Jamie frowned as he considered that. The problem with that was, he didn’t actually have a regular job anymore. He sighed as he realized he wasn’t in the position to really do that. His savings might cover that for a year or so, but after that, he’d be back to depending on Chad. “I can for a while, but… I don’t have enough savings to do that for long.”
“Do you want an official percentage of the pay from our jobs?”
Jamie sighed, dropping his face into his hands. “I’m being stupid,” he said into his palms.
“No, baby, you’re not. I understand, but remember, you are contributing. I’d never have found some of the information you did.”
Jamie looked up and blinked at him. “You wouldn’t?”
Chad shook his head. “No. That’s not my best area. Not by a long shot. I can do some, but I’m not a computer guy.”
Jamie frowned. “You’re—never mind. I know you’re not just saying that.” He swallowed. “I just… I—”
“No, I get it. It’s okay. We’re partners now, baby. We work together. Okay?”
Jamie nodded. “Okay. Can I, uh, can I give you some of my savings or something?”
“If you want to, I won’t turn it down.” Chad smiled. “Let’s go later to open a joint account, okay? We’ll put our pay in there, and later on we’ll sit down and make a budget together.”
Jamie swallowed, trying to corral his emotions. “Thank you. I… you don’t have to go through all that.”
“That’s what couples do, though, isn’t it? I mean, we can still keep separate accounts, have our own money for some stuff, but since we work together, our money is really joint.”
Jamie nodded. “Yeah, it is. I’ll… I’d like to put half my savings in to open the account.”
Chad smiled. “Good. I’ll match it and it’ll be ours together, okay?”
Jamie’s heart slowed to something more resembling a normal rhythm. “So, uh, what do we do about Quincy?”
“I’m going to send Panther a text. If he’s the half-decent guy I think he is, he’ll talk to us. I don’t know why his father is looking for him, but my guess is that’s who Quincy is hiding from. If that’s the case, I don’t know what to do about Quincy. I don’t really want to turn him over to his father, but I’d also like to get paid.”
Jamie laughed and Chad grinned. “That is a predicament. If we don’t get paid, will it cause a lot of problems for us?”
Chad shook his head. “No. At worst, we have an unsolved case to deal with when we’re talking to potential clients, but that’s only if they even know.”
Jamie nodded. “That’s good. Well, I guess we wait and see what Quincy has to say, if he replies. In the meantime, I still have boxes I haven’t unpacked.”
Chad kissed him hard. “Let me help.”
With a smile, Jamie stood and took a chance. “You think you’re getting out of it?” he asked as he walked out of the kitchen.
His answer was laughter and his mate beating him to their bedroom.
JAMIE STACKED the last box of stuff he couldn’t unpack into the closet. He knew he really should just throw out the old notebooks and research papers, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Chad hadn’t laughed, though. Apparently the boxes next to Jamie’s contained the same type of stuff.
As he was thinking about another cup of coffee, the doorbell rang. He grimaced at the dust on his clothes and went into the bathroom to wash his hands, leaving Chad to answer the door. When he heard Finley’s voice, he hurried to finish and went out to greet his friends.
“Jamie! Feeling better?” Finley asked, hugging him.
Jamie laughed. “Much now that I slept. Coffee?”
Finley nodded eagerly. “Baby, do you want coffee?” he asked Tanner.
“Sure,” Tanner said, and the four of them moved into the kitchen. “Miles is on his way. He was over at UPMC when I called this morning. He had a few patients to see there.”
“Wolves?” Chad asked.
Tanner nodded. “Yeah, we have a couple of nurses who are wolves who work in the ER. If any wolves come in, they call Miles and he goes down as their ‘primary care physician’ to take care of them.”
“He works there now too,” Finley added. “He started putting in full-time shifts a little while back.”
Chad nodded. “That makes sense.”
Tanner took his seat and accepted the cup Finley handed him. “So, what did you find out?”
Chad recapped some of what they learned as he poured Jamie’s coffee and pushed him to the table to serve the rest of the coffee for him. “We brought books back that the librarians Mario and Luigi helped us pick out.”
Finley blinked. “Mario and Luigi? Really?”
Jamie laughed. “No. Not really. They totally trolled us with that, though, when we told them where we were from.”
“So I trolled them back and called them that a couple of times. I think they liked it, though, because they just laughed and started using the nicknames.” Chad chuckled.
The doorbell sounded again, and this time Jamie went to get it. He shook his head at the jealousy coming over their link and did his best to send love and calm back to Chad.
Miles looked a little nervous when Jamie opened the door.
“Hi! Come in. It’s good to see you again.”
“Is your mate going to freak if I hug you?” Miles asked.
Jamie laughed. “He can if he wants,” he said, hugging his friend.
“Hey! Stop pawing my mate!” Chad called from the kitchen.
Miles grinned, and Jamie rolled his eyes, waving toward the kitchen.
“Coffee?”
“Sure,” Miles agreed when they came into the room.
Chad waved at his chair and pulled the computer chair over to the table. “We’re going to need a bigger table, baby.”
Jamie chuckled. “If this happens more often, yeah.” He handed the cup over to Miles, who smiled.
“So, what did I miss?” Miles asked.
Jamie went to retrieve the books they’d brought while Chad explained. He handed them over and sat next to his mate, taking Chad’s hand. The anxiety coming over their bond eased, and he kissed Chad’s cheek. “Love you, pup.”
“I know. Sorry,” Chad mumbled.
“’Sokay,” Jamie assured him, kissing him again.
“Wow. Why doesn’t the US wolf headquarters have this stuff?” Miles asked, frowning.
Jamie hesitated, glancing at Chad, then looking at each of the other wolves. “Anthony and Raphael had an idea about that.” Jamie gave them the theory the brothers had, then sat back as the rest of them in the room absorbed the information.
“That’s a hell of an accusation,” Tanner finally said.
“No kidding,” Finley murmured. “Do you think it’s true?”
Jamie shrugged. “I’ve never met the Alpha Prime. I have no idea.”
“Well….” Miles pursed his lips. “He is getting up there in years. You remember from history lessons some of the hell the early wolves went through here in the US.”
Jamie nodded. “That’s true. Do you think he was around for it?”
Miles shrugged. “Maybe.”
“It would explain a few things,” Tanner said.
Finley frowned. “Doesn’t make it right. How many people missed out on their mates that way?”
Silence reigned for another few moments, then Jamie remembered the remedy. “Oh! Speaking of lack of information,” Jamie said, jumping up again. He grabbed the card and tea bags from the counter and handed them over to Miles as well.
“What’s this?”
“With that, we can fly.”
Miles’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Jamie nodded. “It’s all herbs. But Giada gave it to me, and if it’s brewed into a tea, our wolves get sleepy and calm.”
“Well, holy shit,” Miles muttered. “This could be so handy.”
“Wish I’d had that a few years ago,” Tanner muttered.
“Me too,” Finley replied, and Tanner raised his eyebrows. “We wouldn’t have had to wait to get home.”
Tanner nodded. “True. Not that I minded that train trip.”
Finley grinned. “Yeah, but it’s not like we paid much attention to the scenery.”
“Do I have to be here for this?” Miles asked.
Everyone laughed, though Finley blushed. “Sorry, Miles.”
He waved it off. “It’s okay. Just that some of us don’t get laid very often. Or, well, at all lately.” He shook his head. “Anyway, so where does that leave us?”
“I’m still not entirely sure how to bite him safely if he’s human,” Jamie said with a sigh.
“I don’t want to stay human, anyway,” Chad said.
Jamie frowned. “I’m still worried you won’t survive.” He looked up at Tanner. “I… if he does this, will you be the one to bite him?”
Tanner blinked. “Me?”
Jamie nodded. “Aside from your dad, you’re the strongest wolf in the pack.”
“I think you underestimate your strength,” Miles said.
Jamie shrugged. “I’d just… I feel you are, and I’d feel better knowing you’d do it.”
“Well, I have nothing against it. Uh, Miles, you’d be there?” Tanner asked.
“Of course. I’ll ask you to give me some time to read over this stuff first. I don’t want to go in blind.” Miles held up the books.
“Absolutely,” Chad said, nodding. “We have some things I want to tie up first, anyway. I understand I’ll be expected to be out on pack lands for a while, right?”
“Well, if what you’ve said is accurate, it’ll take a while for your human and wolf senses to line up and for you to get used to blocking out the oversensitive smells and sounds and such. So, yeah, I’d expect you to be out there where we can help you.”
“From what I read, the wolf instincts are a lot stronger at first, right?” Chad asked, glancing at Jamie, who nodded.
“Yeah. Fight, fuck, feed—the basic things we all feel when we let our wolves take the lead. Those are going be paramount for Chad for a while. We’ll need to keep him away from other humans. I’d prefer to keep him away from unmated male wolves too.” Jamie blushed.
Chad kissed his temple. “I’d say you don’t have to worry, baby, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Which is why we’ll keep it to Tanner and Finley, Jamie and me,” Miles said. “I’ll start reading tonight and let you know when I’m ready.”
“I appreciate it,” Chad said. “I—” He was interrupted by the doorbell. He turned a puzzled look at Jamie. “Who could that be?”
Jamie shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Let me go see.” With a quick kiss to Jamie, Chad left to answer the door.
Tanner lifted his nose and sniffed. “I don’t know that scent.” He turned a puzzled look toward Miles, who sniffed.
Miles’s eyes widened, his color drained, his eyes shifted, and his teeth dropped.
“Miles?” Jamie asked.
Miles stood and turned toward the door. Jamie could not mistake the lump in Miles’s pants. He blinked at his friend.
Just then, a man came in with Chad. He was shorter than Chad by a good four or five inches. He had a lean, almost sinewy build, long black hair, a narrow face, with light blue eyes, and glasses. When he moved it was with a grace Jamie hadn’t seen before.
The man looked over at Miles and his eyes widened slightly.
They stared at each other for a shocked moment, and then Miles turned to Jamie. “Uh, I, uh, gotta go. I’ll call you.” And with that, he bolted.
Chad looked at Jamie, who shook his head.
“I have no idea.” Except Jamie thought he might. But he was confused enough by the man’s scent, he couldn’t focus on Miles at the moment. That scent wasn’t human, but it wasn’t wolf either. He blinked at the guy for another moment, and then his own eyes widened. “You’re a cat?” he blurted.
Chad looked from Jamie to the other guy. “Panther?”
Panther was looking at Jamie, then at Tanner and Finley, then back. “Dogs?”
“Wolves,” Tanner corrected him.
For reasons Jamie couldn’t identify, he did not like Panther standing near Chad. “Uh, Chad, could you… come over here, please?” He tried to suppress the anxiety but knew Chad sensed it.
Chad motioned to Miles’s abandoned chair, then took his own seat again.
Jamie didn’t sit right away, and Panther didn’t take the offered seat either.
Finley and Tanner looked from one to the other, completely confused. “Um… you know, I think we’ll pick this up later, won’t we, Tanner?” Finley said, standing.
“Good idea. We’ll call,” Tanner said, and then he and Finley beat a hasty retreat as well. Jamie could tell Tanner didn’t really want to go—the enigma before them demanded explanation—but he was politic enough to give them space first.
That left Jamie and Panther facing each other. “You’re a cat,” he said, knowing it sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. “How? I didn’t even know they existed.” He blinked at Panther, who rolled his eyes.
Then shifted. One moment, Jamie was staring at the man, and the next, a solid black jaguar crouched in front of him.
Jamie couldn’t have held his wolf back for anything. He shifted, almost instantly, shredding his clothes in the process. He crouched between his mate and the cat, hackles rising as he faced off Quincy.
“Really, guys? The cat and dog are going to fight?”
Jamie and Panther both ignored him. Jamie stalked forward, but before he could get too far, Panther twitched his tail, turned, and ran. Jamie couldn’t resist giving chase.
CHAD STARED at the space his mate and target—informant? contact?—had just been. He heard a crash and winced, hurrying out to the living room to see what happened. One of his lamps lay in a shattered pile on the living room floor. He turned to look where they had gone. His bedroom had two doors to it, one from the living room, the other leading to the hall, which opened back to the living room, creating a continuous loop. Jamie was chasing Panther around and around the loop.
He stared at the black and blond streaks as they passed. “Really guys? The dog is chasing the cat?” They both ignored him. Wolf growls and those eerie big-cat growls were the only responses he got. That, and they continued running. Chad noticed idly he was probably going to have to refinish the floor. Apparently, cat claws were bad for wood floors.
He leaned against the doorway, trying to figure out what to do. “Maybe Golden Earring had it right. Maybe I really have stepped into the—” Before he could finish, the doorbell rang—again. He sighed. “Now what?” he muttered as he went to the door, letting Jamie and Panther go for the moment. He remembered enough to check the peephole before opening the door for his mother.
“Hi, honey! Oh, what’s this?” She blinked over to where Panther and Jamie were still running.
“That would be Jamie in wolf form chasing my informant Panther, who is apparently a jaguar shifter. Coffee?” Chad asked, turning into the kitchen.
His mom followed him and took a seat at the kitchen table. Chad cleared the used cups. “I’ll have to brew fresh.”
“Thank you,” she said, and Chad busied himself, half listening to the chase still going on in the other room. “How was your trip?”
“Long and exhausting. I want to take Jamie back when things settle down. We didn’t see much of Europe except the inside of trains and their stations.” He chuckled, then looked up. “Oh! I did manage to propose, though.”
His mom jumped up. “Really? Oh, how wonderful!” She hurried over and hugged him. “Is that your ring?” She grabbed his hand, and Chad chuckled.
“Yeah. There was a guy in the village near the wolf villa that made them for us.”
“It’s gorgeous! Is Jamie’s the same?”
Chad blinked at her. “Yeah, but I wonder where it is. He shifted without
taking it off.” He frowned, peering into the living room, but still couldn’t see anything but the blurs. He shrugged and went back to the kitchen. “Anyway, so, we’ll have a ceremony here, but we did say vows in the temple there.”
“That’s really wonderful, sweetie. I’m so happy for you. Did you find out about bites and such?”
Chad nodded. “Hang on a minute, though. I can’t believe they’re still going.” He stepped out into the living room. “Jamie! Panther! The neighbors are going to start complaining!”
Jamie skidded to a halt, crashing into the bookshelves. Panther came after him, scrambling to stop himself, but crashing into Jamie, knocking them both into the shelves again. Panther shook his head, Jamie shook his body, and they both eyed each other distrustfully.
“Seriously, guys, if you want to crouch there and growl at each other, fine. But Mom and I need to talk, so keep it down.” He shook his head and went back to the kitchen.
“You’re awfully calm about that,” Molly said.
Chad shrugged. “I doubt anything will faze me at this point.” He poured fresh coffee for himself and a mug for his mom and set it on the table.
A moment later, Jamie came out, dressed in fresh clothes and holding his left hand up. He made a face. “I forgot to take it off. Looks like wolf fingers are about the same size as human fingers, once you get past the pad.”
Chad laughed. “Well, at least it didn’t, like, cut your finger off or anything.”
Jamie shook his head. “No, that’s true. Hello, Molly,” he said, hugging her.
“Hello, sweetie. Congratulations!”
Jamie grinned. “Thanks.” He added more coffee and a splash of cream to his cup, poured a second one and set it where Miles had been sitting, then took his original seat.
“Panther?” Chad asked.
“I gave him some of my shorts and a T-shirt. His clothes are goners too. He’ll be out in a few. He had a phone call to make, apparently.”
Chad nodded and turned to his mom. “So, we found out I can be changed into a wolf.”
“Oh?” Molly asked, sipping her coffee.
“Yes,” Jamie said, smiling. They gave her the Reader’s Digest version, along with some of the possible problems, then explained what they’d learned about mates.
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