Trouble Comes in Threes (18 page)

Did this jerk understand he was standing here insulting me to my face? Did he even care? “Know what? Fuck you, man. I’m not human anymore, and you know that. I’m one of you, so just… fuck you.” I clutched the doorframe. I wanted to hit this asshole, but I had more sense than that.

The guy’s scorn just rolled off him. “You are
not
one of us and never will be. You’re a human with shifter blood, that’s all. You’re not a
real
shifter.”

Oh, now I’m pissed.
“Tell you what.” I pulled out my cell. “Why don’t I call Monty—you know who that is, right? He’s the Alpha of this clowder—and have
him
tell you I belong? Think that would back your attitude the fuck up?”

“No, don’t! Just… no. Here….” The driver shoved the package at me. “Sign this too.”

I did what he asked and he fled the front doorstep. As tempted as I was, I didn’t slam the door. Disgusted, I placed the package on the granite-top counter. Jesus, was this guy’s attitude something I was going to run into often? I knew Dolf and Tal had talked about how shifters, and paranormals in general, didn’t trust humans, but come on. What I’d just experienced was more than distrust. That shifter delivery guy was prejudiced, pure and simple. He scented Tal and Dolf on me, and he
knew
what that meant.

You’re not a real shifter.

The words rang in my head. No, I wasn’t. I hadn’t even
known
there were shifters until recently. I hadn’t asked for this, none of this. Besides, I thought mates were supposed to be a gift. The way these shifters acted was confusing. Apparently mates
who weren’t human
were a gift. But you were just shit out of luck if your mate was human. Either mates were or they weren’t something special. Being human shouldn’t cancel that out, dammit. Why couldn’t they see how stupid that kind of thinking was? Yes, they had reasons to worry about humanity knowing about them. Hell, I didn’t want humans knowing about
me,
so yes, I got it. But the humans who became mates…. They didn’t deserve this dumb snobbiness. It was beginning to drive me nuts.

Well, that, and the fact their goddess threw me in the middle of an established couple, a hidden culture, and…. Frankly, I was adapting as best I could. The last thing I needed was some off-the-wall prejudice aimed at me. Now I had to decide if I wanted to tell Dolf and Tal. While Tal might get upset, Dolf would be the one to call the company and find out who the delivery guy was. I had no idea where things would go from there and wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

I scrubbed my hands over my face. Tonight was a big deal, and I didn’t want this hanging over our ceremony. “So, I won’t tell them. Simple, right?”

A little nagging voice told me not to bet the farm on that, even as someone else knocked on the back door. This place was like Grand Central Station today. “Shit, maybe if I ignore it, they’ll go away.”

The pounding on the door said probably not.

Giving up, I hurried to the back and opened the door, ready for more surly deliverymen mocking me. What I got were two middle-aged women holding pans of… I wasn’t sure what it was, but I could smell it and, oh my God, it smelled good. I sniffed again, and my stomach growled. Had food ever smelled so good?

I immediately caught the scent of cat shifter.
Now what?
“Um, hey?”

“Hello there, Kirk. I’m Mindy, and this is Pearl. Our husbands are elders. Pearl and I…. Well, we were thinking that since the joining ceremony is tonight…. Um, we thought we’d… um….” Mindy trailed off, a blush covering her fair skin.

“A bunch of guys don’t have a clue about what to do for food, so here we are.” Pearl harrumphed. “Goodies in hand.”

Well, now I know who they are.
“Oh wow, I… thank you, ladies. Please, come in.” I held the door open for them. “This is really nice of you.”

“Nonsense.” Pearl set her pan down. “It’s the neighborly thing to do. Besides, you’re part of us.” Pearl bustled into the kitchen and set her pan down. “Now, this here is my world-famous lasagna—”

“Oh poo. World famous, my garters. You won a little ribbon at the county fair. That’s not world famous.”

“Pay no never mind to Mindy. She’s just jealous because she came in second that year. As I was saying… I also got a key lime pie in the car.”

“Only because I got five points deducted for entering past the cutoff date.” Mindy set her pan on the counter too, nudging Pearl’s over just a bit. “Mine is chicken spaghetti. I have cheesecake with a raspberry sauce for dessert. Both have a tart taste since, you know, we can’t taste sweet. Not like you can.”

“Holy cow.” I lifted one of the covers, ignoring the last remark. “This is homemade, isn’t it? Oh my God, do you know how long it’s been since I had….” I looked at the ladies. “Thank you. This is just great.”

Pearl patted my shoulder. “Honey, you’re welcome. We want you to be happy here with us.”

“From what little I know, it seems like a good place to live. I’m going to open a shop here just as soon as I can.”

“We heard Tal talking about that. Good! We want you to feel free to join community meetings and—” Pearl suddenly nudged Mindy rather hard. Mindy made a funny sound and glared at Pearl.

I scratched my head. “Um, why wouldn’t I feel free to join in stuff?”

“Now, she don’t mean anything by that.” Pearl frowned at Mindy, a hint of red covering her dark skin. “She just meant—”

“You used to be human, you know. That’s all I meant. Nothing bad, sweetie.” Mindy blushed as she straightened her skirt. “Okay, let’s get those desserts in the refrigerator.”

The two ladies rushed to the car, and I took the chance to breathe. Did she really need to remind me I used to be human? I snorted. Like I’d forgotten somehow? How could I, when nearly every fucking shifter I met fell all over themselves to remind me? I stood there and just breathed, telling myself slapping them upside the head was
not
a good idea. Or just slapping Mindy. These ladies were married to important men in this clowder, after all.

So they couldn’t taste sweet stuff, and I could. Just another glaring fact that showed I wasn’t a real shifter. Even after the mating, I still could taste sweet things, thank God. Maybe that was unique to me or maybe not, but regardless, her careless comment still chapped my ass.

They dropped off their goodies and left. From the way they’d acted, I thought they liked me. They just… they didn’t quite know how to treat me since I was the only nonshifter in the clowder. That was the impression I had, at least. Disheartened, I plopped down on the couch. I’d been subjected to discrimination due to being gay, but this… this was basically about my species. I really had no idea how to deal with that.

“Jeez.” I let myself wallow in self-pity for a total of two minutes, then sucked it up.

My first impulse was to say fuck it all, but my mom used to say you caught more flies with sugar than vinegar. I’d be nice until it was time
not
to be nice. I’d kill ’em with kindness, even if it killed me. Decision made, I stood and went back to the kitchen. After I put the food up, I went upstairs and took a hot shower. Hopefully it would relieve the stress.

After a long shower and an internal talking-to, I dressed. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw Dolf returning home. I shoved all the unpleasant thoughts out of my head and concentrated on the sexy guy coming through the back door. Lord help me, all Dolf had to do was smile and I was ready to jump him. Or he could jump me. Hell, I didn’t care as long as there was jumping involved.

Dolf sniffed the air, still holding the groceries. “Whatever you’re thinking, just hold that thought until I can clear everyone out of here.”

I ruffled the curls that touched the collar of his shirt. “I can do that.”

Dolf set the food down and grabbed my fingers, nipping them. “Good. Then I have plans for you.”

Tal came through the back door, a grin on his face. He sniffed the air, and his grin changed to something more sexual. “Someone’s happy.”

I laughed.

Tal joined us, wrapping his arms around us. “Don’t let me forget: first thing tomorrow, we need to talk about the design for the shop, then get some quotes. I’m going to try to get by the bank by the end of the month.”

“I can’t wait.” After a quick hug, I stepped back. “Oh, by the way, there was a delivery today for you, Dolf.”

Dolf glanced around the kitchen. “Really? Already? Where is it? Did you open it?”

I pointed to the other counter. “It’s over there. And no, I didn’t open it. It was for you.”

Dolf unpacked the little bag of groceries. “Not that I would usually care if you did, but I’m glad you didn’t. It’s a surprise.”

Now he had my attention. I eyed the package. Maybe I could—

Dolf never looked up. “You do, and I’ll put you over my knee.”

I flushed from head to toe. Fuck, I loved a good ass slapping. I reached down and rearranged my cock.

Tal grinned from ear to ear. “Now I
really
smell honeysuckle,” he said, a little purr to his voice.

God, I had to distract them, and me, or someone was going to be stripped and thrown on the counter. Actually, that sounded pretty good….

Dolf finished unpacking, then faced me, those blue eyes of his glowing slightly. “It’s just a plug I bought for you. If we don’t show up, they
will
come looking for us. And Remi is a big enough perv, he’d never shut up about it. It’s nearly time to go, so I’ll drive. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we get back.”

“Oh, we aren’t doing it here?” I’d just assumed we’d be here, or maybe at Monty’s house.

“No.”

Well, okay, then, that tells me exactly nothing.
“Um….” I paused to see if Dolf planned to add to that one-syllable answer.
Apparently not
. “Can you drop me a clue, here?”

“Can you just trust me?”

Maybe I should slap you upside the head. Seems to be the day for it.
“I’ve done nothing but trust you guys since you showed up. Just thought I’d throw that out there.”

Dolf didn’t speak for a second, but then he reached for me. “Yes, yes, you have. You’ve taken a lot on faith.” Dolf cupped my chin. “It’s a special place outside of town. It’s… magical.”

There had been a time in my life I’d laughed at the idea of magic. Magic was for little kids and fairy tales. But then, so were creatures that weren’t human. “Magical. Do I need to know any rules or anything?”

“Just open your heart and be true. Now, grab your coat, sexy, and let’s go.”

I followed Dolf to his truck. Tal opened the door, and I climbed into the back of the truck. “That’s it. We’ll be there with you too.”

Dolf drove out of the city limits, then kept going. City gave away to country. We drove to another wooded area, then drove some more. We didn’t talk, so Dolf played the radio. Maybe we all were a little keyed up. Dusk was falling, but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t wild about being in the woods at night, but at least I’d be surrounded by shifters… just in case. Dolf turned onto a dirt road that led deeper into the woods. Finally,
finally,
we dead-ended into an opening in the woods. The evening light was fading and the woods added to the darkness. Dolf had turned on his headlights. Holy cow, the first thing that caught my eye were the stones in the middle of the opening.

Dolf parked the truck, the lights on the structure in front of us. “It’s called The Circle of Stone. It’s existed for as long as this clowder has been here.”

“Wow. Who…. Do you know who built this?”

“Our storytellers say the first of our clowder.”

“Yours? Not cat shifters in general?”

“This is our circle. It’s on our pack land. It belongs to us.”

“Not arguing with you, man. Just asking.”

“I wasn’t…. Sorry. If I snapped, I didn’t mean to. It’s hard to explain how much this place means to us. I’m hoping when you step in the circle, you’ll feel its power.”

We stepped out of the truck, and I stared at the stones. They were made of large, bulky boulders that were at least four feet across and eight feet high.

The surface of some were worn smooth and flat across the top while others came to a point, a finger reaching for the clear, nighttime sky. I moved closer, glad the truck lights flooded the area with light. The stones were a weathered gray with chips and cracks throughout, hinting at their age.

The beautiful coldness of the rock spoke of its sturdiness and endurance. I placed my hand on one of the boulders. Energy raced from the stone through my hand and down my body. It wasn’t unpleasant, just a surprise… like getting shocked by static electricity. It left behind a tingle, and I glanced down at my hand. That’s when I noticed the grass inside the circle was green.
How in the hell is that green? It’s winter.
Headlights flashed as the rest of our group showed up, distracting me from the fact that there was lovely green grass inside that thing. In January. Our winters tended to be a bit warmer since we were in the south, but not that warm. Not here.
Maybe someone sprayed the grass.
But somehow, I didn’t think so.

The five elders stood to one side. I’d been introduced, but damned if I could remember their names. The betas stood with Monty.

“Are you ready?” Monty asked.

“Absolutely,” I replied.
No point in letting them know I’m getting a little freaked out.

Dolf, Tal, and I stepped inside the stones together. The second I stepped into the circle, a wave of heat swept through me, blurring my vision but clearing immediately. Power raced through my body, leaving behind warmth. I tingled from head to toe. The feeling wasn’t sexual. It was… a sense of belonging. Contentment blossomed in me, something I had rarely felt before Dolf and Tal entered my life.

I stood there, the light from the various trucks shining on me. I turned to my mates, both of them grinning madly. I opened my mouth to say something when I noticed a flash of light. Then another. More flashes came after that. Suddenly, lightning bugs filled the circle, the brief flashes blinking crazily around us.