by Tl Reeve
“I can’t even begin to understand what you’re talking about, but I’ll be right here. I promise if I need that kind of—”
“Fucking,” Mackenzie said. “Don’t be shy now.”
“Right.” Holly gave a sheepish grin. “I’ll be upfront.”
“Good. Then we’ll get along just fine... Mate.” The bitterness of the lie rolling off his tongue, had bile biting at the back of his throat. The wolf would always know the truth.
Which begged the question; was the wolf—his wolf—waiting for his true mate, to fully wake up?
Well, ain’t this some shit?
Chapter One
October 29, 2033... (One year after the takedown of Holly Geithner)
“Liam, Riley, it’s almost time to go,” Mackenzie called out. “We have about eight minutes.”
He put the finishing touches on their lunches and stood at the kitchen counter listening to his children hurry through the rest of their routine. He grinned. After all the shit they’d been through, he’d never regretted adopting both of his pups. They made everything a little bit easier to bear. More so now, since their return from Everett, Massachusetts.
Liam was the first to join him. His son still had some anger issues. Hell, Mackenzie couldn’t blame the boy, so did he. Holly had ripped their family apart, little by little, for ten years, and he’d allowed it to happen. Hindsight and all that notwithstanding, he knew there was something wrong with Hayden’s aunt. He’d realized Holly wasn’t what she claimed to be as early as a year into her being in Window Rock, and still he persisted with the lie to protect Hayden. In the end, he’d been instrumental in tearing apart his whole family once again.
A knock came at the back door, and Liam answered it. “Morning.” He stood aside allowing an excited Mikey into the house.
“Poppa!” The boy launched himself into Mackenzie’s arms and clung to him. Mackenzie had been the first-person Mikey hadn’t called by his first name. He couldn’t understand it, but he didn’t discourage the boy, either. It would just take some time for him to settle in.
“Good morning, little wolf. Are you ready for school?”
The boy nodded. “I am so ready.” He pointed to Charisma who carried the twins. “I helped m-Charisma dress them.” There was hesitation there, like the boy wanted to call Charisma mom or mother but wasn’t sure if he should yet or not.
“You did?” Mackenzie placed the boy on his feet. When Mikey did call Charisma mom, he knew his mated daughter would be over the moon.
“Charisma said I’m a good helper.” The boy’s soulful husky voice was endearing and adorable, but it had also worried Mackenzie in the beginning. It’d only been a couple of weeks since Royce and Charisma found out from different specialists, that the damage sustained to his vocal cords was permanent. Worthington and all of those fucking PBH bastards’ experiments had destroyed a piece of the loving boy in front of him.
Danielle had offered to help fix him, but Royce and Charisma declined. If the boy was in excellent health, why bother? Later, if his condition worsened, they’d consider it, but until then, he was perfect in their eyes.
Mackenzie agreed. “You are an exceptional helper.” He scrubbed the boy’s head then went to Charisma to help her with the twins. They were both dressed as little chicks still in their eggs. He tilted his head in question and she laughed.
“Mikey saw them online. He loved it, so I got them a set.” Charisma chuckled.
“I have an Indian costume, but I’m not wearing it until Thanksgiving,” Mikey chirped.
“So, what are you going to be for Halloween?” Mackenzie cocked a brow.
“A pirate. My costume has a parrot and everything.” He spun in a circle. “It’s really cool. You’re going to love it.”
“I bet I will,” Mackenzie said. “Why are your brother and sister wearing their costumes now?”
“There’s a party at school in two days,” Mikey answered. “Mommy...” He glanced up at Charisma. “It’s okay to call you mommy now, right?”
Charisma nodded with a smile, wiping away tears. “You can always call me mommy, because that’s who I am.”
Mikey smiled. “Mommy is helping us put up decorations and color with us. I didn’t want the twins to miss all the fun, so I made them dress up today.” His little chest puffed up with pride, and Mackenzie grinned like a fucking fool as warmth filled his chest. This little boy had him and his family wrapped tightly around him. He might not be a shifter-wolf, but he was theirs.
Charisma turned away for a moment to gather herself. The smell of her love and surprise wafted through the kitchen. “Well, it’s what mommy’s do best.”
“Don’t cry,” Mikey whimpered, a sob hitching his voice. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“These aren’t sad tears,” she whispered. “These are happy tears.”
“Oh.” Mikey wrapped his arms around her. “Is it because I called you mommy?”
Charisma nodded.
“Is it okay to call you mommy? I just said it. I didn’t ask per—”
Charisma wrapped the boy in her arms and hugged him tight. “I’m mommy. You don’t have to have permission to call me such. I love you so much, Mikey.”
“I love you, too, mommy.” Mikey grinned as he hugged her tight.
Mackenzie stood off to the side, proud of his growing family, and took another sip of his coffee. “It’s going to be a good day.”
“Hey Charis—” Riley stepped into the kitchen. “Oh, my God! They’re so adorable.” She went straight to Julius and Fern. “Whose idea was this?”
Mikey peeked over at Riley and gave her a toothy grin. “Mine.”
“I love it. They’re so cute.”
“Babies,” Liam muttered. “Makes everyone lose their dang mind.”
Mackenzie snorted. For as much bluster as the boy had, he didn’t mean a word of it. He’d had his eyes on the twins since the moment they were born. “All right now, if you don’t get going, you’re all going to be late.”
“Shoot!” Charisma sighed as she picked up the twins’ car seats. “We’ll see you after school. If you need anything, just call.”
Mackenzie handed Liam and Riley their lunches. “I know. Have a good day, pups.”
He followed them out the door and waved when Charisma’s mini-van pulled away. Mackenzie let out a breath and trudged back inside. He didn’t have time to wallow in his self-pity. He had to meet Rapier at a new site near the edge of the county.
With the success of the apartments in Massachusetts, Rapier wanted to experiment in Window Rock as well. Lucky for him, a few weeks ago, a developer picked out a site and opened it up for bidding.
Rapier jumped on it.
The eldest Dryer won the contract, and today, they were going to stake out the foundation. The quickness of it all, surprised Mackenzie. There were several steps that needed to be complete before they could even think to frame out the grounds, however a leveling crew had already been out there and had given them a nice-size pad of land to work off. The developer had a good feeling about the area.
Rapier agreed.
Mackenzie grabbed his lunch pail and thermos then headed back out the door to his truck. As he pulled out of the driveway, he looked at the house and wondered if he should sell it and find a new place to call home. There were too many memories in that place. Some were good. The majority of them were bad. He hated the idea of uprooting the kids, but even if they didn’t think he watched them while they were in Everett, he did. They were freer there. He liked to think it was because they were pretending to be someone else, but he knew it was due to them being away from the house they called home.
Because, he felt it, too.
Even with Charisma and Royce trying to navigate their relationship, being in Everett had been liberating. There were no memories to haunt them there. There was no negativity. Staring at the olive-green and white façade of the house he’d lived in for far too long, the place was saturated in negativity. Maybe, his
family needed a new start. A new home to make happy memories in.
While Mackenzie drove to the new site, he tried to run the numbers. Between the money he’d saved up over the last year while working in Massachusetts and the little bit he’d put back over the last ten years, he could swing a down payment on a new or newer home. What he couldn’t do was pay two mortgages. He huffed a curse. He couldn’t even put them into an apartment while he sold the house. It would eat up the savings he had.
For now, they were stuck while he looked for a new place to call home.
Mackenzie turned off the main road and followed the development signs. When he pulled up to the parcel of land, Rapier and Saber were already there along with Kalkin, Jerome, and Christoph. Mackenzie narrowed his eyes. The boy was still wet behind the ears when it came to being the Alpha of his budding family. So, it begged the question, why was he there?
He got out of the truck and grabbed his shit before strolling over to the waiting group. Mackenzie took in their posture. Every one of them was tense, poised to pounce on whatever might be lurking. He didn’t like it. After all the shit they’d been through, he hoped to have a quiet rest of his life. He wanted to raise his kids and watch his grandchildren grow. He was done with messing with things he had no concern for.
“Morning,” Kalkin said.
“Morning.” Makenzie nodded. “Did you bring donuts?”
His brother laughed. “Nope. Keeley put me on a diet.”
Mackenzie snorted. “Sure, she did.”
“It’s a fish diet. All I can eat.” Kalkin grinned.
Rapier groaned. “Jesus, it’s never ending with you.”
“Sure ain’t.” He motioned for Mackenzie to join them. “We have something we need to discuss and, since there isn’t shit for miles, this is the perfect place.”
So much for living out his days in peace. “What happened this time?”
Christoph stood a little taller, and the frown between his brows deepened. “We have a problem.”
When didn’t they? Window Rock, in the last eleven years, had been a hotbed of things going wrong or things happening. Somedays, he wished he’d never told Rapier where he came from let alone returned. He had a feeling today he’d be regretting it more. “Great.”
Jerome’s shoulders sagged. “I hate laying this shit on you.”
Kalkin shrugged. “It happens. We knew when we got involved with Aislinn all those years ago, this day would come. We figured she’d be mated before it happened, though. Maybe this is a good thing.”
Rapier scrubbed his chin. “Have to give it to her father, he is tenacious.”
A sixteen-year-old Aislinn had come to them after her father, a high-ranking member of the Yakuza, agreed to sell her to Christoph’s family as a way to form an alliance with the St. John’s. When Christoph refused to follow their edict, the boy put a plan into motion to save the girl and give her a new life. She’d had one, too. She renamed herself Shelby and helped Keeley and Danielle in the orphanage, while taking online courses at the community college. She’d also been adopted by Rashid and Melody, becoming part of the Dryer family.
“Mine, too,” Christoph said. “He still thinks he has an advantage.”
“He’s grasping for straws,” Jerome stated. “He knows how much trouble he’s in once Shelby’s father finds him.”
“My father had to have tipped them off,” Christoph stated. “Best place to start looking for her, is here. Where we’re bringing everyone.”
“How’re your mates handling this?” Mackenzie asked.
Christoph blanched. “Well...” He cleared his throat. “We were waiting to tell you this.”
“Bell’s pregnant.” Rapier grinned. “We already know.”
Christoph blew out a breath. “She was afraid to tell you after all this came up.”
“Jasmine and Danielle figured it out when Jackson said she was sick.” The Alpha lion winked at the boy. “She never should worry about that shit.”
“I can’t even explain why she does,” Christoph muttered. “But they’re hanging tough. They’re more worried about our new arrivals and Shelby than anything.”
“Grandpa Rapier, has a good ring to it.” Kalkin chuckled.
Rapier flipped him off. “Shut up. I hope, to fuck, Ella mates the biggest fucking wolf with the biggest fucking dick. Just as payback for that grandpa bullshit.”
“Fuck you,” Kalkin said. “Ella is going to be my innocent little girl.”
Mackenzie covered his laughter with a cough.
“Anyway...” Jerome drew their attention back to the current situation. “I have two agents who are being assigned to this case.” He glanced over at Christoph. “It seems your father has popped up in some pretty interesting places and jumped onto some interesting radars as of late.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. He is going to call in each of his favors to keep from owing the Yakuza,” Christoph answered. “Where and who is looking at him?”
“Scotland Yard, Interpol, FBI, CIA, NSA, OGA, the standard,” Jerome answered. “We—all the agencies—believe he is coming here as well as Shelby’s parents. Hence why we would like to imbed these agents with you.”
Kalkin whistled. “OGA?”
Jerome nodded. “Black market shit no one will touch.”
“OGA?” Christoph cocked a brow. “You lost me.”
“Other Government Agency,” Kalkin answered. “They do the shit the government wants to keep off the books.”
Jerome motioned to a vehicle Mackenzie hadn’t even been paying attention to when he walked up. Two men stepped from the truck. One was built like Kalkin, all shoulders, arms, and chest with a lean waist while the other one reminded him of Royce. More compact and stout. They were also complete opposites. Where Malcolm had dark-blond hair and hazel-green eyes, Ulysses had cropped black hair, dark skin, and obsidian eyes. “I’d like you all to meet Ulysses and Malcolm. Ulysses is our undercover Yakuza member, while Malcolm is more of our tech guru.”
Ulysses was biracial, black and Asian. “How does that work?” Mackenzie hadn’t meant to blurt the question out, but what little he knew about Yakuza, they were steeped in tradition and bloodlines.
“If you mean me,” Ulysses said, his voice deep and heavily accented. “The kisama who raped my mom? My grandfather killed him. My mom raised me and now lives in isolation.”
“And you joined the FBI to...” Kalkin narrowed his eyes.
“Free my mother,” Ulysses answered. “And take down the Yakuza.”
“He’ll do,” Kalkin said. “Rapier?”
“I have the perfect place for them,” the Co-Alpha answered. “Mr. Tech Guru, you’re going to be working with Wy, my youngest brother. Both of you will be wiring the electricity to the houses Christoph and I designed that are almost complete at the compound. Ulysses, you’re going to be working this site with us.”
Both agents grunted.
“Anything else?” Kalkin asked.
“No, that about covers it for now.” He smacked both of the agents on the shoulder. “Do what Kalkin and Rapier tell you, and both of you will be rewarded after this.”
Saber left the meeting first. Lynx had a checkup appointment with Danielle, and then he had to do a final walk through of two new houses their crew had finished building the previous week. Then Jerome and Kalkin left, taking Malcom and Christoph with him.
Mackenzie turned to Rapier and Ulysses. “Let’s get this mapped out.”
“Show Ulysses the ropes. I am going to find my daughter to give her a piece of my mind,” Rapier said. “I trust you.”
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Mackenzie replied.
“I think I’m angrier at the idea she thought she had to hide it from me. Don’t tell Kalkin, but I’m so fucking ready for this.” Rapier grinned, puffing out his chest. “My baby’s having a cub.”
“Or laying an egg,” Mackenzie teased.
Rapier flipped him off. “Fuck off.”
Mackenzie chuckled. “
Well, let’s get to work, Ulysses. We have to get this all mapped out, so we can run the water/sewer lines.”
The guy grunted. “What is this going to be?”
“Apartments when it’s done,” Mackenzie answered. “We built a set when we were in Everett.”
“I read the mission file. Interesting family you have, Mr. Raferty.”
Mackenzie stopped mid-stride. “My asshole of a father was Mr. Raferty. You can call me Mac or Mackenzie.”
“Sorry,” he muttered. “Guess we’re both sticking our feet in our mouths.”
“Guess so,” Mackenzie answered. “No hard feelings, kid?”
“None, old man,” Ulysses quipped.
Cheeky asshole. The guy was going to fit in just fine.
“Hey, Aurora,” Keeley said as she opened the door to her house. “Sorry, it took me a minute. The monsters are loose.”
Aurora stepped into the Raferty home and laughed. Max and Aaron were chasing each other around the house, while Asher watched with rapt awe. The boys were a bunch of roly-polys in their wolf form. Gabriel and Natalie sat nearby watching them, giggling and clapping as they cheered the twin boys on. In some respects, Aurora still couldn’t get over the fact she’d ended up on pack/pride lands.
“Don’t worry about it.” Aurora laughed. “I might be a smidge early.”
“Would you like some tea?” Keeley ushered her into the kitchen. “It’s mint with a splash of honey and lemon.”
“Sure. I’d love some.” With her strict budget since moving from Washington to Arizona, she didn’t have the ability to splurge on frivolous treats. As it was, working for a grocery store that didn’t offer insurance, left her feeling antsy any time Abby coughed wrong or sneezed.
Abigail, or Abby, as her niece insisted on now being called, was at school. Kindergarten to be exact. It’d been one of the first things Aurora did the moment they moved to town, get her enrolled. It was perfect timing on Aurora’s part, Abby had just turned five, and the Window Rock school district had extended its registration dates. Her niece needed structure and a schedule and being in a school established it quicker than Aurora could on her own, she jumped on the chance to send the little girl to school. However, it came with consequences, too—sickness. She crossed her fingers when she dropped Abby off, praying the cold her niece had when they arrived would be the last. The doctor’s bills for a fifteen-minute appointment, left them eating goulash more often than not.