Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Todd
Prepping
I don’t want to disturb Mal before I leave, but I also don’t want to simply leave him with nothing more than a note, either. I settle in after setting my alarm to catch a nap, then get up and make coffee and breakfast and go to check on Mal.
He’s just coming out of his apartment when I stick my head out the back door.
My pulse spikes, thrumming, at the sight of him. When he walks over wearing a sleepy smile I also can’t help kissing him. “Hey, there.”
“Hey. Thought you said we could sleep late?” he teases, following me into the kitchen.
“Well, there’s been a change of plans. I hand him a coffee mug and a breakfast plate and fill him in.
Like Jax says, I use my best judgment, meaning I don’t hold much back from him.
Except my theories about our shifted communication, or that it’s even a thing.
I hate that now he looks concerned, but he nods. “No worries. I won’t leave the property. Frankly, if I could spend the rest of my life here, I’d be okay with that.”
That makes my heart skip again, especially when he focuses those gorgeous grey eyes on me.
“I promise I’ll try to save you some energy for the fun room tonight,” I say, and at least that earns me a still-sleep smile.
“Hell, I’ll settle for another hot tub snuggle, if that’s all you have energy for.”
Our gazes lock for a long, quiet moment, and…
Yeah. I have it bad for this pup already.
He looks away and takes a bite of his food. “Thank you for breakfast. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Least I can do for the fun I had last night.”
His smile returns. “That was a lot of fun.” This time when he meets my gaze, it’s direct, brave. Like he needs to force himself to do it. “Anytime you want me for that, I’m definitely down.”
My mouth goes dry and I need a moment to compose my thoughts. “That makes two of us.”
I manage to leave—finally—with only giving him one more kiss. Then he shoos me out, volunteering to do the dishes.
I hate the worry creasing his face when I told him what’s going on. None of this is his fault. I just pray he won’t do something dumb, like leave, thinking he’ll take the heat off us.
And there’s a part of me unrealistically thinking maybe his father’s given up. The kid’s been gone, what, nearly two weeks now?
But then I recall our earlier talks about how, after months of him being gone, his father’s henchmen showed up to drag him back.
Multiple times.
I know how this bullshit works. If Mal conveniently turns up dead somewhere, Sterling can use it as a bump in the polls for his US House run. Oh, pity the poor, devoted father who desperately tried, repeatedly, to help his wayward son.
Not like anyone in their pack would speak up. Maybe Mal’s mother, but she’s probably terrified of Sterling and wouldn’t dare speak out for fear of her own life.
It’s thoughts like that—and unrealistic revenge fantasies of my own—that fill my drive to Jax and Shawn’s. Jax has already left for the rec center but Shawn’s still there and opens the door before I even make it up the walk.
“Hey,” he says. “Guest hall bath’s all ready for you.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry this is a pain in the ass.” We switch car keys.
Shawn shrugs. “None of this is your doing, Todd.” He smiles. “So, how was the pup’s first time in the fun room?”
Finally, something I can laugh about. “I think he’s hooked. Over breakfast he basically offered himself up to me anytime I want.”
“Oooh!” Shawn smiles. “This other shit’s sucky timing but I can’t wait to see what happens when we can put him through initiation.” He nudges me with his elbow. “Maybe he’s the one, hmm?”
I feel my face redden. “He’s young. He’s also going through a lot.
And we didn’t exactly rip our clothes off each other in my yard that first time we met, sooo…
” I shrug. “What if he meets someone during initiation that flips that switch for him? That would…” I swallow, unshed tears stinging my eyes. “That would suck.”
Shawn squeezes my shoulder. “Todd, I’ve only met him the one time, so I can’t really give an opinion.
But I trust your opinion. And your whole energy feels…
different.” He waves his hands in front of my body.
“I’m not into woo-woo bullshit, you know that.
But you strike me as a man whose soul has settled on someone and now no one else will do. ”
“Yeah, but I remember you and Jax telling me what it was like when you guys met. And I’ve seen it when mate bonds hit other people.”
“And what about your mom?” he counters. “And others. Iris and Caleb didn’t have a mate bond and now look at how long they’ve been together, and in love. Happy. They aren’t the only ones I’ve seen form a bond over time. You can always try wooing him.”
“Thought you just said you weren’t into woo-woo,” I snark, and he rolls his eyes at me.
“You’re an asshole,” Shawn says, poking me in the chest. “Romance him. Yeah, you can’t take him out places right now, but cook with him, take walks with him, go running with him.
” He pokes me again. “Work him up so hard on the frame that he’s begging for your cock and will do anything for you.
” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “See if he likes wearing chastity cages.”
“I don’t want him to become my mate just because of any of that.”
“No, but if you roll his eyes back in his head enough times, he might cling to your leg and never want to let go. And while he’s young and has been through a lot, Mal strikes me as the kind of guy who can make up his own mind.
Look how long he resisted his father before escaping.
And how he escaped. That kid’s no pushover. ”
“What if he has to leave?” I quietly ask. “What if I do all that and in a day or a week or a month Jax orders him moved somewhere else? Then what do I do?”
He sighs. “Let’s pray it never gets to that.”
I shower and drive Shawn’s car over to where Jax is already in the rec center.
When I open the door, I notice none of the lights are on in the cavernous space, except for some at the far end in the section holding the kitchens, bathrooms, and locker rooms, and the hallway leading out to the pool deck.
“Jax?”
“Back here.”
I follow the sound of his voice and find him in the men’s locker room, staring up at the narrow row of glass blocks lining the outer wall of the space. But he doesn’t have the lights on in here, either.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
He points at them. “We need to make planks to fully cover those in both locker rooms.”
“For the outside?”
“No, inside. The storm shutters, those can’t be easily ripped off in one pull because of how they’re bolted to the building.”
“Ah.” I immediately catch his thought. “Safer to board it up on the inside.”
“Exactly. I’m thinking we can tape them in place with some of that tape you used to temporarily repair the hole in our lanai roof that time.”
“Yeah, that shit makes duct tape look like tissue paper.”
“We shouldn’t have to worry about anyone trying to rip it off from inside because it’ll only be their people in here.”
“Only?”
“Yeah.” He meets my gaze. “None of ours go inside while they’re here. Our people will only do perimeter guard duty, and only two or three designated people of theirs will be allowed to enter and exit the building to move supplies inside and stuff.”
“To prevent any ‘accidents,’” I say, realizing what he means.
He grimly nods. “No, I don’t like this. But I like even less that we’re forced into this position because of that fucker, Sterling.
If doing this helps them, removes that threat, and helps bridge a divide between us that leads to lasting mutual aid?
Worth it. I just hate that the cost to them has been so high. ”
We return to the main space where he props his hands on his hips and stares up at the windows and skylights.
“Is that why you haven’t turned the lights on yet?” I ask.
“Yeah. I want to make sure I’m not missing anything else. Once everything’s up, I’ll come back in and make sure there aren’t any light leaks. We can patch them as necessary.”
I have to ask it. “Do you think you’ll have to send Mal away?”
He takes a deep breath and finally meets my gaze. “I don’t know. It’s not the last thing I want to do, but it’s down at the bottom of my list. How much did you tell him?”
“Nothing about…” I take a breath of my own. “Only about this bullshit.” I circle a finger in the air as I look around the space. “I don’t need to burden him with my feelings—which I don’t even know what those feelings are—or have him feeling guilty or obligated to me.”
He turns to face me. “Todd, you’re a good guy.
I get wanting to hold this back from him for now.
But don’t think it’s because you’re worried about manipulating him.
You aren’t that kind of guy and you’ve never been.
Hopefully, we can resolve this quickly and then get back to whatever passes for normal around here.
Including you being able to have some heart-to-heart talks with Mal and start the initiation process with him. ”
We work all morning and several others join us to help. By late that afternoon, we’ve installed nearly half of the exterior shutters, and Jax is fending off phone calls left and right from people as the rumor mill goes into hyperdrive.
I’m surprised Chaz Gillians shows up to help because Jax confided in me that the Alpha tiger wanted nothing to do with any of this.
But he walks right up to Jax and shakes his hand. “This doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind,” he grumbles. “About the initiation stuff. But this is pack land, and I’m not doing my part if I don’t help with this, at least.”
“Thank you,” Jax says. “I appreciate you doing this.”
“Will actual vampires be staying here?” he asks.
“They might help move their people in and then out once it’s safe, but there are only four of them left in their nest, and they want to hunt the attackers. They’re bringing us kids, mates, human familiars, and younglings. They will not be staying here with them.”
He spits on the ground. “Younglings means vampires, doesn’t it?”
“From what I understand, no,” Jax says. “Some of them might develop it, some of them might not. I don’t claim to be an expert.”
“Younglings are like kids from shifter families,” I say, hoping I don’t regret speaking up.
“Vampires are born, not made. And just like some kids are born to shifter families but can’t shift, that’s what younglings are.
They might develop some of the strengths—or even all of the weaknesses—of vampirism, but it doesn’t mean they’ll…
grow into it. They have nearly human kids, too, just like shifters.
But younglings might have some of the traits, so they have to be kept safe from sunlight until they mature, in case that’s one of their weaknesses.
They aren’t ‘human,’ but they aren’t vampires, either.
Not every child born to a vampire couple carries it, and the chances drop even more if one of the parents is a human, or was themselves a youngling who didn’t inherit it. ”
Chaz stares at me for a moment, and I see the gears spinning in his head. “How come you know so much about ’em?” he asks.
“Because I think it’s important to know things,” I counter. “Ignorance breeds fear. It also breeds overconfidence.” I nod toward Jax. “He’s my pack Alpha. If he says we need to help them, then I’m all-in and I want to know as much as I can.”
You know, none of that’s a lie but it’s an omission I know might come back to bite me later.
No pun intended.
Still, emotions are running high and hot and I don’t feel like tossing a gallon of gasoline on a barbecue.
Chaz finally nods. “Makes sense. Well, where you need me, Jax?”
As Jax leads him to one of the teams working on the storm shutters, I breathe a sigh of relief.
If only that were to be the most complicated thing to happen around here for a long while.
But I know it’s not.
I also know it’s possible it could get a lot worse.
I grab a set of wing nuts and turn back to the shutter panel I was in the process of hanging when Chaz arrived.
Because all I can think about today is getting home to Mal.