Page 32 of Forced Bonds

Our human blinked. “Umm, because I look tasty and juicy?”

Freddy laughed outright, making others join in as well. Benji looked absolutely delicious as he blushed with embarrassment.

Chapter Eighteen

Christopher

“So, that went horribly,” I grumbled as I sat back down in my office chair. The meeting had ended five minutes ago and I’d never seen my pack so distraught before. Sure, we had a full moon tonight and no way of knowing how it would go down. Then there was the extra added fear of having a bunch of vampires helping us out, also on a full moon. Our last full moon had been easier to deal with, simply because the amount of rogues had been fewer. If I remembered correctly it was only three rogues and I’d dealt with them alone while the rest of the pack did their own thing. My werewolf had been content watching over the treasure, not once leaving the surroundings.

“It went fine,” Sal said, waving it off.

“I bet it’s the moon that has them worried and not us. Besides, we have more important things to go talk about before tonight,” I reminded him. He nodded, clearly in agreement, so I continued, “Like that winking man, Freddy.”

Benji groaned next to me. “Will you two give it a rest already?! I like Freddy! He’s nice!”

“Nice,” Chris and I exclaimed in unison, both with the same deadpan tone and expression.

“Yes!” Benji snapped. “Now, can we talk about the fact that Chris will soon turn into a half man, half wolf being and I have zero clue on what to do when that happens?”

“You aren’t supposed to do anything,” I replied, giving him a worried glance. Was he scared of me now that he knew I wasn’t just a wolf shifter?

Benji rolled his eyes at me. “Sure, because you going all werewolf isn’t scary at all. What if you run away? Or, I don’t know, start fighting Freddy because he’s nice to me?”

“I won’t run away from my mates,” I assured him, my tone level and calm even if I felt agitated that he saw me as a mindless animal, which I knew I would be, but still.

“And did you notice the part where you didn’t mention hurting Freddy? Because if he’s in danger here, he needs some vacation time.”

I rolled my eyes. “Freddy is pack. We don’t hurt pack.”

“What about the new vampires? They aren’t pack,” he asked.

“They actually are,” Sal replied. “They’re my coven, so technically, we’re sort of pack to the werewolves now that I’m mated to their alpha.”

I loved hearing that Sal was mated to me, even as silly as it sounded, it made me feel cherished and important. I’d never allowed myself to rely so heavily on another person before, but I knew in my soul that Sal would be that person for me. My rock. Benji would be the one we protected and cared for, but I needed Sal to be the one keeping me grounded. I thought Benji might be the one that helped Sal keep his sanity, with his sass and feisty nature, he would keep Sal on his toes and give him the feel of the chase every once in a while. Meanwhile I would be the one always there for him to dominate and soothe.

It was weird how pack dynamics worked, but I could already tell that was how things would work out between us. We each gave one another what we needed and I loved that for us.

We ended up going through my never-ending to-do list and with a few interruptions throughout the day, still managed to get most of it done so we could focus on the fight tonight. Because there would be a fight, we just had no idea of how big or long it would be. Benji and I had eaten a sandwich together during lunch and even though I’d offered Sal some of my blood, he’d declined and told me he’d had plenty yesterday and could go a few days without. Benji had looked between us, likely at war with himself on whether he should keep fighting us or start relaxing more when it was just the three of us.

Then, just as we were about to leave for dinner, Stacy appeared.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Benji groaned. He was still seated in front of my desk, jotting down some notes for how we should spread out tonight. The vampires would be the first line of attack, us werewolves closest to the library building, with Sal, Benji, and me in the middle of those two groups. Sal was half sitting half leaning against my desk, glaring at Stacy and her daughter as they walked into my office like they owned it.

“Alpha,” Stacy bowed, ignoring Benji and Sal completely. Her daughter Mindy was still staring down at her feet, too afraid to meet my gaze. Or perhaps she was acting like the perfect submissive mate, no matter her reason, I wanted them gone.

“Stacy,” I drawled, already tired of her presence in our space. The room had smelled wonderful just minutes before, my mates’ scents mixing with mine and creating the perfect mix of everything good and free in life. Then she had to ruin it with her flower perfume and whatever it was Mindy wore that smelled like fake vanilla and something even my superior nose couldn’t pick out.

“I heard the rumors about you having two male mates,” Stacy laughed, like it was a huge joke. “So, I figured I’d better help you stomp those nasty rumors before they spread even further.” She walked further in, still ignoring my mates with Mindy right behind her, head still bowed in submission. “Can you imagine what the werewolves over in Halmsden would think if they heard the rumors?” She made a tsk sound while shaking her head. “We can’t have that.”

“Stacy,” I growled, finally getting her to shut up for a second.

“Oh, right,” she said, grabbing Mindy and pushing her forward. “Sniff her, she’s perfect for you.”

Benji stood. “Excuse me?! You want him to sniff her?”

Stacy glared at Benji, giving him a once over. “It’s a werewolf thing, human, you wouldn’t get it.”

It was like my human mate transformed before my eyes. Yes, I’d seen him mad before, but this was something else. His hip turned slightly to the left, his body taking a sort of defensive stance as his left hand came up in a oh-no-you-didn’t movement. “Listen, lady, the only people Chris is allowed to sniff around here are Salizar and me, you got that?”