“Because you knocked her around a few too many times. Yes, I’m aware of that too. Just so you know, you will never touch any of them again. But do go on about how well you know Shadow.” He told him again what her real name was. “I’m aware of the name she was given at birth, but I so much like the reason that she’s called Shadow more because you tried to convince your sister that Anna Beth sounded normal. Not that I understand that any more than I do you, but please, go on.”
There was something about this man that made his balls shrink up to the size of a peanut, and his cock curl right up his ass. Of course, he’d never let on that he was afraid of him. Thomas was much smarter than that. When the man was finished with the apple, he tossed it into the trash can across the room, like there had been a string on it to make it in one toss. The man asked him if he was finished.
“Not yet. I’m going to be running for the presidency in the next election. And I’m going to win. I have the backing of the entire town here, and I figure that I’m a shoo in.” The man only nodded. “Once I’m there, I’m going to make some changes that will make me look like a saint compared to Henry Cobb. He hasn’t done shit in the two terms he’s been there. I’m going to.”
“Are you now? Well, that’s good to know. I won’t ask you what you’re going to change, because I don’t think you have any chance at all of becoming president. First of all, you have a record. And what I can tell the people of the world about you would make you a prisoner rather than a president. Also, and I might be wrong about this, I think you need a campaign. At least that’s what my brother told me.”
“Well, now, how do you suppose he knows so much?” The man stood up, and so did Thomas. “You’ve been sort of rude, don’t you think? You’ve come in my home, threatened me about my family, and then never told me your name. For all I know, you could have killed them all and are right now—”
Thomas never saw him move, but he did see that he’d been wrong about him. The man was at least a foot taller than him and much stronger. The way that he was holding him up with one hand, a good three feet from the floor, had the piss that he’d been holding since this afternoon run in a hot stream down his leg.
“I want you to listen to me very carefully. All right?” He didn’t speak because all the air was cut off. But when he was shaken, like he was going to have the words tumble out, the man asked him to blink to answer. Polite as fuck too, like he wasn’t about to kill him. “Are you listening to me, Thomas?”
Blinking and nodding, he hoped the man would let him breathe once more before he died. As it was right now, the police were going to hear about this shit. Blinking again when asked if he was paying attention, the man spoke again.
“My name is Blake Allen Whitfield. You remember that. And if you come near my family, which does include Shadow and her mom and grandma, I will kill you. I won’t fuck around about it either. I will tear your head off and bury you so deep that you’ll never be found. Stay away, Thomas, or pay the price.”
Thomas hit the floor then, and the man was gone. Not that he walked out the door and left him there—no, he was just gone like he’d been a dream. But the pain around his throat made him understand that not only had he been real, but that he meant every word he’d said.
“You don’t scare me, you mother fucker. I’ll do what I want because you don’t have it in you to kill anyone.” Thomas caught himself looking around for the man, and was relieved that he wasn’t around. Standing up, he made his way to the bathroom to clean himself up. “Treating me this way will only get you in deep shit when I’m president, Mr. Blake Whitfield.”
Then it hit him. He knew the name from someplace. Whitfield? Whitfield? As he got out of the shower and pulled on clean underwear, he looked out his window at the neighbor’s back yard. And there it was—the reason that he knew the name. Adrian Whitfield was running against him in the election.
Mother fuck, he had some dirt on the fucker now. He’d just helped his own chances of becoming the next lord of the land, president of the United States. Dancing around the little room, he couldn’t believe his luck. The fucker was going down.
~*~
Blake was lying on the grass when he heard someone come into the area where he was. He’d been home about an hour but had come out here instead of going into the house. He knew that the moment anyone looked at him, they’d see how pissed off he was. Blake watched Shadow as she made her way through the fallen limbs carefully. When he stood up to show her where he was, she stopped and stared at him.
“Your grandda told me you were out here. He said that you were upset and that I might be able to change your mood. I think he’s playing matchmaker, and this is his plan to get us alone, but I wanted to talk to you anyway.” He laid down but continued to watch her. “Is it your plan to be a tiger and run off when you’re upset about something? Because if it is, I’m not going to be happy about having to chase you down all the time.”
I went to see your uncle. She paused in sitting down next to him and stared hard at him. He’s a bigger dumbass than I thought he was. And I didn’t have a very high opinion of him in the first place. Did you know that he thinks your mother is faking her illness? Shadow sat down by him and leaned back against his belly. What did you want to talk to me about?
“I have a mental list, but you tell me what you learned by visiting him. He is still alive, isn’t he? I don’t care one way or the other, but it might help me sleep better at night, knowing that he can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Blake laughed and told her that he’d pissed himself, but he was still alive. “Really? You scared him so bad that he peed himself? I wish I could have seen that. It might have made me laugh. He hurts me, did he tell you that?”
He won’t again. She turned and looked at him, and Blake licked her face. Also, you should know that Nate has about all of his pack watching your home and business. If you’d not mind, I’d like to move you and your family into my home. There is plenty of room for us all.
“Will I be sleeping with you?” He wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he didn’t. “I’m only asking because Bennett told me that you and I had to have a kid—his words—of our own so that stupid judges don’t try to kill you.”
Blake told her everything that had happened yesterday morning. I didn’t do anything to provoke him, but he’d lost his wife some time ago, and it had been a slow process for him to get to the point where he was that day. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. She asked if it was true about mates and one of them dying. Yes, for the most part. My grandda is still around only because we bullied him into living. He was set to kill himself over his loneliness. I think us boys having mates and children around for him to play with and talk to has given him a new outlook on life. I know that it has my parents. Before I forget to tell you, I also talked to Tanner—he’s a vampire. You and your grandmother are true immortals. Your mom will live a long life, but there is something about the way her brain functions that makes it so she can’t be a true one. Dylan’s grandda, he had the same illness as your mom does, and he died one night. He was a wonderful old man.
“I don’t know what to say about that. I’m sure that my mom wouldn’t want to be a true immortal anyway. She really hates being like she is. What else did he have to say to you?” He wouldn’t lie to her and told her everything. Even about how Thomas had been walking around in his underwear. “I knew that about him. Once when he was fresh out of jail, he came to stay with us. Grandma beat him with a wooden spoon for subjecting us to that. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
No. He had a gun, but I explained to him how that would only get him killed, and he put it away. She nodded. Do you want to go over your list with me while we’re alone?
“I do, as a matter of fact. Your sister said that you have a monstrous house and an even larger barn. You’re not expecting me to fill all those rooms, are you?” He laughed and felt better for it. “If you don’t mind, I�
�d like to see your house. Not that I’m saying this mate thing is something that I want from you. I’ve not had a gentle life before, but since I’ve been widowed and living with Grannie and my mom, it’s become something that I can tolerate. You? I’m not sure that we’re suited.”
I understand that.” He did, too. Her life hadn’t been easy, nor all that much fun. Blake decided that was what he was going to do—make it fun for her and her family. There are some things about the house you should know. Also, in the event that the boys mentioned him, Alec won’t be coming to live with us.
“They seem to think it’s a done deal. What’s happened?” He told her that he had behavioral problems. “So? You don’t think you can handle them? Are you telling me that you only want perfect children? If so, then—”
He killed another child two days before he was to meet with me and the boys. She said she was sorry. I am as well. Alec was raised in a home with meth around all the time. In fact, he had to be detoxed when he was born. They told me when I agreed to meet with him that he did lash out, but not so that he’d hurt anyone. But I have since learned, thanks to Dylan, that not only has he hurt others, but most of them have ended up in the hospital for very severe injuries. I don’t know what they’ll do with him now, but I doubt very much he’ll be adopted out. The poor kid. He was dealt a shitty hand from the start.
“Why do you do this?” He asked her what she meant. “Adopt children. Are you set in only having boys? Never mind. I just wondered why you’re taking on such a task. It can’t be easy. Not with you being a single man. Wealthy, yes, but still single.”
When I was little, it used to amaze me how many people would be at our table. Sometimes my parents knew the people that were being fed, most of the time not. They would bring in whole families to have a good hot meal. They’d make sure they were cleaned up and given whatever they needed in order to make a good fresh start on their life. He’d been thinking a lot about those times. Once, when I was about ten or so, Mom brought home this elderly man. He looked like he was about ten million years old, I remember thinking when I was younger. But, like a lot of families, he’d been down on his luck for some time. His name was David Land. I don’t remember if he was a shifter or not. I’m thinking that he wasn’t. That night we had a huge meal with all kinds of desserts. It was a feast. Not that we didn’t eat that well every night, but that night it just seemed more fun.
“He died, didn’t he?” Blake told her that he had. “Why would you tell me that story? That is sad, Blake. I have enough sadness for a lifetime.”
After he died, Mom gathered us all in the kitchen and told us that Mr. Land had passed. But we had given him something that he’d not had since he was a little boy. A family to help him celebrate his birthday. He remembered thinking how sad it was to have to have strangers at his party. After his funeral, where my parents paid for it all, we talked about the night and how much fun we’d had. It was then that I realized how much it had meant to the man to have celebrated with not strangers, but a family that was willing and able to open their arms and home to him. I decided then that when I was old enough, I was going to do the same thing. To open my heart and home to people in need. By starting with children, I’m hoping that someday they’ll pay it forward as well.
Neither of them said anything for a little while. He was thinking of the other times that his family had helped others. It seemed to him, now that he looked back on it, that they’d been helping people in a quiet way for his entire life. Sometimes in small ways, others in larger ways. In that moment, he’d never been prouder of them.
“I’d like to go to your house if you don’t mind.” He stood up when she did. “I’m to understand that you can dress yourself if you shift. Is that right?”
It is. What’s happened? There was so much sadness around him that he felt as if he could almost touch it. Shadow, what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? Say something that upset you?
“Yes. No. I mean, you did say a lot that upset me, but not in a bad way. You’re just what I was told—a quiet kind man that would do anything for anyone else. And in your kindness, you’ve made me realize that I could and would like to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Shadow walked away, and he shifted. After dressing himself in jeans again, he caught up with her and took her hand into his much larger one.
They walked back to his brother’s house and picked up his boys. They were so excited to be going home that he felt the need to just be with them. As they were getting into the car, he went back into the house to get Jaclyn and Grannie. They were a family now, and he wanted it to begin today.
Chapter 4
Grannie was impressed with the house, but she was most impressed with how Blake was making accommodations not just for her, but for Shadow as well. Blake wasn’t falling all over himself to impress any of them. What he was doing was showing them around, then leaving them in a room to figure out if it needed anything.
Shadow had already asked for one change, and it had to do with her mom. She asked for the room that her mom was in to be childproofed for her. Within minutes after she suggested a couple of things, he had two of the crew that had been working on the kitchen go to Jaclyn’s room to do just what was needed to make it a safe place for her.
As that was being worked on, Shadow staying behind to make sure it was done how she wanted it, Grannie wandered down the hall. She saw what she supposed was the boys’ room, and started in, but paused at the doorway to listen to them.
“You don’t have to like it, Joey, but you have to do it. We don’t get any allowance if you don’t make your bed. And Blake said it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be something that we’d be proud to say we did.” Grannie smiled at that. It was a good thing to say to a child. “Also, if you don’t tell Blake what happened when you were at the home, I will. He’ll be powerful mad, but he won’t ever take it out on you.”
“You said I’d be safe here, Bennett. I don’t want to ever go back there again. What if he does get mad at me and tells me he don’t want me no more?” Bennett corrected his language. “Now ain’t the time, Bennett. I swear, I’m hurting.”
“I know you are, buddy, but you have to tell him. What if it’s one of them diseases that kills you? You don’t wanna die, do you?” Joey must have said that he didn’t. “I don’t want you to either. You and me, we got it nice here, and I love having you as my little brother. I’m thinking that Shadow is gonna be our mom too. That’ll mean babies coming in.”
Someone touched her on her shoulder, and she was glad to see Shadow standing there. After whispering what was going on, Shadow barged right into the room with them. Whatever happened now, it was going to be huge. Grannie only hoped that Joey didn’t have a disease that was going to kill him off. She had grown very fond of both boys.
“Grannie, can you come in here a moment? I want you to see their room.” She moved into the room with them and stood staring at the walls. “Isn’t this wonderful? Oh my, I think Mom would enjoy something like this too, don’t you?”
The walls were painted with trees and animals. It was done so well that she was sure that a great artist had done the work. When she asked the boys who had done it, she was surprised by the answer.
“Blake did this? My goodness, this is amazing.” Joey showed her the tiger that she’d not seen until then. There was an owl in the tree hidden in the leaves. So many things that she was sure that without help, she wouldn’t have seen half of them. “He’s very talented. I had no idea.”
“I don’t think he lets people know about him being able to draw. He said to us that it was for fun, not something he’d feel good about if he had to do it.” Grannie could see that. “He told us that you guys make glass stuff. I sure would like to see you do that. I saw someone doing it on television once, and it was awesome.”
“I have a lot of things at my house. If I decide to live here...well, when I live he
re, I’ll have to have everything brought here. I need to talk to Blake about it.” Blake came in the room and asked what was needed. “I was just telling the boys here that I need to make arrangements to have my studio brought here. But I’ll need to have a place that I can have a hotbox and such too.”
“Do you know what you need exactly? We can get a start on that as soon as you let the foreman know what it is.” Grannie said that she had the specs on the building. “Great. That’ll make it easier. Would you want a bigger building? While we’re doing it from scratch, we might as well expand to make it perfect for you.”
“You’d do that? Put in a building that is huge and not ask me why or anything?” Blake asked her if it made her feel good to do the glassware. “Of course it does. But we’re talking a good deal of money to put one in.”
“Okay, first of all, I’m in love with you. You might not believe me, but I am with all of you. Secondly, it’s only money. If it makes you happy, then I’m happy. And having you happy will make the household happy. See how that works?” He grinned at Shadow, then kissed her on the nose. Looking at the boys, he grinned at them too. “Don’t you guys want to make Shadow happy? I mean, she’s a sweetheart anyway, but we want her ecstatic to live here, don’t we?”
They all screamed that they did. Grannie watched her granddaughter come to terms with Blake’s logic. Grannie thought that when the two of them fell deeply in love, the world would spin just a little slower, the sun would shine more, and they’d all be thrilled to be a part of her day. Then she remembered the conversation that she had overheard.
She didn’t want to hurt the trust that the boys seemed to be building with her and Shadow, so she had to think about how to bring it up. When Blake stiffened, Grannie realized that at some point, Blake and Shadow had exchanged blood. She knew that he knew as much as she did about the circumstances of whatever was wrong with Joey.
Blake: The Whitfield Rancher – Tiger Shapeshifter Romance Page 4