Matt: Tales of the Were (Redstone Clan Book 5) (16 page)

“We would’ve died,” Morgan realized, whispering.

Matt walked up beside her, his arm coming around her shoulders. “But we didn’t. We’re okay, and we’re going to put a stop to the bastards that caused all this trouble. Right?” He squeezed her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her temple.

She drew strength from his touch, his presence, his bold words. She couldn’t be afraid—not while Matt held her. He was all that was good in this world.

“Right,” she agreed, leaning up to place a kiss on his lips that wanted to be so much more. But Cam was waiting and so were the bloodletters. They had places to go and plans to make.

CHAPTER TEN

Atticus welcomed them, a few minutes later, after they’d parked in his drive. Everyone was already gathered in the home theatre that was doubling as a war room, of sorts. Atticus led them first to a guest suite, though, so they could tidy up a bit after their ordeal in the dusty tunnel. After a quick shower and change of clothes, thoughtfully supplied by Lissa, they joined the meeting already in progress in the home theatre room.

The easy chairs had been moved to the sides of the room and a big table set in the center with rolling office chairs on one side, facing the big theatre screen. Computer equipment was set up all over the table, and it looked like Atticus was in the process of placing a video call.

Cam saw Matt and Morgan at the door and signaled them over. He had two more of the rolling office chairs ready for them.

“You’re just in time,” Cam said with a hint of a smile as they took their seats. “Marc is calling your people.”

“Grif?” Matt asked, frowning. He hadn’t had a chance to call home yet and tell Grif about the problems they’d encountered.

“No…” Cam trailed off as the big screen at the front of the room came to life. It wasn’t Grif, or any of Matt’s other brothers. No, the Master vampire had called the Lords.

“Sorry to call so late,” Marc began as the twin werewolves who were the leaders of all
were
in North America came into view.

“No problem,” answered the twin on the left. “What’s going on?”

“One of yours discovered something you need to know about. Apparently, it’s not only volcanoes we need to watch. We just learned that the
Venifucus
here are trying to set off the San Andreas.”

The twin on the right cursed while the one on the left frowned. “You’re kidding, right?” asked the frowning twin.

“Sadly, no. Two of my
were
friends were caught up in a tunnel collapse after witnessing the sorcerers at work. They got help from another friend—I believe you know Cameron—to get out.” The twin on the right nodded toward Cam, acknowledging him while Marc gestured to Matt and Morgan. “This is my ward, Morgan Chase, and I’m not sure if you’ve met Matt Redstone.”

Matt stood in respect for the twin Alphas who ruled all
were
on this continent.

“We didn’t hear anything from your brother on this,” the twin on the left said with a trace of displeasure in his voice.

“That’s because he doesn’t know. I haven’t had a chance to call him yet,” Matt defended his Clan leader.

“We only just arrived back from the mine on my property where this happened,” Atticus put in with a placating smile. “Give the boy a chance.”

Matt bristled at being called a boy, but to an ancient like Atticus, Matt knew he probably seemed very young. It was something you had to get used to if you were going to hang around with bloodletters.

“This is the mine where you’re building that experimental shifter housing, right?” one of the twins asked.

Matt couldn’t tell the twins apart, except that one seemed to be a little more hotheaded than the other. Matt was impressed that the Lords seemed to know all about Atticus’s pet project—building housing for his new werewolf employees. Maybe the Lords really were as hand-on as Grif had claimed.

“The very same,” Atticus answered. “Turns out, a woman who’s been working in the winery office is some kind of
Venifucus
mole.” His expression tightened. “That’s on me. I vet my employees carefully, and I have no idea how she slipped through, but you can be damn sure it won’t happen again.”

“It won’t, but don’t be so hard on yourself,” Cam interjected, drawing everyone’s attention and several surprised looks. “I will verify what was done, if it settles your mind, but you’d better believe a mage with the level of skill and power to wake a seismic fault in the earth would think nothing of sneaking past your guard. The sad truth is, as good as your security and background checks are, some magics—especially those originating in other realms—are just not going to be visible to you.”

“Like the portal to Underhill?” Morgan asked shrewdly, earning a respectful nod from Cam.

“Exactly so, milady,” Cam agreed. “The
Venifucus
started with Elspeth and, much as I hate to admit it, she is fey. She taught her followers certain things from other realms that should never have been known to this place and time.” Cam let that sink in before continuing. “The traitor passed what I’m sure was a very thorough examination by yourself and your people, Atticus, through no fault of your own. You simply didn’t know what to look for. And even if you had, it takes a very special kind of magical sensitivity to actually detect it.”

“I take it you can detect such things?” Marc asked Cam pointedly. The fey warrior nodded, his head tilted to the side in respect. “Then, I hope you will stick around for a while and help us stop the chain of events these mages hope to set in motion.” It was a question posed as a statement, and again, Cam nodded his assent. “I propose we wake the Redstone Alpha and get him in on this call, so Matt and Morgan will only have to recount their tale once.”

As soon as the Lords agreed, Atticus dialed Grif, speaking to him privately, for a moment, before adding him to the middle-of-the-night conference call. When he showed on the screen, Grif’s hair was sticking up on one side. He had big time bed head, but Matt wasn’t even tempted to tease his oldest brother about it. Things were way too serious, right now, though he was glad to see the reassuring face of his big brother.

“Sorry for the lateness of the call, Alpha,” Marc began, addressing Grif. “As you can see, we’re on conference with your Lords. There have been troubling developments here concerning the
Venifucus
, your Clan members and your brother. Matt and Morgan are about to brief us on events from their point of view.”

Marc gestured to Matt, and he knew it was show time. He and Morgan jointly explained the events that had led up to them being trapped in the collapsed mine tunnel. At that point, Cam put in his two cents, and they finished the summary of events that had led them to this point. Marc took over the meeting again, talking through the possibilities and what they planned to do next.

By the time the meeting drew to an end, little was left of the night, and the vampires started making moves toward their homes. They would have to be out of the action for the day, but left the
weres
plenty to do while they slept, away from the sun. The Lords had pledged full cooperation from both themselves and any who answered to them.

Likewise, Grif had promised the full support of all Redstone Clan personnel in the area and offered to send more to help. Marc accepted both pledges of help with grave sincerity, promising his Brotherhood’s full cooperation, as well. Atticus had agreed to house and support the additional Clan members Grif was sending to assist. They could easily be hidden among the existing work crews, and Atticus seemed only too glad to have more
weres
prowling his lands by day while he and his mate slept.

The first of the additional troops would start arriving from Las Vegas later that day. But Matt and Morgan had been up going on twenty-plus hours and needed to rest for a bit before they tackled what came next. Atticus offered them a guest suite in his house, and they accepted gladly. Cameron, too, would be housed in Atticus’s mansion above ground while Atticus and Lissa slept in their hidden home below.

The guest suite had two bedrooms and a shared sitting room and bath. Morgan didn’t hesitate to join Matt in his chosen bedroom the moment she was out of the shower. Things had changed between them in that mine. Shared danger and the threat of death had cemented the bond she had been worried about before. Now, there was little doubt left in her mind. Matt Redstone was as good as they come. As good as gold.

She chuckled inwardly. It had taken getting buried alive in an abandoned gold mine to make her realize that life was too precious to waste it being scared of every little thing. Being scared of losing her identity to love had been her greatest problem, but no more.

Oh, sure, she still had a bit of anxiety over how everything was going to work out with Matt’s family.
He
was a good guy, but she hadn’t met all his brothers or their mates, yet. His family might be a nightmare like hers had been. She’d have to wait and see on that.

But her doubts about Matt had gone, and she was ready to embrace life. And love. And him.

Not necessarily in that order, she thought with another inward smile as she slid her arms around his waist. Matt turned in her arms, and she realized he must’ve taken a quick shower somewhere else because his hair was wet and dust-free for the first time since the cave in at the mine. Usually golden blonde and slightly curly, it was dark, now, sitting close against the contours of his head. And he looked good enough to eat.

He smelled clean too. The bloodletters had sensitive noses and stocked their houses with scentless soaps and herbal products that sat well with shifter sensibilities. Morgan had found a shampoo with a lovely balsam scent that reminded her of the outdoors, and Matt scented of fresh herbs that made her want to lick him all over.

Or…maybe that wasn’t the only thing that made her want to do that. He was, after all, an Alpha of her species, with an Alpha’s traits and build. He was lean but muscular in all the right ways. Handsome as all get out and sensitive to her feelings—as he’d proven, time and again, especially when she’d been freaking out in that dark, cramped, dusty mine.

She knew many shifters—especially the wolves—liked such places to raise their young, but Morgan would be just as glad if she never had to set foot in that mine again. It made her shiver just to think about it. No, siree. No way was she going down there for anything less than the fate of the world being in her hands.

Then again…it sort of was. Or it had been earlier that day.

“What makes you frown like that, sweetheart?” Matt’s voice was gentle as he drew back to look into her eyes. His fingertips grazed her cheek, his gaze narrowing in concern.

She turned her face into his open palm. “You were magnificent in the mine. You never lost your cool. You were so good to me…” She kissed his palm. “You’re one hell of an Alpha, Matt. You might be the youngest of the infamous Redstone Five, but you’re definitely the best of them.” She reached upward to place a light kiss on his lips. “I’m glad you’re mine,” she whispered.

She felt his whole body tense. “You really mean that?”

He seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for her reply. She laid her cheek against his shoulder, her hand over his racing heart.

“You’re my mate,” she answered simply.

“Sweet Mother of All, that sounds good.” His breath left him in a rush, as did his tension. His arms tightened around her, squeezing in joy as she felt the relief in his every muscle. “I thought there might be something between us when we first met, but you were so tough on me, Miss Morgan, I barely escaped with my hide intact from your icy lawyer glare.”

He was laughing as he said it, and she realized she’d been very stand-offish when they first met. She hadn’t wanted to be around shifters, but Marc had forced her hand. Her anger at being outed to a cougar Alpha was really more aimed at Marc, but Matt had suffered the brunt of her displeasure in that brief meeting.

“Yeah, I was kind of a bitch, wasn’t I?” she agreed, laughing along with him. “Sorry. I wasn’t really angry with you, but with the whole situation. I was very happy living among the Brotherhood with no shifter friends, and then, Marc landed me in it with you. I was so afraid you were going to force me back into the fold, or whatever devious thing I had in my mind about shifters, back then. I’m sorry. I was very wrong about you.”

“Water under the bridge,” Matt said graciously. “And you had good reason for your suspicions about our kind. It’ll be my honor and privilege to show you what shifter life is really like… If you’ll let me.”

He seemed hesitant, and she knew she’d given him cause to wonder about her commitment to the mating. She had some work to do to clear that up in his mind. She didn’t ever want him to be uncertain of her again.

“Let you? Matt, I don’t know about where you come from, but even in my screwed up Clan, mating was for life.” She smiled up at him, glad to see the relief and joy in his eyes. “Like it or not, you’re stuck with me now. And I give you fair warning—I have a life and career here. The Brotherhood needs me more often than not. I’m not comfortable around shifters—though I’m willing to try, for your sake. But, if things get too much to handle, you can always find me here.”

“Find you?” He squeezed her tight and carried her to the bed. “Honey, I’m never letting you go. If my family scares you, screw ‘em. You’re all I need to be happy for the rest of my life.” He showered her with kisses as he untied the belt of her terrycloth robe. “My home is with you, wherever we end up.”

“Then, you don’t mind if I continue working?” she asked, needing to know, even if her blood was beginning to overheat from his nearness.

“Mind? Morgan…” He paused, resting on his elbows so he could look into her eyes. “I never, in my wildest dreams, thought my mate would be a high-powered attorney, but I couldn’t be prouder of you, or more willing to let you be who you are. If you want to practice law, I’m certain the Clan—and the Brotherhood—would have a place for you. For the record, I never wanted my mate to be the
little woman
, barefoot and pregnant and all that. I want a partner. Someone to stand by my side, not behind me. In short, counselor, I want you.”