Page 10

Chapter Nine

Z ack heard Riley and his dad spell it out to Mo and closed his eyes in defeat. Mo would go, if not right away, then as soon as the danger had passed. Zack wasn’t a great catch by anyone’s standards, shifter or human. Mo had shown no signs of feeling the true mate match with him, even if Zack felt it. No, not felt . That was too weak a word. He burned for Mo, but the one thing that kept him in check was Mattie.

Mattie didn’t have anyone except him. Sure, he had his family, but somehow the mating urge was tempered with fears over his son. He wanted nothing more than to wrestle Mo to the ground and pound into him, but apart from the screwed-up knowledge that he wasn’t the only alpha in this relationship, he just couldn’t. Which probably made him a screwed-up shifter. He knew Mo was his mate. Absolutely knew it, especially since he’d watched as his brothers found theirs and knew the signs.

Zack had always felt less. Not that he blamed his family or his twin. Riley and he had a special connection he wouldn’t swap for anything. He just wanted the happiness Riley had.

Riley had a true gift as well, something Zack didn’t have. All Zack had was strength, and that didn’t help him at all. He didn’t know why Riley had gotten the gifts and he hadn’t. He hadn’t cared at the time, he’d been too busy looking after the foster kids and his brother. And later, the shared energy had been so neat. He felt like he had been part of Riley’s gift, but of course he hadn’t been. He felt a bit like a Duracell battery. He knew it helped, but he wished there was something he could do.

Then there had been Mattie’s mom. He had let her down so badly and he doubted the shame would ever leave him.

He should have known, even if a small voice told him it wasn’t possible. What if the sheriff hadn’t been one of theirs? He would never have found his son, who was the greatest gift he’d ever had. He just imagined him at ten, fifteen, twenty, and wondering how he’d been unlucky enough to win the Zack lottery.

“It isn’t what you’re thinking,” a low voice said beside him, and Zack turned to Victor. Belligerently, he wanted to refute him. To slay his words as if they were enemies to defeat, but all Zack did was shrug. “You think that your son is a barrier,” Victor continued, “but I am envious of you.”

Zack turned to him, stunned that he had guessed his thoughts so correctly, and watched as Victor owned his words. And stood by them.

“I’m no good for Mo.”

Victor scoffed. “And you think I am? He’s a human. I’m a pack enforcer. We don’t fit in any way, shape, or form.”

“But I have a son,” Zack protested weakly.

“And if you don’t recognize that as a draw, then you’re crazy,” Victor said softly.

Zack glanced at him. His other mate and saw him for the first time. Really saw him. Here he was worried about losing Mo to Victor and Victor was worried about the same thing. Victor reached out slowly, and his hand curled around Zack’s neck, tugging him toward him, and Zack went willingly. Victor’s lips felt different from how he’d tasted upstairs. The kiss was hesitant, as if unsure of its welcome, so Zack parted his lips and brought his own hand up. They stood tasting each other while all the sounds from other people seemed to fall from the world, and it was just the two of them trapped in a small bubble of time.

But how could they make this work when Zack couldn’t leave here, and Victor couldn’t stay? At least since both of them were alphas they wouldn’t be receiving a bite.

Zack heard a small sigh, and then it must have registered with Victor because he lifted his head, smoothed his thumb over Zack’s bottom lip, then let go and stepped back. Zack managed to tear his eyes from him, only to see Mo leaning against the kitchen doorway, smiling. “You two look really hot together.”

Victor’s laugh was unexpected. Zack stared in astonishment as it completely changed Victor’s face, and the ache in his balls quickly went from something to be aware of to something a little more obvious. He tried to adjust his pants unobtrusively, but the twinkle in Mo’s eyes told him he’d failed.

Zack gave up any pretense and extended his arm, hand palm up in invitation. Mo straightened from the doorway and walked toward him. Zack could hear Riley and his family in the kitchen and knew they had to take this somewhere private. And as much as he wanted to, the bedroom wasn’t going to be conducive to conversation. “Let me show you outside.” Mo’s smile showed surprise but a little pleasure, so Zack found some sneakers that were Mo’s size from the huge collection they always kept because often the kids that arrived didn’t have any. Victor slid his feet into his boots, and Zack grabbed his sneakers. He glanced at Mo. “It might be cold out,” and he took a jacket from a line of pegs. Mo’s smile turned to amusement as Zack fussed, but he stood demurely while Zack made sure he was warm.

Zack was proud of their home and showed both Victor and Mo everything from the garage stuffed with bikes of every size imaginable to the court area where they played basketball, to the paths that led straight to the forest. “Raschid’s pack starts about a mile in that direction.”

“It’s beautiful out here,” Mo said longingly. “What about the other houses I could see from the front as we came out?”

“Family, neighbors. Shifters in the main, or a couple of trusted humans. Riley has his own house a bit farther out along the lane that you can’t see from here, but he’s moved back in while we find out what’s going on.” Zack walked him to the side of their home so he could see around it. “The big house is Daniel’s place. His mates run the school in the annex attached to the house that you can see.”

“Have I met them?”

Zack hesitated and shot a glance at Victor. What the hell should he say? But then Jax had told him about their men giving birth, so Riley, who could read emotions, must trust Mo. If he was honest with himself, so did Zack, but there was a good chance the mating pull might cloud that, so he was relieved Riley clearly did.

“So, this is going to sound crazy.”

Mo laughed. “Crazier than humans turning into animals or guys having babies?”

Zack scrubbed his jaw. He had a point there. “We can’t let Luke touch you.”

Mo’s eyebrows shot up. “And Luke is?”

“Luke and Oliver are Daniel’s mates, but Luke has certain unusual gifts.” Mo just waited and Zack swore to himself.

“Luke can give you a wolf,” Victor said very bluntly. “And when I say give , I mean he can turn you into a shifter.”

Mo’s jaw dropped, and his lips parted, but no sound came out. Zack winced. It sounded crazy, and he was surprised Mo wasn’t running for the hills. “We have to be careful,” Zack hurried on, although he wasn’t sure how he could make this any better. “They only teach shifter kids obviously. We didn’t know for a long time, well, until it happened to an FBI agent.”

Mo’s eyes grew even wider, and Victor chuckled. “Zack, I don’t think you’re helping. Martin is a friend and yes, he used to work for the FBI, but he had a bad accident which means in his human form he limps quite badly. In his animal form, however, he can run free of pain, and Martin will be forever grateful to Luke.”

It was a good thing they were near the small wall because Mo suddenly sat down on it as if his legs couldn’t hold him up. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?” he croaked out.

“I’m sorry,” Zack blurted out, hunkering down in front of Mo. “I didn’t mean to drop all this on you at once.”

“No, I think that about covers it,” Victor said, and Zack shot him a glare. He was enjoying this.

“Zack!”

They all turned to see Riley jogging toward them with the phone. “I just got a call from family services. They’re on their way with an emergency placement.”

Zack shot to his feet, incredulity running through him. “But that’s impossible. We can’t take any kids right now. It isn’t safe.”

“Actually,” Victor said. “This place is locked down better than Fort Knox at the moment. I counted six of my gammas already watching from the trees.”

Zack glanced at Victor. “That’s beside the point. We have no idea what this kid has already gone through. If they’re an emergency placement, it usually means something traumatic, and putting them in this situation would likely make matters worse.”

Victor nodded, acknowledging Zack’s point. Riley sighed. “They’re already on their way. And Helen Reynolds says she has nowhere else to put him.”

“How old is he?” Mo asked, as they all headed for the house.

“Fourteen. Refuses to say what sort of shifter he is. He was in foster care between the ages of seven and twelve, but then his biological father came out of the woodwork. Currently he’s one more shoplifting conviction away from juvenile detention. His father is currently in Mexico for business and there’s no other responsible adults he can be with. We don’t even know if he can shift, so there isn’t anywhere they can put him in case his first shift happens without warning.”

“And I’m betting stress might bring that on,” Mo said. “What age is normal for a first shift?”

Zack met Victor’s admiring gaze as we both recognized Mo had gone from shocked to competent in the blink of an eye.

“Generally adolescence, but that can vary widely based on type of shifter and designation,” Riley answered. “Jax is getting a room ready, and Alex and Tyler are sorting out some toiletries.”

“Well,” Mo said as we got to the house. “There’s never a dull moment around here.”

Wasn’t that the truth.