Chapter Four
Deno woke up in the pre-dawn and felt odd. “Serin, I think something is very wrong with Belle.”
Serin sat up. “What? Where is she?”
He closed his eyes. “She’s back at the village. I think she’s drunk.”
“She doesn’t drink.” Serin got up and got dressed.
“No, she doesn’t.” He got up and wrapped the sarong around his hips.
They left the house and headed down the hill to the village, and in the square, there was Belle, sitting with tears running down her cheeks. She straightened and wiped her face when she saw them.
Deno knelt next to her. “How much did you have?”
“Three.” She sniffled and looked at Serin. “The strait is clear for the event as long as no engines are used.”
“You got him to agree?” Serin was cautious as she helped Belle to her feet.
“Apparently, he was paid for it.” Belle started sobbing, and Deno lifted her into his arms.
“I will beat the hell out of him in the morning.” Deno carried his sister back up the hill toward Serin’s home.
Belle sniffled. “You will do nothing. In his mind, Serin summoned me as payment for the incursion. Payment was rendered. It’s done. I will do the run-through with drones tomorrow.”
Serin paused. “Maybe take a day off?”
“No. I really need to do something. I have never felt something like this before. I don’t like it.” She sighed. “I wrecked your first night together.”
Serin said, “You didn’t wreck anything. Deno and I had our hours together, and there will be thousands of more nights. You are in pain, and you need help. That takes priority.”
Belle’s head nodded, and her brother tucked her into a quiet room with a bedroll on the ground. She sniffled, and tears flowed steadily. “Mate rejection hurts.”
Deno stroked her hair. “We will sort this out, Belle.”
Serin watched from the doorway, and she closed the door when Deno emerged. “We are going to fix this. Xo wasn’t in his right mind.”
Deno nodded as they went back to their room. They lay down again, and Serin curled into his arms. He kissed her softly and then with more intensity as her body answered his.
They moved together, and the trees and shrubs across the island bloomed brightly.
* * * *
Belle got up at dawn and put on a set of sportswear. She got some water and headed for the catamaran, docked and waiting. It was small but suitable for this adventure, and she checked everything, getting the charging units for the drones and mounted the camera to the left pontoon, and another was on the tip of the mast. She checked on the feeds, cast off, and sailed into the dawn.
She called Deno. “I am doing the run around the island. Call you when I am done.” She left the message, put her phone in a waterproof pouch, and let the sail pull her down the coastline. It was just the break her mind needed.
* * * *
Serin opened the guestroom, and the bedding was neatly folded with only a slight dip in the pillow to show she had even been there.
“Deno, Belle is gone.”
He was towelling his hair. “What?”
“Did she call?”
He went to check his phone, and they heard her message. “Shit. She’s gone.”
“She is. There is a storm coming. I am hoping that she gets into the strait before it hits.”
There was a knock at the door, and Serin went to answer it. “Xo?”
Deno followed her, and she could feel the hostility bristling from him.
Xo’s eyes were hollow. “Serin, Kekoa told me I could find you here and probably Belle.”
Deno snarled.
Serin nodded. “Belle isn’t here. She needs to distract herself after the disaster of your encounter yesterday, so she is taking a catamaran up the coastline and through the strait.”
“There is a storm coming.” Xo looked around.
Serin grabbed his arm. “Come in. Have food. We will talk about the miscommunication last night.”
Xo frowned.
Deno was growling at him, and Xo’s hackles rose or, rather, a fin of hair lifted and waved gently.
Serin sighed. “Deno, the growling doesn’t do any good. Nor will the vines making fists outside in the garden.”
Serin led Xo to the living room, and tea and some fruit were set out. “Come on, you haven’t had breakfast. Belle didn’t either, but she has topped up on the energy of the island.”
Xo swallowed. “She was upset?”
Deno frowned. “She got drunk. She never gets drunk. It only took her three cocktails, but still. Before chemo, she could take down a two-four.”
Xo frowned. “Chemo? She’s ill?”
Serin poured tea. “Was. She’s supposed to avoid pregnancy for five months, but it has already been two. Mind you, the doctors that recommended that do not have access to the islands.”
Xo nodded. “True. She is competent on the water?”
Deno nodded through gritted teeth. “Very.”
He filled a small plate with fruit and ate. “Good. I will wait a few minutes before pursuing her.”
Serin looked at her mate. “Deno, can you go to town and get some bread or pastries this morning? The hostility radiating off you isn’t helpful.”
Deno sighed, got up, leaned over to kiss her cheek, and then left.
Serin looked at Xo. “What do you want to know?”
“You weren’t trading her to me to help me through my heat?”
“No. I don’t trade anyone. She voluntarily went because you were her mate.”
He frowned. “Past tense?”
“I don’t know. She’s crying like a rejected mate. She’s hurting like one.”
“I more or less told her that she had paid for access to the strait with her body.”
Serin nodded. “Yes, that qualifies as a rejection.”
“I didn’t mean it as one. She said she had had alphas before.”
“Sure. You have had betas, right? You used all the slow seduction techniques and eased her into pleasure, right?”
He coloured slowly. “Not exactly.”
“You made sure she was in a comfortable environment, at least?”
“Not exactly.”
“Ah, and yet her heart still broke, even though you fumbled your first joining. It seems the compulsion to find a partner can sometimes overwrite good sense.”
Xo swallowed. “Tell me about her illness.”
“Oh. Hang on. I have pictures. She had tumours on major organs, and eventually, they were shrunk and removed.” Serin brought up pictures of Belle in hospital, losing her hair, getting so terribly frail, and then packing for the island. “I haven’t got a new photo of her after she got to the island.”
“She was not doing well.”
“She was fighting. She fought hard. Deno did what he could to keep on top of the medical bills, but they both drained everything they had just to keep her alive, and then, they started over. Belle is a stunt woman, and she is capable of anything she sets her mind to. Right now, she’s being paid by the Wonder Islands as a stunt woman and location scout for the upcoming Alphas versus Betas.”
“She is a competitor?”
“No, she is the trainer for the ladies. They will come with no knowledge of how to manage on the water, and Belle will show them. Deno will show the alphas.”
“Will she be in danger?”
Serin shrugged. “As much as any other woman on the open ocean.”
Deno came back in with an armload of pastries. “Is it all hashed out?”
Serin nodded. “It is.”
Xo looked at him. “I am sorry to have hurt your sister.”
“She’s been through a lot, and when I heard she had a mark, I was shocked.”
“My eel could see it when we fought.”
Deno paused. “You fought?”
“She was in one of the orca boats. They had their engine running in the strait, so I attacked them, and this huge woman made of ocean water grabbed me and wrestled me.”
Deno smiled. “That sounds like her. Huge or not. Wait, how big was she?”
Xo shrugged. “From her hips up was about a hundred feet.”
“Whoa.”
Serin smiled. “That is what I expected. She’s destined for greatness or, at least, tallness.”
Xo chuckled. “There was a shark and other fish swimming inside her.”
Serin nodded. “I hope I can see that one day.”
Xo nodded and stood up. “I will follow her at a distance. If she needs help, I will offer it.”
Serin smiled. “Sound plan.”
Deno looked at Xo. “Don’t tell her she is being unreasonable. If you want to freeze her in her tracks, tell her that she needs ice cream. Then, dodge the fist coming at you.”
Serin smiled. “I am hoping that is an in-joke.”
Deno shrugged. “He will find out.”
Serin sighed. “She left from the ferry dock.”
Xo nodded. “I will be right behind her.”
He grabbed a few pastries and got to his feet. “I will make this right.”
Serin looked at him. “I wish you luck. When my mate rejected me, the islands granted me another. He just brought me pastries. The island will give her another if necessary.”
“It isn’t necessary.” He growled and nodded. “Thank you for the information.” Xo glanced at Deno. “Brother.”
Deno jolted as if struck. Serin smiled as Xo left her home, and she was alone with her mate. “Do you think he will manage it?”
“I think she is easy to placate. She always has been.” Deno moved next to Serin and pulled her onto his lap. “Now, we need to figure out what to do for her birthday on Friday.”
“Wait. Friday?”
“Yeah. Mine is Saturday.”
“Oh, dear. Xo is never going to make it.” Serin picked up her phone and sent a message to Kekoa to send to Xo.
“Why do you say that?” Deno grinned, knowing full well why.
“Because your sister holds a grudge and learns from her mistakes. She talks about it every time someone mentions her work as a stuntwoman.”
Deno shrugged. “He broke it, he fixes it, and if he misses her birthday, it’s his fault. He said she prostituted herself for show footage. That isn’t something I should have let pass.”
“It is their issue to discuss. But on the plus side, you know that they are going to have a lot to talk about.” Serin sighed and tried not to worry about Belle and the blank feeling in Deno’s soul where his sister’s connection was.
* * * *
The waves were getting rough, but she could see the strait and angled the tiller toward it. She worked the sheet, and the catamaran shot forward into the shelter of the high walls of the strait.
She got her sail up again, and the vessel bucked forward. When she was in a straightaway, she checked the forecast and groaned. She passed the steps to Xo’s and continued on for twenty minutes before it was necessary to get her vessel to safety. She found a shallow beach with some protective stone and got out, hauling her vessel onto the safe sandy ledge, sail down and cameras off.
She got the gear off the webbing between the pontoons and made herself a safe little tent where she curled up to hide against the howling wind.
Belle kept her gaze away from the water. She knew he was in there, waiting. The wail of the wind shot through the strait, and she covered her ears. MRIs, PET scans, CT scans, and everything she had lived with for the last few years began to thud in her head. This was going to be a long three hours.
When the world got quiet again, she crawled out of her safe spot and leaned against the stone nearby, puking up her non-existent breakfast. She staggered to the edge of the water and sat down with her head in her hands. “Xo, you can come out now.”
The water thrashed, and Xo’s huge head rose from the water to rest his jaw near her. She didn’t lift her head. She was very dizzy.
“Are you ill?” He reshaped into a naked male.
“Just dizzy. The sound of the storm reminded me of my last few years. It was quite the flashback for the last three hours.”
“You look pale.”
“That is probably because I am. Congratulations on your observation.”
She felt him touch her head, and when he tilted her head back, she smacked him. The shock on his face at the impact was something she would treasure.
“I merely wanted to check your appearance.”
“My appearance is not your concern. Right? You made it clear. My agenda has been satisfied, and you can go and guard your strait again. Or take a soak.” Dots were sparking behind her eyes, but she had let her defenses down around him once, and she wasn’t going to be that vulnerable twice.
“Did you bring food? I will help you prepare it.”
“Not necessary.” She lifted her head, and the small motion tipped her to the side, and she thudded heavily to the sand. “I just need to wait a bit and then head back to port. I will try and be as minimally invasive as I can.”
“You don’t look well.”
She waved her hand slowly. “It doesn’t matter. I will just get back to port and head to bed.” The world was spinning around her.
Xo sighed and leaned forward to pick her up. “You will get food and rest, and then, we will discuss things.”
“I am supposed to be in town by tomorrow morning with the boat.”
“You will be, but before that, we will talk. You have your phone?”
She looked at the plastic pack around her neck. “Yes.”
He stood and walked back to the water. They moved rapidly on the surface, and she didn’t know how because he wasn’t walking, but soon, he climbed the path to his house, and she couldn’t hold herself together anymore. She passed out.
Belle woke up covered with a light blanket on a mat. She went to sit up and then thudded back onto the raised pillow.
The door slid open, and Xo walked in with one of his staff. Xo had fabric over one arm, the staff member brought in a tray of food, and the older man nodded with a smile. He left them alone, and Xo looked at her. “How often have you taken your larger form?”
“Uh, just the once.”
He nodded. “You didn’t compensate for the calorie expenditure of the shift. You didn’t even keep any of the fish for extra protein. So, you began a cascading deficit that your standard meals could not keep up with. It happens to shifting alphas who take on larger beasts. You have the largest that I have seen, so it is sensible that you need a replacement for what you have used. Add to that your recently weakened state, and you are running on empty.”
She nodded. “That is what it feels like.”
He set the fabric down and came around to pick her up, settling her on his lap, and he smiled. “This was done for me after my first shift. Of course, I wasn’t the right size to be held in the lap of my instructor, which was fortunate because he was unpleasant-looking. I have been assured that I am easy on the eyes.”
“You are pretty.” She watched as he picked up the first cup.
“Thank you.” He smiled and held the cup to her lips.
Miso soup was the first thing in then consumed, and it took an hour to get the complete first tray into her. The staff member brought a tray of more substantial food, and Xo carefully got the offerings into her.
She waited to feel full, but it didn’t happen. The third tray was brought in, and it was made entirely of desserts. Belle held the cover and wiggled upward.
“Freeze, Belle. You aren’t getting out of here.”
“I was just trying to get more comfortable. My skin is sticking to yours.”
He blinked. “Oh.” He chuckled and adjusted her position. He held up the first bun and tore it to pieces with his fingers. “Deno mentioned that you considered this a dessert bun.” Xo smiled and held out the first bite.
She bit down, and the sweet meat of the barbeque pork bun made her toes curl.
He laughed. “He said you spent some time in Asia.”
“Yeah. We did stunts for a number of North American studios. We ate everything.” She mumbled. “You have been talking to my brother?”
“Yes. He growls a lot.”
“You must have been getting between him and Serin. He’s newly mated. I hear it makes alphas cranky.”
He chuckled. “That is one way of putting it.”
“At least he will stop complaining about not having a mate. The fates were at work for him. Serin will be a great partner for him.”
“I believe he was growling on your behalf.”
“What?”
“I was frank about our encounter and taken to task by Serin as well. She reminded me of a few things that the rut forgot.”
“Yeah, I would never recommend a rut as a first date.” She shuddered. “Frankly, I thought it would take longer.”
“I was on the tail end of it, so to speak.”
“Oh, that sucks.” She took the next bite. She spoke. “The rut itself, not the ending. I remember what cycles felt like, and I wasn’t a fan.”
“You had cancer?”
“Yes, it was stage two, and I was healthy, but treatment was aggressive and left me depleted. I had visits from friends, but a lot of people couldn’t look at the face of mortality.”
“Can you have children?”
She sighed and looked at him. “How much does it matter?”
“Not much. I don’t have a business to inherit. My parents might be disappointed, but they will get over it.” He smiled. “If we do, we do; if we don’t, we don’t. I am fairly sure that Serin and Deno are going to have some that we can spoil if you like.”
She blinked. “Terro already likes me. I guess we can start there. I mean, we don’t have to, but we can.”
“Whatever you are comfortable with.”
“Well, my first transformation took care of the contaminated cells. So, this body is all sparkling clean.”
He paused. “What?”
“Oh, I did a clear-out in Dorian’s pool. Cancer out, and island water in. This body is mostly water if the rack and ass don’t give it away.”
He paused and fed her the last of the bun before cupping one of the breasts in question. “There is more in there than water.”
Belle looked at his hand and then up at his calm face. “Well, my body is filling in the blanks. I got my outline back, and the chemically injured cells are gone.”
“Injured?”
“Yeah, in the early days, I was on a film shoot and exposed to some contaminants during an explosion. I was the last one alive when I got ill. Everybody else on that scene was already dead. They blew up a strong carcinogen. Lots of lawsuits.”
He paused. “I remember hearing about it. They tried payouts.”
“Yeah, those closest to the blast showed signs fast, and the rest of us sued for complete coverage of all medical costs. And then the company went under under the weight, so Deno and I ended up broke, but I was alive, so he considered it a good trade.” She smiled. “I have his birthday present all set for this year. I just have to get access to a kitchen with a stove.”
Xo nodded. “I have one. Could you do it here?”
“Sure. It is weird to do it in the tropics, but it used to be his favourite, so I am hoping that he likes it.”
Xo paused. “Tell me what you need for it.”
She smiled. “I think that I have everything in my hotel room in the village. I packed it in my luggage and had to explain things to customs.”
“I will have it brought here for when you need it. That way, you know where it is.”
Belle eyed him as he selected something made of pastry, honey, and sesame seeds. “Right. So, you want me to move here.”
He nodded calmly and said, “Yes, please.” His phone went off, and he fed her the pastry and sighed. He licked his fingers and checked his phone. “Your brother’s birthday is this weekend.”
“Yeah.”
“And yours is the day before.”
“That is the way it works with twins born on different days.” She covered her mouth as she spoke.
“What does he do for you?”
“A tower of creampuffs. If I think my present is hard, his is impossible in this weather.”
He grinned. “You gift each other food?”
“Sure. We already have most of the stuff we want. I mean, I could buy him a bunch of sarongs, but that is for Serin to do now. If she wants him in shorts, it’s her call as well.”
“He doesn’t get a vote?”
“Not if he knows what is good for him. We are both in search of new homes. Ours was sold to keep me alive.”
“There is nothing left there?”
“Some friends, but nothing material.”
He nuzzled her ear and neck. “Good.”
She swallowed deliberately. “Good?”
“You can make your home here more easily. We can replace anything you miss.”
“What did you do before you were here?”
He smiled. “This and that. I was an idol. I don’t know if you know what that is.”
She leaned away from his mouth. “You are kid—oh, wow.”
He smiled. “They tried an all-alpha boy band. When we completed puberty, we were retired.”
She stared at him and blurted, “Dart!”
He grinned. “You recognize me.”
“So, Xo is your actual name?”
“Yes. My mother used to sign all correspondence to my father with XO, so it was only natural for them to choose that for my name. They took every penny I made and invested it so that there was no hint of money wandering off.”
It was a very intimate discussion, so she smiled and said, “My mother told my father that she was only getting pregnant once, so he had better make it good.”
He laughed and resumed kissing at her neck. She sighed and said, “You are really determined to do this?”
“Definitely. You are gorgeous and towering and terrifying. Everything I want in a mate, plus I can make Godzilla jokes.”
She gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would. I can even thicken my accent to make it socially unacceptable.” He grinned and dragged his teeth along her neck.
She laughed at the mental image and sighed. “So, you used the food to relax me?”
“I used the food to feed you. Cuddling you on my lap with my pheromones, convincing you that I am the only one for you, just as you are for me, was the relaxing part.”
She turned her head, his kiss caught her mouth, and she drowned in what he had brought to life in her. When he raised his head, she murmured, “This is different.”
He nodded. “I may be a little rough during my next rut, but I think we will be more familiar with each other by then. What do you think?”
Belle tried to think of how she was going to avoid telling him that she had had a poster of him on her bedroom wall when she was a tween. Honesty was the best policy before they got into things.
“Uh, Xo, I think there is something I need to tell you.”
He leaned back and cocked his head. “What do you need to say?”
“Well, one of my prized possessions that I had to sell was a Dart poster. I don’t suppose you can help me replace it?”
He smiled and nodded. “I think that I might be able to manage to find something. You were a fan?”
“Well, I never made it to a concert, but I thought you were all fun to watch.”
He grinned.
“I just thought I should mention it before my brother figured it out. Frankly, there is no way I would have overlapped you with Dart.”
“I did grow a bit.”
“A bit?”
He laughed. “Fourteen inches up and out. It was mindless rounds of eating and working out.”
“And pain? I remember Deno was in agony when he grew.”
He stroked her cheek. “It was definitely painful. May I kiss you now that your horrible secret that you had a crush on adolescent me in fancy makeup and shiny clothes has been exposed?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Like a barracuda.”
He grinned. “I will get you something shiny, so I know where to attack.”
The kiss started in laughter and softened to exploration. This was a much better start.