Kern turned away from the view outside his window. “He couldn’t. Maybe Flick’s memory’s gone fuzzy.”
Haig shook his head. “No. I believe him. I just can’t figure out how it’s possible.”
Kern fingered the scar on his face. It was something Haig was used to seeing whenever their old pack was discussed. Flick hadn’t mentioned Kern’s father so Haig had no idea if they would come face to face with Kern’s past. Haig’s hands automatically balled into fists at the thought of running into
Lasair
. Perhaps Kern would finally get a chance to confront his father.
The cab pulled up in front of the pub, and Haig handed over payment, including a nice tip. Kern had gone quiet, worrying Haig. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” he asked, climbing out of the car after Kern.
Kern pulled Haig closer to the building, out of pedestrian traffic. “I guess I’m just questioning why we’re risking our necks for any of them.” Kern slung his bag over his shoulder. “No one did it for me,
ya
know.”
“I did,” Haig reminded his mate.
Kern stepped forward and pressed a hand against Haig’s chest. “Yes, you did, which is why I love you more than my own life. I would charge into any situation if I thought you were in danger, but you’re not.”
Haig swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I know you would, babe, and maybe I don’t even have the right to ask you to help me rescue Galena, but I am. I left her once with barely a goodbye. I may be a cold bastard at times, but I can’t turn my back on her now that I know she needs help.”
Kern held Haig’s stare for several moments before dipping his head. “Okay. Let’s go see if Flick’s here.”
Although Kern’s sign of submission bothered Haig, he didn’t call him on it. Within all
weres
was an ingrained sense of submitting to the Alpha. Haig didn’t consider himself the leader of his partnership with Kern, but he couldn’t fight his natural position in their relationship. “I wish I could kiss you right now,” Haig told his mate.
With a wink and a smile, Kern opened the pub door. “Later.”
Haig stepped inside the building and began to scan the room. His eyes and nose settled on a man in the back corner with shoulder-length, steel grey hair. He elbowed Kern to get his attention. “Does he look like the Flick you remember?”
Kern followed Haig’s gaze. “Fuck. And you thought we were looking old.”
Haig made his way through the pub, pausing at the bar long enough to put in his and Kern’s order. He stopped beside the table and stared at the seated were. Although Flick’s hair had gone totally grey, his face was that of a much younger were.
Flick immediately stood and enveloped Haig in a hug. “Good to see you again.”
“You, too,” Haig replied. He hugged Flick once more before letting him go. It surprised him how good it felt to see his cousin after such a long time. Haig stepped back and gestured to Kern. “You remember each other?”
Kern nodded and held out his hand. “I remember.
Been a while though.”
“That it has.” Flick shook Kern’s hand before gesturing to the table. “Have a seat.”
Before sitting, Kern held up his phone. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to make a call first.”
Haig watched as his mate walked towards the restroom before returning his attention to Flick. Haig had agreed with Kern’s suggestion that they tell Flick they were both mated to
Audric
. It would be safer for the small vampire if the
weres
believed them to be a solid unit. “Sorry about that. He has to call and check in with our mate,
Audric
.”
Flick’s brows rose in surprise. “
Audric
? You’ve taken a second mate?”
Haig nodded. “He
isn’t were
though.” He purposely left
Audric’s
Blessed Creature status out of the conversation. With luck, Flick would believe
Audric
to be human. “
Audric
should be here within an hour or so. He stopped over in Rome to buy some new clothes.”
Flick grinned and shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day you allowed another man to get that close to Kern. You’ve always seemed like the jealous type.”
The remark hit Haig square in the chest. “Yeah, well, you haven’t been around me since I was just a kid.” Haig needed to change the subject before he reached across the table and strangled his cousin. “So, what’s with the hair?”
Flick chuckled and ran his fingers through the grey strands. “Hard
livin
’, I guess.”
“Do you have a mate?” Haig asked.
“I did.” Flick’s smile fell. “She was killed by a couple of ranchers in the area over a hundred years ago.”
Haig sucked in a breath. Killing a
were wasn’t
as easy as shooting them. You had to skin them before killing them or their body’s natural ability to heal would prevent their death.
“How’d they figure out how to…,” Haig started, but he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Flick’s eyes narrowed. “I thought it was a coincidence until word came from Galena. Apparently, Juniper sent a message to the local sheriff at the time. According to Galena, Juniper’s goal was to ensure we’d never return to Ireland.”
It didn’t make sense to Haig. “Why would he do that?”
“Evidently there’s something he doesn’t want us to see.” Flick’s hands fisted. “I won’t lie to you. I don’t plan on leaving this time without seeing an end to Juniper Cavanaugh.”
* * * *
“That one.
Definitely,” Michael said, pointing towards the shirt
Audric
held up.
“You don’t think it’s too much?”
Michael laughed. “You’re a gay vampire living with two werewolves. Are you really that concerned with what others will think?”
Audric
held the short sleeved black shirt up to the interior lights of the clothing store. “You can see right through it. I may as well not be wearing anything.”
“Exactly.
If only they had pants to match.” Michael started looking through the rack. “Maybe I should get one in white.”
Audric
imagined Kern and Haig wearing one of them. The shear fabric would allow their amazing tattoos to show through. Fuck.
Audric’s
cock began to fill. He put the one in his size back and searched for two in a much larger size.
“What’re you doing?” Michael asked.
“I think I’m going to get one for Haig and Kern.”
“So why’d you put yours back?”
“Because no one wants to see my skinny chest on display,”
Audric
reasoned.
With the white shirt in his hand, Michael cocked his hip and shook his head. “You’re kidding, right? Guys like Kern and Neo love to see our skinny chests. I think it makes them feel even more…manly. I know
Neo’s
crazy about my body, and I can almost guarantee Kern feels the same about yours.”
“If it makes them feel manly, it’s because they see us as weaker,”
Audric
reminded his friend.
“So? Being coddled and pampered by the man you love isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“But I’m stronger than Haig and Kern. Unfortunately, all they see is my size, and because I’m smaller, they think I can’t take care of myself.”
Michael’s head tilted to the side. “Stop me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you the one who asked me and Neo to
help
you get away from
LaMont’s
coven?”
“Yes. So?”
Audric
didn’t understand what one had to do with the other.
“So maybe having two strong
weres
around to ensure you never get put into a position like that again isn’t such a bad thing? After all, Neo can believe he’s in charge all he wants, but I know the truth. There’s only one man alive who can challenge him and walk away with his head still on his shoulders.” Michael pointed towards himself. “So tell me, what does strength have to do with power?”
Audric
shook his head. “But I’m not talking about power. I’m just saying that Kern and Haig don’t believe I can take care of myself.”
“So that’s your secret weapon. The important thing is you know you can take care of yourself. I have to say, you’ve come a long way since the day I first met you.” Michael put a hand on
Audric’s
shoulder. “How do you feel when Kern’s fucking you?”
Audric’s
eyes rounded. “Wow. You really want an answer to that?” The thought of describing how Kern’s cock made him feel embarrassed him.
Michael chuckled. “Not what you feel physically. What do you feel emotionally when Kern’s holding you in his arms?”
“Safe,”
Audric
answered automatically.
“Exactly.
Feeling safe has nothing to do with strength.”
* * * *
By the time
Audric
walked into the pub, Kern was ready to crawl out of his skin. “It’s about damn time,” he said, charging across the room to reach his mate.
Audric
lifted the bags in his hands. “Sorry. I told you when you called I still had another hour or so of shopping to do.”
Kern ignored the bags and pulled
Audric
against his chest. The moment he covered
Audric’s
mouth with his own, some smartass behind him cleared his throat. Kern broke the kiss and turned around to punch the guy’s lights out when he noticed Haig standing there with his hands on his hips.
“Way to keep a low profile,” Haig said.
Kern shrugged and led
Audric
to the table with an arm around his waist. “
Audric
, I’d like you to meet Flick, Haig’s cousin.”
The moment the two men shook hands, Flick’s gaze shot to Haig. “He’s vamp. I thought you said he was human.”
Haig shook his head as he settled in the chair.
“Nope.
Never said that.”
Kern situated
Audric
between him and Haig and rested a hand on his mate’s knee. He’d noticed the tension in
Audric’s
body the moment Flick called him out as being a vampire. Trying to put
Audric
at ease, Kern gestured to the shopping bags. “You get some good stuff?”
“Sure.”
Audric
dug in his pocket. He handed back the money Kern had given him earlier. “I didn’t need any of that. Neo gave me some of the money
The Realm
confiscated from the
LaMont
coven.”
Audric
leaned closer to Kern and whispered in his ear. “I even bought you and Haig a few things.”
“Really?”
Kern could tell by the mischievous look in
Audric’s
green eyes that it wasn’t something he wanted to pull out in front of Flick. Kern glanced from Haig to Flick. “We
about done
here?”
Flick nodded. “I’ll try to find the supplies we discussed and meet you at your hotel in…” Flick looked at his watch. “Three hours? Does that sound okay?”
Audric’s
spine stiffened. “That’ll be just before dawn.”
Kern knew where his mate was going.
“Yeah.
It’s the best time of day to catch wolves unaware.”
“But that means I can’t help,”
Audric
pointed out.
Arguing with his mate in front of Flick wasn’t an option. “Let’s go check in to the hotel and talk about it.” He stood and offered
Audric
his hand.
Audric
ignored Kern’s hand and looked at Haig. “Why don’t you want my help?”
Kern had no idea how Haig was going to answer the question. He held his breath, hoping Haig didn’t drive a wedge between the three of them.
Haig surprised Kern by reaching out to cover
Audric’s
hand. “It’s not that we don’t want your help. It’s all about timing. We have to do this right if we’re going to successfully get my sister out of there.” Haig gave
Audric’s
hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”
“But I can pop in on the wolves and they would never see me coming.”
Audric
looked from Haig to Kern. “I have certain skills I’m willing to use to help you. Let me.”
Flick stood and tapped the table with his knuckles, clearly uncomfortable. “I’m going to head out. Just give me a call if our plans change.”
Haig waited for Flick to leave the pub before turning his attention back to
Audric
. “Let’s go to the hotel and discuss this further.”
Audric
stared at Haig for several moments before eventually agreeing. “Okay.”
* * * *
Haig finished his shower and reached for a towel. His plan had been to give
Audric
and Kern some time alone, but the cries of the two men fucking in the adjacent room had cut his shower short. He’d been over and over
Audric’s
offer,
and he still couldn’t figure out why Kern’s mate would risk his life to help Galena.
Harder to understand was why Haig declined the offer. It had nothing to do with
Audric’s
capabilities and everything to do with his desire to keep
Audric
safe from Juniper and the rest of his pack.
Wrapping the towel around his waist, Haig opened the bathroom door and stood to regard Kern and
Audric
. The longer he watched Kern bathe
Audric
with his tongue, the harder it was for him to remain an observer. He walked over and sat on the edge of the other bed in the room.
Audric
turned his head and watched Haig through heavy-lidded eyes. Although not a word was spoken,
Audric
proved his new ease around Haig.
Haig rubbed the back of his neck to keep from reaching for the vampire. Never had he been tempted to touch another man other than his mate. Kern had the excuse of the mating frenzy to excuse his behaviour but Haig didn’t.
Audric
reached out towards Haig in silent invitation.
Sweat immediately began to pour down Haig’s face and chest as he fought against his body’s desire.
Kern must’ve picked up on Haig’s conflicting emotions. He released
Audric’s
cock and turned to look at Haig. “What’s wrong?”