Page 5 of True Calling

CHAPTER 2

“Oh goddess, Bo, is he here yet?” Nolan asked as he held his mate Linus close to his side.

Shaking his head, “No, but he should be soon.”

“Are you sure he’s coming? I mean, did that guy Zotol... I mean, is he sure this is the one we’ve been searching for?” Micah asked, sounding just as nervous as Bo was.

“I read what Zotol said to all of you. He said that this guy, Berk Carlos, is definitely his mate and that we needed to make room for a personal chef. My mate, as well as Linus went to Garth and got him to agree to hire a chef. Berk was hung up on some personal business but should be here today.” Bo said for about the tenth time.

Sighing, Chance said, “I sure hope so, because I don’t know how many more excuses, we can give to Garth about why the chefs he’s brought in are unacceptable.”

“Well, that one tattooed guy gave me the creeps. I wasn’t kidding when I said he didn’t make me feel safe.” Linus admitted quietly.

“And I really was honestly afraid that the last one had so much hair we would be picking it out of our teeth with each meal.” Micah grumbled.

His mate Chance laughed with everyone else, then leaned in kissing the man. “Be honest, my love. You didn’t like the guy because he was flirting with me.”

Micah growled low, “It was unprofessional.” He then pulled his mate on top of his lap. “And you’re mine.”

Chance laughed and kissed his mate. The two started getting a bit more hot and heavy than Bo was comfortable with. “Okay, you two. Enough of that. We don’t need you guys going at it just as Garth’s mate arrives. We want to make a good impression.”

Chance pulled back from his mate, saying, “We don’t even know if this guy really is Garth’s mate. Just because this Zotol guy says so doesn’t make it so.”

“We don’t even know the guy’s name that’s supposed to be coming. How’s that going to look when the man shows and we’re like… Hey there. You’re going to be our new chef? So, what is your name again? Come on, Bo, the guys going to know something’s up.” Nolan said with his typical eye roll.

“Berk Carlos. I just got done talking with Xolin, Zotol’s mate. He said that Zotol just got done checking on things and the guy is in an Uber now, due here any second.” Trevor said, walking up to his mate Bo and giving him a tiny kiss on the lips.

“Xolin? Zotol? How do we even know these guys are on the up and up? I mean come on, Bo, they’re on the internet for shit sake. You know you can’t trust the internet.” Nolan argued.

Nolan had a really hard time trusting people. However, when your own parents tried to kill you, that could mess a person up. Nolan had lived on the streets by the age of thirteen just trying to eat and stay alive after that. Until Garth had rescued him and brought him here... to the mansion... to his new home. Just like he had done for the rest of Bo’s family.

His own mate Trevor, had been sold to a sadistic bastard as a sex slave and had managed to escape. He had run smack dab into Garth and was brought to the house where Bo had already been since Garth had found him scrounging for food in dumpsters and sleeping in dark, dank alleys.

Micah had been a young dugong when Garth had brought him home. The poor guy had been in a zoo of all things and not a very good one, expected to swim around and perform during feeding hour. Micah had scars from the abuse he was put through while being kept there, or maybe it was when his mom had been killed when they had been swimming in the ocean, Bo wasn’t really sure, and he didn’t ask. What Bo did know was, by the time Garth had brought him there, Micah was almost dead, and they had damn near lost him more than once.

The really crazy thing was that Garth had found Micah’s mate at the same zoo. He was one of many animals in an exhibit dedicated to unique creatures. Chance was a tortoise, but not just any tortoise. Chance was a Galapagos giant tortoise. He was known as the oldest and largest tortoise in the world and people came from all over the world to get an opportunity to pet him, and small children were permitted to take him for a ride for the right price like he was a fucking pony. That shit still pissed Bo off. Garth had not only taken Chance the hell out of that shit hole, but he had gotten the damn zoo shut the fuck down. However, of all of them, Linus had been the worst off.

He had come from an abusive home and witnessed his father kill his mother in a drunken rage. Linus had been put into foster care and was sexually abused until he ran away a few years after that and then was forced to work the streets to eat. When a pimp saw him working what he considered “his” street, he had stabbed Linus and damn near killed him.

Once he had been released from the hospital, again the system took him in and again he was placed into a home, however, this one was something only talked about in movies... if you were into those kinds of movies. This couple was taking in kids and forcing them into a sex ring where they were rented out night after night. When not “working” they were chained to a bed. It had taken Linus a few years to work up the courage to attempt an escape and he had run until one day Garth found him shivering in the rain, trying to sell himself for some money to buy himself something to eat. Bo would never forget the day Linus arrived in their home. Nolan had scented him as his mate immediately, and refused to leave his side for a moment, even though Linus refused to allow the man to touch him. Hell, whenever anyone touched him whether by accident or just to place a hand on the guy’s shoulder Linus would shrink away and start to shake, so bad Bo thought he might fall apart. Bo had almost cried, if he was the crying type... which he wasn’t, no matter what. He would always say it had to be allergies.

It had taken close to two years for Linus to start to trust Nolan or any of them for that matter and another two before he finally accepted Nolan as his mate, and although it had taken even longer for him to build his trust with the rest of them, Bo knew that they had that and so much more. Linus was the sweetest of them all... even if he was also the shyest. He was also the youngest, which meant he was coddled and looked after more than any of the rest as well.

Bo was brought out of his musing when he heard his mate saying, “...I hacked into their system and got the information I needed to dig around and find out just who this Xolin and Zotol are.”

“You did what?” Bo gasped. “Damn it, Trevor, I’ve told you that shit is going to get you arrested or sought after and hurt.”

Trevor rolled his eyes. “And I’ve told you. I’m not that stupid mate of mine. I know what I’m doing, and no one can trace my search back to me. Now, do you want to know what I learned or not?”

“I do.” Linus quietly said from his mate’s lap.

Bo sighed, “Fine, what did you learn?”

“Well, not much about Zotol. That man must be one of those archaic types that doesn’t do social media. However, Xolin is a completely different matter altogether. His name is Xolin Wyllt.”

“Wyllt? Why do I know that name?” Chance asked.

Smiling, Trevor said, “Because Wyllt is the surname to one, Myrddin Wyllt, otherwise known as...”