19. Chapter 19 - Chayce
Chapter 19 - Chayce
“B rady, Deakon, Adyr, can you please escort these men from my office, closing the door behind you?”
While my words get phrased as a question, it is anything but. With so many unmated males in the room with my frightened mate, it has my dragon on edge. As soon as I finish my request, all six men flee the room like their asses are on fire.
Regina squirms in my lap, trying to get up again. My dick gets hard, having her pert ass rubbing against it. Reluctantly releasing my hold, once the room is empty, she stands, moving back to the other side of the desk. We stare at each other, not saying a word, for several tense minutes. Finally, she breaks the silence.
“Can you…uhm, please explain what happened tonight?” Regina’s voice wobbles, the events of the evening obviously getting to her.
Leaning forward, placing my forearms on the desk, and clasping my hands together, I start to explain, assuming she isn’t just referring to the bar fight.
“What do you know of paranormals?” I question with bated breath.
My words hang in the air as a wide range of emotions flick over Regina’s face. Deciding to wait her out, we sit in silence. She opens and closes her mouth several times while lifting a finger to point at me. Her shoulders slump as she seems to come to an unknown conclusion.
“Is that what I saw tonight?” she asks in a near whisper.
Her timid tone has me on edge as if her fear is returning. Springing from my chair, I race around the desk. Kneeling in front of her, I take one of her hands between both of mine.
“I am not sure what you saw or what happened before my arrival at the Whiskey Genie. The fact that you were in danger and frightened falls on my shoulders,” I say, regret for not being by her side obvious in my voice.
“If you weren’t there, how could what happened be your fault?” she asks.
“You are my mate,” I hold up my hand to stop her as she opens her mouth to speak, “As your mate and the sheriff, it is up to me to keep you safe,” I explain.
“Wha…what is a mate?” Regina asks hesitantly.
“Every paranormal gets one person to spend their long life with. That person is made just for us, our other half. Some people refer to them as soul mates. For a paranormal, it is much more than that. We have just shortened the vernacular,” I tell her in a pleading fashion, wishing her to understand and accept this.
“And you think that I”—she starts, putting a finger to her chest—“am your…mate?” Regina questions, stumbling over the word mate.
Before either of us can say anything else, the shrill ringing of her phone interrupts the conversation. Regina pulls her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. Her eyes flick between the screen and my face when she sees who is calling. Answering the call, I can feel her body tense.
“Yeah,” she says after swiping her finger across the screen.
“G, just calling to check in,” the male voice says through the phone. The abbreviated version of her name tells me this is someone very close to her.
“Still in one piece and haven’t burned the town down yet,” she jokes, causing my spine to stiffen due to the circumstances around town.
The man sighs heavily. “Can you talk to that sheriff?” he asks her, drawing my full attention to the conversation. “See if he can keep his eyes open. Jay is a threat.” My dragon is on full alert at his statement, causing smoke to come out of my nose. “The chance of him finding you is slim, but not something I want to take a chance on.” His concerned tone confuses me.
Regina’s body sags as her eyes connect with mine, an unreadable look on her face.
“Yeah,” she says sarcastically. “Updating the sheriff won’t be an issue,” she says flatly, holding my gaze.
“All right, as soon as I get a chance to talk to Jay, I will let you know. Stay alert, and stay safe,” he warns. “Love you,” he finishes, causing me to bristle. Who is this man? What does he mean to Regina? What is their relationship?
My dragon wants to hunt this man down as he considers him a threat to our mating.
Regina mutters a soft “Love you too,” but the man is no longer on the line.
It is taking everything I have to keep my dragon under control. The fact that she could be in danger is one reason. Regina expressing her love to another man is another. Dropping her hand and rising to my feet, I pace around my office. Having had enough silence and wanting, no needing more information, I do my best to keep my voice level. It doesn’t work very well—my jealousy is evident.
“You have a man in your life?” I snap.
“Hmm, oh, yeah…Rafferty,” she says distractedly.
“Have you been together long?” I question, unable to help myself. “And who is this, Jay?” My anger is obvious in my tone.
Waiting for Regina to answer my questions, it shocks me when she starts laughing. My feet freeze in place as I turn to face her. Tears stream down her cheeks, she is laughing so hard.
“Raff…is…my…my…” Each word is said through her laughter, making it difficult to form complete sentences. My dragon is pacing frantically as I try to keep him calm. Regina’s laughter is not helping the situation. When she finally said the last word, I scrub my hand over my face at my own stupid jealousy. “Brother.”
The door to my office opens, distracting me from the current conversation. Deakon is peering through the small opening with an eyebrow raised in question due to Regina’s laughter. Waving him in, Brady and Adyr follow immediately behind him. All three of my brothers have their brows raised to the ceiling. Ignoring them all, I pull the chair Crispin had been sitting in earlier up next to her.
“Let’s put a pin in the conversation you just had with Rafferty for a moment,” I say, more forcefully than necessary. “I would like to introduce you to my brothers,” I tack on, softening my tone.
Regina takes a moment to compose herself, wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks as her laughter dwindles to giggles before ending altogether. Turning around in her seat she gives each of my brothers an assessing look.
“The one on the left is Adyr,” I say as he gives Regina a nod in acknowledgment. “The one in the middle is Brady and the one on the right is Deakon.” Brady and Deakon copy Adyr, repeating a nod to Regina as their name is said. “Brothers, this is Regina Chaney, my mate,” I explain in the way of introduction, making our bond officially public.
Deakon’s head whips in my direction when I say her name. Giving him a shake of the head, he gives the barest of nods in acknowledgment. The look in his eye tells me that we will be discussing this later.
“What did your parents do, go down the alphabet when they picked your names?” Regina says with a chuckle as she points to each of us.
We all freeze, looking at each other in shock. All of our lives, we never made the connection. She looks to Adyr, addressing him first.
“Are you the oldest?” Regina asks, causing Adyr’s cheeks to flame in embarrassment. Looking over her shoulder, Regina asks, “Does that make you number three?”
Giving her a slight nod in affirmation, she starts to giggle. What she doesn’t understand is that we had a sister, Evelyn. She died at the same time as our parents in a car accident. Clearing my throat to break the sudden silence in the room, my focus returns to the conversation with her brother.
“You have a brother, Raff, you said his name is?”
“Rafferty,” she clarifies. “He is ten years older than me. When our parents died, he took over raising me.” Emotion causes her voice to rasp. “We are very close,” she adds as her voice trails off.
“Our parents and sister have passed away as well,” I say in a near whisper, letting her know that I understand her pain.
Regina’s head pops up, and she starts looking between the four of us. It is obvious the question she wants to ask, but courtesy has her holding her tongue. Brady answers her unspoken question.
“Our sister’s name was Evelyn,” he says flatly, as his lips tip up on one side. Since Regina made the connection about our names, it is something to smile about.
Clearing my throat in an attempt to steer the conversation back to her phone call, I ask, with a serious tone. “Back to the conversation with Rafferty, what and who is he talking about?” My brothers pick up on the tension my dragon is putting off. While I might be the third born, I am the alpha of our family.
Regina takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she launches into the tale of this Jay, or Jaygon. My dragon is pacing, smoke pouring from his nostrils, causing it to leak from my nose and mouth. It is difficult to notice, but Regina doesn’t comment about it. Her reaction, or lack thereof, regarding being my mate has been pushed to the back burner. Regina’s safety is at the forefront.
“Rafferty and his partner said they would stop by and have a chat with Jay after he threatened me. Raff wants me to stay put, not that I have a choice with my car being wrecked,” she says this with an air of casualness as if her safety is in jeopardy on a regular basis.
“Partner?” Deakon asks, confused by the statement. “Life partner?” he asks, trying to clarify. If her brother and his “partner” go up against a guy who is possibly violent, they are merely putting themselves at risk.
Regina’s chuckle and shaking of her head refocus my concern away from Rafferty. Looking over her shoulder at me, her cheeks flush.
“No, he…he is…a sergeant with the Boston PD,” she says between laughs. Her face scrunches in disgust as it takes me a few minutes to understand her reaction.
“ He is the sergeant you were arguing with the other night?” I ask incredulously.
Tossing my head back to look at the ceiling, I take a minute to get myself under control. When my brothers start laughing, my head snaps up as I glare at all of them. Their laughter becomes so raucous that they lean against each other in order to remain standing.
Assholes .