Glenn, Stormy - Love Sexy [True Blood Mate 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (22 page)

“I guess,”
Love replied.
“This is all just a little weird, you know?”

“Somehow, Love, I think weird is going to be the norm in our life.”

“Right?”
Love laughed.
“It’s ridiculous. Whatever happened to mundane and boring?”

Before Logan could reply, a loud blaring noise filled the room. Logan tensed for just a moment before turning to look at Cáel. “Call Asher and find out what’s going on. I’ll call the front gate.”

Cáel nodded and pulled out his phone. Logan did the same. He quickly dialed the front gate. The phone rang and rang and rang. Logan started to get worried when no one picked up. He glanced up to see Cáel talking, so he hoped the man got through to Asher.

Logan snapped his phone closed and waited for Cáel. “Well?” he asked when Cáel hung up. “What did Asher say?”

“We’re under attack.”

Chapter 15

Love paced back and forth in front of the huge steel door of the bunker and wrung his hands together. He hated being down inside the dark windowless bunker but knew it was for his safety.

No matter how much he had protested, Logan refused to let him be anywhere else. When orders hadn’t worked, Logan had played on Love’s instinct to protect his mother and friends. It had worked. Love agreed to go to the bunker and keep them safe.

He just couldn’t stand the idea that he wouldn’t be there to protect Logan. His mate was outside somewhere keeping the band of coyotes that attacked the compound from getting to the bunker full of elderly, women, and children.

“Have you heard anything?”

Love turned to see Matt standing behind him. His friend’s face was pale white. His hands looked like he had been twisting them together for hours. Love shook his head but tried to look positive with a small smile.

“Logan is pretty busy right now. He needs to keep his mind on what he’s doing, not alleviating my fears.” Love shrugged. “Besides, I think I would know if something happened to him.”

Matt nodded. “You would have. Mates always know when the bond is broken.”

Love figured the same thing, but he hated Matt putting his fears into words. It didn’t make him feel any better about Logan fighting for their lives. The possibility of his mate being killed was very real. Love wasn’t sure if he liked this new world he lived in. It was a scary place.

“So, I guess you won’t be coming back to school, hmm?”

Love chuckled at the disgruntled look on Matt’s face. “No, I don’t think so. I might finish my degree someday, but I think I can learn more from Darren than I can in a medical school.”

“Probably.” Matt nodded. “He knows a lot about treating our kind.”

“Our kind?” Love laughed as he shook his head. “Boy, has that statement taken on a whole new meaning in the last few days.”

“There’s something that has puzzled me about all of this. If you’re a half breed, then why haven’t you shifted?”

Love blinked. “I can shift?”

“Duh, you have wolf blood in you. Anyone that has wolf blood can shift.”

Love stared at Matt for a few minutes then looked past him, scanning the room for one person that might be able to answer his question. “Darren, can we talk to you for a moment?”

Darren looked up then nodded. He set the small child in his lap down beside him and hurried over. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Can I shift?”

“Hell if I know.”

Love rolled his eyes. “You are so not helping here, doc.”

Darren shrugged. “How would I know? You’re the first half breed I’ve ever met. I’m used to dealing with dogs and wolves shifters.”

“So, who would know?”

“Asher.”

Love felt like banging his head against the wall. “Asher seems to be a tad busy right now. Anyone else you can think of?”

“Sorry, dude, Asher would be the first person I would talk to.”

“Love.”

Love swung around to see his mother standing behind him. “Hey, Mom.”

“You shifted as a baby, Love.”

Love’s mouth dropped open. “I shifted as a baby?”

“Yes, you were about a year old. I left you playing in your crib.” She smiled. “Imagine my surprise when I came back to check on you and found a puppy instead.”

“Have I shifted since then?”

“No, only that one time.”

“Can I shift now?”

“I don’t know,” Moon said. “Can you?”

Love stared at his mother then stared at Darren and Matt, tilting his head slightly as curiosity overcame him. “How do you shift?”

Matt started laughing hilariously. Darren chuckled then quickly covered his mouth. Even Moon started laughing. Love could see the humor in the situation, but he also wanted to know how to shift.

“Guys.”

“Sorry, Love,” Matt said. “I didn’t mean to laugh, but that just caught me funny.”

“Cool, glad I could amuse you. Now how do I shift?”

“Love, you really need to wait until Logan is here to help you,” Darren said. “Shifting for the first time can be dangerous if you don’t know how to do it.”

“I’ve already done it once.”

“True, but do you remember how you did it?”

“Well, no, but if I did it once, it can’t be that hard to do it again, can it?”

Darren shrugged again. “I can’t say, Love. I’m human. My first inclination would be to wait for Asher and Logan. They know a lot more about this than I do. I’d wait.”

“Fine.” Love rolled his eyes as he heaved a heavy sigh. “I’ll wait, but I want to know if I can shift as soon as things get back to normal.” Love realized his mistake the second Matt and Darren started laughing. “You know what I mean, when things are normal for us.”

Darren reached over and patted Love on the shoulder. “We know what you meant, Love. But you have to admit, normal is not in the wolf vocabulary.”

Love chuckled. “Yeah, okay, I guess I can see that. I certainly haven’t run across anything normal since the moment I met Logan.”

“It hasn’t all been bad, has it?” Matt asked.

Love smiled. “No, but—”

Love jumped and spun around when he heard a loud crash outside the large steel door. He saw Matt run to the door and start sniffing, which was really weird. Darren shooed Moon back toward the others in the back of the bunker.

“What is it?” Love asked when Matt turned back to him, his face whiter than Love had ever seen it.

“Coyotes,” Matt whispered.

“Shit!” Darren started pacing. “How’d they get this far into the compound?”

Love squeezed his eyes closed.
“Logan, are you there? Logan?”

The seconds seemed to tick by at a snail’s pace as Love waited for Logan to reply. As more time went by and Logan didn’t answer, Love began to grow concerned, then worried. Outright panic was starting to set in when Logan finally replied.

“I’m a little busy, baby,”
Logan said.
“Can I get back to you?”

“There are coyotes outside the bunker door.”

“Outside the bunker door?”

“Yes.”

“How in the hell did they get there? Asher and I have them all rounded up.”

“Matt sniffed at the door.”
Love opened his eyes and glanced over to where Matt was still sniffing around the door.
“He says they’re coyotes.”

“Okay, keep away from the door. Asher and I are on our way. And no matter what you do, don’t open that damn door.”

Love gestured at Matt with his hand. “Matt, Logan says to get away from the door.”

Matt’s nose was wrinkled up when he turned back to Love as if he had smelled something rancid. His fingertips had turned into claws and long canine teeth slipped over his lip. He turned back and growled at the door as he slowly backed away from it.

A loud pounding started on the door. Love knew whoever was on the other side of the door was trying to get in. He glanced behind him at the people huddling together at the back of the room. The fear was evident on their faces.

“Are there any weapons in here?” Love asked when he turned back.

“No,” Darren replied. “No one is supposed to be able to breach the bunker once the doors are closed from the inside.”

Love gestured to the door. “Tell them that.”

“There’s a hidden escape route, though.”

Love perked up. “A hidden escape route?”

Darren nodded. “Asher showed it to me. It’s in one of the back rooms.”

“Show me.”

Love followed Darren across the room and through the small crowd of people. They both gave reassuring pats to many of the people they passed, whispering words of encouragement.

Love suddenly realized that it was part of his duty as the beta-mate, to care for the clan in Logan’s stead. It was odd, but not something Love hesitated to do. These were his people as much as they were Logan’s.

They walked past the people and through a doorway into a large dorm looking room. It had a rack stacked with blankets on one side of the room. Cots were neatly stacked next to the rack.

One the other side of the room, Love could see an industrial sized kitchen area complete with cafeteria style counters and serving section. There was a stack of folded tables and chairs near the wall at the end of the kitchen area.

“This is the main room,” Darren explained as he waved his hand around at everyone. “It doubles as the cafeteria and sleeping dorm. It can house two hundred people.”

“Asher had this built?”

Darren nodded. “He had this entire facility built. Well, sort of. It was an old military base from World War II. He bought it in an auction and retrofitted most of the buildings to fit our needs. This bunker was already here, but it was set up for army personnel. Ash needed to make it work for us.”

“I think he accomplished that.”

“There’s also shower rooms, an infirmary, and a command center.”

“There’s a command center?” Love stopped walking suddenly. “If there’s a command center, why in the hell aren’t we in there? We could see what was going on.”

Darren’s face flushed. “Asher forgot to give me the keys.”

Love rolled his eyes. “The command center has keys?”

“Well, it wouldn’t do for just anyone to be let in there.”

“No, I suppose not.” Love glanced around the room. “So, where is this escape route?”

“Oh.” Darren turned around and headed into the kitchen. “It’s back here behind the fridge.”

“The escape route is behind the fridge?” Love took in the large industrial sized silver fridge and winced. “How are we supposed to move it?”

Darren grinned. “Ash put it on wheels.”