Chapter 22
“Did you check all the locations?”
“Yes sir. Nothing. They were all empty.”
“Fuck!” Where could it be? He thought he knew every hiding place his wife had given their son so if Fionn’s hoard wasn’t in any of them that could only mean he found a new place.
But where? Shit! He needed to rethink his plan.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Everything had been arranged.
First the shifters he hired would seize Fionn’s hoard and transfer it to him in France, then kidnap his son, lock him up, then torture his fucking queer ass to death.
The High Council couldn’t charge him with violating the restraining order and by the time the mercenaries he hired were finished, there wouldn’t be a body to find.
“What do you want me and my men to do, sir?”
“Just sit tight. I’ll get back to you.” Artur MacDùghlas ended the call and, slammed his phone down on the desk.
“Sonofabitch!” he roared, as fire shot out of his mouth, scorching the wooden top.
Where the fuck did that shithead move his hoard?
For the millionth time, he cursed his dead wife.
If it weren’t for his wife’s family, he would have rejected her long ago; she couldn’t even give him an heir that made it past their first birthday—that was, until Fionn was born.
And he was surprised his weak, sickly son lived as long as he had, for all the good it did.
A fucking gay son! She gives me a queer for a son!
How the hell did my wife ever think their son would have children…
someone to carry on the MacDùghlas name.
But gay or not, it didn’t matter according to the mating agreement he signed with her family.
Once she gave him a male child, he was locked into her until she died.
Well now she’s dead and I can get myself a healthy young female dragon who can give me children to carry on my name.
He’d already entered into a mating agreement but needed his son’s hoard to make the payment to her family.
Fuck why didn’t his son catch the Dragon fever from his mother?
Once Artur found out his wife was sick, he was sure Fionn would get it too, and it would have been so easy if they both died so he could start over without any ties to his first mating.
Shit! I don’t understand why he never got sick.
Refusing all requests from his son for medicine or doctors, Artur stayed away from home during the months his wife lingered on her deathbed.
When word finally reached him that his son had survived, it took him a week before he was able to control his anger.
After the burial, his wife’s attorney gave him the news that Fionn was the sole heir to her hoard and he realized his wife had chosen her son over her husband.
Fucking bitch! Because of you I’m sitting here with no new mate or heir.
When he learned what his dead wife had done, Artur’s anger crystalized into cold hatred for his son and all he could see when he looked at him was the fucking asshole who stole his inheritance.
Whatever love, if he ever had any, was long gone and the years after his wife’s death were spent trying to right the wrong that had been done to him.
Artur sat back in his chair, contemplating the possibilities and the probabilities of success for several plans he was considering.
Then it hit him—the Blackwood Pack—he needed to learn more about them.
He’d bet anything they knew where his son’s hoard was.
Reaching for his phone, he punched in a number, knowing who could get him all the information he needed.
~/~/~/~/~
Slate opened his bedroom door and found his brother standing behind a food laden cart.
Taking a sniff, he grinned, “Come in. My mate wasn’t sure you would be here, but then I told him all about the cooking class you took.
” Stepping back, Slate waved his brother in.
“Babe, dinner has arrived and it’s just what we ordered. ”
Dakota stood. “Hi Steel, thanks,” he said eyeing the covered food, but wondering what condition he was going to find his kitchen in.
Chuckling, Steel replied, “My pleasure. I think you just became my favorite person because I forgot how hard it was to make dinner. I’m pretty good with making breakfast but…”
Suddenly worried at Steel’s confession, Dakota asked, “Is my kitchen okay?”
“Of course it is, but don’t come down for a couple of hours so Zane and I can clean it up, okay?” Steel asked.
Dakota frowned as he stared at Steel, then looked at his mate and, not knowing what to think, sat down heavily in a chair—his thoughts conjuring up the worst images of what his kitchen looked like.
Slate saw the look on his mate’s face and was pissed.
“What the fuck is the matter with you, bro, upsetting my mate on our special day!” Striding over to Dakota, Slate scooped him out of the chair and carried his mate over to the love seat.
Wrapping his arms around his mate, who was now sitting in his lap, Slate continued, “Is this how Dakota acted after your claiming with Jackson? Did he upset your mate? Don’t answer because I already know it.
He didn’t, so why do you think it’s okay to do this to my mate is beyond me.
“And while we’re on the subject, why is Dakota cooking three meals a day, seven days a week?
And don’t tell me because he’s the only one who can cook because I see a cart covered with food that you made.
I’m telling you now, there are going to be some changes made around here so you better get together with your Alpha and make it so.
Dakota needs to spend time with me and two hours between meals won’t cut it. ”
Steel’s jaw dropped at how protective his brother had become about Dakota.
He didn’t know his brother had it in him though he should have realized it, remembering Slate’s compassion for shifters who needed Dire Enterprises’ help.
Shaking his head at his thoughtlessness, he said, “Dakota?” And when Dakota looked at him, he continued, “I’m sorry about messing up your kitchen but I promise you, in two hours I’ll have it looking perfect, you have my word. ”
“Thank you,” Dakota replied in a quiet voice.
“You’re welcome and congratulations on your mating. You too, bro.”
“Thanks for the dinner, Steel. Leave the cart…I’ll take care of it.” After his brother left, Slate looked at Dakota. “Are you all right?” he asked.
Sheepishly he nodded and, slipping out of Slate’s arms, walked over to the food.
Lifting the covers off, Dakota’s stomach growled as he sniffed each perfectly prepared dish.
Then he set the table and filled their plates, before sitting down.
“Babe, are you going to eat?” he asked his mate who was still on the love seat.
“Absolutely,” said Slate, joining his mate, “I’m starved.
” He was pleased when they fell into a companionable silence as they ate, glad the Fates had given him a mate who wasn’t a chatterer.
Slate kept glancing at Dakota, trying to understand his strong reaction to a messy kitchen.
When dinner was over, Slate said, “Babe, let’s go for a walk before we check out the state of your kitchen, okay? ”
Dakota grinned at his mate’s suggestion.
It sounded perfect to him. After everything that happened today, he needed time for it all to sink in.
“Thanks, that’s exactly what I need right now.
” He said, slipping out of his robe and taking Slate’s offered hand to help him up.
As he dressed, while sneaking glances at his mate’s gorgeous body, Dakota’s cock began to thicken as he imagined what they could do in the forest. His sexual experiences were limited—some hook-ups at school and in a few gay bars—so his thoughts were stimulated by what he’d seen on gay porn sites.
Naturally shy, Dakota always stayed in the shadows, never wanting to be the focus of attention.
That and his empath ability made him awkward in social situations, always afraid of saying the wrong thing.
His only sexual encounters were blow jobs and an occasional fuck.
The porn sites helped the gaps in his education but he never found the nerve to try anything he’d seen.
Hopefully, his mate was willing to educate him further.
Descending the stairs hand in hand, Slate led his mate through the empty great room and then out to the forest. Standing at the edge, he asked, “Why don’t you lead?”
Smiling at his mate, Dakota headed over to a path that would take them to a favorite spot, second only to his cave.
Hiking up the mountainside in silence, their footsteps muted by the moss-covered earth, Dakota was in a quiet realm he loved.
The place he was taking his mate was so ethereal, it never failed to give Dakota’s soul the replenishing it needed; it was the perfect place to sit and think over this day.
When they were close, Dakota reached back, wanting his mate’s touch, and when he felt a warm, large hand grasp his, he smiled and resumed walking.
On they went, threading their way through virtually impenetrable trees, finally emerging at a secret clearing, glowing with the setting sun.
Slate gasped at the sheer beauty of it. He threw his head back and looked up into a soaring, lacy canopy where sunlight and green leaves danced together creating a magical space.
Letting go of his mate’s hand, he spun around in a circle, feeling the kaleidoscopic effect of this space on his soul, trying to understand what was happening to him here.
Yes, there was magic here—good magic—making all his doubts and insecurities fade, making him feel at peace.
Never had he experienced anything like this in all his life.
“You feel it too,” Dakota whispered.
“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen or felt anything like this before. What is it?” Slate whispered back.
“I don’t know, but aside from my cave, it’s my favorite place in the forest.”
“Well it’s mine now, too. How often do you come here?” Slate whispered back, not wanting to break the spell.
“Not as often as I would like,” Dakota whispered, taking his mate’s hand, leading him to the center of the space before pulling him down to sit on the ground.
Reverence—a perfect word to describe Slate’s feelings as he sat next to his mate and, if he wasn’t mistaken, a hidden place put here by the gods, although he couldn’t figure out why.
Just fucking amazing! As they sat in the middle, Slate could feel all the negativity stripped from his body, replaced by the magical light swirling around them. He grinned in delight.
Dakota knew what his mate was experiencing because it happened to him every time he came here.
Slate was the only person he ever brought here and, as their shoulders touched, he knew it was meant to be.
Delighted to share this ethereal moment with his mate, Dakota leaned over and kissed him on the jaw before moving down to his neck.
There, the scent of home called to Dakota like never before—his fangs dropped, sinking into the soft skin that was calling to his wolf.
Shock, then red-hot desire flooded Slate’s body.
Grasping Dakota’s hair, he held him there, on his neck, needing the connection, somehow knowing it was important to their claiming.
When his mate’s fangs withdrew, Slate released his grip, quickly pushing his mate to the ground, hovering over him.
Staring at the wolf in his mate’s eyes, knowing Dakota was seeing the same in his eyes, he began to undress him.
Driven by a spiritual force, Slate knew he needed to fuck and bite Dakota right here, within the magical space.
Once Dakota was naked, Slate flipped him over on his hands and knees, grabbing his mate’s hot ass, pulling his cheeks apart, exposing the place he needed to be.
Starting at the top of Dakota’s crack, his tongue licked all the way down to that perfect pink pucker, moaning when he reached it, feeling how tight it was.
Laving the muscles surrounding it, he waited until he felt them relax before thrusting his tongue in.
Without lube, Slate wanted to make sure Dakota was properly prepped so there’d be as little pain as possible.
When his mate was ready, Slate sat up and flipped Dakota on his back.
Then, unzipping his pants, Slate pulled out his cock and, pressing its head against his mate’s hole, slowly broke through the rim muscles until the whole tip was inside.
Pausing, he waited for Dakota to breathe through the pain and when his mate wrapped his legs around Slate’s waist, he took it as a sign to move.
Unable to hold back, Slate’s thrusts became fast and furious as a deep-down need to possess his mate rose to the surface, driving him forward with only one goal—filling his mate with his seed.
Soon his cock became a piston, driving the engine of orgasm to the finish line as fast as possible.
Dakota held on, tightening his legs around Slate’s ass, knowing his mate was on the brink of an orgasm that would change everything.
Locking eyes with him, he saw Slate’s wolf staring back; in a flash, Slate’s eyes began to glow, sending out a beam of light that found Dakota’s wolf.
Within seconds, his eyes did the same—they were now connected by a wavering beam of light.
When it became steady, Dakota’s cock erupted, shooting cum over his abs and chest and a split second later, he felt the spasms of his mate’s cock inside him.
Then, while they were still joined by light and flesh, their wolves left their bodies, and began their own love dance as the first beams of moonlight pierced their magical place.
~/~/~/~/~
Oracle was standing at the window as the moon rose in the nighttime sky.
Her eyes roaming over the treetops, watching as darkness settled, merging everything into the black sky until it all became one.
Hearing Maximus call her, she began to turn away from the window when she caught a glimpse of a column of moonlight disappearing into the forest. Smiling with satisfaction, Oracle knew her son’s claiming was complete.