Chapter One #2
Passing the bookstore owned by Shawn’s mate, he could see a couple of the boys inside.
Drake’s restaurant was on the other side.
The diner, Levi’s tattoo shop, and Gavin’s shop were close together.
Finally, Bas pulled to a stop in front of Dean’s bakery.
He turned off his bike and let the machine under him settle.
From his seat he could see the new park that Logan had designed for the town. Across from the park, the firefighters had an engine out while washing the giant vehicle. Mmm, eye candy!
“Hey, Bas!” Logan opened the bakery door and waved.
Chuckling, Bastian swung off his bike. Logan was quickly becoming one of his favorite people.
The boy was just so happy and Bas wanted to use the word innocent although he’d heard some of the things the lion shifter had gone through.
Logan hadn’t had an easy life but he still smiled at everyone he came into contact with.
He also loved taking epic naps under the same tree that Bas liked to climb to watch over the boys when they played in the yard, which happened every evening before dinner.
“I hope you saved me a cinnamon roll,” Bas called.
Logan bounced. “I had to hide it from Noah!”
Bas gave a fake growl. Noah was a riot. The little familiar was so much fun to shift and climb trees with, even if Noah had a tough time keeping up with Bas.
“I can’t believe you betrayed me!” Noah exclaimed as he hung an arm over Logan’s shoulder. “I thought you were my best friend?”
Logan twined his fingers together. “But I promised Bas last night that I’d save one for him! I didn’t know that the firefighters were going to come in and buy almost everything.”
“Busy morning?” Bastian asked as he reached them.
“So busy,” Noah whined. “And I knew Logan was hiding something from me.”
“Appreciate it.” Bastian ruffled Logan’s long silky blond hair.
“Hands off my boy!”
Logan rolled his eyes as he led the way inside the bakery. Dean stood behind the counter, glaring at Bas.
“Be nice,” Logan admonished his man.
“Yeah,” Noah added. “Be nice.”
Dean smirked and winked at Bas.
The boys were cute. They were trying so hard to convince Bastian to stay around. Not that it would make a difference. If Bastian stayed, it would be because he’d found a purpose there. Protecting the family? That might just be what he needed to do.
“You have a fan club,” Dean said as Bas leaned against the counter.
“They just want the felines to have the majority,” Bas half-joked.
“It’s so cool.” Logan walked around the counter and straight to Dean’s side. He nuzzled Dean’s arm then sniffed, like the mates tended to do to each other. “Cats rule.”
“And everyone else drools!” Noah cheered.
“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes,” Dean pointed out.
“But we don’t have any dogs in the family,” Logan said. “Shawn would be the closest and I don’t think he drools.”
“What about Bo?” Dean questioned.
Bastian chuckled at the confusion on Logan’s face.
“It just doesn’t seem right to call him a dog when he’s the alpha of the hellhounds,” Logan offered.
“Hound is literally in the name,” Dean pointed out.
“And he does drool,” Noah said. “And his drool is acid too.”
Logan sighed before very quietly saying, “well I’m not calling him a dog.”
Dean grabbed a cup and started to fill it with coffee while laughing. Bas nearly did that drooling that the boys had been joking about. Dean slid the cup over to him as Logan pulled out a pink box and set it in front of him.
“Thank you!” Bas grabbed the coffee and sipped it slowly. Ah! The magic potion that made mornings worth getting up for.
“No problem.” Dean wrapped his arm around Logan’s waist. “I heard that Leo and Aaron were going to look at offices this week.”
Bas nodded as he unwrapped his breakfast. “Leo told me this morning.” Dean was a good person to gauge this development with. “How do you feel about that?”
“Of having a council office here?” Dean asked.
“Yeah.” He stuffed a gooey piece of heaven in his mouth.
“I trust you guys,” Dean said. “I know that Leo would never do anything to hurt his brother. His brother is part of our family. I might not trust what the council stands for but maybe this will not only change my mind but those of the paranormal community that we encounter.”
That was a good point. “You think that’s possible?” He asked once he’d swallowed. Immediately, he shoved in more.
“I have hope. We need paranormal communities to feel they have someone to turn to. I fought against my old coven alone for a very long time,” Dean said.
Noah cleared his throat loudly.
Dean rolled his eyes and grinned. “With the help of my trusty familiar.”
“Damn straight,” Noah said.
“As I was saying,” Dean continued. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to until I moved here.
Even after meeting Axel and the family, I still tried to do everything on my own.
The way I see things is the council is too secretive, not available for average paranormals, and so they don’t know where to help. ”
Bastian agreed. His team had been sent on missions that mainly revolved around rescues.
By the time they knew about a problem, it was often too late to save everyone.
Failure didn’t sit right with Bas. While Bas believed that his team had been good and helped people, too often he’d also felt like a failure.
They needed the information sooner than the council usually called them.
That and with the shadiness of the council collecting young paranormals like him, Leo, and Aaron, the council didn’t have the best reputation. Leo was determined to change all that.
Bastian trusted his team leader. Leo was one of the best men that he’d ever met. That didn’t mean that this was the only way to move forward. There had to be a better option.
He finished off his breakfast and downed the rest of the cooling coffee before he patted his stomach. He’d do some thinking as he settled in for his daily nap.
“Nap time?” Logan asked with a grin.
“I think so.” Bas glanced out the front window back toward the new park. He loved his time spent there. “Can I use your restroom to shift?”
“Use the office,” Dean told him, waving a hand toward the swinging doors. “You can leave your clothes on the desk. We’ll crack the door for when you come back.”
“Appreciate it,” Bastian said. He stretched his arms over his head. “Anyone want to join me?”
Logan shook his head. “We’re portaling over to see Lucifer and his mates. Dean is training Cary today. Gage and Noah shift and play. I must watch them, so they don’t cause too much trouble.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “Is that what you call napping in the garden? Keeping an eye on us?”
Logan lifted his chin. “Yep.”
Bastian chuckled. It had been an eye-opening experience meeting Lucifer and both of his mates.
Not that Bas believed everything said about Lucifer or that he was evil or anything.
He still had never believed that he’d meet the Lucifer or that he would be such a loving and kind person who very obviously thought his two mates hung the moon.
Being surrounded by so many couples and throuples wasn’t something that Bas had been prepared for. He was part of the generation that hadn’t put much stock in fated mates.
Watching Dean kiss the top of Logan’s head as he held the boy tight to his side pulled at something inside him.
Bastian hadn’t considered finding the person, whether human or paranormal, that was his perfect match.
Mates was just a word that was thrown around but not anything that Bas took seriously.
He shook his head, getting his thoughts back to the possibility of shifting. “If you’re going to be in another realm, you shouldn’t leave the door cracked for me.” As much as Bas wanted to check out the park, he was security focused, primarily.
Dean grinned. “That’s what magic is for.”
“What do you mean?” Bas questioned.
“Dean is the most powerful mage around,” Noah said. “If he puts up a barrier that will only allow you to enter, we can leave the door wide open and no one will notice.”
“Awesome.” Bas rocked back on his heels. His experience with magic, while limited, had always interested him. “I appreciate it then. I’ll make sure to lock up when I leave.”
“It’s no problem. Enjoy yourself. We’ll see you at dinner tonight,” Dean replied.
Family dinner. That was right. The entire family would be in attendance, including those that lived in other realms.
“Go on back.” Noah waved Bas around the counter.
“Thanks, guys.” Bas headed to the office so he could shift into his margay.
* * * * *
Hudson
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Hudson called to the remaining crew members as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.
“Bye, Hud,” his newest best friend, EJ, shouted from where he was standing in front of his locker. The other guys waved, grunted, or shouted their own farewells as Hudson let the locker room door close behind him before making his way down the stairs toward the exit.
It had been an easy forty-eight-hour shift for them. Which, after the massive fire the week prior, Hudson was grateful for. He was hungry though and didn’t want to waste time getting to the house that he shared with his brother, Carter.
Carter, a police officer, and Hudson, a firefighter, had been on opposite shifts for a few weeks now.
Hudson would spot his brother in town often since the police station and firehouse shared a parking lot, but it just wasn’t the same as getting to hang out at home.
Carter had the night off, having worked the day shift, and with Hudson off for the next three days, they had plans for a quiet dinner at home as they binge-watched television.
Once outside the fire station, Hudson glanced around at his new town. Well, it wasn’t new-new but since they moved away when he was three and Carter was five, it was new for them.
After years of living in a major city, the small-town feeling and slower pace felt nice. No, it felt right.