Hagen, Lynn - Torem [Zeus's Pack 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting ManLove) (3 page)

Sidney’s hand shot back. Oh, fuck. They were! His mate was his best friend’s brother. Cheyenne punched his arm, tilting his head and looking at Sidney questioningly.

“He had a piece of lint in his hair,” Sidney whispered to his friend, pointing to his own ear.

Cheyenne rolled his eyes. “Don’t start. I swear I’ll roll your ass in duct tape if you do,” he warned.

Sidney crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. “Start what? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chey.”

“Here we are,” Torem announced from the front seat. They pulled into an all-night store, and Sidney practically hopped over Torem to get out. “In a hurry?”

“Yeah, butt’s numb.” Sidney rubbed it on his way in. He immediately went to the cooler section and grabbed six cans of Red Bull, wondering if he should get a few more for their road trip back to Torem’s. Torem and Chey walked into the store, standing over by the counter.

“Don’t let him, Torem,” Chey warned as he pointed at Sidney. “Believe me when I say you’ll regret it.”

Sidney watched as Torem pulled Chey to the side. “How did you survive?”

Chey worried his hands as he glanced at Torem. “I was told that a nice couple found me. I guess Mom knew the men from Jackson’s pack were coming and hid me.”

Sidney watched as Torem’s face shifted from suspicion to tenderness, his voice dropping to a softer tone. “How was your life?”

Sidney felt terrible for listening in, but couldn’t pull himself away. He had grown up with Chey, but the guy never talked about his parents and hardly talked about his big, brave brother. Sidney was five when his mom and dad took Chey in. They were practically inseparable, and he considered the Omega his brother.

“Good. The family treated me well. It was Sidney’s family who raised me. I honestly didn’t contact you to get me out of this.” A tear slid down Chey’s face. “Well, not just for that.”

Sidney swallowed past the lump as Torem pulled his baby brother into his arms and held him. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to find out a dead brother was alive. The feelings Torem must be battling. And Chey, his best friend, looked the happiest Sidney had ever seen him.

“You’ll stay with me. I want to get to know you.” Torem chucked Chey under his chin. “I’ll protect you, I promise.”

“Thanks.” Chey wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands and laughed. “Enough of this emotional stuff.”

“I got everything I need.” Sidney held up the cans. He felt compelled to bail Chey out of the emotional situation.

Chey smiled and shook his head. “Red Bull junkie,” he teased.

Sidney held his breath when Torem approached him. The large man leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, his breath tickling his skin and making Sidney shiver. “I know you have figured it out…mate.” His lips grazed Sidney’s lobe, and he wanted to drop his cans and jump on Torem’s body.

“I wasn’t sure,” he whispered back. “So we are mates?”

“Yes.” Torem brushed his lips over Sidney’s and then backed away, leaving him feeling the empty space immediately.

“Uh, okay. I um, you know.” Sidney felt like the world’s biggest gobber as he stood in the middle of the store begging his brain to get back online. This was so damn embarrassing.

“Enough with the uh-umings. Pay for your drug so we can go.” Chey pushed Sidney toward the counter. “We can’t stay in one spot for too long. We’re not far enough away yet.”

Torem pulled out his wallet and paid for Sidney’s purchase. He thanked Torem and grabbed the bag from the counter, snagging one of the cans and popping the lid. Sidney guzzled it down.

He handed the empty can to the cashier. “Could you please throw this away for me?”

The cashier grabbed the can and tossed it in the trash. “No problem and y’all have a nice trip.”

Sidney waved and walked out of the store, feeling Torem’s hand on the small of his back. He climbed behind the driver’s seat and laid the bag on the floor between his feet. Sidney looked out of the broken window to make sure they weren’t being followed as everyone else got in.

“Just exactly what is your friend’s name?” Chey asked.

Torem chuckled. “His name is Bryck.”

“No shit.” Sidney laughed, bouncing in his seat. Chey shot a warning glare at him, but Sidney, as usual, ignored him. Torem pulled out of the lot and back onto the highway.

Sidney began to beat out a rhythm on the back of Torem’s seat with his hands.

“I warned you,” Chey said to Torem. “It’s only going to get worse if you don’t take those cans from him.”

Bryck reached behind the seat to grab his bag, and Sidney growled.

“It’s that serious?” Bryck asked as he pulled his arm back, looking from Sidney to Torem.

“Yeah, it is. So back off,” Sidney warned.

After an hour of total boredom, Sidney removed his seat belt and leaned between the two front seats. Bryck and Chey were fast asleep. So Sidney took the opportunity to talk to his mate.

“You need to put your seatbelt on, Sid,” Torem gently reprimanded him.

“It’s not like it can keep me safe with a missing window back here.” Sidney sang and bounced around some more.

“Yes, it can,” Torem argued.

“Well then pull over and make Bryck switch seats. I want to sit up front. It’s stifling back here.”

Torem pulled the truck over and tapped Bryck’s arm, waking him up. “Backseat, my man.”

Bryck grumbled, opened his door, and switched seats with Sidney, falling right back to sleep.

Sidney snapped his seat belt on and then beat out a rhythm on the dashboard, popping his lips to his own melody banging around in his head.

“I see my brother wasn’t joking about the Red Bull,” Torem commented.

Sidney snorted. “Chey overreacts about everything, blows things way out of proportion. Don’t pay him any attention.” He reached back and grabbed his bag, placing it once again on the floor between his feet.

He snagged another can, but Torem stopped him. “I don’t think you’re supposed to drink them an hour apart.”

“It’s cool. It’s cool. I know what I’m doing.” Sidney popped the top and chugged it down. His hands started patting his pockets, front and back. “I think that’s my phone. I can hear it ringing, but I can’t find it.”

He looked down on the floor, in between his seat and the console, but couldn’t find it.

“Sid, I don’t hear a phone ringing.” Torem glanced at him with a brow raised as his mate gave him a questioning look.

“No, there’s a phone definitely ringing.” He twisted his body, looking into the backseat, and started patting Chey’s pockets.

“Sid, turn around and have a seat. There is no phone ringing.”

Sidney tilted his head and listened. When he didn’t hear anything, he shrugged his shoulders. “I guess you’re right. I don’t hear it anymore.”

Sidney reached forward and turned the stereo on, music flooded the interior of the truck, so loudly that it was ear piercing. His fingers flew over the dials trying to figure out how to cut it off. Sidney could see the volume button, but his fingers were moving faster than his brain as he fumbled to get them to work in unison.

Torem pushed his hands away and cut it off. “I’m starting to see what Chey was talking about.” Torem chuckled.

“You called him Chey.”

“So did you.”

“I have no clue what you mean.” Sidney opened the glove box and started rummaging around. He pulled the visor down, flipped it back up, and then opened the center console and dug through the contents.

“What are you looking for?” Torem asked.

“I have
no clue
, but when I find it, I’ll let you know.” Sidney dropped the napkins he had been taking out and started pointing with both hands at headlights coming in their direction on the opposite side of the road.

“Is that them? Is that them?” he squealed.

Torem gently pushed Sidney’s hands down. “Calm down, Sidney. I doubt they’re coming from the opposite direction.”

Sidney went back to slapping his hands on the dashboard, using it as a makeshift drum as he made noises with his mouth. “Biddy dim dow, biddy dim dow.”

“Do I need to put you in the back of the truck, or maybe let you run alongside it?” Torem asked.

“No, I’m good.” Sidney chewed on his bottom lip, shoving his hands under his thighs to stop them from roaming around sporadically.

“Why don’t you try and get some rest?” Torem suggested.

“I can take over driving if you’re tired,” Sidney offered.

“Somehow I have a feeling that wouldn’t be one of my wisest moves.” Torem reached over and tugged Sidney’s left hand from under his thigh and held it, entwining their fingers and then squeezing it lightly. “But you can keep me company.”

Sidney bounced around for the next two hours. He could tell he was irritating Torem, but his mate took it in stride.

Wow I have a mate. Holy schizophrenics! I really, really have a mate
. “Do you have a bingo hall?” Sidney asked.

Torem looked over at him as if he had lost his mind. “Bingo?”

That was the reaction he always got when he mentioned the word bingo. He couldn’t help it. Sidney enjoyed the game. “Yes, bingo.”

“I’m not sure. There’s a bunch of old ladies that hang out in the grocery store. I could ask them,” Torem offered with a slight smile pulling at his lips.

After what felt like forever, they passed a sign welcoming them to Pride Pack Valley. “Is this where you live?” Sidney asked, sitting forward and looking out of the window. It didn’t help. All he saw was the dark of night.

“Home, sweet home,” Torem grumbled.

* * * *

Torem pulled the truck to the side of the house and parked it. “We’re here.” Sidney was bouncing like a Ping-Pong ball inside. He’d never seen anyone that high-strung. Not even the young pups in town with their parents had acted this hyper. He was going to have to wean his mate off of the sugary drink. He’d have to get that bag of condensed sugar out of Sid’s hands.

Sidney’s mouth fell open as Torem pulled up to the house. “Holy, shit cans Batman, look at that place.”

Torem looked up at the expansive house, unable to see what his mate saw. The only thing that house represented to him was bad memories. He couldn’t wait for the new one to be built and this one to be destroyed.

That thought lead to Dino.

Oh, fuck. What was he going to do now? Although Sidney was a shifter, Dino was human. How did you explain to a human that you were a wolf? Avanti, another soldier who lived here, had a human mate, as well as a shifter. The human mate, Craig, didn’t seem to freak out when he was told, so maybe Torem would get lucky as well. Torem also had the job of explaining to Sidney about Dino. He wasn’t sure now would be a good time considering Sid was bouncing around from the Red Bull. Later—he’d already had too much excitement for one day.

Torem showed Sidney and Chey into the house. He took his brother to the bedroom across the hall from his. Torem pointed to the door as he turned to his brother. “My room is right there. If you need anything, just knock.”

“Gotcha.” Chey yawned and waved, walking through and closing his bedroom door.

Torem led his mate into his bedroom. “It’s been a long night. Why don’t you go ahead and get some sleep?” Torem could see the dusting of pink in the sky from the sun rising. He hadn’t had sleep in twenty-four hours and could feel the lack of sleep taking its toll.