”

  “You’ve been working nonstop, Garth. We know being around a bunch of mated men...”

  Garth stopped Micah with a raised hand and looked at Chance with a raised brow. “I’m waiting.”

  Chance looked at his mate and then the others before letting out a deep sigh. “You work all the time. It isn’t good for you, and you know it.” When Garth didn’t say anything, Chance continued. “Look, Garth, you’ve done so much for all of us and every time we try to do something for you, you won’t let us.”

  “I’ve been working so much because I think I found another zoo like the one I found you and Micah in. I didn’t want to tell you, because I didn’t want the bad memories to come back again. Besides that, you all don’t owe me anything. I did what I did... helped you guys because you needed it and I could. Don’t you guys understand? You being here... in my home has brought me much more than I could have dreamed. I love that you all wanted to stay here, and I especially love the fact that we became such a close family. Don’t you see? You already have paid me back even without me wanting any payment at all.” Garth said emphatically.

  “Maybe to you, Garth, but to us... you didn’t just save us from hell, you brought us our mates. We just wanted you to have what we do. Yes, we’re family and we love you like the brother you are even if it’s not by blood.” Chance stated forcefully.

  Micah nodded, “Hell that makes our family all the more special. We chose our family. Most people don’t get that.”

  Linus pulled away from his mate and came closer to Garth. “Family is great, Garth, but there’s nothing like having your mate by your side. That one person that will cuddle up to you when you’re watching a movie, laugh with at an inside joke, talk to when you’re feeling kind of lost or down.” He turned to look at his mate, whispering, “Hold you close when the nightmares come.”

  Garth was going to say something, but Linus wasn’t finished. “We know you love and care for us, Garth, but we love and care about you too. We wanted you to have what we do, and we have found a way to make that happen.”

  “And it seems to have worked. Berk is your mate, right?” Chance asked.

  Garth nodded and Trevor brought his tablet to him and showed him a website on the paranormal internet. He read it aloud, “We all dream and make wishes. Imagination is our fantasies come to life within our minds. Tell us what yours is and who knows it just might come true.” Looking up he asked in disbelief, “Are you guys serious? This could have been some nutcase. What would you have done if Berk hadn’t been my mate? He’s human. This could have...”

  “But he is your mate. And we had a plan if he wasn’t your mate. We would have just told him we thought he hadn’t wanted the position and already hired someone else. I mean it did take him a month to get here.” Trevor replied.

  Sighing heavily, Garth said, “So what’s the plan now?”

  Giving what could only be described as a conniving smile, Micah replied, “Easy. You show us what you have on that zoo and then while we do some investigative work, you woo your mate.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Berk had been at the mansion for a week now and was excited to get to the farmer’s market and then the butchers shop. He’d already called and talked to Merle, who said he could come in and get a good look at his prime cuts of meat. The way he said it sounded like more inuendo than his profession, but Berk wasn’t interested. No. The only thing he wanted to do was get started doing what he had been hired to do.

  The first day he had arrived, Berk had gone into the kitchen to see the dream of all dreams before him. Holy shit the place was decked out in the most up-to-date equipment Berk could ever hope to work with. There were two double ovens and a large gas stove with a grill on one side, griddle on the other, and six burners in between. There was a prep sink, worktable counters, backsplashes, and metro shelving. Hell, there was even a separate cooking area with a built-in wok and sushi bar set up and in the back was an actual all-brick pizza oven. However, the crème de la crème was the island in the middle that served both as a place for people to sit and an area to do a bitch-ton of prep work.

  Berk had hoped that when he cooked the guys would come in and maybe they could get to know each other, but with no actual food in the house and the farmer’s market not opened until Wednesday and Saturday, that meant he had to go to a grocery store.

  When Berk had set out to do just that, Bo had stopped him and told him they would wait and for Berk to just get settled in and rested. He could start the following week and until then they could just do what they normally did and order in.

  That had surprised Berk. Eating out that often wasn’t only unhealthy it was expensive as hell. Then again, it didn’t look like these guys had to worry about cost and not one of them looked malnourished. They all seemed extremely healthy. However, Berk really wouldn’t know, since he rarely saw any of them.

  It shouldn’t hurt as much as it did that the guys didn’t seem to want to get to know him or allow him to get to know them, but every time Berk walked into a room and someone would be in there he’d say hello and they would say hello, but when he asked for them how they all met, the guys would scurry out of the room as if their asses were on fire.

  There was a few times Berk had watched them sneaking out of the house and he knew they were doing it so Berk wouldn’t know and try and follow. He never did and it was unnecessary. Berk didn’t go where he wasn’t wanted and if Berk had learned anything, it was that these guys didn’t want him where they were.

  Berk had talked it over with his foster dad and he said that it wasn’t unusual for people to need time to warm up to others, besides, he wasn’t there to make friends, he was there to cook. Berk knew his dad was right, but damn it still kinda stung that he would be living in a place that
he had no friends. His dad then went on to say that if at any point he wanted to come to Florida and look for something else, he was always welcome and, in all honesty, Berk was leaning that way more and more.

  That’s why instead of asking one of the guys to take him to town, Berk had pulled out Mark’s card and called the Uber driver up. This he could gladly do alone. Bo had given him a credit card for expenses that first night and Berk was planning on using it.

  Mark had just arrived and Berk was heading out, when Garth came down the stairs looking at him curiously. “Why do you have your jacket on?”

  “Because there’s a bit of a chill outside and I’m going to need it to go out.” Berk answered.

  “Where are you going?” Garth asked gruffly.

  Berk couldn’t understand the sudden flare in the guy’s eyes. It wasn’t like Garth had given him the time of day as it was. Hell, whenever he saw Berk, Garth took off as if the hounds of hell were after him. Yet, Berk could feel the man’s unease with Berk leaving.

  The car horn honked, and Berk headed for the door. “I’m going to the farmer’s market and then the butcher.”

  “Alone?” Garth asked, sounding more upset then just a moment ago.

  “Yep.” Berk said, twisting the handle and opening the door.

  Garth was at the door grabbing his arm before Berk could step out, “You can’t go alone!”

  Berk was confused, then he got a bit pissed. How dare he talk to him like that? Garth might be the big boss, but that didn’t give him any right to snarl at him or treat him like a child. Jerking his arm out of Garth’s grasp, Berk said, “What the hell is your problem? I came here to do a job that I haven’t been able to do since I got here, because of your lack of food in this house. I’m going to go get the supplies I need so I can start...” Then a thought hit Berk, “Or do you not want a chef anymore? If that’s the case, I’ll ask Mark to hold up a few more minutes, grab my shit and get out of here.”