Finally Home (6 page)

Fredi turned and smiled at both men and walked back into the room where the little sitting room held a desk, couch, and several chairs.

"Do you feel it?” Marshall asked Fredi.

She scrunched her forehead and said, "The mating pull? Yeah, I do. Sorry, Bane, when you said that at the airport I kinda freaked. Jo and Tey said, as a White Wolf, I would only have one mate. So someone is wrong here," Fredi said, feeling confused, she felt the same pull to both men, but she only had one mate. What the hell was going on?

Bane barked out a laugh and then said, "Sorry, sweet thing, we are mates. I think you possibly may want to give them a call, because somewhere the wires got crossed. Maybe the kitty over here sniffed wrong."

Marshall clenched his fists together and turned to face Fredi. "We are mates."

"Boys,” Fredi said with an eye roll, trying to stop the fight before it got rolling.

"No, WE THREE are mates. That is what you are feeling,” Marshall growled.

"WHAT? No, no way. Jo only has one; I'm supposed to have one. What?” Fredi couldn't believe what she was hearing; it did make perfect sense though. This explained the feelings she was feeling toward both men. She walked over slowly and sat down on the couch, as her legs wouldn't hold her up much longer.

Marshall came around and sat beside her, putting his arm around her. "We both can feel it. We are tri-mated. We need to call Cami and get her to find out what the hell is going on."

"I must tell you I am as stunned as the two of you, it is very, very rare for a vampire to mate with a shifter. Orfeo's destiny was foretold to us. His mating was prophesized to give us the sun back. This, well, I am unsure of what is happening. But it is kinda cool if you think about it, I bet the sex is gonna be amazing though,” Bane stated as he sat across from them on the loveseat and wiggled his eyebrow.

"Knock it off! It's too late to call Milliken now. This will have to wait until morning. Fredi is tired and needs to rest,” Marshall told Bane with a low growl in his voice.

Bane was going crazy inside; he wanted to claim his mates. The way he dealt with shit was to joke or he would be across the room and sinking his teeth into his mates and drinking.
He had two mates
! What the fuck was going on? He had resigned himself to waiting some time for his mate to arrive in his life. Now they, THEY, were here and he couldn't believe he had two, let alone they were shifters! He needed to speak to Orfeo, needed to find some answers. He stood.

He didn’t like the way this was going. His mates seemed to not want him in their Triad and that wasn’t acceptable. Dammit, this was a cluster fuck of epic proportions as far as he was concerned. His mates may be denying him, what was he going to do? He felt a ball form right in his chest, and he was not going to let them know how hurt he was.

"Of course, rest. I am going to see Orfeo and explain that the plans have changed. I will come in the morning and we will all meet for breakfast. See you then.” He glanced for a moment at Fredi, his eyes raking her frame going back to meet her eyes. He looked grim as he turned toward the door and left.

Fredi turned to Marshall and he enveloped her in his arms without having to be asked. He murmured to her that all would be okay and then held her close for a moment before breaking away. She felt like shit, Bane looked so dejected and it was all her fault.

"Are you hungry? You barely ate on the plane. Do you want something to drink?” He went into the kitchen and began looking through the refrigerator.

"Maybe a glass of juice?” she said. She really wasn't hungry at all.

He poured her some apple juice and then handed it to her. He got out a beer and downed half of it before setting it down on the counter.

"I think I will go lay down for a while. It's late and we have to go greet Orfeo, Tripp, and Cat in the morning,” Fredi said.

"You take the master bedroom, I will stay in the guest room. Sleep well, sweetness,” Marshall said as he approached her and laid a kiss on her lips, deepening the kiss when she put her arms around his neck. Their tongues dueled for several moments and she sunk into his body, his warmth. Then he released her and she turned and walked back to the bedroom. She was on fire and wanted him but knew they had a lot to sort out before that could happen, Bane needed to know she felt the same way for him as she did for Marshall, even though she just met him. All she could think of was herself in middle of a hogtie sandwich, fuck, she was so screwed. And she couldn’t shake the feeling that she made a huge mistake by letting Bane walk out the door.

Chapter Six

Bane slammed into the main house. His Clan leaders were standing in the living room with several other of the Clan members. Cat looked at him with a startled expression, which quickly turned to worry when she saw the look on their Second’s face.

“
What is wrong,” Cat said quickly, after she excused herself.

“
I need to talk to Orfeo,” Bane said stiffly—
talking to Cat about this would be weird
.

“No, you need to talk to all of us. Tripp, Orfeo, office
now
,” Cat called and pulled his arm, trying to drag him into the office. When he stood still and she had to keep tugging, she stopped, turned, and stomped her foot. “Knock it off, and come with me.”

Bane rolled his eyes and allowed her to pull him to the office. Once they were all inside, Bane knew if he could blush, he would right now.
This was awkward
.

“Sire, Frederica and Marshall are here, and settled into the villa,” he started and his leaders looked at him with interest.

“ANNNNNNDDDDD,” Cat said, motioning with her hand trying to get him to elaborate.

“
Fuck
,” Bane yelled and made Cat jump. Orfeo looked shock at his outburst and Tripp laughed.

“
Someone has a female issue.” Tripp grinned.

Cat looked at him and smiled, “Fredi is your mate?”

Bane looked uncomfortable and said, “Cat, can I talk to Orfeo and Tripp alone?”

“
Ummmmm, hell to the no, this is news, gossip, I am the Queen of the Vamps and I will be in on this juicy tidbit so spill it,” Cat demanded and sat on the edge of the desk.

“
Fine,” Bane said grumpily and then said, “Yes, Fredi is my mate, and more good news. Marshall is my mate, too.”

“
Dude, my brother is your fucking mate? This just keeps getting better and better,” Tripp said and looked at Bane with a grin spread across his face.

“
Not possible,” Orfeo said slowly and looked at Tripp and Cat. “We are the only Triad Vampire mates.”

Cat rose from the desk, looked at her mates, and laughed. “Men are so arrogant. I get the whole prophesy thing is like all-important to you. But get a grip, did you really think we were the only ones in the world there is something written down about? Jeeze, and if I remember correctly we were all hung up on the fact that it said SHE would be the key. Let’s spitball here, men, what if it meant the women in the Senate are the key, get it, we all have special blood.”

Orfeo paused and looked at Tripp and Cat with shock, how could they have been so stupid. Of course, Jax had special blood also and now Fredi, the women were the key to the Senate coming together.

Bane looked at his leaders and shook his head,
what the hell were they talking about? And seriously, why did he care
? He shook his head and held up his hand, “There is more.”

Cat laughed and looked around to her friend and head of their security. “Of course, we have to plan a celebration.”

“Not so fast,” Bane said grimly. “They don’t want me as their mate.”

“The fuck you say,” Cat exclaimed and pushed a button on the desk. “Have Jax and her mates come to the office please.”

“Why are we bringing them in?” Bane demanded, his humiliation would be complete with Brin, Dante, and Jax coming.

The other Senate members walked in laughing, they had obviously been in the dinner party going on that Bane interrupted.

“What’s up?” Jax said and bumped Bane with her hip as she walked by.

“We have an issue,” Cat said with determination. Orfeo explained to the others what they thought was happening.

“I have not seen this,” Jax said and frowned. “Are you sure she is really your mate?”

Bane threw up his hand in frustration. “Really? You too? What is wrong with you people? I know she is my damn mate, I can feel it.”

“Calm down, Superman,” Cat said and walked to him. Superman is what she called him and he called her Cat Woman, Jax was Wonder Woman. Since Bane was the head of security, there were times where he had guarded them himself, they were too important. Now, when the girls went off the compound, he took them.

“
Calm down
? My mates are denying me, one of them has a stick stuck up his ass, sorry, Tripp, but that is your brother, and the other broke my fucking nose earlier.
You
calm down,” Bane roared and Dante walked to him.

Cat turned on Tripp. "What is wrong with Marshall, he is logical. He won't accept my friend as his mate. Tripp, I will kick his ass, family or not."

"Cat, Marshall has always been serious, I don't know what is going on with him, but he would have a good reason for his actions. Or at least think he does anyway. When I see him, I will ask, okay," Tripp smiled at her as she stared daggers back at him.

"Hey, can we focus back on my problem," Bane said.

“Dude, I thought your nose was just crooked,” Dante said to his friend as he examined his nose.

“Fuck off, man,” Bane growled and stood straighter. They may be Senate members, but he was no slouch, if they pissed him off, Bane could do some damage. Orfeo understood they had pushed him too far and held up his hand.

“Enough—Bane, explain everything to us,” he commanded and his HOS began to tell them everything that happened.

“Aww, cute, she was sorry she broke your nose,” Jax pointed out and smiled.

Bane glared at her and then continued. No one said another word until he was done. Then there was stunned silence, his friends and superiors looked at him with various looks on their face. The men were trying not to laugh, while the two women were looking like they were going to cry.

“That is so messed up,” Jax said and then looked at her mates, who coughed to make noises to cover their laughter. “And if you two are going to be pricks, you can go back to the party. Remember though, tonight when we are all snuggled in bed, you are going to be alone, because I will be sleeping in the guest room.”

“Hey,” Dante protested and then grudgingly looked at Bane. “Dude, sorry, we get it. But you know over the years that we have watched you get any woman you want. It’s hard for us to think there is someone who is beyond your reach.”

Cat stood, walked to Bane, and put a hand on his shoulder. Her mates rolled their eyes; she was a sucker for a dude in distress.

“Maybe we should think about this clearly. It was a shock to her, to them, I mean think about it. They had already been told there was just going to be the two of them, and you fall out of the sky. Maybe they were startled. Yep, you are going to have to woo them. Especially Fredi,
Marshall
you can take him out for a beer, do the crotch shift, compare dicks or whatever you men do to bond, and then you will be good. We just need a little plan to get this moving along,” Cat said and clapped. “Breakfast tomorrow will be the start, and then we will be able to see what their reaction is, Jax and I can take care of Fredi for the day, you take Marshall, and we are all good. Before you know it, they will see how we see you.”

Tripp snorted and said, “A pain in the ass?”

“A man whore?” Dante laughed.

“Guys, no, an arrogant asshole,” Brin said.

“Hell no, a muscle bound prick,” Orfeo said with a smirk on his face.

“Hey look, Orfeo made a joke and smiled.” Bane frowned. “This must be bad, or I am dying, shit, tell me I am dying, please,” he begged and the girls laughed. “Seriously, thanks for the help, and all of the fan-fucking-tabulous glowing references guys, I feel so much better knowing that Jax and Cat are going to spend all of their free time helping me out.”

The men glowered at him and he returned their gaze with a pathetically innocent face.

“I will call Quin and the New Council, maybe they will be able to shed some light on all of this, but until then, we go with the assumption that we need to find these females. It is imperative we find the women from the Senate, if we have figured this out, than Roarke and Diavolo will, too,” Orfeo said.

They made a plan for the following day and Bane left to go to his lonely room behind his office.
He found his mates
, he thought,
and they were just out of his reach. This completely sucked
.

***

The next morning, Bane walked over to Fredi’s villa, knocked on the door, and waited—any other time he would have walked in, since he was the HOS on the compound. Orfeo explained to everyone that lived on the compound that Bane would have total access to the homes in case there was a problem.

It may seem weird, but they were not discounting that one of the newcomers was helping the Rouges, it would pain them all to think about it, but it was a serious possibility.

Marshall opened the door, nodded coldly, and held open the door. Bane paused and then stood in place and said formally, “The Heads of the Senate and the other members are having breakfast in the main house, they request your presence for breakfast so they can talk about what is going on.”

Marshall frowned at the stoic demeanor of Bane and felt a tinge of guilt in his chest,
fuck,
he was going to have to apologize
. “Listen,” Marshall said slowly, and Bane interrupted and held up a hand.

“It will be served in thirty minutes, just follow the path, it will lead you back to the patio,” Bane said, turned around, and prepared to leave.

Marshall’s frown deepened. Then Fredi stepped into the doorway, Bane had to grit his teeth together and hold himself stiff in order to not grab her and drag her back into the villa and fuck her brains out.