Mating Games (5 page)

“Please, come in,” the woman said, opening the door again. “He’s outside on the deck. Follow me.”

“Thank you,” Alastar said, rolling his eyes when she turned away.

He took a quick glance around the house as they walked through. It wasn’t too bad of a house. It looked bigger on the inside than it did from the outside. The knickknacks were a little scary. It seemed they collected anything and everything wolf.

“Go ahead,” she said, opening the door through the kitchen.

Alastar figured it led to the deck, although why he was being led through the kitchen he would never know. He obviously wasn’t being given the VIP treatment. Alastar nodded his head to the woman and walked out. Three men sat around a patio table drinking beer.

“Alpha Rodrick?” he asked, looking at each of the men carefully.

“Yes, I’m Rodrick,” one of the men said, standing up.

Alastar was having some problems focusing. He smelled something he was drawn to. He couldn’t figure out exactly what the scent was except that it was totally exotic. He had an overwhelming urge to track the intoxicating scent to its owner.

“Alpha, I’m Alastar O’Conner,” he said. Alastar dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands, trying to remain focused. “I was sent by my coven leader. I was told you have a proposal you’d like him to look at?”

“Ah, yes, but I assumed your coven leader would have come himself,” Rodrick said, seemingly annoyed.

“With all due respect, Alpha, our leader is rather busy and unable to come at this time. If we had called you up saying we had a proposal we’d like you to look at, would you have dropped everything and rushed to our coven?”

“Well, of course not, but you’re just—” The Alpha suddenly stopped speaking, catching himself in time before he outright insulted Alastar.

Too late!

“We’re just what? Vampires? Yes, yes, we are,” Alastar replied in his best condescending tone. This Alpha was a total asshole. “I’ll make sure to convey your sentiments to my coven leader. Good night, gentlemen.”

Alastar didn’t even wait for a reply. He just walked down the steps of the deck and headed for the side of the house. He figured it would be easier to walk around the house than go back through it.

Plus, he didn’t want to be trapped inside with these guys. If this was the amount of courtesy their Alpha had, god help the rest of their pack. As he neared the driveway, he heard the Alpha call him back and rant a slew of cuss words.

Laughing to himself, Alastar reached the end of the yard. That’s when that scent hit him again. It was so alluring it made his cock harden almost instantly. Alastar knew his mate was here somewhere!

It was just getting dark. He’d leave for now. If he parked his car a few blocks away and snuck back here, he could figure out who he smelled. The cover of darkness would hide his intrusion back onto the Alpha’s property. His having visited recently would hide his scent.

Moving quickly now as the Alpha’s yells grew closer, Alastar jumped into his car in a flash. Vampires and wolves were alike in strength. Since werewolves shifted and vampires didn’t, vampires had access to their gifts at all times.

Pulling away from the curb and drove down the road. A few moments later, he found a great place to hide his car a few blocks away. Using his speed, he hit the back of the Alpha’s yard in a few minutes. Alastar followed the smell to a small shed. He broke the lock quietly and effortlessly, confused as to why the smell was coming from inside such a dilapidated shack.

“Hello?” he said quietly, opening the door just a crack. “Is someone in here?”

“Who are you?” asked a large man who suddenly stepped into Alastar’s view.

“My name is Alastar O’Conner. I was sent here from the local coven to speak with Alpha Rodrick. I smelled my mate, and thought I should circle back and check it out. This is where the scent led me to.”

“My name is Sebastian Rule,” the man said, stepping into the fading sunlight. Alastar suddenly realized that the man was gorgeous.

“I was sent by the wolf council to check on information that this pack was holding a human hostage. They didn’t believe my cover. That’s how I ended up in here.”

“Well, Sebastian, it’s nice to meet you, but I suggest we finish this conversation later,” he said, looking over his shoulder. Though the deck was a good distance away, he could see someone turning in their direction. “Can you move? I have a feeling we’re going to have company really soon.”

“Fuck,” Sebastian said as he ran back into the shed, much to Alastar’s astonishment. A moment later, he was back, a smaller man wrapped in a ratty blue blanket held in his arms. The man was barely conscious, bruises and abrasions covering most of his naked body.

“I’m parked a few blocks away. Hurry, follow me.” Alastar led the way. As soon as the car was in sight, he picked up speed. He had the back door open and climbed into the driver’s seat to start the car by the time Sebastian reached him. As soon as Sebastian got the little man in the backseat and hopped in the passenger seat, Alastar took off.

“We have wolves behind us,” Sebastian told him, hurrying to put his seatbelt on. “Buckle up, baby.”

“You’re a Delta, aren’t you?” Alastar asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Well, you said the council sent you, and my understanding is that packs don’t get involved with these kinds of things. Deltas do the enforcing. Secondly, you called the man in the backseat
baby
, so I figure he’s your mate,” Alastar replied, all the while driving as fast as he could, trying to lose the wolves. “I also figure I’m your mate considering how I feel toward you, and if you have two mates, you must be a Delta.”

“Yes, you’re my mate,” Sebastian replied. He didn’t look happy about it, though. Alastar figured that for a Delta, finding his mates would make him ecstatic. Sebastian looked ready to toss his cookies.

Alastar wasn’t sure what to think of that.

“Thanks for the rescue, by the way,” Sebastian said. “I was going to wait until everyone was asleep before I broke out. But since they took my keys, I’m pretty sure using my car was out of the question.”

“You’re very welcome,” Alastar said. He tried to be friendly, cordial. He didn’t want to piss his mate off before he could figure out why the guy was so upset. “Where are we heading?”

“Dobry, is there anything from your hotel that you have to have?”

Sebastian asked the man in the backseat.

“I guess not, but I do have some things of my foster mother’s that I would really like,” Dobry said quietly. In his condition, Alastar was surprised the man was speaking at all.

“Well, we can arrange that,” Alastar replied, smiling Dobry. The man smiled back and told him how to get to his hotel.

“I have something I think I should tell you, Alastar,” Sebastian said.

“Okay, shoot.” Alastar gripped the steering wheel tightly in his hands and braced himself for whatever Sebastian was going to say to him. From the tight clench of Sebastian’s jaw, Alastar was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it.

“I’m not a fan of vampires. I’ve only met a few, and I don’t know any really, but, well…” Sebastian seemed unable to complete the sentence.

“But what?” Alastar asked softly.

“One murdered my father when I was a boy.”

Fuck!

“I’m so sorry, Sebastian,” Alastar replied. This wasn’t good.

“That must have been horrible for you! I can understand your not being a fan of us, but I promise I’m not like that. I’ve never hurt anyone except in defense of myself.”

“I understand, but I’m just not sure—”

“If you can be mated to one?” Alastar felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He didn’t know what he would do if his mate refused to accept him. He couldn’t make Sebastian want him, but he wasn’t sure he could survive without him, either.

“Yeah,” Sebastian replied softly.

“Sebastian?” Dobry said from the backseat.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Look, maybe it’s not my place,” Dobry said, his voice shaking,

“but after what those werewolves did to me, I was still willing to trust you. I agreed to try this mating thing out, even though I don’t have any idea what’s going on. Now I know it’s not the same as a vampire killing your father, but Alastar did just rescue us. Doesn’t that show he’s not so bad?”

“Thank you, Dobry,” Alastar said, blushing at the attention both men gave him when he swerved slightly. He couldn’t even hide his shock at what Dobry said. Not that he knew much about humans, but this one seemed to be remarkable.

“Also, the way you explained mates to me, that fate picks them out for you? It seems like you’re asking me to take a leap of faith that you won’t take. Didn’t you say you’d be an idiot to ignore fate?”

“You’re right, Dobry,” Sebastian said, smiling back at the little man before looking across at Alastar. “I’m sorry, Alastar, he’s absolutely right. It’s not your fault a vampire was evil enough to kill my father. And you did just rescue us. I just…” Sebastian pushed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to hide my past from you.”

“I’m glad you told me,” Alastar replied, smiling at Sebastian.

“While I don’t have the same feelings for wolves or humans, I’ve never been around them, either. It seems we’re all starting off on rocky footing. How about we take everything one step at a time?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Dobry said.

“Me, too,” Sebastian replied, taking Alastar’s hand for just a moment. “We’ll fill you in on what happened to Dobry later, but the short version is they’ve been holding him hostage for the past six weeks.”

“Why?” Alastar asked. He couldn’t possibly imagine why a pack of werewolves would be holding a human hostage. It went against every law that werewolves and vampires had.

“I don’t really know,” Dobry answered instead of Sebastian. “I was getting some strange looks from a few men I saw at work. Next thing I knew, they jumped me, and I woke up in the shed. I think maybe they knew I was a drifter and no one would notice if I went missing.”

“That’s horrible, Dobry,” Alastar replied gently even though he could feel anger rolling through him—anger and the need for revenge.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Thanks,” the little man said, sitting back in his seat. He looked out the window as if he were deep in thought. Alastar didn’t know what else to say to the man. Dobry had been horribly abused, and Alastar wouldn’t be surprised if the man didn’t give him the time of day.

He glanced over at Sebastian and saw him looking out the window much as Dobry did. Alastar shook his head and got back to the job of driving them to Dobry’s motel. Maybe some silence and deep thought would do them all some good.

A little while later, they arrived at Dobry’s motel. Alastar was concerned that the little man had been gone for so long, he wouldn’t still have the room. Who knew what would happen to his things? But as it turned out, it was one of those places that could be rented by the month. Dobry paid for four months when he first got to town, so everything was in place.

“Dobry, take my jacket,” Sebastian said as they climbed from the car. “It will cover you a little more decently than that blanket.”

Alastar turned quickly to see Dobry standing behind him in the same ratty old blanket he had wrapped around him when Sebastian came out of the shed. It had so many holes in it that Alastar was surprised Dobry wasn’t shivering with cold.

“I–I want my blanket,” Dobry whispered, clutching it tightly to him.

Sebastian held out a hand. “Honey, it’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to give up your blanket. I just want to get a little something more on you when we walk into the motel. A man dressed in just a blanket might look a little strange.”

Dobry looked hesitant, then nodded slowly. He kept his tight grip on the blanket as Sebastian wrapped a long coat around his shoulders.

As short as Dobry was, it fell nearly to the ground, but it did cover him.

“Come on, baby, let’s go get your stuff,” Sebastian said.

“I don’t have my key anymore,” Dobry said when they reached his room. He sounded embarrassed.

“Not to worry, little one,” Alastar replied, turning the knob forcefully, breaking the lock. He opened the door and stepped back to allow Sebastian and Dobry inside. They quickly got to work getting some of Dobry’s things together.

It was the first time Alastar really got a chance to look at Sebastian. The man was a twelve on a scale of one to ten! He was about six-five, probably around two hundred fifty pounds. He had really long, light blond hair and green eyes that just about made Alastar melt. He watched as Sebastian carried his little mate into the room and quickly followed directions as to what things Dobry wanted.

Alastar helped by grabbing the bags Sebastian set by the door of the room and quickly put them into his car. They worked well as a team, the three of them. They were in and out of the hotel room in ten minutes, even with Sebastian having to carry Dobry everywhere.

Luckily, Sebastian also thought to have Dobry dress in some of his pajamas instead of jeans and a shirt. He needed soft-feeling clothes against his abused body right now. Dobry never let go of his blanket.

“Dobry, I’m sure you’re hungry,” Alastar said gently. “I have a granola bar if you’d like. We can stop and get you something, but I think it wise to put as many miles between us and your captors first.”

“I understand, and, yes, I would appreciate some easy-to-eat food.

They rarely fed me, so I think I have to be careful what I eat until I’m better,” Dobry said, smiling, taking the granola bar from him.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Alastar asked as soon as they were in the car and headed down the road again. He had a few ideas, but most of them involved a flat surface and the three of them being naked.

Alastar didn’t think that would be a good idea right now. Everyone seemed too on edge for anything like that.

“Well, I assume we can’t all go back to your coven?” Sebastian asked.

“Even if you weren’t a Delta and bound to drive my coven insane, no, probably not. Vampires have some stupid class system. Since I wasn’t born of the right family and I’m an orphan, I’m looked upon as some kind of servant boy. If I had some standing in my coven it would be okay. But since I don’t, and I’m sure I’m going to be in trouble for helping you guys, I would say my coven’s out,” Alastar replied.