Cracked (3 page)

Yeah, I saw. I can’t believe the two of you kept
that
a secret from me.

We’ll talk later.
The rumble disappeared from her mind on a comforting sigh.

Back in Mac’s room, Gerard turned to face his lover. “She’s okay. She’s back.” He opened his arms, and the other man walked into his embrace. Gerard cupped Mac’s head in his hand, rubbing cheek to cheek. “I’m sorry about the tree.”

“I didn’t want her to find out this way,” Mac whispered, running his hands along Gerard’s chest.

“I know.” Gerard rumbled, sweeping his own hands down Mac’s back. “Hey, I love you.” He pressed a kiss to Mac’s forehead.

“I love you too.” Mac met Gerard’s eyes. “And she’s my best friend. And she’s going to hate me for this.”

“No, she isn’t. Have a little faith, dear one.” Gerard turned Mac’s head up for a kiss. Unlike the kiss Sarita had interrupted, this one was tender and sweet, the heat and desire between them simmering instead of exploding. Gerard pulled himself away slowly.

“She needs us now. We need to go to your mom’s place.”

“Okay.” Mac reached for their shirts, pulling his own over his head. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Three

S
arita held Angelo’s hand as they walked toward the library. He considered how strange this day must be feeling to her—this morning, planning her seduction of Gerard, and now walking with her honest-to-Goddess mate. He looked up, catching her watching him, and she blushed. He wondered what she’d been thinking as she watched him—was she as flabbergasted by the day’s events as he was?

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” he said as he smiled at her. “Even though I’ve been mated before… This just feels amazing, knowing it’s me who put that blush in your cheeks. Knowing that before long, you’ll wear my bite. I feel so incredibly lucky.” He held open the door and followed her through it. Nostalgia swept over him as they entered the library, crossing to the elevator. The last time he’d been here, over two decades before, he’d been a broken, jealous man. But now the smell of old books and paper made him smile at the memories of working in this building, building Amazon’s business empire—a legacy that had been carefully tended by his successor, Graham. He looked forward to seeing the blond wolf again and his lovely mate Ellen, named The Last Ghost.

The elevator door opened into Monica and Fionn’s apartment, and the sense of coming home intensified. He’d missed Monica’s friendship the past two decades. Hearing the sound of the elevator bell, Bianca came striding out of Monica’s office.

“Sarita, sweetie! Your dad said you were on your way over. And…oh my Goddess. Angelo?” Bianca crowed, running into his arms. Her white hair was pulled into a simple ponytail, her lavender eyes shining with excitement at seeing an old friend. Angelo hugged her tight. He’d missed Bianca too.

“
Sí
, it’s me, Beebee.” He grinned.

“Angelo’s here?” Monica came out of her office, beaming. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back, I mean, you said you would when it was time, but oh, it’s good to see you!” She stepped forward to embrace him, but Sarita stepped between them, her lip curling.

“Mine,”
she snarled. She was threatening the national Alpha female, but clearly her wolf didn’t care. Angelo was hers.

Monica took a step back, her jaw dropped in amazement. Bianca also stepped away to look at Sarita.

“
Querida
, let me,” Angelo whispered, tugging Sarita to his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled reassuringly, “I met Sarita on my way here, and our wolves recognized each other. She is my mate.”

The two older women started talking at once, gestures and snarls flying. Angelo thought for a moment that Sarita’s mother was about to shift. The din was incredible—the only certainty was that both women were angry, whether at Sarita or Angelo, he wasn’t sure.

“Stop it!” Sarita shouted. “The polite thing to do is to congratulate us. Not berate us for this. We’re not children.”

This brought Bianca up short. “You’re
my
child though, Sarita. Are you certain? You’re very young.”

“Bianca. Do you think I would take advantage of your daughter?” Angelo asked quietly. “I, who have been your friend for so many years?”

“No. I’m sorry.” She turned her neck to her friend in apology, and he caressed the side of her face. Between Angelo and Bianca, there would always be understanding. They’d been the inner circle of Monica’s Amazon many years together before Bianca had mated.

Fionn, Monica’s mate, stepped out of the office, and Angelo winced. Somehow, Fionn Murphy had a way of making everyone else in a room feel small and insignificant. He took up so much space with his presence, and it seemed to grow as the years passed and he became more self-assured. Fionn was still a young wolf at around 70, but years of managing wolf politics had settled him into a maturity that had only been hinted at before. He was still bearded and hard-muscled, and Angelo knew he could bring every other wolf in the room to their knees if he wanted—his charm was that powerful. He’d made Angelo alternately angry and afraid since the moment he’d met him, and yet, he liked the man in spite of everything.

“Angelo.” Fionn reached out a hand to shake. “What’s all the fuss?”

“Uncle Fionn, I’ve met my mate.” Sarita smiled, her adoration of her uncle apparent.

“Congratulations, Ita.” He smiled as he pressed a kiss to her cheek, looking over her shoulder at Angelo. “Angelo is a damn good man.”

The elevator chimed, and Gerard and Mac walked into the apartment.

“Hey, Mom; hey, Dad.” Mac waved to his parents and smiled sheepishly at Sarita. “Ita, can we talk for a minute?”

She followed him into his mother’s office, and they shut the door.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling her into a hug. “That’s not how I wanted you to find out.”

“Not how you wanted me to find out about you and Bear, or not how you wanted me to find out you’re gay?”

“Both. Neither. Whatever. I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

“You could have told me, you know.”

“I know. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just wasn’t sure about everything? I thought I liked girls, I mean, I’ve fooled around with girls, but Gerard…”

“Takes your breath away and makes you feel all gooey-hot inside?” She smiled, thinking of her response to Angelo’s touch, to his kiss.

“Yeah.” Mac grinned. “I’m sorry. I knew how you felt about him. I should have said something. Ita, we tried to stay apart because we didn’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s okay. Oh honey, I wish you knew how okay it was. Don’t be mad at yourselves. I think I understand. Mac, I met my mate today.”

“What? Angelo? He’s your mate?” Mac’s expression was both stunned and thrilled.

“Yeah. Gerard didn’t tell you?” She raised an eyebrow at him. Gerard usually filled Mac in on most everything. The three of them had been inseparable for so many years—it just made things easier.

“Well, we weren’t exactly talking.” Mac blushed.

“Wow. You and Bear.”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome.” She grinned.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” As she folded her best friend into a hug, she knew they were more than okay. Somehow, it seemed right that it would be Gerard, her gentle protector, who won her best friend’s heart. “But how does that work?” She pulled back and looked at him curiously.

“Um. Don’t you think that’s a little personal?” He blushed again.

“No, I didn’t mean
that.
I have a pretty good idea how that works, actually. I mean, does this mean you don’t have a wolf-mate?”

“I don’t know, Ita. I love him. I don’t really want a mate.” He looked sad at the thought, and she comforted him, rubbing his shoulder as she searched for the right words.

“Well, we can always ask the Goddess once I bust her out of jail.” Sarita giggled at the imagery in her head.

“You’re completely insane. And adorable.” Mac smiled as he read the imagery out of her mind in the way packmates could.

“You love it.”

“I do, Ita. I love you. You’re my best friend. No more secrets, okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded, hugging him again.

Friendship assured, Sarita and Mac made their way back to Monica’s sitting room. Sarita was pleased to see Gerard had placed himself between Monica and Angelo, protecting her feelings while she was in the other room. Her eyes pricked with gratitude as she sat down next to Angelo. She squeezed Gerard’s hand and looked at her mate, feeling a shiver of desire.

“Glad you’re back,” Angelo whispered in her ear, nipping at it almost imperceptibly. The light touch of his teeth made her squirm in her seat.

“So, why now, Gerard? You wouldn’t tell me anything until Angelo returned. He’s here. What’s going on?” Monica looked at the Guide, her legendary abruptness bringing a smile to Angelo’s face.
Damn, he’d missed her
. She hadn’t changed much in the years he’d been away. She sat perched on the arm of her couch, her feet in her mate’s lap, her direct stare boring into Bear. Meanwhile, Fionn Murphy sat back and arched an eyebrow at the Guide, waiting patiently for an explanation. Sarita’s mother, as Alpha of Amazon, sat nearby, her pale lavender eyes absorbing everything.

“Angelo.” The Guide turned to him. “I believe you need to tell the Alphas about the irregularities you’ve been seeing.”

Angelo nodded, absently stroking Sarita’s hand.

“About five years ago, I started seeing some interesting business practices among very rich entities. I started tracking the businesses, watching how they changed hands, and I had one of my employees write a special software program to keep track. The targeted businesses operate much the way we did before the humans knew about us. Leadership and ownership in these companies seemed to cycle through patterns designed to disguise the age of the investors involved.” Angelo paused to scrub a hand over his face. “They are very clever. I might have missed them if I weren’t accustomed to looking at paranormal finances. I’m about 85 percent certain that the First Blood have come to America. If they haven’t yet, they will be here soon.”

“What or who is First Blood?” Sarita asked quietly.

“Humans would call them vampires, I suppose,” Fionn answered slowly. “They are the strongest paranormal species in Europe, and they weren’t created by the Goddess.”

“They were not created by a deity at all,” Gerard rumbled. “They aren’t like us.”

“What are they like?” Bianca asked, her face showing that faraway look she had sometimes that usually meant she was sharing something with Jack through their bond.

It was Fionn who spoke. “Imagine the perfect blend of organized crime
and
organized religion. Sprinkle liberally with bloodlust. First Blood are power-hungry, yet the strict laws and ceremony of their society keep them in check. Vampires feed on blood, though as far as I know, the Blood-Drinkers don’t kill their victims. Maybe enthrall them somehow. They live much, much longer than we do. Rumors that they don’t go out during the day are baseless—they may be sensitive to sunlight, but they can and do walk in the day. They are godless—worshiping power to the exclusion of everything else.”

“So why are they here?” Sarita asked. “Have they come to challenge you, Uncle Fionn?”

“I doubt it. I met some of them when I went to Ireland with Pop and Dev a decade ago. They didn’t seem interested in shaking down with the wolves. The ones we met were respectful of my rank among wolf-kind, very polite about it all.”

Gerard mumbled something under his breath, then looked at the wolves surrounding him. “The Blood-Drinkers are here for Sarita.”

The room erupted into chaos. Bianca’s claws emerged, and Angelo’s teeth were bared, Mac shouted something at his father, and Fionn and Monica both snarled at the Guide.

Finally Sarita stamped her foot and shouted, “Enough! Good grief, you all are adults. How about you let the man speak?” When everyone looked suitably abashed, she turned to her Guide and smiled, “Go ahead, Bear.”

“Blood-Drinkers worship power, and they crave it. Freeing the Goddess will disrupt the power balance.” Gerard shrugged. “They like things the way they are. They’re very old and resist change.”

“Sounds familiar.” Fionn and Bianca shared a knowing glance.

“So what’s my gig in all this? I’m barely more than a pup, and I’m small to boot.” Sarita felt her wolf whine slipping into her voice, and she blushed.

“You need to be at the proper place when the lunar eclipse occurs and the barrier is weak enough for you to pull the Goddess from her captivity. According to the prophecies, the Third Usher’s task is to make a choice.
That is your task
. Everything else is secondary.” Gerard tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes. “I will protect you at all costs. I am secondary.
First Blood will not touch you
.”

“Why are they called that?” Mac asked.

“It’s a translation of a language that doesn’t exist anymore.” Fionn shrugged. “Their original name is lost to the wolves, but I imagine some Blood-Drinkers can still say it.”

Bianca cleared her throat. “Well, Bear, suddenly, you make a lot of sense.” The big man met the Albina’s eyes. “Your sister told me once that each Guide was especially suited to the Usher with whom they were paired. Sara’s vision—and visions—were necessary to me. Annie’s power and speed helped to bring resolution to Fionn’s task. You protect my baby. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me, but I’m glad you’re here.” She stood and left the room suddenly. Sarita stood to follow her, but Gerard and Angelo both pulled her back down to the sofa.

“She’s fine, Ita. She needs a moment to compose herself,” Gerard murmured. He met Angelo’s eyes over Sarita’s head and smiled softly, acknowledging the truth of Bianca’s words.

“Where is Annie?” Angelo asked suddenly, noting her absence. Fionn flinched and Monica rolled her eyes.

“She’s having a tantrum,” Monica said.

“Mo,” Fionn cautioned.

“Well, what would you call it then? She went off in a snit a couple of weeks ago. She’ll be back soon enough when she remembers that we aren’t the enemy.” Monica waved a hand dismissively.

“Goddess, you can be a bitch, Mom.” Mac scowled. “I’m going. I don’t need to be here for this.” He leaned across Bear and brushed a kiss to Sarita’s cheek. “Howl at me later, ’kay?”

She nodded.

Angelo looked pointedly at Monica, waiting for an explanation. She blushed under his gaze.