Glenn, Stormy and Flynn, Joyee - Blood Lust [Delta Wolf 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (15 page)

“Really?” Owen asked. Tears poured down his cheeks. “You promise?”

“I promise, baby,”
Constantine
replied, nodding. “I would never lie to you about something so important. I love you for so many reasons, most of all because you make me want to be a better man, a more caring man worthy of your love.”

“I do love you,” Owen answered, leaning his head up to kiss
Constantine
. “And I’m already falling for Christian, too. That’s why it hurt so much to think you told everyone without asking me. That you laughed at your little parlor-trick mate when he wasn’t around last night.”

“That’s not what happened at all, Owen,” Christian said as he touched Owen. He almost stood up and almost did a happy dance when he realized Owen wasn’t freezing cold anymore. But his mate still looked so unsure, Christian had to hold off the celebration. “We filled everyone in on what’s happened so far. Then we explained the danger following us from my pack. No one laughed or said anything bad about you. We would never allow that.”

“Matt and Zac were just so curious about your talents,”
Constantine
continued. “They didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or downplay your powers. No one realized it had been so hard on you to have this gift.”

“It must have been very hard on you,” Christian added. “Growing up different and with no one to ask questions about what you were going through.”

“No one believed me,” Owen buried his face into
Constantine
’s chest.

Christian didn’t want to upset Owen anymore, but they had to get this out in the open. Plus, Owen seemed to be doing better since he sat up in
Constantine
’s lap.

“Can we get out of the shower? I’m really hot right now.”

“Whatever you want, Owen,”
Constantine
whispered against Owen’s head and stood with their little mate in his arms.

Christian reached behind them and turned off the water. He peeled off his wet clothes, then helped
Constantine
take Owen’s off before handing towels all around. By helping hold Owen up, who still seemed too weak to stand on his own, they were able to get their little mate dry.

Christian threw the clothes into the hamper and cleaned up their mess while
Constantine
carried Owen to their bed. When he got back to their bed, Christian threw his towel on the floor and climbed under the sheet with his mates.

“We’re so sorry, Owen,” Christian said and gently kissed his little mate. “We had no idea what you thought we did or that this was so hard on you.”

“I should have talked to you,” Owen answered, looking into Christian’s eyes as if begging him to understand. “It just hit me, and…and I couldn’t turn off the anger and the hurt.”

“We know what that’s like,”
Constantine
said quietly. He scooted over to spoon against Owen’s back. “We’ve all been there for whatever reason, or shit life has thrown at us. But you’re not in this alone anymore, baby. None of us are. The three of us have each other now. And while we’ve all been on our own, or lonely in our own ways, we have to start trying to work as a unit. I’m not just saying this because of what happened, but Christian and I should have told you what happened as well. This is our fault.”

“Okay, you can take the blame,” Owen replied, smiling as he turned to look at
Constantine
. “I’m okay with this mess being all your fault.”

“I figured as much.”
Constantine
chuckled. “You want to tell us how we can help you get used to being here? Is there something we should tell everyone?”

“Like not to bring up your gift or ask you questions?” Christian asked, rubbing his hand down Owen’s chest. “Just tell us how to help, and we will.”

“Maybe I just need to get used to the fact that they actually believe me,” Owen answered shaking his head. “I’m not used to that. I thought they were picking on me this morning, like everyone has in the past.”

“Matt was crying when he realized he had hurt your feelings, Owen,”
Constantine
said. “I really don’t think he was trying to be mean. From what I know of everyone in this pack, they’ve all had their difficulties and issues. I honestly don’t think any of them want to make anyone in the pack feel bad for being different.”

“We came here because no one seems to judge each other,” Christian explained. “It would give us a chance to just be who we are. Free to love whoever we wanted to.”

“It’s not always bad people who hurt you the most,” Owen said quietly.

Christian didn’t say anything, knowing Owen had more to say.

“My parents were the worst when I was growing up, and I know they loved me. They tried to do what they thought was best for me.”

“You don’t have to tell us about it now, baby,”
Constantine
said while he played with Owen’s hair. “It’s been a taxing day on you, and you just seem to be getting better now.”

“No, it’s better if I just get it out now.” Owen pushed himself up and sat against the headboard. “You haven’t seen me when I get a vision yet. It’s like the rest of the world falls away and I’m watching my own little TV show in my head. People can talk to me, but I can’t see or hear them.”

After taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Owen continued. “At first, my parents thought I was having seizures. They sent me to all kinds of doctors and brain experts. And when it wasn’t seizures, they were adamant I had some type of brain tumor that was causing these visions. Again I went through all types of tests and scans, but no doctor found anything.”

“How old were you when they started taking you to the doctor like that?”
Constantine
asked. His hand balled into fists as if he knew he wouldn’t like the answer.

“About nine or ten, I think,” Owen replied softly then he started twisting his hands together. “I was twelve when they took me to the pastor of our church. He asked me all kinds of questions, and I was completely honest with him. I remember thinking, ‘He’s a priest. He’s not going to try to hurt me. Boy, was I ever wrong.”

“What happened?” Christian asked, wiping away the tear trailing down Owen’s cheek. “He didn’t beat you or anything, did he?”

“No, nothing like that.” Owen shook his head. “He told my parents that the visions had to be the work of the devil. They tried to perform an exorcism on me, which, needless to say, didn’t go as they had planned since I didn’t have a demon in me.”

“What did they do then?”
Constantine
asked Owen as he looked over at Christian.

His face mirrored the pain and angst Christian felt.

“They sent me to an asylum that specialized in troubled teens,” Owen said so softly that they could barely hear him. “After a year of the drugs and treatments, I started lying about the visions. I kept to myself as much as possible, so if I had one, no one would see me spacing out.”

“How long were you in there?” Christian asked, trying to keep his anger at bay after hearing what Owen’s parents had done to his little mate. “I mean after you stopped saying you had the visions, they had to let you out, right?”

“No. It seemed even after that, my parents didn’t want to deal with me,” Owen whispered. “I didn’t get out until I was eighteen and they couldn’t keep me there without my permission any longer. I missed out on everything. I spent five years in an asylum filled with crazy people while I was growing up. Even though I wasn’t really sure if I was crazy or not, I had to get out of there.”

“You didn’t go back home, did you?”
Constantine
asked.

“Nope, never saw my parents again,” Owen answered. “I got a job as a dishwasher at a little restaurant. Nothing that required prior experience, but I started getting images off the people I worked with. You know, things I never wanted to know about my coworkers. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and I quit. Then I tried to get another job, but I never even went to high school. What was I qualified for?”

“That’s when you started using your gift for hire?” Christian asked, even though it was more of a statement. He didn’t want Owen to have to confess anything that they could fill in. “Did that make it any easier on you?”

“Not at first.” Owen shook his head. “But then I bumped into a policeman, I mean literally bumped into him. And I got a vision about a case he was working on. I told him where the kidnapped child was being held. At first, he arrested me, thinking I was in on the whole thing. It was only after he got the kid out safely and the kid swore I wasn’t involved that I was let go from jail.

“The policeman and I stayed in contact, though. He really believed me. He was the first one to ever believe me,” Owen continued, smiling. “He’s a great guy, looking after me from time to time. Making sure I had everything I needed and dropping off meals when he knew I was a little short on cash. Ever since then, I’ve helped the police when I can and do side jobs when I need the money.”

“Oh, baby,”
Constantine
said, pulling Owen into his arms. “I swear on my life that I never doubted your gift or thought any less of you for being psychic.”

“Me neither.” Christian moved into the group hug. “I think that not only are you really special, Owen, but you’ve had way more shit than you should have in just your life, too.”

“Thanks.” Owen snuggled closer into their arms. “I’ll try harder to let you guys in and talk to you instead of just running. But at least I hope you understand now why my first reaction is to run.”

“Yeah, we get it now, Owen,” Christian answered as he shared a look with
Constantine
. They really got it now all right. Their little mate had been through hell and back, and it was up to them now to make sure it never, ever happened again.

Chapter 8

Christian smelled something delicious, almost as good as his mates. He lifted his nose into the air and sniffed, then followed the wonderful scent right into the kitchen. He was surprised to find Owen chatting happily with Matt and Dobry, especially after the previous day’s mess.

Owen had been so upset at his little meltdown that he had refused to leave the bedroom the entire day. It hadn’t gotten any better when he learned that nearly everyone had heard him and Constantine in the shower. His mortification had made him red in the face for hours.

Christian had been afraid Owen would never voice his pleasure again. He quickly learned that two orgasms could loosen anyone’s vocal chords. Owen had screamed until the windows shook, and Christian had loved every moment of it.

“Hey, baby,” Christian said as he walked into the room and headed directly for his little mate. He wrapped an arm around Owen from behind and kissed his neck, raking his tongue over the fading bite mark on Owen’s skin. “I wondered where you got off to.”

“Matt and Dobry bribed me with cinnamon rolls.” Owen tore off a piece and held it up in the air.

Christian wasn’t stupid. If this messy confection was the source of the wonderful smell, he was taking what was offered to him. He leaned over, snapped the small piece of food out of Owen’s fingers, and groaned as several delicious flavors blasted across his tongue.

“Oh my god,” Christian exclaimed when he could talk again.

Owen turned to smile up at him. “Good, isn’t it?”

“It’s fucking fabulous. No wonder you came out of the room. I would have crawled through cut glass to get one.” Christian arched an eyebrow and eyed the pan of cinnamon rolls. “Can I get one?”

Matt pulled one of the small circular pieces of gooey goodness out of the pan and held it just out of Christian’s reach. “What’s it worth to you?”

Christian narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Nothing too terrible, I promise.” Matt chuckled. “As I am sure you can imagine, setting up a new wolf pack takes a lot of time. Add in the constant missions the council sends our mates out on and Dobry and I are feeling a little lonely.”