Mating Brand
Page 29

“Here,” Anton announced. “It’s big enough to house all of us. The enforcers are taking over the basement and you’ve got an hour to grab your stuff. I expect everyone to return by then.”
“Fuck no,” Rave rumbled. “I refuse to share a house with over twenty people.”
“Deal with it. We need to set an example,” Anton reminded him. “So far you haven’t done a good job of that after we ordered everyone to double up. You said Braden drove you nuts and sent him to Brand. You demanded Shannon and I move to Grady’s place. We’re alpha-blooded so two of us could fight off a few dozen pride members. The rest of the pack wouldn’t stand a chance against those numbers so we’ll bring the fight to us. It’s best if we’re all under one roof. We’ll be their main target so we may as well make it easy for them to find us.” He grinned. “And this is the first place they’ll look. Rave can find some humans to fill in at the bar and make sure they know where to send anyone who comes looking for a Harris.”
“Done.” Rave nodded.
“Rave drove me nuts,” Braden muttered. “Not the other way around. He took over Anton’s old schedule of the prospective out-of-town mates. Do you know what it was like hearing him constantly nailing different women every few hours that first night? He took them to the guestroom right next to mine.” He flipped off his cousin. “Just to rub it in so I’d have to know exactly what they were doing.”
“Shut up,” Rave growled. “I didn’t want their scent in my bedroom. I had to listen to you whine constantly about how mean it was to smell sex when you couldn’t get laid.”
“I could if I wasn’t banned by Dad from touching pack women.”
Grady stepped between them. “Rave, stop needling him and, Braden, you are happier with Brand. It’s your own fault you had to be banned from fucking women unless you get a serious girlfriend. You damn near caused three males to kill you when you crashed that party. Those women’s future mates weren’t amused when they discovered you’d nailed them.”
“I was happy at Brand’s house,” he corrected. “But now I have to listen to him doing his mate. You would have done what I did too. I just offered up my bod to three women who wanted one last fling. Those weren’t love matches.”
Kane groaned. “I’m the one who had to talk their future mates out of killing your ass the morning after when they arrived to pick up those women. You were passed out from exhaustion when the shit storm hit.”
Braden grinned. “Thanks.”
Kane glared. “I can’t wait until you mature. Like I don’t have enough to do without cleaning up your messes.”
“Let’s change the subject,” Brand suggested, wanting to save Braden some grief.
“I agree. Enough,” Anton softly ordered. “You’ve all got one hour to pack a bag, grab whoever you’re spending your heat with and get back here. We’re going on lockdown until this is over.” He stared at Kane. “Patrols go out in shifts with two of us and six enforcers, no less than eight-member teams at a time. That’s how it’s going to be until the pride realizes they can’t win. I refuse to lose anyone on my watch while our father is down. I gave him my word we’d take care of everyone and that means nobody dies.”
“Easier said than done,” Kane muttered. “But agreed. We stick together while we’re out and everyone keeps ready to roll if trouble hits. I’ll call my brother. He took the night shift but he’s slept for at least four hours by now.”
Brand sighed. “Great. It’s going to be damn crowded here. I just took a mate.”
“So did I.” Anton gave him a sympathetic look. “Protecting them takes priority over privacy right now.”
“Is Dad safe? He can’t defend himself while he’s drugged. Maybe we should wake him.” Braden seemed nervous.
“He’s stashed with the doctor. The prides won’t find him and I assigned three elder, trusted enforcers to stand guard,” Anton informed him. “We can’t risk waking him until after the heat. Severing the bond to his mate would kill him for sure at this time. The best chance he has of surviving is being kept in an induced coma.”
“We’ve got this,” Grady confirmed. “Dad’s safer where he is.”
“What about my fucking schedule?” Rave arched his eyebrows. “I have appointments booked with those bitches from other packs. Do I just have them come here?”
“I’ll call their packs to cancel the meetings. I’m sure their fathers won’t want to send them into a battle zone just on the off chance that you’ll pick one of them to mate. I know they want a Harris to add to their bloodline but they want their daughters alive more.” Anton shrugged. “It’s too dangerous for them to be here and I don’t want a pack war on top of it if one of them were to die when a fight breaks out.”
“Then who am I supposed to fuck?” A horrified look crossed Rave’s face.
Braden snickered. “Your hand. It isn’t so funny when it’s being said to you, is it? I suggest you stop at a store and buy a dozen bottles of lotion. You’ll want the oily kind.”
Rave opened his mouth to speak but his cell phone rang, halting whatever response he was about to make. He grabbed it but shot a menacing glare at his baby brother before leaving the room to answer it. “It’s my shop. I have to take this.”
“Let’s go.” Anton sighed. “We’ll kick some ass hard and fast so this ends quickly. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Shannon about our new living arrangements but it’s necessary. She had a hard enough time not being embarrassed having one of my brothers within hearing range of us in bed. Now she’s going to have an entire houseful to deal with.”
Brand said nothing but he hated the idea of subjecting Charma to so many werewolves too. She wasn’t used to them and he wasn’t sure how she’d react. Keeping her protected was paramount though. She’d be safer with plenty of pack to guard the house while he worked his patrol shifts.
Rave returned, his face grim. “Some bitch showed up at my shop. It has to be my two o’clock appointment arriving a bit early but she mustn’t have gotten the address I texted her. At least I’ll get in one last fuck before I return. I’ll make a few calls about the bar too. It will be handled.”