Chapter 13
Cody waited as Dylon finished getting ready to meet his parents.
Standing where his mate had left him, he remained silent as he reviewed the rules he must now follow.
He was surprised at how happy he felt once he knew his place in Dylon’s life.
The rules functioned as the walls of a box to contain him and give him the security he was missing as his visions grew more intense.
Head bent in a standing submissive pose, his eyes wandered down to look at his crotch again.
His cock cage was clearly outlined in his tight jeans and he could feel his cock’s tiny movements against the steel.
Probably because his ass kept up a steady flow of clenching and unclenching around his plug but he didn’t mind.
It was a constant reminder of to whom he belonged.
“Okay, pet, let’s put your shirt on and then we’re ready to go,” announced Dylon. Checking his mate to make sure everything was properly concealed, he said, “You’ll love my mother. She knows you have foresight and will understand our relationship but will say nothing. Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, one more thing. Our bonding will continue to strengthen during the next few days, so I want you to stay close to me at all times. If my father wishes to speak to me alone, as I believe he will, I want you to head back to our bedroom and stay there until I come for you. And under no circumstances are you allowed to do a vision trip without me by your side. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Great, let’s go meet my parents.”
Taking Cody’s hand, Dylon led him down the hall to the great room where the rest of his brothers had gathered.
“Well, look who decided to get out of his bed, finally,” teased Colton.
“Sexy. Dressed to impress Dylon’s parents?” joked Zane.
“Naw, he’s just trying to make sure he can keep his mate with all this good-looking man flesh around,” cracked Carson.
“Good thing you aren’t including yourself in that group,” chortled Logan.
“Fuck you all,” Cody replied.
“What did I say about language in front of Daniel,” demanded Jackson. “Not that our brothers didn’t deserve it, but still, can’t you guys learn some different terms like, I don’t know, like…”
“Fudge nugget?” asked Logan.
“How about Fragdaggler?” asked Ian
“Oh, I know, Friggen fracking fudge!” Carson chimed in.
“Friggen fracking fudge?” Jackson repeated and then chuckled. “Why do all your suggestions start with ‘f’?”
“It’s the letter that expresses me the best,” said Carson. “You know, like fuckingbedamned, fuckingunbelievable and then it’s also perfect to fit in the middle of a word you are trying to emphasis such as absofuckinglutely or I know…unfuckingreal…a personal favorite. See? F-words just sound right.”
“Yeah, if you want us to switch to something else it has to be as strong and work as hard as fucking does,” added Zane.
Cody joined in, “You know it’s true, bro. You use it all the time, too. And if you aren’t saying it, you are using it when you give us your finger. In fact, I think I saw Daniel try to make one the other day. Where did he learn that sign language from?”
Jackson turned to Steel. “Are you teaching him that?”
Startled, Steel looked up from feeding Daniel his bottle. “What the fuck are you saying? You think I’m teaching our son how to throw the finger? No, I’m not, at least not yet. But he may have already learned it from you before I ever get the chance to do so.”
“You know, bro,” said Colton, “there’s a school of thought in Psychology that believes the less you make something a big deal, the less the child will be inclined to do it.
For instance, swearing. If you make a big fuss over Daniel using a swear word, then he’ll use it to see how big the reaction will be each time he does.
If you ignore it, Daniel will move onto something else, like refusing to eat a particular food,” he explained.
“I can see that, because isn’t that what we did as kids?” asked Dakota who had joined the group. “Mom would tell us not to do something and what would we do?”
“We would do it,” said Cody.
“Yeah, like the time she told us to leave the red paint cans alone that Dad had put in the garage after painting the barn,” said Carson.
“Oh boy, that was a freakin’ mess,” chuckled Logan.
“What happened?” asked Ian.
“It was the beginning of summer and Dad had gotten us new bikes…beautiful shiny blue and white bicycles for the seven of us. Mom had nagged him until he finally gave in and ordered them for us. Mom thought it would help keep us out of trouble learning how to ride them. So, one day all these boxes appeared,” Logan said and then snorted.
“The bikes were in pieces and Dad had to assemble them.”
Dakota picked up the story. “So one night when I snuck down to the kitchen, I heard voices out on the back porch. Peeking out I saw Mom and Dad assembling seven bikes. And let me tell you, there were a lot of swear words being thrown around that night.”
“But what does the red paint have to do with your dad putting bikes together?” asked Steel.
“Well,” Jackson said, grinning, “after the bikes were ready, we spent a week learning how to ride them. Then it became a contest of who could be the first to ride with no hands, pop a wheelie…you get the picture. After all that, we were bored and ignored them until we found the red paint. Even though we’d been told never to touch Dad’s stuff in the garage, we took the paint and painted our bikes red. ”
“And don’t forget how much paint we got on our clothes, the driveway and tracked into the house on the way to dinner,” Logan chuckled.
“Okay, I see your point, bro. But…”
“Dylon, your parents have arrived,” called Oracle.
“Okay, remember my instructions,” Jackson said to his brothers as he took his son from his mate. “Did you burp him?”
“Yes, he’s ready to meet the Vice Chair of the High Council,” Steel said laughing. He wrapped his arm around his mate’s waist and ushered him over to the front door. “Dylon, maybe you and Cody should come with us to greet your parents on the front porch.”
“Good point. Come on mate, let’s say hello,” said Dylon.
Grasping Cody’s hand in his, they followed Steel and Jackson outside.
Dylon looked down at their life thread and saw it was pure silver—a good sign—his mate was relaxed and secure.
After listening to the conversation among the brothers just now, it solidified his determination to reject the offer he knew his father was going to make.
Cody needed to stay here. The love between the brothers was awesome and Cody would need it, along with his, for the dark days ahead.
Looking at his mate, he could see Cody’s intense focus on maintaining a balance between the shots of pleasure he was getting from the plug and preventing the painful erection it would cause.
Perfect! Keeping the visions from invading Cody’s mind was critical until their bonding was complete.
Cody couldn’t stop the tiny movements even if he wanted to.
Every time the plug brushed his prostate, endorphins flooded his body and mind, which made him constantly seek it again and again.
Nothing else was as important to him right now as his mate, because Dylon anchored him.
He no longer felt he was going to simply disappear.
His eyes scanned the sky and saw the helicopter making its approach.
Finally, Cody would meet the woman who had made him laugh when he’d lost the ability to do so.
Jackson watched as Robert opened the cabin door and a man climbed down.
Turning around, he reached in and lifted out a petite woman.
After setting her on the ground next to him, he turned back to grab his briefcase.
Jackson chuckled as the woman gave instructions to her husband and Robert, gesturing toward several packages.
That must be Dylon’s mother. Jackson examined Lizzie as she walked toward them wearing a trim turquoise suit with a necklace in a matching color.
Short, white, wavy hair surrounded a round face that broke into a wide smile when her sparkling, sapphire-blue eyes spied her son.
But what Jackson felt was the kindness that emanated from her.
Oh, she will be good with Cody, very good.
He shifted his focus from Lizzie to Dylon’s father, Franklin Royd, who, along with Robert, was piling the packages and luggage at the bottom of the front steps.
The High Council’s picture didn’t do justice to the man who stood looking up at him—a tall man with salt and pepper short hair, piercing black eyes, high cheek bones, straight nose and a full goatee.
Franklin was wearing a dress shirt open at the neck with rolled up sleeves and a button up vest. But the clothes did little to hide the heavily muscled body which radiated power.
Jackson instantly knew Franklin Royd was no fool. This man lived a hard life.
“Alpha Blackwood, I’m Franklin Royd.”
“Welcome to the Blackwood Pack,” Jackson said.
“Thank you for inviting us. This is my wife, Elizabeth.”
“Oh, hush Frank, stop with the protocol. We aren’t on Council business. This is our son’s pack and his Alpha. How do you do, Jackson. May I call you Jackson? That Alpha business is all fine and dandy for formal occasions but you’re family now.”
Jackson couldn’t keep from smiling—even if he wanted to—after listening to Lizzie talk to her powerful husband that way. “That’s fine, Lizzie. I run an informal pack. This is my mate, Steel Valentin and our son, Daniel Maximillian.”
“Oh, isn’t he the sweetest baby ever. Look Frank, doesn’t he remind you of our Dylon when he was just a baby,” Lizzie said, as she let Daniel grab her finger.
“Lizzie, this is my brother Cody, Fated Mate of your son,” Jackson said.
Turning to Cody, Lizzie gushed, “Oh my, you are the handsomest man I ever did see. I mean after my husband and my son,” said Lizzie before adding in a stage whisper, “I had to say that just so I wouldn’t hurt their feelings.”
That did it, Cody roared with laughter. “Thank you, Lizzie. I’ll be sure to remind your son of that fact whenever he needs to be put in his place. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, come here,” Lizzie gushed as she wrapped her arms around Cody, giving him a big hug. Finally stepping back, she asked, “Is my son treating you right? You can tell me. He’s not too big to be taken over my knee for a spanking.”
Cody was now laughing so hard, tears ran down his cheeks as he pictured Dylon getting spanked. Finally, he regained control and said, “There’s no need to do that because he’s treating me fine. But thank you for the offer.”
Jackson smiled at the interplay between his brother and Lizzie, quite taken with the sound of Cody’s laughter.
Hearing it made him realize it had been a while since Cody laughed like that and it saddened him.
Why didn’t I realize my brother was hurting?
He made a mental note to find out more about Cody’s foresight.
“Mom, will you stop? Please, I assure you I’m taking very good care of Cody,” said Dylon.
She giggled as she hugged her son. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Cody knows I’ll do it if you misbehave.” That produced a new round of laughter from everyone.
“Hello, Cody, I’m Dylon’s father, Franklin Royd. But please call me Frank. Welcome to the family.”
But before he could say more, Lizzie spotted Oracle and said, “Oracle, how nice to see you, again. I swear, you look younger every time I see you. You have to tell me your secret. And you must be Maximus. Sorry I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you before.
So, your son is mated to my son’s Fated Mate’s brother!
Wow, that makes us related. Isn’t that wonderful?
Oh Frank, dear, I’m going to need a bigger budget for the Long Night Moon Festival. So many gifts to buy.”
Frank answered, “Yes, Lizzie, but first don’t you think we should meet the rest of the pack? Alpha, if that is okay with you?”
“Call me Jackson, Frank. That’s a good idea. Let’s go in so you can meet everyone.”
~/~/~/~/~
Rudy called every pack in California except the Blackwood Pack and all denied receiving a visit from Franklin Royd.
As much as he didn’t want to accept the truth staring him in the face, he had to.
Dylon Royd mated with someone in the Blackwood Pack.
It had to be. It was the only pack left.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! He pounded his desk. Fuck!
Fuck! Fuck! Think! But Rudy didn’t like the conclusion his thoughts led him to.
If Josiah found out what he had done to Royd’s son, Rudy would be dead. Hell, Royd would order it himself.
Taking a deep breath, he held it for a minute before letting it out.
Rudy needed a calm mind to think about what he should do about this clusterfuck of bullshit.
He snorted when he thought about Josiah’s job offer of head enforcer to Dylon.
Like that fucking little piss-ant would ever want to come back here.
But will he cry to his daddy about what we did?
He went over everything in his mind about Dylon and came to the conclusion it was better than even odds Dylon would say nothing.
His assessment was based on the man’s conduct at Silver Point.
Even when the older enforcers hazed him, Dylon never reported it.
No, that asshole wasn’t a cry baby. Well, that’s a break for me.
He sighed because it was time to report his findings to Josiah.
Locking his office door, he walked down the hall and stopped in front of his Alpha’s office.
Giving two sharp raps, he waited for Josiah to respond.
Receiving permission, he opened the door, walked in and made sure it was tightly shut behind him.
He knew he was getting paranoid but couldn’t help it.
Everything that could have gone wrong, had.
And now he was sitting here with his neck stretched out on the block just waiting for the axe to fall.
Josiah could tell by the way Rudy was acting he didn’t have good news. “Well, did you find him?”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to fucking mean? Did you find him or not?”
“My contacts at the High Council couldn’t find out exactly where Royd went. All I found out was he came to California. I called all the packs but no one had seen him.” Rudy let that sink in then added, “The only pack left is the Blackwood Pack. Dylon is mated to one of your nephews.”