by Ezra Dawn
Orion smiles, kisses her cheek, and says “Hi honey.”
She glares at him, points her finger, and says “You! You had my son locked in the cells!! I am so not happy with you right now.” She punctuates every word with a jab to his chest.
He raises his hands in surrender. “For the record, the door wasn’t locked and he was only in there while I asked him a few questions. I didn’t know who he was!”
She raises an eyebrow at him and says “Mhm…sure.”
His mouth drops open in shock. “It’s true!”
She turns to me and smiles “Lykos honey, it’s been too long. Look at you, you’re all grown up! Come here.” She holds out her arms for a hug and I immediately step into them. I can’t help it. I’ve missed my mother’s hugs. She uses the opportunity to pull my ear and start in on her lecture.
“What were you thinking?! You could have been injured or killed! If you wanted to see me all you had to do was call.”
I wince. “Ow, ow, ow. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I’ll call next time. Please, let go of my ear.” She narrows her eyes but releases the hold on my ear. I rub it gently to soothe the pain. “Devil woman.”
She looks at me with a raised eyebrow “What was that sweetie?”
I smile. “Nothing. I didn’t say a word.”
She nods, seemingly satisfied with the answer. “Well, since you’re here now why don’t you come over to the house for an early dinner with the family? You can meet everyone.”
I nod and say “Okay.” She loops her arm through mine and we walk out of the pack house together. Orion follows close behind.
She’s smiling the entire time. “I can’t believe it. Just look at you, so many tattoos, I’ve never seen so many. Except maybe, on your younger brother Julian but you definitely have more than he does. You’re still so tall too. I didn’t think it was possible for you to get any taller since I last saw you but I think you have.”
I laugh and say “Probably.” We walk into the house and I’m immediately hit with the amazing smell of food. My stomach growls and my mother laughs.
“Sounds like someone’s ready to eat.”
I laugh and say “Yeah, I’m starving.”
“Come on everyone should be in the dining room. Your sister was helping me finish up the cooking when I decided to call you. Everything should be ready now.” We walk into the dining room where six people are sitting around the table chatting. The conversation suddenly stops when we enter the room.
Everyone must’ve stopped to scent the stranger with their mother but because of the cologne they wouldn’t get much. My mom smiles and says “Everyone this is Liam my oldest son. He surprised us with a visit. Isn’t that nice?” Everyone’s mouths drop open in shock. One guy leans so far back in his chair to see he hits the floor. He jumps up and laughs then comes over to me. I’m taller than he is so he has to look up at me.
The first words out of his mouth are “Dude! You totally have way more tattoos than I do! See Cheyanne! I told you there were some people out there with more than me and that my amount wasn’t a lot!”
The girl he must’ve been referring to sticks her tongue out at him and says, “Whatever Julian, you just want an excuse to get more.”
He rolls his eyes and says, “So? They’re cool.” He grabs my arm and says, “Come sit by me.” He drags me over to the table and pushes me into a chair.
Our mom sits at the end of the table with Orion at the other end. She smiles and says “Let me introduce everyone so that Liam doesn’t get confused.” She nods toward the end of the table and continues “You’ve already met Julian and Cheyanne. Next to Julian is Mikhail. Across from him is his mate Darla. On your right is Fin and across from Fin is his mate Andrew.”
I look over at Fin wide eyed and say, “You’re gay?”
He glares at me and says, “Yeah, got a problem with that?”
I laugh and say, “No, not at all. I was just fascinated because you have a mate. Are you guys’ fated mates?”
Fin nods and says, “We are.”
I smile. “That’s awesome.”
Fin blushes and says, “Thanks, I guess.”
Andrew looks at me and says ‘So, what about you Liam? Are you mated?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not. I’ve kind of given up hope honestly. When you’ve been around for over 3000 years and still haven’t found the one for you it puts a damper on things.”
Andrew spits out the soda he just drank and says, “You’re over 3000 years old?”
I shrug and say, “Yeah, I thought all of you knew that already.” They shake their heads and I look over at mom.
She shrugs. “I didn’t want to broadcast it.”
I laugh and say “I understand.”
Mikhail says, “So, what do you do for a living?” As we pass around the plates of food and start serving ourselves I think about how to answer that.
I sigh and say “I work for the council.”
Mikhail says, “Oh, the Shifter Council? Me too. I’m an enforcer but I have to say I haven’t seen you around before. I would’ve remembered.” I grab the pitcher of water in the center of the table and pour myself a glass.
I take a generous sip, clear my throat and say “Um no, not the Shifter Council.”
Darla says “Then, which one?”
I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. Before I can say anything my phone rings. I thank the fates for the reprieve while I answer the call. “Hello?”
Valik says “Lykos, it’s Valik.”
I sigh. “Yeah, Valik what is it?”
He says, “I have an assignment for you.”
“What?! You can’t be serious! I’m on vacation.”
He says, “Yeah and vacation doesn’t mean anything to you unless you decide to be the one taking it. You’re a workaholic. Krealik ordered it so, it doesn’t count for you. I know you.”
I sigh. “Yeah, and I’m having dinner with my family right now. I may have been ordered to take the vacation and had my ass kicked by Krealik for that shit the other night but I intended to take the vacation.”
Valik says, “I’m sorry but this assignment needs your expertise.”
I sigh and run a hand down my face. “What’s the assignment?”
“Trolls. They’ve come through a portal from the Fae realm and are terrorizing a wolf pack in Oregon. You need to get out there and take care of it before they reveal us all to humans.”
I groan and start pacing the floor. “You’re fucking kidding me! Trolls?! You’re sending me to deal with fucking Trolls! Are you insane Valik?! Do you have any idea how big they are?! Jesus Christ!! I can’t believe this shit! You fucking owe me!!” I hang up the phone and plop down in my chair. Thinking to myself “Fucking Trolls. Seriously. I’m going to need a long fucking vacation after this. Eight months of nothing but rogue this rogue that, Hey Lykos take care of this for us. Nonstop fucking shit. At least it wasn’t dragons this time. Man I hate those guys. Uptight hoity toity assholes. Fucking Paranormal Council owes me big time for this shit. Trolls, really?!”
It’s when I hear the dead silence in the room that I realize I just said all of that out loud. I look around and find everyone staring at me. I just smile and wave “Umm. Hi guys how much of that did you hear?” My mother stares at me gaping like a fish.
My brother Mikhail says, “All of it pretty much. So, you work for the Paranormal Council?” I nod.
“That’s cool what do you do?”
I smile. “I’m a fixer.” I stand up and walk to my mom. “Thanks for dinner. Sorry I didn’t get to eat any of it but I have to go. There’s an emergency out in Oregon.” I kiss her cheek. “I’ll call you.” I wave at them as I walk out the door. Once I’m inside my SUV, I check my email for the assignment then drive towards Oregon.
Chapter Seven
Declan
It’s been almost two weeks since Mirajane moved in with me. Things are going really well between us. I can really see myself with her permanently
. At first, I didn’t want to be involved with any of the planning for the ceremony but she kind of talked me into it. Now, we’re working together on it. She asks for my opinion whenever she has ideas and I ask for hers. Her friends are planning a bachelorette party for her on the same night as my bachelor party next week. Well, technically it’s in a few days since we’re already into the weekend.
They’re going to have it here at the house while my brothers have mine at Wyatt’s club. Most of the stuff is already planned out but there are still some things that need finishing touches. Today though, I’m going out on the boat with Crispin. Between all the planning for the ceremony and getting to know Mirajane, I’ve kind of neglected my friend recently. To make it up to him we’re going on a fishing trip today. I know he’s been helping my brothers plan the bachelor party so I hope to get a few details out of him.
I make sure all my gear is loaded onto the truck before I climb in it and drive to the docks. I park the truck, grab my stuff and climb onto the boat. Crispin is late getting here so I have to get everything ready myself. Once he arrives we untie the boat and head out onto the bay. I save all my questions until we get to our spot and get anchored. “So, what things do my brothers have planned for the bachelor party?”
He laughs and says, “I’m not telling you shit. You can ask all you want but you won’t get anything out of me.”
I sigh. “Damn, and here I was hoping I’d get some idea of what I’d be walking into.”
He shakes his head and says, “Nope. I can assure you though. It will be fun and you will leave drunker than a skunk.”
I laugh and say, “Well then, I look forward to it.” After a few minutes of silence I turn to him and say “Do you know who is coming?”
He says, “Yeah, me and your brothers. Some guys from the pack we went to school with will be there and I heard a few people from Coal Springs are also coming to show their support of your mating.”
I stare at him with a raised eyebrow “Do you know the guys from Coal Springs?”
He shakes his head. “None of us do but your dad gave them permission to be there. They heard about it through the grapevine I suppose. Since they asked for permission from the Alpha and it was granted Wyatt can’t exactly turn them away at the time of the party.”
I shrug and say “That’s kind of suspicious but, there’s nothing I can really do about it.”
Crispin looks at me and says “There’s one other thing.”
“What?”
He says, “At the party, if you find someone you would like to you know, share a bed with one last time before you commit yourself fully to this relationship. Your brothers and I will look the other way. We won’t keep you from having one last hurrah before you strap yourself down with the old ball and chain.”
I stare at him wide eyed “What about the guys from Coal Springs? I doubt they’ll look the other way. It’s part of the truce. I can’t cheat.”
Crispin shrugs. “Technically, you aren’t cheating. You said you couldn’t cheat while you were bonded. You’re not bonded yet. So, there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying one last hurrah before the ceremony. Don’t worry about the guys from Coal Springs. We’ll keep them occupied if you do happen to find someone.”
I nod and say, “Okay. Not saying I will find someone but it’s a deal I guess.”
“Deal. Now, let’s fish.”
After hours of not catching anything we decide to head back to the shore. We tie the boat to the dock and load our gear back onto our trucks. Crispin says “Hey, let’s go get something to eat before we head back. I’m starving.”
I laugh and say, “Alright, I’m pretty sure there’s a restaurant around here somewhere that’s within walking distance.”
He points and says, “I think it’s that way.”
We start walking and I can’t help but laugh. “This is just sad. We live here and we don’t even know where the restaurants are.”
He laughs with me. “It is pretty sad.”
We find the restaurant about two blocks away from the docks. It isn’t super busy so we get a table easily. I order a huge steak platter and he gets a burger with everything and fries. I don’t realize how hungry I actually am until the food is placed in front of me. I devour that shit. I’m pretty sure some animalistic noises are made and some people may have been staring at me but damn I couldn’t help it. I was starving.
I pay for the food once we’ve finished and we walk back to our trucks. Crispin calls out “See you in two days for your bachelor party.” I nod as I climb into my truck. I thought it was further off than that but I guess not. I crank the truck and head off towards home.
I walk in the door a few minutes later to find Mirajane sitting at the table with a few of her friends. She smiles at me and says, “Hey, you’re back early. I thought you’d be later. Did you catch anything?”
I shake my head and say, “No, we didn’t catch anything.”
She nods and says, “Have you eaten? I made spaghetti, there’s plenty left over.”
I smile and say, “Yeah, we stopped at that little diner two blocks from the docks and grabbed a bite. I had steak.”
She laughs and says, “Okay, well we’re just going over some details for the ceremony if you want to help.”
I shake my head and say, “Nope, I’ll leave that to you lovely ladies. I’m going to go shower and sleep.” I kiss her cheek and say, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She smiles and says, “Okay. Goodnight.”
“Night.” I walk down the hallway and into the bedroom. It’s nice to come home to a house that isn’t empty. I strip out of my clothes and walk into the bathroom. I tap the waterproof tablet I have built into the wall that controls my sound system. I’m a little weird. I have to have music to sing to while in the shower. Well, when I’m not in a rush that is. Once I’ve got the music going, I turn the water in the shower to near scalding just the way I like it and step under the spray.
I wiggle my hips to the beat while I wash my hair and if I happen to sing into the shampoo bottle while doing so, then there’s nothing wrong with that. I rinse myself and continue with the rest of my routine. Once I finish my shower, I step out and dry myself off then wrap the towel around my waist. I brush my teeth, hang the towel back up once I’m done then pull on my sleep pants and crawl into bed.
The next day is spent going over bonding ceremony details with Mirajane before she goes to work. After she leaves, I spend the day cleaning the house, doing the laundry that we forgot to do over the weekend and making out a grocery list for things we’ll need for the rest of the week so that I can do the shopping. I would’ve done all of this over the weekend but we were busy planning everything and I forgot, so I’m doing it now. Especially, since tomorrow night is my bachelor party and that’s all I’ll be focused on. Apparently, the guys have an entire day of stuff planned to do with me before the official party at the end of the night.
Once I’ve got the list ready I double check that I’m dressed. I don’t need another no pants dilemma like last time and head out to do the grocery shopping. It doesn’t take me long to get to the store. The grocery store isn’t that far into town. I probably could have had them delivered but that’s just too much work for the old wolf that runs the place. I know someone else is taking over for him when he retires or dies but they aren’t doing the deliveries yet. They’re still in training technically.
I grab a cart and greet the old wolf on the way in. “Afternoon Percy.”
He smiles and nods “Afternoon.” I walk down the center aisle and start stocking the cart with the things on the list. Once I’m done I head up to the front, pay for everything and go. I put everything away as soon as I get home, fix myself and Mirajane a quick dinner and head to bed as soon as we’ve finished eating. I know it seems kind of harsh but I’m just super excited to start the next day.
My brothers and Crispin wake me up via air horn around seven the next morning. I now know how my conquests felt. I apo
logize to all of you for my assholishness. We start the morning off with a run in our wolf forms. We run for a while, play, and even hunt. We finish the run around eleven. After the run they take me out for lunch and we go a couple towns over to one of those paintball parks. We break into teams of three and face off against each other for a couple games of paintball.
Once we finish with paintball we go back to Wyatt’s house where we all have showers to get rid of the paint and change clothes. Wyatt and I are the same size so I borrow some of his. He picks the outfit which turns out to be a pair of black leather pants, a tight black muscle top, a black wrist cuff and my black boots that I was already wearing. After we’re all dressed and ready, we stop for a bite to eat before heading over to Wyatt’s club in the city.
Wyatt’s club is packed when we get there. There’s even a line around the block. He has a table reserved for us in the VIP section. Some people are already there and Wyatt introduces them as the guys from Coal Springs. I don’t pay attention to their names just plop down onto one of the plush couches surrounding the table. Everyone files in around the table. Wyatt sits next to me and orders a round of drinks from the waitress. She walks off before I’ve ordered anything.
When she comes back she has another waitress with her. She places the drinks in front of everyone while the second waitress places this huge ass blue drink in front of me. I stare at it wide eyed and say “I didn’t order this.”
Wyatt laughs and says, “I did brother. With our metabolisms it’s hard to get drunk and since it’s your bachelor party you’re supposed to get drunk. So, I ordered you this. You drink one of these and keep drinking steadily after it and you’ll be drunk in no time.”
I just kept staring at the drink. It was literally a fucking huge ass fish bowl of glowing blue liquid. “What is it?”
“It’s called Witch’s Brew but don’t worry, there are no witches involved in the actual making of the drink. Drink up!”
I shrug “What the hell, might as well.” I pick it up and chug it. I immediately feel the buzz after it’s all gone. “Can I have another one of those?”