I'll Be There, page 2
part #19 of His Mate - Brother Series
“Yeah, lost his mind,” Dalton added.
“Ha! The goof twins,” Lorna said, motioning to the shifters on the other side of the table. A rumble of chatter went around the room, and she thought maybe she’d hit a nerve.
But, in for a penny, her Grandma always used to say, so she raised her chin and eyed the alpha with a full-on stare. “I think you should either poop or get off the pot,” she said, and internally winced, she should have cursed, it would have sounded better.
“You do?” Nash asked, turning his attention to the woman.
She was attractive with those big green eyes staring at him like she knew his secret, and something made him want to take the scent on the air and see what her story was, but he thought he knew – witch.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, but it was the way her voice lingered on those words like she was savouring the taste of them that caused him to feel a twinge and a flicker of something brewing in his pants.
Damn, that wasn’t good. But he had come to a conclusion about what he was dealing with. “Two witches and a vampire walk into a shifter bar – sounds like trouble to me,” he said, testing the waters to see if the females were about to run screaming and give him his answer.
“Sounds like we’re hungry to me,” Santino said and brought the alpha’s attention right back to him.
“We don’t have what you eat,” Nash informed him.
“A nice big juicy steak with all the trimmings?” he said. “I thought that was standard food for the big, bad wolf,” Santino shot back.
“Ooo, that sounds good,” Coleen said. “I’ll have me one of those, or do the big bad men not want to share?” She babied the alpha.
She figured that when in Rome – what the hell – it wasn’t as if she was going to pick up brownie points for not mocking him.
The alpha heard the low growl that rumbled from over his left shoulder and was curious about it, but not curious enough to turn his attention away from the trouble at his door.
For some reason Flint took exception to the witch’s words and his wolf rose up within him, but even with the growl that rumbled in his chest, he didn’t think the beast meant to do her any harm.
She was the kind of curvy a man could lose himself in, and very cute, and he wouldn’t have minded getting to know her a lot better in the best way possible.
“I suppose we could arm wrestle for it,” Santino said. “A fight to the death over a steak seems a little extreme.” He rolled his eyes and thought on it. “Although, your wolf might disagree.”
Lorna’s ears pricked up. Why the hell was Santino talking about a fight to the death – didn’t he know not to bait a wolf shifter, especially an alpha one? They were second only to bear shifters in being batshit crazy, and that alpha had a look in his eye that said he was thinking about it.
She could really kill Santino at times, and this was one of them, but if she didn’t back the vampire in his play, then they might just be toast anyway. “Why don’t you just go back into the kitchen, put your apron on, and cook us up three steaks – there’s a good boy,” she said, mocking him.
Nash snapped a look at the witch, and his eyes narrowed as he took her in. She was trouble, he could tell, and yet, he also sensed an air of vulnerability about her as if she didn’t quite want to have to back up her play. “I caught the slur,” he informed her, and she offered him a look of pure innocence, but there was a wicked look of mischief in her eyes. “How about you climb on your broomstick and scoot off back to your gingerbread house before things turn nasty?”
“Ouch,” Santino said, tossing a look at Lorna. There were some things that you just didn’t say to a witch, and that was probably one of them.
Lorna lowered her chin towards her chest and eyed the alpha from beneath her long, black lashes. She had the urge to zap him, and the mind to try to keep the peace – unfortunately, urges always took priority, and she got him a good one.
Coleen felt the magic in the air and saw the alpha clench, well, everything, but it was those big hands that balled into fists at his sides that she was most concerned about.
She knew what Lorna had done, and she’d had good reason to do it. If her friend hadn’t of got in there first then she might have done it herself – there were just some things you couldn’t let slide.
“I’m guessing that was an insult too far,” Santino said with a smirk that annoyed Nash more than being stung by the witch’s magic.
“Is there a point to you being here?” Nash growled. “Or do you just want to get all rowdy with the wolf pack and see what happens, or maybe it’s me you’re looking for?”
Santino frowned. “That sounds like a love song from the eighties, and I don’t swing that way, but thanks for the offer…”
“Seriously?” Nash growled, taking a long step that brought him closer to the vampire, closer to the witches, and a step closer to Lorna doing him some serious damage if he got his wolf on.
“I guess this is why they say you shouldn’t bounce pups on their heads when they’re small,” Santino said, eyeing the alpha up and down.
There was a small chuckle from behind Nash, and he knew it was Guy, but the alpha didn’t waste his time dealing with it – there was always later for that. “I’m guessing this is why they say you should steak a vampire whenever possible,” Nash growled, and right then – it was a tempting prospect to give it a try.
CHAPTER THREE
~
“Speaking of steak,” Santino said, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
When a huge grin spread the alpha’s lips, Lorna’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Not only had she not expected it – she’d been expecting to fight her way out of there tooth and nail, against fangs and claws – but he took on a whole new look, and it wasn’t entirely shabby in her book.
“Where the hell have you been man?” Nash said, closing the distance between them and holding out his hand for the vampire.
Santino stared down at the alpha’s hand and frowned. “Is that … rib sauce?”
Nash took a moment to inspect his hand and the smears of Betty’s barbecue sauce on it. “It’s Betty’s sauce.”
“Well in that case,” Santino said, slapping his palm against the alpha’s and doing that man handshake-not-a-handshake thing that they did. “Betty’s still alive, now that’s impressive.”
“Of course I’m still alive, you bloodsucking leech.” The disembodied voice came from behind a door that Lorna could only assume was the kitchen, either that or Betty needed locking up because she didn’t play well with others.
Lorna turned a quizzical eye on Coleen, and her friend offered a helpless shrug. “Don’t look at me,” she whispered as she sidestepped the vampire and sidled up to her.
“I hate it when he does this,” Lorna grumbled, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling and noting the same colour sauce up there that was on the alpha’s large hand. What the hell was that about?
“Wanna zap him?” Coleen whispered back.
“Witches?” Nash asked, cocking an eyebrow at them over Santino’s shoulder.
The vampire grimaced. “Yeah, my bad, but they are a fun night out,” he said with a cocky grin back over his shoulder. Lorna offered him a death glare, and Coleen rolled her eyes. “Most of the time.”
Nash took a long moment to eye them again. Witches were a no-no for his pack, or they had been under the old alpha’s rule. “Yeah, just this once,” he said, and motioned to his table. “Come sit with me.”
“Ooo, I don’t know if they’re ready for that – they’ve lead a pretty sheltered life so far,” Santino joked.
“They have a problem with shifters?” Nash asked, frowning at the one that he thought had zapped him – she of the pink and purple highlighted hair who was offering him a hard stare.
“No, but watching you eat might not be the best introduction to the wonderful world of shifters,” Santino chuckled when the alpha grunted in annoyance.
“Sit – eat, and tell me why you’re here,” Nash said, and it didn’t sound like they had a choice in the matter, or at least, that was how it sounded to Lorna’s ears.
“Should I not be?” Santino asked, motioning for Lorna and Coleen to move towards the table.
“I know I’m going to regret this,” Lorna said, eyeing him with a look that said he was going to hell and she might just be the one to send him there.
Nash yanked out a chair next to the one he’d been sitting in when they’d come in, and he offered the seat to Lorna, she frowned and nudged Coleen towards it.
“Yeah, throw me to the wolves, why don’t ya?” Coleen whispered, but she knew the supernatural hearing in that room would have picked those words up without a problem.
Flint yanked the chair next to him out and offered Coleen a wolfish grin. “Here,” he said, and she didn’t miss the little growl in his tone.
Coleen decided that sitting next the alpha might not have been such a bad idea after all. She didn’t just nudge Lorna towards Flint; she offered a two-handed shove in her back.
“Hey!” Lorna hissed, turning to see the smirk on her friend’s face and the look of mischief in her eyes.
“Just returning the favour,” Coleen said and snapped on a bright, mocking grin.
“Three steaks,” Nash said to Guy, and the beta frowned.
“I’m the waiter now?” he asked, eyeing the vampire with annoyance.
“You’ve just got to deliver the message to Betty, and you can take Dalton with you for company,” Nash said, shooing him off.
“I’m not deaf,” Betty yelled from the other room, and Guy puffed out his chest as he smirked.
“Not deaf, caught the order,” he said to the alpha, before taking his seat once the alpha was in his.
Lorna leaned in towards Santino and whispered so low that only he should have been able to hear her. “You trust them?”
“Maybe,” Santino offered back.
“That’s not an answer,” Lorna said, turning to glare at him, and they were almost nose to nose.
“It’s been a long time,” Santino admitted. “Things – are fluid.”
“It’s not a river, its fangs, fur, and claws,” Lorna bit back.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Nash said, bringing her attention to him. “I don’t always bite.”
Although, he wouldn’t mind feasting a little on her. She was something special, and his beast didn’t even mind that she was a witch. It was sitting up and paying attention too.
“Good, because I haven’t had my rabies shots,” Lorna offered back, and the sniggers from the others at the table made Nash sit up a little taller in his chair.
Nash looked at Santino and questioned him with a raise of his eyebrows. “She’s something,” he said.
“Oh, that she is,” the vampire agreed, amused by what was going on around him.
Lorna stared at the alpha from under her long lashes and was about to put him in his place when the internal door burst open, and an elder she-wolf stalked into the room carrying three plates. “Here,” Betty said, practically tossing the plates down on the table in front of the three newcomers. “Get your chops around those, and don’t complain – they only come one way,” she grumbled.
“Grab ‘em and growl,” Lorna muttered, but she was well aware that the elder was now starring down at her.
“As long as it’s not raw,” Coleen said and eyed the meal that looked a lot more appetising than the woman’s attitude would have led her to believe.
“Something wrong with raw?” Betty asked, placing her hands on her rounded hips, and cocking just one eyebrow at the witch.
“Not if you’re you, but I’m me, and I have a thing about squishy…”
“But not blood from the looks of things,” Betty said, cocking an eyebrow at the vampire. Santino pushed to his feet, wrapped his arms around the elder, and lifted her from the ground as he planted a kiss on her cheek before she knew what hit her. “Put me down!” she growled out.
Santino placed her back on her feet and let go. “I know you missed me,” he said.
He didn’t bother to duck the punch that she threw at him, and it landed against his jaw. He did reach up and test his jaw against the pain. He’d stupidly thought that it wouldn’t land so heavy given her age – how wrong could one vampire be?
“I have that same reaction when I see you, I just don’t always act on it,” Coleen said, chuckling at the vampire’s expense.
“You should,” Betty grumbled. “It felt good.” Then she turned on her heels and stalked back into the kitchen, muttering all the way.
“It’s a sign of affection,” Santino said, sitting down. “Shows she was miffed that I left,” he called after her and heard a grunt from the kitchen in return and the thud of a pan.
“I think it shows you’re delusional,” Lorna sniggered, as she reached for the cutlery and stopped when she caught the hard stare the alpha was giving her. “What? You’ve never seen a witch before?” she asked, frowning.
Nash snapped out of it. There was something about her that was making it hard to look anywhere else, and he really wasn’t doing his due diligence where Santino was concerned. “I eat witch on a regular basis,” he offered back with a wolfish grin, but all he got in return was a hard glare. “Witches, no sense of humour,” he grumbled, and his friends chuckled.
Lorna drew on her magic and used it to knock the bottle of beer over on the table in front of him. The alpha’s reflexes were good, but not good enough to stop some of the liquid from spilling out on the table and racing towards the edge where it flowed down into his lap.
“Alpha’s,” she said, grimacing as she stretched her neck to note the wet patch on his jeans. “No idea what a toilet is for.”
Santino chuckled when Nash pointed his finger and opened his mouth to speak, but Coleen used her magic to shoot the serviette dispenser at him, and he slammed his hand down on the top of it before it shot off the table and into his lap. “You might want to clean yourself up,” she said, offering him a bright, mocking smile.
Nash looked at Santino, and the vampire shrugged. “Ten years and then you bring witches to my door?” he asked, questioning the vampire’s sanity.
“Well, I didn’t want to come empty-handed,” Santino said and caused more laughter from the three other shifters at the table.
Nash grumbled a growl. “Next time, you can leave the wicked witches at home.” He wasn’t sure why he didn’t like that idea, but he didn’t.
“Wicked?” Lorna asked, tipping her head to one side and eyeing him with interest.
Nash thought she could be very wicked if she set her mind to it. But when his beast tried to push forward, he snapped out of the dirty thoughts that were playing in his mind, and he closed the door on the wolf within. “Say it ain’t so,” he said.
Santino leaned in towards her and Nash had the urge to push him away, but the woman wasn’t his to make that kind of move on her behalf, and she’d chosen the seat opposite him rather than next to him. Still, it irked him.
“And don’t lie – they can sense when you’re lying,” Santino whispered, but not low enough so that the whole room couldn’t overhear him. he didn’t want the alpha to think he was trying to pull anything.
They’d been friends once, but he was the alpha now and sometimes power went to a man’s head. He couldn’t take anything for granted.
CHAPTER FOUR
~
Lorna didn’t like being at that kind of a disadvantage. If she could only tell the truth, then she wasn’t going to have much to say. “You brought me to a place with human lie detectors? Shame on you,” she bit back.
“So, why are we here?” Coleen asked.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Nash said, looking at his one-time friend.
“I heard there was a new alpha in town and I figured all would be forgiven,” Santino said, leaning back in his chair.
“What’d you do?” Coleen demanded, scowling at him. It was better for all of them if everyone’s cards were on the table; that way, there might not be too many surprises.
“Now why would you think that it was me?” Santino asked.
“Oh, I don’t know – because I know you,” Coleen shot back.
Santino looked at Lorna for backup, but she just raised her eyebrows expectantly. When he looked at Nash the man just shrugged. “She’s not wrong,” the alpha said.
“Okay, fine,” the vampire said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “It might have been partly…”
“It was!” Betty called from the kitchen.
Santino sighed and tipped his head back to eye the ceiling. “Sometimes, I feel like the world is against me…”
“You’re a vampire, you should be used to that,” Lorna said.
“I don’t hear chewing out there!” Betty called, and both witches snapped to attention, reaching for the cutlery and then puzzled as to why they’d done that.
Dalton leaned in toward Lorna and whispered. “I don’t think she was talking to you,” he said and snapped his jaws together.
Lorna turned in her seat and offered the man as close to a death glare as he was ever going to be likely to see, but she didn’t back it up with magic. The low rumble of a warning growl made her sit up and pay attention, and she flicked a look at the alpha, but he wasn’t looking at her – he was offering a glare to Dalton.
“Let’s keep it nice,” Santino said, but Lorna had already unleashed her magic on the shifter, or more precisely, on the chair he was sitting on, flipping it back and taking the man crashing to the floor, staring up at the ceiling. “Or we could do that.”
“No, I can do that,” Lorna said. “You’re more of a fangs guy.”
Nash couldn’t help the rumble of a chuckle in his throat, and when Dalton jumped up and muttered something under his breath, the alpha laughed harder. “She got you, didn’t she?” he said, which made Lorna wonder exactly what it was that the other shifter had said about her.
Lorna hated to admit it, but there was definitely something about the alpha’s laugh that drew her in. Who didn’t like the sound of laughter when it wasn’t at their expense? But the deep tone made her skin tingle and her heart thump a little faster, and there was even a little fluttering going on in her stomach, but that could have been because she was hungry.
