Man to Man [Wolf Creek Pack 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (12 page)

“Anything you need me to do, just ask,” Donovan said. “You know that.”

“I do. That’s why I called you.” Reece turned for a moment and glanced up the stairs. “But first I have someone I want you to meet.” Reece turned and motioned for the man at the top of the stairs to come down, holding his finger to his lips, indicating for the man to be quiet.

As the little man tore down the stairs, Donovan had just a
moment to catch a glimpse of curly honey-blond hair and wide green eyes before the man threw himself into Reece’s arms.
The look on Reece’s face was priceless. He seemed a little stunned.

Then little man whispered something in Reece’s ear that made him laugh. It was a good look on the large alpha.

“Sorry, baby,” Reece said to the man in his arms. “But you know how it is—you find a traitor in your pack, you question the traitor, you knock the traitor around a little,” Reece replied as he wrapped his arms around the man. “This isn’t something that happens on a quick time schedule. Interrogation takes time.”

The small man whispered something to Reece again then turned to face them all with a welcoming smile on his face. “Nate,” he said, nodding at him.

“Keeley,” Nate said, nodding at him. Nate reached out his hand, grabbing the one that Keeley held out to him. A smile broke out over his face. “Ooh, nice.”

Donovan’s head ping-ponged back and forth between the two men. It was obvious from the look that passed between them that two men knew each other pretty damn well. Donovan vaguely remembered Keeley from when they had rescued everyone from the Teacher, but he had never gotten to know the man well.

And until now, he had no idea that Keeley had made his way to the Shasta Pack. From the way Reece was staring down at the little man, Donovan knew he had missed a lot. It was obvious that Reece adored the man.

Keeley grinned. “I know.”

“Details?” Nate asked, grinning back at him.

Keeley tilted his head back to look up at Reece. “Do you need me right now?”

“No, why?” Reece asked in obvious confusion.

“Nate and I need to talk.”

“About what?”

Keeley and Nate both giggled. “You.”

Donovan blinked in confusion as he watched Keeley and Nate go up the stairs and race down the walkway to the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind them. What just happened here?

He realized that Reece was feeling the same way when the alpha turned back to look at Joe in bewilderment. “What just happened here?”

Joe chuckled. “Nate happened.”

Donovan nodded rapidly. That pretty much explained it all right there. Nate might be only five foot seven, but he was a force to be reckoned with. As big as Donovan was, even he knew not to cross Nate. He liked his balls right where they were.

Reece raised an eyebrow at him in query. “And that means what exactly?”

“Nate is a sempath. A sensitive emotion empath,” Joe replied. “He can feel other people’s emotions by touching them.” He looked up to the second-floor bedroom door, smiling. “Apparently, he feels the need to talk to Keeley about what he felt when he touched him.”

“That’s why he was so insistent that Nate be here? Because he’s an emotion empath?”

“Maybe, but I think it’s more because Nate is also a human lie detector. He can tell if someone is lying or not,” Joe said. “A slight side effect of being an emotion empath.”

“Slight side effect?” Reece choked out.

Donovan couldn’t help grin at the astonishment that crossed Reece’s face. The man had no idea what he had just walked into.

“I’d say being a human lie detector is more than slight.”

Joe burst out laughing. “You should try being mated to him. I can’t get anything past the little bugger.”

“Dude,” Devlin exclaimed. “You are so totally screwed.”

Joe just shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. Knowing I can’t lie to Nate, I don’t even try. If I have something I can’t tell him, I just tell him I can’t share, and he leaves it alone. It cuts down on the crap between us. It also makes it easier for him to believe me when I tell him something important, like how much I care for him. He knows I’m telling the truth.”

“Okay, I guess I can see where that might be useful, but don’t you find it a little strange?” Reece asked.

“Not any stranger than Nate found it being mated to a shape-shifter,” Joe replied.

“Yeah, I guess I can see that, too.” Reece started chuckling along with Joe as he turned toward Donovan and Jim. “Donovan, it’s good to have you home again. Keeley informed me that you and Chase were instrumental in freeing him from the Teacher. Thank you.”

Donovan nodded. “I really didn’t have that much to do with it. Chase called in a few friends, and they went in to free them. I was too busy getting my ass shot.”

“Shot? You got shot?” Reece exclaimed, stepping toward Donovan. He stopped and stepped back quickly when Jim suddenly let out a low growl.

“Jim,” Donovan said, reaching his hand out for his mate. He grabbed Jim’s hand and drew him closer. “It’s okay. This is Quilliam Reece, my alpha.” He glanced over at Reece, feeling somewhat sheepish. “Reece, my mate, James Nash.”

“Uh, Donovan? I thought you were—”

Donovan grinned. He’d been expecting that reaction from Reece. “So did I, but apparently we were both wrong. Considering the little man that just ran upstairs, though,” Donovan said, his eyebrow raised, “I guess I could say the same thing about you.”

“Yeah, well.” Reece face flushed, which was something Donovan had never seen in the alpha. “What are you to do when you find your mate, huh?”

“No doubt.”

Reece smiled and held out his hand to Donovan’s mate. “James, it’s nice to meet you. You couldn’t have a better mate.”

“Please, call me Jim,” Jim said as he shook Reece’s hand. “And I’m sorry about before. I’m still getting used to being mated, and to a man no less.”

“I know the feeling,” Reece replied dryly. “I’d never been with a man before Keeley, but now that I have, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Wow
. Donovan would so love to pick Reece’s brain over that statement. He never would have guessed that the big alpha would be mated to a man. As far as he had known, and he had known Reece for a lot of years, Reece was never into men.

Maybe they could compare notes.

“So, why exactly did you call us home?” Donovan asked.

Reece turned to look at Donovan. “Devlin and I felt that we needed you and Chase here to—where is Chase, anyway?” Reece suddenly asked, looking around the room for him.

“Chase stayed back in Wolf Creek,” Donovan said. “One, with Joe coming here, their alpha needed an enforcer there to help him out. Two, Chase has also discovered his mates and is dealing with the two little troublemakers. He has his hands full. We figured with Joe and Jim here, you wouldn’t miss him.”

“Mates? Did you say mates? As in two?” Devlin asked, stunned.

Donovan nodded at his twin brother. “Yeah, and they’re giving him a run for his money. I have no doubt that they’ll settle down at some point and make Chase a very happy man, but in the meantime, they’re doing everything they can to make his life hell.”

Devlin rubbed his hand down his face then planted his hands on his hips. “I have so got to go to Wolf Creek. Everywhere I turn my friends and family are finding their mates, and I haven’t even been laid in weeks. It must be something in the water over there.”

“Well, it might not hurt to make a little trip down there, Dev,” Donovan replied. “Ever since Chase freed all of the Teacher’s pupils, there are single men running all over the place.” He leaned over and cupped his hand around his mouth. “I’d say free and sexy, but I still want to get laid tonight.”

“I heard that.” Jim growled, glaring at Donovan, but the smile on his face said he hadn’t taken it seriously. Donovan just leaned over and kissed Jim on the forehead before turning back to look at Reece.

“So, why did you need us here?”

“Someone tried to kill Keeley,” Reece replied.

“What?” Joe exclaimed, stepping forward.

“Ssshhh,” Reece admonished, gesturing to Devlin before looking back at Joe. Devlin ran over to the study door and placed his ear against it. A moment later, he shook his head and the conversation continued. “Keep it down. Douglas is in the study.”

“Douglas? Douglas from our pack?” Donovan asked in confusion.

“Yes. He’s mixed up in this somehow. Several members of our pack are. The long and the short of it is that some members of our pack have made a deal with a coven of bloodsuckers to use our pack members as blood donors.”

“Fuck!”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Reece ran his hand through his hair before continuing. “Apparently, their plan involves me mating Adrianna, who, it turns out, is half-werewolf and half-bloodsucker. I mate her, get her pregnant, and they take me out of the picture, taking over as guardian of my child, and thus, running the pack.”

“But, if you’re already mated, how can you—that’s why they tried to kill Keeley, to break your bond with him,” Donovan whispered in shock. He tightened his grip on Jim’s hand, a cold chill riding down his spine at the thought of someone trying to kill his mate. He’d be devastated, and kill anyone that tried.

Reece nodded. “Now you see why I needed you to come home? I don’t know who all is involved except Adrianna and Douglas. It could be anyone in our pack.”

“How long have they been planning this?” Joe asked curiously.

Reece shrugged. “I don’t know, but it started before I took over three months ago. I do know that there used to be about three hundred members of this pack, and now there are only around thirty. I haven’t learned what happened to the other members, yet.”

“That’s why you need Nate?” Joe asked.

“I had no idea why Keeley wanted Nate here, but he asked for him, and, well…” Reece shrugged.

Joe smiled, nodding his head. “And if you can provide something your mate wants, you do it. I get it, Reece. But be warned now, I won’t allow Nate to be hurt in any way. I’m sure he will be willing to help, but—”

“Joe, I would never do anything that would hurt your mate,” Reece said quickly.

Joe waved Reece off when the man stepped toward him. “I don’t doubt that, Reece, but you need to understand, touching people can cause Nate pain. If it hurts too much, I will put a stop to it.”

Reece nodded. “I expect nothing less.”

“Then let’s get this started.”

“I’ll go get Nate and Keeley,” Reece replied, heading for the stairs. “Devlin, why don’t you take Donovan, Jim, and Joe in to meet our guest? I’m sure he has some fascinating history that he can share with them.”

Devlin turned to Donovan and Jim, rubbing his hands together. “Have you ever met a slimy little weasel?”

“Yeah, the Teacher,” Donovan said.

“Well, this guy could give the Teacher a run for his money.” Devlin’s face crinkled in disgust. “He gives new meaning to the term slimeball.”

“Sounds peachy.”

Jim blew out a deep breath the second the door to the study shut. Douglas was an idiot. How he or his cronies could ever think their plan would work, he would never know. There was no way that Reece was going to give up his mate in order to mate with some half-breed vampire. Jim just met Reece and even he knew that.

A mate was too important. Jim couldn’t think of anyone that would willingly give up his mate. He knew he would fight to the death to keep Donovan by his side. Feeling a cold chill spike up his spine, he moved closer to Donovan, grateful when he felt his mate’s arm wrap around his waist.

“That man is vile,”
Jim whispered through the telepathic link he had with Donovan. He felt like he needed to bathe and scrub the slime off his body. He just couldn’t understand how someone could be so evil.

And to be selling pack members as a blood source for vampires?

Who did that shit?

“This man has to be stopped.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Keeley asked. “How do we stop him?”

Jim was curious about that as well. His first instinct was to call his father and have him bring in every damn enforcer they had, and maybe borrow a few as well, and put an end to this disgusting mess.

“I don’t know, baby.” Reece shook his head. “They have to be stopped. I’m just not sure how to go about it.”

“Well, the first thing we need to do is get the noncore families out of here. Their lives are in danger,” Keeley said as he stepped back from Reece and turned to look at Donovan, Jim, Nate, and Joe.

“I agree,” Joe said. “We can take them to Wolf Creek. I’m sure that my father would be happy to welcome them into our pack, or at least, give them a place to hold up until this is over.”

Jim knew his brother was right. Daniel Nash was one of the most respected alphas in the area, not only because of how strong his pack was but because of the love and respect his pack had for him. There was only one way to get that love and respect, and that was to be a good leader. Daniel Nash was a great leader.

“Donovan, you’ve been here as long as I have,” Reece said. “Any idea who the noncore families are?”