Blind Acceptance (7 page)

“How long was he in for?”

“He did an eight-year hitch.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Yeah, but he says it was worth it.”

“Go on. Tell me about the rest of your family.”

“Macon is also twenty-nine, and he does security work.”

“Wait, are he and Zack twins?”

“No, they’re not twins.”

Laynee frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple. All of us but one are adopted.”

Laynee felt her mouth drop open.

“Your parents adopted five children?”

“Yeah. Synia is twenty-two and also works in security. And last, but never least, is my sister Rennia. She lives in Casper and teaches elementary school.

She’s the only natural child of Kitania, Latan, and Ethan.”

Laynee reached out her hand and laid it on his leg. “Wait a minute. You said you were adopted by Kitania, Latan, and Ethan. Which ones are you parents?”

Eric cleared his throat. “Actually, they all are.”

“You’ve lost me again.”

He sighed. “The three of them are in a ménage relationship.”

She felt her heartbeat speed up. “Are you serious? You mean like in some of the romance novels I’ve read?”

“I don’t know what you’ve read, but I’m very serious. They met when she came to teach the local preschool, and it was love at first sight. They’ve been together some twenty-five years.”

“How old were you when they adopted you?”

“I was ten, and David was twelve. We came to live with them at the same time from the same orphanage.”

Laynee leaned back and took a deep breath. “You’ve definitely had a more exciting life than me.” She twined her fingers together and bit her lip. “Would you mind if I see what you look like?”

“You mean you wanna touch my face?”

Laynee nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Go ahead.”

Laynee turned in her seat to face him and slowly reached out with her hands.

Eric took her wrists and placed her palms against the side of his face. She moved her fingers up to his hairline and let them trace across his forehead.

Gently, she feathered them over his eyes and then down, across his bristly cheeks, tracing the contours of his mouth with her thumbs. Finally, she ran a single finger down the length of his nose. He had a classic, handsome face with a straight nose, long cheeks, and sculpted eyebrows. “What color hair do you have?”

“It’s brown, and I have blue eyes.”

“Really? Blue eyes? That’s pretty unusual for someone with brown hair.”

Eric snorted. “So I’ve been told.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. It just makes you that much more special.”

Eric turned and faced her fully. “Okay, it’s my turn to
see
you.”

Laynee frowned. “I thought you’d been looking at me all morning.”

“But not your way. I wanna see what you feel. I’m gonna close my eyes and
see
your face.”

She smiled. “Go ahead.”

Callused fingertips trailed across her forehead and across her cheeks. They moved delicately around her eyes and across her nose before feathering along her lips. She felt him lean forward and then warm skin nuzzled against her cheek.

Eric cupped the back of her head and threaded his fingers through her hair and brought his lips down to hers. He licked at them, slipping his tongue inside when she parted them. After a moment, he pulled back and nuzzled next to her ear.

“I’m gonna spend a lot of time kissing you,” he whispered. Before she could answer, argue, or protest, his mouth was back, his tongue sliding over the seam of her lips, plunging inside, filling her with his taste.

David walked into the guest house and looked around. The air was thick with the scent from the floral soap in the bathroom, but there was nobody in the house. Hearing the faint sound of voices, he made his way quickly through the house and stopped at the back door. He froze when he spotted Eric and Laynee on the porch swing.
Man, that’s one
serious lip-lock!
He felt his cock hardening as the scent of Laynee’s arousal reached his nose.

Pulling at his collar, he cleared his throat and stepped out onto the porch. “I don’t know if I’m sorry to interrupt or not. You guys started without me.”

Laynee jerked away from Eric, her face turning a nice, rosy red, and turned toward his voice. “David?”

David chuckled. “Yeah, it’s me. You guys seem to be getting along famously.”

Eric laughed. “Yeah, we’re just getting acquainted.” He glanced at Laynee and then back at David. He mouthed.
Everything okay?

David shook his head.
Later!

Laynee moved away from Eric. “Did you find out where my father is?”

“No, I’m sorry. But I did get my family’s security team on it. They should know something pretty quick.” Adjusting the swelling in his jeans, David cleared his throat. “In the meantime, my family is like a big corporation, and they’re having a meeting and reception this afternoon. We have to be there. Remus has asked if you’d mind sitting in with the family’s children during the meeting, and then join us for the reception afterward. He’d really like to meet you, and I’d really like to introduce you to the rest of my family.”

“Are all five of your siblings going to be there?” she asked.

David glanced at Eric and raised his brows. “Yeah, it’s my understanding that everyone but our parents are gonna be here. The Wolf Building Construction Company is a family-owned business that everyone has a piece of. So our get-togethers are kind of like stockholder meetings. They don’t usually last long, and then there’s a wealth of food set out for afterward where everyone catches up on everybody’s news.”

Laynee sighed. “Where are your parents?”

“Some family business required Latan and Ethan’s presence this afternoon, and Kitania went with them. They’ll probably be back tomorrow, and you can meet them later.”

“Sounds great, but am I dressed for it?

I know I’ve got on jeans and a T-shirt, but I don’t even know what color they are, if they have any writing, or what.”

Eric laid his hand on her arm. “You look fine. They’re just blue jeans, nothing special, and the T-shirt is blue with the words
Nature Lover
printed on the back.”

“Blue, huh?” Laynee smiled. “I guess that’s okay.”

“If you’ve been blind all your life, how do you know the difference between colors?” Eric asked.

David studied Laynee’s face. “You’ve always been blind?”

“Yeah, since birth. As for the colors, I don’t truly know what they’re like. I’ve had teachers and a few friends try to explain color to me, but I don’t think it ever worked. I was told things like for me to look up at the sun and picture yellow, and to run my fingers through water and think blue, and so on. It’s never really meant much to me.”

David thought for a moment and then smiled. “Maybe we can think of a way to improve your understanding of color.

But, in the meantime, we have to get over to the pack, I mean the meeting house. They’re due to start in about a half hour.”

Laynee stood up and smoothed her hands over her thighs. “If you’re sure I’m dressed okay, then I’m ready.”

David watched Eric take her right arm and lead her over to the door. He reached out and took her left hand, caressing her fingers with his thumb.

“Believe me, you look great. I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt, too, so we’ll look the same. We have a pretty informal family.”

Laynee nodded and took a step forward. “Okay, let’s go meet this expanded family of yours.”

“Come on, Zander.” Remus put his hand on their visitor’s shoulder. “I want you to meet the elders before we get started.” He led him toward the table where all five of the Wind River pack’s elders waited, each with a scowl on their face.

“Elders, may I present Zander Temple.

He’s the main enforcer for the National Council. They’ve sent him down to brief us on the situation with the missing pups.”

Respectfully, Zander tilted his head, bearing his neck. “Gentlemen.”

“Zander, this is Taynor, our financial advisor. And this is Lanicor, our main attorney.” Remus turned to indicate the three men at the opposite end of the table. “Over here is Brenner and Koril who oversee all security matters, and finally, our head Elder, Vanard.”

“A great pleasure, Elders.”

Vanard curled his lip and growled.

“You’re not a wolf. What gives you the right to brief us on anything concerning our people?”

Remus growled softly.

“Watch yourself, Vanard. The old ways are obsolete. All shifters are one people, now.”

Koril elbowed Vanard in the side.

“Yeah, old man. Didn’t you get the memo?”

Remus coughed to cover his laugh.

Vanard had been an ongoing problem since his brothers mated Kitania. And it hadn’t improved his disposition when they’d adopted a bear, a hawk, and a coyote along with two wolves. Hell, even their own daughter could shift into either a cat or a wolf.

Zander stepped closer and rested his hands on the table. “When you hear what I have to say, you’ll understand why I’m uniquely qualified to be briefing you on our newest threat, even if I am a bear.”

Vanard glared at Remus. “Are you aware of this new threat he makes reference to?”

“No, I’ve been kept in the dark the same as everyone else. I think it’s time to get this meeting underway and find out just what’s going on.” He turned and walked to the front of the room and stepped onto the raised platform.

“Everyone, settle down now. It’s time to get started.”

He waited until everyone was seated, or standing in the back of the room.

“First, I’d like to thank you for getting to us with such short notice. I know it put a strain on many of you, but know your pack is grateful for your efforts to make this mandatory meeting.”

Vanard snorted loudly. “Don’t thank them for coming to something they had no choice about. It’s their duty to come when you call.”

Remus narrowed his eyes at the aging Elder. “Silence! The old rules no longer apply.”

Vanard’s hand slammed down on the table. “The old ways—” His eyes widened, his brows shooting up as his chair slid backward a couple of feet.

Remus heard muffled laughter around the room as he turned his gaze to his naughty mate. She gave him a sweet, innocent smile and then studied her nails.
I guess I should be grateful she
didn’t toss him out a window.
Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the pack.

“I’ve brought you here to tell you about a possible, new threat to our race. Alpha Bennett from the Cardston Pack in Canada called me for help in searching for some missing pups. In the past two weeks, four of their pups have disappeared. Three females and one male, all under the age of five, were somehow taken from their pack lands without leaving any trace.” He looked out over the shocked faces of his pack and grimaced. “Actually, there have been other disappearances in the past six months. All of them in Canadian packs.

In all, eleven females and ten males have gone missing over the last six months.

Again, all under the age of five.” He watched as the females of his pack looked around for their pups. “I’m pleased to announce that our head count today is accurate. There are no missing members of Wind River.”

Koril stood up. “Alpha Remus. What is it you want us to do?”

Remus motioned toward Zander.

“He’s the main enforcer for the National Council, and it’s my understanding that he has some information for us.”

Zander walked slowly up to the platform and took the center position.

“Thank you, Alpha Remus. Friends, for the past twelve years I’ve been assigned to the main National Council’s headquarters in charge of the prison. I was promoted to head enforcer just six months ago. During the past ten years I’ve had daily contact with one prisoner in particular. I’m sure most of you remember the name Vincent Kaugh.”

“Shit,” Koril growled. “You aren’t about to tell us he’s escaped and responsible for the missing children are you?” The man’s got to be a hundred years old by now.”

Zander laughed. “Actually, he’s only eighty-nine and still in fairly good health. If I had to guess, I’d say he probably experimented on himself years ago and did something to slow down his aging process. He’s not directly responsible for any disappearances, but he may be indirectly responsible.”

Remus approached Zander slowly.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m not at liberty to tell you how I got this information, so don’t even bother to ask. What I can tell you is that Kaugh had a son we didn’t know about.”

Remus growled. “What?”

“Just what I said. The man has a son, and it’s very possible he’s resumed his father’s research in one form or another.”

Remus clenched his hands into fists, his claws extending, biting into his palms. “Just how old would this son be now?”

Zander shrugged. “Around twenty-four or five is my best guess.”

“But that would have made him born right about the time we captured Kaugh.

Who’s his mother?”

Zander shook his head. “I don’t have that information. I can tell you he’s believed to be operating in Canada in his father’s hidden lab.”