Glenn, Stormy and Flynn, Joyee - Blood Lust [Delta Wolf 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (17 page)

“No,” Matt said, rinsing off the last of the cooking dishes and setting it in the dish rack. “I think that’s about it. Are the guys ready?”

“Dobry and Owen are getting the music set up as we speak, nothing too loud, just some background tunes. They took out a stack of towels earlier. Other than taking the food out, I think we have everything covered.”

“Hopefully, that will be the only thing covered.” Matt wiggled his eyebrows.

“We’re seriously going to go skinny-dipping together?” Christian felt a little doubtful of that plan. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed to be naked around others. He just wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to see Owen naked. The man was gorgeous in his clothes. Naked, he was stunning.

“Well, it’s not like we’re going to be getting it on with each other or anything,” Matt said. “We’re trying to get our mates to join us in a day of fun and relaxation.”

Christian chuckled. “But not too much relaxation.”

“Yeah.” Matt grinned. “That would be bad.”

“Real bad.”

Christian set the picnic basket down on the floor, then walked over to grab the cooler. He turned to see Matt lifting the picnic basket in his arms. “You have that okay?”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Don’t start.”

“I was just asking.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Matt, I’m about two inches taller than you.” Christian snorted. “Give me a break. I was just trying to help.”

“Yeah, I know but sometimes it still feels like you’re one of them.”

“Them?”

“Dobry and Owen are both human. I’m just a regular wolf, no ranking. Besides the three Deltas involved, Alastar is a vampire and you’re a wolf, a big wolf. It kind of feels like it’s Dobry, Owen, and me against all of you, you know?”

“And that right there might be your problem.” Christian nudged the door open and started walking out with the cooler. He could hear Matt walking behind him as they both headed toward the lake shore. “There is no them or you, Matt. It’s us against the world, don’t you understand that?”

“You just don’t understand.”

“I do understand, Matt. You need to remember that my old pack wants me dead. Without Owen and Constantine, I’d be six feet under right now. For most of my life, it was me against everyone else. Now I have Owen and Constantine to care for me. We’re a team, the three of us. It’s us against everyone else.” Christian shrugged. “Well, us and the pack against everyone else.”

“I don’t know,” Matt said. “It just seems like—”

“Matt, do you love Zac and Aiden?”

“What kind of question is that?” Matt snapped. His face took on a fierce glare, his eyebrows drawing together in a deep frown. “Of course I love them.”

“Do you believe they love you?”

“Christian, what—”

“Do you?”

“Yes!”

“Then that’s all that is important,” Christian said. “As long as the three of you love each other, you are a team. Everything else can be worked out between the three of you. I’ll bet Zac and Aiden don’t even know that you feel left out. I think you should tell them. This picnic is a good start, but they need to know why you want the picnic.”

Christian chuckled as he walked away from Matt. The man’s mouth was dropped open when he stared at Christian as if he had never thought of speaking to his mates about his feelings. Christian knew the only way to work things out was to talk about them. He learned that earlier with Owen. He wouldn’t make the mistake of not communicating with his mates again.

Christian set the cooler under a tree, then walked back to the house to grab the blankets and pillows. He helped Matt spread out three blankets surrounding the basket then unloaded the food. By the time they were done, Dobry and Owen joined them.

“Hey, baby.” Owen sat down between his spread legs and leaned back against his chest. Christian wrapped his arms around Owen and started on the buttons of his shirt. This was a skinny-dipping picnic. Christian wanted skin.

“How soon do the guys get here?” Owen asked, tilting his head back to look up at Christian.

Christian grinned. “How soon can you get naked?”

Chapter 9

“Once we get the town full of pack members, we could really have something great here,” Zac said as he, Aiden, Constantine, Sebastian, and Alastar walked back to his house.

“No! Put me down,” someone screamed.

Constantine
realized he knew who was screaming. “Owen,” he whispered before he took off at full speed to get to his mate. Somewhere in his brain, it registered that the others were behind him, but all that mattered was getting to his mate.

When he rounded the side of the house and saw what was going on down by the lake, he couldn’t help but laugh. All the worry and concern just drained away from him. Christian was running with Owen thrown over his shoulder toward the small dock jutting out on the lake. And they were both buck-ass naked.

Constantine
didn’t waste any time stripping off his clothes. He was just finishing when Christian threw Owen off his shoulder and several feet into the water. Deciding to give his little mate some fair play, he rushed over, wrapped his arms around Christian's waist, and launched them both into the water.

“I guess I deserved that,” Christian said when they surfaced from underwater a few moments later.

Constantine and Owen laughed at their mate, who was smiling widely and shaking the water out of his hair.

“That was fun,” Owen replied and giggled. “I forget how strong you guys are. I’ve never been tossed like that before. It was a rush before I hit the water.”

Constantine
was just about to offer to toss his little baby off the dock again if it made him happy when Owen’s face went blank. He seemed to just be staring off into space. “Owen, are you okay?”

“Owen, what’s wrong?” Christian asked.

Constantine
started to panic when Owen wouldn’t answer. Looking over to Christian, he saw that his mate had the same concern on his face about Owen.

“Matt,” Owen said when he finally snapped out of it.

Constantine
wanted to ask what Owen meant, but his little mate started swimming back toward the shore. They swam after him, wanting to find out what was going on.

“Owen, what’s up?” Christian asked when they got out of the water.

“Matt! Don’t go in the house,” Owen screamed, racing toward Matt.

Luckily, Matt hadn’t gotten very far from the picnic when Owen got to him, grabbed his arm, and tried to pull him back from the house. Owen looked desperate.

“Owen, what are you talking about?” Matt asked, looking at Owen like he’d lost his mind.

“I saw you die,” Owen said breathlessly.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zac snarled, pulling Matt against him and looked around the area wildly.

Constantine
saw Zac’s claws start to come out as the man went into protective mode.

“Christian’s Alpha and some of his pack are here,” Owen answered, going for a pile of clothes. “Some of them are in the house. They weren’t expecting so many of us here, so some are waiting in the house to pick us off one by one. I saw Matt go into the house, and they slit his throat.”

“Motherfucker,” Christian screamed and started stalking toward the house.

Constantine
tried to catch him, but Christian skirted away. “No, this fucking ends right now. Father, get out here.”

“Father?” Constantine, Zac, and Aiden all shouted at the same time.

“Yeah, the asshole who put the hunt out on me is my own father,” Christian snapped.

Constantine
growled. He wanted to kill the man, and he didn’t even know him. Christian was pale, but his hands were clenched into fists. Owen was bounding anxiously from foot to foot, looking back and forth between them.

A taller man, one who reeked of Alpha dominance, stepped out of the house with five other men.
Constantine
could smell that they were all werewolves.

“You never did understand respect, Christian.”

“I respected you, Father.” Christian crossed his arms over his chest. Most of their group was naked, but that was normal for shifter cultures. The only ones who seemed to need clothes were Owen and Dobry.

“As in past tense?” the man asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, ordering me to be killed squashed what little respect I had left for you. Constantine, Owen, this is Alpha De’Angelos. Father, I’d like you to meet my mates, Constantine and Owen.”

“Men don’t mate other men.” Alpha De’Angelos snarled. “If you were right in the head, you would know that.”

“The council recognizes the mating,” Zac said, stepping forward. “Why are you on my pack’s lands without my permission, Alpha?”

“You’re not an Alpha, you’re a Delta. I don’t answer to you.” Alpha De’Angelos sneered, turning his full attention on Zac.

“According to the council, I am Alpha of this pack,” Zac replied, raising an eyebrow. “I was born a Delta, just as you were born male. When the Delta pack was formed, I was voted in as Alpha. My mate, Aiden, was voted our Beta.”

“Voted in?” The Alpha laughed. “Packs aren’t a fucking democracy.” He started laughing so hard that he actually bent over while holding his stomach.

“Our pack is.” Aiden stepped up beside his mate. “We have a leader, but we run things differently here. Not that we have to explain ourselves to an asshole who orders an illegal hunt on his own son.”

“You better show some respect, boy,” Alpha De’Angelos shouted, his laughter suddenly gone. He pointed his finger at Aiden. “You may be fucking your Alpha for your role as Beta, but I fought my way to where I am.”

“I was a Beta in my last pack as well…” Aiden started to say, defending himself.

Constantine
watched the light bulb go off over Aiden’s head as he realized the conclusion
Constantine
had already come to. “You checked us all out. This wasn’t just a chance for you to find Christian. You came here to destroy this pack.”

“This isn’t a pack. It’s an abomination before god,” Alpha De’Angelos snarled as he made a step toward Aiden.

Constantine
had to give it to Aiden. He didn’t even flinch at the Alpha’s threat or approach.

“You’re not the first fucked-up Alpha I’ve had to deal with this month,” Aiden replied with a smirk. “Take your bullshit somewhere else. The hunt you called on Christian was wrong by our laws, and chasing him to a new pack is an execution offense. Isn’t that right, Alpha Sheehan?”

“That’s correct, Aiden,” Zac replied, the hard look on his face never changing. “You get one choice, take your men and leave now, Alpha De’Angelos. It’s just you and five men. You didn’t even bring your damn Betas.”

“I don’t need them to take out my son, two Deltas, a Beta, and another wolf. Humans don’t even count.” Alpha De’Angelos snorted.

“You weren’t prepared for me or my mates,” Sebastian replied laughing. “Nice intel you have. You missed another Delta and a vampire. And I count my other mate, human or not.”