by M F Adele
Her smile was a hostile baring of teeth, and her mind was cycling through dates. I couldn’t help but smile down at her when she repeated August 29th in her head.
Baylor raised his brow, blinking slowly at my mate as he spoke to me. “Is she serious right now?”
Amused laughter rang out around us, and Sloane shrugged unapologetically. “Yep.”
“You’ve always had a type. Good to know you finally found the top level of crazy, man. I mean, Blaire and her both look fucking deranged with all that dried blood on them, but she actually sounds psychotic,” he rambled.
I chuckled at him. “That’s a bit of an understatement.”
Barbie scoffed playfully, elbowing me gently in the ribs. “The deranged psycho is right here. At least let me walk away before you start talking shit about me.”
“You’ll still hear us,” I joked.
She pursed her lips, pulling them to the left. “Yeah, but it’ll take considerably more effort to punch him in the throat if I’m four hundred yards away.”
Her amusement rolled through our bond, and I shook my head. “You can’t kill him, Barbie. Even if he is a dick, he’s still my brother.”
Jack cackled, raising his voice to say, “I’d correct that statement, Briggs. You made it sound like a light suggestion mixed with a fact. She can kill him. But you could try something along the lines of please don't kill him.”
“I can,” she affirmed before grinning at me. “But I won’t.”
“Oh, maybe I do like her, Big.”
“Why does he keep calling you Big,” she whispered to me, glancing down before her bright eyes bounced back up. “I know why I would, but…”
“He couldn’t say my name when we were little, Barbie. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“I can’t help it,” she mumbled. “Fighting makes me—”
“Bitch,” Jack called, twisting his head sideways and squinting his eyes. “Actually, never mind. Let me know how that position works out for y’all. I’m curious.”
I coughed obnoxiously and started pulling her toward the cabin we’d claimed as I shouted over my shoulder, “Bye, Bay. I’ll call you later.”
Once everyone was inside, Palmer and Sloane began adding magic to several of the doorways. I wasn’t entirely certain that I knew what they were doing, but when she swung a door open for me to peek inside, I got it.
They were putting spells on the doors to lead to our rooms at her house. Or… Our house? This one went to mine in particular.
Though we still had the apartment, I didn’t think we would call it home anymore.
I couldn’t go back to simply being roommates with the guys. I needed to see Barbie every day. Even if it was just sharing her space while she worked from home. I didn’t want to consider what a day without her would be like now that I had her.
The guys felt the same way. I could see it on their faces when they gazed at her. Novak had been clear about not going back to the apartment. And I was pretty sure she’d have to drag York’s dead body out of that house before he left her side again.
I jumped in the shower and quickly washed the day away before realizing that all of my clothes had been moved. Everything that had been in my room at our apartment was now here, except the bed.
I snatched a t-shirt off the hanger and searched the dresser drawers until I found my pants. Smiling to myself, I wondered if the guys had noticed that all their things had magically appeared without our knowledge.
When I opened my door, I heard Palmer announce, “And for my finale, what was once a linen closet is now… yer walk-in wardrobe.”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” she remarked, struggling not to laugh at his confusion. “I’ll just use your shower.”
“Aye. Ye’ll have ta find a warm bed elsewhere, though. I think one of the cabins next ta us is empty. Would ye like me to put yer room over there?”
She snorted at him, ambling across the hallway as her clothes disappeared from her body and landed on her closet floor.
“I’ll make do, Mage. There are some books in your room that I haven’t read yet, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing me around.”
He followed her, thoroughly explaining what he would do if she got blood on his books. I shook my head as I wandered into the kitchen, searching the cabinets for cookware before I made a grocery list.
“Barbie,” I shouted into my mind, then winced when I realized exactly how loud I was.
“Fuck. You don’t have to scream at me.”
I chuckled, then grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t know if you’d hear me. We’re going into town, so hurry up.”
“We who?”
“You and me.”
“Where are we going? And who is driving?”
“Come on. You’ll see,” I grumbled, walking away as I griped, “Risked the wrath of Satan but terrified of my driving. This is my mate.”
She bounded down the hall, tying the ends of Palmer’s white button-down together over one of those strappy bra-things that she liked wearing. Her black denim shorts were high on her thin waist, but they were short, showing off her long legs.
She tugged me through the Void to the lodge where we borrowed one of Charlie’s trucks. She played with the radio while I drove us to the small town outside of pack property.
I didn’t want to burst our somewhat quiet bubble, and I knew that going to town would probably do just that. But it was better if the stronger shifters saw us together instead of separately.
Public knowledge of our mated status would deter almost all of them. It would only be the apprentices that we needed to worry about, and it would be a least two days before they arrived with their faction alphas.
The drive was long enough for us to enjoy the companionable silence and for her to change the radio station every three minutes. I swatted her hand away as I pulled into the parking lot of a massive franchise store.
“Where the fuck are we?” she hissed.
My smart-ass reply was laced with amusement. “A grocery store.”
She huffed at me as I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I mean, I know that much, but why?”
“We need food to cook, Barbie,” I informed her before walking around to open her door.
“Franklin could have ordered everything for us and had it delivered. Also, I’ve already told you that I can’t cook, so there’s no we with that.”
“I’m going to start teaching you. Grab a cart.”
She chortled as we walked in. “Uh-huh, good luck with that.”
We strolled up and down the aisles, and she dropped all kinds of bullshit into the cart. I felt like an asshole as I picked all the random items out and shoved them back on the shelves.
I finally took the cart from her and growled, “Put your hands in your pockets. We don’t need any of that. I’m almost done.”
When we reached the checkout counter, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to sigh or laugh. I hadn’t seen her put anything else in the cart, but mixed in with the food was… shit.
A pack of balloons, flexible straws, socks with bacon strips on them, and fucking Sharpie markers.
“When did we pass—” I stopped and rubbed at my forehead with my middle finger. “Did you take this stuff out of other people’s carts?”
She blinked owlishly. “Possibly.”
The cashier chuckled at us, keeping her head down as her nostrils flared. She was a fox, and she’d be quick to spread the sight of us around. Sloane caught my thoughts and glanced around, picking out other nearby shifters.
After we paid and loaded the bags into the backseat, I drove back to the cabin a little faster than I’d driven to town. We mulled over who we’d seen and scented until we parked in front of our cabin.
Barbie turned to me, gnawing her bottom lip before inquiring, “You think it was enough?”
“The fox will do all the work for us,” I assured her. “Now, let’s go inside. We’re going to make some chocolate chip cookies.”
“You’re suppose
d to cook that…” I left my suggestion hanging as she shoved a spoonful of dough into her mouth.
She wrinkled her nose. “No. It’s cookie dough. You're just supposed to eat it.”
“You’re intentionally making this hard,” I grumbled.
“I’m trying to enjoy a quick treat before we get to the real treats.” She waggled her brows at me.
I dragged my middle finger up and down my forehead. “There won’t be any real treats if you don’t stop eating all the dough. And you’re going to get salmonella.”
“I have never.” She gasped dramatically. “I eat cookie dough all the time. I happen to love chocolate in all forms.”
“Yeah, but… have you ever eaten the cookies that it makes?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Gods, Barbie,” I muttered, holding my hands out for the bowl. “Give me the dough or come over here so we can make the actual cookies.”
“Nope.”
“Barbie…” I growled in warning, wiggling my fingers.
She narrowed her eyes at me in challenge, taking a step backward before she zoomed away. Her laughter bounced around the walls of the cabin as she took off with the whole bowl of cookie dough.
I gave chase, catching her in the living room with the guys. She took a scoop of dough off the spoon, placing it in her left palm as she heated her skin. Then she presented it to me with a sarcastic curtsy.
“Would you like a cookie, kind sir?”
I took a deep breath, scrubbing my beard with both hands. “I have never wanted to… I don’t know if I want to choke you or spank you right now.”
York smirked at me. “I could have told you that trip wasn’t gonna go the way you thought it was.”
“I am never going grocery shopping with her again; I can assure you of that,” I stated, snatching a Devil-made cookie off the coffee table as I fell into an armchair.
“But this is good. I thought you said you couldn’t cook?”
“I can’t cook in a kitchen, but I could survive if I were stranded,” she admitted with a shrug. “Training and all that shit.”
7
Novak
Thursday, June 4th
Mid Morning
A few hours after the sun had risen, there was a knock at the door of the old cabin. Palmer and Vaughn were still sleeping, but the rest of us were draped over the living room furniture.
Trouble shushed the guys as we listened to the visitors’ thoughts. We'd been expecting this since we got to the pack’s property, but I dreaded opening that fucking door.
My mate didn’t feel the same reservations that I did. She didn’t pick her head up out of Briggs’ lap, nor did she remove her feet from York’s hands. She waved like she was swatting a fly, and the front door flung itself against the wall.
Charlie King stood on the threshold, sticking his foot out to keep the door from slamming shut. Two shifters in uniforms stood behind him. He motioned for them to wait outside and strolled in like it was a great fucking day.
I didn't have to be a mind reader to know what was going on.
They were here to arrest me.
“Good morning,” Charlie sang as he leaned against the wall.
His eyebrows bounced as he made faces at Sloane, and I tried to stay out of their mental conversation. York and Briggs began talking about a hiking trail as Charlie’s eyes landed on me.
Trouble’s voice filled my mind as amusement flowed through our bond. “He wasn’t listening. Say it again, Dad.”
The bright green eyes of his wolf stared me down, his mental voice gravelly as he repeated, “The pack officers are here to talk to you, but I’ve requested the interview be held at the lodge.
“I have a treaty with the House of Vampyre, and Sloane has just made it clear that both of you intend to uphold that. Since you are the Coven Master of Vampyre, the shifters have to play by a different set of rules.”
Nodding at the Supreme Alpha, I replied, “I’m well aware of the treaty and the laws in place. Unless it’s changed in the last six months or so? Boring dribble, but Blaire and I are both fluent in the ins and outs.”
He nodded, fighting a smile. “I said the same thing to Nate when he wrote it. Maybe you two can simplify it and get rid of his Victorian language.”
Aloud, he said, “I need all of you to meet me at the lodge in twenty minutes. Franklin dropped the video footage off last night, and that’s been reviewed. It’s clear that none of you were here, but they still have a few questions.”
I didn’t even know what I’d been accused of yet, and I wasn’t so sure that Charlie did either. Which was strange, considering he was in charge.
Reaching out, my mental presence brushed against Blaire’s mind.
The more my bond with Sloane grew, the easier hearing thoughts became. Not that it had been hard before, it just felt different, like everything was suddenly at my fingertips the moment it crossed my mind.
But I was always careful with my sister. I understood Trouble’s issues with other people’s privacy. I didn’t want to hear everything that filled Blaire’s thoughts, especially with whatever could be going on over there.
Something was going on between Jack, Grim, and her. I didn’t want to know, though. That was a line I never wanted to cross. Walking in on her a couple of weeks ago was enough damage to last me a lifetime.
“We’ve got to meet with officers at the pack lodge in twenty minutes. Can you get dressed, please?”
Blaire zoomed through the front door before I finished my question. She dropped a thick, leather book on the coffee table and rubbed her temples.
“I’m ready, but gods, I forgot how mind-numbing that shit is. The contractual agreement between the coven and the pack is great. The language is fucking archaic, and if I have to read moreover or henceforth one more time…”
She trailed off, glaring at me where I lounged on the floor. Her foot tapped impatiently as she waved her hand at me.
“Are you going to get dressed?”
“I’m ready. I just need a shirt.”
“Well, go get a fucking shirt,” she growled. “I didn’t re-read a thousand pages of 18th-century negotiations for you to lay around on the floor. Get the fuck up, grab a shirt, and take all that godsdamn jewelry out of your face.”
Trouble’s shoulders bounced as she covered her mouth, and I flashed her a wide smile when Blaire turned to her.
“Where are your shoes, Lo? Is that a dress or someone’s shirt?”
Sloane shrugged. “Hellhound ate my Docs. I came barefoot. And—” She pulled the bottom of the shirt out to examine it. “I think this might be your brother’s, but it could Stone’s. I’m not sure.”
“I don’t want to know whose it is. I need business powerhouse Sloane King, not thoroughly fucked Lo.”
“Fine,” she mumbled, concentration blanketing her face before she snapped her fingers.
The t-shirt disappeared, replaced by a tight black skirt and a cream shirt with lacy arms. The top was low-cut, revealing a hint of cleavage, and the tip of her first mate mark visible. When she twirled in a circle for Blaire, I swatted at her ass, noticing that the split in her skirt was just shy of showing the bottom of her cheeks.
“Is this more acceptable?”
“No,” Vaughn drawled sleepily from the entrance of the hall. “Put the fuck me pumps on. The red ones you wore to work.”
The heels appeared in her hand as she winked at the fae.
He groaned, tipping his head back and talking to himself as Palmer shoved past him. “We have places to be, Fae. Settle yerself.”
I snorted as soft cloth hit my face, but internally I was in the same boat as Vaughn. The hot teacher fantasy played in my head, and I wondered if Palmer had a yardstick somewhere in his arsenal of toys.
I could be the bad boy coming back to class to retake a test or some shit. I didn’t care about the specifics. I just wanted to bend her over a desk and rip that skirt a little further up.
Trouble smi
rked at me, her sultry rasp filling every corner of my mind as she purred, “I don’t know if Palmer does, but I do. And I have a sturdy desk.”
“I can’t go, Blaire. I, uhm, left something important back in Nashville. We’ll—”
She cut me off, already on her way outside as she called back, “Like fuck. We’re going to be late as it is. Get your ass out here before I drag you by that nose ring.”
I twisted the end ball off the ring, pulling the piercing from my nose and tucking the metal into my pocket. She’d done that before, and I wasn’t in a hurry for a repeat performance.
Sloane grabbed my hand, tugging me through the Void and into the grand foyer of the pack lodge. The rustic decor made the huge home look like a peaceful retreat away from the big city chaos.
I didn’t feel at peace, though.
I was anxious.
Blaire and Trouble marched with purpose on either side of me. My mate ran her fingers over the cherry wood wainscoting on the wall as she led us down a hallway to the right.
She stopped at the end, knocking on the door politely before opening it. The length of the table and the sheer number of chairs were a dead giveaway that we’d entered a large conference room. Nate held meetings with the Vampyre council in a similarly set up room.
Franklin sat in front of a laptop, tapping away as he nodded at Sloane. I chose a seat between her and Blaire, folding my hands together on top of the table. It took everyone a moment to settle around the room, but we were ready to get started before long.
I knew how it was going to go.
The questions started, and my aggravation ramped up to new levels.
I thought it was best to let the ladies do all the talking. That way, I couldn’t get myself into more trouble.
Charlie waited patiently, all his carefree charisma gone. He was tense and vibrating with power as he appraised the males who were in attendance. No one dared to challenge the Supreme Alpha in his den.
I’d bet money on Sloane being the only one in here who could handle her own with him in a fight. I knew it would never come to that, but I had a difficult time wrangling my thoughts.