At noon, Eri and Brent came to pick up Ethan and Cody to go watch a basketball game. Ethan wanted to spend time with his little brother before he became overwhelmed by the new living arrangements with Jan. Prior to leaving, Zyga put the four of them through a mind-numbing briefing of new rules and regulations.
They stood in a line like new recruits in the living room while he rattled off instructions.
"Eri, since you're the only one who can consistently use the channel, I want updates from you every thirty minutes. If you miss one, we'll be in there, and that'll be the end of this little play date."
"Yes, sir"
"Ethan, Brent, keep your phones with you at all times. And be alert. If you sense anything odd, you let us know. We'll be close by."
"Yes, sir," they mumbled.
"You stick together at all times. One person wants to pee; you all go to the bathroom together."
"What?" Ethan exclaimed. Eri, Cody, and Brent mirrored his astonished look. Even prisoners were allowed much more laxity than what was being doled out to them.
"You heard me!" Zyga snapped. Ethan opened his mouth about to argue, but the tracker overrode him. "Don't go against me on this, son, else you can forget going out with your friends again. There's a wolf-killer on the loose, and he's coming right for you."
Ethan clamped his mouth shut while the others nodded to the rest of Zyga's commands.
By the time they got into Brent's Dodge Charger, Ethan felt they were heading into enemy territory rather than a basketball game. Poor Cody's face held traces of fear as he settled down in the backseat. He curled up his shoulders as if trying to hide from the world.
"Hey bud, it's ok. Zyga is just being Zyga. Nothing's gonna happen." Ethan said, ruffling his brother's hair.
Brent glanced at them through the rearview mirror. "For real though, I thought my dad was bad, but Zyga is on a whole new level."
"Is he always like this?" Eri asked.
"Not always, but you can't really blame him. We haven't made it easy for him to watch over us. I think most of his gray hair comes scolding me." Ethan responded, a rueful smile playing on his lips.
"With what went down at the camp alone, I can imagine his stress level will be through the roof!"
"So... how's the whole mate situation coming along?" Brent asked casually, though his eyes kept flicking to the rearview mirror to gauge Ethan's reaction. After a few moments with no response, Eri turned around in the passenger seat to stare at Ethan, no longer bothering to hide his curiosity.
His friends obviously had more than a passing interest in this subject than they had let on.
Ethan sighed. He appreciated their patience so far. Over the last month, they had come to know each other quite well. The incident at camp had laid the foundation for loyalty and trust among them. And with Brent's jokes and Eri's insight, Ethan had built a tight friendship circle with the two before he realized it. He was never seen without the two and vice versa. They talked about everything; everything except the issue of his mate.
Each time the topic skimmed over the issue of Jan, Ethan clammed up. Knowing very little about his mate, and not all of it good, he could not help it.
Eri usually picked up on his hesitancy first and would change the subject. But even he was not letting it slide today. Ethan suspected his mate's very public arrival in town had something to do with it.
He glanced at Cody, who had widened his ears to the conversation, then replied. "Let's talk about that later."
He was not about to start a discussion on 'Seducing a vampire 101' in front of his pre-moon brother.
YOU ARE READING
Blooded Mate
Fantasy[[MATURE CONTENT]] Pack, family, mate. Loyalty, respect, honor. These are the words that form the foundation of the wolf society. At six years old, Ethan had to choose between his Alpha title and his survival on the night of his father's death. As a...
