Terry a quick peck on the cheek as well. But Terry wasn’t having
any of that. A quick turn of Terry’s head and Zander’s lips were
caught in the most pleasant of locks. Taking his time, Zander
savored the taste of bacon and coffee on Terry’s tongue before
breaking off gently.
“Morning,” Terry said with a happy grin.
Zander smiled, and then nodded at George, “Morning, sir.”
“No need for this sir rubbish. Call me George,” George said. “We
all know who the stronger wolf is in this room.”
Nodding again, Zander smiled as a huge plate of food appeared
from beside him. Not sure what to say in a family get together
because it wasn’t something he was familiar with, he
concentrated on eating – after the first mouthful he knew where
Terry had learned to cook. Rachel’s breakfast was amazing.
“So, Zander,” George said, after he’d swallowed a few
mouthfuls. “Terry tells us that you’ve mentioned taking up a
position as Alpha for your home pack, in New Haven?”
“I’ve mentioned it,” Zander said, too engrossed in his food to
really worry about anything his…well, his father in law, he
supposed, was concerned about.
“Yes, well, Terry’s mother and I were hoping you would
reconsider, for Terry’s benefit.” Georges tone was respectful,
but there was a tinge of warning in those words as well – words
that had Zander paying a lot more attention.
Putting down his knife, Zander tucked his arm around his mate,
and looked George squarely in the eye. George wasn’t able to
hold his gaze for very long, but Zander gave the man points for
trying. As soon as George dropped his eyes, Zander said softly,
“My Father did offer me the opportunity when he’d heard I’d met
my mate. At the time I told him no, because I love my work, and
I know Terry has built a good life for himself here as well.
However, as a police detective, living as a human can be difficult
for my wolf spirit, and after Terry was attacked by his ex-boss
for the second time I might add, I found it really difficult not to
act as a decent wolf should.”
“We understand that Zander,” Rachel said, slipping into the seat
beside her husband and taking George’s hand. “You’re an Alpha
and I’m so thankful that you are strong enough to keep our son
safe. We’ve been blessed. But a pack, for an Omega, no matter
how strong you are, it won’t be a good life for Terry. That’s why
we left ours.”
“What do you mean?” Terry said, apparently quite happy to rest
against Zander’s shoulder, but looking at his mom. “I thought
you left your pack well before I was born. I didn’t know it was
my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault, son,” George said quickly. “Besides, we
didn’t know for sure you were an Omega until you shifted. But
Rachel here, she sees things sometimes, and when we knew she
was pregnant with you, she…” George trailed off and dropped his
eyes again.
“I had a premonition,” Rachel said, patting George’s hand. “Our
Alpha wasn’t a good man, and he hated the thought of male
Omegas. He didn’t treat his female ones very well either. When
I told George that I was sure we would be giving birth to a male
Omega, he believed me and we left. We’ve been lone wolves
ever since and while it was hard, it was the best thing we could
have ever done.”
Zander thought for a moment, eating a bit more breakfast. He
had been thinking of moving back to New Haven especially after
he lost Sully’s friendship. The attack on Terry had just solidified
that idea. But Sully was back in his life, and fuck, he couldn’t
take Terry away from his successes, his friends, and the life he
had created for himself. Terry was still young and deserved some
happiness in the world he’d created for himself, instead of being
buried in pack life from an early age.
“A lot of my reasoning for leaving Houston comes from trying to
keep Terry safe. My wolf is hampered in a human world, but it is
more than that. I have been in Houston for ten years and it won’t
be long before people notice that I’m not aging. We will have to
“Tell them you’ve had a face lift in an effort to keep up with your
younger lover,” Terry said with a cheeky smile. “That should
keep the gossips off your back for a while.”
Zander mock growled and snapped his teeth at his mate, pleased
when Terry laughed. He looked up to see Rachel and George
smiling at him.
“I do know what packs are like, but a lot of their culture comes
from the Alpha who leads them,” Zander said. “My Father has
always been a fair man and has no problems with gays or
Omegas and he has raised his pack to be the same. That said,”
he added looking at Terry again, “My mate has just proven
himself as the rising fashion consultant for Houston Pride Week,
which I am hugely proud of. He has friends, and I have a job I’m
committed to. I’d like to think we can squeeze another five, eight
or even ten years out of this place before we have to move. I do
promise you, that if we move to New Haven, that we will talk to
you about it first, and I would want to take you two on a visit
there before any permanent decisions were made. I understand
how much you have Terry’s best interests at heart.”
Rachel and George shared a long look, so Zander took the time
to finish his breakfast and swig on the coffee Terry had
thoughtfully provided.
“I really appreciate what you have told us, Zander,” George said.
“You don’t have to take our feelings, or Terry’s into account,
especially when keeping Terry safe is your biggest concern. I
would just like to ask, if you do decide to relocate to New Haven
sometime in the future, would there be room in your pack for
me and Rachel?”
“Definitely,” Zander said firmly, while Terry gave a little clap and
a jump beside him. Pulling Terry onto his lap, Zander added, “I
can’t blame you for wanting to keep your son safe. You’ve been
doing it his whole life, I am well aware that I’m the newcomer in
this little family. Thanks to you my little mate is happy, confident
in who he is and on the cusp of a huge career. He’s everything I
could ever want in my life partner and I have you two to thank
for it. If you ever want to move closer to us, if you need help of
any kind, I’ll do all I can to be there for you.”
“You don’t have to do that, love. You’re a part of our family no
matter what happens,” Terry said, stroking Zander’s face, a
serious frown on his face.
“Terry, your mate is an Alpha,” George said with a laugh. “I think
we’ve just become a mini pack.”
Meeting George’s eyes across the top of Terry’s head, Zander
caught the older man’s look of approval and he nodded, agreeing
with George’s statement. No matter what life threw at them,
&nb
sp; Zander knew that he now had two more people he would be
responsible for, whether he moved Terry to New Haven or not.
A huge part of Terry’s sweetness, his ability to love and the way
he embraced life, was thanks to the two other people sharing
their table. Two people who had been keeping Terry safe since
before his mate was born. Zander would never forget the debt
he owed Rachel and George.
Epilogue
Terry slid into the end of the booth, greeting his faithful friends
with a smile and a nod. Since Pride Week, Terry had been
inundated with orders for one-off, special occasion gowns from
some of Houston’s elite society. The hours were long, but the
pay, which Richard had advised him on, was phenomenal.
“How’s the rag trade going, Terry?” Roy asked, pushing a fancy
pink cocktail towards him.
“Never better,” Terry said. “You guys, what you did for me when
I lost my job at Club Blue…I’ll never forget it.”
“Good, you can get the next drink in,” Joel said, lifting his near
empty glass. “Now what were we talking about?”
“Kissing,” Charlie said. “And now, Terry’s here, perhaps he’d like
to update us on his impressions of the perfect kiss. By the way,
Ter, where’s your faithful shadow?”
“Zander will be along shortly. He and Sully went with Richard to
pick up his brother from the airport. Where’s Max?”
Roy sat back in the booth with a small smile on his face. He was
still seeing Richard on a regular basis, and Terry had been
pleased to see that some of his snarky manner had been worn
down a bit. Not that Roy was a pushover, but love looked good
on his friend.
“He’ll be along shortly too,” Joel said. “More meetings. I swear
that man never has a day off lately.”
“Blow jobs might help,” Terry said with a smirk as he took a sip
of his drink. Sweet, full of cream and some underlying kick of
alcohol. Just perfect.
“I swear since you’ve been with that man of yours, you’ve
become a right connoisseur in using bedroom tricks for
manipulative purposes.” Charlie and Joel were laughing at him,
but Terry knew there was an element of truth to the statement.
Not everything he tried worked of course, but with Zander, half
the fun was trying things out. Frequently.
“Okay, back to kissing,” Roy said, perching his elbows on the
table, trying to look serious and failing miserably. It might have
had something to do with his bright blue top, with matching
sparkly eyeshadow. “The last time we tried to discuss this, we
were rudely interrupted, however, from what I remember,
Charlie was in favor of dreamy lips and not too much slobber,
Joel liked the feel of stubble on his chin, particularly Max’s lack
of shaving, and Terry had some romantic notion about toes
curling, passion and a spot of dominance. I’d like to add having
strong arms to hold you while being kissed is a vital part of the
experience. Have any of your opinions changed?”
“I haven’t had much experience with kissing lately,” Charlie said,
drooping a little. “But Terry’s loaned me some books and I am
starting to see that kissing would be more than a meeting of the
lips.”
“I still concur that Max is by far the best kisser I’ve ever
experienced and that’s not going to change.” Bless Joel, still so
loyal to his man. It was lovely to see.
“And you Terry? Your circumstances have changed the most
since we last tabled this discussion. What do you think?”
“I agree with all of you,” Terry said, thinking about Zander. “The
perfect kiss has to be more than four lips smacking together.
The feel of a strong chin against yours is precious, the softness
or hardness of lips doesn’t matter, but the pressure they are
used with does. It is definitely a whole body experience and if it
doesn’t curl your toes, then you ain’t doing it right.”
The four friends sat in silence for a moment, all probably reliving
special moments in their lives. Roy was just about to speak again
when two large shadows fell across the table.
“Oh not again,” Terry said before he could stop himself. “Can’t
we go anywhere for a quiet drink without being hassled?”
“Not here, you can’t,” one of the strangers said. “Look at you,”
he waved a hand dismissively over the four men. “You’re fucking
fairies and don’t belong around decent folk.”
“I am not going to take umbrage at your use of the word fairies,”
Charlie said with a burst of spirit. “Clearly vocabulary is not one
of your strong points. But we are waiting on other friends and
have no intention of leaving until they get here.”
“If your other friends look like you, then they ain’t welcome here
either,” the other larger stranger said with what was supposed
to be a menacing look. Terry thought he looked constipated and
his friend wasn’t much better.
“They don’t look anything like us,” Terry assured him, winking
at Roy and leaning back in his seat. “Why don’t you look for
yourself?” He pointed his finger behind the men, who were both
dumb enough to look. But then the sight of four, no make that,
five big men all looking like they were ready to kill someone was
something worth looking at.
Zander of course got there first. Pushing past one stranger, he
slipped into the booth beside Terry, putting a possessive arm
over his shoulder.
“This man bothering you sweet cakes? Blown away by your
beauty and personality perhaps? Didn’t you tell him you were
taken?”
Before Terry could say anything one of the strangers blustered,
“You’re fucking kidding me. You’re with these faggots?”
“We’re all together, yes,” Richard said, looking positively evil as
he sat next to Roy, pulling the smaller man closer. “If you have
a problem with us, then you might like to know that two of our
party are part of Houston’s finest police force, I’m a cut throat
lawyer that eats idiots like you before breakfast, and my brother
over there, he’s a Marine. And while Max might work as a chef,
he’s also a middle weight boxing champion. Now, can we get on
with our evening, or do we need to throw the trash out first?”
Okay, if looks could kill they would all be dead, but the two
strangers had enough brain cells between them to know when
they were beat, and they slinked away. Richard introduced his
brother, known simply as Q, while Max got reacquainted with
Joel. What Terry couldn’t understand was why Sully was looking
at Q like he was the center attraction at a chocolate fair.
“They’re mates, precious. Looks like Sully’s got what he was
looking for. You should have seen Q at the airport,” Zander
whispered, taking the opportunity to nibble his ear. Terry hoped
his moan was quiet, but honestly the feeling was so delicious it
was hard to keep his noises to himself.
Fortunately, or not depen
ding on how you looked at it, Zander
left his ear alone, settling for a hot hand on the top of his thigh,
while he and the others around the table shared jokes, tall tales
about work and the general nonsense that could only come from
being with good friends.
/~/~/~/~/
Now he was sitting with his Omega, Zander felt contentment fall
over him like a warm blanket. He’d been feeling that way a lot
just lately and he knew it all came down to being with his mate.
His wolf wasn’t as anxious and surly anymore. He and Sully were
still good friends, but he was also finding himself more sociable
than ever before and chatted and shared things with other work
mates. He had a cozy home he longed to return to every minute
he was away. And at the very heart of his perfect life was Terry.
Thinking back over all that he’d done and thought over the past
six months – yep, some was good and some not so much. But
Terry had been a constant in all of it. As he looked up at Q who
was eying Sully like he was a big tasty steak, all while thinking
the other man wasn’t looking, Zander chuckled to himself. He
could have danced around all he liked, lord knows he tried. But
sooner or later, when it came to being mates, the Fates always
played the winning hand. And as for Zander, he couldn’t be
happier.
The End
Other Books By Lisa Oliver
Cloverleah Pack
Book 1 – The Reluctant Wolf – Kane and Shawn
Book 2 – The Runaway Cat – Griff and Diablo
Book 3 – When No Doesn’t Cut It – Damien and Scott
Book 3.5 – Never Go Back – Scott and Damien’s Trip and a free
story about Malacai and Elijah
Book 4 – Calming the Enforcer – Troy and Anton
Book 5 – Getting Close to the Omega – Dean and Matthew
Book 6 – Fae For All – Jax, Aelfric and Fafnir (M/M/M)
Book 7 – Watching Out For Fangs – (Coming Soon) – Josh’s story
Bound and Bonded Series
Book One – Don’t Touch
Book Two – Topping the Dom
Book Three – Total Submission
Book Four – Fighting Fangs
Book Five – No Mate of Mine
Book 6 – Undesirable Mate (Coming Later in the Year)
Stockton Wolves Series
Book One – Get off My Case