When No Doesn't Cut It (29 page)

Damien nodded, but he didn’t look up.

“And you haven’t told him?”

Damien shook his head in the negative.

“Aren’t you a fucking idiot then?”

That made Damien look up.  He narrowed his gaze at Troy for a minute and then said, “Weren’t you ever taught to watch your mouth when talking to an Alpha?”

Troy snorted.  “You might be the amazing Damien, but you’re still just my brother-in-law to me.”

Giving a hint of a chuckle, Damien said, “Okay,
brother-in-law
, then I’m an idiot.  I know it.  You know it.  Probably the whole Cloverleah pack and half of the San Antonio pack know it.  I should’ve told him and I will, just as soon as he fucking wakes up.”

“Good,” Troy said simply.  “By the way, Kane wanted me to tell you that two of your enforcers, the two by the front gate, were found drugged
, but unharmed.  Seems Jacob shot them with a tranquilizer gun and then just climbed over the gate.”

“Thanks, Troy.  I guess we’ll have to tighten security at the front gate, then?”

“A remote viewing system,” Troy said. “I’m already on it.  Your enforcers will be able to monitor the front gate from a room we’ve set up in the pack house here.  It’ll mean whoever is on duty will be able to see trouble, without being in the line of fire.”

“I do appreciate it Troy, but right now all I’m worried about is Scott.  I just want him to wake up.”

Troy stood up.  “He’s not far off it.  Aren’t you using your mind link?”

Looking stunned for a minute, Damien
slapped the side of his head and went back to watching Scott’s sleeping face.  He heard Troy muttering, “Yep, fucking idiot,” as the man walked out the door.

/~/~/~/~/

Scott was definitely warm, and comfortable, but as he went to roll over he realized someone had their bloody hand on his head.  WTF?  Struggling to open his eyes, he cast a bleary look at whatever was right in front of him and was met with the worried look of his mate.  Closing his eyes again, because for some reason opening them took a lot of effort, Scott took a deep breath and inhaled his mate’s scent. 

“Come on love, wake up,” he heard Damien say.  “Come back to me, come on.  Open those eyes, please.”

Forcing his eyes open, Scott said, “Did I hit my head, ‘cos I’m sure I just heard you call me love.”

“Actually yes, you did hit your head.  Or rather you got shot in the head.  Don’t you remember?”

Closing his eyes again, because now his head was hurting, Scott tried to think what he remembered.  The Alpha fight.  Some guy grabbing him, with a gun.

“I got shot?”  Scott said as his eyes flew open.

“Yes, love.” Damien stroked his hand over Scott’s hair.  “Right across that solid noggin of yours. Thank goodness you’re a hard head. How are you feeling?”

“You did it again.  You called me love,” Scott persisted, even though, now he thought about it, his head did ache a bit.

“Sure did,” said Damien steadily.  “Because you are - my love, I mean.  Now, how are you feeling?”

“Hang on, hang on, hang on!
  You love me?”  Scott tried to sit up, and Damien quickly caught Scott under the arms and pulled him up against his chest.  Tipping Scott’s head back, so Scott could meet his eyes, Damien said, “Yes Scott, I love you.  I’m just sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

Staring into Damien’s eyes, Scott could see the sincerity of the man’s words.  Damien said that he loved him - his mate loved him.

Allowing his head to fall on Damien’s chest, Scott just said, “Wow.”

Scott felt Damien’s chest ripple as the man chuckled.  “Your mate tells you that he loves you, for the first time I might add, and all you can say is ‘wow’?”

“Yep, I think that covers it,” Scott said cheekily, peeking up at Damien.  “Wow, my mate loves me, which is so totally awesome I might add.  Wow, I love my mate back, so that is double awesome and wow, I think my head really hurts, but I don’t care because my mate loves me.  Yep, wow.”

“Wow it is then,” Damien said fondly as he brushed a kiss on Scott’s forehead.  Scott closed his eyes at the contact and moaned quietly.  “Now let me go and get Shawn to check you over.  He said you’ll probably have to shift before you feel one hundred percent.”

“Stay here a minute, will you?  I just want you to hold me.”  Scott burrowed his head into Damien’s chest.

“For as long as you want, love,” Damien said softly.  “For as long as you want.”

Chapter Thirty One

By the time Scott and Damien arrived in New York, Scott was feeling more like his perky self.  Damien wanted to take Scott shopping for a new suit, among other things, so after having a long and happy lunch at the hotel with the Cloverleah pack, the two men took off for a leisurely walk around the local stores. 

Scott was curious about how Damien would act with him around humans.  His only interactions with the man up to that point had either been at the pack, the Cloverleah pack or in the club.  All of which were populated with wolves.  Here, on the streets of New York, the streets were awash with nothing but people; not a hint of a wolf in sight.

Damien adapted to the cityscape far better than Scott did.  While Scott didn’t mind being around people, New York was so big and so busy.  There were people everywhere and the smells were enough to drive Scott’s wolf to a distraction.  Damien though, took it all in his stride.  He was polite and friendly with retail assistants.  He had no problem with touching Scott in public.  Little things like putting his hand on Scott’s back to guide him.  Opening doors for him.  Holding his hand when they crossed the road.

Of course given Damien’s size, no one was going to start any trouble with the man’s obvious sexual orientation.  On the city streets, Damien still retained the look of
a wolf.  Restrained, to be sure, but clearly visible to anyone who looked at him. The power in the way he walked, the way he commanded attention from anyone they interacted with, his upright bearing and his overriding self confidence in everything he did, had Damien turning heads, male and female alike.

The little city twink that served them when Scott was trying on his suit, did try it on with Damien.  The man had been in a complete flutter since the two of them had walked in the door and it took all of Scott’s control not to growl at the simpering little fop.  Not even the knowledge that Damien wasn’t interested in the slightest made Scott feel any better.  As he was trying on the clothes Damien had picked out for him, his wolf hearing picked up the blatan
t flirting.

“Gosh, we don’t get many men like you in here,” the little man was saying to Damien.  “Are you sure you don’t need
anything
at all while your
friend
is busy?”

“Why don’t you pop that ass of yours into the changing room to see if my
husband
needs any assistance?  I don’t need anything from you.”  Damien’s meaning was clear.

“You’re married?”  The little twink squeaked.

“And one hundred percent faithful,” Damien allowed a small snarl to accompany his words.  “Now go tend to my husband or we’ll take our business elsewhere.”

Considering Scott was trying on thousands of dollars worth of clothes at the time, the little man must have got the message and seconds later appeared, red faced, in Scott’s dressing room.  Scott thought about teasing him, but decided he wasn’t worth the effort
, even though the smell of the twink’s arousal was really strong. 

“Your husband said you might need some help,” the twink said carefully, looking anywhere than at Scott.  Yes, Scott was well aware what Damien’s snarl could do to a man.  Lord knows it worked on him often enough.

“I think you’re the one who might need help,” Scott said as he looked blatantly at the little man’s crotch.  The man’s face got even redder and he ducked his head.  “It’s okay pup, my husband has that effect on most people.”  God, could the man get any redder in the face.

Scott turned to the mirror, to look at his latest outfit but he kept an eye on the twink through the reflection. 

“You know,” he said conversationally as he tweaked at the tie.  He hated wearing a tie, but for Angel Bandures’ wedding he really didn’t have a choice.  “My husband used to eat little darlings like you for breakfast before he met me.  You are so his type, or you were.”

Scott could feel the little man rake him with his eyes and he knew what he was seeing.  At six foot tall and bristling with muscles, Scott was the complete opposite of the slim little man serving him.

“What…why?” The little man was confused and then embarrassed, because hey, you did not want to upset a customer if you wanted to make a sale.

“Why did he pick me?”  Scott said with a grin.  The twink nodded.

Scott strode over to the doorway, leaning in on the little man as he went past.  “Because I’m the only one who can handle his animal instincts.  The man is a beast in bed.”  In more ways than one, he thought to himself.

He clearly heard the little man gulp as he sauntered out to where Damien was standing.  He did a twirl and said, “What do you think?  Will I do?”

The admiration and lust were as clear as bells in Damien’s eyes.  “Perfectly,” he said with a growl and Scott knew he would have heard everything Scott had said to the clerk.  Scott knew he looked good.  The dark grey suit was the most expensive piece of clothing Scott had ever tried on.  The pants hugged his ass and legs perfectly, highlighting his strength and muscles.  The jacket emphasized his broad shoulders and yet was cut to accentuate Scott’s slim waist. 

Grinning at Damien, Scott turned and flicked his hair as he looked in the mirror.  “It’s getting a bit long,” he said absently.  “I should probably get it cut.”

“Don’t,” Damien growled in his ear and Scott turned to look over his shoulder, raising an enquiring eyebrow.  Damien was standing directly behind him and had his hands on Scott’s hips. Scott could feel the heat of Damien’s body pouring into him and he had an urgent need to get back to the hotel, quickly. 

“I like holding onto your hair when I pound you into the mattress,” Damien whispered into Scott’s ear.  Scott fought back the groan that threatened to breach his lips.  All of a sudden his pants didn’t fit as well as they did.

“Okay, so are we done here?” He said hopefully. Thankfully, Damien stepped back and Scott knew the little twink had been watching them.  He went back into the dressing room and changed into his regular clothes, giving his cock a decided thump when he had trouble putting his pants on.

Outside of the store, Damien said, “food or hotel?”

“Room service,” Scott said with a smile, thankful his mate was on the same wave length as he was.  The walk back to the hotel was going to be murder.

Inside of the store, the little twink fanned himself dramatically, looking at the photo he had snapped of the two big men as they stood together at the mirror.  “So damn hot,” he whispered.  “What I wouldn’t give to be the filling in that sandwich.”  Humming to himself, the man saved the photo to his phone, knowing it would provide ample fodder for his
self-service session later.

/~/~/~/~/

Angel Bandures, aka Griff, had rented a private dining room at the hotel, for his wedding to Derrick “Diablo” Franklin.  The room was tastefully decorated with a small amount of flowers, crisp white linens on the table, and soft music playing in the background.  Griff and Diablo stood in front of the minister, their hand’s joined and the love they shared evident in their eyes and the way they smiled at each other.  Even though Damien didn’t often consider men looking beautiful, he had to admit that Griff and Diablo were a stunning looking couple.  Diablo’s fine cat like grace was the perfect foil for Griff’s more obvious strength.

Scott had explained to Damien why Diablo was actually marrying a man called Angel, instead of Griff.  The two men had to cement their undercover story - that of crime lord and his partner.  The FBI could have just arranged for the documents to be drawn up, showing Angel and Diablo were married, but Griff had wanted to be connected to Diablo in every way possible and so he had arranged the wedding.  All Diablo had to do was turn up.

And that’s why the pack was standing witness.  Not because this was an undercover job, but because Griff wanted his family to be a part of his wedding.  Because it was the pack in attendance, all good looking men in finely cut expensive suits, the chairs put out for the witnesses were ignored, and the men stood around Griff and Diablo as the ceremony began.  People sat in rows and watched a wedding.  Wolves stand in a half circle around the couple and bear witness to the joining.  The minister conducted the ceremony looked like he was going to argue, but with so much muscle in the room, he wisely held his tongue.

When the minister asked if anyone objected to the union, everyone held their breath in the silence.  As the moment passed and the minister started to speak again, Damien could see the sigh of relief pass Diablo’s lips.  No wonder.  More than sixty wolves had turned up to challenge Griff and the pack
, for Griff’s right to mate with Diablo during their Mating Ritual and Damien had been told by Lucius that it was a long day.  Even Diablo had taken on eight of the challengers, something unheard of before in shifter history.

But nothing was going to spoil Griff and Diablo’s wedding today.  The minister’s voice droned on, and Griff and Diablo made their appropriate vows.  Damien allowed his thoughts to wander to the man beside him. 
He had never considered that he could have an Alpha Mating Ritual, but he realized that he did want to do that with Scott.  Scott deserved to be acknowledged before the pack and other wolves.  He was the Alpha Mate of the San Antonio pack, which was an important position, as well as Damien’s mate.  Damien knew, given his status among the wolf packs, the event would be huge, as many other packs would want to send representatives to the ceremony. Hmmm, Madison was going to be one busy boy arranging all that lot.

But Damien had one more thing that he had to do with Scott first.  One more hurdle to cross before he asked Scott to be joined with him under pack law.  Looking down at the man beside him, Damien felt a small shiver run up his spine as he thought about what he proposed to do.  But when Scott looked up at him, his handsome face smiling and happy, Damien knew that Scott would take care of him.  He always had.

Tonight he would let Scott claim him - fully, the way wolves were supposed to.

/~/~/~/~/

Scott could see his mate was holding onto some sort of tension, but he couldn’t sense what was wrong through their mind link.  Damien appeared relaxed as the two men sat with the others while the pack shared a meal after the service was over.  The food was lovely, with plenty of meat on offer and Damien laughed and joked with the rest of them.  Griff was positively sappy with Diablo, which meant the two men came in for a lot of teasing, but Scott could tell that Diablo was equally besotted, even though as a cat shifter, the play of emotions were more subtle.  Both men now sported solid platinum bands on their ring fingers, as well as the small tattoo each man had on their inside wrist, created when Griff and Diablo went through their mating ceremony. They were in love.  They were happy together, and that was all that was important today.

Watching Damien empty his glass and call for another drink, made Scott pause for a minute.  Damien was clearly anxious
and trying to hide it, but Scott couldn’t work out why.  His mate wasn’t mind blocking him, but it was almost as though Damien was purposefully not thinking about whatever it was that was bothering him.   But then Damien smiled at him, with that every present hint of lust in his silver eyes, and Scott pushed the matter out of his mind.  Whatever it was, Damien would share with him soon enough.  For now the food was good, the drink plentiful and the company were happy and relaxed.  All in all, a perfect wedding.

/~/~/~/~/

It was quite late when the men all headed back to their respective rooms.  Griff had arranged for a DJ to come in after the meal, and the three mated couples, along with Dean and Troy, all took their turns at dancing to the mostly slow songs that Griff had requested.  There was also more drinking, stories to be shared like when Griff and Diablo first met.  Damien had cracked up laughing when he heard how Griff and Diablo had hooked up at a BDSM club, and that Diablo had claimed Griff while the man was drunk.

As he spent time with the men from Cloverleah and listened to their stories, Damien could tell that all of them had been through a lot since Kane and Shawn had first met, and that the wedding was a good excuse to take a break from the hassles of pack and daily life.  Although only a small pack, the men from Cloverleah were
closer than any family group and their love and affection for each other was evident.  It made Damien feel good that he was included as part of that family.

But now he was in his suite, with his mate and the two of them needed to talk, although Scott was not making that easy.  The man had jumped him the moment they got in the room, and
Damien had allowed himself to be lost in the amazing way Scott kissed him.

Pulling himself off of those luscious lips was not easy, but Damien did it.  “Scott, love, stop a minute.  We have to talk.”

Scott stepped back, but he didn’t look happy.  “You’re going to have to stop using that phrase, lover.  We have to talk usually means something nasty is going to be said in relationship-speak.”

“It’s nothing bad, love,” Damien was quick to reassure him.
“It’s just…” Damien stopped and looked down at his hands.  He was suddenly really unsure of himself.  

Scott stepped in close to him again, and wrapped his arms around Damien’s back. “What ever it is you can tell me, love.  You know that.  There’s nothing that you can say, that will stop me loving you.”

“I want you to claim me, properly,” Damien said in a rush.  Scott’s eyes widened in shock, but he recovered quickly.