His Imperfect Mate 26 (13 page)

Sloane turned toward Chance, ready to hand the man his head for hitting him. He was brought up short by shock when he saw D and Seth beating their fists over the top of Chance’s head and shoulders.

Yeah, he just knew somehow D would get involved.

Sloane walked over and grabbed D around the waist, pulling him off of Chance. As much as he was touched by D attacking Chance, he couldn’t allow his little mate to get hurt. He couldn’t allow Seth to be hurt either.

“Cody,” he hollered, “a little help here?”

Cody rolled his eyes as he walked between the men standing in the middle of the diner. He eyed Sloane and then cut a glare at Chance. “He doesn’t know, so back the fuck off until things are explained to him.”

Chance growled, extending his chest. Sloane thought for sure the man was going to start beating on it like a caveman. To his surprise, Chance’s stance relaxed and he grinned. “I can do that.”

“Wait or explain things to him?” Cody asked skeptically.

“Both,” Chance said as he slid into the nearest booth. “I know where he works now. It’s all good.”

Sloane didn’t trust the calmness. Not when Chance had just gone so totally apeshit. He gently pushed D into a booth, sitting on the side so that he could keep a close eye on the bear. He wasn’t taking any chances.

“The shithead is cool,” Chauncey announced to everyone.

“Sometimes his brain takes a dump, but it should be back online any moment.”

Sloane smiled when Curtis swatted his mate’s chest. “Not nice, Chauncey.”

“But, honey bunny, you know it’s true. Chance is just mad because it’s his turn to get his ass handed to him.”

“Still not nice,” Curtis said as he slid into Chance’s booth, Chauncey scooting in beside his mate. Sloane could see Seth staring strangely at Chance as he grabbed two menus and brought them over to his table.

“Don’t mind them,” D said as he waved toward the twins’ booth.

“They were dropped on their heads as cubs.”

“Cubs?” Seth repeated the word, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline.

Sloane groaned.

“Hon, think before you speak,” he reminded his mate gently. D curled his lips in, dropping his eyes quickly to the menu. Sloane tapped D’s leg with his foot, winking at his mate when the vampire looked up at him.

“Have you decided yet?” Seth asked as he held the pencil over his pad.

“I’ll have the special.” Sloane handed the menu to the waiter.

“And you?” He turned to D.

“Uh, nothing for me, thanks.”

Seth nodded and walked away, his eyes darting over to Chance a few times as he walked behind the counter.

“I want to check out the hardware store and see if they have any traps,” Sloane said. “Will you be okay for a minute?”

D rolled his midnight-black eyes. “I think I can manage in a diner full of shifters.”

Sloane pushed from the booth and bent at the waist, placing a quick kiss on D’s lips. “I’ll be right back.” He gave Cody a nod, letting the shifter know to keep an eye on his mate. Cody nodded back in understanding.

Sloane walked out of the diner, heading down to the hardware store. If he hurried, he could catch them before they closed. He didn’t like leaving D by himself in the diner. There was no telling what other shit would jump off, and Sloane shuddered at the idea of his vampire being involved in any of it.

Chance was a bear, and Sloane really didn’t know too much about them, but he did know that the shifter had found his mate and there was nothing anyone could do to keep Chance away from that human.

Sloane cursed when he pulled on the hardware door to find it closed. He was going to get rid of those rats one way or another. It was just gross having them in his home. He didn’t even want to think of the possibilities of the vermin reproducing in his basement.

Sloane was caught off guard when he was suddenly slammed into a wall. He knew right away that it was a vampire because he couldn’t easily break the hold whoever it was had on his arms. With no other way out of this, Sloane reared his head back, slamming it into the other person’s face. He heard a crack of bones and a howl of pain, the hold falling away.

He spun around to see another man standing there with a lecherous grin on his face, and for some reason, Sloane knew who the man was without introductions. “Magnum.”

“Very good, shifter. You know your better when you see him.”

“Hardly,” Sloane spat. “I know a coldhearted bastard when I see one.”

Magnum’s nostrils flared as his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. They were as black as D’s, but they were empty, void of anything kind or nurturing. “I see Dudley has been speaking out of turn about me.”

Hearing his mate’s name on this man’s lips inflamed Sloane.

“Don’t talk about my mate.”

“Ah, you see, that’s why I’m here. Dudley is not your mate. He is a vampire, a pureblood, and it will remain that way. He has duties and obligations to this family, and I will not allow him to wallow with lowly shifters, savages among the paranormal world.”

“He left home, so his duties are no longer your concern.”

“Yes, he wanted to get out and experience life a little. I allowed him his freedom to do so, but it is time he returned home where he belongs. Dudley cannot handle the real world and must be watched constantly. I granted him some time to sow his wild oats, but I never dreamt he would stoop so low as to try and mate with a filthy shifter.”

Sloane leapt, but was taken down by two vampires before he could tear Magnum’s throat out. The bastard had no clue who D even was. His mate was kind, funny, and warm, always smiling now and quick to try and please Sloane. The man had no clue what a true treasure D was, and he wasn’t going to let this man anywhere near his mate.

“Dudley seems to be handling himself just fine.”

Magnum scoffed at Sloane’s words, a
tsk
falling from his thin lips.

“So foolishness is added to your qualities. The boy is irresponsible, accident-prone, and havoc on my nerves, but he belongs at home.”

“Don’t forget a disappointment and a mistake,” Sloane sneered. “You must not forget those things, Magnum.”

Magnum placed his hands behind his back, giving Sloane a tight smile. “How could I ever forget?”

“You bastard,” Sloane growled as he shifted, fighting off the two vampires that held him down. When he finally broke free, Sloane turned to give Magnum a piece of his rage, but the man was gone.

Fear gripped his heart as he raced back to the diner. If Magnum had gone after D, Sloane was going to tear the man apart, slowly. He hadn’t gone through all the bullshit with his mate to turn around and lose him. Sloane shifted back to human form and raced down the street to the diner. He ignored the gasp as he pulled the door open and ran inside. He stood there naked as the day he was born as he scanned the place for his mate. Sloane breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted D over by the counter talking with Keata.

“Damn, put some clothes on,” Chauncey said as he chuckled.

“I…” Sloane raced across the room and pulled D into his arms, inhaling his scent and kissing his temple.

“Why are you naked, Sloane?” D asked as he yanked his shirt off and tried his best to cover Sloane’s cock.

He kissed his mate again as he chuckled. It felt so good to have D back into his arms. “Because the hardware store was closed.” It was a stupid reason but the only one he could come up with at the moment.

“So you stripped out of your clothes?”

Sloane ran his hands over his mate’s hair, staring down into his beautiful midnight-black eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”

D shrugged as he slid from the stool and then looked back at the kitchen. “What about your food?”

“Here,” Cody said as he handed the Styrofoam container to Sloane. “We’ll talk later.”

Sloane grabbed D and his food, heading out of the diner. He scanned the area as his mate climbed into the truck, assuring himself that Magnum was nowhere around. “I need to stop at my cousin’s house.” Because there was no way Sloane was taking D home. Not while Magnum was on the hunt for his son.

He also needed to talk to the Lakelands and let them know Magnum was in town. He waved his hand at Chauncey and waited for the bear to come outside.

“Dude.” Chauncey snickered. “If you want to talk to me, put some clothes on.”

Sloane ignored the man as he lowered his voice so D couldn’t hear. His mate would only go into a full-blown panic attack if he knew Magnum was near. “Dudley’s father just paid me a visit. Keep D’s brothers safe.”

Chauncey gave a grim nod as he glanced over to D. “Keep your mate safe as well. I’ll let my brothers and Pa know.”

“Thanks,” Sloane said and then slid into the truck.

“What was that all about?” D asked as Sloane reversed the truck and headed for the Den. He didn’t want to lie to his mate, so Sloane knew he was going to have to come clean. The fallout was not going to be pretty.

Sloane grimaced as he slid a quick glance over at his mate. “I ran into your father.”

“What!” D shouted and then spun toward Sloane. “Did he hurt you?”

The terror in D’s eyes warmed Sloane from the inside out. He was finding that his mate was very protective of him—which was a total flip of the coin from their rough beginning.

“No, he didn’t hurt me. But I don’t want to take you home with it being only the two of us there. He had others with him.” And Sloane would die if something happened to his small vampire. He hated running, but if it meant keeping his mate safe, Sloane would run to the other end of the earth.

“I’m sorry,” D said under his breath. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Sloane reached over and grabbed D’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “It’s not your fault you were raised by that pompous bastard. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But my father wants you dead because of me!”

“No,” Sloane disagreed. “Your father wants me dead because he’s a racist pig. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t see one,” D confessed as he turned and stared out of the window.

Sloane reached over and pulled D to his side. “Stop being so rough on yourself, baby. You’re my imperfect mate, and I love you.”

“You do?” D asked in amazement.

Sloane realized that he hadn’t even told his mate yet how he felt about him. He would make sure he corrected that every single day of their lives. “Yes, I do, Dudley.”

His vampire scooted closer as Sloane pulled into the gravel driveway. Sentries came around the house, eyeing the truck and then turning back around when they saw it was Sloane.

“Isn’t it going to be hard to explain to your pack why you’re naked?” D asked as he pushed to his side of the truck. “And for the record, I don’t care if you are a shifter, stop showing off what belongs to me.”

Sloane chuckled as he reached behind the seat and grabbed a pair of jogging pants, quickly slipping them on. “Better?”

D shook his head. “No, you should have a shirt on as well.”

“So should you,” Sloane pointed out.

D glanced down at his chest and then blushed. “I used it to cover you.”

“Well put it back on before I have to rip someone’s eyes out.”

Sloane led his mate inside the Den once his shirt was back in place.

No one was going to see his mate’s glorious body but him. Sloane was a selfish bastard when it came to D, and he didn’t share, not even the sight of his mate’s body.

“What brings you here so late?” Maverick asked as he walked into the foyer.

Sloane wrapped his arm around D’s shoulder, pulling his mate close. He hated that Magnum had him jumpy now, but he knew that the bastard wasn’t just going to walk away. “Dudley’s father paid me a visit outside the hardware store.”

Maverick’s jovial expression morphed into anger as his eyes shifted between Sloane and D. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but I’d feel much better if my mate was someplace with warriors all around. The man didn’t seem like he was going to give in that easily.”

“He won’t,” D interjected. “If I know one thing about my father, he’s tenacious when he wants something.”

“Take your old room,” Maverick said to Sloane as he waved a hand toward the stairs. “I’ll look into the man’s presence in my town.”

Sloane took D upstairs, not wanting his mate to hear any more of his cousin’s plans than he had to. It was one thing for D to know his father was a coldhearted bastard. It was something different to hear how his demise was being planned. D was a good guy, and Sloane didn’t want him to suffer any more than he needed to in this.

* * * *

Maverick kicked his booted feet up onto the desk as he rubbed his soul patch, waiting for Christian, the prince of vampires, to answer his damn phone.

“Hello, Maverick.”

“How’s it going, Christian?” Maverick asked.

“About the same as the last time you called.”

The man was an arrogant prick, but Maverick had grown fond of the prince over the years. He would never in a million years tell him this, though. “Had a visit from Magnum Constantinople tonight.”

Maverick cut to the chase, not wanting to be on the phone any longer than he had to. He’d rather be out there throttling the uninvited bastard.

Christian sighed. “I told him to stay away from Brac Village. It seems his prejudice runs even deeper than his loyalty to me.”

“Apparently. What do I need to know about him, aside from what you’ve already told me?”

“Since no one can disseminate into your home, you’ll just have to watch the surrounding grounds. Even though you have warriors, a vampire has many ways of gaining entrance into a shifter’s home. Keep me abreast of the situation, and I’ll take care of things on this end.”

“That’s just what I didn’t want to hear.” Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “Thanks.”

“Watch your back, Maverick. Magnum isn’t known for his bedside manner. He’s ruthless in the vampire world, not caring about anyone as he amasses his fortune. From my understanding, he would even sell his sons if he thought it would gain him power and wealth.”

“He sounds like someone I’d like to meet, up close and personal.”

Maverick would love to get his hands on Magnum. It was people like him that made a bad name for the paranormal world. Hell, he made a bad name for men.