“Stop pacing,” Talon chuckled, watching his little brother wear a hole in the rug that sat in front of his desk. Kye had been there for the last hour, trying to pay attention to what Talon had to say, but it was pointless. Kye was too busy thinking about his mating night with Evie.
“I can’t,” Kye grumbled, wiping his brow. “I’m nervous.”
“Haven’t you two had sex yet?” Talon asked, sensing his brother’s nervousness was about the entire process.
“No,” Kye blurted. “And I’m definitely not talking to you about that.”
“I don’t want to talk to you about that either, but as your alpha…” Talon began, but was cut off when Kye narrowed his eyes.
“Please don’t,” Kye responded. “I need my brother right now. Not my leader.”
“Kye,” Talon sighed and stood up so he could walk around his desk. He reached out and wrapped his arm around Kye’s shoulder, pulling him in for an awkward brotherly hug. “Your nature will guide you. This is the only thing I can promise you about your mating.”
“Let’s change the subject, or else I’ll break my rule of not seeing her until this evening,” Kye said, pulling away.
“Okay,” Talon nodded. “Have you talked to Malaki?”
“Yeah, about that,” Kye flinched. “He’s not budging on his total assholiness.”
“What happened?”
Talon listened as Kye replayed the events of his talk with the male. It sounded to Talon like Malaki’s maturity wasn’t settling well, and he was making some rash decisions. He’d have to have a meeting with Calla and Malaki together to get a clear picture of what was going on with them and their plans for the future.
“I’ll take care of them from here on out,” Talon said. “I’m so glad you’re not being a jerk.”
“I have too much to worry about right now,” Kye replied. “I can’t afford to be out of my right mind around Evie.”
“Well done, brother,” Talon said with pride.
“When do I need to be here tomorrow?”
“Take the next few days off,” Talon smirked. “Your panther is going to demand you stay with your mate.”
“Okay,” Kye blushed. “I need to go. I have one last gift to send to Evie before dark.”
“Go, be with your mate,” Talon urged, shooing Kye toward the door.
As soon as his brother left the room, Liberty appeared at the door. His mate was smiling from ear to ear. “Have they touched yet?”
“No,” Talon chuckled. “He’s making her wait until this evening. At least he’s courting her the old way.”
“The old way?” Liberty frowned. “What’s that?”
“Ancient times were… different,” he began, pausing to open his arms so Liberty would come to him. When she snuggled against his chest, he kissed the top of her head and continued. “Males would send gifts to the women they wanted to touch to see if they were mates. The women would then be escorted to the male’s home he’d built for them. The night would be their official first touch, then they wouldn’t come out until their beasts were fully sated.”
“You didn’t send me gifts,” she huffed, jokingly nudging him in the side.
“I didn’t court you,” he reminded her. “We touched by accident, and then I had to convince you that you were mine.”
“I did play hard to catch, didn’t I?” Liberty chuckled and moved away, but not far. “I’m glad I finally gave in to your charms.”
“My charms?” he teased, raising a brow. “If I remember correctly, you gave in when my tongue brought you to orgasm.”
“Well, that too,” she blushed. “Think maybe you can charm me some more tonight?”
“How about we start right now?” He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her into silence as he left the office, hurrying toward their bedroom upstairs.
Dane entered the bar, his eyes immediately falling on Cole and Olivia talking at the bar top. Both of them looked up when he approached. The tiny, blonde female smiled warmly at him and backed away.
“You don’t have to leave on my account,” he teased, sealing that with a wink.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she rolled her eyes, “I have work to do.”
With that smartass comment, she turned on her heel and walked toward the kitchen. When Dane’s eyes landed on Cole, the bartender chuckled softly and reached for a bar towel to dry a glass.
“What’ll it be today?”
“Just a beer,” Dane said, looking at the clock on the wall. “It’s time to open. Want me to turn the sign?”
“Please,” Cole replied.
As soon as Dane stood up, he felt the human male’s gaze on his back, and for some reason, his panther preened from the attention. He’d been working at the bar as security for the past several weeks. With Liberty now working from home and staying out of the reach of the Community, Dane was tasked with keeping her business from being infiltrated by the people who wanted to take out the shifters.
He flipped the sign and turned away from the door, only to spot that new waitress, Olivia. She was gathering an order pad from behind the bar and tucking into the black apron all the waitresses wore with the bar’s logo on it. Her gaze flickered to Cole, looking away when the male turned toward her. When she did, her eyes landed on him. He held her stare for a moment before giving her a wink and walking toward the bar to pick up his beer.
“It’s Tuesday,” Cole said, clicking the remote to turn on the televisions over the bar. “It’ll be quiet in here most of the day.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Dane replied, taking a seat.
“So, explain to me what exactly is going on with the Community,” Olivia inquired, taking a seat next to Dane. He automatically shifted to the right to keep his distance. She blushed and whispered, “Sorry.”
“So, I guess Liberty told you about us?” Dane asked, raising a curious brow as he moved to stand on the other side of the barstool.
“She asked me to keep a healthy distance from y’all,” she said with a shrug. “She said the shifters didn’t like the contact.”
“That’s all she said?” Dane asked.
“Yep,” Olivia said with a little pop to the end of her word. “I respect that, and I promised the boss lady I’d adhere to the rules.”
“Truth is,” Dane started, then smiled. “We don’t mind the touching. It’s just that we find our mates that way. One touch and that’s all we need to go into a mating… well, frenzy.”
“Oh,” she squeaked as she blushed.
“Yeah, we tend to keep our distance until we find someone who we are interested in.” He shrugged and took a long pull off of his beer, watching her eyes darken. “If we feel a good connection to them, there will be touching involved… lots of touching.”
“I see.” She nodded and grabbed a bar towel that’d been hanging from her tied apron strings. “I need to go wipe down some tables.”
Dane watched Olivia walk away, making note of how her hips swung seductively. It wasn’t like she was trying, either. He’d seen those kinds of women more than enough in the bar. You always knew who the ones were that were only there to pick up a shifter. What did Nova call them? Oh, yeah… pride whores.