When No Doesn't Cut It (25 page)

Scott had thought long and hard about what Troy had said, especially about the wolf part of things.  No matter what had happened to Damien when he was young, those experiences wouldn’t have bothered the wolf half of his mate, nearly as much as the human side.  And wolves fell in love easily with their mates - it was almost a rule, damn it. 

Feeling a lot better than he had, Scott tried to get himself comfortable enough to get some sleep.  He had no idea how long Damien would be out in his wolf form.  He did think idly about shifting himself and tracking down his mate, but he wanted to give the man some peace.  Damien had a lot on his mind at the moment and didn’t need to be bothered by a mate who couldn’t control his emotions.

But no matter how much Scott willed his body to try and get the rest it needed, Scott couldn’t fall asleep.  He wanted, no that wasn’t the right word at all; he
craved
the feeling of his mate’s arms around him, their bodies pressed close together and Damien’s soft lips plundering his.  Damn, he needed his mate.

Right on cue - as if Damien was responding to his silent plea - Scott heard Damien’s footsteps pounding up the staircase and seconds later
a very naked Damien flung open the door to their room.  Scott sat up on the bed and looked intently at his mate.  Damien didn’t say a word.  He closed the door behind him, climbed up on the bed and pulled Scott into his arms. In a heart beat, those thin lips that Scott had dreamed about, were smashed on his own, and Scott took the first full breath he had taken, since he walked out of the living room, hours before.

Chapter Twenty Seven

“
Incoming.  Our two, plus two extras.” Scott warned as he flicked a look at the text on his phone.  Damien and Scott were sitting at the dining room table, enjoying a late dinner.  Troy and Dean had already had theirs and were up in their rooms preparing to go into the club.  Lucius and Vincent had promised to show them around, keep them safe and return them back to the pack house later that night. 

Shawn and Kane had been zapping in and out of the compound all day as they took messages of peace, news of the boys
, and offers of restitution to the parents of the stolen children.  Deciding to approach the parents in turn, based on the age of the children who needed to be reunited with their families, by the early evening, the only one left was Argon’s family.  It seemed, from the message on Scott’s phone, that Argon’s parents wanted to talk to Damien personally, something that the man dreaded, but knew couldn’t be avoided.

Damien
fought to contain his yawn.  It had been a long day.  It started off nicely enough with reciprocal blow jobs.  Yes, Damien was starting to see the appeal of being in bed with Scott when the man woke up in the morning.  Then Maria and her friend had bought them breakfast in bed, again, and it was almost ten o’clock by the time Damien and Scott had headed downstairs. 

Griff and Diablo were waiting to say their goodbyes
, and left with assurances from Damien that he and Scott would be in New York on Saturday. Damien had already arranged a private jet to take him and Scott there. Then Kane and Shawn started zapping in and out of the pack house, visiting parents, arranging for the safe transporting of the children to their homes, and appraising Damien of the restitution each family required from the San Antonio pack. Damien had called in Madison as soon as Kane and Shawn left for their first visit, to help coordinate everything, and to take details of the restitution the pack would become responsible for.

Most of the families were simply thrilled to have their son’s back, and weren’t interested in restitution, especially after hearing that three of the four wolves responsible, were already dead.  Damien had insisted that each family also be offered a large cash settlement, college funds for all of the shifter’s children
, and paid therapy and medical expenses for all of the boys who had been abducted.  That, plus the assurance from Damien that the fourth person responsible for the crimes, Jacob, would be dead as soon as he was found, was enough for the families approached so far.  It would appear that Argon’s family might want a little more.  It didn’t matter to Damien what the family wanted.  They would get it, if it was in Damien’s power to give it.  Argon had been separated from his family for two years, and the boy’s family had probably thought he was dead.

A tell-tale shimmer was all the warning Damien got before Kane, Shawn and an older couple suddenly appeared in Damien’s living room. 
The first couple of times Damien had actually watched this happen he felt a bit disorientated.  It was almost like watching the men from Star Trek transporting on and off the Starship Enterprise.  But after the day they had all shared, the whole shimmer and appear thing was starting to become commonplace. 

The
two people travelling with Kane and Shawn weren’t as sure of the whole process though, and Kane and Shawn supported the couple, as they made their way to where Damien and Shawn were sitting.

“Alpha,” Kane’s serious tone and nature of address warned Damien this was a pack policy negotiation, not a meeting of friends over coffee.  “This is Arthur Novac and his wife Patricia.  Argon’s parents
, and formerly of the Utah pack.  They seek asylum with the San Antonio pack for themselves, and their three teenage children.”

Pushing his plate away from him, Damien stood up, feeling Scott do the same beside him.  He nodded his head and indicated that everyone move through to the living room.  Kane and Shawn got the couple settled on the couch and then shared another love seat to the side.  Damien stood in the middle of the living room, Scott by his side.

“Welcome.” Damien’s voice was quiet but full of authority.  “I am the Alpha Damien and this is the Alpha Mate Scott.  Tell me why you require asylum from the Utah pack.”

Arthur looked at his wife, worry was etched over both of their faces.  Watching them, Damien could tell that Arthur was a powerful wolf.  Damien didn’t pick up any Alpha vibe, but the man had obviously been a beta or an enforcer with his previous pack.  His huge, solid build indicated a strength that would, Damien imagined, be formidable and Damien couldn’t understand why they might have left their previous pack.
  Arthur was a good looking man, like most wolves.  He had curly brown hair that fell just to his shoulders and his tanned skin indicated that he worked outside a lot of the time.  He had clear skin, deep brown eyes and a solid mouth.

In comparison, Patricia was a small woman - human, Damien noted with surprise.  Given that Argon was a full wolf shifter, Damien wondered if the other two children were wolf, half wolf, or human.  There were only two human’s in the San Antonio pack - both women who had taken up with their partners when the men had tired of waiting for their true mates.  While it was true that the Fates allowed one true mate for every wolf, sometimes it could take decades for that person to turn up
, and some wolves, especially heterosexual ones, wanted to start a family as soon as possible.  So they married, or mated, with someone who was not their fated other half, and then preyed that their fated mate didn’t turn up.  That type of situation had the potential to get messy, because a fated mate trumped a taken mate, every time under pack law.

“Alpha,” Arthur began cautiously.  “As you can see my wife is human and yet our union was originally blessed by the Utah pack.  I had worked as an enforcer for the Alpha there for more than twenty years, and although humans weren’t readily accepted by the pack, because of my position we got by.  However, we had a problem six years ago, which necessitated our leaving the pack and we haven’t been back.”

“Arthur, you are going to have to explain the whole story, or I won’t be able to help you,” Damien said firmly.  “I have no problems with other packs, as you are likely aware, and I don’t want to start any without just cause.  You are going to have to tell us more about your situation.”

“Is this about Argon’s brother being gay?” Scott piped up beside him. “Because as you can see, we don’t have a problem with homosexuality in this pack.  The Alpha and I are true mates.”

“True mates, right.” Arthur said nervously.  “Well, it is about Kevin in part, Alpha Mate.  See, Patricia and I aren’t true mates and as I said, she’s human.  But I love her, and we have been together for twenty years.  Yes, it’s true Argon’s older brother is gay, and it would seem now that Argon may be as well, which is fine by us.  We love our children and don’t care about things like who they love.”

“Does the Utah pack not acknowledge gay couples?”  Damien asked.  He didn’t know anything about the Utah pack.  He had never been in that area and had never met the Alpha there, although he had met most of the Alpha’s around the States.

“No they don’t,” Arthur said.  “But that wasn’t the reason we left.  Kevin is only half wolf and has never shifted - we don’t know if he can, and again that doesn’t bother us.  Kevin is nineteen, and we also have a daughter, Christie, who is seventeen.  She is a full wolf and can shift.”

“The problem
is that when it came to light that Kevin was gay, the Alpha said that Kevin’s orientation was because I had mated with a human.”  Arthur’s head dropped to his chest as he relived old hurts.  “He ordered my wife and Kevin be banished from the pack and demanded that I take another wife - a wolf.  He also told me that I should prepare Christie to become one of his wives, as the Utah pack practice polygamy.  She had only just turned twelve, Alpha Mate.  What was I supposed to do?”

Patricia put her small arm around her husband and held him close.  She looked up at Damien without any fear. 
“I know I’m not my husband’s true mate,” She said bravely.  “We have already discussed what we would do if his true mate came into our lives.  I know that is a possibility and I will step aside if it happens, without any anger or dispute.  But the wolf that the Alpha wanted Arthur to mate with, was not his true mate either.  He wanted my husband to split apart his family because of his hatred of humans
and
gays.  And I would have accepted that, Alpha Damien.  I would have left the pack with Kevin, because I know how important the pack was to my husband.  But Christie, I couldn’t leave Christie to become part of the Alpha’s harem of wives.  She was so young.”

“You are an incredibly brave woman, Patricia,” Damien said gently, “and you have my fullest respect.  Tell me, after you all left the pack, did anyone come after you?
  Did anyone try to get to the children after you left?”

“We purposefully travelled the best part of 1,000 miles to get away, Alpha.  We left with nothing but what we could stow in our car
, and kept driving until we got to Texas.  We had a little bit of money, enough to rent a small house and then Patricia and I started working full time so that our children could have a future.  That’s why, that’s how come Argon got snatched.  We were both working, and didn’t realize anything had happened until we got home late one night to find out that Argon hadn’t come home from school.  By then all traces of him had gone.”

“Speaking of which, you must be anxious to see him after all of this time,” Scott said.

“I’d like to get this sorted first, if that’s all right, Alpha Mate.  The Shifter Guardian has explained the situation and what our son has been subjected to over the past two years.  For what it’s worth, Alpha Damien, I don’t hold you responsible.  There are bad wolves around, just the same as there are horrible people.  We didn’t even realize Argon had been taken by a wolf.”

Arthur released his wife’s hands and stood up.
  He tilted his neck to the side in submission and said in a low, but clear voice.  “I offer you my loyalty and service, Alpha Damien.  I ask for a safe harbor for my wife and my three children.  I want them to live here as a family.  I will find work in the area and contribute to the pack in any way I can. The Shifter Guardian mentioned that you offered restitution for all of the boys who had been taken, and their families.  I don’t want anything, but to be allowed to bring my half-breed family into the pack and for them to be safe.”

Stepping forward, Damien laid his hand on the back of Arthur’s neck in acceptance.  “Your loyalty and service is accepted, Arthur Novac.  No one has a problem with humans here and if they do, they will answer to me. I realize my offering you safety for your children, after what has happened to Argon here, might seem a bit ironic, but believe me when I tell you, things are changing in the San Antonio pack.
  I believe you and your family can be part of that change.”

“That said, there is a condition on this acceptance.  You will take the restitution offered to the families of the other boys impacted by this horror.  There is
cash money there, plus a college fund for all three of your children.  We will provide you with a house here on the compound and help with moving any belongings you want to bring with you. Your son will receive paid medical treatment and counseling for as long as he needs.  After three months, if you are interested, you can have a position here with me as one of my enforcers, which is a well-paid position.  The cash payout should be enough to cover any of your expenses until that time.”

From behind Arthur, Patricia cried out, “That’s too much, Alpha.  We can’t take all that.”

Slipping past Damien and Arthur, Scott sat on the couch beside the woman who was now openly crying.  “We will never be able to do enough, to take away the horror your son has lived through,” he said begging the woman to understand.  “But I promise you that for as long as Argon chooses to stay in this pack he will be protected, as will your other children.  Even if your husband finds his true mate here, you and your children will always have a home.  You have my word.”

Staring at Scott with her tear streaked face, Patricia whispered, “You’re the one, aren’t you?  You’re the one who broke my boy out of that cage?  The men over there, they told us it was the Alpha Mate.  They told us about how bad the fire was and how you should have left him.  How he told you to leave him and save yourself.  But you didn’t.  You saved my son.”

“Any one of us would have done the same thing, ma’am,” Scott said clearly embarrassed.  “Your son is a good strong wolf and he will be an amazing man as he grows up.  But I know he is a little worried about how you will receive him, being apart from you for so long, and with what has been done to him.”

“I love my son,” Patricia said fiercely, “And nothing that abuser could have done to him will change that.  But you Alpha Mate, you I will be in debt to for the rest of my life.
  You make a mother proud.”

Damien watched as Scott gave her an awkward hug and then patted her arm.  “Can I get Kane and Shawn to take you and your husband to see Argon?  I know he must be worried what
’s taking so long.  The other boys are already with their families.”

When the four of them had left the room, Scott looked up at Damien, the pain on his face evident. Without
second guessing his actions, Damien crossed the distance between them and pulled Scott into his arms.  Scott reached up and lodged his face in Damien’s neck and breathed in deeply.  Although his mind link was still closed off, Damien could sense the sadness and agitation running through his mate’s body.