Page 23

Hellen had already showered, gotten dressed, and was sitting in front of the television in the living room as she ate a bowl of her favorite brightly colored breakfast cereal while searching for something to watch.

Her hair was still up in a towel, soaking wet, and unbrushed.

It would likely stay that way today. She gave herself a little smile of satisfaction as she glanced around her living room.

Things were good. They were changing, but it was at a pace she could handle, and quite honestly, she liked these changes.

Then in the space of a split second, her attitude changed.

“Naturally,” she muttered, taking another bite of her cereal as she studiously ignored the sound of a car door slamming outside.

She shook her head, a silent indication that she planned to ignore every single thing that didn’t bring her immediate pleasure today, and whoever had slammed that car door was not bringing her any kind of pleasure. That was when the knock sounded.

“Fuck.”

And whoever it was knocked again.

“Damn it!” she snapped, getting to her feet and moving quickly toward the front door, but not so quickly that she’d spill her cereal.

When she reached the door, she took a second to take another bite, then plopped the spoon into her bowl of cereal and milk, and unlocked the door, pulling it open since she’d figured who it was.

“What?” she asked before she’d even made eye contact.

“What? What kind of greeting is that?” Brandt asked.

Hellen shrugged. “I didn’t tell you go away through the closed door. It’s progress.”

“If you want to count it as that,” he said, stepping past her and into the house.

“I didn’t invite you in.”

“I don’t need an invite. I’m family.”

“I’ve only had one cup of coffee. I’m still working on my first bowl of cereal…”

“That bright blue and red and yellow shit will kill you. Hadn’t you heard about all the carcinogens in those dyes?”

“I’m banking on the preservatives keeping me healthy longer than all of y’all health freaks,” she said, taking a huge bite and chewing it while looking at him just to spite him.

Standing in her foyer with his hands on his hips, Brandt shook his head. “I kind of feel bad for him.”

“Who?” Hellen asked, walking away from him without an invitation to follow her back to the living room.

Brandt fell into step behind her. “Luc.”

“Luc? Who’s Luc?”

“Lucien… I’m assuming the same one that put that fresh mating mark on your throat and half your damn shoulder.”

“Oh. His name is not Luc. It’s Lucien. And you should be happy for him — he’s damn lucky I gave in.”

“I like Luc. It’s easier to say. I’m calling him Luc. And like I said, I feel bad for him. You’re kind of mean.”

“What do you want, Brandt? You know I don’t like to talk in the mornings and yet here you are.”

“It’s ten-forty-five in the morning. It’s almost midday.”

“Your point?”

“Tell him I’m here. We got shit to do today.”

“He’s resting. We were up late and up early again. And he’s not fully healed yet.”

“I don’t demand much. Just a ride along. I have no doubt you’ll take more out of him if he stays here than if he comes with me.”

“Stop bothering my woman,” Lucien said, opening the door at the end of the hallway and moving toward them as he pulled his shirt on.

“Oh, great. Now there’s two of y’all,” Brandt said.

“Hey, I’m rarely here. What happens when I’m not here ain’t none of my business,” Hellen said, wandering toward the kitchen to put her bowl in the sink.

“You don’t get to disappear like that without some kind of word about it. We got some things to work out,” Lucien said.

“Sure thing, Luc,” Hellen said, drawing out the shortened version of his name comically.

“Who the fuck is Luc?” Lucien asked.

“That’s what Brandt wants to call you. I might start calling you that, too.”

“No, you will not. My name is Lucien,” Lucien said to Hellen before he pinned Brandt with a glare, “neither will you.”

Brandt chuckled.

“Whatever. You need to go back to bed,” Hellen said.

“No, you need to come with me. I need a ride along,” Brandt said.

“He’s not healed yet!” Hellen insisted.

“He’s healed enough to ride in the freaking passenger seat!” Brandt said.

“He’s right here and knows exactly how freaking healed he is,” Lucien snapped.

Both Hellen and Brandt stopped arguing and looked expectantly at Lucien.

“You need me to take a ride?” Lucien asked Brandt.

“Yep.”

“Alright, then,” he said, walking over to Hellen and curving a hand around the back of her neck to hold her steady for his kiss. She kissed him, deeply, but as soon as she sensed the kiss ending, she nipped his lip. “Ouch!” he said, pulling away and holding his fingertips to his lip.

“She’s mean. You should have thought about that before you finalized things,” Brandt said, heading for the front door.

Lucien grinned at Brandt’s retreating back before leaning over and quickly kissing her again. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You might want to find some shoes before going off with him. He might have you walking through some sticker bushes or broken glass or hot tar or something.”

“Tar? Really, Hell?” Brandt called from the front door.

Hellen shrugged. “You never know. My people are kind of weird.”

“Let me grab some shoes and I’ll meet you in the truck,” Lucien said.

Brandt opened the door and closed it behind himself, giving them a second to themselves.

“Don’t let him make you overdo it,” Hellen said.

“I won’t. He probably just wants to talk now that we’re official, make sure that I’m all in and shit like that.”

“Or he wants you along to ride shotgun because nobody else is willing today.”

“Either way. I got this.” He hurried off to find his shoes and came back up the hall minutes later wearing them. “I’ll see you soon. If you need me, call me,” he said, tapping his temple.

“Yeah, how is that so strong already?” she asked.

“Mates, cher. That’s how it works.” He hesitated long enough to kiss her again, but this time he placed the kiss on the mating mark clearly seen above the rounded scoop neck of her teeshirt.

“I’m going to have to see if I can block you or not. I don’t like being spied on all the time.”

“Mmhmm,” was the only reply he gave her as he grinned at her and closed the door behind himself.

She heard Brandt’s truck start, and listened as it backed out of her driveway and went back up the road to the exit of their land and onto the highway.

She smiled to herself as she turned back to her bowl and rinsed it out before putting it in the dishwasher.

She glanced around the kitchen for only a second or two before she remembered she had cherry toaster pastries in the pantry.

“Yep. That’s next,” she said, taking a packet out of the box, pouring herself a second cup of coffee, and going back into the living room to finish finding something to watch while she devoured her second breakfast of the day.

~~~

Brandt pulled up in front of Kaid’s house and turned off the engine. “We’re here.”

“The whole damn clan again?” Lucien asked.

“No, just the guys. Except for Riley. He and his family went into town for a while, not that he wouldn’t be one of the first to jump in to help if we needed it.

But as far as the guys, Maverik talked to everybody about what you told him and we all agree that we got to address this before we find it on our door. ”

“Agreed,” Lucien said, opening the door and getting out. “I kind of wish I’d gotten the chance to tell you myself, though, before Maverik brought it to you. He’d mentioned talking to the guys, but I assumed he meant his guys.”

Brandt laughed. “First thing to learn is that don’t tell Maverik, or Delilah for that matter, anything you don’t want everybody to know.

And for the record, if it’s life-threatening or could paint you in a bad light, Maverik is the one you want to tell.

He’ll keep that shit to himself until he dies and longer.

It’s confusing how his loyalty works. He either tells every damn body because he thinks he’s helping, or he’ll never tell a soul but stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you while you face the gates of hell.

Anyway, second thing is I get it — the inlaw thing.

You were confiding in your mate’s father.

Every damn body around here has inlaws in the clan, or near to it.

It can get sticky. No worries, though. The good thing about it is that we all have each others’ backs, regardless of the whos and the whys. ”

Lucien nodded as he followed Brandt around the side of the house.

“Hey, I want you to know that I give Hellen a hard time, but I’m really happy for the two of you. I don’t think anybody else could handle her. She’s got a soft heart, but her exterior is so damn thorny.”

“It’s a defense mechanism. She doesn’t want to let people see how vulnerable she is. And while she doesn’t have to worry about it anymore — because I’ll kill whoever I have to kill to keep her happy and safe, you can also bet that I’ll help her keep whatever image it is she wants to keep.”

Brandt grinned and clapped a hand on Lucien’s upper back as a show of support.

“So, then it’s official?” Maverik asked, hearing the tail end of their conversation as they got nearer. “You claimed her and lived to tell of it.”

Lucien laughed. “I am honored to say it is official, and she didn’t kill me.”

“Glad to hear it, boy,” Maverik said, giving Lucien a full-on hug, rather than the usual side-bro-hug males usually offered. “Just one thing needs to be said, though…”

“I know already… I hurt her, you kill me.”

Maverik laughed. “Naw, you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down and hold you steady while she kills you,” he said with a grin.

Lucien shook his head and laughed. “Well, then it’s a good thing that nobody’s going to hurt her. I will not allow it.” His smile dropped and his expression became stony. “Not anybody will cause her a moment’s distress of any type.”