* * * *
“Maverick.”
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“I believe I have something that belongs to you,” Christian said.
“Where is he?” Maverick growled into the phone.
“Who? Who has Keata? I want him back! If you fucking harm him, I will hunt you down and eat your damn entrails,” Cody screamed as Tank and Loco grabbed him by his arms.
They had gathered in Maverick’s office to devise a plan to find Keata when the phone had rang.
“I thought you said the mates were safe?” Maverick barked out.
“And they are. I want you to be aware that I had absolutely nothing to do with this, nor did my men. Some slimy, fat human took him. I was on my way to see you when I witnessed the kidnapping.”
“Why not bring him right back to us if that were the case?” Maverick questioned.
“Right. Do you see how his mate is acting now? Even I can hear him. I would have been attacked before one word left my lips. This was a safer route. Come claim him. I don’t need the headache.” Christian hung up the phone.
“Christian has him.”
“I’ll fucking kill him.” Cody howled as he ripped his arms from the warriors’ tight hold.
“Stop!” Maverick barked out in his commanding voice.
Cody stopped at the door he was running to. “Why? If it were Cecil, nothing would stop you.”
“Agreed, but you must know that Christian saved him from some humans that had originally taken him.” God, even Maverick had a hard time swallowing that story.
“Not likely. I saw the way he looked at my Keata in the club. He wants him. I don’t know what game he’s playing, but I’ll kill him before I allow him to get at Keata again.” Cody’s canines descended as his eyes glowed crimson.
“We ride. Bring Kyoshi. Keata is going to need him.” Maverick waved them to the door.
“If something happens to my mate, I’ll kill everyone in sight. No
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discriminating, vamp or wolf,” Storm warned them all.
“Noted.” Maverick ordered Evan and Murdock to stay behind and guard the other mates with their lives.
“Yes, Alpha,” Murdock and Evan said in unison.
* * * *
They rode fourteen deep, including Kyoshi, who shook in Storm’s arms. He had been crying since Keata disappeared.
“Shush, dragonfly. We’re going to get him now.” Storm rubbed Kyoshi’s back.
“What if he was harmed? What if they did unspeakable things to him? I couldn’t live with the knowledge that I failed him.” Kyoshi grabbed Storm’s shirt and cried harder.
“You didn’t fail him, little one. No one did. Just believe he is fine.” Storm prayed he was right because he was beating himself up over this as well. They all were. All the wolves blamed themselves for Keata leaving their sight. How the hell did Christian get Keata out of the store with no one seeing?
They pulled in front of a manor between their small town and the city. Storm also wondered how they were able to come out in daylight. Maybe all the myths weren’t true.
* * * *
“Cody, I warn you. I want to hear what Keata says before I step aside and let you tear the prince apart. We have to know for sure before we start a war,” Maverick warned Cody.
What the fuck ever. “Sure.” Cody jumped from the SUV. He was wearing fatigue pants strapped with knives. He was a wolf, able to kill anyone, but he wasn’t sure how to kill a vampire, so he took extra precautions.
Cody kicked the front door with his combat boot, slamming the
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bottom of his foot into the wood. “Give me my goddamn mate now!”
“Cody!” Maverick admonished him
The front door opened, and the small man stepped aside as Cody raced in. “Keata!” Cody screamed, pacing back and forth in the foyer.
Chills ran down his spine at the silence. The small man waved for them to follow him. Cody pulled a large, serrated knife from its sheath, holding it in his hand as he readied himself.
The small man took them down a flight of stairs, and Cody watched everything around him.
“This better not be a trap,” Maverick warned.
“It is not, sir. You will find the young Keata unharmed.” The man waved his hand at a large black shiny door. It looked solid and heavy.
Something a vampire would use to keep unwanted guests out. Cody shoved it open, running to the large, four-poster bed Keata was laying on, crying out for him. “He’s going through the change, just as Kyoshi did.” Cody gasped.
“We have no herbs here.” Maverick paced back and forth.
“What’s the likelihood of both cousins going through the change?
Something isn’t adding up.” Cody crawled on the bed, massaging his mate even without the lotion used for easing the pain of a shifters transition. Keata cried as tiny claws emerged from his hands. Cody knew there was a chance Keata may not make it through the change.
He could lose his mate. Cody cried as he rocked Keata in his arms. He couldn’t lose him.
“I had nothing to do with this,” Christian informed them when he entered the room.
“Get the fuck out of here!” Cody yelled.
“No, he save.” Keata panted. “Ugly American take.”
“Do you have herbs around here?” Maverick turned to the prince.
“No, but I can send my men to obtain whatever it is you need.” Christian snapped his fingers, and two vampires appeared. “Tell them what you need.”
Maverick named the herbs, and the vampires bowed before taking
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off.
“How is it that you can go out in daylight?” Gunnar asked.
“Myth, although we cannot be out in it too long or we get a nasty sunburn. Fair skinned, you know.” Christian looked over at Keata.
“What is wrong with him? I brought him in here to make him more comfortable but was at a loss to know what to do for him.”
“He’s shifting for the first time.” Maverick watched Keata.
Everyone was worried for him.
“Into a wolf?”
“I’m afraid that is all I am at liberty to tell you.” Maverick shrugged his shoulders then turned to Cody.
Cody knew his Alpha wasn’t going to give the prince any more information than he needed. They needed to get Keata out of here before the change. They didn’t want anyone knowing that the small Asian was about to become a Xiamen tiger. They were extremely rare, and Kyoshi’s secret was well guarded. No one, not even the Eastern pack, was aware that there was a cat shifter at the estate. Now his mate would be guarded as well.
The men returned with the herbs. Maverick thanked them and ordered Cody to wrap his mate up and take him out to the waiting SUV.
“But it could be dangerous for him,” Cody protested, massaging Keata’s limbs. He knew they had to leave but feared the trip would kill Keata. He was torn.
“We will make it fast, but we must leave.” Maverick’s voice brooked no argument.
Cody wrapped Keata up in the silk comforter before pushing past everyone and running up the stairs.
“I would not have told his secret,” Christian informed the Alpha.
“Duly noted. Thank you for helping him.” Maverick shook his hand before the warriors ran after Cody.
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Chapter Nine
Cody rubbed aloe vera lotion into Keata’s skin. The entire pack was in his room watching the shift. His mate lay naked under a sheet as he rubbed his sore limbs.
Since Kyoshi had gone through the same change, they knew what to expect. It still didn’t make watching it any easier. The wolf physician had met them at the house, taking blood samples at Maverick’s request, the Alpha wanting to know why cousins who did not share the same father both had shifter blood flowing in their veins.
“I found your answer.” The doctor looked up from his microscope he had brought with him along with other various machines at the Alpha’s request. “They share the same DNA, but not as cousins. As brothers.”
“How?” Kyoshi cried out. Storm had to hold his mate up as Kyoshi stumbled backward.
“Same father.” The doctor turned back to his work.
“Could our mothers not have known?” Kyoshi stared at Keata.”I can’t believe this. Brothers?”
Storm pulled Kyoshi into his arms, holding his mate close. Kyoshi stared opened mouth at Keata. Cody felt for Kysohi, but his concerns were with Keata right now.
“I remember the pain but not how long it took. Will he suffer much longer?” Kyoshi turned to Maverick.
“No, Kyoshi,” Maverick assured him.
The tea had been brought in after brewing for an hour. Cody held his mate as Storm tipped the cup to his lips. Keata seemed to have quieted once he drank it. Cody worried. Keata was not acting the
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same as Kyoshi when he shifted.
“No two shifts are alike,” Maverick reminded him.
Cody watched as Keata became the most beautiful Xiamen tiger.
His mate shifted flawlessly and lay on the bed staring up at him.
Cody crawled onto the bed, and Keata curled into his lap.
They all stared at the small tiger that lay in Cody’s lap. Keata had survived the shift.
“Take him out, Cody. Let him run.” Maverick waved everyone out.
He led his mate from the room, leaning down to scratch behind his ears. Keata had stopped a few times to bat at his hands.
When Johnny came running to his mate, Keata pounced on him and they rolled around.
“Now we can really pull some pranks,” Johnny whispered, but Cody heard.
Cody shifted once they reached the backyard, Keata bouncing around as he played with him. Kyoshi shifted into his cat form as well.
The wolves all joined in, with Loco and Tank chasing after Keata, Cody growling and chasing after the wolves.
Keata rolled around on the grass, pawing at Cody.
Cody nipped at him and moved him toward the kitchen door after hours of play.
He took his mate upstairs, helping Keata to shift back to human form with Kyoshi’s help. Cody wouldn’t allow anyone else in the room considering Keata would be naked when he returned to his human form.
“My brother.” Kyoshi cried as he held Keata.
“How?” Keata asked as he pulled away and dressed. He pulled Keata back into his arms, tears falling down his cheeks. Kyoshi began to cry, and Cody trotted into the bathroom to get dressed and give them a moment of privacy.
When he emerged, they were still hugging and crying.
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“Same father, different mother,” Kyoshi told Keata as he wiped the tears from his face.
“Then you two are still cousins. This is confusing.” Cody petted Keata’s back as he crawled into Cody’s lap.
“I don’t know how it all works, but that is true. I don’t care. I still love Keata no matter what has changed.” Kyoshi kissed Keata’s cheek before leaving the room.
“Come here, kitty.” Cody smiled as he pulled Keata closer to him, his cock hardening when Keata purred.
* * * *
Keata and Johnny snuck into Maverick’s office.
Keata stuck the whoopee cushion on the Alpha’s seat as Johnny smeared the face paint around the mouthpiece on the phone sitting on Maverick’s desk.
They replaced his chai tea with black coffee and ran from the room.
“Maverick, can we talk to you?” Johnny asked innocently.
“Sure, fellas.” Maverick led them into his office and took a seat.
Keata tried to keep a straight face as the loudest fart emanated from Maverick’s chair. He looked up at the two, his brows pulled together.
“Uh, excuse me.” Maverick turned to them, his cheeks blushing.
“Now what did you two need?
“I was wondering if you could call Hawk for me. I just can’t seem to find him anywhere.”
Keata bit the inside of his mouth.
“Sure.” Maverick picked the phone up and dialed, talking into the mouthpiece. When he hung up, Johnny and Keata couldn’t stop the laughter at the face paint on Maverick’s chin and lower lip.
Maverick growled and picked up his tea, spitting it out after taking a healthy swallow.
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“Okay, you two have had your fun. Get out and go harass someone else.”
The two raced from the room, peals of laughter following after them.
* * * *
Maverick sat back and chuckled. He had known what was going on, but why spoil their fun? He grabbed a napkin from his drawer and wiped his face off.
* * * *
Cody walked into the closed diner with Keata’s hand held tightly in his.
He hadn’t let Keata leave his side. “Frank?” Cody yelled out as he entered the place.
“Back here, Cody,” Frank yelled out from past the gutted kitchen.
Cody led Keata to the back. He glanced around at what would need to be done to bring this place back to standards and codes to get it running again.
“Hey.” Frank held his hand out to Cody, shaking it.
“I see I get to talk with my little friend as well.” Frank patted Keata on the shoulder, ignoring Cody’s growl.
Cody explained to him what happened a week ago. Keata’s kidnapping, not the shifting part. It was decided that the less people knew about the tigers, the better.
“Fuck me, man. Did you kill the bastards?” Frank ruffled Keata’s hair and offered him a smoothie, not knowing Keata went gaga over them.
“They will no longer be a problem.” Cody leaned against a sawhorse.
“Good. All to hell with whoever tries to hurt the little guy.” Frank
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waved Cody to his office, leaving the door open so Cody could watch Keata suck down the thick drink.
“You know, you just won him over. Smoothies and chicken strips are his all-time favorites.” Cody chuckled as he watched his mate lovingly.
“Good to know.” Frank slid the plans over to Cody. “Now, I’ve taken the liberty of pricing the new equipment and the labor of construction.”
Cody looked at the pages of equipment Frank had printed out.
“Won’t do.”
“What do you mean? It’s great, sturdy equipment.” Frank furrowed his brows.
“I don’t want sturdy. Here.” Cody pulled the large envelope from inside his jacket and slid it to Frank. “I also took the liberty of picking out new equipment. Although I’m no expert when it comes to what’s needed in a kitchen, I’m sure I pretty much got what we need.” Frank pulled the papers from the envelope, his eyes bulging.