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“She’s his mate, you said?” He said that he knew it for sure, but she kept denying it. “What’s he going to do about it? I’m sure that he has some kind of plan to get to know her.”

“I don’t know. I think he’s going to talk to the pack master before he goes to see her. He needs to find out what’s going on with her.” He said that made sense. “I thought so too, but he doesn’t even know her name. Only that she’s being protected by some wolf named Roger and that he’s very protective of her.”

“Do you think that Conri knows about her? I mean, this guy could be protecting her without his knowledge.” Yosef said that Conri ran a tight pack and that he would know what was going on within it. “Yes, I guess you’re right about that. He’s on top of all kinds of things that go on out there. I’m betting not only does he know, but that he also knows all about her and why she’s in his pack. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’s protected one of the females to this kiss. Didn’t he lease a house and give a job to one of the mates?”

“Yes. I think it was Tabby. She was hiding out from her mom or something.” He thought that was right too and wondered if she was in the same house. He’d have to tell Kenneth about the place and that she might well be out there. “I just wanted to know if you knew anything too. He’s been playing it cool, but I think he’s about to go all protective mode himself. He wants his mate too.”

“If anyone deserves a mate, it’s him. He’s about the sweetest guy I know. And very on top of things. If she’s his mate for sure, then she’ll never be harmed again. I wonder if he said anything to this Roger person when he was talking to him.” He said he didn’t think so, but he didn’t know for sure. “Someone should talk to him about what’s going on. I mean, really, the guy knows she’s his mate, and that should be final in her coming to him.”

They talked about his mate for about an hour, and when he saw that Katlynne was up, he told her what was going on. She said that she’d go to him now and see what she could do about it. Rutger was ready to let her take care of things, but Yosef thought it might be a bad idea. Instead, he wanted Kenneth to take care of things and see what he could find out.

It’ll be better that way, he thought. Instead of them moving in on his territory, he should do it on his own. Get his own mate to come to him. She might have her reasons for not accepting Kenneth as yet, and that would be important.

Katlynne said she understood and wouldn’t do anything, but he wasn’t so sure about Yosef. He would want him to have the very best, and that would mean having his mate. He’d go as far as to kidnap the girl to make sure that Kenneth could get to her. Get to know her like he had his own mate.

“I won’t do anything stupid.” Rutger asked if he was sure. “I’m sure. I don’t want to hurt either of them when there is this much at stake. She might not trust him because of something that had been done to her, and we’d make it worse if we were to do something unsafe towards her. Understand?” Rutger said that he did and agreed with him. “Good. For now we’ll just leave matters alone until she decides to come to him willingly. Mates are somewhat difficult to understand, whether it be female or male. We’ll just leave them be until they’re ready.”

He hoped that would be all it took. For them to come together as understanding mates. It didn’t matter that she was with the wolf pack; at least he knew she was safe. And if something had to be done, it would be up to Kenneth to ask for help or not if he needed it. He only hoped that he’d be able to ask for help before it was too late.

After closing the connection with Yosef, the two of them had dinner. He only had a glass of wine to her salmon dinner, but it was enough for him as he’d fed well before. Thinking of how much he’d enjoyed feeding from Katlynne, he had to adjust his cock once more and hoped that she didn’t see him. She might jump his bones again, and he thought he was just too worn out to have sex with her again right now. Laughing to himself, he never thought that he’d hear himself say something like that about making love. He thought of himself as a manly man, and here he was afraid of a little more sex with his human mate.

~*~

Melody didn’t know what to do now that she’d found her mate. Or he’d found her. She was afraid of the big man and what he’d do if he were to find out that she was with another male. They weren’t mates, but he decided that she was his and that was the end of it. It was all she could do to keep one step ahead of him when he was looking for her. The safest she’d been was in the wolf pack, and she’d been here for about eighteen months now. Long enough for her to recuperate and get better from the beating he’d given her when she wouldn’t submit to him. Looking down at the scar on her leg, she wondered if he’d notice that it was from a bite mark rather than the knife that she’d said it was.

She thought that Conri knew that she’d been bitten. It had hurt her worse than the other marks he’d given her that day. Most of the wounds had healed, but they left scars all over her that made her body look torn apart. Just as she was going to go into the house again to rest, Conri came to see her.

“You’ve found your mate.” She lifted her chin to him, waiting for him to tell her that she had to leave. “If he comes here for you, I have no choice but to let you go to him. He is a good man and a better friend.”

“But you won’t force me to go to him.” He said that he’d not; that would be up to her. “Good. I have no choice in this matter. If I were to go to him, you know as well as I do that he’ll be killed. Donald isn’t a man who fights fairly. Nor does he do it with grace. He’ll kill him any way he can, and that’ll be the end of him.”

“Kenneth is an old and powerful vampire. Donald is nothing more than a half-breed faerie. Once he is shown the error of his ways, perhaps he’ll back off.” She snorted. “Yes, as soon as I said that, I knew it to be untrue. Donald is a fool if he thinks that anyone of my pack will turn you over to him.”

“I know that too. It’s why I’ve been able to heal here so well.” He said that her leg was still bothering her. “Yes, he cut deep into the muscle, and I still have trouble walking at times. It will heal, I hope, but in order to do that, I must talk to the faerie queen. She’s the only one that can make him stay away from me.”

“Will she? Make him, I mean?” She said that she didn’t know her well enough to know the answer to that. “I can talk to her for you. And Kenneth as well. No one needs to know that I’m doing it for you.”

“He’ll know. I know he will. So far he’s been only a step behind me in all of this, and I don’t want anything to happen to anyone because of me. Especially not to you. You’ve been very kind to me, and I need you to stay safe too.” He said that he was; he was powerful too. “Donald has magic that even the queen might not know about. He said so himself. He says that he’s next in line for her job, and that’s what makes him so powerful. I don’t believe him, not entirely, but I don’t know what else to do.”

“Stay here. I’ll talk to Kenneth and tell him what’s going on. He’ll be understanding.” She hoped so but was worried about anyone who came along to try and save her. “He’s already found you; it’s only a matter of time before he wants to claim you. To think that you two were at the same bar. Have you thought about letting him feed from you? It might bond you in a way that Donald will back off.”

“Or it might piss him off so much that he kills a great many of your pack to get to me. I just don’t know how to trust him. I don’t at all, as a matter of fact.” They both looked around the open field, and she asked him when he’d talk to the other man. “Kenneth, I mean.”

“I’ll talk to him as soon as tomorrow. Or tonight if he shows up at the bar. I thought that it would be a good thing to have the bar for shifters that wanted to have some fun. And it’s worked out well for the vampires around too. I just wish I had made more rules governing it. Like no sex unless both parties are in agreement.”

“You think there is sex going on there that isn’t consensual?” He said that he knew so, but he’d been able to jail the ones that had taken advantage of his good nature. “I bet that you did. Your jail must be full of them from the way that you’re talking.”

“Nah, just two. And they’re made an example of easily. They know better than to cross me when I’m in one of my moods. I’m not a man to toy with.” She shivered, knowing firsthand what a killer he could be. He’d killed three of the men who had come with Donald to get her before she’d been given safe passage on his land. “You’re thinking about the day that he came for you. Had I had more men with me, he would be dead. As it is now, he’s not to trespass on my land at all or face certain death.”

“You talk to Kenneth and see what he wants to do. It might have soured him against me to know that I didn’t agree that he’s my mate. For all I know, he could have forgotten about me already.” Conri laughed, throwing back his head like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard before. “Well, you never know. He might be looking for someone else who doesn’t lie to him about being his mate.”

“Not him. If he knew only half of what was going on with you, he’d challenge me in getting you to safety. There is a matter too that he might want to come here to be a part of the crew that is watching over you.” She said that would be dangerous. “Not necessarily. You might both be safe here. He’ll be safe because you’re near him, and you’ll be safe for the same reason. He’s a good man, like I said. Give him a chance, and you’ll never regret it.”

“I’m afraid.” He said that he could understand that. “You talk to him. Like I said, he might not care anymore.”

When she got ready to go to the bar that night, he was still on her mind. He would either turn her away or he would help her. But she didn’t want him to be hurt. Not by anyone. Donald was a monster, and if he was to challenge Kenneth for her, would he win or lose? Donald would kill the vampire, and that would be even worse than she’d imagined. Having her mate so close…it was going to be hard to be there and not be a part of his life.

The bar was busy. She’d not been here when it was this busy, but she knew that she was going to stay out of sight. Her job there was to make sure that no one took too much of what was being offered. Like the vampires in the place, she was to watch over them and to make sure they didn’t get out of hand. She didn’t mind her job, but she knew that tonight was going to be different.