He snorted. “We should go get a whole bunch of cheap clothes in bulk. We can all match. And just tear them to bits without caring about them.”
“Do you think the Loups will just keep coming? How are they finding me? There can’t be so many around that they can smell me.”
Preston kissed me. “I don’t know. All things that we will figure out. I’d promise but you said no promises.”
My hands burned, and I looked around. There was no scent in the air, no indication that anyone was coming. I didn’t have the nervous energy that would usually indicate something approaching. No, all of my attention turned to Preston.
He tilted his head. “What’s going on?”
“My healing is on and only you are here. Maybe I should ask you that. What’s going on?” I stroked his back, slowly letting the heat move into him.
He shook his head. “There’s no need for that, you amazing Omega. I’m okay, Mac. I’d just had a sad thought. It’ll pass.”
It wasn’t a small one. That was for sure. A small thought wouldn’t have brought my powers online. It was weird to think like that as though it was normal. Powers. I continued to rub his back, and he sighed. “Seriously, don’t waste your powers on me.”
I didn’t respond to that. This wasn’t much of a power drain. This was more like a hug, and he clearly needed it. “What made you sad? Or am I prying? I realize we just shared… well, what we just shared. But you’re totally entitled to not tell me. We don’t know each other yet.”
He shook his head. “We do know each other. I feel like we know each other’s souls. We’re mated.” He placed his hand on my shirt over the mark he’d made on my chest. “We have to work out the details, but we know each other.”
Maybe there was some truth to that. “I’ll accept that answer.”
He smiled. “That thing you’re doing, it’s like a hot bath. Fuck. I was thinking about Rainer and how when he went off to jail, after he signed the Accords, that it seemed like all the light went out of the world. Like I was going to live forever with half of my soul dead. Maybe I thought about it because you brought all the light back.”
I snuggled closer to him, keeping my warm hand flat on his back. He closed his eyes. “I can’t tell you how nice all of this feels.”
Whoever had done that to Rainer had really destroyed the whole family. A family that had been through enough with the kidnapping of Anton. I knew very little about werewolf politics other than the names of famous families talked about by my mother and others. The Lejeunes had been one of them, but they were very different than the rumor mill portrayed them.
The door swung open, and my other three mates entered. I lifted my head the same time Preston seemed to rouse to look at them. Jarret leaned on Rainer. My powers, which had dimmed, surged to life.
“You’re hurt.”
Anton nodded, pointing at Jarret when he must have realized I was already moving. He got out of the way. I rushed to Jarret. “What happened?”
“I think my joint is just stiff from the shot. I’ve never been shot before, so I don’t really know and—” He stopped talking when I placed my hand right on his hip. He sighed.
Anton pulled off his own shirt and headed for the mattresses. I watched out of the corner of my eye. They’d both just had their second shift. They had to be exhausted. “You guys held out a long time.”
“They helped me get rid of the bodies and send the Loup—Seth—on his way. He’s not from anywhere around here, by the way. And he doesn’t know how he got here, just that he felt compelled to come.” Rainer shook his head. “Which doesn’t make me happy at all.”
“Thank you.”
Rainer sniffed the air. “You mated. Excellent. That will be great for all of us. A true mating is supposed to make us all stronger.”
I pulled my hand off Jarret, and he nearly fell over. Rainer grabbed him. “Okay, brother. Come lie down. She fixed you. Let’s be done for the night. Hopefully.”
Unless another Loup showed up. Or somehow the humans instantly knew we’d killed three of them and came for our heads. I dropped my gaze. Rainer had given an order, and I wanted to follow it. The submissiveness of the first day struck me out of nowhere.
“Hey.” Preston touched my arm. “None of that. He’s not mad at you.”
“I feel like I’ve done something wrong.” It was hard to speak the words. “Like all of this is happening because of me. Jarret got shot tonight. That’s…”
Jarret looked at me from over Rainer’s shoulder. “My fault. Not yours.”
Preston took my hand. “I think we’re going to have to work on the idea that you aren’t dooming us to anything. We want this, Mac. We want it more than anything. If you left or something happened to you, we’d never get over it. Bring on every Loup in the world. They’ll all get handled. Along with any Hunter who shows up.”
I let his words warm me, even though I knew they had to be more bravado than truth. For now, I’d just let myself be the kind of woman who believed that all things could just work out in the end. I’d do that for tonight.
Jarret lay down on the mattress with Anton. “This is becoming the norm. Me crashing next to him. We haven’t shared a bedroom since he got taken from the other house.”
I walked over to him, leaning over to kiss his mouth. “Get some rest. You’ll not pass out after the third. I’m totally energized.”
“Good to know.” His head hit the pillow, and he was out. I walked to the other side of the mattress and covered Anton up. Rainer patted the mattress next to him, and I walked over, placing myself in the middle of Preston and Rainer.
My powers had officially shut off, and I wasn’t feeling empty or sick. That was a nice change. I settled between them. Rainer kicked off his shoes, and by the time he’d done that, Preston was snoring.
Rainer and I grinned at each other. “Does he snore regularly?” I kept my voice down.
My Alpha nodded. “Yes, but if you nudge him gently so he turns his head, he’ll stop. For a little bit. Then hopefully you can be so out cold you won’t notice it.”
I was in the mood to be lied to, to be told half-truths that couldn’t possibly be true. Preston had started with the promises of a happy life that I knew he thought he could provide but couldn’t guarantee. Then he’d continued with the “we’ll keep you safe” promise. Now, I wanted Rainer to continue. “My family will be okay, right?”
He turned his head to look at me. In the near complete darkness I could see his eyes. He linked our fingers together. “Yes. They’re absolutely going to be fine. This time next year we’ll all be together. My family, too. Everyone will be happy, safe and sound. Even Gus will have come back home and for the first time in twenty plus years, my mother will smile even in her eyes.”
I smiled. He’d read me correctly. “That’s what I thought.” I kissed his cheek. “Goodnight, Rainer. Thanks for knowing where to hide all the bodies.”
“Well, I didn’t know, but I learned.” He tugged on the end of my hair.
“Then thanks for being willing to find that out.”
He rolled onto his side, placing his leg over mine. In the process, he pushed lightly on Preston who rolled over, putting his other leg over me. He quit snoring, and I smiled. They’d effectively pinned me to the bed.
I guessed I wasn’t going anywhere without one of them waking.
“I’ll bury as many bodies as it takes for us to be safe. We will have this family. I promise you that.”
It was a night for the little lies. I’d take them.
* * *
I woke up to the sound of hammering in the other room. I sat up, glad that my two oldest mates had moved enough for me to do that now that it was daylight. Preston covered his head with the pillow. “It’s my day off and that fucker always got up with the dawn.”
As Anton still slept, it had to be Jarret. I got off the mattress and followed the sound to where he was making his racket. I stared at him through the doorway. He wasn’t so much hammeri
ng as banging the molding off the walls in the study.
He looked up when I came in. “Oh, sorry. I thought I was far enough away this wouldn’t wake you.”
I walked over to him, squatting down. “You’re making your brothers nuts, but I had enough sleep. No coffee yet so don’t expect me to have great thoughts or ideas.”
He grinned at me. “You are so pretty all the time. How can anyone look so good when they first wake up in the morning?”
I waved my hand at him. “That’s the mating talking. Why did you pick this room to start with? Just the location?”
He shook his head. “I thought if I screwed up this room, no one would mind. I’m probably not doing it the right way. I should watch a video on doing this, but I’m sort of making this up as I go along.”
I didn’t have the slightest idea either way. I smiled. This morning was kind of normal for the way things had gone lately. House projects. Lack of coffee. “Got another hammer? I can do it wrong with you.”
He reached past me and picked one up. “They’re all going to end up in here mad. Even Anton will glare. Although if it’s you, they probably won’t. So, yes, by all means, bang away.”
I took the hammer. “Maybe we should wait an hour. Come on. I’ll burn breakfast.”
“Fair enough.”
* * *
I’d no sooner put on pants than I heard the trucks pulling up in front of the house. I stopped and looked out the window. Gus stepped out of the car, but he wasn’t alone. No, with him were four other men and a woman. I stared for a second, knowing instantly this was my mates’ family. The Lejeunes had arrived. This didn’t surprise me. Rainer had called needing to bury bodies. For sure they’d come to check on things. I stared down at myself. I had on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. This was pretty much what I always looked like.
Still, I sort of wished that I could have been a little better dressed right at this moment. Anton walked in the door. He pointed at the window, and I nodded.
“Your mom and fathers.” I rocked back on my heels. “I hadn’t thought about meeting them, and suddenly, I’m nervous.” He shook his head and then shrugged.
“Yeah… well, it might not matter to you, but it does to me. Meeting your family is not a small thing. Wait and see how you feel when you meet mine.”
He visibly swallowed and then grinned at me. I pointed at him. “And don’t think you’re getting out of that by not speaking to them. I’ll lock you in a room with my Will, one of my dads. He gets everyone communicating.”
When he paled, I nodded fast. “Yep. Not so much fun when it’s on the other foot. Come on. Introduce me to your family.”
He nodded but stopped me at the door, backing me into the doorframe. Anton pressed his body to mine before he placed my hand over his heart.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly thick. I had to find the words. “Don’t you think it’s too fast? Like isn’t it? Is it just the mating? Or am I thinking too much like a human because I never got to see what this looked like for our people. My parents wouldn’t talk about their relationship. We all spent so much time hiding.”
He kissed my knuckles. Maybe it didn’t matter. The feelings were there, and they were what they were. Why did it matter how and when they came?
We walked downstairs together, and I was halfway there when I realized I wasn’t wearing any shoes. Great. I was going to meet my mates’ mother and fathers barefoot. Internally, I sighed. I supposed it didn’t matter.
The smells coming from the living room were not joyful happiness. No, there was nothing but tension in that room. Still, my powers didn’t react, and I took a second to observe the people I was about to meet.
It was obvious who their mother was. She was the only female there except for me. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she was gorgeous. I’d heard that about her. Yet, still, I stared at her in awe. My mother was lovely. Strong bones, beautiful eyes. But Aurora Lejeune was stunning. Her blonde hair fell just past her ears where it curled toward her chin. Her face was long, her cheekbones high. She was slender and fit. Dressed in a long pink skirt with a white V-neck blouse to match, she was flawlessly put together. She’d matched the whole thing with a pair of white-heeled shoes and pearl earrings.
I stared quickly at my bare feet. There wasn’t much I could do about that now. I was going to meet their high-heeled mother without even having a pedicure.
I needed to wait for introductions to know who was who and that was going to require me to actually step foot in the room. Anton nodded, and I stepped inside. My three guys had to know I was there with their alive and working wolf noses. They hadn’t indicated my presence, which I appreciated.
“Hi, everyone,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t downstairs and that I’m not really dressed for visitors. I didn’t know you were coming. But then again family is always welcome, right?”
I had the full force of everyone’s gazes on me immediately. I’d never been good at this. There was a reason I’d done so well at my second job sweeping up at the hair salon where everyone’s focus was mostly on themselves. I liked being behind the scenes.
But I was the Omega, and even more so. I was the mate to the children of the people in this room. They had every right to stare at me as I disrupted their chosen way of life.
“MacKenzie.” Gus smiled at me. “Always so brave. And in a room with a bunch of wolves who are angry and most of them don’t know why.” He smiled at Aurora. “Let me present my mate, Aurora Lejeune.”
She shook her head. “Gus, we talk and talk about this, my love. It’s wife. You have to say wife, and if you want to be technical, it looks on paper that I’m Kevin’s legal wife.”
He shook his head. “This is your sons’ mate. She’s an Omega. I’ve told you all of this, but you are standing here in her presence now. Surely, it must seem real at last.”
She turned her blue gaze to mine. “MacKenzie.” She lifted her brow as she spoke. Her accent was beautiful, like listening to someone speak music. “It is lovely to meet you.” She extended her hand, and I took it, shaking her soft fingers.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Her smile seemed genuine, but her eyes were sad. Still, my powers stayed where they’d been, shut off. Whatever bothered her, at the moment, she didn’t need my help.
“May I present the boys’ other fathers? You know Gus. This is Kevin.” She indicated the man that Jarret had said was Rainer’s father. I could see the resemblance right away. Rainer really did look like a younger version of his bio dad except his brown hair was more auburn than his father’s.
Kevin nodded to me before he shook my hand. Aurora continued the introductions. “This is Brian.”
I smiled, and he returned the grin. Yes, he was Jarret’s father. I wondered if anyone did this to us. I didn’t have the slightest idea who my biological father was.
She went on, motioning toward the last two men. “Stanley. And Cristian.”
Everyone shook, and Preston walked over to place his hands on my shoulders. “Okay, we’ve done the getting to know you. It’s great to see you. All that. But I have to say that your timing isn’t wonderful. We’re trying to keep our girl hidden around here. Plus, you may not remember the getting to know you stage since yours was a million years ago, but we’re in that. So, much as we love to see you, you could get out. That would be fine, too.”
Wow. I swung around to slightly glare at Preston. The first time I met his mother I didn’t need to throw her out of the house. I smiled at her. “Can I offer you some coffee? We don’t have much in the way of food at this point, but I could certainly make some up. Or Rainer could, since he, as you know, is a gem in the kitchen. I do tend to burn water.”
He laughed. “I can make coffee. Or we do have enough food for me to throw something simple together. Who’s hungry?”
His mother shook her head. “We’re not here to eat.”
Brian shrugged. “I could eat.”
She shot him the same look I’
d sent to Preston, who still had his hands on my shoulders. He was obviously not intimidated by my glare.
“We didn’t come for food. We came—”
Kevin interrupted. “If Rainer is back to cooking then I am not going to say no. How can we help?”
“You can’t.” Rainer waved his hand. “Just come on down to the kitchen. I’m going to whip up some eggs. We’ll all eat those. And then you can tell us all the reasons you came, Mom. Bad news is much better given on a full stomach.”
Preston sighed. Apparently, he’d really thought he could get his family gone within minutes of their arrival. We all followed Rainer. It was the longest, most awkward standing around a kitchen and watching someone cook, ever. No one said a word. How long had the Lejeunes been like this? Was it a new thing? Just my presence making things weird or was this long term? Rainer’s prison sentence? I wanted answers, but I wasn’t going to outright ask them in front of everyone.
“So I’m renovating the house.” Jarret started pouring coffee. I’d had my usual allotment, but given the circumstances, I was willing to have too much.
Cristian cleared his throat. “Really? You’ve never shown any interest in that. How are you learning how to do that?”
“Trial and error.” Jarret shrugged. “I figure if I can do this in our house then I can officially learn the trade after. But just to see if I have any natural talent.”
Cristian rocked back on his feet. “So no law school?
Jarret cleared his throat. “That was never really for me, and I think we all knew that.”
Aurora put her head in her hands. “Focus has never been your strong suit.”
I opened and closed my mouth before I found the right words. “Maybe it’s not a lack of focus but just seeking his true path. It’s hard to find that when we’re living half lives.”
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