“What are you doing here?” Damian asked.

“I hate to ask you this, but do you mind if I stay on your couch tonight?” Jordan asked.

Damian leaned against the door-frame and crossed his arms over his chest. “What? Why?”

“It’s my parents. Dude, they’re driving me absolutely crazy. Ever since I went home earlier they’ve done nothing but hound me about not leaving again. And even worse, they keep asking me about Mindy.” Jordan stopped talking and took a breath. “I don’t ask you for a lot, but I really need you to just let me stay here tonight so I can get some peace and quiet, and so I can think.”

Angel walked out to where Damian was standing. She wrapped her arms around him and looked up into his eyes. “Let him in, Damian. Don’t force him back home. Or worse.”

Damian shrugged his shoulders. “Come on.” He stepped aside so Jordan could come in, then shut and locked the door behind him.

“Thanks a lot, you two. Hey, wait.” It finally dawned on Jordan that Damian wasn’t alone. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Could my Alpha really have another woman with him while his mate was recovering? Jordan thought.

“Angel, this is Jordan, my other Beta. Jordan, this is our angel, and my mate. And believe it or not, her name really is Angel.” Damian kissed her forehead. He knew any thoughts of claiming her tonight had flown out the window when Jordan walked in the door.

“Wow. It’s so nice to meet you, Angel. Thank you for saving us back in the woods. I might have been dead if it wasn’t for you. I sure hope Damian told you how risky that was to jump that crazy buck, but that was also some really cool-ass, wolf-style, Bruce Lee-type shit.” He covered his mouth. Damian scowled at his Beta. “Sorry for the language.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. And you’re welcome. Damian tried to stop me that day, but I couldn’t let that lunatic hurt any of you. Especially knowing my mate was one of his targets.” She stepped closer to Damian and held his hand in hers. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”

“Nah, I’m good. We ate before I left. Thank you, though.”

“No problem. Feel free to help yourself if you change your mind,” she said.

Jordan sat down and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. Damian cleared his throat. Jordan looked up at his Alpha, then took his feet off the furniture.

“I’m going to go find some extra linens and a pillow for Jordan,” Angel said to Damian. He threaded his fingers through her hair and lowered his mouth onto hers. His craving wasn’t going away despite the fact that his cock-blocking Beta was sitting on his couch.

“Am I interrupting you guys?” Jordan said.

Angel pulled back from Damian. “No. Absolutely not.”

Damian’s facial expression said otherwise. His eyes had tightened and his lips were pressed tight together. But he knew better than to tell his friend to get out after Angel had already extended the invitation for him to stay.

Damian sat in the chair that was closest to where Jordan was sitting on the couch. “You’re fine. Don’t worry about it. We’re good, right, baby?” Damian questioned.

“We’re more than good.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek then mussed his already-disheveled hair.

“I don’t want to intrude,” Jordan said.

“Shut the fuck up, Jordan. Seriously. You’re staying, and that’s that. Period.” Damian gave him stern look.

“So what’s going on with your parents? What’s the reason they don’t want you to grow up and do big boy things?” Damian chuckled. “Your father has been my dad’s Beta forever. You’d think he’d want you to get out and become your own man.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t want that for me, he just thinks, well, he thinks that, um --” Jordan stopped talking.

“Fucking say it,” Damian growled.

“He thinks you’re going to do something stupid and end up getting us all killed.”

“That’s ridiculous. He’s gone completely bat-shit crazy.” Damian stood and began pacing. “Maybe I need to talk to my father and let him know he should get his fucking Beta in check. The last thing I need is for this guy to talk shit about me.”

“It’s not all completely for no reason, D. You’ve done some stupid stuff before.”

Damian stopped pacing back and forth, turned and faced Jordan, and pointed his finger at him. “Yeah, so? So have you. But getting shot at by a fucking rogue buck wasn’t my fault. And as far as the Mountain Lions, we’re in good with them now. They were the only ones that had been pissed off at us before. Everything else we did doesn’t count because it was just dumb shit, not anything life-threatening.” Damian began pacing again. “Maybe I should talk to your dad myself. I’m an Alpha now. I don’t need my dad to fight my battles.”

“Damian, don’t do it. Just give him some time. And seriously, I’m going with you when you leave. It really doesn’t matter what he says. My place is with you.” Jordan huffed out a breath. “Now to just convince Mindy that she needs to be with me.”

Damian sat back down. He would refrain from confronting Jude for the time being, but he would definitely make sure to mention it in conversation tomorrow morning with his father.

“What’s going on with Mindy? I thought you told her she was your mate.”

“I did. The crazy thing about humans is they don’t believe everything we do, and they have their own crazy-ass sense of what’s supposed to happen. Like, we’ve been talking off and on all day. She wants to know if I plan to date her or if my plan is to be a caveman and toss her over my shoulder and run off into the woods with her. I have to admit, I liked the idea of tossing her over my shoulder and running off into a remote area of the woods and having my way with her, but that was the wrong answer, evidently.”

The sound of Angel’s laughter filled the room as she returned with an armful of sheets, blankets, and a pillow.

“Seriously, Jordan? You actually said that to her?” Angel asked.

“It wasn’t what I was thinking, but when she said it, it sounded pretty good to me.”

Angel doubled over laughing after she set everything down on the coffee table. She was laughing so hard, tears began streaming down her face. Just when she thought she had herself under control, she looked at Jordan and began laughing again. Damian was laughing along with her.

“I’m glad you guys think this is so funny.”

“It’s only funny because she’s a human. She probably was mortified by you saying you liked that idea.”

“So what was I supposed to say?” Jordan asked.

“You’re supposed to say you want to date her. You have to earn her trust and let her get to know you. It’s no different than when we frequent human businesses. We can’t just go in there acting like animals,” Angel said.

“Yeah, dick. Like when you were in The Canteen growling around all those people because Mindy left. You scared them. And now, your mate probably thinks you’re some savage rapist,” Damian said with a smile.

“I’d never hurt her. I’d never do anything like that. Ever,” Jordan defended himself.

“I know that, and you know that. Now, you have to convince Mindy so she knows that. Play along with her dating game. Take her out. Show her what a gentleman you can be, and let her see you aren’t drinking anymore. Win her over. She’ll be eating out of your hands in no time,” Damian said.

Angel stared at Damian. His eyes lifted and met hers.

“What?” he asked.

“Really. Is that how it’s done?” Angel asked.

Damian shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess. I’ve never dealt with humans like that. Maybe.” He raised his eyebrows as she continued to hold his gaze. “Yes? No?”

Angel laughed at her mate. She thought it was funny watching him squirm at her questioning his statement. He was right, but she was surprised how quickly he backed down. “You’re right. I’m just messing with you.”

He jumped up from the chair, toppling it over backwards. “You’re going to pay for that,” he said as he took off running toward her. She screamed and ran toward the bedroom.

He trapped her in the room.

“I’m sorry,” she said, then giggled.

“You’re going to be,” he said.

“Seriously, Damian. I’m not feeling well. Please, don’t.” The smile never left her face.

“Don’t try to fool me, beautiful.” Damian inched closer. She was trapped on the side of the bed with nothing but the wall on one side and the end table behind her.

“Damian, don’t. I have to pee. Let me go.”

“Still not buying it, darling.”

Angel stood up straight and held her hands on her hips. “Fine, come get me then.” A sly smirk played on her lips.

Damian darted toward her and she flipped up onto the bed, rolling to the other side then ran out of the room. Damian was hot on her heels. She ran into the kitchen and he followed closely behind her.

“Good one, doll. But you can’t get out of here quite so easily.”

She was trapped this time. The galley-style kitchen only had one way to enter and exit, and Damian’s huge form was blocking it.

She held her hands out in front of her like she had invisible handcuffs on. “Do what you want. I’m trapped this time for sure.”

Damian closed the distance between them and hovered over her. He stared into her blue-flecked eyes. His breathing was faster than normal and she was panting.

He took a step toward her and she took a step back. They were inches apart. Damian took another step forward and Angel took another step back. With two more steps, her back was pressed against the wall. Damian raised a hand up onto each side of her head, then lowered his mouth to kiss her neck. She tilted her head away from him to give him more access. She wanted him to sink his fangs into her neck, but knew he wouldn’t.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

“We have a guest, remember? This can’t happen tonight,” Damian whispered in her ear. “But this, my dear, can.”

He dropped his hands and began tickling her until her legs gave out beneath her. He kept her from crumpling to the ground and hurting herself. Her laughter and giggles were music to his ears. He slowly let her sinuous body down onto the floor, where he continued to torturously tickle her.

“Stop, Damian,” she managed between laughing. “Stop, please.”

He didn’t let up. He loved that sound, and looked forward to hearing it for many years to come.