Colton Raine wasn’t like my brother. Calculating, cunning, and deceitful, he planned revenge for two years before enacting it. Stayed hidden in the shadows while his puppets—namely, my idiot brother—did his dirty work. His god’s identity revealed by pure chance when Castor sought clues in the mythology from outside the Egyptian pantheon. Dealing with a slippery bastard like that required as much backup as we could muster.
Slade quenched my flames with a soft growl. “It’s just reconnaissance, sugar. Nothing more.”
I backed down at that, releasing his shirt and flexing my cramped fingers.
“We’ll take anything we find to the other avatars to come up with a plan of attack.” He teased my nape with a trail of his finger. “Happy?”
Fear burned a hole in my gut. “A little.”
I didn’t like the idea of my men going to war again. Of possible casualties and losing one or more of them. Wounds, scars, and PTSD.
Shit. Distress and suffering for Mia. I freed her of the horrible memories of her parents’ deaths, but could never make her forget they were gone. And I never wanted to take that from her when she still loved and missed them. The sudden loss haunted her dreams and spiked separation anxiety and clinginess. After forming tight bonds with my men in the space of a few months, I didn’t want to cause her more grief and pain.
Colton Raine had to be dealt with carefully and strategically. Our only options were to kill him or continue to suffer until we formed a truce. Something told me he wasn’t the forgiving kind to agree to a treaty.
Set lived and breathed for vengeance, war, and chaos, and so did Slade as his avatar. My fiery mate wouldn’t let Colton live for the cost to the club, his stress, and the threat to his mate’s life. This was war. Last man standing. Raine would deal my men more blows, I was certain of it, but he wouldn’t live to tell the tale. As Slade’s mate, I had to trust my War god knew best on this matter when he possessed the knowledge of his god, previous avatars, and all generals, soldiers, chiefs, and kings of ancient Egypt that came before him.
Slade stretched out his arm to check his Tag Heuer watch. “Fireworks are about to start, sugar. We better get the kids.”
Fuck. Clever segue. Slade won this round, but we’d have more to discuss on this topic.
I took a long breath to reorient myself. Right. 9PM fireworks for the families. Bedtime for the kids shortly after. Departure of a few guests to take their kids home. Rusty and Robbie, for sure. Then the real New Year’s party could commence, and everyone could get wild. Except maybe Alaric, because he quit alcohol and would insist on guarding Mia.
Nope. I wouldn’t leave the resident Jackals party boy out of our celebrations. He didn’t have to drink, but he was letting his hair down, literally and figuratively. Dark brown hair to his ears looked sexy on him, and I was going to sit on his lap, have a laugh with him, and twirl those damn waves around my fingers since he stuck to Mia’s side for most of the night. We had a bit of catching up to do.
Soft garden lights lit my path to the pool. Ten kids splashed about in the water on floating animals or with flotation devices on their arms. Alaric kept a close vigil on them all, but mainly his eyes remained on Mia.
My heart felt full as I crept up behind him and locked him in my arms. “You can have a break, you know.”
He rubbed my arm. “It keeps me away from the drinks.”
I smacked his stomach. “You have more self-control than you realize.”
His back rumbled with his pleased purr. “You’re turning me into a narcissist with all the praise.”
I snorted and pressed my forehead to his back, inhaling his woodsy scent of pine, loam, and forest. “Mmmm, you smell good.”
“There you go again, angel.” I laughed at his teasing censure.
I moved my palms from his belly up his chest, hoping the move would break his concentration and prompt him to turn to me. “I can’t help that my men are incredible.”
“Nice try, angel.” He reached behind me to squeeze what he could of my ass. “But I’m focused.”
Nothing broke that man’s concentration when he went intothe zone. The military taught him well. Safety first when transporting passengers and freight. Same deal when he transformed into his shifter, aerially scouting for threats. If the man were a doctor, he’d make an incredible surgeon, breezing through ten-hour surgeries.
“Damn. Busted.” We both laughed, and I enjoyed the shudder of his body against mine. Warm. Protective. Loving.
Our union had been rocky, suspicions on both sides creating distance between us, but we found our peace and came together. Sky and birds soaring the currents together.
I kept up my ministrations of his damn fine chest. “Are we going to watch the stars later tonight, my hawk?”
Every night we cuddled on the swinging chair on the porch to watch the stars before we went to bed, our little ritual to relax after a long day and Mia was asleep. I wasn’t looking forward to stargazing during our next winter. But, snuggled up to my man, a blanket keeping us cozy, it wouldn’t be too bad.
“You bet, angel.”
Eh, a girl could dream. Realistically, we probably get five minutes together on the porch before my mates demanded I come inside for pleasuring.
Alaric brushed my shoulder, glancing around the party. Brothers, beers in hand, clutching their wives, kids, or girlfriends, chatting, dancing, or mucking around. “Look, angel.” I followed the line of his finger.
