Vince stared at the empty stairwell until another couple walked in front of him and took the same path Penny had. A brief panic raced through him because he’d never let himself get so far gone before, at least not in front of other people. Sometimes after a frustrating night with a human woman he’d go for a walk on a dark street to cool off, but this felt like way more energy than he’d ever had before. He was in Brookhaven, though, so this kind of thing should be normal… sometimes… maybe.
He needed to get out of here. He could feel that he was going to crash hard after all this so he turned and headed straight for the door, not wanting to collapse in the entryway.
“She’s not wolf, but with that booty, I think I could make an exception.”
He didn’t even have time to think. Maybe he hadn’t. He simply punched the shifter smirking wickedly at him before he realized what he was doing. The dude slammed to his knees, quickly catching himself before he face planted into the ground. He gave a quick jerk as he cleared his head, then glared up at Vince. The vampire guard grabbed him just as he lunged for Vince with murder in his eyes.
“Quinn! Control yourself. Quit trying to rile people up.”
Vince growled as he stared Quinn down, finally realizing both these guards were the same guys who were up here the first night he’d come to the club.
The shifter struggled fiercely to break free from the vampire, and Vince fumed as he watched the two, wanting so badly to punch the asshole again. He knew he should get out of here and go home, but he was too worked up, or maybe his non-existent animal was, so the best he could do was just stand here and not go after him again.
The guards wrestled with each other, Quinn eventually throwing his hands up in surrender before storming off somewhere further into the building. Vince stood his ground and waited for the vampire to do something. He knew he’d stepped over the line by punching the other guy, and he knew fighting wasn’t allowed here, and probably especially not with the guards.
The vampire straightened himself up as his gaze wandered over Vince, almost as if he was avoiding looking him in the eye. Vince was ok with that. He was too amped up right now, and his animal side wanted action. Another confrontation could easily push his temper over the edge.
A heavy feeling built in the air around them, and it gave him the impression this vampire was older than Vince could possibly fathom someone being. He wondered if this was finally it, finally the time that one of the supers here would put him in his place like they so often did when he used to spend his days ignoring that he was one of them.
The guy was taller than Vince, and about as broad all over. Still, that didn’t tell him how strong he was. He was just learning that size didn’t always equate to strength in the supernatural world.
The man’s voice jarred his thoughts. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a very long time. Seeing someone else punch him will satisfy the urge for now.” He thrust his hand out and Vince stared at it in angry surprise.
He realized he was panting, his animal too close to the surface, though he knew it’d never break free. It never had and never would, so he shook the man’s cool hand and gruffed out, “Name’s Vince.”
“Benicio.” He kept his eyes lowered as they shook hands, then stepped back and held the door open for him.
As Vince passed over the threshold to the outside step, Benicio quietly said, “A word of advice. Watch your back around the wolves, and always know who your friends are. You never know when you might need them around here.”
He stared hard at Benicio, trying to figure out what his angle was. “And which are you?”
He smiled and finally raised his eyes to him. “Friend, of course. Any friend of my Master is a friend of mine.”
“Your Master? You mean Anthony? I barely know him.”
Benicio looked surprised. “Oh?” A look of confusion passed over him, and then a small shrug. “Well the Master must have had a reason for nearly killing one of us vampires when he found out you and your mother had been denied help from the family, multiple times over the years. He even allowed Zach to tear into his flesh and drink his blood for additional repayment for the wrong. Believe me, a shifter’s bite is not in any way pleasant like a vampire’s bite can be, and it didn’t appear to be pleasant that night, either. The Master clearly cares what happens to you and your mother. I wouldn’t take that knowledge lightly, friend.”
Vince stared at Benicio, not quite sure how to process this information. He didn’t know his mom had come here asking for help. He wondered when that was, and it made him feel like crap, again, for being mad at her. “So you’re mad at me that he punished a vampire?”
Benicio smirked. “Hardly. Bethany is far from my favorite person in the family. Just remember who your allies are. It could come in useful when you least expect it. And vice versa.” He gave Vince a head nod, then let the door swing closed between them.
**
Vince’s adrenaline, and anger, quickly drained out of him as he made his way through the dark, quiet night to his car. The people here, and everything about this place was so different than how he’d imagined it would be, that he wasn’t sure if things were actually going good or bad.
So much had happened in such a short period of time, and the lure of not having to be careful about being himself around others was making him sloppy. It wasn’t like him to get so instantly enraged by a shifter being a jackass to him, which meant he was letting his animal urges get too close to the surface. In the past when he’d run into jackass shifters, usually at work, if they wanted to put him in his place, for the most part he just rolled over and let them. Here… he wasn’t trying to hide anything and it felt good to finally stand up for himself, but he should really watch who he tangled with. He still didn’t have a sense of who anyone was, or what kind of family politics went on in this place.
Penny’s face flashed through his mind and he shivered in need. She wasn’t human. That was going to play through his head the rest of the night. He didn’t have to worry about hurting her… he could kiss her, hold her… he stopped when he realized he was walking back to the front door and forced himself to turn around and get to his car. He wanted her, though. He needed her.
His hands shook as he fumbled with key in the lock. He finally got it open, then fell clumsily into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. His shakes got worse, and his adrenaline was crashing even though Penny was still ferociously on his mind. He wanted more than anything to go back in there and find her, though he had no idea which apartment was hers in the giant building. He growled in frustration at the dash of the cold car. He desperately wanted to feel free to let go of his constant worry that a girl would find out he wasn’t totally human. With Penny, that would never be an issue.
Except the opposite was now the problem. By full moon she’d know damn well he wasn’t totally shifter. Would she still want to hang around him when she found out? Worse, would she be disgusted to learn she’d gotten so close to someone as physically and magically messed up as he was?
He grabbed the steering wheel when a wave a dizziness washed through him, then closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. The crash was coming on strong this time. He’d forced his muscles to be stiff and steady for too long tonight, only to have a huge adrenaline rush from kissing Penny, and then the fight with the wolf. He was going to pay for pushing his body so hard, that was for sure. Tomorrow was going to be pure hell… He wondered if he should just call in sick so he could rest, but Shelly needed all the help she could get with Christmas almost here. Besides, he’d feel bad if he ditched her right now, especially with how flexible she always was with him the rest of the year whenever he was too sick or tired to come in.
He took deep, even breaths, then narrowly opened his eyes, just enough to hit the call button for his mom.
She was laughing when she answered.
“Mom?”
She sounded absolutely giddy when she said, “Hi honey.”
He heard a deep rumble of a male voice laughing in the background.
“Are you and Ed hanging out?”
“Oh, we’re just watching a movie. Stop that!” More laughter from both of them.
He sighed inwardly. “You guys sound like you’re having fun. I just called to let you know I’m staying here tonight. Can you can ride the MARTA to work and I’ll pick you up after?” The public transit system wasn’t too bad.
Sounding more serious, she said, “Oh honey, you come on home. We’ll shut the movie off when you get here.”
He faked static noise. “You’re breaking up. Can’t hear you anymore. See you tomorrow.” He hung up and shook his head, then reluctantly smiled. Things were definitely changing in his life.
**
Vince wearily approached the outer door. Benicio opened it, standing tall and somewhat regal. He looked down his nose at Vince, but he got the feeling he wasn’t doing it on purpose.
“Do you feel all right? Is something wrong?” He glanced warily over Vince’s shoulder.
He waved him off. “Yeah man. I’m fine. I need to talk to Zach. I saw him in the club earlier.”
Benicio nodded and ushered him inside. Another shifter was now up here on guard duty as well. A tall, large man who looked more doughy than muscular.
Vince gave him a head bob and didn’t waste time heading down to the club. He tried to keep his shakes hidden on the way, but he couldn’t casually fidget enough without looking like a crack addict. It was late, anyway, so the club wasn’t as packed as before, but he still didn’t want the people that were here to think something was wrong with him.
Dammit, he didn’t want to be handicapped. There were plenty of disabled people in the world, and he never thought he looked down on them for their problems, but he also didn’t want to be one of them. He really, really didn’t want to be one.
Zach wasn’t anywhere in sight, but as he wandered around, he saw a light on in the office he’d first talked to him in. He made a beeline over there, peeked in the door, and did a double take. Anthony, and someone that looked an awful lot like Anthony, both turned to look at him.
“Whoa. There’s two of you. Sort of.” Only one of them had a giant scar on their face, but they both had long dark hair and similar features.
The doppelganger stepped briskly across the small room towards him. “You must be the new jaguar in the family. Vince, correct? I’m Isaiah Foster. Anthony’s father.”
“Father?” He’d never considered that vampires might have actual family. In a weird way, it made Anthony seem more human.
They shook hands, and of course it wasn’t long before Isaiah said, “Do you feel all right? You don’t look well. Please, sit down.”
Vince ran a shaky hand through his hair and took a seat next to Sebastian on the only couch in the room. “I’m fine. Just tired. I’m looking for Zach, actually. Do you know where he is?”
Anthony said, “Is something wrong? I’ll ask him to join us immediately.”
“I just need a favor.”
Anthony looked at him for a time, more like through him, then said, “He’ll be here shortly.”
Ok… not so human after all. He must have been talking head to head with Zach just now. That was… creepy. Still… “Thanks man. And thanks for inviting me in the first place. I hope Kaia isn’t too upset.”
Everyone looked at Anthony then, and Vince got the uncomfortable feeling he’d brought up something private.
Anthony somewhat tightly said, “She was surprised, and taken off guard to see you here, but I assure you she’s fine.”
Vince squirmed at the new tension in the air, but it quickly calmed when Anthony said, “I hope you and your mother will consider my offer of moving in. All your expenses will be taken care of, along with a generous monthly living allowance.”
Benicio’s admission to him earlier played through his head. Anthony was being awfully nice to him. Still, he had to ask, “What’s the catch?”
Anthony locked eyes with him. “I wouldn’t call it a catch, but I’ll admit I’m strongly inclined to do whatever I can for you and your mother. After all, it was one of my vampires that made your lives unnecessarily difficult over the years by not letting me know of the assistance your mother sought out so many times.”
At some point he really wanted to hear this story from his mom’s point of view, his curiosity now eating at him, but he was too tired to think about it right now.
“Also…”
Ah, here it was. The real reason Anthony was bending over backwards to help them.
“Kaia considers you a friend. I’ll be turning her vampire soon, and I’d like her to have as many friends as possible here. She’ll need them as she comes to grips with her new form.”
Whoa. “You’re going to turn her vampire?”
Zach appeared in the room just then. “Hey. What’s up?” His eyes landed on Vince and he frowned in worry. “You ok? You don’t look so good.”
He sighed. He was sick of people asking him that. He tried not to snap at him, though. “Yeah man, but I need a place to sleep tonight. Got a couch or something I can crash on? I work at eight tomorrow morning so I’ll be out of your hair early.”
“Did something happen? Are you and your mom fighting?”
“No. Nothing like that. She just wants the place to herself tonight. Can I stay here?”
A big grin spread across his face. “Sure. What about Penny’s? Yeah? No? Yeah?”
He scowled. “What? No!”
“You’re not into her? Huh. She’s a cute girl. Too young for me, but I think she’s your age. What are you, twenty five? Twenty six? I thought you guys were hitting it off.”
“We are… agh! I just need a place to stay.”
Zach smirked. “Want me to call her? See if she has room?”
“No!” Vince stared around the room, wondering if it was just him that found this crazy. Sebastian and Anthony gave each other a look before stifling a smirk and rolling their eyes.
Sebastian mumbled through a muffled chuckle, “Jeez Zach. Give the guy a break.”
Anthony said, “Sometimes you just need to let him talk until he tires himself out. Or try and distract him somehow. He likes feathers. And balls of yarn.”
Zach laughed out loud. “Oh come on! Don’t tell me you didn’t notice those two all over each other during the show.”
Vince looked around the room again, this time everyone smirking and doing their best to look at anything except Zach or Vince.
Zach pulled out his phone. “All right. Let’s see if Ed’s around. I’d have you stay in my room, but we’re in and out of there this time of night so you might not get much sleep. Ed’s got lots of space though.”
He hurriedly said, “He’s not here. He’s, uh, with my mom.”
“Oh. Oh!” Zach perked up and Vince cringed.
“I just need somewhere to crash.” He quickly amended, “Somewhere other than Penny’s. A couch, a dark corner, underneath a bed, inside a closet. I don’t care. I just need sleep.”
His stomach growled and Zach said, “And you need food.”
He waved it off, but Zach gave Sebastian a meaningful look and he instantly stood up. “Any requests?”
“No man, really. I’m fine. I can’t eat any more tonight.”
“Steak and fries it is.” He was out the door before Vince could tell him no.
Zach said, “So are you ok staying at Ed’s?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll be out of your hair right away in the morning anyway.”
“You make it sound like we don’t want you here. Didn’t you know? You’re stuck with us, dude.”
Anthony and his father shared a chuckle while Vince shook his head at the craziness he was now becoming a part of.
**
Zach had been going to put Vince up in Ed’s spare room, but there was junk all over the bed. “Take Ed’s bed instead.”
“I can take the couch.”
“The bed will be more comfortable.”
“And the couch won’t smell so much like another man’s bed.” He sniffed the air for added effect.
Zach almost looked like he was going to argue, but stopped himself. “Good point.”
Vince threw his jacket over the back of a kitchen chair. “So, uh, I heard you guys don’t go around telling other people’s secrets.”
Zach looked confused. “Yeah. And?”
“And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around talking about how I can’t shift.”
His sudden soft, calm voice irritated the hell out of him. “You will. We’re working on it.”
“Don’t treat me like a fucking child. Just because I’m handicapped doesn’t mean I’m an invalid. I can take care of myself just fine.”
Zach’s jaw tensed and they locked eyes, but he curtly bobbed his head. “Understood.”
Vince slipped out of his shoes while Zach found a pillow and blankets, and in the meantime Sebastian arrived with bags of food. He brought way more than Vince could eat by himself, which was apparently the point. The guys sat down while he stood there and watched.
Sebastian looked up from a spoonful of chili. “It’s lunchtime for us.”
Vince dropped into his chair and bitterly ate the food Sebastian brought because he actually was still hungry, but he hated them both just a little bit for acting like they needed to take care of him. And the food was good, too. Assholes.
He didn’t like being catered to like this, and especially not by a bunch of dudes, but he supposed it could be worse. It could be much, much worse according to some of his mom’s old stories.
And he hated to admit that it was kind of nice to feel like he had a new group of friends, even if they were the alphas, so he ate the food and quit being mad about it. Actually, he wasn’t all that mad about eating. Maybe more food really was all he needed to heal himself.
Zach said, “Hey, did you get into it with some wolves tonight?”
He stared at Zach, wondering if he was going to get chewed out for punching that guard.
“At the show.”
He stared dumbly at him for a few seconds. “Oh. Those guys that almost knocked Penny out? Yeah, I grabbed the one dude’s elbow before he could cold cock her in the face.”
Zach nodded, though he got a small frown. Sebastian kept eating and didn’t appear to be paying much attention, though Vince got the feeling that was the furthest thing from the truth.
Zach said to Sebastian this time, “Something’s riling up some of your wolves lately.”
Sebastian scoffed. “Just lately?”
“You know what I mean.”
He grunted in response.
Zach looked like he wanted to say more about it, but he turned to Vince instead. “I want to try to force you to shift.”
“What?”
That got Sebastian’s attention, too.
“I’m your alpha. I can force my pack to shift. I want to try it with you.”
Sebastian nodded like that was a good idea, then went back to eating.
He cautiously said, “Ok. When? You don’t mean now, do you?”
Zach looked like he was still thinking it through in his head as he said, “Let’s do it at full moon. The pull will be strongest on you then. It might be the extra boost we need.”
They stared at each other for a brief moment until Zach looked pleased with his decision and went back to eating.
The guys didn’t linger once they finished their food, and as soon as the front door closed behind them, Vince slipped out of his shirt, turned the light off, and found the couch by the light of the microwave clock. He wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to sleep now that there was a possibility he might shift for the first time ever two weeks from now. If it worked, would that be the end of all his problems? Would his shakes and exhaustion go away once he was able to be a full shifter?
He dropped onto the makeshift bed on the couch and was glad to finally be off his feet. He fell almost instantly asleep.
**
Vince wasn’t sure if he was awake or dreaming, then jumped out of bed and somehow found the bathroom before throwing up.
God he hated this feeling. He’d known better than to eat all that food last night, but he was always so damn hungry. It wasn’t fair that he could never fill his belly without his body staging a revolt.
He threw up three times, then dry heaved six or seven times before his stomach finally calmed down. He panted for a while, not wanting to move too far away in case more wanted to come up, but he was pretty sure he didn’t have anything left in him by this point.
He jerked in surprise and almost knocked his head against the wall when he realized Ed was standing in the open doorway in just a pair of boxers.
“You ok?”
Vince’s hands shook as he stood up and turned on the water in the sink to rinse his mouth out. “Yeah man. Just had too much to eat last night.”
Ed’s big eyebrows frowned.
“Thanks for letting me stay here. I, uh, didn’t know you were coming back home.”
Ed rubbed the back of his neck, looking totally uncomfortable with the conversation. “Your mom’s a real nice lady, Vince. You’re lucky to have someone like her watching out for you.”
“Yeah.”
“You need anything?”
“Got a spare toothbrush?”
Ed opened a closet door between them and handed him an unopened package.
“Thanks.” Vince fumbled with the plastic wrapping, but refused to ask for help. He finally got it out and angrily tossed the packaging towards a small garbage can. He missed, of course.
He leaned down to pick it up, but Ed said, “Don’t worry about. I’ll clean the place up tomorrow. You get some sleep.”
He wanted to tell him to go to hell for thinking he needed someone to take care of his messes, but he was too tired, so he just brushed his teeth and stumbled back to bed.
**
Vince reluctantly opened his eyes and reached for his phone to turn the alarm off. Damn. It was already seven fifteen in the morning. He sat up and turned to see Zach in the kitchen with bags of food. Vince threw his blanket aside and pulled his shirt back on. His stomach grumbled loudly, but he didn’t dare eat. He joined Zach in the kitchen anyway, hoping to figure out where to get some caffeine.
Ed stumbled in to join them, still in his boxers, but at least he’d put a shirt on. His eyes were practically shut as he started making coffee as if he’d done this a thousand times before. Thank God.
Zach situated food around the heavy oak table. “You look like hell.”
Before he could say anything, Ed’s bass voice chimed in. “He was throwing up early this morning. A lot.”
“What? Why?”
Vince got busy putting his shoes on. “Too much food last night. It never sits right in my stomach. I told you guys I can’t gain weight.”
He looked up to see a mortified look on Zach’s face.
“Is there anything that does sit right in your stomach?”
He shrugged. “It was just too much. I should be able to eat a little something later today.”
“What about a protein shake?”
“A twigs and leaves drink? No thank you.”
Zach rolled his eyes and left the table. “You like peanut butter and chocolate?” He started opening random cupboards until Ed tiredly shooed him away and took over. He pulled out a blender and started adding ingredients that at first didn’t look all that appealing. He put in a scoop of powder, some kind of watery looking milk, then peanut butter and dry cocoa.
“Jeez. I’m not a charity case. I can take care of myself.”
Ed blended away while Zach said, “I never said you couldn’t, but you and your mom look beat. I hear you make the big decisions for you guys, and if you don’t want help, fine. But damn man, look at your mom. She needs a break. You guys have too much going on. We can help with that, if you let us.”
He glared at him. He made it sound like Vince was hurting his mom by not trusting all these strangers and letting them take over their lives. It was tempting, sure, but he was still getting to know everyone. If they gave everything up only to find out things weren’t what they thought in the family, they’d have a damn hard time going back to the real world. It’d been hard enough to find his job at the bookstore with such flexible hours, let alone the duplex they rented that hadn’t had the rent raised in years. And his mom’s jobs… He didn’t want to have to start from scratch if this all fell to hell here.
“What’s in it for you?”
“For me?”
“Yeah, you. All of you.”
Zach sat back down across the table from him. “The more people we have in the community, the more resources we all have for whatever we need.”
“Like what?”
“Anything. We have jobs here you know.”
“You want us to work here? That’s what’s in it for you?”
Zach almost smiled, then said, “For me personally, I’d just like a bigger pack. Most of the shifters here are wolves. So yeah, I’m selfish and want the jaguars to stick together. Or at least not be such strangers. Is that so bad?”
Vince tried not to frown as he reached for the cup of coffee Ed offered, ignoring the freshly blended protein shake now sitting in the middle of the table. It felt like the symbol of a new life that was up to Vince to either accept or reject.
He scowled and looked away from it as Zach started in on his awesome smelling breakfast. Ed dug into his own food while Vince’s stomach tensed in pain.
“Does Sebastian do all the cooking downstairs?”
“He runs the restaurant. Him and Jade. Oh yeah, you need to meet the rest of the pack. Jade’s jaguar. She’s also Sebastian’s girl. I’ll set something up for you to meet everyone.”
He locked eyes with Zach. How far down the rabbit hole Vince went with all the family stuff was up to him now and he knew it. He desperately wanted to be healed, but if he agreed to meet the rest of the pack, would it be admitting he wanted to join the family? Would he constantly be smothered with their attempts to help him do everything as if he really was handicapped? And if he didn’t join, would his chances at figuring out what the hell was wrong with him go up in smoke?
He clenched his jaw when another stomach pain shot through him.
Zach said, “Please try the protein shake.”
He was too tired to be thinking about all this heavy stuff this morning, and the coffee was still a little too warm, but he knocked it back so he could get out of here and have time with his own thoughts. He stood and slid his jacket on, then grabbed the cold shake. “I’ve got to get to work.”
“You don’t have to, you know.”
He felt for his keys in his pocket, then headed for the door. “Thanks for everything.”