Bryce Evans (7 page)

“
What is this?  The big bad Alpha is apologizing to his Second and best looking buddy and cousin in the whole wide world.  Surely I have heard wrong,” Damen said jokingly. 

“
Cut it out.  You asked me what was wrong and I’m trying to tell you,” Mace sighed.

“
Oh yeah, sorry.  Proceed with your story of self-pity and doom and gloom.”

Mace couldn
’t help it, he burst out laughing at what Damen said.

“
You see this is what we need to do, relax, laugh, and have a good old-fashion poker party,” Damen proclaimed.  “Call Cade and Samson and see if they want to come play.  I will call Declan and it will be like old times, except Samson will be there and we can take his money since he has lots of it. Although they may not want to leave Adrianna's side. Reece can fill in if one of them want to stay with her.”  Mace looked over at Damen and snickered.

“
Wolf, please, like you’re not filthy rich yourself,” Damen joked.

“
Well not that rich and you know it,” Mace replied.

“
Yeah, I guess so.  Okay, maybe not a billionaire yet but pretty damn close.  Okay, call Declan.”  Mace got his cell phone out to call Cade when he remembered that they were going over to Reece’s house.  “Damn, I forgot we are going over to Reece’s house.  Do you think he would mind if we did it there? Plus it would be a great opportunity to get to know him,” Mace asked. 

“
Only one way to find out.”  Damen pulled his phone out and called Reece on his cell phone.  “Yep, alright, man.  We will meet you there after we stop at Mace’s house for beer.”  Damen looked over at Mace. “Well, it is a go so stop at your house so we can get some beer and snacks.”  Damen turned back around and started dialing everyone to come to Reece’s house.

Mace hung up and looked at Dame
n who was finishing talking with Declan. 

“
Declan is on his way.  He is in the middle of something and he was a little out of breath, but he will be at Reece’s house shortly,” said Damen.

“
So who is the flavor of the day?” Mace asked.

“
Well who even knows if Declan knows her name, but what I can tell you is that she thinks he is God.”  Mace and Damen started laughing and didn’t stop until they parked in front of Mace’s house.  Damen looked over at the small cottage when he got out of the truck and walked over to stand beside Mace. 

“
So did Lexy get moved in?” asked Damen. 

Mace never answered Damen.  He was staring at the house.  Mace could see the light pe
eking out of the windows, drawing him toward the cottage.

“
Earth to Mace.  Did you hear me?” repeated Damen.

Mace blinked a couple of times then looked over at Damen. 
“Sorry, what did you say?”  Mace realized that Damen was talking to him.

“
So, Lexy is your mate?” Damen asked as he stared at Mace.

Mace
hesitated then said, “Yeah she got moved in.”

“
Okay, well let’s go say hello to her before we go up to the house.”  Damen had already started walking to the door before Mace could object.  Damen was looking through the window when Mace plowed into the back of him.  Then Mace looked through the window and watched as Jacob draped his arm over Lexy's shoulders.

“
They look comfortable together,” Damen snickered as he turned to look at Mace who looked like he was getting ready to attack Jacob.  His face was blood red and his fists were balled up at his sides.

“
Hey there, Alpha, easy,” Damen said as he looked at his Alpha. 

Mace couldn
’t stand there anymore. He was going to kill Jacob.  He knew it, and the boy didn’t even do anything wrong.  ‘
He was almost touching our mate
,’ his wolf growled.  He needed to leave and fast.  Mace took off toward the house running at full speed. 

“
Damn,” Damen whispered as he took off running, trying to catch up with his Alpha.

Mace was in the house pacing back and forth when Damen burst through the front door into the house. 
“What is wrong, Mace?  Why does that upset you so much?”  Damen knew the answer but it was not his place to mention it aloud. Before Mace could reply, the front door opened with Declan and Cade walking in laughing.  Declan had a box of hamburgers and fries with him.  Damen looked back at Mace, who was trying to calm down so the others wouldn’t see how upset he was.

“
Not one word, Damen,” Mace whispered to Damen then he walked to his bedroom to compose himself before they went to play poker. 

“
You, dumbasses.  I said we are going to Reece’s house, the new guy who has joined the pack,” Damen said.

“
Dude, we didn’t forget.  We know Mace has the good beer in the basement.  So we came to raid the cabinets.”  Both men burst out laughing. 

“
Where is Samson?” Damen asked Cade.

“
Well one of us had to stay with Adrianna.  We don’t feel like leaving her alone.  I guess we never will,” Cade answered.

“
Oh how sweet.”  Damen joked with Cade.

“
Well when you meet your mate, you won’t leave her alone either,” said Cade.

“
Hey, speaking of mates.  Can you explain a little bit about finding your mates and how you reacted to her?” asked Damen.

“
Well now.  Why does Damen want to know about mates?  Do you have something to tell us?” Cade asked, raising his eyebrows up and down.

“
No reason, dude, just wanted to know.  So, OBI-WAN KENOBI, tell me your wisdom,” joked Damen.

“
Well it is really simple.  You won’t be able to eat, sleep, work, or have sex with anyone else ever again.  They consume your mind, body, and soul.”  Cade looked like he was reaching back into his memory.  “Yeah, that’s how it was and still is.  I can’t stay long, guys, because I can’t stop thinking about her or wanting to be near her.” 

Damen and Declan looked at Cade as he spoke, wondering if they would ever meet their mate.

“Okay, let’s go and eat,” Mace said as he came back into the room with a small cooler in his hands.  Mace heard every bit of the conversation but sure did not want to talk about it now.

They followed each other over to Reece
’s house.  Mace looked at the rundown house then sighed.  “Damen, get Tanner and the boys over here tomorrow to fix the outside of this house, cut the grass, and the yard needs to be fixed.  I need to apologize to Reece for the way it looks.  I just forgot about this old house and how bad of shape it was in.” Mace huffed out a frustrated breath as he stared at the rundown house. 

“
Already taken care of, Alpha,” replied Damen.

“
Thanks, I’m ashamed I’ve been so preoccupied that I haven’t done anything about this,” Mace replied as he thought about how he had been so worried with the influx of new people moving into town and feeling restless, like something was missing from his life, and now this woman who consumed his every thoughts. 

“
Well that’s what I want to talk to you about.  With all the new people moving in and all the extra things to do, have you had time to look at Reece’s background check and his qualifications?”  Before Mace could answer Damen, Star walked out onto the porch staring at her new Alpha.  Mace had read the background on Reece and Star and the way she was treated by the Cason Pack.  He knew he needed to put Star at ease with him and let her know she was safe here. He wanted to make sure this time to not scare the girl with his rough attitude.

“
Hello there, Star.  I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to come out here and meet you like a proper Alpha, but I’m glad that you are here and I want to officially welcome you to the pack.  Can I give you a hug?”  Star was hesitant but allowed Mace to hug her.  “Thanks, Star, I know we will become good friends.  You start school next week, right?” 

Star
hesitated, and then nodded.  She wasn’t used to an Alpha behaving like him.  She shivered as she remembered the treatment of how Ralph Cason treated her family. 

Mace
saw Star shiver and it broke his heart.  Star felt like family to him.  Maybe it’s because of everything she had been through.  No Alpha should terrorize his wolves.  An Alpha was made to be the leader of the pack and guide his wolves into prosperity and happiness.  “Star, I hope I can prove myself to you.  Alphas aren’t supposed to hurt their pack.  I’m not like Cason.  I won’t hurt you, but I know I have to prove that to you.  In time I hope you will learn to trust me and come to understand the Ashland Pack is not like your old pack, sweetheart.”  Mace smiled at Star, who was still weary of Mace, but she smiled back and that was a start. 

Reece stood at the door listening to Mace talk to his sister.  He liked Mace right off the bat and now he knew why.  He was not only his mate but Mace was a good Alpha by the way he spoke to his sister and from all the good the members of his pack showed.  If a pack had a bad Alpha then most of the pack would also be bad.  Just like the Cason Pack. 

Ralph Cason was an evil son of a bitch.  He terrorized the wolves in his pack.  His parents stayed behind when they should have left with him.  Little did he know that Ralph Cason threatened to hurt Star and him if they left.  Reece felt guilty over this, but he had to protect Star at all cost. Many of the pack wanted to leave but were afraid of him and his staff.  Reece could tell that Mace wasn’t like Cason.  He seemed to be kind and had a love for the members of the pack.  It was a huge family atmosphere and that was what made the decision for Reece to bring Star here to Ashland.  Reece didn’t know how to tell Mace that he was his mate.  He knew he needed to find out more about Lexy Redden and Mace, too.  If he was going to spend the rest of his life with these two people then he knew that getting to know them was the beginning.  But this was not going to be easy with his one mate being the Alpha and him not knowing if Lexy was mated. Reece was looking forward to getting to know Mace better, and he jumped at the opportunity of playing poker tonight. He had Star to think about first and that had to be priority for him.  She had been through enough. However, if he could pull it off, it would be one hell of a life.

Reece watched as Star smiled at Mace then took his hand, leading him into the house.  Reece knew that it touched Mace when she let her guard down long enough to try with her new Alpha.
Mace spoke to her carefully, making sure not to scare her.

Mace and Star were first to walk into the kitchen that smelled like summertime in Italy.  Nancy was at the stove warming up more sauce for the boys.  She knew that more people were coming to play cards so she had brought extra to leave for Reece and Star. 

Mace walked into the open arms of Nancy Johnson.  “Hello, sweetheart,” Nancy greeted her Alpha.

“
You are the only one allowed to call me that," laughed Mace. "Well I heard that this was the house to come to if I wanted to go back to Italy and eat the best damn spaghetti there was,” Mace said then smiled.

“
Don’t you know it, Alpha.  So sit down and I will bring it to the table,” Nancy said laughing.

Mace, Damen, Reece, Cade, Josh, and Declan all sat at the table eating another plate of spaghetti. 

When Nancy turned around and the boys were at the table waiting to eat again, she couldn’t help it, but she giggled at the site.  “You guys just ate about an hour ago,” Nancy blurted out.

“
Yeah but we are growing boys, Nancy,” Damen said, smiling at Nancy.

Nancy shook her head then watched the men
eat another plate of her spaghetti. 

Once the meal was over, everyone sat down at the small poker table that had been shoved into the corner
, except for Nancy and Star, who decided to watch a movie.  They had been playing for about an hour, but Mace couldn’t concentrate on the game.  Damen watched as Mace picked up his cards then he put them back down, and then would pick them up again.  Damen laughed to himself, understanding what was going on with Mace. 
That has to be it.  Lexy was Mace’s mate, but Mace was fighting it.
That’s all right, buddy, I’m going to help you.  Don’t you worry.

Every time Reece looked up
, Mace was staring at him.  He knew sitting at the table was not the right place to talk to Mace about being his mate.  He knew he needed to think before he reacted. 

Mace couldn
’t understand why he was drawn to another man.  He wasn’t gay or even bi-sexual, but something about Reece intrigued him.  He caught himself staring at Reece as he laughed and cut up with the guys.  ‘
Mate
,’ his wolf whispered again.  ‘
Shut up, boy, give me a break tonight
,’ Mace pleaded with his wolf.  “Reece, I was looking at your credentials and was impressed by what I saw.  I didn’t know that Jackie Bennett was your CO?” Mace asked.

“
Yeah, he was.  You know Jack?”  Reece put his cards down when Mace brought up his Commanding Officer.