Chapter 17
Quin followed Theo and Norm into their bedroom where he found Kieran waiting for them. Stopping just inside the door, his shyness overcame him, making his need to flee surface. But before he could act on it, Kieran was at his side, touching his arm.
“Hey, Quin,” Kieran said, “Do you want to see my pup?”
“You have a pup?” asked Quin.
“Oh. My. God!” squealed Theo. “Let me see!”
Pulling out the ultrasound picture, Kieran held it out for Quin and Theo to see. “See, doesn’t he look like my mate?”
Peering over Theo’s shoulder, Norm frowned, then tilted his head. “Ki, what exactly am I looking at?”
“His squirt, pooh bear! See, right there is his nose…”
“Just like…” Kieran began.
“Absolutely! Just like Logan’s,” Theo giggled.
“If you say so, honeybunch,” replied Norm, dubiously.
“What do you think, Quin?” asked Theo.
Glancing at the photo, then at Kieran, Quin asked, “You’re an Omega?”
Nodding, Kieran giggled. “My spirit hides my scent from everyone except my mate.”
Taking the picture from Kieran, Quin stared at it in wonderment, then lightly tracing the tiny pup, asked, “When are you due?”
“In about four months,” Kieran replied. “I have so much to do before he comes, and my head is filled with nursery ideas and did you know my mate is the greatest interior designer of all time and I help him with all of his jobs? But he has already figured out the design for our squirt’s nursery so now I have to choose the furniture, and paint colors and bedding which I’ve already started on, so our squirt has a bed when he joins us.
I hope Theo and Norm are going to have cubs so then my pup and their cubs can play together, isn’t that the bestest thing ever?
” Before anyone could answer, Kieran rolled on, “So tell us about this top-secret thing you need our help with? This is so exciting, I’ve never been a secret agent before.
Maybe I should get a trench coat, you know, like all the spies wear but of course it would have to be pink…
hey we could all get pink ones and have a secret password and handshake and, oh, I know, we need a name for us…
hmmm, maybe the pink…pink…yes...The Pink Panthers. ”
Quin’s mind was spinning, trying to keep up with Kieran. “Uhmm, the Pink Panthers? But Theo and Norm are bears and you and I are wolves. Why panthers?”
“Oh. My Gods!” exclaimed Theo. “When we were in Scotland, pooh bear and I watched a movie called The Pink Panther. Is that where you got the idea from?”
“Shoot, we can’t use that name now, because it’s been used,” Kieran said.
“Hey guys, we can pick a name later,” Norm said.
“Righto,” Kieran agreed. “Okay, Quin, go ahead, tell us what we need to do.”
“My brother, Hunter, told me this morning that Fionn is his Fated Mate!” exclaimed Quin.
“No way!” shouted Theo. “Fi must be over the moon!”
“No, I don’t think so,” Quin said. “Hunter told me Fionn is at his hoard and hasn’t come back to meet him. I think my brother did something that hurt Fionn’s feelings and that’s why he won’t come back. Hunter can be a bit clueless at times, although I love him dearly.”
“Why do you think he did something stupid?” asked Norm.
“Because I know my brother,” Quin replied.
“He is the best brother I could ever hope for, but he doesn’t really know how to.
..I guess the best way to put it is, be romantic.
” Shaking his head, he continued, “I’ve tried to get him to read my romance stories, but he isn’t interested.
He keeps everything to himself and I’m sure that’s upsetting his mate. ”
“Your brother hasn’t done anything wrong,” Kieran said. “Fi is scared…”
“Scared of my brother?” interrupted Quin. “No no no no no, that can’t be true. Hunter is the biggest teddy bear there is! Trust me, he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
“Not scared of your brother,” finished Kieran, “but of having a mate. He’ll be back, but he just had to take some time to think things through.”
“Are you sure? That’s not what’s in my stories. The Alpha always does something stupid because they think they’re always right and the mate always gets upset.”
“That’s what happened with you and Logan, Ki,” Theo said.
“See!” Quin said, nodding sagely.
Giggling, Kieran said, “It was very romantic. After I flew the coop, my mate followed me to Ireland and swept me off my feet by giving me a proper claiming. He is just the bestest mate ever!”
“Hunter isn’t like that,” Quin said. “Even if he hasn’t done anything dumb, I just know he’s going to really screw up when they get together.”
“Maybe we can help him,” Theo said. “You know, tell him what he should do to win his mate’s heart. After all, we know Fionn very well. Hey, did you know Fi’s an artist?”
“And don’t forget he loves listening to music,” Norm said.
“Ooohh, that’s good info,” replied Quin.
“Perfecto!” agreed Kieran. “We can give Hunter some fool-proof ideas on what to do to woo his mate.”
“Yessss! This is so exciting!” exclaimed Theo. “Ki, maybe our name should be something like…like…”
“I got it!” bubbled Kieran. “The Love Queens!”
“That’s perfect,” Quin said. “Maybe we can do this for other Alphas once we help Hunter. After all, I have four more brothers who’ve yet to find their mates.”
“And don’t forget Carson, and Adam,” Theo added.
“Absolutment!” said Kieran, excited now by future possibilities. “Oh, my goodness, that’s a lot of Alphas needing our help.”
“Okay, so how do we start,” asked Quin.
“Hmmm, what kind of artist is Fi?” asked Kieran.
“He draws but I don’t know what,” Theo said. “But he did promise to show me some of his work.”
“Okay, and Fi also loves music?” asked Kieran.
“Oh. My. Gods, YES!” exclaimed Theo.
“When we were in Scotland, he was always listening to music in his room,” Norm said.
“What kind? Anything in particular?” asked Quin.
Nodding vigorously, Theo said, “I never heard of him, but there’s one singer he played over and over. I think his name was Red Power or something like that.”
“Was it Red Force?” asked Quin.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Norm replied.
Grinning, Quin said, “Love Queens, I know exactly what we should do first.”
~/~/~/~/~
“Logan, you in here?” asked Jackson, pulling open the door to his brother’s studio.
“Yeah,” Logan answered, bending over his drafting table, sketching out a proposed floor plan of a Scottish house for Angus’ preliminary approval. “Close the door.”
“Squawk! Eat my meat! Eat my meat! Squawk, squawk.”
“What the fuck!” Jackson stared at the pink parrot perched atop the bookcase. “Did he say what I think he said?”
“Squawk! What the fuck, what the fuck, squawk!”
Rolling his eyes, Logan threw down his pencil. “Look what you did! How am I ever going to clean up his language if you insist on teaching him new stuff? And that reminds me, I thought you decided we couldn’t use that word anymore because of the pups, so why are you using it?”
“Squawk! I love cock, I love cock, squawk!”
His jaw dropping, Jackson stared at Logan. “Queenie is gay?”
“Kieran thinks so. All I know is his former owner was gay, so I assume that’s where he picked it up.”
“Holy sh… I mean, wow! So this is why you insisted he remained covered yesterday when you came home?” asked Jackson.
“Uh-huh. With Daniel talking now, I wasn’t going to risk it. Queenie has quite a vocabulary…and not the kind you want Daniel to learn.”
“Squawk! Where’s my daddy, where’s my daddy, squawk!”
“Oh my gods, he’s hilarious!” Jackson said, cracking up. “Does he say anything…normal?”
“Not that I’ve heard. I’m trying to teach him ‘polly wants a cracker’ but…”
“Squawk! Polly wants a cock, polly wants a cock, squawk!”
Now in stitches, Jackson collapsed onto the couch. “Queenie has a one-track mind,” he finally got out between peals of laughter.
Joining his brother on the couch, Logan chuckled. “He really does. Kieran loves him and wants to find him a mate but I’m not sure I’m ready for two Queenies yet.”
Studying his brother, Jackson found what he was looking for. “You’re happy.”
Returning his brother’s stare, Logan nodded. “I am.”
“Kieran?”
“Absolutely. In spite of my problems, faults, issues…whatever you want to call them, he sees me for who I really am, and he loves me with his whole being. How can I not be happy when I have someone like that in my life? Every day he gives me his joy of living, his unwavering support and trust…and his love…so pure…sometimes I pinch myself just to make sure he’s not a dream. ”
Nodding, Jackson said, “I owe him a lot.”
“What do you mean?” asked Logan.
“He gave me back my brother, the one I knew was deep inside you, the one I missed so very much.”
Running a hand over his face, Logan hid his emotions at hearing his brother’s words, finally understanding how hard his morose behavior had been for Jackson to handle.
Looking at his brother, he said, “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to hurt you…it was the only way I could cope with our father and, by the time he died, it was too late for me to change. ”
“I knew that…it’s why I never pushed you.”
“I appreciated that more than you know.” Inhaling, then slowly letting his breath out, Logan grinned, “Now since we’re done with true confessions, is there something you want?”
~/~/~/~/~
Carson stared at his office door after Jackson left. Still holding his pencil, his knuckles turned white as the strength of his grip grew. When the pencil finally lost the battle, the snap sounded like the crack of a bullwhip, bringing him back to unwelcomed reality.
He couldn’t believe it. Once more, the Fates had passed him over, choosing Hunter, instead, to receive a mate.
And if that wasn’t enough, now his brother was going to tell his cousin all their secrets.
Staring at the broken pencil in his hand, he finally faced the truth he’d been hiding from—he wasn’t deemed good enough by the Fates to deserve a mate.
It was the one thing he’d longed for and prepared for his whole life—to become the very best Alpha for his mate.
Ever since Jackson found Steel, Carson had been sitting on the sidelines, watching each of his brothers find their mates, which was hard enough, but now it seemed he was doomed to keep sitting on the bench while his cousins found theirs.
I can’t do it. The Fates are asking too much of me.
Why would they do this to me? What did I ever do to deserve it?
Although Carson knew Fated Mates weren’t guaranteed, still, he never thought it would be his lot not to have one.
From his early childhood years on, he’d dreamt of finding his mate—someone who would love him despite whatever shortcomings he might have.
He rose from his chair and began to pace around the room, remembering the hours spent listening to his father pontificate about what a good Alpha should be.
Ha! What a fucking waste of time! Though he’d eventually rejected most of his father’s ideas as rubbish, still, he thought at least some of them might come in handy when he met his mate, and he certainly expected to.
Fuck! I fucking wasted all that time. I should have spent it starting my business. Who knows where I would be by now? But no, I listened to all that bullshit because I wanted to be a good mate more than I wanted anything else.
Whatever he’d done to earn the ire of the Fates was a mystery to him, but even if he knew, Carson wasn’t sure how, or even if, he could change their minds.
No sense in wishing for something I can’t have.
Pacing back and forth, Carson swallowed his bitterness.
What will be, will be. His mother’s words, spoken so often to him as a child, came to mind.
Though confused by those words then, they now became clear to him; it was time to find a new direction, one that didn’t include a mate.
Sorting through his emotions, one thing was certain—he had to leave home.
Though he’d miss his brothers, Carson would never be able to handle the disappointment of others in the pack finding mates while he was always being passed by.
Once that decision was made, two questions came to mind—where should he go and what could he do.
Immediately Dire Enterprises crossed his mind, bringing the first smile to his face since Jackson had appeared in his office.
I do have a track record with them, and they have offices all over the world.
He made a mental note to speak to Steel about possible job openings, realizing he really didn’t care where he went, as long as it was far enough away from the daily reminders that he was not worthy of a mate.
Satisfied with his new plan, Carson turned his attention back to a file he needed to work on.
Steel had scheduled a meeting tomorrow at which Carson would discuss the current status of the grant program with Maximus and Slate.
He’d be working late tonight, making sure each application was in order so as to impress Steel and the others tomorrow—especially considering what he was going to ask them.
Heading to his desk, a tidal wave of grief engulfed him; all he could see was the bleakness of his future.
Feeling his legs buckling, he grabbed for the back of a chair but, missing, crumbled to the floor.
The enormity of his decision to leave filled his mind, pushing out the last fragment of hope that someday he’d be blessed with a mate, someone by his side—someone he could love, protect and take care of the way an Alpha was supposed to.
As he came to terms with the future loneliness he faced, he became desperate for a place of refuge.
Crawling over to a dark corner of the room, he leaned his back against the wall, drawing his knees to his chest.
Then Carson began to cry, unable to stem the flood of tears sweeping his dreams away.