Trouble Comes in Threes (16 page)

“Nice to meet you, Kirk.” Remi held out his hand. “Call me Remi, please. The formal address is Beta Remi. You’d only use that for big, fancy meetings.”

“Nice to meet you, Remi.” Remi was close to my height, with shoulder-length dark hair, tanned skin, and dark sapphire-blue eyes. I shook his hand too. “Good grief. What am I called, then? Mate Kirk?”

“Close. Try Head Beta-mate.” Remi’s smile was pure evil. “When Dolf here becomes Alpha, you and Tal will be known as the Alpha-mates.”

“Oh my God, really? I was kidding.”

“Welcome to the wonderful world of shifter protocol. It’ll drive you nuts.” Tal snickered as he looped an arm around my waist. “Hey, Remi. How’s it hanging?”

“High and tight, man. Hey, listen, when you have some time, can you drop by? I’d like you to work up some figures on adding that room off the back of my house like we talked about.” Remi stuck one hand in his jean pocket.

“Sure,” Tal said. “Give me a few days. We want to get Kirk moved in.”

“I understand. No rush.”

Tal hip checked me. “You should come with me. Remi has this sweet ’69 Ford Mustang, and I bet you’d love to get under the hood.”

Remi winked. “Heard you were a car guy. Trust me, my girl is sweet.”

“You better believe I’d like to get under the hood. I have a thing for old cars.” I nudged Tal. “How did you know?”

“That you like the older cars? I saw all the car magazines you packed. There were like, you know, bazillions of them. And you work on cars, so it makes sense you like them.”

Remi rubbed his hands together. “Cool. When Tal stops by, come with him. Maybe we can take the old girl out for a ride.”

“I look forward to it.” I actually was. So far, I liked Remi.

“Dolf, you need to set a ceremony date and let me know.”

“I will, Dad. Give me a few days.”

“Good. Need help with moving? Or maybe need some more trailers?” Monty asked. “I can send some people over to help.”

“No, that’s okay, but we appreciate the offer, Dad.”

“There isn’t that much left, actually,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood to meet new people. Would they think badly of me? The three of us were still getting to know each other. I didn’t think I could handle throwing more people in the mix.

“That sounds good. Just let me know if you change your mind about needing help.” Monty shook hands with me again. “We’ll be going, then. Remi and I have a tee time shortly.”

“Yup, it’s time for my Alpha to kick my ass at golf.” Remi rolled his eyes. “I’m not exactly sure how I always end up pulling guard duty when he plays golf.”

Monty clasped Remi on the shoulder. “Just lucky, I guess.”

“More like not fast enough to hide.”

Monty’s laugh followed him and Remi outside.

Tal

N
OW
THAT
Dolf and Tal were using their trucks, things were going faster. It took two more trips back to Kirk’s house and several snack breaks, but they finally finished moving. Once they arrived home, Tal showed Kirk two empty bedrooms. Both had attached baths, but one had a nice-size sitting area with built-in shelves that would be perfect for an office. Kirk picked that one. The same gleaming hardwood covered the floor, and the walls were painted a soft taupe. The windows had white wood plantation blinds.

Tal explained they’d be sleeping together in the master bedroom, but this was Kirk’s private space—somewhere to go if Kirk needed time alone or if he had work to do. The space was not a place to hide if Kirk was mad at them. He and Kirk assembled the bed and set up the office. They’d made good progress today.

Dolf fixed dinner while Tal helped Kirk arrange his bathroom stuff in the master bath and hang his clothes in the walk-in closet. When dinner was cooked, Tal showed Kirk the cozy little eat-in he’d built in the kitchen. On the table were garlic shrimp scampi, fresh tilapia, and crab-and-seafood-stuffed shrimp.

Kirk fixed his plate and sampled the scampi. “So, tell me about this joining ceremony?”

“Sure.” Dolf fixed his own plate. “It involves us, since we’re your mates. Dad will be there, our betas, and the elders. It’s where you swear fealty to the Alpha. You promise your loyalty to our clowder and promise to keep paranormal society a secret from humans. Before you say anything, you aren’t fully human now. Keep that in mind. You ‘join’ us, become one of us. See?”

“Okay. So this isn’t put up to a vote, right?” Kirk asked.

Tal nibbled on the scampi. Was Kirk worried someone would try to blackball him? That wasn’t what the ceremony was about. “No. Dolf and I already spoke to Monty, the betas, and the elders before we ever approached you.”

“Ah… who?”

Dolf took a moment. “Lineup time. Okay, first, we have the Alpha. That’s my dad. Think of him the same as a mayor of a city. Then there are the betas—they’re the second-ranking individuals within the dominance hierarchy. You’ve met Remi, and you’ll meet the other three at some point. My position is head beta, since I’m the next Alpha.”

“All right.”

Tal popped a stuffed shrimp in his mouth. This was one of his favorite foods. “The elders are our older members who are more experienced. We have laws, a government, and punishments that suit our kind.”

“Government, really?” Kirk asked.

“Let’s start with territory leaders,” Dolf said. “The paranormals in each territory vote for whoever’s on the ballot. Elections are held every ten years. Think of them like human governors. An elected Alpha leads each territory. There are five territories: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Island, and Western Zones. We live in the Central Zone.”

“Okay, I got that.”

“Now, the five territory leaders’ representatives are part of the Alliance of Paranormals. They have the power to change laws that have been voted in by territory leaders. It’s like the Supreme Court, but the AoP is made up of territory leaders from around the world. Um, I think there are over a hundred members. The AoP meetings are secret and held once a year to discuss boundaries that might need to be changed or laws that are outdated… stuff like that.”

“But we do try to obey
most
human laws,” Tal spoke. “If a paranormal—”

“Wait, wait.” Kirk held up his hand. “Hold on.
Most
human laws?”

“Yes, most. An example is things like speeding tickets. They aren’t a big deal, so we pay them,” Dolf said. “But if a paranormal kills a human, let’s say. Then paranormals take care of the problem. We don’t want the police in our business if we can avoid it.”

“Why?”

“For the most obvious reasons.” Tal sipped his water. “Humans would either panic and try to wipe us off the face of the earth, or they’d hunt us down to study us…
then
try to wipe us off the face of the earth. I can tell you that would trigger a war, and who knows who would win. One thing is for sure, both sides would suffer.”

“That makes sense, I guess.” Kirk picked at his food.

“I know this is a lot.” Dolf reached across the table and held Kirk’s hand. “But I promise it’ll get easier.”

Tal tapped his fork on his plate. “It will. But, you know, if humans knew about us—”

Dolf shook his head, releasing Kirk’s hand. “That’s never going to happen, sweetheart. The Alliance of Paranormals will never vote for revealment. The risk of exposure, and the consequences, are too dangerous. Most shifters view the biggest threat to our society as humans and, therefore, value species privacy above all else. And we aren’t nearly as overbearing as a few other paranormals, particularly wolves.”

Tal rolled his eyes. “Most of them are assholes.”

“That’s not true. Wolves just tend to be rather… strong-willed, and set in their ways.”

“Which is another way of saying they’re hardheaded, know-it-all assholes who resist change. I don’t like the dogs.”

“And they don’t like being called that, Tal.”

“Ah, excuse me, guys. Did… did you say wolves? Like werewolves? Please tell me they don’t shift into what we see at the movies.”

Dolf chuckled. “Man, don’t say that around them. Talk about pissing off an entire species. No, they turn into wolves, not some scary creature. Their wolf is bigger than a normal wolf. And by the way, it’s an extreme offense to tell a human about the existence of any paranormal without permission. It took us two weeks to get permission to claim you. We had to go through our own Alpha, our betas, then deal with the elders.
Then
we had to inform the territory leader.”

“I had no idea it was so hard to claim a human,” Tal mentioned. “Dolf, you outdid yourself tonight with dinner. This is great.”

“I’ll say.” Kirk sipped his soda. “So, why did it take two weeks?”

“One of the elders was out of town, and we had to wait on him. It still takes a while, because the risk of exposing our kind to humans isn’t taken lightly,” Dolf said.

“Wow. This just blows my mind.” Kirk ate more of the fish. “Just what kinds of paranormals are out there?”

“Several different kinds of shifters. If an animal exists, someone out there can change into it. Vampires, as I mentioned. Fairies. Mermen and merwomen. Dragons and several other kind of winged beings, elementals, arachnes, djinns, ghosts, demons, angels….”

“Okay, just stop.” Kirk’s eyes were huge. “Sorry I asked. The idea that there are beings out there, and we never knew…. It wigs me out. How many times did I pass someone in the store and not have a fucking clue the guy next to me was a paranormal? Jesus.”

“Kirk?” Tal stood up and came around the table. He bent down so he was eye level with Kirk. “You’re our mate. You took our blood, remember? You may not be able to shift into an animal, but you are one of us now. Your DNA mutated. You will live as long as us, heal nearly as fast, see almost as well…. Do you get it? Honey, you are not a human anymore.”

“What are you talking—”

“You said, ‘We never knew.’” Tal rubbed Kirk’s thighs. “We, I believe, meaning humans. You aren’t human now.”

“I just….” Kirk played with Tal’s braid, frowning. “It’s going to take a little while. I mean, one day, I had a couple of cats, then suddenly the cats are shifters, and before I turn around twice, I’m your mate. And oh, let’s not forget the changes to my body.”

“I know.” Tal rubbed his cheek on Kirk’s thigh. “I’m sorry this happened so fast.”

Kirk tugged Tal’s braid gently, then released it. “Maybe… maybe things happen for a reason. Maybe this was
supposed
to happen, if we go by all the goddess stuff and soul mate beliefs. No disrespect intended.” Kirk glanced around. “Just, ah… wanted to throw that out there.”

Dolf snickered, also glancing around. “Worried about pissing her off?”

“Guess I just don’t want to make enemies here.”

Dolf reached across the table and feathered his fingers over Kirk’s face. “Our goddess isn’t someone to mess with, but remember, there is a method to her madness… so to speak.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Dolf laughed as he smoothed the hair away from Kirk’s face. “Well, keep in mind Tal and I are your mates. We’ll do whatever we need to in order for you to adjust.”

Kirk shifted his hard shaft into a more comfortable position. “Yeah? How about you help me adjust this? You did say you were going to do the both of us tonight.”

“Indeed I did.” Dolf rose, bringing Tal with him, then held out his hand to Kirk. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

Kirk stared up at both men, then slowly took Dolf’s hand.

Dolf led them to their room. Once there, he gently pushed Kirk down on the bed. “Just watch.”

Kirk nodded. Dolf stepped behind Tal. Tal fought the urge to stretch as Dolf’s hands caressed his chest. A soft purr escaped as Dolf lifted the bottom of his shirt. Inch by agonizing inch, Dolf lifted the tee, exposing Tal’s skin at a snail’s pace. Tal’s eyes zeroed in on the man sitting on the bed watching the slow striptease. Tal licked his lips, and Kirk mirrored the action. Tal did it again just to see Kirk’s reaction. Up the shirt went, over Tal’s stomach, and over his pecs, exposing his nipples. Dolf’s knuckles scraped back and forth across both Tal’s hard peaks, pulling a low moan from Tal.

Dolf pulled the shirt over Tal’s head and tossed it. “Shoes off, sweetheart.”

Tal’s cock strained at his zipper as he toed off his shoes and kicked them out of the way. Dolf trailed his hands down Tal’s chest, then stopped at the button on his jeans. Tal’s chest rose and fell, his breath coming in gasps. Dolf’s hands felt so good on him. Dolf leisurely undid the button, watching as Kirk’s hand tightened on the bed. Bit by bit, Dolf opened the jeans so Kirk could see the skin Dolf slowly exposed.

“Jesus,” Kirk whispered.

“Easy access,” Dolf replied, spreading the jeans all the way open. “As a rule, shifters don’t wear underwear.”

Kirk stared at the head of Tal’s cock that peeked out. “A fact I’ll make sure to check out from now on, trust me.”

Tal’s breathless giggle made both Kirk and Dolf smile.

“Finish stripping him, please,” Kirk pleaded.

Dolf winked at Kirk, then grasped Tal’s jeans and jerked them down, exposing Tal to Kirk’s gaze.

Tal’s soft mewls echoed around the room as he stepped out of his jeans, his eyes faintly glowing. His cock slapped against his stomach, smearing precome. Tal looked over his shoulder at Dolf. “Please, make Kirk undress too.”