Three’s a Clan (21 page)

“Your kind is not the only one that uses blood. But we do believe that we have something of value to give you, and we wanted to accumulate that asset on our time. So we decided to collect some blood.” Annabelle tucked one of the bags back in that had started to fall from the pyramid of red blood cells. “We might have gotten carried away.”

“So help me, if you are selling this…” I could understand taking power back, but this was just too much.

“Of course not, but we saw your Family’s return. We know your new leader would never take from us by force. There is something to be said about having a gift and wanting to give it to someone. Them not demanding the gift makes one want to give it all the more.” Annabelle gave me a knowing smile.

I was really getting annoyed by the fact that these witches could see the future and all that crap. Scrying mirrors were in the room behind us, along with pendulums and tarot cards. If they were in their little witchy room spying on me, I felt a bit violated.

“Are you saying you want to be our donors?” I finally asked.

“We can’t exactly walk up to the blood bank and make the deposit for human use. If you deny us this, the blood will go to waste.”

Why did this woman make me feel like the evil bitch who wasn’t recycling? I was trying not to use her. She of all people must hate feeling used. She was the one who was manipulated for so long. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“Shelly, we have fought for our freedom. You gave that to us. We are not warriors. This is some small way we can repay you. We want you to take the gift. We know you won’t abuse it.” Annabelle smiled. She shrugged her shoulders and clapped her hands together. “Now, I shouldn’t keep you from settling in any longer. I assume you will let your Family know that this is available for their use?”

“Yeah. I got it.” I was dumbfounded. We had donors that had agreed to give to us before, but we had always taken their memories after. The whole interspecies secretive thing was kind of important. Having someone who would know we were sitting at the kitchen table drinking from their vein in our coffee mug was disturbing. I really needed that shower. I doubted the steam would clear my head at all, but scalding my skin sounded like heaven at the moment.

Annabelle shut the cellar behind us after we left. The witches had taken down the old doors and carved their own. The spells around them were beautiful. Enchantments, whatever you wanted to call them, were bled into the wood in old letters. Even I felt more at ease just seeing the work they had put into them.

“That one is Berkano.” The witch told me as my finger traced the mark that looked like a B. “It’s the rune of becoming. The rune of rebirth. Fitting, don’t you think? It helps us remember that the most obvious truth is hidden deep within, and only you will ever know it.”

“Me?” I asked as I jerked my hand back. I’d traced the whole rune three times with my finger before I could stop myself.

“It’s a reminder for all of us. Our surroundings are what we make of them, Shelly. We choose to be here. We choose to give to you. All we ask in return is your honesty and your protection while you are here. Maybe a thank you as well.”

Why did I feel like I was being scolded by a human for my manners? “You have to know that we appreciate this. And you also have to know it’s not necessary. We will use what you have supplied us with, but please don’t feel inclined to harvest any longer.”

The witch in front of me puffed out her peasant-bloused chest and her hands formed fists and shook against her long flowing skirt. “Like I told you, it’s a fucking gift. Not a harvest. We aren’t a crop. Now say thank you.”

Well, the witch had some backbone. Something about a good verbal cussout always puts me more at ease. Now Annabelle was speaking a language I could work with. “Then thanks for your fucking gift, ya witch.”

I tend to bring out the worst in people, so I wasn’t surprised at getting to her. When her embarrassment flamed high and blood flowed to her cheeks, she diverted her eyes. She clicked her tongue at a water feature behind us that they must have installed in the garden.

“I think we need to tend to that waterfall in the back tomorrow. The stones are much too rough. The water will splash out less and no one will hurt their feet on the sharp edges. The natural smoothing properties of the water aren’t moving fast enough.” Annabelle nodded and began to head down the curvy path back to the house.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Who really walks inside a water feature?”

Then the witch really blushed as she turned to me. “From what I saw in that scrying mirror…” Annabelle fanned her face and then turned. “I really wish it was me.”

She kept mumbling as she walked up the few steps and through the screen door. “Lucky bitch.” Was all I got, but I had the distinct impression she was referring to me.

Lucky was definitely not how I felt as I sat on my old bed again. I was alone. I was hungry, and to say I was sexually frustrated was an epic understatement.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Trevor

She was close. I could feel it. Shelly had been popping up on my radar for a while. Now she was in town. The pull of the mating bond threatened to drive me nuts. I had snapped at one of the pups this morning. I was never rude to children, but every little being that was running around us reminded me that I didn’t have any of my own.

The thought of Shelly’s stomach puffed out with a cute little kid inside her had me aching. It wasn’t something that would be immediate. A vampire’s cycle was controlled by the female. And to have Shelly agree to pregnancy was one thing, to deal with her PMS—wow—we would need to warn the entire supernatural world.

No one could control my mate. Not even the mating pheromones. She needed to get the hell back here. I closed my laptop. The bills were paid. We were stretching a little thinner than I liked, and I was no financial genius like Craig, but he was getting us set up pretty well while they were still in town.

We’d convinced Amber to stay until her baby was born. With her here, the Hart Clan stayed too. Craig and Jake were helping us set up a new location. All the wolves from the Alakin Pack and all the hybrids that were learning to exist with their own brains had busted out of the apartment building we used to call home.

We didn’t have a work out building anymore, so Alpha hung out with the others doing construction. The sledge hammer he swung like a cork-filled baseball bat was attached to his hands. I was grateful that Amber’s pregnancy had distracted him.

It was hilarious watching her walk to the woods for a shift now. Her belly hung low, and her stride wasn’t as sure as it used to be. Her wolf valued the life inside her just as much as Amber did.

It was as if my thoughts had called to her. I made it outside just as the door on her new SUV closed.

She waddled over. “We need to talk, Doc. Daddy is driving me insane. A pregnant lady should not want to beat up the grandfather of her child, but if he repaints the nursery one more time, I am going to shove that paintbrush down his throat. The paint fumes are permeating all the chocolate in the house. He’s fucking with my chocolate. Fix it.”

“Hello, Doc. Good to see you.” Jake calmly walked up and we shook hands and pulled in with a manly back pat.

I knew Rick was driving her nuts, but the construction crew had told him they would quit if he didn’t back off. That was when he had traveled down the road to the house Amber and Jake had rented for the leaders of their Clan. They weren’t getting their deposit back.

“Sorry, but he’s in the same boat I am, and neither of us wants to bend.”

“Y’all need to bend or you are going to snap in half.”

Amber had no idea how right she was. I had a permanent erection these days. Masturbating in the shower didn’t help at this point. Shelly was so close that my dick refused the pity pat my hand could give, and I couldn’t even get myself off any more.

“We agreed to let her come to us this time.” I repeated the words for not only their information, but to remind myself why I hadn’t run over to my mate to sink inside her body until she remembered that that is how we were supposed to be. I needed her. Rick needed her, but this wasn’t about sex or power or control. She had come back on her own, and if she got this far, she needed to be the one to take those last few steps too.

Our mate had to be hurting just as much as we were. We had marked her. True, she was a vampire, but she wore our claim. I was still at a loss for how the hell that happened, but Amber’s new status and her vibrant multi-colored eyes reminded me that anything was possible.

“Where’s Mary?” I realized the usual crew wasn’t following Amber around waiting for the baby to pop.

“She said she needed a run. She and Craig are off supposedly being wolfy, but I have a feeling it’s more about being naked together and alone. I wouldn’t join that little party unless you really want a show. Do you have chocolate here? I am owed some untainted chocolate.” Then Amber bent at what she had left of a waist and curled around her belly.

Jake and I jumped into action around her. Pain stole away her sarcastic smile, and her anger was replaced with a hint of fear. She never was afraid for herself, but it made a big difference now that her body carried such a precious load.

“Back off.” She growled as the cramp eased. “Just Braxton Hicks, boys. Or maybe this kid just wants to eat without tasting paint too. Either way, show me to the kitchen unless Daddy knocked it down again already.”

Luckily, the paint had been dry for a week in here. You think a pregnant woman’s sense of smell is bad? You should meet a pregnant werewolf.

Amber pointed to the closed fridge. “You know that pot roast in the back is going bad, right?”

I leaned against the door to press the seal tighter, and keep her from throwing out perfectly good meat. “Yes, Amber, we were going to have sandwiches for lunch later.” It wasn’t even green yet.

“It would be a shame to let that go to waste. Now.” Amber chomped down on an open bag of chocolate chips. “I’ve had chocolate, and we need to chat.”

“I can see that look in your eyes Amber, and every time it gets there I really regret that you are no longer under your father’s control.”

Amber had grown up a lot, but she had also taken more leeway with her father and me lately. The Beta in me was bristling at her tone.

“I was at the mansion last night. I ate dinner with the witches. They have housemates. Shelly and her Family are staying there. She’s just as bitchy as you are.” She waved a hand at my growl. “Don’t get all pissy. Here’s the way I see it.” This was going to be good. “You and Daddy are waiting for her to come to you. She is sitting over there waiting for you to come to her. All of you are miserable, but here’s the thing, all you have to do is meet on a neutral ground. So I am inviting you over for dinner at our place.”

“Sunday dinner sounds great and all Amber, but I don’t think sitting through a meal together where one of the guests won’t be eating just makes for a really awkward reunion.” I wanted Shelly to admit that she made the mistake and we could work it out, not sit at a table and watch us eat because she had been invited to a dinner party.

“That’s why I won’t be there. Neither will anyone in my Clan. The upstairs rooms are sound proof. So if you close the doors, you don’t have to worry about any of the neighbors calling the cops.” She pushed her belly forward and levered herself off the counter.

I grimaced. “Amber, you giving us your house to have make-up sex is…strange.”

“Y’all are denying what you want, and it’s making you crazy. Which in turn is making everyone around you crazy. I don’t need any more crazy. I have enough of my own, thank you very much.” She rested the bag of chocolate chips in the bend of her arm and pointed at me after tossing another bite in her mouth. “I like to keep my Clan on their toes, but this has some of the hybrids we picked up regretting the decision to join us.”

Amber’s belly dipped and turned and bucked under her skin. The little critter inside was getting more and more active. Part of me worried the kid would bust through. I had delivered hybrid babies before. They were really strong. Luckily, they weren’t any bigger than regular babies. Amber’s stomach moved again. Well, hybrids weren’t
usually
bigger than regular babies. This kid could prove me wrong.

“You know you can call me any time if you think this baby might bust out early, right?” I looked to Jake and made sure he knew the invitation was for him as well.

Amber had finished the chocolate chips and grabbed a bag of pretzels. Jake motioned me away while she looked for some milk to go with it.

“We know that she is close. The whole Clan is watching out for her. Many do so out of fear at this point. And I am afraid your Alpha is adding to the stress. He can be overbearing. Were it not for his relationship with Amber, quite a few of the men and some of the women would have put him in his place.” Jake put his hands up to make sure I knew he was not being confrontational. “You know as well as I that an Alpha from another Pack has no rank inside another. He is pushing for a fight. We are refusing his advances.”

“You make it sound like he is propositioning you over there for something dirty.” I snorted.

“Perhaps…” Jake cleared his throat. The man’s eyes darted to his mate, and he pulled me back outside and lowered his voice before he continued. “Perhaps a proposition is not what is needed. Perhaps an Alpha’s action to claim his mate is.”

“What about the third wheel Beta?” If anyone was feeling impotent in this situation it was me. My dick was good. My dick had a clear idea of what needed to happen. The whole relationship part was the fragile china cup sitting on a rickety old shelf. If I let my dick do what it wanted, I was worried the tremors would knock off the relationship cup and smash everything to smithereens.

“You know a Beta’s purpose, do you not?” he asked.

“To put up with the Alpha’s shit and back him up when he loses it?”

Jake laughed. “At times, perhaps. But in this case, I think the true purpose of the Beta is needed here.”

If this vampire who had just claimed his wolf was about to educate me on Pack politics, I was going to need to hit something.

In what seemed to be an everyday occurrence as of late, Jake showed me I didn’t know shit.

“Doc, you are the creator of your Pack. Leadership is a strength that is given by those being led. You chose your leader. You created the wolf who leads your Pack. You saw the potential in a man bleeding out from the bite of another of your kind.”

“I saved Lily’s family. That’s all that was, Jake.” I was more at peace with my memories now than I’d been initially. But the smell of the blood still stung my nose at the thought of how I’d found them. “I saved as much of her family as I could, anyways.”

“Why did you step down from the relationship you wanted all those years ago?”

I looked at the hybrid who had started us all down this path not too terribly long ago. He was seriously asking me this question. The man had some balls.

“Because threesomes were looked down upon in polite society back then.”

“And the same is not true today?” He raised his brow at me. “I beg to differ. Society has not changed. Society is cyclical. It moves but it rarely changes. Society judges others. You have chosen mates that are taboo, not only in the human society, but in that of the supernatural as well. You made your choice, you fought for your choice, and now you expect it to come easily?”

“I know nothing about Shelly is easy. I expected her to fight too. And she did.” I folded my arms. “She fought to get away. I can handle a fight now. I just don’t think I should fight with my mate. Or
mates
, as the case may be.” I never let my gaze drop from Jake’s. He was not my superior, but he had an insight about holding on to the one you loved that I really envied at the moment.

“Passion lends to battle, like water lends to spring growth. The greater the love, the greater the passion, the more destined the struggle. Love is worth the war. Don’t tell me you’ve retired your armor already?” Jake let his words sit with me and helped Amber back to their vehicle.

I heard a slap. He must have gotten too close to Amber’s pretzels.

Guess I needed to go get ready for a family dinner. Shelly didn’t need to eat food, but I knew exactly who I wanted for my main course. Time to go get my Alpha so we could claim the meal that was rightfully ours.