“I love you so much, baby, and I am so sorry that I had to say those things,” he whispered into Keeley’s hair.
Keeley wrapped his arms around Reece’s waist and laid his head against his chest, hugging him back. “Pet, my ass,” he snickered nervously. “I think I’d rather be your boy toy.”
“Just as long as you’re mine.”
“Always.”
Chapter 10
“So, what are we going to do?” Keeley asked, raising his head to look up at his mate. He was still reeling from everything they had learned from Douglas. It was an astounding story, made even more terrible by the fact that it was real.
Reece shook his head. “I don’t know, baby. They have to be stopped. I’m just not sure how to go about it.”
“Well, the first thing we need to do is get the non-core families out of here. Their lives are in danger,” Keeley said as he stepped back from Reece and turned to look at Donovan and Joe.
“I agree. We can take them to
“Donovan, you’ve been here as long as I have. Any idea who the non-core families are?”
Donovan nodded. “I’m pretty sure I can figure it out. I definitely know it is not Douglas or Timmins’s families.”
“Or their relatives,” Joe added.
Reece nodded. “Could you go with Joe and Nate and get them out of here? Tell them that it’s an order from their alpha, and they need to leave immediately taking only the most important necessities.”
Donovan nodded his head. “What are you going to be doing?”
“Hopefully putting a stop to their little plans. After that, we’ll be right behind you.”
“Reece, if your pack members join with Joe’s pack, where does that leave you? You’re the alpha here. How can you be an alpha with no pack?” Keeley asked in concern as he turned back to him, one hand coming to rest on Reece’s chest.
Reece looked up at Joe. “Can your pack use another enforcer or two?”
Joe grinned. “Always.”
“But Reece, you—” Keeley began again.
“Keeley,” Reece said as he glanced back down at him, “I never wanted to be an alpha. I was perfectly happy being an enforcer. The only reason I became one is because I won the challenge when I killed the alpha of this pack.”
“But—”
“Keeley, I swear, I—” Reece stopped for a moment as he looked over at Nate. “Would you mind?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Nate grinned, reaching up to grasp Reece’s hand.
“I would rather be an enforcer than an alpha. I never wanted this job. I have no desire to be an alpha, truly. I would be much happier being an enforcer and coming home to you every night,” Reece said as he looked back down at Keeley.
“Truth,” Nate replied.
“I was also telling the truth when I said that I love you,” Reece quickly added just for the hell of it.
“Truth.”
He lifted his head to look over at Nate, nodding at him. “Thank you, Nate.”
“Anytime,” Nate laughed, releasing Reece’s hand and stepping back to lean against Joe.
“Do you believe me now?” Reece asked Keeley.
Keeley rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I believe you. We’re going to live in
“Of course, this means that you can visit with Nate whenever you want to. Don’t forget that, Keeley,” Joe quickly added.
“I’m not sure that’s a selling point, Joe. Can you imagine the trouble the two of them could get into?” Donovan smirked as he patted Joe on the back. “Nate doesn’t have any cookie sheets does he?”
“Oh, yeah. I didn’t think of that,” Joe groaned good-heartedly. “Maybe you should just stay here.”
“Don’t you all have a job to do?” Keeley barked out as he glared at Joe and Donovan.
They immediately held up their hands in surrender. “Yes, sir,” they said as they started for the door.
“Reece, keep your cell phone on. I’ll call you as soon as we’ve contacted everyone,” Donovan said.
“And I’m going to call my father right now. I think we might need a little more protection before the night is out. I want to get everyone out of here first, and then we can worry about their belongings,” Joe added.
Reece nodded. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. Please pass on my thanks to your father as well.”
“You helped us without reason when we needed it,” Joe replied. “You helped keep my mate safe. My father won’t soon forget that you did the right thing in helping us. Luckily, he has a soft spot for Nate.”
“I think that’s as it should be,” Nate chortled as he followed Joe out the door.
Keeley had a smile on his face as he watched Nate bicker with Joe all of the way out the front door, Donovan and Jim right on their heels. He shook his head at their antics as he turned to look back at Reece.
“Hey, Reece? I thought I was your reward for doing the right thing?”
Reece turned to look down at his little mate in confusion. “You are. I told you that. Why would you think differently?”
Keeley crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at Reece. “Well, it seems for a man who didn’t think he had much, you suddenly have friends coming out of the woodwork. Joe just said his father would be helpful because of what you did when you sent Chase and Donovan down to help Nate out. If that’s so, then what am I here for?”
Reece chuckled at the slight pout on Keeley’s lips. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close to his chest, leaning down to nuzzle the top of his head. “You’re here to drive me crazy and ask me questions like that.”
“Well, I’m just saying—” Keeley whined as he snuggled up against Reece.
“Keeley.”
“What?” Keeley wrapped his arms around Reece’s broad chest and tilted his head back to look up at him. He could see the firm glare in Reece’s eyes. Keeley giggled, batting his eyelashes at him.
Reece rolled his eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have a few suggestions,” Keeley said, fluttering his eyelashes again. “I can even draw you some pictures.” Keeley stood up on his tiptoes and licked the soft skin at Reece’s collarbone. “Better yet, let me show you,” he whispered.
Reece groaned, pulling Keeley tighter against his aching body. He relished in the feel of Keeley’s tongue against his hot skin for several moments before pushing him back a little. “How about you hold that thought for just a little while?”
“I’d ask you how long, but we both know you can’t tell time,” Keeley said as he stepped back. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Reece seriously. “What do you need me to do?”
“You’re most important job is to make sure that nothing happens to you. Barring that, why don’t you run upstairs and pack us a bag? I don’t know how long it’s going to be until we can get back here so just grab what you think we’ll need.”
Keeley nodded. “Anything specific you want packed?”
“Your butt plug?” Reece asked with a grin.
“That’s kind of a given, honey. Anything else?” Keeley laughed.
“Your red feather boa?” Reece asked innocently. “Your nail polish?”
“Oh, you’re no help,” Keeley said as he turned and headed up the stairs. He had almost reached the top when Reece called out to him.
“Keeley?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning to look back down at his mate.
“Keeping yourself safe is priority number one. I don’t care about anything else. Understood?”
Keeley could see the worry and concern on Reece’s face. “I’ll be fine, Quilliam. You just work on getting us out of here safely. You’re the only one I want biting my neck.”
He watched Reece smile and nod his head before turning and heading into the bedroom. Okay, so he needed to pack, but pack what exactly? Several changes of clothes, of course, and then maybe some toys. He could always buy more nail polish once they arrived in
Keeley walked across the room and opened the dresser, pulling out enough clothing for him and Reece for several days, and setting them on the bed. He piled his butt plug and red feather boa on top of the pile, then added several bottles of lube.
Once he had a nice pile going on the bed, he looked around the room for something to pack it all in. Remembering his own suitcase, he ran to the closet and pulled it out.
He packed it full of everything in his pile, and anything else he could think of.
Keeley regretfully dropped some shoes into the suitcase. He really hated shoes. They made his feet feel like they were smothered. He’d much rather run around barefoot, but it looked like it would be awhile before he could do that again.
By the time he was done, he was sweating. He sat down on the side of the bed, resting his hands on his knees as he looked around the room. Was there anything else they needed to take with them?
When his eyes landed on a small glass bottle sitting on his nightstand, he knew he had one more thing to pack. Grabbing the bottle, he pulled off the cork top lid and sniffed the dried rose petals inside.
There wasn’t a lot of scent left, but the memories of the first flowers Reece had ever given him would last forever. Carefully wrapping the bottle in a shirt and placing it in the suitcase, he zipped the travel bag closed. Now he had everything.
Grabbing the suitcase and a jacket for both him and Reece, he carried them downstairs, setting them in the entryway coat closet and closing the door. There was no sense letting everyone else know what they were up to.
Walking over to the study door, he leaned his head against the door to see if he could hear anything. Sadly, just muffled voices. It looked like he was going to have to go in and let Reece know he was done packing a bag for them.
Keeley slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from giggling. This could actually be a little fun. He knew that they were in danger, probably even a life and death type of thing, but there was nothing saying that they couldn’t put a little humor into the situation.
Dropping his head down, Keeley opened the door and walked in. He shut the door quietly behind him and saw three sets of eyes on him. Quickly making his way over to Reece, he dropped to his knees.
“It’s done, sire, just as you ordered,” he said quietly before sitting down on the floor between Reece’s legs and folding his hands together in his lap. Peeking through his eyelashes he could see Douglas nodding his head in satisfaction.
Devlin, however, looked ready to bust. Keeley knew he was doing everything he could to keep from laughing out loud. He had no idea what Reece was thinking because he couldn’t see his face, but he sure wanted to.
Feeling Reece’s fingers stroke through his hair, Keeley leaned into the soft caress. “Did you get everything I wanted, Keeley?”
“Yes, sire, everything,” Keeley replied meekly.
“Good boy. Now, just sit there quietly while Douglas and I finish our talk,” Reece commanded.
“Alpha?” Douglas said, gaining everyone’s attention. “Do you really think he will make a good pet? Don’t you worry that he might rebel and leave or that someone will find out that you have him?”
“There’s that concern in anything we do, Douglas. We’re shape shifters. There is always danger we’ll be discovered. As for Keeley, he’d never leave me. He likes being my pet. Don’t you, baby?”
Keeley turned and looked up at Reece, the smile on his face real. “Yes, sire, I do.”
The sincere smile on Keeley’s face seemed to appease Douglas. Keeley turned to see him sitting back in his chair, his eyes intent on him. It was actually kind of creepy the way Douglas was looking at him. It made him feel naked.
“Does he play?” Douglas smirked.
Keeley’s eyes widened at Douglas’s statement. He could feel Reece go still behind him. Oh, this was not good.
“Play?” Reece asked tentatively.
“Yeah,” Douglas said, raking Keeley’s body with his eyes. “Do you ever share him? Let him play with others?”
“I thought that sort of behavior wasn’t allowed?” Devlin asked quickly.
“As long as it’s in the capacity as a mate, that’s true. But if Keeley is just a pet, then it wouldn’t be—”
“Bad behavior?” Devlin asked.
Keeley knew from the tenseness in Reece’s legs that he was trying very hard not to leap across the space between him and Douglas and beat the crap out of him. The barely controlled rage in Reece was almost frightening.
“I’ll make you a deal, Douglas,” Reece began. “If I agree to this deal of yours, I’ll share Keeley with you as a reward. But only if I agree to it, understood? If for any reason I don’t like this plan, no Keeley.”
Keeley wanted to be angry with Reece for agreeing to let Douglas have him except that he had agreed
only
if he went along with the plan and Keeley knew he would never go along with Douglas’s plan.
“Will he agree to it?” Douglas asked, indicating Keeley.
“Keeley? If I decide to go along with your plan, and I tell Keeley that I’m giving him to you as a reward, he’ll do exactly what I say. Won’t you, Keeley?” Reece said, wrapping his fingers in Keeley’s hair to pull his head back.
“Sire?”
“If I decide to reward Douglas for coming up with such a wonderful plan, you’ll do what I say, won’t you, baby?” Reece asked as he looked down into Keeley’s face.
“Of course, sire,” Keeley said, a small grin on his lips as he tried to tell Reece that he understood what Reece was saying. “If you believe the plan is a good one, I would be more than happy to be a reward.”
* * * *
Reece’s lips twisted together as he tried to hide his grin. He couldn’t believe he was actually having this conversation, but he was glad that Keeley understood what he was saying. He never wanted Keeley to think he would ever share him for any reason.
Looking back up at Douglas, he raised an eyebrow at him in query. “Satisfied?” He was disgusted by the look of lust that crossed Douglas’s face as he looked down at Keeley. Besides the fact that no one should be looking at his mate that way, the thought of anyone touching what belonged to him enraged Reece.