Chapter 6
6
G oing downstairs the morning after meeting Anatoly, Kael staggered into the living room, rubbing his gritty eyes.
He’d lain awake for most of the night, trying to think of a way to tell his family about Anatoly, and the only thing he could think of was to just blurt it out.
As soon as he noticed everyone was in the living room, he did exactly that.
“I met my mate last night. My real mate. His name is Anatoly, and he is a vampire.”
Todd glanced up at him and chuckled.
“That’s a good one. How did last night go?”
“Which part, Dad? The part where I was ordered to kiss Nigel or the part where he tried to shove a finger in my ass to make sure I’m a virgin.”
Todd’s eyes narrowed.
“He did what?” he growled out.
“I left and went into the forest because I needed some time alone, and that’s where I met him.”
“Him as in your mate. This vampire.” Sherry sounded as if she didn’t believe Kael, and he guessed, under the circumstances, it might be hard to believe.
Pulling his phone out, he called Anatoly, who answered after the second ring.
“Can you come here to meet my family?” A second later, there was a knock on the door, and Kael went over to answer it, knowing Anatoly stood on the other side.
“Come in.”
Anatoly walked in and nodded to Kael’s parents.
“Hello.”
Todd scrambled up and pointed at Anatoly, then at Kael.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I’m Kael’s mate. My name is Anatoly Bruni. I’m aware things are tense right now, and my turning up isn’t under the best of circumstances.” Exactly what Kael had thought.
“I’m aware he’s been sold to an alpha of another pack.”
“Sold,” Todd scoffed.
“He hasn’t been sold.”
“I told Anatoly everything, and I have been sold. Five hundred thousand once we’ve mated and another five hundred thousand once I’ve provided him with an alpha. Just because Anatoly is a vampire doesn’t mean he shouldn’t know the truth.”
“Kael. You know we don’t agree with it,” Sherry spoke to him but watched Anatoly.
“He’s our alpha.”
“I can offer you all a way out.”
“And why would you help us? We’re shifters. Our species have hated each other for years.” Todd stood and pulled Kael away.
Kael shrugged him off and stood next to Anatoly.
“Kael.”
“He’s my mate. Would you deny me my mate because he’s a vampire?” Kael asked softly, and Todd sat in his chair, shaking his head, his eyes darting between Kael and Anatoly.
“Dad?”
“It isn’t that. You know what he’ll do to us if you don’t mate Nigel. The pack needs the money.”
“Is the money more important than your son?” Anatoly laced his fingers with Kael, and Kael smiled at him.
Now that there was daylight, Kael got to truly see Anatoly, and his mate was gorgeous.
All those classic lines and gorgeous blue eyes with thick brown hair.
“Nothing is more important to me than my children, but he is our alpha.”
“Where I grew up is a mixed town. All three species live and work together. There is a pack there, and the alpha is my friend. He’s actually mated to my sister, Gabriella. You would be welcome there, but it is in the middle of Russia, so we have snow. Lots of snow right now.”
Todd leaned forward in his chair.
“What about work and school?”
“We have those there, too, and we always need people to help in the town.”
“What size is it? I work in computer tech, and Sherry is a nurse,” Todd asked, his eyes bright.
“Would there be a place for us?”
“Dad?” Aled murmured.
“You’d actually leave here?”
Todd looked over at Aled and asked, “Do you like living here in this pack, Aled? Didn’t you say the other day you hated how you were treated because of Sylvester?”
“But leave? I’ve never been anywhere else, and there will be vampires there as well. We were always told?—”
“The fall out was like what’s happening now. A shifter was promised to another, then found their mate in a vampire. It seems history is repeating itself.” Anatoly squeezed Kael’s hand, and Kael smiled at him.
“The tension between our species is over a shifter mating with a vampire?” Sherry shook her head.
“Their fated mate? All this hatred because of that?”
“Jonas stopped talking to Redford because he painted his fences black.” Todd shook his head.
“At the end of the day, I only want the best for my son. If you can provide that, then I’m more than happy. Being forced to mate Nigel… You have no idea how helpless I feel as a parent not to be able to stop it from happening.”
“Dad. It isn’t your fault,” Kael protested.
“Sylvester is the alpha of our pack. We fall in line, or he punishes us.”
“Well, not now.” Anatoly pulled out his phone.
“One call and I can have you all moved in one night. I can have a plane booked to take you to my town. Pack up everything you want to take, then meet the plane. I can’t teleport large items, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would teleport you and your belongings. This Sylvester won’t know you’ve left until he comes here. The choice is yours.”
“Let’s do it.” Aled glanced at everyone, who looked at him, surprised.
“I know what I just said, but they’re mates, and Sylvester would still force Kael to mate someone else, even if he knew Kael had met his mate. He only sees dollar signs. That’s all Kael is worth to him.”
“Are we all agreed?” Todd asked everyone, and Kael saw them nod.
“This is happening so quickly,” he murmured.
“I never thought you’d all agree like this.”
“It is, but it needs to happen quickly.” Todd stood and approached Anatoly.
“Can we do this tomorrow night, and can you assure me my son will be loved and protected the way he should be?”
“On my honor, I’ll protect him with my own life.”
Todd nodded.
“Well, I guess welcome to the family.” He ran a hand over his head.
“Tomorrow night?” Sherry nodded, and Aled bit his lip.
“Aled?”
“No, I agree, but it’s… Wow.” Aled suddenly jumped and hugged Kael.
“You have no idea how happy I am you’re not mating Nigel. You’re still a dick, though.”
Kael pushed him away.
“And I’m still four years older than you.”
“And I’m an alpha.”
“And I can have pups or vampires or what?” Kael looked at Anatoly, who shrugged.
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t care as long as they are healthy, and you are too.” Anatoly stroked Kael’s cheek.
“Want to visit what will be our home?”
Kael grinned and nodded.
“Let me get dressed.”
“Just wait. I need assurances that we’ll be accepted,” Todd said.
“This is our home…or was. It hasn’t felt like that for a long time, but this is the only place we have. I don’t want us to move, then be kicked out and have nowhere to go.”
“I would never let that happen. You are my mate’s family, and I will always make sure you have a place to call home.”
“You guarantee it?” Todd focused on Anatoly.
“We’ll always have a place to live?”
“Always. We always make sure there is a place for a mate and his or her family. And we always talk through our issues, so it doesn’t fester underneath the surface. We have three species who live and work together. That works because we have an open line of communication. We talk. A lot.”
Todd nodded, glanced at Sherry, who nodded in return.
“Tomorrow night, we’ll be ready to go. Aled, you need to sort your room out today. You have school tomorrow, and we have to carry on as normal, so we don’t raise any suspicions.”
“Wow, Dad,” Aled murmured.
“I never knew you could be like this.”
“I never had to be, but now we all have a chance to live the lives we want to.” Todd nodded to the stairs.
“Go upstairs with Kael. You both need to get dressed.” Kael nodded and followed Aled up the stairs, then stopped on the landing.
“Dad has his I’m in charge head on and wow,” Aled whispered.
“I know. I’ve never seen him like this.” Kael peered down the stairs, trying to hear what was being discussed.
“I never saw this happening. I thought I’d have to leave you all behind because you wouldn’t accept my mate.”
“Is he really your mate?”
Kael looked at Aled.
“I can scent that he is. Everything in me pulls him to me. I can’t explain it.”
“Sylvester and Nigel will be so angry.” Aled grinned.
“Wish I could see their faces when they realize we’ve left.”
“It would be fun to see, but I wouldn’t want them to catch us either. You need to pack, and I need to get dressed.”
“And have some fun.” Aled wriggled his eyebrows, then screamed and ran into his bedroom when Kael chased after him.
Kael grinned, then went into his own bedroom and showered, brushed his teeth, and dressed.
One last glance in the mirror and Kael wondered what Anatoly saw in him.
He sighed and shook his head, then jumped when he turned and saw Anatoly behind him.
“You are beautiful.” Anatoly placed his hands on Kael’s shoulders and turned him to face the mirror.
“Look at you,” he whispered.
He ran his fingers through Kael’s hair.
“I love your hair, your eyes.” He wrapped his arms around Kael’s waist and pulled him back, so Kael’s back rested on Anatoly’s chest.
“I can’t wait for us to be alone, so I can show how much I want you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You are perfect.” Anatoly kissed Kael’s neck, and Kael closed his eyes, his body shivering at Anatoly’s touch.
“Perfect.” He ran his fangs over Kael’s pale skin, making him gasp.
“Are you ready?”
“Are we going to mate?” Kael swallowed at the heated look in Anatoly’s eyes.
The glow intensified, and Kael twisted around, rising up, and kissed Anatoly’s chin.
“I’ve never…”
“I know. I’ll make it good for you. Make sure you enjoy it.” Anatoly took Kael’s lips in a heated kiss that had him arching up and letting Anatoly’s tongue sweep inside.
Whimpering, Kael kissed him back, learning from Anatoly.
“We should go.”
“Yes,” Kael breathed the word, and everything changed in a blink of an eye.
Stepping back, Kael turned in a circle, seeing he now stood in a bedroom dominated by a large bed.
The light walls contrasted with the dark wood of the bed, and Kael stepped toward it, then stopped.
“Now?”
“If you are ready, or we can wait. I’ve waited centuries for you. I can wait longer if you need time.”
“No,” Kael murmured.
“I want this with you, even though we’ve just met. Show me, Anatoly.”
Anatoly’s hand slid over Kael’s cheek, and Kael gasped when Anatoly kissed him.
He returned the kiss, their tongues touching, then he whimpered when Anatoly bit his lip before lifting him and placing him on the bed.
Kael stared up at him, watching as his vampire stripped until he stood naked.
Kael’s eyes stared at his body, all lean and strong with dark hair on his chest that trailed down to a dick that had Kael pausing.
Long and thick, Kael swallowed at its size.
“It’ll fit,” Anatoly told him as he kneeled on the bed, pushing Kael down onto it as he kissed him again.
Kael moaned, his eyes fluttering closed, and he let Anatoly strip him, then arched up when Anatoly’s cold hands slid over his chest and down his body.
“I am so lucky.”
Kael opened his eyes and saw the blaze in Anatoly’s as he stared at Kael’s naked body.
“Anatoly.”
“Mine as I am yours,” Anatoly whispered before kissing Kael again.
Kael sank into kiss, his tongue dancing with Anatoly’s, his body shuddering when Anatoly’s fingers plucked at his nipple.
“Beautiful,” Anatoly murmured as he kissed Kael.
Kael arched up, his fingers tangling in Anatoly’s hair as he moved away from Kael’s lips and down his neck, licking and sucking the skin.
He didn’t stay in that spot but continued down until he swiped his tongue over one of Kael’s nipples.
Kael groaned, his fingers clenching Anatoly’s hair, then he cried out when Anatoly bit his nipple.
Licking over it, Anatoly kissed a path down Kael’s body until he reached Kael’s hard, leaking cock.
When he stopped, Kael lifted his head and watched Anatoly stare at him.
“Anatoly?” Was there something wrong with him?
He didn’t think he was as long as Anatoly, but he didn’t think he was small either.
“Perfect.” Anatoly’s voice was low, hushed.
“You are perfect.” With those words, Anatoly lifted Kael’s dick and swallowed him down.