Chapter Twenty-Nine
EVE KNEW the second she glanced at her phone for what had to be the third time in about ten minutes that it was one time too many.
Hashtag placed his tablet on the coffee table. “Okay, what’s going on?”
She blinked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She’d tried not to make it too obvious.
Duh . Hashtag noticed everything.
“Have you had news from the adoption agency? About Logan?”
“Not since the last time we talked about it. They said it shouldn’t be long now.” The waiting was driving her mad.
“And I don’t suppose you know what’s going on outside on the patio either.”
Eve frowned. “What do you mean?” She’d been so preoccupied with the imminent arrival that someone could have driven a tank past the French doors and she wouldn’t have noticed.
“Mrs. Landon has set up a whole load of tables. It looks great out there: tablecloths, glasses, silverware…. A bit too fancy for a cookout, so something’s going on. Is it because Aelryn and his mates are here?”
They’d arrived the day before, along with their guest and much to Horvan and Dellan’s surprise. The fact that Rael had a room ready for the mates should have let them know it wasn’t exactly an unplanned visit.
Rael did a stellar job of blocking that thought.
Roadkill stuck his head around the door of the living room. “There’s a car pulling up outside. Are we expecting visitors?”
Eve was on her feet in a heartbeat. “Yes.” She hurried out of the room and through the hallway, arriving at the front door just in time to see—
Jamie and two humongous bearded men climbing out of a taxi. The car groaned and went up several inches after the last man stood.
Eve would hate to pay for that car repair.
They towered over him, one older, with a buzzcut shaped into a peak at the front, the sides of his head shaved, the other with dark brown hair swept up from his face, and both of them with broad shoulders and arms, their skintight tees stretched over acres of rippling muscle.
Almost as tight as the jeans they’d poured themselves into.
Oh my.
Down, girl , Roadkill admonished.
Don’t tell me you don’t find them hot.
Roadkill snickered. Our mate does. I think his ass is puckering looking at them.
Hey! I’m just… admiring. From a distance.
Jamie waved when he saw her. “Hey, I thought no one except Rael knew we were coming.”
She chuckled. “He didn’t say a word.”
He grinned. “In that case—surprise!”
Eve glanced at Jamie’s companions, then gave a sniff. She gaped. “Oh gods, you found your mates, didn’t you?”
“There’s no hiding anything from you, is there?” Jamie gestured to the older of the two men. “This is Shawn.”
The younger guy gave a short bow. “And I’m Brandon. Based on what Jamie’s told us, you have to be Eve.”
“Got it in one.” She gave Jamie a huge hug. “It’s good to see you again.” She stood aside to let them enter as Rael rushed to greet them.
“You made it.” Yet more hugs were exchanged, and then Rael led them toward the living room, from which filtered the sound of music, soon replaced by shouts of delight the minute they entered.
Eve lingered by the front door.
He should be here by now.
Right on cue another taxi pulled onto the driveway. As it came to a stop in front of her, she spied a familiar face in the back seat. Eve dashed forward to open the door for him.
“Victor! Thank you for coming.” Then she got a better view, and her stomach clenched.
The man looked awful. He’d lost some weight; his cheeks were sunken and his eyes listless.
Then she recalled he’d only recently arrived from the UK, and he’d probably gotten no sleep during the flight.
That’s bound to make anyone feel worse .
Victor climbed carefully out of the taxi, and she watched yet another car return to its usual position.
Jamie’s mates are big, but Victor….
He cocked his head toward the house. “Very impressive.” He frowned. “Is that music I hear? It sounds like a party. I had no idea I would be interrupting,” he murmured. “I’ll come back another time.”
“Uh-uh.” Eve grabbed his large hand. “You’re staying here. Trust me, you’ve arrived at the perfect time.” The taxi driver opened the trunk, and Eve took Victor’s bag before he got a chance. “And it’s not a party, just a gathering of family and friends.”
“But I am neither,” he protested.
Eve knew she was tall, but even she had to crane her neck to look Victor in the eye. “Victor,” she said in a low voice. “Please… trust me?”
He stared at her for a moment, then nodded.
She dragged him indoors. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, his head snapped up and his nostrils flared.
“What…. What is that odor?”
She wrinkled her nose. “What do you… oh. You did say you have a great sense of smell. Why don’t you follow it to its source?” Anticipation bubbled up within her at the thought of Victor’s surprise.
As though in a trance, Victor stumbled forward, and Eve opened the door to the smaller sitting room. Victor caught sight of its occupant, and his eyes widened. “Irena!”
His eight-year-old sister launched herself at him, and Victor held her against his massive frame. He kissed her hair, murmuring words Eve couldn’t make out as he cradled Irena to him.
He met Eve’s gaze, tears streaking his cheeks. “Where did you find her?”
“That doesn’t matter. The important part is that you’re together again.” Irena was babbling in a language Eve didn’t understand, but it was easy to see their joy at being reunited.
“But… how long has she been here?”
“She arrived yesterday,” Eve told him. “With Aelryn and his mates.”
Victor grimaced, rubbing his forehead. “Why would you do this? We fought. I hurt you.”
She gazed into eyes filled with sadness and pain .
“Yes, we did fight. Now you tell me something. If it hadn’t been for Theron, do you think we would have?”
His lower lip jutted out. For such a big man, he seemed so frail and innocent.
“I dislike fighting,” he said at last. “I much prefer to wade in the water as my hippo. No one stares at me as if I’m filthy, disgusting.” He gestured to his body. “I eat almost nothing, and yet look at me.”
Eve put a hand on his arm. “Listen to me. Some shifters reflect their animal. You’re one of those. And believe me when I say, you look very good.” She smirked. “And if you want to talk about body problems, imagine how often a gorilla shifter has to shave her legs and armpits.”
“And we wouldn’t change a thing about you,” Hashtag said from behind her. “We love the whole package.” He held his hand out to Victor. “It’s good to meet you again, Victor.”
Tears slid down his cheeks. “I don’t understand. I smell her on you. How can you not hate me?”
Roadkill joined them. “Because we’ve all done things we wished we hadn’t been forced into. No one here blames you. What you did was for survival, and as former military, we can respect that.” He grinned. “As long as you don’t do it again, we’re good.”
Victor blinked, and then he smiled. “Never,” he vowed. He patted Eve on the shoulder. “I would give my life for my savior.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t save you so you’d owe me. I did it because it was the good and right thing to do.”
“I asked you to fight with us,” Hashtag reminded him. “But if you’d rather have a peaceful life, we would totally get that.”
Victor sneered, his lip curling up, showing his missing teeth. “The Gerans are murderers, and I will help bring them to justice.” Then he jerked his head up, sniffing again. “But what is that smell?”
Eve frowned. “I don’t understand. I thought you’d caught Irena’s scent.”
He shook his head. “No, this is different. It’s….” His brows knitted. “I have never smelled anything like it before.”
And then the penny dropped.
Eve’s heartbeat quickened. “Kind of sweet and spicy, all at once?”
Victor stared at her. “Yes, exactly like that.”
Eve met Hashtag’s gaze, then Roadkill’s .
There could only be one explanation.
“I think you need to come with me.”
JAKE INCLINED his head toward the patio. “Do you know what’s going on?” Mrs. Landon had been going back and forth all afternoon, preparing tables for some kind of meal.
And that was another thing. There seemed to be more place settings than people staying at the house.
Doc leaned back in the wide patio chair and gazed out at the lake. “No clue. Doubtless someone will fill us in at some point.” He sniffed, and froze. “Do you smell that?”
Jake frowned and took a sniff. “Smell wha—” He gaped at Doc. “That smells like you.”
“I thought it smelled like you .”
Jake heard footsteps, and he turned to see who approached. Eve walked purposefully in their direction, accompanied by a mountain of a man who appeared to have been in battle recently, judging by his fading bruises and scars.
A man who was the source of that delicious scent.
Eve grinned as she came closer. “You’re missing a third piece. I think I’ve found it.” She gestured to the huge man at her side. “This is Victor Berzoner.”
Jake blinked. “The guard Theron ordered you to fight?”
She nodded. “And apparently that was meant to be. Because otherwise he wouldn’t be here now.” She tilted her head. “I’m right, aren’t I? He is your mate.”
Doc’s jaw was the first to drop.
“No. It can’t be.” He lurched to his feet, and Jake was maybe a second behind him.
That scent. It has to be.
Victor gaped at them. “You… you are my mates?”
Doc smiled. “It seems so.”
Jake walked toward him, his hand outstretched. “I am so very happy to meet you.”
Victor ignored his hand and pulled Jake into a bone-crushing hug. “Mate.” Then he stilled. “But what are you? ”
“A tiger,” Jake told him, and Victor’s face lit up.
“Always I have been a cat person.” He peered at Doc. “And you? Are you also a sleek, fast cat?”
Doc chuckled. “No, I’m a huge, lumbering elephant. And what are you?”
Victor beamed. “I am hippo.” He released Jake, and Doc got the chance to have his ribs crushed too. “I will protect my mates. Do you fight against the Gerans too?”
Doc shook his head. “I’m a doctor. My hands are made to heal, not harm.” He glanced at Jake. You realize what’s the first thing we’ll have to do when we get our home in Nebraska?
Find the biggest bed ever made?
Doc laughed. No—have a pond dug out. Or better still, a small lake. Something perfect for a hippo to wade in.
Victor froze. “How can I hear you in my head?”
“Try it for yourself,” Doc suggested.
Victor gave him an incredulous stare. This is magic?
Jake chuckled. No, it’s simply part of being mates .
One of the mysteries he would never understand but would be forever grateful for.
He gestured to the chairs. “Please, join us. We have a lot to discuss.”
Jake listened as Victor related what had happened since his encounter with Eve at Thurland Castle. Richard Deveraux had taken care of him, and once Victor was well enough to travel, he’d made arrangements to send Victor to Aelryn.
Something clicked into place. “The little girl who came with Aelryn? She’s your sister?”
Victor nodded. Apparently, he’d had no idea Irena had been located, and the poor man couldn’t stop his tears.
Thankfully, they were happy tears.
Jake had to admit they were a strange match, but he wasn’t about to argue with whoever had decided they were a good fit.
What do I know?
One thing was certain—Victor needed some TLC, and Doc was the perfect person to provide it. Then it became obvious that two had become four, as Irena had no one to care for her except for her big brother. Jake had no qualms about that, except it might make life interesting in the future .
Soundproofing , Doc said with a grin. Bedrooms spaced well apart from each other.
Victor glanced from Doc to Jake, then back to Doc. This is where I tell you that I have never…. He bit his lip.
For a moment Jake was confused. Then it hit him. Oh. You’ve never been with a man?
Oh. I see. Doc studied him. And does this worry you?
Victor laughed. I think it should worry you. I am not small.
Jake swallowed. I hope he’s talking about the size of his body.
Doc grinned. I have two words for you. Butt plugs.