A Cold Winter's Day 25 (4 page)

Luke smiled for the first time in months. “I think that would be a little odd for me to call you. Don’t you think?”

Malcolm grinned as he reached out and pulled Luke closer. “Might be.”

“Have you handled babies before?” The man looked like a natural, but Luke needed to know the extent of his mate’s experience.

“I have seven fully grown cubs. I think I might know a thing or two.”

Seven?

Good god, his mate had been busy. And for some reason, the thought of Malcolm being with anyone else made Luke jealous as hell. He didn’t want to think of anyone touching his big, burly man. Which was stupid considering Malcolm was holding Cole.

“Do they live here?”

Malcolm smiled at him as he nodded. “All seven, and four of them have mates.”

Luke could feel his stomach clench at the thought of seven large shifters under one roof. Eight when he counted Malcolm. “What kind of a shifter are you?”

He didn’t like the wide smile on Malcolm’s face or the twinkle in his eye as he led Luke over to the bed and sat him down, handing him Cole.

“I’m a bear shifter.”

* * * *

Malcolm smiled at Luke, but inside he was a quivering mess. He wasn’t sure what he should say or do now that his mate was awake. This was all so new to him. He had been alone for so long that he wasn’t sure he was even saying the right words.

“Are you hungry?”

“A little,” Luke confessed, his face flushing.

He walked to the door and bellowed down for one of his sons to bring him a plate of food. He didn’t want to subject Luke to his cubs just yet. They were going to flip over this, and Malcolm wanted his mate to get comfortable with his surroundings first.

“Do you have Cole’s diaper bag? I need to feed him.”

Malcolm had been in such a hurry to get Luke inside that he hadn’t noticed a diaper bag in the bed of his truck. “He’s been fed, but I’ll go get his bag once your food is brought up.” There was no way he was leaving his mate to his sons.

Especially the twins.

Chauncey and Chance would have his mate running from here screaming. They weren’t bad cubs, just a little over-the-top. Malcolm shook his head. Who was he kidding? They were way over-the-top. Those two stayed in trouble.

And as much as he loved his boys, if they came near Luke with their antics, he was going to make them sleep in the barn for a damn month.

Riley was the one to bring the plate of food up. It was actually a large bowl filled with the stew that they had had the night before. Malcolm knew for a fact that Luke wasn’t going to eat all of that.

“Here you go, Pa.”

Malcolm took the bowl, watching Riley and Luke eye each other curiously, cautiously. As if they were sizing each other up.

“Thanks,” Malcolm said as he pushed his eldest son from the room. This wasn’t a time for a pissing contest. He needed to tend to his mate. “There’s a diaper bag in the bed of my truck. Mind getting it, Riley?”

Riley watched Luke for a moment longer before he shook his head. “I’ll be right back with it.”

Malcolm knew he would. Riley was the serious one, questioning everything and trusting nothing. His son was born with a book in his hand and a curious mind, but he was ever the skeptic. Riley’s smiles were far and few, which saddened Malcolm. He was the only son that didn’t have a mischievous streak in him.

Malcolm took Cole from Luke’s arms as he handed him the bowl of stew. “It’s pretty good. My son Roman is mated to Steven. Steven is the cook around here.” He was babbling. Malcolm closed his lips as he sat with Cole in his chair, watching Luke devour the stew. He was hungrier than he admitted.

“This is really good,” Luke said as he scooped the last of it with the spoon.

Malcolm had never seen anyone eat so fast—and he was a bear shifter! “There’s plenty more.” Had his skinny mate really eaten the entire bowl? Malcolm was impressed.

“I’m fine.” Luke set the bowl on the nightstand as he looked around the room. “Is this your bedroom?”

“Yes. It’s the largest bedroom in the house.” He waved a hand down his body. “You can see why I needed it.”

Luke’s eyes snapped away, but not before Malcolm saw the lust gleaming in them. He smiled. It had been so long since he’d had sex, but Malcolm remembered the mechanics. Honestly, though? He was a bit nervous because it
had
been so long.

He knew nothing was going to happen anytime soon, but the thought of laying Luke out like a banquet appealed to him on so many different levels. His mate was skittish right now, fearing for his life and that of his son’s, but Malcolm couldn’t stop the images from barraging his mind.

And damn if they weren’t the hottest images his mind could conjure up.

Malcolm cleared his throat, trying to get his thoughts back on track and out of the gutter. He wanted to ask Luke why he was running, but he knew he had to gain the man’s trust first. Luke was somewhat relaxed now, but Malcolm could see the underlying current of jitters in his mate’s chocolate-brown eyes.

He didn’t want to give the guy any reason to bolt. That was the last thing Malcolm wanted. Riley walked into the room, a colorful diaper bag hanging from his hand. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Luke nodded as he stood, his hand reaching out to grab it. Malcolm growled when Riley snatched the bag back from Luke’s outstretched hand, his eyes narrowing to tiny slits.

“Mind telling me why you have a gun in there?”

“You looked in my bag?” Luke asked as he cut his eyes over to Malcolm. He had grabbed the gun from his cabinet when he had grabbed Cole’s diaper bag. He wasn’t sure what Shanta was going to do, but Luke had fully intended to protect his son.

“We don’t know you. Of course I looked,” Riley spat with venom. Malcolm stood, handing Cole to Luke as his presence seemed to grow by leaps and bounds in the bedroom. Luke took a step back, fear gripping him as Malcolm walked over to the man standing there with Cole’s diaper bag.

“Son, I love you with all my heart. But if you ever talk to him that way again, I’ll take you out back and teach you a lesson in manners.” The threat was spoken low, slow, and leaving no room for doubt that Malcolm would do just that.

Luke swallowed, his eyes darting between the two men. They looked so much alike that there was no way this man wasn’t one of Malcolm’s sons. Which confused Luke. Why would he threaten his own son for the way he spoke to Luke, who he’d just met?

“Yes, sir,” the man said as he turned and walked out.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Malcolm turned, the blaze in his eyes still evident. “Yes, I should have. No one is going to talk to you like that.”

“But we just met.” Luke stated the obvious.

“And we’re mates. They will respect you or they’ll find out what it means to have their asses kicked by a real bear.”

God, the man was hot as hell when he was fierce. Luke glanced away, feeling as though he were the luckiest man on the planet.

But still…

“They’re your sons. You should explain things to them first. He didn’t know.”

“True, but Riley knows better. He was raised with manners. He should have asked me before confronting you.”

Luke wanted to argue, but he could see that Malcolm was standing firm. He didn’t agree, but it wasn’t his house or his place. Hell, he had just arrived. Luke knew nothing about Malcolm. As Luke glanced down at the floor, he saw the bracelet on his wrist. It was a reminder that he was still being hunted.

“Did you call my tribe?”

Luke looked back up to see the look of confusion on Malcolm’s face, his grey eyes darting over Luke’s face. “Why would I call them?”

Luke shrugged as he walked back over to the bed and laid Cole down, surrounding the baby with pillows, making sure he didn’t roll off the high bed. “You found an unconscious elf in the bed of your truck. It would have been the logical thing to do.” It would have been the first thing he would have done.

“You’re a Lakeland. We take care of our own. I didn’t call anyone.”

Relief flooded Luke as he peeked over his shoulder. Malcolm stood there looking strong, confident, and handsome as hell. “Thank you.”

“I’m not going to pry out of you why you ran, but I would like to know what I’m up against.”

And the man had a right to know. But Luke could feel the exhaustion finally kick in. He may have passed out in Malcolm’s truck, but his body didn’t feel as though it had gotten enough rest. He climbed up into the bed, curling around Cole as he closed his eyes.

“I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow.”

* * * *

“It’s a baby, jackass,” Chance said as he and Chauncey stared down at Cole.

“What’s a baby doing here?” Chauncey asked.

“The stork was drunk and dropped him off here instead of at the vampire coven.” Sometimes Chance wondered if they truly shared the same gene pool.

“You’re a real smart-ass, ain’t ya?” Chauncey snapped as he squatted down in front of Cole.

“I don’t think you two should be cursing in front of him,” Bryce said as he walked into the living room. “Pa will whup both of you if he catches you cursing in front of a cub.”

Chauncey snorted as he waved a hand at Cole. “I highly doubt the kid can talk, let alone repeat what we say.” Chauncey looked over his shoulder at Chance. “Can he?”

“You are such a boy genius,” Chance grumbled and then curled his lip. “What is that smell?”

“I think it’s the cub,” Bryce said as he took a step back, his face crinkled in disgust. “Or someone opened a landfill close to us.”

“The cub did that?” Chauncey asked as he screwed his face up and stood, taking a step back. “I’m not cleaning that up.”

“It’s not like he threw up.” Bryce chuckled.

“No, but it smells like it,” Chauncey complained as he waved a hand in front of his face. “Where’s his ma or pa?”

“Cub only has a pa. He’s upstairs with our pa,” Chance related. “So I guess it’s up to us to change him.”

“I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you do it,” Chauncey said as he began to back out of the room, waving his hands frantically in front of him. “I don’t know shit about diapers.”

“Stop cursing, damn it,” Bryce snapped. “It can’t be that hard.”

“There’s his bag,” Chance said as he pointed over to the diaper bag his pa had given him when he left Chance in charge of Cole. “Go for it.”

Bryce knelt down in front of Cole, stripping his pants off and unsnapping his onesie. He peeled back the tabs on the cloth diaper liner and then coughed. “I need something to put the soiled diaper in.”

“On it,” Chauncey said as he bolted from the room. He returned a moment later with the large kitchen trash can in one hand and rubber gloves in the other.

“Thanks.” Bryce reached up for the gloves but Chauncey pulled them away.

“These are for me.” He slid them on and then held the can toward Bryce. “Go for it.”

Bryce grumbled as he pulled the diaper back. “Oh my god!”

“He’s so little. How did he—” Chance took a step back.

“I’m gonna be sick.” Chauncey belched.