Exiled 02 - Wolf

by Lynn Hagen

  Wolf grimaced as he stared at the house through the front window. “Sounds delightful.”

  Jaycee laughed. “Haven’t you ever been to a cookout?”

  “Winged beasts do not have cookouts.”

  “Too bad.” Jaycee opened his door and climbed out of the car. “You have no idea what you’re missing.”

  Wolf had a perfect idea of what he was missing…Jaycee naked in his bed. He just hadn’t been able to convince his mate that they needed to stay home more than they needed to go to some cookout thingy.

  He would have been thrilled at any excuse that could have kept him from attending any function involving Jaycee’s mother. It wasn’t that he disliked the woman. He had never met her. It was more that she scared him more than a hell hound.

  She had the power to take Jaycee away from him. That right there was enough to make Wolf’s hands tremble as he reached for the door handle of the car door. He didn’t know what he would do if his mate suddenly decided that they didn’t belong together.

  Dying from a broken heart seemed most likely.

  Wolf was terrified. He could barely make his legs work as he climbed from the car and followed Jaycee up the walkway to the house. It took every bit of courage that Wolf had to walk into the house behind Jaycee.

  “Mom, I’m home,” Jaycee called out.

  “I’m in the kitchen, sweetie,” an unseen female voice called back from beyond the living room.

  “Come on,” Jaycee said as he held out his hand.

  Wolf gratefully took it just because he needed some sort of physical connection to his mate, and then followed Jaycee through the living room, the dining room, and into what was obviously a kitchen.

  Wolf could tell.

  A woman that looked like an older version of Jaycee stood in front of a stove, stirring something in a red pot. She looked up when they walked in, a smile crossing her lips.

  “Hello, son.”

  “Mom.”

  Wolf frowned when Jaycee dropped his hand and walked into his mother’s arms, giving the woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning and waving his hand back at Wolf. He preferred it when Jaycee held his hand, especially in this situation. It kept him from feeling like he was going to totally freak out.

  “This is my boyfriend, Wolf.”

  “Mate,” Wolf growled and then instantly wished he had kept his mouth shut when the woman’s eyebrows shot up. He swallowed hard, not missing the glare his mate sent him, and held his hand out to the woman. “Hello, Ms…uh…”

  The woman smiled. “Call me Connie.”

  “Hello, Connie.” God, he so sucked. He couldn’t even carry on a regular conversation with the woman. Jaycee was going to strangle him. “Your home is very nice.” That was polite, wasn’t it?

  “Thank you.” Connie turned back to the stove and began stirring the stuff in the pot again. “I hope you like homemade macaroni salad.”

  “Uh, yes?” He had no idea. He didn’t remember ever eating it.

  Connie laughed lightly. It was a soft lyrical sound, reminding Wolf of Jaycee’s laugh. He could see where his mate got it, and the chocolate-brown eyes. Connie’s were just a little paler than Jaycee’s, as if she had experienced more in life than her son had.

  Wolf imagined that she probably had.

  “So”—Connie glanced between Jaycee and Wolf—“mate, huh?”

  Connie knew about mates? How? Wolf’s eyes rounded as he gave Jaycee a sidelong glance of utter disbelief. Jaycee gave Wolf a quick shake of his head, clearly giving Wolf a silent warning to remain quiet.

  “That’s good,” Connie said. “I’m happy for you, son.”

  “You are?”

  Connie smiled at Jaycee. “Of course. Mates have a stronger bond than human couples. I’d much prefer you have a mate than just a human boyfriend. As a paranormal being, and your mate, Wolf will be more invested in your welfare than a mere human. He will take good care of you.”

  Wolf was too surprised to do more than nod in agreement.

  Jaycee, on the other hand, looked like he was about to pass out. “Mom, how do you know about mates and paranormals?”

  “Son, I’ve lived in Pride Pack Valley most of my life. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen and heard.” Wolf gulped when Connie shook a finger at him. “You all don’t hide things quite as well as you think you do.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “So.” Connie crossed her arms over her chest as she turned and leaned against the edge of the stove. “Just what kind of paranormal are you?”

  Wolf shot a glance at Jaycee, unsure if he should tell his zaterio’s mom about winged beasts. True, she knew an awful lot for a human, but he wasn’t sure if he should pull her further into his world. It was dangerous.

  But then again, she would also have the knowledge of exactly what was around her. And knowledge kept a person safe in Wolf’s book.

  “He’s a winged vampire,” Jaycee said. “He kills things that crawl out of hell and drinks my blood.”

  Wolf’s eyebrows shot up. “Jaycee!”

  Jaycee shrugged, looking wholly unrepentant. “What? It’s the truth.”

  “A winged vampire?” Connie asked as her light brown eyes glanced over Wolf. “I don’t see any wings.”

  Was he really standing in his zaterio’s mom’s kitchen having this conversation? The woman sure as hell was inquisitive. Wolf wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  Jaycee snorted as he leaned into the counter the exact same way his mother was. Their traits and mannerisms were so much alike it was a bit scary. “I said the same thing. Apparently only a winged beast’s mate can see them.”

  “Other winged beasts and hell hounds can see them as well,” Wolf pointed out.

  “Hell hounds?” Connie asked, her apple-red cheeks paling.

  “Come on, Mom. Let me explain to you what you don’t know,” Jaycee said as he pulled his mom into the living room, leaving Wolf standing there by himself. He glanced into the pot Connie had been stirring and saw baked beans.

  Wolf liked baked beans.

  “You must be Wolf.”

  Wolf spun around and saw a man standing there with sandy-blond hair and bright green eyes. “I’m Morgan, Jaycee’s cousin. Do you play volleyball?”

  Wolf slowly shook his head back and forth, eyeing the man carefully. “No.”

  “Great, then you’re on Donovan’s team. We need another player.” Morgan waved Wolf toward the door and then walked out.

  Didn’t he just say he couldn’t play? Wolf shrugged and walked out into the backyard. He froze when he saw at least a dozen people, if not more. This was Jaycee’s family, and his mate had left him to fend for himself?

  Wolf was going to paddle the man’s ass later for this.

  “Damn, you are one big-ass dude,” a guy standing on the other side of a white net said. “I’m Donovan. You’re on my team.”

  Wolf walked around the net and just stood there like everyone else was doing. He wasn’t sure how to play the game, but everyone had smiles on their faces. He stilled when the faint smell of blood wafted up to him. He noticed Donovan had a bandage wrapped around his arm.

  “How did you get hurt?” Wolf asked as he nodded toward Donovan’s injury that still smelled fresh.

  “Work,” Donovan replied. “You ready to play?”

  Wolf nodded, but kept an eye on the man. He wouldn’t know if it was the man everyone was looking for without tasting the guy’s blood. Wolf was pretty sure Jaycee would frown at Wolf licking his cousin’s wound.

  “Our serve,” Morgan called out and then threw the ball into the air, swatting it with his hand.

  Wolf watched the ball drop to the ground at his feet.

  “Yes!” Morgan laughed.

  “You have to hit the ball back over the net, Wolf,” Donovan explained. “You can’t let it touch the ground.”

  Wolf nodded. He could do that.

  The next time the ball came his way, Wolf slamme
d his fist into it and watched as the ball went up into the air…and then over the house.

  “A little less forceful next time,” Donovan whispered to him. “You want it to hit the ground on their side, not in the next town over.”

  “No,” Morgan shouted, cupping his hand to his mouth. “Let him keep playing that way.”

  “Don’t listen to Morgan,” Donovan grumbled.

  Wolf noticed Morgan rub at his shoulder, and when his shirt moved, he, too, wore a bandage. What in the hell was going on? Normally Wolf wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but it was a large white bandage with speckles of blood on the edges.

  “Is your family accident-prone?” Wolf asked as he glanced over at Morgan, who was standing on the other side of the net.

  “Something like that.”

  Wolf wasn’t sure what was going on, but he wasn’t going to make a stink about it. It could very well be accidents.

  But one of them could also be Renato’s mate.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jaycee was pleased as punch. Wolf was driving them home and his mate hadn’t stopped smiling. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the backyard, but when he had come outside, Wolf and Donovan were yelling in your face at Morgan and Francis.

  Jaycee had been relieved to find out it was over a volleyball game. Wolf was way too big to start a fight with any of the scrawny people in Jaycee’s family.

  “I had a nice time,” Wolf said as he drove down Route 14. “You have a very nice family.”

  “We have a nice family, Wolf,” Jaycee pointed out from the passenger side of the truck.

  “We do?”

  Jaycee gaped at Wolf and then chuckled at the puzzled look on his mate’s face. “We are technically married. That means my family is your family.”

  “They are?”

  The smile on Jaycee’s face softened when he saw Wolf’s eyes mist. His mate turned away, but not before Jaycee saw the unshed tears. He knew Wolf had no parents, no siblings, not even a cousin or an uncle. He was created, not born, as Wolf had stated a few times. He knew Wolf considered the other beasts his brothers, but Jaycee was more than happy to share his family with Wolf as Wolf had shared his brothers with Jaycee. He was an only child, and to have so many large brothers was a thrill for him.

  Maybe he should bring them all over next Sunday.

  “Yes,” he answered. “You have a mom now, Wolf. Well, she’s really your mother-in-law, but you can call her Mom.”

  Wolf swallowed as he nodded and then cleared his throat. Jaycee wanted to reach over and hug the man, but gave him his moment to compose himself. But it did Jaycee’s heart good to see that Wolf was accepting of his family. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had Wolf and his family not gotten along. Jaycee’s family meant the world to him, and he wanted Wolf to be a part of that world.

  “How did your mom take the news about hell hounds and such?”

  Jaycee hadn’t told Wolf about the conversation he had had with his mom. By the time he joined Wolf outside, the cookout was underway. Wolf had to have eaten half the damn food by himself. His cousins Morgan and Donovan just stood there in awe as Wolf polished off three servings of food.

  Jaycee was so damn glad he didn’t have to foot the bill to feed his mate. He would have to work two jobs to support the man’s bottomless stomach.

  “She’s glad she now knows about hell hounds. She said she was going to carry a blade with her so she could stab one if they attacked her.”

  The truck swerved as Wolf slammed on the brakes. When the truck came to a stop, he turned in his seat, his anger hitting the roof. “She is going to do what? You can’t let her! I won’t let her. The hell hounds would eat her for breakfast! Have you lost your mind?”

  Jaycee waited for Wolf to stop yelling before he replied. “I talked her out of it, Wolf. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Wolf leaned his head into the steering wheel, rocking it back and forth. “I did not mean to yell at you, zaterio. But the thought of one of those hounds attacking your mother scares the shit out of me.”

  “Me, too,” Jaycee said as he laid his hand on Wolf’s head, rubbing his hand across his mate’s hair until Wolf looked at him. Jaycee smiled. “That’s why I gave her Nazaryth’s cell phone number. I told her to call him if she ever comes across one of them.”

  Wolf grinned, leaned back, and then laughed. “You did?”

  “Well, it was either that or teach her where the mark behind a hound’s ear is.”

  “No!”

  “Then she will call Nazaryth.”

  Wolf pulled the truck back onto the road. “Why didn’t you just give her my cell number?”

  Jaycee snorted. “Do you really want her calling you? You know she would drill you until the sun came up about everything going on. She plowed into me about how I wasn’t freaking out about all of this. Mom thinks you had something to do with my calm demeanor now. I told her I still freaked out, but it was less and less. If she called you, you would never get off of the phone. Would you want that?”

  “Yes. I like talking to your mom. She’s sweet.”

  Jaycee grinned. “I knew you two would—” Jaycee’s hand slammed into the dash when Wolf hit the brakes once more. “What the hell, Wolf?”

  Jaycee glanced out of the windshield and damn near wet his pants. The demon that had been attacking the castle was coming right at them. Wolf cursed and the reversed the truck, driving the truck backward.

  “Call Nazaryth!”

  Jaycee grabbed his phone and quickly dialed the number, yelling into the phone that the demon was hot on their trail.

  “I’m on my way,” Nazaryth replied.

  “He’s on his way,” Jaycee said as he tossed the phone aside. “Faster, Wolf, faster!” The demon was so close that Jaycee could see the spit that drizzled out the side of the damn thing’s mouth. Wolf had told him about the spit, and Jaycee had no intentions of having any of that goo on him.

  “He’s spitting!” Jaycee shouted as he watched the demon rear its head back and open its mouth. The sharp row of teeth wasn’t comforting.

  “Hang on!” Wolf cut the wheel so hard that the truck nearly rolled, but they dodged the acidic goo.

  Jaycee was never more thankful when he saw the winged beasts heading his way. There were ten of them, all flying close. The demon turned and began to spit at the men approaching.

  “He’s not following us anymore.”

  Wolf turned around to look out of the windshield and then stopped the truck. “Stay here, zaterio. That bastard is going back to hell.”

  Jaycee nodded quickly and then reached over and locked the door when Wolf got out. He may have killed a hell hound, but Jaycee knew that was sheer luck. The demon was ten feet tall. There was no way a stick would work on the thing.

  The beasts fought the thing, stabbing at his head and dodging the acidic missiles. That was just gross. Whoever created those demons needed to be smacked. Spitting was just nasty. Jaycee gasped and nearly climbed onto the dashboard when he saw Renato fly in, helping the winged beasts take the demon down.

  It hadn’t been easy by the looks of the fight, but the demon finally lay on the ground, presumably dead.

  Dead was good.

  For an acid spitting demon, dead was perfect.

  As Wolf hurried back toward the truck, Jaycee watched Renato take off again. Only this time a few of the winged vampires followed him.

  The truck door opened and Wolf climbed in, wincing.

  “Did you get spit on again?” Jaycee asked as he began to pull at Wolf’s clothes, checking for any signs of damage. His heart was racing out of control. He remembered what that stuff did to Wolf’s leg. It was still scarred badly, but Wolf was finally walking normal again.

  Or damn close to normal.

  “No, zaterio. I didn’t get spit on, but Trigg flew right into my damn leg.” Wolf rubbed his leg with both hands and then pulled the truck onto the road.

  “You’re just going to leave that t
hing in the middle of the road?” Jaycee asked as he glanced behind them. The demon was still on the ground thankfully, but the winged beasts were gathering around it.

  “No, he has to be burned in order not to rise again. The others will take his body away before anyone sees it and burn him.”

  Jaycee really didn’t want to know.

  “What about Renato? I saw him come to help.”

  Wolf nodded. “He did. The others are going after him now to bring him home.”

  Jaycee could hear the worry in Wolf’s voice. It made his heart hurt to see the sadness in Wolf’s emerald-green eyes. “And?”

  Wolf blew out a long breath as he glanced over at Jaycee. “And when he goes mad, it will be his brothers who take his life.”

  That was a burden Jaycee never wanted to carry. It was a burden he didn’t want Wolf to carry either.

  It seemed that the crazy world he now found himself submerged in wasn’t going to get saner. But as long as he had Wolf, Jaycee was willing to become one of the certifiable.

  At least his life wasn’t boring.

  But a little less frantic would be nice.

  Not wanting to spoil the cookout Jaycee and Wolf had attended at Connie’s house, Wolf had waited to tell his mate about the dead body at Jaycee’s.

  As far as telling Jaycee that the dead body was Mike, Wolf was glad Jaycee didn’t go apeshit. His mate had shed tears though. Wolf hated to see his mate cry when there wasn’t a damn thing he could do. He felt so helpless.

  But his mate was resilient. Jaycee mourned the loss and swore he was going to arm himself with a collection of sticks. The man was truly trying to give Wolf a coronary.

  Wolf watched Jaycee move around the room as he finished unpacking his belongings. His cock was getting rock hard just watching the way Jaycee’s ass moved back and forth. The man had a way about him that drove Wolf crazy. He couldn’t seem to get enough of his zaterio’s body.

  “Are you going to watch me the whole time?” Jaycee asked as he shoved his shirts into one of the drawers.

  “I had planned on it,” Wolf replied as he lay across the bed on his stomach, admiring the view. And it was such a nice view of Jaycee’s ass. He was getting even harder as his mate bent over to store something in the bottom drawer. Wolf could feel his erection pressing into the mattress, and he wished it was Jaycee’s ass he was pressing it into.