He jabbed Emery in the chest. “Do you honestly think anything could have stood in our way when you met me? And need I remind you what happened between Alexis and Carter? Her husband was missing, she was pregnant with his baby, and still they felt that bond. Give them a few minutes to get the initial bonding out of their system, okay?”
It obviously wasn’t okay with Emery, because he wheeled around with every intent of storming down the hall and pounding on the bathroom door. Sean grabbed him and pulled him back.
“Dude,” he quietly said, “her life is in danger, too. She’s on our side. Especially now. Just let it happen.” He pulled Emery close. “Frankly, I’ll feel a lot better knowing she’s mated to Wyatt before we start getting info from her.”
Emery froze. “How do we know it won’t work the other way around, with Wyatt taking up for her?”
“Em, do you really think he’s like that? After what he did for us? He was out there hunting in a fucking hurricane for missing dolphins. He doesn’t owe us shit, and yet here he is again, helping us. And my dad’s missing, too. If I can give them a few minutes alone, so can you. Either you trust my instincts on this and treat me as an equal partner, or we can go round about this right now. Your call.”
Emery drew back, his lips pressed in a hard, tight line. Eventually, he let out a resigned sigh. “They have ten minutes before I’m going in there and dragging them out.”
Sean kissed him. “See? You’re a rational kind of guy. You’re a natural at this Alpha shit.”
Chapter Seventeen
They were actually done in eight. Sean didn’t even have time to get into it with Emery about why they’d brought his mom to the house when Wyatt led Marisela out to the living room by the hand. Her hair was damp, her cheeks flushed, and she bore several fresh bruises and bite marks on her neck and arms.
Sean wasn’t sure he wanted to know how alligators mated, but it looked rough and tumble, albeit apparently fast.
Louise stepped forward. “We need to talk, Wyatt.”
He draped his arm around Marisela’s shoulders. When he spoke, his somber tone contained no trace of the playful Cajun personality Sean had grown to know and tolerate as a friend. He was all business, his voice serious. “Louise Nadel, this is my mate, Marisela Esparza. I respectfully request her formal inclusion, and mine as her mate, into the Placida Pod.”
Sean’s head swiveled to look at Emery, whose jaw had dropped.
Apparently Louise was caught off-guard as well, because she looked like she was going to speak, stopped, licked her lips, opened her mouth again and shut it just as quickly.
She stared at Emery.
Pretty soon, everyone in the room was looking at Emery.
“What?” Emery asked.
Louise walked over to her son. “While your father’s not here, as his mate I’m declaring that since you are his declared intended successor, you are now the pod’s acting Alpha.”
“We don’t even know if we can trust her!”
Wyatt’s expression hardened. “You saying you don’t trust me?”
“No! That’s not what I’m saying at all.”
“You don’t want me in your pod because I’m a gator? Is that it?”
“No, that’s not what I meant, either!” He ran his hands through his hair. Sean suspected he was a few breaths from ripping his hair out at the roots. “I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do here.”
Louise spoke up. “It’s not unheard of to welcome shifters of other species into a pod, especially if they’re mated to a dolphin. It’s no different than including human mates. And dolphins can request to be made members of other pods for a variety of reasons.”
The reason herself spoke up. “I…request sanctuary,” Marisela softly said in her thickly accented voice, ducking free of Wyatt’s arm and walking over to Emery. She cast her eyes downward, almost cowering, shoulders rounded and head bowed as if afraid Emery might beat her. “I…renounce…my old pod. I declare…” She seemed to struggle to find the word.
“Allegiance?” Sean suggested.
She nodded. “I declare allegiance to your pod, sir.”
Emery looked at his mom, who shrugged.
After a moment, he threw his arms up. “All right, fine, she’s in the pod and so’s Wyatt. Now, can we please find out where our fathers are being held and figure out how to rescue them?”
* * * *
Sean didn’t give Emery a chance to delay things any longer by asking Marisela a shit-ton of questions. The first priority was to move everyone to Laura’s friend’s house. She lived in East Englewood, in a housing development north of 776. Laura led the procession, her mom and Sean’s mom riding with her. Wyatt and Marisela rode in the backseat of Emery’s Mustang, with Sean riding shotgun and several shifters following. After making a quick phone call to someone to give them the updated address, Wyatt focused on Emery.
“You know, Em, I owe you an apology,” he said, back to his old Cajun self.
Emery glanced in the rearview mirror. “For not rescuing our fathers before boinking your mate in my bathroom?”
He let out a snort. “Naw. For makin’ fun of y’all and how you dolphins do things in regards to mates.”
Sean turned in his seat to look at him.
Wyatt stared down at Marisela, who sat tightly nestled against him, his arm around her. “For thinkin’ y’all’s mate-bond stuff was a bunch of crap.” His voice softened as he stroked her chin. “I get it now. I really do.”
Marisela met Sean’s gaze. Her green eyes were filled with sadness. “Hector killed my parents,” she said. “The only reason he kept me alive was to use me.” Then cold steel filled her expression. “Let me be the one to end his life.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass who kills whom,” Emery said, “as long as we get Dad and Sam back safe first. Then all bets are off. I’ve got dibs on Erik, though, if the opportunity arises. Although I won’t complain if someone else does it.”
Wyatt gently turned her head, tipping her chin up so she had to look at him. “You are not getting in the way, baby. Sorry, I make the rules now, and I’m not letting you get hurt. You let me take care of the grudges. I fight your battles for you. Got it?”
The force of Wyatt and Marisela’s new mate-bond was so strong and radiated so thickly throughout the car’s interior that Sean wanted to drag Emery to bed and fuck his brains out. He would have, had the situation not been so dire.
Marisela nodded, a sad smile curving her lips.
Wyatt smiled back. “That’s my good girl.”
* * * *
When they arrived at the house, Louise got Helen settled in a comfy chair in the corner of the living room. Less than five minutes after their arrival, three more people joined them, two men and a woman.
Wyatt greeted them at the door with friendly hugs.
“Good to see you again, man,” the blond man said, clapping Wyatt on the back as they embraced. “You staying out of trouble?”
“Naw, it always finds me. I appreciate y’all coming out like this.”
The dark-haired man hugged him next. “Dude, like you really think we’d say no to you?”
“Gimme some sugar, Goddess,” Wyatt teased the red-haired woman as he hugged her. “You’re looking gorgeous, girl. Can’t tell you just birthed twins not that long ago. How are the Beasts, anyway?”
She grinned and pecked him on the cheek. “You’re just a big flirt, Wyatt. But thank you. And they’re doing great. When are you coming over for dinner again? They absolutely adore you.”
“We can talk about that after we handle this.” Wyatt turned to everyone else. “Folks, this is Lina, Rick, and Jan Alexandr.” He quickly pointed out and introduced everyone to the three newcomers.
Sean leaned in close to Emery. “Um, babe? You want to fill me in and tell me who they really are?”
Emery coughed. “Well, you have to promise not to freak out.”
“Asking me not to freak out is usually one of the fastest
ways to ensure I freak out. Who are they?”
Wyatt laughed. “Tell him, hoss. Or you want me to do it?”
Emery shot a scorching glare across Wyatt’s bow, making him laugh even harder. But Emery let out a sigh. “Lina is Jan and Rick’s mate.”
“Mate?”
Lina waved, a friendly smile on her face. “Hiya.”
“What are they, Emery?”
Emery rubbed his eyes with his hands and mumbled something.
“What?”
Wyatt let out a snort. “Chickenshit,” he playfully teased.
“They’re dragons,” Emery said as he glared at Wyatt. “All right? Rick and Jan are dragons.”
Sean blinked and stared at him, then started giggling. “Good one, babe. Really. Now quit screwing around. Who are they?”
The dark-haired guy spoke up. Sean was pretty sure he was Rick. “Um, we’re dragons. Fire-breathing, flying dragons. Well, I breathe fire. Dumb-ass here is water and ice. Lina’s not a dragon, though. She’s a Seer and Goddess.”
Sean blinked, processing.
The blond guy, Jan, waved. “Hi.”
Sean took a deep breath, held it, and slowly blew it out again. “Dragons.”
The three nodded. “Yep,” they said.
“Dragons?”
They nodded.
He looked at Emery. “Dragons?”
He nodded.
Back to Wyatt. “Dragons. For real?”
“For real, dude.”
“Sooo…” He swallowed. “So, Wyatt, when you said you called in firepower—”
“I wasn’t just whistlin’ Dixie. I really meant firepower.”
Sean walked over to the couch and sat next to Marisela. “You know them?” he asked her.
She offered up a timid smile but shook her head. Then she patted him on the leg, as if to comfort him.
He wasn’t sure which made him feel worse, that she felt sorry for him or that he felt like he was losing his mind.
“You know, I think I’ve hit the extent of my ability to absorb information right now. I would like to continue this conversation with them simply being known as Jan, Rick, and Lina, and skip the…whatever. Special stuff.”
Emery walked over behind the couch and leaned in, his hands on Sean’s shoulders. “You all right, babe?”
“No, I’m not fucking all right, Em. I love you, but seriously, when we get finished dealing with all of this and get Dad and Dad back safe, you and I need to have a talk and talk about…talking about this!”
Emery kissed the top of his head. “I know it’s a lot.”
“You said there weren’t any more secrets!”
“I’m sorry, babe. There’s…I didn’t think this was a secret. There’s a lot of stuff I probably haven’t even thought to tell you.”
“Now I know how Mom feels most of the time.” He immediately felt guilty about that comment as he looked over at his mother, who still sat in the chair where Louise had settled her. She stared at him, but he wasn’t sure she was even listening to what was going on.
“Don’t lose it,” Wyatt said, walking over to sit on Marisela’s other side. “We need you, bro. Don’t you lose your cool over this, hear?”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“About what?” Emery asked.
“About all…this!”
He heard Emery draw in the deep breath. Sean bolted from the couch and stared at all of them. “No, fucking seriously. Dragons? Dragons! Are you fucking shitting me?”
Lina smiled. “Hey, I fainted the first time I saw them shift. You don’t think that was freaky? At least you heard about other shifters before learning about dragons. Now cockatrice, those are fuckers you don’t want to run into.”
Overload…serious…fucking…overload…
He felt his knees give way, but fortunately, the chair behind him was empty. If it hadn’t been, he would have simply sat in someone’s lap, or hit the floor.
“Lina,” Jan and Rick warned in stereo.
“No, don’t start that bullshit,” she told them. “Goddess’ rules, dudes. Wyatt called us in to help, and that’s what we’re going to do.” She shoved them out of her way and walked over to kneel in front of Sean. “It’s okay, buddy,” she gently said. “Really. There’s wolves, bears, jaguars, coyotes—a lot of different animals.”
“Sharks,” he whispered.
She smiled. “Really? Sharks? Now that’s trippy. I hadn’t heard that.”
He thought he might be nodding, but he wasn’t sure. “One of them’s a lawyer,” he mumbled.
She let out a bright laugh. “Wow. Talk about typecasting.”
Her hands felt cool as she laced her fingers through his. “Look into my eyes, Sean,” she said.
He did. And they were pretty, for a girl. Green and friendly and warm.
Falling…
That’s exactly what it felt like, as if he’d tipped over the edge into a deep well.
“That’s right,” she encouraged. “Just let it happen. You’re safe, I promise.”
They were suddenly standing on a beachside cliff. He looked behind them and saw woods rising up the hill.
“Where are we?” he whispered.
“We’re still in the living room. We haven’t left. I just wanted to show you something. Perk of the rank.”
“What rank?”
“I’m not just a Seer. I’m a Goddess.”
Sure…okie-dokey…
He even felt the breeze in his hair, tasted the salty tang from the water.
They were not in Florida anymore. Hell, they were sure as shit nowhere the fuck near Kansas, either.
She giggled. “Believe me, I freaked out plenty at first. But there are a lot of things you’ll get to see and learn that the rest of the world never even thinks about. Real magick, spelled the old way. Not this cheesy, New Age crap a lot of people think is real.”
Then they were back in the living room again. “See? Safe and sound.”
“Not real sure about the safe, and we left sound in the rearview mirror on our way past fucking coconuts a few miles back.”
She grinned at Emery. “I really like him. You did good.”
“What, an insane, half Jewish, half Japanese guy who’s just lost his fucking marbles?”
“You’re half Jewish?” she asked. “No freaking way.” She peered around Sean. “Is that your mom?”
“Yeah.”
“Does she have a brisket recipe? No matter what I do, I fuck it up.”
“Brisket? Are you shitting me? She bleeds bri—heeey, I see what you’re trying to do there.”
She grinned. “It was working for a few seconds, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
She stood and offered him a hand. “Come on and make me a cup of coffee. Or a cup of something.”
Sean took her hand and let her help him out of the chair. “Does this get any easier?”
She shrugged. “You know, I wish like hell I could tell you yes, it does, but unfortunately life keeps throwing a shitstorm of crap at me and mine. It does get easier to stay flexible and just roll with stuff and say fuck the thinking about it until you’re done surviving it. That, I guarantee, does get easier. Especially when you have a good heart—or two, in my case—backing you up.”
Chapter Eighteen
Emery, Wyatt, and several other shifters were conferring with Rick and Jan about logistics, with Marisela’s input on the layout of the house. Helen continued to stare with wide, rarely blinking eyes as she attempted to take in everything.
Five minutes later, she stood, looked around, and yelled, “Why the hell are you people standing around and talking? Why are you not out there getting them back?”
Everyone went silent, looking first to her, then to Sean and Emery.
Sean suspected his mother was dangerously close to a nervous breakdown. “Mom,” he gently said, “you really need to calm down. You’re starting to worry me.”
Helen Morita wheeled around, a wild
look in her eye. “Worry you?”
Louise Nadel stepped in. “Helen, everything’s going to be all right.”
“No! It’s not going to be all right. Nothing is ever going to be all right again and what kills me is that you all are so utterly clueless you don’t even see it.”
Sean exchanged a quick, worried glance with Emery before returning his focus to his mom. “We’re going to get Dad and Joseph back safe.”
“Then what, huh?” She turned on Helen. “What’s the next thing? You’re telling me we have to rely on the help of some dragons and a woman who’s…who’s…” She burst into tears.
When Sean tried to comfort her, she pushed him away. “No. Don’t. Nobody can tell me this or anything is going to ever be okay again.”
At a loss for words, he looked to Emery for help.
He shrugged.
No help there.
Even Louise looked baffled and unsure what to say.
That didn’t fill Sean with anything remotely resembling confidence.
Helen shook her head at all of them. “I love you, Sean. And I love Emery. Don’t get me wrong. You two are perfect for each other. But I get used to my son being gay. All right. Fine. No big deal. I love you, Emery loves you, you love Emery, and you’re happy. A happy, successful child, what more could I ask?”
She wiped at her eyes. “No grandbabies. Okay, a slight disappointment. But your happiness is the important thing to me.” She pointed at Louise. “She’s getting grandbabies. Twins. I’m happy for her, so happy you have no idea. But my heart aches a little.”
She looked at everyone. “I learn my son’s married to a guy who can turn into a dolphin.” She held up her hands in front of her. “All right, fine. Far be it that I judge. Okay. I get used to that.”
Helen focused on Sean again. “I hear a maniac tries to kill my son. My husband is outraged, as am I. But what does my husband do? He throws himself into things to help. To help? These are supposed to be his easy years, his retirement. He doesn’t seem to understand what the word means.