9. Hunter
NINE
HUNTER
“What? No, you can’t.”
I grabbed him, maybe too rough for a human, but especially a human who had almost been forced into an arranged marriage with a mafia guy, kidnapped my another mafia man, me, put into a dungeon supposedly for safety when he was claustrophobic, and then met my entire family in the panic room.
Gods, when I thought of it like that, it was overwhelming. I was surprised Odell was still standing and not hissing at me.
I had to go with my brothers and help our pack members look for Draven. I glanced at Flint, manning the phone and talking to our men. Always the Alpha.
Whatever Draven’s long-term goal was, we were in his sights. We always had been, I supposed. He’s been brought up with the scent of revenge and bitterness lingering around him like a bad smell.
Odell couldn’t come with us. That was the first problem, and secondly, where would he go if he did?
He pulled away from me and shook me. My wolf complained, saying our mate was making him queasy.
“I can’t stay here a moment longer. If I do, I’ll collapse.”
Cradling his face with both hands, my gaze locked on his. “I won’t let that happen.”
His mouth tugged at the corner, and I steeled myself, thinking he was going to be sick. But it broadened into a tiny grin. “And do what? Protect me with your dying breath?”
I longed to hold Odell, mate to mate, but resisted grabbing him. “Absolutely.”
“Dramatic much?” His brows shot up, but teasing me had quietened his panic a tad.
Dad got up and put a hand on my mate’s arm while studying me. “Odell was just a means to an end. Draven doesn’t care about him.”
“But that was the point, Dad.” I slipped a hand over my mate’s back, and he didn’t pull away. “The easiest way to hurt me, other than going after my blood family, was to hurt him.”
I’d be devastated if anything happened to my dad, brothers, in-laws, nieces, nephews, uncle, or cousins. But if Draven killed Odell, I’d never recover. Like my dad. He was full of life and embraced every new challenge. No one would ever guess when he rose from bed every morning that his pillow was drenched with tears.
I wasn’t certain my brothers were aware but I’d woken Dad up one morning and would never forget his tear-stained face.
“He needs protection, something all packs would recognize.” Flint took over.
“Mating!” the adults in the room, shifter and human in-laws, said in unison.
Odell tore out of my embrace and gripped both sides of his face. “Stop the friend-zone talk.” He sobbed, great hacking sounds of grief that shook his shoulders and tore a hole in my heart.
“Marriage. We’re talking about getting married.” I removed my mate’s fingers clawing at his skin while my mind raced, trying to come up with an explanation. “Mafia men respect marriage, and they will rarely attack someone’s husband or wife. It’s an unwritten code.” Marriage would come first, and I’d have to come up with a reason why I drew blood from my mate and marked him.
He stared at me, a stray tear gliding over his cheek. “Rarely?”
This was the hard part and what was the truth? Because I was only a few steps ahead of Odell, weaving my way through the maze that was the connection between Draven, my mate, and me.
“The mafia men and women I deal with will honor that code. Draven?” Being so intent on revenge, I couldn’t pin down what he’d do. “I can’t say 100%, but he’d die at my hands if he did.” Hearing I’d avenge him after his death couldn’t have soothed Odell’s worries.
“A piece of paper saying we’re husband and husband would protect my aunt and uncle?”
That wasn’t a given. “I vow to look after them. Flint?” I sent a pointed look to my brother and Alpha.
“Always, Odell. You have my word.”
My mate’s eyelashes fluttered while he pursed his lips and appeared to be deep in thought. “I’ll do it, but I’d prefer that it was in black and white because I don’t trust anything not written down.”
“Of course.” Smart man, my mate.
“Uncle Arnie can conduct the ceremony.” Ranger grinned, seemingly pleased with himself. “He has the sort of gravitas needed to marry people.”
“Is he certified?” Odell needed answers.
Uncle Arnie’s eyes swiveled left and right, and his pained expression suggested he was hoping one of us would step in and save him.
“I, ummm… well… it’s like this…”
“So no!” Odell’s mouth was set in a straight line. He wasn’t going to accept Uncle Arnie as the celebrant. So proud of my mate for standing up for himself.
“I know someone who would know someone.” I put up my hand as though I was a kid in grade school trying to get the teacher’s attention.
“Not the guy who tried to marry me and Draven this morning.” Odell hugged himself. That was a painful memory, one that would cause trauma for my mate in the future.
“No.” Not him. “But the guy who walked in on the ceremony. He would know all the celebrants and who might be willing to do it with a little incentive.”
“A bribe. You’re going to bribe someone to join us in holy matrimony.” My mate wasn’t tapping his foot. Nor did he have his arms folded, but he may as well have. His look of disdain was enough to give me a jumbly belly. Me, the guy who used to ooze confidence from my pores.
Yeah, what happened to you? I couldn’t decide if my wolf was being sarcastic.
“I’m convinced Draven threatened him, so giving him money might help him escape whatever hole he’s in.” But once in debt to Draven’s family, you never escaped. Not that I pointed it out to my mate because his uncle’s reckless action had done exactly that.
Contacting Stefan might lead Draven to us, but I doubted it.He’d brought me to City Hall. I didn’t think Draven would kill the guy because he might come in useful in one of his other nefarious plans. But I couldn’t get inside Draven’s head.
I had Stefan’s phone number, and if he responded, I’d get my men to meet the celebrant outside the club. Shit. Any pretense that I had no planning permission for the underground bunker would be undermined ‘cause the person would report back to Stefan for sure. But again, a bribe would ensure the celebrant kept his mouth shut.
Flint agreed to wait until Stefan arrived, and he and Ranger were barking instructions into their satellite phones.
“Oh gods, hurry. I can’t last much longer here.”
Uncle Arnie grabbed one of the battery-operated fans, and I sat my mate on the sofa. Uncle directed the fan toward Odell while Dad talked to him.
While waiting for Stefan to answer, I hoped I didn’t have to go to extraordinary lengths to force him to agree.
“Hello.”
Words spilled from my mouth, telling him we needed a celebrant who would be compensated, as time was so short and we hadn’t gone through official channels.
“That can be arranged.” His voice shook a little.
I insisted the person come alone. We had cameras to capture every angle near the club, and the security guards would be on duty by the time the person arrived. The celebrant would be blindfolded and given ear-canceling headphones before being led down here.
Every rule in the mafia handbook said what I’d agreed to was foolish. I could be leading Draven right to us. But it wasn’t a secret we owned the club and I managed it. Maybe he was outside already or he’s scuttled off to lick his wounds and revise his plans.
Ranger was in the monitoring room checking the cameras. I’d told Stefan the celebrant had to carry a black briefcase so we’d recognize him.
“He’s here.”
Flint and I joined Ranger, and we scanned the other cameras, looking for anything suspicious.
“Gods, it’s him!”
Flint removed the gun from his holster.
“Put that away.” Odell would freak more than he already had, and if the kids came out of the other room, there would be questions about why he had a gun and could they hold it.
Stefan himself stood at the entrance, one hand and then two gripping the worn handle of an old briefcase.
I phoned him and told him to wait. Flint accompanied me after I assured Odell I’d return. He’d wanted to come with us to get out of “being buried alive” were his exact words. Marriage I could do, but if my mate wanted to leave the panic room, I struggled to come up with somewhere to keep him safe.
Flint opened the private door and dragged a surprised Stefan inside. He removed his arm from my brother’s grip. With the door closed, and the blindfold and headphones in place, we brought him down the stairs, winding around the corridors and to the entrance of the panic room. He said he was legally able to conduct marriages.
“You built this without planning permission,” he stated after I scanned my retinas and removed the blindfold.
“Let’s not worry about that now.” Once Odell and I were married, I’d compensate Stefan. But if Draven had something on the guy, he might want to stay, though space was limited.
“You!” Odell burst out. “I’m glad you’re in one piece. I was worried about you.”
“What?” My mate’s aunt appeared at the bedroom door, though her husband was still asleep. Her yell was as loud as her nephew’s. “You know him?” She took a breath. “Who is this?”
She was holding Odell and glaring at me as my mate mentioned marriage. “So we replaced one arranged marriage for another. This can not happen. Dellie, darling, I brought you up with strong values, and that didn’t include marrying into the mafia.” She tugged at his sleeve, her face scrunched up in agony.
Oh my gods, Dellie. That was an adorable nickname, and I longed for a time when my mate might allow me to call him that.
I didn’t have the time or the energy to go into another long-ass explanation, but as I opened my mouth, Odell took over.
“It’s okay, Auntie. I’ll explain more later.” He shot me a look that said, “And you can fill me in too.”
Stefan’s hands shook as he indicated for me and my mate to stand before him, and he pushed the glasses up that’d slid down his nose. The kids burst out of the other room. Ranger said they were getting a new uncle. Kendrick looked under a chair, and Lottie raced around the room asking where he was before Flint put a finger to his lips, and the kids squished onto the sofas and armchairs.
“Wait! You need rings.”
“Why don’t you have a ring, Uncle Hunter?” Lottie asked. That set off a barrage of questions from her, and Kendrick examined the adults’ fingers. “My daddy has a ring,” Lottie announced triumphantly.
Stefan rummaged in his briefcase and held up two paper clips. “Will these do?”
I unwound them and fashioned both into rings, testing one on Odell’s finger.
“Ready.” I offered my mate a hand, and he squeezed it, his palm a little sweaty.
Stefan recited a few words. Even if someone had put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t have been able to repeat them. My head was filled with my mate and Draven, the Silverback pack, and what it would mean for La Luna Noir.
Odell and I slid the makeshift rings on each other’s fingers, and Stefan pronounced us married.
Everyone clapped, and I pecked my mate on the cheek. He wasn’t ready for a tongue shoved in his mouth.
But Lottie examined Odell’s arms and mine. “Where’s the blood?”
My mate’s aunt squealed. “Dear gods no!” She glowered at me. “You harm a hair on Odell’s head and you’ll deal with me.”
She was fierce, and I loved that about her. She’s instilled some of her strength in her nephew. But it was Lottie who’d given me the perfect segue from marriage to mating. I could have hugged her.
“Do mafia need blood to bond or something?” Odell studied his palm. “I’ve seen it in movies. Our blood has to mingle.” While my niece had introduced the subject, Odell ran with it. I wanted to kiss them both.
Mafia bonding with blood was movie magic, but mating one another would put a ring of safety around Odell.
I nodded and told my mate to close his eyes. Making sure his aunt couldn’t see my wolf’s claw, I gently scarred the surface of his hand. His eyes snapped open, and he examined the mark. Gouging my palm with his nail, we pressed our bloodied flesh together.
We were mated.
“Get me out of here.”