A Mating Dance (12 page)

“Sorry, Blaine.”

She lowered the barrel of her 9 mm and fired. Her heart stopped as Blaine cried out and went down. But she focused on the mutant, who stood dumfounded. Raising her gun back up, she fired again, hitting the monster between the eyes.

Holstering her Glock, she ran to Blaine.

He glared at her. “You fucking shot me.”

“Just be glad it was my bullet that brought you down instead of the mutant’s teeth.” She raised his jeans over the calf muscle. Relief flooded her. “It’s just a knick.”

“Knick hell. Female, there’s a damn bullet in my leg.”

She lifted his arm to place it around her shoulders and helped him stand. “Can you teleport?”

He grunted. “Yeah, I can teleport.”

Alec and Dane rushed out of the trees and froze. Cameron waved a hand at them and said, “Take care of the freak back there.” She nodded toward the mutant. “Then bring Jason’s body to the medical center.”

She didn’t hear their replies because the world around her fuzzed out as Blaine teleported them to the medical center.

Chapter 10

Graham sat on the sofa at Nevan’s trying like hell to figure out the equations and symbols. He didn’t know a thing about physics or chemistry or whatever the hell they called this shit. It all looked like a bunch of letters with numbers thrown in for good measure.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.
What the hell happened, Isaac?

When he opened his eyes and lowered his hand, he saw Sammie standing next to him looking at the journal. He grabbed her into a hug and tugged her onto his lap. “Have I told you I missed you?”

She giggled. “Yes. I missed you, too.” She rested her head on his chest and brought the book onto her lap. “This,” she point to the word
lupus
, “is Latin for wolf.”

He raised a brow at her. “You read Latin?”

She shrugged. “Daddy taught me.”

“Okay, so what does this mean?”

She cocked her head and studied the writing. “That’s a chemical equation. The letters are elements from the periodic table.” She turned and met his eyes. “Didn’t you take chemistry?”

“A long ass time ago,” he muttered then asked her, “So, ‘Miss Chemist’, what is it?”

She shrugged again. “Don’t know. It’s some kind of formula to make something.”

A cold chill ran down his back. No. Isaac wouldn’t. Not unless he was forced or feared for the life of his children. Damn it all to hell!

Sammie looked at him wide-eyed. “What’s wrong? You know something.”

Dani came into the living room at that time, and Graham held the book up, opened to the page he and Sammie were looking at. “What do you think this is?”

Dani dipped her eyebrows and read over the page. When she looked back at him, her eyes held a hint of fear in them. “I could be completely wrong. It’s been a while since I studied bio-chemistry.”

“What is it, Dani?” Graham urged softly.

“It could be the formula for the mutant serum.”

Sammie gasped, and Graham hugged her close as she spoke. “Josie said she was infected with the mutant virus.”

Dani frowned. “Yes. We don’t know how. She was so sick, but lucky for her Shay has a natural resistance to the virus and was able to help her.”

Sammie nodded. “Yeah, she said Luna made her wolf come out.”

Graham peered at Dani as she handed the journal back to him. “I always wondered why she was the only four-year-old able to shift.”

“And a ball of energy too.” Dani smiled then frowned as her cell rang. She peered at the screen and quickly answered it. “Hello…how bad? Okay, I’ll be right there.”

She met Graham’s stare and sighed. “Blaine’s been shot.”

His heart sank to his stomach. “What? How bad?”

Dani’s frown held, but there was there also amusement in her gaze. She moved to the door saying, “Cameron shot him in the leg. It’s not life-threatening.”

He eased Sammie off his lap and frowned. Max was taking a nap. Sammie took his hand and squeezed. “If Max wakes before you get back, I’ll bring him to you.”

He peered down at her, and his heart swelled. She was so strong and way too young to have gone through what she did. Those rogues would pay for harming his babies. He stroked a finger down her cheek. “Thanks.” He knelt down at eye level with her, which wasn’t too far. She came up to his chest. “I love you, Sammie.”

She smiled wide and threw her arms around his neck. “Love you, too, Papa. Now go take care of your mates.”

He drew back and studied her. “How did you…?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m ten, not blind.”

Dani cleared her throat, drawing his attention back to her. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Explain what?
And when had Sammie started to grow up enough to notice things like mating and relationships?

He followed Dani out the door. The tug to go back inside, wake up Max, and bring him and Sammie with him was strong. Beside him, Dani laughed.

“She’ll be okay.”

“I know. I can’t help but want to keep them safe twenty-four-seven.”

Dani let out another soft laugh. “I know. They’ve been through a lot. But, really, they are as safe as they can be inside the den.”

He knew that, understood it now that he’d been here for the past week. Being in a Pack was like having a hundred or so siblings. The love and respect between the members was just as strong, if not stronger, than the bond he had with his brothers and mother.

“Yeah, you’re right. This whole Onyx Pack issue has put me on edge.”

Dani gently touched his bicep when they reached the door of the medical center. “Trust me, everyone’s on edge because of those bastards. But we have to remain a Pack and support each other.”

“Does Nevan know how great you are?”

She smiled. “I think he has some idea.” She stepped inside the building and instantly went into doctor mode.

Sasha, the wolf Healer, stepped out of a room to their right with a smirk. “He’s grumpy.”

Dani snorted and entered the room. Graham was right on her heels. “So, Blaine, you finally pushed Cam’s last button?”

Graham’s gaze landed on the large male sitting up on the bed, his injured leg stretched out in front of him. Blaine had nothing but a pair of black boxers on. Besides the dried blood and dime-size hole in his leg, he looked good.

Blaine’s gaze found his, and he gave Graham a nod before turning to the Healer. “You’re not funny, Dani.”

Dani laughed and rolled up her sleeves to the thin cotton shirt she wore, exposing the webs of scar tissue that ran up her right arm. Graham knew she’d been in a fire and badly burned while trying to bring down a drugged-out teen several years ago. Nevan had told him, not to expose his mate, but as a warning not to let her see him notice the scars.

The Healer knew though. She covered them as much as she could, and Graham figured it was so that others didn’t cast her pitiful gazes.

Cameron came into the room, winked at him, and went to Blaine’s side. Graham stifled a grin at her as she narrowed her eyes on Blaine. “I think Dani should make you heal on your own.”

Blaine gripped Cameron by the back of neck and drew her in for a hard, possessive kiss. Graham tensed at first, not use to his mates’ edgy playfulness with one another, but he relaxed as soon as Blaine’s mouth claimed Cam’s. His body came to life as he watched them. Memories of the three of them from the night before filled his mind. His cock hardened, pressing painfully into the zipper of his jeans.

As if sensing his shift in mood, Blaine broke the kiss and motioned him over with a jerk of the head. Graham walked over and gave the male a crooked grin. “So, what did you do to warrant Cam’s bullet?” he teased, hoping like hell it was an accident.

He couldn’t imagine Cameron shooting her mate on purpose. Yeah, she could kill; he didn’t doubt that. She was an enforcer and, from what he’d heard, a kick-ass-take-no-names enforcer. But he had seen her soft side, her maternal side, and the love she gave her friends and family.

Cameron leaned into Graham, pressing her shoulder into his bicep. The warmth from her body relaxed him a little, and her sweet jasmine scent made him want to take her, again.

Blaine sucked in a breath. Graham peered at Dani next to him. She had placed her hand over the wound and a soft glow bled through her fingers as she pushed her healing powers into him. After what seemed like minutes, she raised her hand to reveal the hole completely closed up. The skin around it was still red and angry.

Blaine moved his leg to hang it off the bed and clasped Graham on the shoulder. “Our mate thought shooting me would save my life.”

Graham felt his lips twitch. Amusement filled him at Blaine’s teasing tone, washing out the tension he’d had when Dani said Blaine had been shot. Cameron looked up at Graham from where she stood between them and rolled her eyes. “He’s alive, isn’t he?”

Graham let out a laugh. “Yes, but he still has that big ego.”

Cameron snorted. “You are so right.”

Blaine scowled and hopped off the bed, wincing when he put weight on his injured leg. Graham reached out, but Blaine shook his head and waved him and Cameron off. The male was stubborn, but Graham already knew that.

Cameron wrapped an arm around Blaine’s waist, ignoring the low growl he gave her. “I’m taking grumpy home to rest.”

Graham dipped his head to hide the grin that wouldn’t leave. These two shifters did that to him. Made him smile and laugh. Something he’d rarely done since Isaac left. Shaking off the depressing thoughts before they could take root, he said, “I’m heading over to Jared’s office. Do you mind if I stop by your place after? I found something in the journal.”

Blaine bobbed his head as he gave up fighting Cam off and leaned on her. “Sounds great. Cam can cook us dinner tonight.”

She rolled her eyes again but smiled. “Sure, why not? You like cereal?”

It was Blaine’s turn to laugh. “Now you are just being difficult, female.” He winked at Graham and said, “She’s a great cook.”

Without a clear thought, Graham leaned in and pressed a kiss to Cameron’s lips. She let out a low purr as she kissed him back. Pulling back, he peered at Blaine, whose gray eyes glowed with desire. But, before he stepped away, Blaine cupped the back of Graham’s neck and pulled him in for a quick kiss on the mouth.

Graham’s heart raced, pumping blood through his veins much too fast and hot. Damn. It was going to be hard as hell to walk away from them if this didn’t work.

He turned and froze at the sight of Dani cleaning up and trying to act as though she hadn’t seen anything. He knew her hearing worked perfectly. He cleared his throat and walked over to stand next to her. Cameron and Blaine left, the leopard male still teasing Cam about being shot.

“Do you mind watching the kids?”

She turned to him with a smile on her face. “No. Nevan wanted to sit down with Max tonight anyway. You know. Empath to empath.”

Graham nodded. “That would be great.”

Dani touched his forearm. “Don’t worry about the kids. Get to know your mates.”

He kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek. “Thanks.”

***

“So, you found him?”

Jared drew in a slow, calming breath before he growled out the answer to Luna’s question. Anger boiled his blood and set his jaguar on a lethal edge. “Not yet, but I’m close. The female has hidden my son well.”

He heard her stand up, and he cast a glance over his shoulder. At five feet five, the wolf Alpha looked delicate and small, but he knew better. Luna was just as fierce, if not more so, than any male Alpha he’d ever met. Her round face framed with curly red hair only added to the deception. She could lure the enemy in with a smile then kill them before they knew what happened.

He’d seen it first-hand.

“We’ll find him, Jared, and bring him home.” She moved closer to him.

He tensed, not wanting to be this close to her in the mood he was in. He was too wired, too on edge. Fifteen years without sex would do that to a male.

It wasn’t that he had a problem finding a female to bed. He got offers all the time from the unmated females in the Pack, both wolves and felines. However, he couldn’t find release with any of them. Not with his fated mate still alive.

Fuck. He had to find Sable and kill her.

“My son is my concern for now, Luna. Lord knows you and Keegan have enough on your plates.”

She let out a growl and released her Alpha power into the room. A warning for him to not forget who she was. “You are Pack. Your concerns are ours.” She turned and walked toward the door. Before she left, she added, “I don’t care if you have to fuck the enemy, just do something to calm your cat.”

Jared growled in frustration and whirled around. Luna was gone. In her place stood Graham Griffin, Nevan’s stepbrother.

Shit. Could Jared be any more of an ass?

Taking a deep breath, Jared sat behind his desk and motioned Graham to have a seat while he studied the male. He smelled like Cameron, and that made Jared’s jaguar bare his teeth. He could also smell Blaine on him as well.

He smirked. His little sis hadn’t said anything about Blaine in their brief conversation earlier. He hadn’t even seen Blaine in a couple of days. Jared had been too busy tracking down his son and coming up empty. Again.

Jared sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “A triad?”

Graham narrowed his eyes but nodded. “It seems so.”

Well, hell. He’d always thought his sister was too aggressive for one male. But that was really none of his business. Cameron was grown and no longer needed him interfering in her life. The truth was, he fully trusted and respected Blaine.

Jared picked up a file folder from the stack on the corner of his desk and opened it. “I looked over Isaac’s will that Keegan dropped off yesterday.” He pulled a sheet of paper from the folder and slid it toward Graham. “I just need your signature, and the kids are yours.”

A flash of silver rippled through Graham’s irises. Jared was glad he wasn’t empathic. The emotions running through Graham right now would have done serious damage to his careful control. “You live with your brother with those emotions?” Jared asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.