Hagen, Lynn - His Imperfect Mate [Brac Pack 26] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Manlove)

Brac Pack 26

His Imperfect Mate

Dudley has been taught that shifters are savage beasts that will

sooner tear out a vampire's throat than mate them. He was also

taught that shifters would rather let vampires starve than feed

them. When he discovers his father has lied to him his whole life,

Dudley starts chasing after his mate.

Sloane Brac has been very patient with Dudley, coaxing the

vampire gently into their mating—until Dudley calls a hit down on

his head. He feels he can never forgive the man, but then Dudley

shows up at his newly purchased home in a panic.

Sloane forgives his vampire and tries to start a new life with him,

but Dudley's brothers show up to finish what they started…or so

he thinks. Can Sloane convince Dudley that their mating is

something sacred to him, or will Dudley run in the other direction

when his father comes to exact his revenge against the wolf for

claiming his son?

Note: Each book in Lynn Hagen's Brac Pack collection focuses on a

different romantic couple. To enjoy the overall story arc and

crossover characters, we recommend reading the series in

sequential order.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal,
Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 36,218 words

HIS IMPERFECT MATE

Brac Pack 26

Lynn Hagen

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

HIS IMPERFECT MATE
Copyright © 2012 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-628-8

First E-book Publication: March 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without
express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of His Imperfect Mate by Lynn
Hagen from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or
group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing
rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this
book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying
readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Lynn Hagen’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect
Ms. Hagen’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

HIS IMPERFECT MATE

Brac Pack 26

LYNN HAGEN

Chapter One

Sloane stood in front of the white-painted country house, hands

shoved in his back pockets  and  chewing on his bottom lip as he
wondered  if this was the right move  to make.  Ever since he
discovered who his mate was, nothing ever seemed like the right thing
to do.

As a man, he felt he should have done something more, something

different along the way,  and maybe his mate wouldn’t have feared
him  so much. But as much as Sloane turned the problem over in his
mind, no easy solution ever came to him.

Fate had put him on this strange path, and it was a path that

Sloane would follow. He only wished he knew where it would lead
him. He knew moving away from the pack was the right thing to do,
fate seemed to be guiding Sloane in that direction, but the house
didn’t seem welcoming, not when it was just him moving in.

He would be away from his pack, but he would also have the

solitude he was looking for. Living in the Den was anything but quiet.

Although he had grown to like the people living there, most of

them anyway, he needed his own place. Sloane was used to living on
his own. He had lived on his own in his birth pack, and he missed the
peace and quiet.

Lynn Hagen

“I like it,” Taylor said as he walked past Sloane with a box in his

arms, heading into the house.

“It looks homey,” Steven replied as he trailed behind Taylor.
He hoped so.
Sloane walked up the front steps of his new home and into the

living room, taking a look around. There were bookcases built into the
wall on the far side of the living room, a fireplace in between. The
floors could use a good buffing, but they weren’t bad. The wood was
still in pretty good shape.

He knew when he bought this place that the house would need

some work. But it wasn’t anything extensive. Sloane could handle the
repairs on his own.

Crash.
Sloane headed toward the kitchen when he heard the noise, only

to run right into Steven as the man ran from the room. “Rat!” Steven
screamed as he clutched the front of Sloane’s shirt. His face was pasty
white. “I just saw a rat!”

Sloane rolled his eyes at the squeamish man as he pried Steven’s

clawing hands from the front of his T-shirt. “There’s a field behind
the house. There’s bound to be one or two mice running around here.”

“Did you hear me? I didn’t say mouse. I said rat!” Steven said as

he hurried over to Taylor. “You better get rid of them, or you’ll wake
up in the morning and they’ll be having coffee at your kitchen table.”

Sloane chuckled at the image of four rats sitting at his kitchen

table sipping coffee and reading the morning paper. He moved aside
as the other men started bringing in the furniture. “Then I’ll have
some company.”

“That’s just gross.” Steven did an allover body shudder as he

walked outside to help with the boxes.

“You’re, uh, not really going to keep them, are you?” Taylor

looked at him skeptically like Sloane was seriously contemplating the
idea.

His Imperfect Mate

“Sure,” Sloane said as he shrugged. “A leash, some bowls, they’ll

work out fine as pets.”

Taylor gaped at him, and then a smile appeared on his face. “You

had me going.”

Sloane smiled as he went outside to help, but he didn’t feel it

inside  his  hollowed  chest. None of the furniture was his. It was all
borrowed from the Den. The only things  that he owned were  his
clothes. A table was set up in the kitchen. A couch, coffee table, and
end tables in the living room. He glanced at the bookshelves standing
there naked, imagining what they  would look like filled  with books
and  knickknacks.  Sloane loved to read,  and he knew a trip to
Murphy’s bookstore was going to be on his list.

A bedroom set was carried upstairs, and the mates brought in all

the small things Sloane would need, towels, kitchenware, and a
welcome mat.

Sloane wouldn’t need the last one.
There was no sense in him getting his own place if everyone was

going to be over here. Not that he minded company, but he was
looking for solitude, not video games and shouting. This was not
going to turn into a guy’s hangout pad.

“Do you need help unpacking?” Steven frowned as he looked

around at the multitudes of boxes littering the downstairs. Sloane had
no idea what any of the stuff was. The mates had gone shopping,
stating that they were buying everything Sloane would need to make
his house a home.

There was only one thing that would make his house a home, but

Sloane knew that it couldn’t be found in any store.

His mate.
Maybe he did need help unpacking. Maybe he needed the

company right now, but Sloane wasn’t going to tell anyone that. They
just might try to stay, and that would defeat the purpose of him
moving away.

Lynn Hagen

“All the heavy furniture is inside now,” Remi said from the

bottom of the stairs, sweat soaking his T-shirt, “nothing for us to do
now.”

Kota, Micah, and Ludo walked down the steps from the upstairs,

glancing around Sloane’s new home. My new home. Bought and paid
for. “The guys want to help me unpack.”

Remi nodded, glancing around until he spotted Drew and then

smiled. “We’ll be outside setting up the porch swing.”

Sloane didn’t bother answering. The wolf was probably talking to

Drew anyway. He glanced at a few boxes and wondered where to
begin. He’d never moved before, not like this. There were so many
boxes that he just didn’t know which one to open first.

“Why don’t you go take care of your pets while we do the

unpacking?” Taylor suggested as he pulled towels from one box and
then headed upstairs.

Sloane trudged down the basement steps, wondering what he was

going to do with the vermin when he found them. He didn’t have any
traps. Maybe a shovel? Could he kill them by knocking them over the
head?

Looking around the basement, Sloane saw that it was empty. The

floors were concrete, and there was a boiler off to one side, some
storage rooms, but no boxes or anything else to clutter it up and make
it look like a real, lived-in home.

There was a utility sink and some hookups for a washer and dryer.

The basement wasn’t a finished basement, so no pool table or bar
down here. Not until he put the work in. Maybe sometime in the
spring. Or maybe this fall.

He climbed back upstairs. There really wasn’t much he could do

down there. Not until he bought some traps. He stood in the kitchen,
watching as Tangee and Keata unpacked and put everything away.

Sloane didn’t have a clue what he should be doing. As he stood

there, the familiar ache in his chest returned, making his heart feel as
though it were being squeezed with an iron fist. It made breathing a

His Imperfect Mate

labored job instead of instinctual. He knew what was missing in his
new home.

His mate.
Too bad that was never going to happen. Sloane rubbed his chest

with the palm of his hand as he crossed the room and headed into the
backyard. This was exactly why he needed his own place. He needed
headspace, and he couldn’t get that living with so many people.

He also needed to learn how to breathe without his heart.
The Den was crowded, full of happily mated couples and cubs

running around underfoot, reminding Sloane of every single,
miserable day of what he didn’t have.

“You okay?” Taylor pushed the screen door open, taking a step

out onto the back porch.

“I’m cool. Just tired.” Sloane looked at the field behind the house,

trying his best to make the pain in his hollow chest go away. The
backyard was large enough for a house this size. It wasn’t as big as
the one behind the Den, but he didn’t need anything that big.

“You know you can talk to me,” Taylor said from the back porch.
Sloane rolled his eyes. Getting out of the Den was exactly what he

needed. A live-in counselor wasn’t what he wanted. He wasn’t going
to go crying on anyone’s shoulder about his fucked-up ass love life.
He was a guy after all, and men sucked it up and held it in.

“Yeah, thanks.” Sloane scratched at the stubble on his jaw,

wondering if Taylor was going to let the matter go. Everyone knew he
was hurting, and everyone tried to give Sloane advice.

All Sloane needed was to be left alone to live out his life in quiet

misery.

He heard the door open and then close, letting out a long breath

that he was finally alone. Sloane knew the guy meant well, but he
really didn’t think Taylor, or anyone else, could help him.

What was done was done.
Taking one last deep breath, Sloane walked back inside, surprised

at the progress the guys had made. Most of the boxes were empty and

Lynn Hagen

broken down, sitting in a flat stack off to the side. Everything seemed
to be put away in the kitchen. The same held true for the living room.

“That’s about all we have for today,” Steven said, looking

exhausted. “I’m sure you can handle the rest on your own.”

“Thanks.” Sloane watched the guys walk out the door, leaving

him here by himself at last. He had wanted to be alone. This was why
he had moved out. So why did he feel so alone?

Sloane pushed aside the feeling as he got acquainted with his new

house. After checking out everything downstairs, Sloane went
upstairs. He wasn’t even sure what he had in his new house. The guys
had been great at remembering even the smallest details. He had
shampoo and soap, even toothpaste.

His head snapped up when he heard a knock at the door. Had

someone forgotten something? Trudging down the steps, Sloane
opened the door wide to see Chance standing there with a shitty grin
on his face. The bear was holding a large box in his hands.

“Pa said I should bring you something to eat in your new place.”

Chance pushed past Sloane and stopped in the middle of the living
room, checking out Sloane’s home. “Not bad.”

“Kitchen’s this way,” Sloane said as he plucked the box from

Chance and sat it on the kitchen table. It smelled good as hell.
Sloane’s stomach growled in agreement. With the move and
everything, he hadn’t eaten all day. He was starving.

Opening the box, Sloane found a large Tupperware full of food

from what looked to be dinner. There were also some rolls, and some
dessert.

“It ain’t much, but Pa sent you a plate of dinner.”
Sloane grabbed some silverware from the drawer and took a seat

at the table. Chance sat with him. It felt odd, yet soothing not to hear
any noise around him from mates or babies. Not that he had anything
against them.

The place was quiet.

His Imperfect Mate

“Looks like you settled in pretty damn quick, Sloane.” Chance got

up, wandering around, opening things, and being nosey. Sloane didn’t
stop him as he ate. He gazed over at the empty chair next to him and
wondered what it would be like to have D sitting here with him.

Sloane growled at the image of his mate sitting there eating dinner

with him. It was a homey picture, one he wasn’t sure would ever
happen. Besides, D was a vampire. There was no way he’d be sitting
here eating anything.

His resolve was slowly fracturing, and Sloane knew he was

fighting a losing battle. He had seen D, had heard his melodic voice
and had wanted him from the jump. The need to hold the man in his
arms, to run his hands through that smoky-black hair, had driven him
nuts since the first time he laid eyes on him on that dark back road.

And his mate had called his brothers to come take care of Sloane.
Talk about twisting a knife in a guy’s heart.
Sloane had been livid when he found out what D had done. But

the rage had turned to hurt, and now the hurt was turning into
loneliness and need. It was so screwed up.

“I, uh…” Chance glanced around, shoving his hands into his front

pockets as he stared up at the ceiling.

Sloane knew what was coming. Everyone felt compelled to keep

him updated on the vampire. For some strange reason, people thought
it their duty to keep him abreast of whatever was happening with the
sexy little man. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“It’s cool.” Chance pulled his hands free of his pockets and took a

seat. Fuck if Sloane wasn’t curious now, but he wasn’t going to ask
how his mate was. He already knew D wasn’t eating and looked like
shit. At least that was what he had been told.

So why did Sloane feel like shit for not wanting to ask?
“I was just gonna—”
“You are one stubborn ass bear, aren’t you?” Sloane stood,

tossing the dirty bowl and fork into the sink, fighting back the
questions threatening to spill from his lips.

Lynn Hagen

I don’t want to fucking know.
Yeah, he did.
“Say that he’s starting to eat now,” Chance finished as he jumped

up from the table. “Come on, tell me you honestly don’t want to
know.”

“I honestly don’t want to know.” Liar.
“Lie to yourself all you want. I can see it in your eyes. You’re

hungry for any news about him.” Chance looked smug as hell as he
stood there with his arms over his chest. Sloane wanted to wipe that
damn look off of his face.

“Thanks for bringing me something to eat, but you can go now.”

Sloane headed out of the kitchen before Chance opened his big mouth
again. The guy just didn’t know when to shut up.

“Pa wanted me to invite you over for dinner tomorrow night, but I

have a feeling the answer is no.” Chance walked toward the front
door, pausing long enough to look at Sloane for an answer.

“No,” he said before turning his back and walking away. The urge

to say yes was on the tip of his tongue. But Sloane wasn’t going to
give in to his need to be near D. He’d fought it this long.

“Suit yourself.”
“Don’t you have some cow shit to shovel or something?” Sloane

was getting tired of this. Every-fucking-body wanted to have a say in
his personal life. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?

“Say what you want. You miss him,” Chance said and then

hurried out the door.

Sloane sighed, running his hand over his head, knowing damn

well it was the truth. He turned and climbed up the steps, heading for
bed.

Maybe tomorrow it would hurt less.

* * * *

His Imperfect Mate

Dudley watched out of his bedroom window as a truck pulled into

the Lakelands’ driveway, his heart sinking when he saw that it wasn’t
his mate. He had been trying for months now to get Sloane to forgive
him, but the wolf wasn’t budging.

He hadn’t intentionally called the hit down on Sloane, but his

mate wouldn’t listen to him. No matter how much he called, begged,
or even showed up at Sloane’s, only to get kicked out, Sloane wasn’t
willing to hear a damn thing D had to say.

D sighed as he sat on his bed, knowing full well that what he had

done was wrong. The pain of being separated from Sloane was
growing, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

The man wasn’t going to forgive him.
D curled up on his bed, staring at the wall for the millionth time as

he fought the pain inside of him. He wondered what Sloane was doing
now, who was with him, and if the guy was even thinking about
him—aside from negative wishing.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Luke, Pa’s mate, asked as he

stepped into D’s bedroom. “There’s a vampire marathon on one of the
channels downstairs.” Luke leaned against the doorframe, waiting.

D shook his head, feeling as though he would never be happy

again. “No thanks.”

Luke stood as he stared down at D, pity in his eyes. “Look, I’m

not trying to pry into your life, but sitting in your room day after day
isn’t good for you. Now come downstairs and watch those movies
with me.”

Normally he loved watching the way Hollywood portrayed his

race, but without his mate’s forgiveness, D wasn’t even in the mood
to breathe. Losing Sloane hurt like hell, and he didn’t want to laugh.

“Move it, mister.”
D stood, following Luke down the steps. He wasn’t sure why he

was going, but he knew if he didn’t, Luke would only keep pestering
him. He flopped down onto the couch, watching the fireplace instead
of the television.

Lynn Hagen

When the marathon ended, and no one was awake but D, he

thought about how odd it was that he had started out to be the one
who was rejecting Sloane at every turn, running from him in fear.

And now…
Leaving the living room and heading outside, D pulled in a

lungful of fresh air. He was told all his life that time healed all
wounds.

What a fucking joke that statement was.
Not only had he been lied to his whole life by his father and

brothers about what a shifter would do to Dudley if he ever let one get
close, but now that statement was a lie as well. Did anyone know how
to tell the truth?

D hopped off the porch and began to walk toward the woods.
’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Another fucking lie. D was losing his faith in not only humanity,

but everything around him period. The lie his father had told him and
his three brothers had destroyed D’s life. If he wasn’t so afraid of his
father, he’d go find him and give him what for.

D walked into the woods, raving on and on about all the stupid

quotes out there and how they were all lies.

Lies, lies, lies.
If he could find the people who made up those quotes, he’d smack

’em. D stilled when he heard a twig snap. In his ranting, he hadn’t
noticed how far into the woods he’d actually gone. All he had wanted
to do was try and clear his mind.

Now he was far enough in the woods where he couldn’t even see

the house. Double crap. He should have been paying attention. D took
a step back, and then another, trying to quietly exit the woods without
being heard by whoever was there.

He could disseminate, but the problem was, D never really got the

hang of that little trick. He either ended up somewhere other than he
originally wanted to go, or not even going anywhere at all. Once he

His Imperfect Mate

had disseminated right into a church gathering. Boy, had that been
awkward.

Snap.
The sound was closer now. D threw caution to the wind and

hauled ass. There was no way he was going to get eaten by a—damn,
he really needed to stop thinking that way. It was what got him into
trouble in the first place.

Not all shifters killed vampires.
He wasn’t even sure it was a shifter in the woods, but D wasn’t

taking any chances. He knew the Lakelands were in bed, so it wasn’t
any of them. Wandering out here had been a stupid mistake, a mistake
that was in the woods now.

D ran into the yard, stupidly looking over his shoulder as he

cleared the woods.

“Ah!” There was a huge ass wolf on his tail, and gaining fast.

Only halfway across the yard, the wolf cut him off. D swallowed and
then swallowed again as his throat dried out and his heart raced
frantically behind his chest.

“You don’t really want to eat me. I’m not very tasty.” Please

don’t eat me.

The wolf cocked his head, giving off a low growl as his eyes

blazed at D. Oh, Jiminy Cricket, he was in trouble now. D took
another step back, staring into emerald-green eyes.

Eyes that looked like…

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Two

Sloane wasn’t sure what possessed him to take a run in the middle

of the night. He hadn’t been able to sleep, and he had paced the entire
house manically because it was too damn quiet. Wasn’t that ironic?

Now he stood here, staring at his mate, seeing the fear in D’s eyes.

He knew he could shift and let the vampire know that it was him, but
Sloane wasn’t too sure what to say after that. He took a step back,
sitting down on his haunches as he watched D watch him.

He felt hot and cold emotions flush through his veins at the sight

of his mate. It had been months since he’d actually seen the man, and
he wasn’t sure how he felt right now.

“Is that you, Sloane? Because if it’s not you then I’m giving you

fair warning that I taste like shit.”

The corner of Sloane’s lip turned up as he stared at his mate trying

to weasel his way out of this. If he thought his chest hurt before, it
was nothing compared to staring into his mate’s midnight-black eyes.
Every cell in Sloane wanted to reach out, to touch, to hold. He wasn’t
sure if he was there yet, but denying that laying his eyes on his mate
felt good would be a lie.

“And I hope to god I give you heartburn and gas!”
Sloane chuckled inwardly as he stretched his paws out in front of

him and then rested his head on the soft fur of his legs.

“Okay, you’re relaxing. So either you’re Sloane or you are a very

lazy wolf. I’m going to go with the first guess, though.” D took a
hesitant step closer, his eyes flickering over Sloane’s face while he
splayed a hand in front of him. “Just give me a nod or something,
please.”

His Imperfect Mate

Sloane lifted his head enough to nod and then laid it back down.

He wanted to ask his mate why he hadn’t  run into the house. If D
wasn’t sure who the wolf was, he shouldn’t be out  here trying to
reason with him.

He was going to have a long talk with the man at another time

about his safety. Without knowing who the wolf was in front of him,
D shouldn’t be trying to say a damn word. He should be in the house
already.

Even though he was hurt at what his mate had done to him, Sloane

couldn’t refute the fact that it felt really good to be near D. Just being
in the presence of his mate brought him a comfort he was lacking.
The edginess he felt earlier dissipated as Sloane gazed at the nervous
vampire.

Which was a hell of a contradiction considering what D tried to

have done to him.

“I’m not sure why you’re here.” D slowly lowered to the ground,

tucking his legs under him as he placed his hands on his lap. “But I’m
glad you are. Does this mean that you’ll listen to me now?”

Sloane hadn’t seen the vampire since he had tossed him from the

house when D chained himself to Sloane’s bed two months ago. The
pain was still too fresh at the time, and Sloane couldn’t cope with it
then.

That was two months ago.
A frown touched the corners of Sloane’s eyes as he stared at his

mate’s gaunt, grey, and unhealthy profile. Where lean muscle should
have been, there was nothing more than sunken skin. D was already
pale by nature, but the dark circles under his mate’s eyes only lent
themselves to the ashen appearance. His beautiful smoky-black hair
was dry and limp as dead leaves in the fall.

It killed Sloane to see him that way. His feelings were conflicting

on what he should do. Should he take a chance? His pride was telling
him that it was impossible to ever trust the vampire again.

Lynn Hagen

But his heart was telling him to give his mate a try, to give D the

benefit of the doubt and give him another chance. Sloane was nervous
about letting his mate in, of giving the man his heart completely.

He had already screwed Sloane over once before.
“I know you don’t believe me when I tell you that what I had done

wasn’t intentional.” D reached down and plucked a blade of grass,
twirling it around between his fingers as he glanced over at Sloane. “I
was just so scared that I didn’t know where to turn, what to do. But I
never meant for my brothers to go after you with the intention of
harming you. I know it sounds all screwed up, but you have to believe
me, Sloane, please.”

Sloane lifted his head when Pa Lakeland came out onto the porch

with a shotgun in his hand and a bear at his side. “Everything okay,
D?”

“Is it?” D asked as his eyes flashed over to Sloane, an almost

hopeful glint in his dark, sunken eyes.

Sloane shifted, standing as he gave a nod to the man on the porch.

“He’s fine.”

The elder bear stared at them for a moment longer, as if trying to

give Sloane a silent warning before he walked back into the house, the
bear close at his side. Sloane dropped his eyes to his mate to see D
blushing profusely as he stared up at Sloane’s naked body. The pink
coloring on his cheeks looked waxy with the grey tone to his skin.

But it didn’t go unnoticed, and his cock was starting to fill at the

desirable glint in D’s eyes. “One more chance, D. Betray me again,
and there’s nothing on earth that will stop me from…” Sloane didn’t
have it in his heart to finish the threat. He never wanted D hurt or
even unhappy. It was a shifter’s honor to take care of his mate, to
protect and nurture him. The threat felt like hot ash on his tongue.

“I promise.” D stood, wringing his hands in front of him. His mate

looked like he wanted to reach out and touch Sloane, but failed at his
courage. Instead, he just stood there awkwardly as he gazed down at
the blade of grass in his hand.

His Imperfect Mate

Knowing he couldn’t resist, Sloane reached out and, with his

thumb and index finger, lifted D’s chin. “I’ll come back tomorrow
night so we can talk, Dudley.” Because Sloane would need that much
time to think of what to say. He hadn’t expected to run into D tonight,
but now that he had, he was at a loss for words.

And that was a first for him.
D nodded with a jerky little bob of his head. “I’ll take anything

you want to give me right now.”

Sloane released his chin as he studied his mate. The vampire was

chewing on his bottom lip as his eyes flickered to Sloane’s groin and
then glanced away, as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to outright
gawk.

He held back the low rumble in his chest, demanding that his cock

not rise to the sensual look of his mate. Sloane knew D wasn’t
purposefully trying to be seductive, and that made it all the more
inviting.

“Tomorrow.”
D nodded quickly once again.
“Now go into the house, and stop taking late-night walks into the

woods alone.” His tone was displeased, letting the vampire know how
much he disapproved of what D had done.

“I won’t, I promise.” D stood there, unmoving.
“Go, Dudley,” Sloane said a little more gently.
D spun around, but Sloane could tell it was the last thing the man

wanted to do as he crossed the yard and climbed the porch steps. He
paused at the door, giving Sloane one more longing glance before he
headed inside.

Sloane sighed. D looked as though he was about to cry. The

vampire had to be wondering if he’d ever see Sloane again. It wasn’t
a ruse. Sloane fully intended to come back. He just wasn’t sure what
he would say to the guy once he arrived.

Shifting back into his timber wolf form, Sloane took off toward

home.

Lynn Hagen

* * * *

D watched his mate run away through the fall of the curtains. It

hurt like hell to see Sloane leave. He had to trust the wolf on his word
that he would be back, but with the way things were strained between
them, he wasn’t so sure.

“How’d it go?” Pa asked from the kitchen doorway.
How did it go? Confusion surrounded him at the question. His

mate said he would be back. “We’re supposed to talk tomorrow
night.”  That made D’s heart race and his head spin. He wasn’t sure
what Sloane would say. The wolf had said he would give D another
chance,  but  he wasn’t foolish enough to think that everything would
be sunshine and lollipops tomorrow.

It would take time for Sloane to trust him again, assuming that

miraculous feat would ever happen.

“It’s a start.” Pa walked into the living room, his large presence

stopping next to D at the window. “Just don’t push him. Let it happen
naturally, D.”

That sounded like the perfect advice. “But I have a knack for

screwing things up, Pa. You saw what a disaster I’ve made of things
already. What if I do it again?” D could feel the anxiety building
inside of him as he gazed at the empty yard—a yard that once held his
splendidly naked mate.

That was the first time D had seen his mate naked, and the sight

was burned into his memory. Sloane wasn’t highly defined like the
men in the Lakeland home. He wasn’t bulky or hairy like the bears.

What Sloane was, was a magnificent specimen. His abdomen was

lean, cut just right, his pecs muscled just like a man’s should be. The
memory of Sloane’s little hairy happy trail was keeping D hard as a
rock as he imagined using his tongue to follow the path to see where
it led.

His Imperfect Mate

But he had seen where it led, and his cock became impossibly

harder. Sloane was thick in girth and long in length, and the man
wasn’t even hard! His body shuddered at the thought of the wolf
taking him.

“Just be yourself,” Pa said as he laid a large hand on D’s shoulder.

“Show Sloane who the real D is, and I know he’ll love you even more
than we do.”

Was the guy nuts? If D showed Sloane the real him, the man

would toss D out on his ass the first few days. He was a walking
disaster. D never thought before he spoke and never thought about
what he was doing until someone was yelling at him that he had done
it wrong. There was no way he was allowing Sloane to see that side of
him.

He had to be everything opposite of what he was.
“I will.” The lie tasted bitter on his tongue, but D knew that Pa

would stand there all night and argue with him if he told him the truth.
That he was a complete bumbling idiot most of the time.

Hell, he had thrown everything away in the pantry, twice, when he

watched a program that had talked about diabetes and high
cholesterol. D had feared all the bears were going to either fall over
into a sugar coma or have a heart attack from what was in there.

It never dawned on him that the occupants of the house were

shifters so the rules were different. It never occurred to him that
shifters lived an unusually long time and that nature had built them
differently from humans.

And that was his problem. D never thought before he acted.
“I’m heading back to bed. I don’t want you outside by yourself,

D.”

What was with everyone and thinking D couldn’t take care of

himself? He had taken care of himself for one hundred and twenty
years before the bears or Sloane came along. He may suck at it
sometimes, but he had managed not to get himself killed…thus far.

Lynn Hagen

He began to head upstairs when the phone rang. It was five in the

morning. Who would be calling this late…or early? Curious, D
picked up the phone, pressing it to his ear. There was a moment of
silence where no one said anything.

“Sloane?”
“I hear you called your brothers to take care of a problem.”
D’s heart took a dive, barely beating as every muscle in him

locked into place. “Father?”

“You never could take care of your own problems, so I’ll handle

this one for you. Rest assured, Dudley, the wolf will bother you no
more.”

“No!” But it was too late. His father had already hung up. D

cradled the phone to his chest as he gripped the counter’s edge with
his other hand. His knees felt weak, and his body shook as he thought
about his father going anywhere near Sloane.

Magnum Constantinople was highly respected in the vampire

community. And he was a force to be reckoned with. The community
had no idea just how coldhearted Magnum truly was. His father had
very little time for D as he was growing up, and the few times he did
pay D any attention it was to belittle him and tell him what he was
doing wrong.

Never once had D had any positive reinforcement from that man.
His brothers were so busy trying to please Magnum that they had

forgotten about D. He knew they cared, in their own way. But
growing up in a household where the four men that D should have
admired, should have looked up to, had taken any self-worth D had
and flushed it down the damn toilet.

Hanging the phone up quickly, D ran for the door. He had to warn

Sloane! Alex had told him where the wolf had moved to. It was a bit
far, but D would do anything, go anywhere to protect his wolf.

God, he was living on the other side of the coin now. Instead of

running from Sloane, D was running to him. He was so glad Pa had
talked some sense into him. His teeth gnashed over the prejudice his

His Imperfect Mate

father had instilled in him. If it wasn’t for that bastard, D would be
happily mated now.

He considered disseminating, but he didn’t want to end up in

Siberia. D didn’t have time for that. So his only choice was to run fast
as hell and hope he beat his father to Sloane’s. His lungs were on fire
by the time the farmhouse came into view.

Fear filled him that Sloane would think that D had put his father

up to this. His track record wasn’t exactly squeaky-clean. Running
into the front yard, D had to take that chance. If Sloane told him to
leave and never return, at least the wolf would be warned.

His knuckles lingered on the front door as sweat covered his entire

body. What if Sloane did tell him to fuck off? The wolf had given him
another chance, a last chance.

What if telling Sloane was the wrong thing to do? He didn’t want

to blow his last chance with the wolf. D was torn apart by indecision
as the front door swung open, Sloane’s jaw tight with disapproval.

“I thought I told you not to leave the house.” His tone was

clipped, filled with ice.

D rocked from foot to foot, wondering if he had the nerve to

confess why he was here. The look on Sloane’s face was dark, angry.
That couldn’t be good.

“I need to tell you something.”
“And it couldn’t wait until I came back?” Sloane stepped aside,

allowing D into his home. The wolf looked like he was ready to
throttle D, even more so than usual. His eyes glanced around Sloane’s
new home, taking in the way it looked as if the man had already
settled in.

He liked the way it was furnished. It was modest, but comfortable

looking in the way—

“Dudley?”
D slowly turned, afraid to be kicked out on his ass—again. Why

did his father have to stick his two cents in just when Sloane had

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declared that he was giving D another chance? Magnum never cared
before, so why start now? “M–My father called.”

Sloane closed the front door, his eyes telling D that Sloane had an

idea where this conversation was going. Oh, hell’s bells. He might as
well get used to being alone for eternity because Sloane was going to
raise the roof with this one.

“And?”
Here goes everything.
“And he said since I’m such a screwup that he would take care of

my little problem,” D blurted out quickly while he had the courage to
do so. “Not in those words,” he added. His face heated as he drew in a
slow and somewhat shaky breath.

Sloane crossed the room, taking a seat on the couch. D wasn’t

sure he should follow, so he stood where he was at the front door. It
was better to stay right there in case Sloane told him to get the hell
out.

“And you had nothing to do with that?”
D shook his head quickly as his eyes widened. “No, I swear. I’m

not even sure how he got the number.” He squirmed a little where he
stood, feeling Sloane’s eyes bore through him. This so wasn’t going
well. It was, however, going about how D expected it to go. Sloane
was pissed at him.

“You could have just called and told me. I asked you not to come

back out by yourself.” Sloane rested his elbows on his knees, his
fingers knotting together as he studied D.

D hated the disappointed look on Sloane’s face. It hurt more than

Magnum’s ever did. Yet again, D had made the wrong decision. He
had thought that by coming here, he could be sure that Sloane was
safe.

Apparently Sloane didn’t agree with that decision.
“I’ll drive you back to your house.” Sloane rose from the couch

and then cursed when the first rays of dawn began to lighten the world

His Imperfect Mate

outside. His walk to Sloane’s had taken longer than he thought. “Get
upstairs, now!”

D scrambled to climb the steps. He knew he had time. Being only

in his early hundreds, the sunlight would blister him quickly, but the
first rays wouldn’t harm him. By the harsh command Sloane had
given him, D wasn’t going to argue, though.

He reached the top of the steps and wondered where to go. There

were four doors in the hallway. Sloane brushed past him and opened
the second one. “In here.”

D followed. He found himself in a master bedroom. Was it

Sloane’s? The room screamed masculinity with its deep emerald
greens and rich golds. Sloane went to the closet and pulled out dark
curtains, as if the man had anticipated D being there.

“They’ll be up in a second. Get under the covers until then.”
“But—”
“Stop arguing and do what I say,” Sloane snapped as he hung the

curtains. D crawled onto the bed and then scooted under the covers.
Sloane was mad. That much was certain. He just didn’t know if the
wolf was mad about D’s father or having to put D up for the day.

With the way D’s life was going, it was probably both.
“There,” Sloane said as he attached the last curtain. “Now get

some sleep.”

D watched as the wolf left the room, shutting the door behind him.

This wasn’t exactly what he had planned when he ran here, but damn
if sleeping in his mate’s bed wasn’t nice. He curled onto his side and
closed his eyes, a smile on his face for the first time in months.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Three

Sloane opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he stretched and

scratched at his chest. He could still see the sun, which meant it
wasn’t time for D to get up yet. Pushing away from the couch, Sloane
padded upstairs in his bare feet as he went to check on his mate.

Cracking the door open, he saw the vampire lying in the middle of

his bed, the blankets pulled all the way over his head.

Satisfied that his mate hadn’t been burned, he closed the door

quietly and found his way into the kitchen. He heated up some
leftovers and took a seat when his phone vibrated on the table. Sloane
picked it up to see he had a few missed calls. One was from his
cousin, Maverick, and two were from Chance.

As he stabbed at his food, Sloane called his cousin. “You call

me?”

“I just wanted to know if D was over there with you. The

Lakelands woke this morning to find him missing.” The alpha’s tone
was clipped, as if he hated playing the messenger boy. That would
explain Chance’s calls.

“He’s here.”
“Change your mind?”
Sloane winced when he heard the humorous curiosity in

Maverick’s tone. He could tell the alpha was going to have fun with
this bit of news. Placing his fork on the table, Sloane ran a hand over
his head as he leaned back.

“Sort of.”

His Imperfect Mate

Maverick’s deep chuckle made Sloane’s back teeth grind. “I

would say more than sort of if he’s there. And since it’s still daylight,
is he in your bed, cousin?”

“That is none of your damn business!” Sloane shouted and then

cursed at his response. His uncharacteristic shout told Maverick
everything he didn’t want the man to know.

“Have you claimed him?”
Sloane growled as his fingers curled harder around the phone.
“I’m just fucking with you.” Maverick chuckled and then sobered.

“I’m glad you two are trying to work things out. You were getting on
my damn nerves brooding around here, snapping at everyone. I
thought I was going to have to bury your body under D’s
floorboards.”

That was the closest the man was going to get to saying he was

happy for Sloane. He cleared his throat, knowing that he was going to
have to tell the alpha about what was going on. “Dudley’s father
called.”

The other end fell silent. With his superior hearing, Sloane could

make out a very low rumble. It had to be coming from Maverick
because Sloane lived alone, aside from a sleeping vampire in his bed.
“And what did he say?”

Sloane glanced up at the ceiling, knowing D was right above him.

“He said he’s coming to fix D’s screwup. I’m going to go out on a
limb and say that the man is referring to me.”

“Did D call him?” Maverick asked with a bite.
“Yeah, right before I let him crash in my bed. Do I look stupid to

you?”

There was a grunt on the other end.
“Dudley ran over here to warn me as soon as he spoke to his

father.” He didn’t feel as though he had to explain a damn thing to
Maverick, but Sloane was saying it more out of astonishment than
anything else. Anything could have happened to his mate on his way

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over here, but D had thrown caution to the wind and chanced his
safety to warn Sloane.

That had to count for something, right?
He still wanted to paddle the man’s ass for putting himself in

danger. There were so many creatures running around these parts
lately that it wasn’t even safe to walk out onto the damn front porch.

And D had run a good five miles to warn him. Sloane glanced up

at the ceiling again, sighing.

“Keep him safe while I try and find out what’s going on with his

father. His brothers were a pain in the ass, but easy enough to scare
away. I have a feeling his father won’t be.”

“Thanks.” Sloane ran his hand over his head, something he did

when he was frustrated or nervous. “I’m going to go check on him.”
Sloane hung up the phone and tossed it on the table. He said he would
give D another chance, and that was what he was going to do.

The chair scraped across the floor as Sloane left the kitchen. He

stood at the bottom of the steps for a moment, glancing up before he
ascended the stairs. He raised his hand and knocked softly just in case
D was still asleep.

A growl left his lips as he realized he was knocking on his own

damn bedroom door. This was crazy. He pushed the door open to see
D sitting up in the middle of the bed, his smoky-black hair rumpled as
he glanced at Sloane.

“I was just seeing if you were hungry.”
“Why, are you offering me your vein?” D asked with a smile. It

was the most natural smile Sloane had ever seen. His mate had that
sexy just-woke-up look, making everything about him wholesome and
natural.

“I forgot,” he said as he leaned against the cream-colored wall,

tucking his arms behind him. He knew his mate needed to feed. His
skin coloration was proof, but Sloane wasn’t sure he was ready for
that step yet. It was something intimate, something private, and they

His Imperfect Mate

were just now working things out. “I can call the Lakelands to get
your supply.”

D’s smile wavered a bit and then fell back into place, only the

twinkle of merriment was missing from his dark eyes this time.

“Okay.” D scooted to the edge of the bed, his legs dangling over.

Sloane had insisted on a second mattress to make the bed higher, but
he could see that it was a bit high for his mate. “But don’t let
Chauncey bring it. That last time he brought me some blood to my
room, he sat there for half an hour wondering aloud about whose
blood was in the bag. I was starving by the time he handed it over.”

Sloane couldn’t catch the growl as it ripped from his chest. He

didn’t like anyone making his mate starve. D was already gaunt
enough as it was.

“No! He’s a really nice guy. Don’t get me wrong. He’s just a bit

odd.” D defended the bear quickly, which only pissed Sloane off
more. He hated the fact that everyone knew D so well and Sloane
stood here clueless.

“The sun will set in about an hour. There are fresh towels in the

hall closet, and I’ll have some of your clothes sent over.”

“I can stay?” D gaped at him as if Sloane’s offer were unreal.
Sloane stood up straight, waving a hand in D’s direction. “It

seems you can’t listen when I tell you to stay inside. You’re going to
stay here where I can keep an eye on your wandering ass.”

It was a flimsy excuse, but Sloane wasn’t willing to put his heart

out there just yet and give D the real reason why he wanted him there.
“I’ll see you downstairs.” He took a step back, his eyes regarding D
once more before he left the room.

* * * *

D sat there stunned. He had come here this morning to warn

Sloane about his father, but had no clue that he would become
Sloane’s houseguest. The very idea made him want to jump up and

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down, shouting that he was finally with his mate, but he also wanted
to vomit at the same time from the fear that he would screw this up.

So D settled for a small smile and an arm pump.
After an hour, D slid from the bed and padded out of the room to

the hall closet, grabbing some towels and then snooping around until
he found the bathroom. D set his towels down on the closed toilet
seat, assessing himself in the mirror.

Fuck, he looked like total shit. He ran his hands through his limp

hair, turning his head one way and then the other, finally seeing what
everyone else saw—a vampire who looked like he should be dead
from the coloring of his skin.

He shuddered as he looked away from the glass and turned the

water on. Stripping down naked, D stepped under the spray, the heat
soaking into his tired bones. The water felt good on his skin as he
started to scrub his thin body.

D had been so out of it the past few months that he hadn’t even

noticed or cared what he had looked like. Now that he was taking a
closer look at the sickly way his skin hung from him, he knew he had
to put some weight back on and get his pale glow back.

After he was finished showering, D scrubbed his hair dry and then

wrapped a towel around his waist as he headed back toward the
bedroom. He didn’t have any clothes to change into yet, so he sat
back on the bed. The damn thing was so high off of the ground that D
nearly had to jump to get onto the mattress.

He strummed his fingers on his legs, feeling stupid sitting there

naked save for a cotton towel around his lean waist. His head snapped
around when he heard a sharp intake of breath. Sloane was standing
there with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, his eyes glued to D’s
naked torso.

D had a strong urge to cover his exposed body. He hadn’t been

eating or sleeping properly in months. His figure must be a frightful
sight to his mate. D knew he looked like shit, but he didn’t need
Sloane’s sharp and assessing eyes telling him the truth.

His Imperfect Mate

Sloane sat D’s duffel bag on the bed, unzipping it, and fished

through it until he pulled out a bag of blood. “Am I supposed to heat
this first?” he asked as he bounced his hand up and down with the
weight of the bag.

D drooled at the sight of his food. “You can,” he whispered as he

grabbed the duffel, digging through it for a shirt to put on. D didn’t
like his mate looking at him as if he disgusted the guy. Once he
yanked the T-shirt over his head and let it fall down to his waist, D
was able to look up at Sloane, knowing his mate wasn’t staring at his
figure.

“How long?” Sloane asked as his fingers gripped the bag.
“Just until it’s warm. You know, body temperature.” He scraped

his teeth over his lower lip, wishing Sloane would leave so he could
finish dressing. Stretching across the bed, D shuffled through the bag
until he found a pair of jeans and some socks. There was even an
extra pair of sneakers in there. Whoever packed the bag had been
thoughtful. His toothbrush was in there as well.

Sloane gave a silent nod as he left D to get dressed. As soon as his

mate was gone, D jumped from the bed and yanked his jeans and
socks on, feeling less exposed now that his skinny ass was covered.

He snagged his toothbrush from the bed and walked back to the

bathroom. Just as he rinsed his mouth he heard Sloane downstairs
cursing up a storm. He was using words D hadn’t even heard before.
Panic seized him as he ran from the bathroom and raced downstairs,
fearing his father had found them.

He skidded to a halt in the kitchen, his head snapping around

looking for the cause of his mate’s outburst. His mouth dropped open
as he watched Sloane standing there yelling at the microwave as
blood dripped from the counter, hitting the floor and making a nasty
mess. D threw his hand over his mouth, stifling the snicker.

Chance had done that same thing once before when he had heated

the bag of blood. It was obvious that Sloane had left it in there too

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long and the bag cooked open. D hurried over to the paper towels and
began ripping them off the roll.

As funny as the situation was to him, he didn’t want to test

Sloane’s patience. He was being given another chance, and D didn’t
want to be tossed out on his ass because he was laughing at his mate.

“What the fuck happened?” Sloane asked as he stepped back.
“You put the bag on for too long,” D replied as he soaked up the

blood with the towels. “I forgot to tell you to open the bag and pour
the blood into a cup. It’s much easier that way.”

Sloane didn’t look impressed. He looked pissed. D averted his

eyes as he cleaned up the mess.

“You could have told me this upstairs before I blew the damn

thing up.” Sloane yanked paper towels from the roll and began to
wipe down the cupboards under the counter.

“I can get that,” D said as he tossed the drenched towels into the

trash can and reached for more. He felt as though he were walking on
eggshells around the man. One false move, one screwup, and he was
going to be alone for all eternity. It made D nervous and jumpy. The
tension in the room was thick between them as Sloane grabbed some
cleaning spray.

D made warm soapy water and then began to clean out the mess

inside the microwave. The smell was nauseating as he scrubbed the
dried blood from inside the machine. He almost gagged as he
squeezed the sponge out in the bowl and began to wipe again.

He looked over his shoulder when he noticed that Sloane had been

standing there staring down at the floor. D looked down, but the blood
was cleaned up. What was Sloane staring at? Or more importantly,
what was his mate thinking?

D felt his muscles coil, waiting for Sloane to say he couldn’t do

this. That it was too much for him to handle. D held his breath as he
waited for the wolf to say something, anything. He turned to clean the
bowl in the sink when Sloane grabbed his upper arm. D glanced over
his shoulder, seeing that Sloane was staring right at him. D was

His Imperfect Mate

unable to move, unable to breathe, still not believing that he was here,
right here in Sloane’s home. But the small bit of elation deflated as
Sloane kept staring at him with such raw hurt in his eyes. D
swallowed hard as he waited to be told to leave. He could feel it
coming.

“I don’t like being clueless about caring for you,” Sloane finally

said, his eyes never leaving D’s. It looked as though it took a lot out
of his mate to confess that. “I need you to tell me everything when I
ask. Don’t forget the details.”

D nodded quickly as he pulled his arm free and cleaned the bowl

out in the sink. He stared at the running water as it glided over his
hands. “I should have told you. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

This was it. Sloane was going to tell him to get his things and go

back to the Lakelands. D bit his bottom lip, feeling as if he would cry
as Sloane left the kitchen. Why did he always have to fuck up? Why
couldn’t he do anything right? D felt like the world’s biggest loser as
he dried the bowl and set it on the counter, wondering what Sloane
was doing upstairs.

His eyes rounded when Sloane came back into the kitchen with

another bag of blood, ripping it open and pouring the crimson content
into a glass. Setting it in the microwave, Sloane punched in the time
and then looked over at D.

D nodded, and then Sloane hit the start button. “You only have

two more bags upstairs,” he said as he stared at the cup going around
in a circle inside the microwave. “I’ll have to send for more.”

It hurt D’s heart that Sloane wouldn’t even consider letting D

drink from him. They were mates after all. He hated drinking that
crap from a bag. The source was so much better, but D wasn’t going
to rock the boat. Sloane had let him stay, and he wasn’t going to press
his luck. He curled his lips in to stop himself from saying those
thoughts out loud.

When the microwave dinged, Sloane grabbed the cup and

carefully handed it to D. He felt a bit awkward all of a sudden

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drinking his blood in front of his mate. He’d never had that problem
before, but for some reason, not drinking from Sloane’s vein felt
wrong.

D crossed over to the table and sat the cup down, letting his hands

fall to his sides.

“Is there something wrong with it?” Sloane moved until he was

standing behind D. He was dying to press his back into Sloane’s
strong chest and feel the warmth of his mate. But he didn’t dare.

“I’m not really that hungry right now.” His appetite had left him

when he realized that Sloane wasn’t going to let D drink from him. It
was  an honor in the vampire world to find nourishment from one’s
mate,  and here Sloane stood, denying him. It only cemented D’s
knowledge that he was a failure all the way around.

Sloane picked the cup up from the table, placing it close to D’s

mouth. “You’re thinner than shit. Now drink it down.”

Boy, could Sloane make him feel any worse? His fingers curled

around the cup, wondering how mad his mate would get if he refused.
He took a tentative sip, glancing up at Sloane from under his lashes. D
could see the pleased look on the wolf’s face as his eyes fixated on
D’s lips.

He wanted to know what Sloane was thinking, but was too afraid

to ask.

“Drink all of it,” Sloane encouraged.
D gave Sloane his back as he quickly emptied the glass. He sat the

glass on the table and quickly left the room before Sloane could say
another word. There was strained tension between them, and D wasn’t
sure if he could handle that.

As much as he dreamed about being with his mate, he hadn’t

considered how uneasy it would be between them. Sloane said he
would give D another chance, but he felt like everything he said and
every move he made was scrutinized, taken apart, and examined. And
he was found lacking.

That was no way to live.

His Imperfect Mate

D went back to the bedroom, curling under the covers. As badly

as he wanted to be with Sloane, he couldn’t do this. The stress was
too much. D’s health was already at risk with the lack of sleep and
eating.

“Is there something wrong with the blood?” Sloane asked as he

leaned against the doorframe, tucking his hands into his front pockets.
D shook his head as he pulled the covers tightly over his shoulders.
The bed dipped, and he felt Sloane’s hand on his arm. D held his
breath, waiting.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Four

After all the anger, anguish, hurt, and betrayal, Sloane found that

he couldn’t take seeing his mate so unhappy. He wasn’t strong
enough to stay away. He felt stripped away as he gazed at his mate
lying there so disheartened.

Whether Sloane admitted it out loud or not, he knew Dudley

brought his heart to its knees.

It felt strange to him to finally let go of the emotions that he had

been holding on to for so long and give in to the need to care for his
mate. His heart overruled his mind as Sloane pulled the blankets
down from D’s shoulders and turned his mate over with a gentle hand.
“Are you sick?”

D’s bottom lip trembled as he shook his head once more. Sloane

waited for his mate to say something that would let  him  know  what
was wrong, but the vampire just lay there gazing up at him  with his
dark eyes. Sloane brushed aside a lock of smoky-black  hair that had
fallen over D’s forehead and then dipped his head down, ghosting his
lips across the vampire’s.

He could feel the swift intake of air from his mate as D began to

tremble under Sloane’s hand. The sound was music to his ears as
Sloane pulled the covers back and stretched out beside his mate,
pulling D into his arms as he took the kiss deeper, letting the feel of
his mate’s lips wash through him. It was better than he had imagined
it would be. D’s lips were soft, warm, and pliant as Sloane pushed his
tongue against D’s lips, demanding entrance.

D opened and Sloane’s tongue dove in for the first real taste of his

vampire. D groaned as his fingers grabbed Sloane’s shoulders, gently

His Imperfect Mate

pulling for Sloane to move closer. Sloane had no problem sliding
closer as he licked at D’s lips.

He could feel D’s hard erection pressing into his hip as D

squirmed beside him. Sloane was having the same reaction as his
mate, his cock straining painfully behind his zipper. Unable to resist
any longer, he ran his hands over his mate’s back and then cupped his
ass firmly, squeezing the soft mounds in his hands.

The feel of his mate’s body, the kiss that was heating his blood,

sparked something inside Sloane, making him feel as though he had
to have D now, this second. He reached between them and slid open
D’s pants, palming the man’s erection as he nibbled his way down
D’s neck, inhaling his scent.

D’s hands fumbled with Sloane’s zipper, freeing his cock and

curling his shaking hand around Sloane’s shaft. The vampire was
uncoordinated at first, jerky and unsure, but then he began to  match
Sloane stroke for stroke. The knowledge that it was his mate in his
bed, giving Sloane so much pleasure,  made his head spin with the
reality.

Sloane’s thumb slipped over the head of D’s cock, giving him a

natural lube to use as he thrust his hand harder, letting his fingers play
over D’s balls on the downstroke. The skin was smooth and flawless,
silky to the touch as Sloane twisted his wrist and tightened his fist.

“Sloane, oh, Sloane,” D cried out into Sloane’s mouth with a

desperation that made Sloane growl out his approval. He thrust his
hips, sending his cock further into D’s clutch. It had been ages since
he had been with a lover, and Sloane knew that as badly as he wanted
this to last all night, he was going to come very soon.

It couldn’t be helped, not when D was lying almost under him,

giving himself over to Sloane so shamelessly.

Sloane slanted his head, licking a long path across D’s lips and

then bit down gently on the kiss-bruised beauties. He lifted his head,
laying it next to D’s as he closed his eyes, trying desperately to let D
come first.

Lynn Hagen

“Come for me, Dudley,” Sloane whispered against his mate’s

temple as the electricity shot through his body, signaling that he was
so damn close that he was about to come.

D shouted out his pleasure as hot spunk filled Sloane’s hand and

filled his senses. His cock throbbed a few more times in his mate’s
hand before Sloane erupted, his seed shooting onto D’s shirt. The
scent of their combined cum made Sloane want to fuck D until his
mate was shouting to the heavens.

D collapsed against Sloane, nuzzling into his chest as he sighed.

Now that the moment had passed, Sloane wasn’t sure what he should
say or do. He slowly wrapped his arms around his mate, resting his
chin on D’s head.

Could it be as simple as letting go?
“Thank you,” D said quietly.
“For what?”
“Giving me another chance.”
Sloane pulled D closer, kissing his dark hair as he stared at the far

wall, letting everything run through his mind that had taken place
between the two of them. They couldn’t continue in the strained
relationship they were in, so Sloane knew he had to man up.

“I’ll send for your things. You can live here with me so I can keep

an eye on your wandering ass,”  he teased. Sloane knew damn well
that this was what he wanted all along,  and he was going to try his
best to make things work between him and D.

D turned over in his arms, smiling up at Sloane. “Do you mean

it?”

“Yes.”
D patted his chest, excitement blazing in his eyes. “You don’t

have a coffeepot. We need to get a coffeepot if I’m going to be
staying here.”

“Hell, no,” Sloane said as he shook his head. “I’ve heard what

caffeine does to you.”

His Imperfect Mate

D snorted. “Lies, all lies. I can handle my cup of coffee just as

well as the next guy. Get me some, and I’ll prove it to you.”

Sloane couldn’t deny that he was curious to see what coffee did to

his mate. Pa had told him that D went a little off the deep end when he
drank it, and Sloane was feeling devilish enough to see what would
happen.

“I’ll tell you what,” he started as he ran his fingers over D’s thin

face, “I have to go into town so I’ll pick you up a cup from the diner,
but you have to eat and put some weight on. Deal?”

D nodded his head in quick bursts as he grinned widely. “Deal.”
Sloane slipped from the bed, readjusting his pants, and then

grabbed his shoes. “I won’t be gone long, so make yourself at home.
And whatever you do—”

“Keep my wandering ass inside the house,” D finished for him.
Sloane bent at the waist and gave D a quick kiss before he headed

for the door. “Yes, stay inside.”

Sloane jumped into his truck and headed to town, feeling a bit

lighter at heart knowing his mate would be waiting for him when he
came home. He spotted Maverick’s SUV sitting in front of the diner
already as he pulled in next to him.

* * * *

Cody watched as Sloane entered the diner. “Here he is,” he said as

he slid from the booth he had been sitting in with the alpha. “Catch
you later.”

Maverick nodded as Cody walked into the kitchen where Steven

was cooking. “How’s the new help working out?” Cody asked as he
stole a fry from one of the plates.

“Seth? He’s doing great, why?” Steven asked as he plated the

food he’d been cooking and then sat it on the small window for
pickup. “He got the hang of things right away.”

Lynn Hagen

Cody was glad the new guy was working out. Maverick had asked

him to hire Seth, and lord knew Cody and Frank could use the extra
help around here. Seth was taking care of his nephew after the house
fire that had claimed Oscar’s parents. He knew it wasn’t easy being a
single parent, so he made sure he gave Seth all the hours he could
work.

“Just asking,” Cody replied. “I was thinking about hiring a

dishwasher as well.”

Steven turned and gave him a low growl. Cody was actually

impressed with the human. “You’ve said that five times already. Do
you know how hard it is to cook and wash dishes?”

Cody chuckled as he ducked when Steven tossed a towel at him.

“I’ll see you in a week when you come back in here telling me you’re
thinking about hiring a dishwasher.”

“My memory’s not that bad.”
“Yes, it is,” Frank said as he walked out of the office. “It sucks.”
“Tell him, Frank,” Steven chimed in. “If I have to wash one more

pan when the dinner rush is underway, I’m going to scream. You can
get me a prep cook as well.”

“This isn’t a damn four-star restaurant, and you’re not a chef,”

Cody reminded him. “What do you need a prep cook for?”

“To do all the little shit I don’t have time for,” Steven commented

as he dropped large pieces of chicken into the hot grease. “I never
claimed to be a chef, but having help in the kitchen would,
well…help.”

“You have George,” he said with a smile, feeling like he one-

upped Steven and beat the young man at his whining game.

“And he’s been busy cooking for the entire house. Hell, he could

probably use a damn prep cook as well. Just get me one.” Steven went
back to cooking, ignoring Cody.

“He put you in your place.” Frank snickered.
“Fine, I’ll get a dishwasher and a prep cook.” Cody palmed the

door, heading out of the kitchen. Everyone was so damn demanding

His Imperfect Mate

these days. He kissed his mate as he walked behind the counter,
seeing Keata chatting away with Seth.

“You better let him get back to work before Steven comes out

here with his damn Ginsu knives and starts screaming at everyone.”

Keata smiled as he walked over to Cody, leaving Seth to get back

to taking orders. “That bad?”

“You have no idea.”

* * * *

Sloane sat back as he listened to his cousin.
“I’ve found out that D’s father is Magnum Constantinople.”
“Consta-what?” Sloane asked. He never knew D’s last name, and

it never really dawned on him to ask. It sure as shit was a mouthful.

Maverick grinned. “Constantinople. He’s well-known in the

vampire community and well respected. I have a feeling that if he
wants to take you out, he’ll send someone to do the job. From what I
hear, he’s too arrogant to get his hands dirty. He’s also known for his
stance on shifters,”  Maverick said and then leaned in, his grey eyes
locked onto Sloane’s.  “He hates them with a passion, so don’t
underestimate him, Sloane.”

Just fucking great. His damn father-in-law wanted him

dead…yesterday. What the fuck was with his breathing and D’s
family? They had a damn hard-on for him just for mating the
youngest son.

“I’m not stupid enough to let my guard down,” Sloane replied as

the waiter brought his coffee. That reminded him. “Can I get a large
coffee to go when I leave?”

The waiter nodded. “I’ll have it for you by the register.”
“Thanks.”
“Giving your mate coffee?”  Maverick asked with a quirk to his

brow. “You have heard what it does to him?”

Lynn Hagen

Sloane shrugged. “He wants a cup.” He wasn’t about to sit here

and tell Maverick that he was truly looking forward to what would
happen when D drank it, but by the look on the alpha’s face, he
already knew.

“Your neck.”
Sloane chuckled as he shook his head. “Yeah, my neck. I’m going

to head out of here and get back home. Thanks for the information.”

“Anytime,” Maverick replied as Sloane walked over to the

“On the house,” Cody said. “Just videotape it when D drinks it

and goes nuts.”

Did everyone know about his mate’s reaction to coffee? Sloane

shot Cody a glare before leaving the diner. It couldn’t be as bad as
everyone was making it out to be. It was just coffee. Sloane sat the
cup in the cupholder and drove back home. He could see all the lights
on in the house and growled.

What the hell were all the lights doing on? He grabbed the coffee

and walked inside, his jaw dropping as he spotted D up on the kitchen
table with a hammer in his hand. “What the hell?”

D’s head snapped around, his eyes wide as he pointed toward the

floor. “Rats! I saw rats!”

Sloane rolled his eyes. He was going to have to buy traps. He

hadn’t seen any, but everyone else was shouting about the damn
things. He set the cup down on the table and pried the hammer from
D’s hands. “I’ll save you from the vermin.” Grabbing D around his
waist, Sloane pulled him down from the table. “Have you eaten?”

“Did you hear me?” D said as he waved both hands frantically

toward the basement door. “There were rats in here. I jumped up on
the table after that.”

“You’ve been up here the whole time?”
D bobbed his head quickly. “Hell, yes. Those things are nasty.”
Sloane chuckled as he grabbed the cup and handed it to D. “Here,

I brought you some coffee.”

His Imperfect Mate

His mate’s face lit up as he snatched the cup from Sloane, taking a

long drink as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The look of
pure bliss on the vampire’s face had Sloane smiling. “I’ll get your
blood ready while you enjoy that.”

D didn’t make a sound as he drank the contents down. Sloane

opened the fridge, grabbing the bag and remembering the cup this
time. A twinge of guilt settled in his chest as he warmed his mate’s
dinner. He knew he should allow D to drink from him, but he wasn’t
sure if he was ready for that yet.

All his life Sloane had dreamed of finding his mate. It was

something that most wolves didn’t think about when they were pups,
but Sloane did. He had dreamed about what it would be like and how
he would live happily ever after.

What bullshit that was.
But he still held on to the belief that being mated was the most

intimate, most sacred thing. And after what D had done, it was going
to take a minute for Sloane to fully trust the man. He had been
nothing but kind and gentle to D since discovering who he was, trying
to coax him into their mating with gentleness that normally didn’t
come easy to him.

Now he was going to have to learn to trust the man, and feeding

him was an intimate act of love and trust. It may sound like a stupid
thing to most, but it wasn’t to Sloane. It was something he felt very
strongly about and wasn’t going to back down until he fully trusted
the vampire.

The microwave dinged, pulling Sloane from thought as he reached

inside and grabbed his mate’s cup. “Here,” Sloane said as he turned
around, but D wasn’t anywhere in sight.

* * * *

Raven sat in his father’s study with his two brothers as Magnum

sat behind his rich, cherry oak desk in his study, strumming his

Lynn Hagen

fingers on the wood as he stared at them. “I fail to see how you
managed to let that shifter live.”

He had wondered the same thing about letting the wolf live. But

Raven had seen the sincerity in Dudley’s eyes when he said he was
happy. They may not have been there for Dudley like he needed his
brothers to be, but even Raven wasn’t cruel enough to rain on
Dudley’s parade. “Dudley said he wasn’t going to mate the wolf,”
Raven replied.

“So you just walked away!” Magnum slammed his fist into the

desk, his eyes hot with fury. It wasn’t a question but an accusation.
“You are acting like Dudley now with your sentimental bullshit. I
don’t care what your brother says. That wolf needs to be taught a
lesson, and you three are going to teach it to him.”

“But I thought—”
“Did I ask you to think, Raven?” Magnum asked with irritation

and malice. “I want you to follow my fucking orders. I called Dudley
and told him that wolf would be taken care of. Now fucking take care
of him.”

Raven, along with Remus and Daniel, rose from their chairs and

walked out of the office. He may have defended their father to
Dudley, but Raven was really starting to see a clearer picture of his
father, and he didn’t like it.

“Are we going to kill the wolf?” Remus asked.
“You heard Father,” Raven replied. He knew going against

Magnus would result in a far worse punishment than defying the man.
And Raven wasn’t going to be punished if he could prevent it. “He
wants Sloane taken care of, so he’s going to be taken care of.”

“I don’t like this,” Daniel said as he glanced back at the office

door. “Dudley said he was happy. Why are we doing this?”

“Because your father ordered it!” Raven shouted and then

regretted his outburst when Daniel shrank back. Fuck, he was even
starting to sound like his bastard father. Raven had noticed a lot of
things since coming back home from Brac Village.

His Imperfect Mate

The main thing he realized was that he didn’t want to turn into

Magnum Constantinople. The man may be revered in the vampire
community, but he sucked as a father, and Dudley was the one to
open his eyes to that.

“Come on, we have to go take care of some things before we

leave.” Raven walked toward his bedroom, his brothers close behind.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Five

D ran the vacuum over the stain that wouldn’t come out of the

floor. No matter how many times he tried to get it to suck up into the
vacuum, it wasn’t going anywhere.

“What are you doing, Dudley?” Sloane asked as he walked into

the living room.

“Trying to get this stain up, but it won’t budge.”
“D, that’s hardwood flooring, and the stain is actually faded

wood.”

Turning the vacuum off, D stared down at the stain. “But, how am

I going to get that out of there?” he asked and then shoved the
vacuum aside, running to grab soap and water. That should help. “If I
can’t get it out, we’ll tear up the floor and lay new wood.”

“Whoa, slow down,” Sloane said as he grabbed D by his waist. “It

gives the floor character. Let it be.”

D wiggled free and ran into the kitchen, seeing a dirty bowl and

spoon in the sink, so he ran to make some water. Once the bowl and
spoon were clean, he didn’t want to waste a sinkful of suds, so he
started grabbing clean dishes from the cupboard to rewash.

“Now what are you doing?”
“Using the clean water. I don’t want to waste it.” D scrubbed the

dishes in the sink and then set them aside, wondering what else he
could clean. He spotted the toaster and saw that it had fingerprints all
over the shiny chrome.

“No, you don’t,” Sloane said as he grabbed it away from D. “You

can’t submerge a toaster in water.”

“Why not?” D asked as he made a grab for it. “It’s dirty.”

His Imperfect Mate

“They weren’t bullshitting about you drinking coffee, were they?”

Sloane said as he raised the toaster above his head. “No more coffee
for you.”

D growled low as he stopped trying to get at the toaster. “I’m

perfectly fine.”

Sloane sat the toaster on top of the fridge and then pushed it all

the way to the back, ensuring D couldn’t reach it. “You’re like the
Energizer Bunny on speed. I thought for sure everyone was over
exaggerating.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” D said over his shoulder as he opened the

pantry door, looking at the contents stuffed on various shelves. It was
a damn heart attack waiting to happen! This would never do. D started
tossing the boxes of cereal and boxes of double fudge pudding out
into the kitchen. As he reached for the large bag of potato chips,
Sloane grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you dare.”
“Do you know how many calories and preservatives are in this

bag?” D asked as he tossed the bag over his shoulder, hearing it hit
the floor. “None of this is any good for you. I watched a program
once that said—”

“I don’t care,” Sloane growled as he tugged D out of the pantry.

“You’re not throwing my favorites away.”

“But it’s nothing but a heart attack in a bag!”
“Then I’ll die happy,” Sloane said as he narrowed his eyes at D.

“Don’t throw my junk away.”

D’s sight narrowed in on the open bag of Doritos on the counter.

He took off across the kitchen, but before he could reach them, Sloane
tackled him, both sprawling to the floor. D pushed his legs into the
wolf, trying to get to the bag of chips, but Sloane grabbed the bottom
of his jeans, pulling him back.

Unsnapping his pants, D wiggled out of them and then pushed to

his feet, grabbing the chips and dumping them on the floor before
Sloane could get to them. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you eat them.”

Lynn Hagen

Oh shit. The growl coming from Sloane sounded lethal. D spun

around and took off upstairs, the wolf hot on his heels. Reaching the
top of the landing, D ran by the bathroom and then skidded to a halt.
The damn room was a mess.

He ran into the bathroom and slammed the door, grabbing the

cleaner from under the sink.

“Damn it, Dudley,” Sloane shouted and then threw the bathroom

door open. “I’m about to tie your ass down until that coffee wears
off.”

“It’s not the coffee, I swear,” D argued again as Sloane grabbed

him around the waist and tossed him over his shoulder. D kicked his
legs as he extended his arms, trying to reach the cleaner from this
distance. The bathroom needed a good cleansing, damn it.

Sloane dumped D onto the bed and then crossed the room and

slammed the door shut, locking it. “You’re going to calm the hell
down, mate.”

D stopped in his tracks. Did Sloane just call him mate? He

swallowed when he saw the lust-filled look Sloane was giving him. D
realized that he was standing there in a T-shirt and skimpy underwear
with a salivating wolf watching him from across the room.

The older man looked as though he wanted to eat D for lunch!

Was that good?

* * * *

Sloane had to plant his feet firmly into the carpet before he leapt

across the distance and tackled his mate, for a fucking purpose this
time. Holy hell, was D a terror when on caffeine. He honestly thought
everyone was bullshitting him.

And those scanty underwear hadn’t gone unnoticed. “You didn’t

drink your cup of blood.” Where that thought had come from, Sloane
hadn’t a fucking clue. It had absolutely nothing to do with what he

His Imperfect Mate

was looking at. His brain wasn’t working. That much was clear to
him.

But his cock sure as shit was as he felt it starting to fill out at the

sight.

“I’ll go get it.”
Sloane’s eyes stayed glued to his mate’s groin, seeing that D

wasn’t unaffected either. The swell behind his underwear grew until
the very head of D’s cock was showing from behind the material,
leaking pre-cum as it presented itself.

His mate tried to walk around the edge of the room, slowly

making his way to the bedroom door. Sloane couldn’t stop staring at
the glistening head. His damn eyes were fixated on it. Sloane knew he
had to let D leave the room. His mate had to eat, but fuck if unlocking
that door wasn’t the hardest thing.

Correction, his cock was the hardest thing right now.
Sloane wasn’t stupid enough to let D go. He followed him down

the stairs and into the kitchen, watching his tight little ass the whole
time. D knew he was watching, too, because he constantly looked
over his shoulder at Sloane, his eyes just as heated as Sloane’s felt.

With his hip pressed into the counter, Sloane watched his mate as

D picked the cup up and drank the drink down. He smiled his
approval as D wiped his mouth and set the cup in the sink, his
movements measured, careful.

“Is there something wrong, Dudley?” Sloane asked as he pressed

his chest into D’s back.

“N–No,” his mate stuttered as he gripped the end of the counter.

“Nothing, why?”

Sloane grabbed D’s hand, pressing it into his swollen shaft behind

his jeans. “I was just wondering if maybe you could take care of this
for me.”

His mate’s eyes gleamed like glassy, volcanic rock as he looked

up at Sloane. His tongue peeked out, sliding across his bottom lip as
his fingers tightened around Sloane’s erection. “This?”

Lynn Hagen

Sloane groaned as he nodded, and then his head fell back onto his

shoulders as D’s fingers ran up and down his length.

“Here, in the kitchen?”
“Yes.” Sloane moaned the word as he reached down and opened

his jeans. “Right here, right now.” He lifted his head to see D drop
down to his knees in front of him, his ass in perfect view for Sloane to
imagine all kinds of things while D sucked him off.

Sloane gasped when D leaned forward and deep throated him. He

nearly stumbled backward, caught off guard by his mate’s ability to
even do something like that. Sloane’s hands slid through D’s hair and
curled, holding on as he shuddered and savored every second of what
his mate was doing to his cock.

D pulled back and licked and sucked with genuine enjoyment,

making the sloppiest sounds imaginable. When D looked up at him
from under his thick, black lashes, all Sloane was able to do was gape
at him in amazement. The man was so goddamn beautiful kneeling in
front of him with Sloane’s cock in his mouth.

“Shit!” Sloane shouted when D began to hum around his dick.

The vibrations were felt all the way to his toes. His mate’s tongue
flickered over the very tip of Sloane’s cock, sucking in the clear liquid
as his lips created a vacuum seal around his shaft, nearly making him
come.

Sloane was going to die a very happy man right now.
D murmured Sloane’s name around his cock, sending Sloane into

a wild craze. He began to fuck D’s mouth in earnest, feeling the head
of his prick sliding down his mate’s throat over and over again. His
thigh muscles quivered, his legs threatening to give out as his balls
drew so tight to Sloane’s body that they actually hurt.

Sloane shouted as his back arched, his cock lodging in D’s throat

as hot jets of seed were ripped from his balls. White lights exploded
behind his eyelids, making him dizzy as hell. His damn head was
throbbing as he settled his body back down. Sloane was gasping for
air, pulling his cock free and praying he could stay upright.

His Imperfect Mate

As his head cleared, Sloane could see D’s own cock in his hand,

seed bathing his fist. Oh god, this man was seriously out to kill him—
in a fucking fantabulous sort of way this time.

“I’m going to get cleaned up,” D said with a blush as he hurried

from the kitchen. Sloane wanted to grab his mate and pull him into his
arms, but D was gone already and he was just too damn tired to move.

Sloane jerked when he saw something moving over by the fridge.

He snapped his pants and walked over, cocking his head to the side to
see behind the fridge. Damn, they really did have rats, and the son of
a bitch was huge! As brave as he was, Sloane took off upstairs as fast
as his feet would carry him.

Traps. He would definitely get some traps in the morning.
He found his mate already tucked in bed, his eyes closed tightly,

but Sloane could tell from the rise and fall of the vampire’s chest that
D was anything but asleep. Why in the hell would he be feigning
sleep?

Sloane pulled his clothes off and crawled into bed, tucking his

hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. “Something you
want to tell me?”

“No,” D squeaked.
That answer sounded guilty as hell. Turning to look at his mate,

Sloane raised one eyebrow, letting his mate know that he didn’t
believe him.

“It’s too embarrassing,” D confessed as he tucked the covers over

his chin.

Sloane grinned, relieved that it wasn’t anything bad…hopefully.

“Tell me.”

D shook his head, his eyes studying Sloane’s chest. “You’ll think

I’m weird.”

Sloane’s chest rumbled with the chuckle that fell from his lips. He

turned sideways, propping his head on his hand as he traced his
mate’s wondrous lips. “No I won’t.” D’s lips were still red and

Lynn Hagen

swollen from that amazing blow job, making Sloane smile in
remembrance.

“You better not laugh at me,” D threatened as he pulled the

blankets just an inch down from his mouth.

“Promise.”
“How was I…you know.”
So his mate was fishing for compliments. Sloane would give him

that and more if it meant another suck-off like the one he just
received. “Amazingly wonderful.”

“Really?”
“Like you didn’t know,” Sloane teased. “I don’t want to know

about who you’ve been with before me, but thank god you learned
that trick.”

D shook his head, his cheeks pinking. “No one taught me that.”
There was no way his mate knew how to deep throat if this had

been his first time sucking cock. He would have been gagging and
coughing had he been a novice. Sloane knew that for a fact because
that lesson was a part of his past.

“So then tell me, Mr. Constantinople, how did you pull off such

an amazing blow job then?” Sloane was not prepared for D’s reaction.

“Don’t call me that!” D pulled from Sloane’s arms, his face a

mask of anger. “That’s my father’s name, and I don’t want any part of
it. I’m not my father.”

Whoa. Okay, no more talk of D’s surname. Sloane tugged at D’s

fingers until his mate relented and rolled back snugly into his side.
“I’ll remember that. Now do you want to tell me how you became
such an expert at giving head?” He was trying to bring the mood back
to where it should be, light and teasing.

That quickly, D went from frowning to blushing. “I practiced on

things.”

Sloane blinked. Things? What things could D have practiced on?

“Like?”

His Imperfect Mate

D buried his face into Sloane’s chest, feeling his mate grin as he

chuckled. “Bananas, cucumbers, salami.”

“Salami?” Sloane asked, stunned as he pulled back and looked

down at his red-faced mate. No wonder the man could take him in one
swift motion. Holy hell, he would have loved to have watched D
practice.

“I told you that you would think I’m weird.” D turned his face so

Sloane couldn’t see him. Sloane smiled as he rubbed D’s back.

“That’s not weird. What made you practice?”
“You.”
Sloane was once again stunned. His mate had practiced for him?

Hell if he didn’t feel honored by that confession…and a little amazed.
He kissed D’s temple as he grinned. His mate was full of a lot of
surprises, and Sloane was looking forward to many more.

“Well, you don’t have to practice on those things any longer. Feel

free to use my cock anytime you want.”

D smacked his chest as he gave a small growl. “Stop teasing me.”
Sloane chuckled as he grabbed his mate’s wrists. “I’m not teasing

you, hon. I think it’s sexy.”

His mate didn’t look as though he believed Sloane, but didn’t say

anything else on the subject. Sloane ran his jaw over D’s black hair,
wondering if they could really have a great life together…assuming
D’s father didn’t kill either of them first.

* * * *

D swept up the chips from the kitchen floor and turned the

dustpan over the trash can. He couldn’t believe he had done
that…again. He was so damn embarrassed that he had avoided Sloane
for the rest of the night. His mate must think him a damn psycho!

He wanted to smack himself in the forehead with the dustpan for

the way he had behaved. Shifters were built differently, and he needed
to remember that. They couldn’t get human sicknesses or diseases. He

Lynn Hagen

was never going to watch another documentary for as long as he
lived.

D groaned, afraid Sloane was going to get tired of his quirkiness

and tell him to hit the road. He was trying his best to be normal, but it
wasn’t working out so well. He was even fucking that up.

Picking the double fudge pudding up and the cereal, D placed

them back on the shelf. He still didn’t see how anyone could eat that
crap, but Sloane loved it, so he would let it be. He spotted a box of
cake mix, wondering if he could make Sloane a cake in show of how
sorry he was for acting so damn batty. He never cooked human food
before, but it couldn’t be that hard, right?

D read the directions on the back of the box, getting everything he

needed and placing the items on the counter. There weren’t many
things he had to gather, which told him this task wouldn’t be that
hard. He preheated the oven and then set about mixing everything.

This was kind of fun.
Pouring the batter into the two round cake pans, D slid them into

the oven and then wiped his hands on the apron he wore. Maybe he
could start cooking for Sloane. Baking a cake had been simple
enough.

Making fresh dishwater, D cleaned up his mess and waited for the

cake to finish. He knew it was four in the morning, but the cake could
be eaten later. After cleaning up his mess, D wandered into the living
room and sat down, kicking his feet up and resting. Sloane was
upstairs asleep, which left D nothing to do.

Closing his eyes for just a moment, D sighed as he relaxed into

the soft cushions of the sofa.

* * * *

Sloane’s eyes snapped open to the shrill sound of the smoke

detectors and someone screaming at the top of his lungs. He glanced
over and saw that his mate wasn’t in bed with him.

His Imperfect Mate

“Fuck,” Sloane shouted when he saw the sun streaming through

the window. He hit the floor and took off down the steps, immediately
smelling smoke. Sloane felt disoriented as he searched for his mate.
He couldn’t see with the black billowing smoke thick in the air,
choking him. Running for the fire extinguisher on the wall, Sloane
grabbed it and began to look for the source of the smoke.

His lungs burned as if someone had poured hot cinders down his

throat as he yanked the oven open and sprayed the white foam inside.
Turning the knob, he cut the oven off and then began to open
windows and the kitchen door, praying the smoke cleared soon.

“Dudley!”
Sloane could hear little whimpers, but he wasn’t sure where the

sound was coming from. Setting the extinguisher down, he stood very
still and listened. The sound came again, and Sloane rushed over to
the basement door, opening it carefully and then shutting it behind
him.

“Dudley?”
He climbed down the steps, looking around the basement. The

glass block windows shone sunlight, so Sloane knew his mate
wouldn’t be out in the open. He checked the storage rooms and found
his mate huddled in the last one, balled up and whimpering.

Sloane knelt by his mate, carefully turning his head to see the

blisters covering his face. “Oh, D. What happened?”

“I fell asleep,” D said softly, his voice sounding dry and raw.

Sloane wasn’t sure how extensive the damage was, but he knew his
mate needed help.

“What can I do? How do vampires heal?” He wasn’t sure where to

touch or even if he could pick his mate up. D had blisters covering
most of his face and around his mouth,  and  his eyes were swollen
shut. Sloane wanted nothing more than to take away his mate’s pain.
Even D’s fingers,  which  were curled around his shirt,  were blistered
badly.

“I need blood.”

His Imperfect Mate

Chapter Six

Chance jumped out of his truck as soon as he pulled into Sloane’s

driveway when he saw the black smoke billowing from the house. His
heart was racing as he snatched his phone from his hip, dialing the
fire department before racing inside.

He knew it was a stupid move, but he wasn’t going to let Sloane

and D die in a house fire. As he entered the front door, his phone
rang. Chance hit the send button, trying his best to see through the
black, oppressive smoke.

“What’s wrong?” Chauncey immediately asked when Chance

began to violently cough. He pulled the hem of his shirt over his nose
and mouth, shoving his phone into his pocket. There was no way he
was going to be able to talk and cover his face at the same time. Tears
ran down his face from the painful stinging in his eyes, but he had to
find his friends.

Checking upstairs, Chance quickly ran from room to room, but

found no one. He wasn’t going to allow himself to panic. He had to
keep a clear head. Running back down the steps, Chance saw a fire
extinguisher lying haphazardly on the floor and the oven door open.

He wanted to shout, to yell for either of them, but his lungs felt

like they were on fire. Had D’s father set the house on fire? Chance
didn’t see any flames anywhere, but that didn’t mean anything. Were
Sloane and D even here? With even a slim possibility, he had to
search.

A wave of dizziness washed over Chance as he turned in a circle,

wondering where he should check. The basement door came into

Lynn Hagen

view, and he yanked it open, closing it behind him before he bolted
down the steps.

He was able to remove his shirt from his face and take in deep

gulps of air once he reached the bottom of the steps. There was no
smoke down here. “Sloane,” he tried to call out, but his throat was
aching and swollen. It was no use. He’d have to search.

He heard crying and followed the sound, opening one of the

storage rooms. Sloane was laid out on the floor, unmoving, and D was
kneeling over him, crying and shaking the wolf.

“He passed out. Help him!” D’s voice wasn’t any better than

Chance’s. He had barely heard what the vampire had said, but he did
notice how badly D was blistered.

“The fire department is on its way. I can’t take you out of here

because of the daylight.”

D shook his head, still pulling at Sloane’s sleeve, crying as he

attempted to get the wolf out of there. “I don’t care about me. Get him
out of here!” Tears rolled down D’s face from swollen eyes as he
stood, stumbled, and then grabbed Sloane’s hand, trying his best to
drag the wolf. “Get him out of here!”

“I’m not leaving you, D. Sloane would skin my ass alive if I did

that.” There was no way he was leaving anyone behind. He wasn’t
sure what he should do, but leaving D down in the basement to burn
alive wasn’t an option.

“Chance!” Chauncey yelled down the basements steps. “Chance,

are you down here?”

“In here.” Chance did his best to yell back, but his throat wouldn’t

permit his voice to raise any louder than a whisper.

Chauncey appeared in the doorway, squatting down next to

Chance. “Are you hurt?”

Chance shook his head, pointing to Sloane. “He needs help. You

have to get him outside and get him to shift. I have to stay with D.”

His Imperfect Mate

“Fuck if you’re staying down here. Take Sloane. I’ll stay with D,”

Chauncey argued and then gasped when he finally looked over at D.
“Did the fire burn you?”

D shook his head, still trying his best to get Sloane off of the

ground. “No, the sun did. Damn it, will one of you dunderheads grab
him and get him out of here!”

Chance growled and grabbed Sloane, cradling the large wolf to his

chest. “If you fucking die, Chauncey, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Just get him out of here. I need to feed D so he can heal.”
Chance nodded, taking once last glance at his brother before

running up the steps with Sloane. He headed straight out of the back
door and laid Sloane onto the grass. “How the hell do I get him to
shift?” he mumbled as the sirens blared, telling Chance the fire truck
was close. “Shift, damn you.” He nudged Sloane, pounding him in
chest until the wolf began to cough and then shifted.

Chance heard the fire truck stop in front of the house and then

looked back down at Sloane. The wolf lay there, his chest rising and
falling. Seeing that there was nothing else he could do, Chance ran
back into the house and down into the basement.

“Get your ass out of here!” he yelled at Chauncey.
“I’m feeding D.”
“I can do that. Curtis will kill me if something happens to you.

Go.”

Chauncey sealed the wound on his wrist and then gave Chance a

tight nod. “Don’t fucking burn.” He took off up the steps before
Chance could answer him.

Taking a seat on the ground, Chance pushed his wrist in Dudley’s

face. “Feed, D.” D bit into his wrist, swallowing greedily as he fed,
his wounds already starting to fade. Chance rested his back into the
wall, glancing up at the ceiling. What a fucking mess.

* * * *

Lynn Hagen

D lay curled up on the basement floor, listening to the heavy

footfalls above his head from the firemen in the kitchen until the steps
were silenced and the men were gone. He’d been down here for
hours, wishing he could go upstairs as see the extent of the damage.

Chance was sitting next to him, refusing to leave. Chauncey had

already come downstairs and told them that the damage in the kitchen
was mostly from smoke. A small fire had started in the oven, but
apparently Sloane had extinguished it before he had come downstairs.

Countless times D had closed his eyes, trying to sleep to pass the

day away, but it never pulled him under. He was too worried about
Sloane. Although he had been reassured that Sloane would heal in his
shifter form, D wouldn’t be appeased until he could see that his mate
was fine with his own two eyes.

His thoughts turned to the damaged kitchen. Once again he had

screwed up. Only this time he could have killed his mate. D felt his
stomach knot into pain at the thought of something that horrific
happening to his wolf. And it would have been his fault.

He whimpered as he pulled his legs closer to his chest.
“Are you still beating yourself up about this?” Chance asked. “I

already told you, it was an accident.”

“You can say that. It wasn’t you who turned the stove on.”
“Trust me, I’ve screwed shit up before. Why do you think I’m not

allowed in the kitchen anymore?”

“You almost burned the house down?” D asked as he looked over

at Chance.

“Hell, no, but have you tasted my cooking? Pa said I could be

charged with attempted murder from trying to feed anyone that crap.”

“It’s not the same thing, dork.”
“Give me a break here. I’m trying to cheer you up.”
“Not working.”
“Talk about a tough crowd,”  Chance grumbled. “It’s not your

fault. Well, maybe it is, but shit happens. Get over it. At least you can
say you baked your first cake.”

His Imperfect Mate

D gaped at the bear. “I nearly burned the house down!”
“We all have to start somewhere. I bet you won’t fall asleep

again.” Chance snickered.

“Whatever.” D turned back around. He was so not amused.
It didn’t matter how many times the bear told D that it was an

accident. It wouldn’t register in his mind. All his life his father had
told him what a disappointment he was. How Magnum wished D was
more like him or Raven. In his heart D knew that a parent shouldn’t
tell a child such things, but after hearing the criticism for so long, D
started to believe those words.

And today, he had proven them.
“He’s fine, D. Chauncey took Sloane upstairs, and your mate is

resting.”

D glanced over at Chance, seeing the smear stains from the soot of

the smoke all over the man’s face, blackest at his nose. “You should
shift and heal as well. Your voice sounds like shit.”

Chance smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
D rolled back over, staring at the brick wall that needed a good

paint job. His eyes focused in on the small cracks running up the wall
and disappearing into the floor beams overhead. The only thing he
wanted at this second was Sloane. His mate was everything a man
should be and more. He made D feel safe, and good. The day had
slipped by, and D was no closer to finding out if his mate was fully
healed or not, even though everyone kept reassuring him that his mate
was fine.

They both turned their heads when someone opened the basement

door and began to walk down the steps. D had heard the firemen leave
early this morning, so it had to be Chauncey.

“You two okay?”
His heart felt as though it had grown too large for his chest when

he saw Sloane appear in the doorway, looking as though he hadn’t
collapsed right in front of him from smoke inhalation. D had never
been so scared in his life when his mate crumpled to the ground, and

Lynn Hagen

he never wanted to see something like that again. The man stood there
tall, proud, with a black T-shirt on that stretched across his chest and a
pair of black stonewashed jeans hugging his thick thighs.

A whimper left his lips as tears began to roll down his face.

Sloane was okay. He was unhurt from inhaling so much smoke. Even
his voice was normal, steady, telling D that his mate had survived. He
brushed away the tears, knowing his face was going to be stained red,
but he didn’t care, not when he had a chance to drink the man in.

“We’re fine,” Chance said as he got to his feet, dusting the dirt

from the floor off of his ass. “But your mate needs therapy.”

D glared at Chance as the bear exited the room.
“What was that about?” Sloane asked as he stared down at D, his

eyes flickering over D’s face. He knew his mate was looking for signs
of the blistering, but D was healed, thanks to the bears feeding him.

“Nothing,” he said softly, averting his eyes. D couldn’t even look

Sloane in his face after what he had done. How could he? He had
nearly killed the man.

“You ready to go upstairs?”
“How?” D asked as his eyes shot back up. “There’s still some

daylight left.”

“I have a blanket with me.” Sloane jerked his head toward the

door. “It’s on the steps. I fixed the curtain that fell in the bedroom, so
you’ll be safe.”

How the hell could the guy not be yelling at D right now? He had

damn near burnt the man’s house down, and Sloane stood there
talking calmly like D had just been hiding in here, nothing more. He
cocked his head, taking a really good look at the wolf’s eyes, seeing
nothing but concern swimming in their emerald-green depths. “Aren’t
you mad at me?”

“For trying to bake me a cake? No. Although I think I’m cool on

the cake thing now.” His mate chuckled softly as the corner of his lip
lifted.

His Imperfect Mate

Before he knew what was happening, a smile broke out on D’s

face as a small laugh fell from his lips. Somehow Sloane had made
him laugh. It was something he didn’t think possible at this point. “It
was chocolate.”

“It’s about that color. Maybe a little too crunchy for me, though.”
D chuckled as he stood, smiling at the one man in the world that

didn’t make him feel like an all-around disappointment. Magnum
would have had D reduced to tears by now, wishing he was never
born, but not Sloane. The man simply amazed him. “How bad is it?”

Sloane gave a lazy shrug, looking as though his house almost

burning down was no big deal. “A fresh paint job and a new stove
should fix it. It’s all good.”

“You’re really not mad at me?”
“Did you do it on purpose?” Sloane asked and then left the room,

coming back a few seconds later with a thick blanket in his hands.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, Sloane. I swear. I just wanted to do

something nice for you,” D said as he walked over to his mate, letting
Sloane wrap the blanket around him. His instincts had him reaching
out to grab Sloane as the wolf lifted him off of his feet, but the
blanket prevented his hands from grabbing anything. He felt silly
being wrapped up like this, but D was also tired of the storage room.
He’d seen enough of it to last him a lifetime.

“Then there’s nothing to be mad about. We’ll get the kitchen back

in order.”

How could he have such an understanding mate? Sloane didn’t

seem fazed by anything. Okay, maybe when D’s brothers came after
him, but…

“Here we are,” Sloane said as he laid D down. “Safe and dark.”
D peeked outside of the blanket to see that he was back in their

bedroom. He smiled at the thought of this house being theirs. It would
be the first time he had something of his own. He had lived with his
father his whole life, and then the Lakelands. “It doesn’t seem real.”

Lynn Hagen

“What doesn’t seem real, hon?” Sloane asked as he pulled the

blanket from around D.

Hon. God, D loved that word. It felt like it was invented just for

him. He wanted to roll around and bathe in that word. No one had
ever given him an endearment, except for the shortened version of his
name, but that was more of a nickname.

And Sloane had given him one. It may just be a word Sloane

tossed out, but D was spinning in circles in a daisy field with the
sunshine basking him in warmth, metaphorically of course. “Call me
that again, please.”

“What?”
“Hon.”
Sloane gave him a lazy, half-cocked smile as he crawled over D,

cupping his face. “You like when I call you hon?”

D closed his eyes, shivers coursing throughout his body as tingles

of sheer delight spread across his skin from the warmth of Sloane’s
body. He loved being held by Sloane. It was the best feeling in the
world, next to tasting the man. His weight was welcome and wanted.
“God, yes.”

Sloane smiled as he nibbled across D’s jaw, his tongue flicking

out every so often, as if Sloane was taking pleasure from just licking
him. D’s cock twitched from the smell of man and earth, with a hint
of musk. Sloane had a unique scent that was driving D absolutely
batshit crazy. He wanted to become a shifter just so he could rub his
body all over the man and carry his scent. D wanted Sloane to mark
him in the worst sort of way.

Sloane’s hands left D’s face and traveled down his arms, flames

licking his flesh in their wake. He wanted to feel this sexy man buried
deep in his ass. He wasn’t brave enough to voice his desires, so D
showed him another way by grinding his now-hard cock into Sloane’s
firm abdomen.

D was panting as Sloane’s hands trailed back up his arms and his

wolf’s fingers curled around D’s wrists, holding them in place as he

His Imperfect Mate

slowly made his way down D’s slim form. Was Sloane going to suck
his cock? D could feel pre-cum soaking his underwear at the thought.

He bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood when Sloane

used his teeth to undo D’s pants, the zipper clinking down as it
opened. That was the sexiest thing he had ever seen! D was going to
pass out just from the erotic way Sloane was moving down his body.

“You smell good enough to eat,” Sloane murmured as he rubbed

his cheek over the skin exposed around D’s navel.

“I smell like burnt toast.”
Sloane grinned as he kissed D’s belly and then nudged his lips

past the waistband of his underwear until the head of his cock was
showing. D swallowed hard and then hissed when Sloane swiped his
tongue over the head.

The verdict was in. D was going to pass the hell out.
“You taste even better.”
D’s legs fell to the side as his head rolled back. This was too

much. Sloane’s tongue was teasing his cock as the wolf lapped at his
shaft, running his tongue along the length. He wanted to shout for
Sloane to put it in his mouth, but D wasn’t going to ruin the moment.

But begging would be okay.
“Please, Sloane. Please, please, please.”
His mate paid him no mind, licking him like a damn treat. “This

may not be as good as your supreme blow job.”

Was Sloane nervous? He could have sworn he heard it in his

mate’s voice. D wasn’t sure what he should say. The only reason he
had mad skills was because he had practiced forever in anticipation of
sucking Sloane off, not because he was trying to outdo the man. He
chose not to say a word as he waited, the air stilling in his lungs.

It whooshed out of him when warm, moist heat wrapped around

his cock. D shouted, his hips slamming forward at the contact.
Sloane’s hands left his wrists and pressed into his hips, stilling him
from lodging his cock down his mate’s throat again.

“Sorry. I got a little excited.”

Lynn Hagen

Sloane winked at him and then locked eyes with D as he opened

wide and went back down on him. D’s legs shook as he watched his
cock disappear into Sloane’s mouth. Oh hell, oh hell, oh hell. Was it
too early to come?

His back arched, and he cried out when Sloane slid a finger into

his ass, making his cum erupt in spurts of white ribbons. D’s head
rolled back, his mouth hanging open as his orgasm took over. He was
powerless and mindless right now as the feeling of lightning shot
through his body.

Sloane had been totally wrong. This blow job was the winner,

hands down. He’d never come so quickly in his damn life. His mate
pulled back, licking at the head of D’s cock before he stood,
unsnapping his jeans.

Both their heads turned toward the bedroom door when someone

knocked on the front door. More like banged on it like they were in
dire need. Now? Really? D wanted to wrap his legs around Sloane and
pull him close, stopping the man from leaving the room and taking the
promise of hot, mind-altering sex with him.

“I better see who that is. They sound like they’re about to bust the

door down.”

D was about to bust somebody’s head. Damn it! He rolled,

straightening his pants as he caught up with his mate. The sun had
finally set, freeing D to walk downstairs.

The banging came again, more urgent this time.
“Hold on, goddamn it. I’m coming,” Sloane shouted as he reached

the bottom of the steps. He swung the front door open, and D shouted,
racing down the steps just in time to knock Sloane out of the way as
his brothers rushed in.

His Imperfect Mate

Chapter Seven

Sloane growled, shifting into his wolf form and rushing between

the three vampires in his living room and his mate. He wasn’t sure
what D’s brothers were going to do to his mate since he hadn’t kept
his word and left Sloane alone.

Yeah, he knew about the brothers being told to leave Sloane alone

by Maverick, but now was not the time to be thinking about it. He
needed to keep his thoughts on the three men standing there hissing at
him.

“No!” D shouted as he ran around Sloane, throwing his arms out

as if to protect him. Sloane growled, pushing his nose into his mate’s
side, trying to make  him move back. “No, Sloane. I’m not going
anywhere,”  D snapped at him before turning to his brothers. “If
you’ve come to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first.”

That was the second time today D had tried to give his life for

Sloane. The bears had told him about earlier, when D had demanded
that they get Sloane to safety as he stayed behind. Sloane had been
shocked at the self-sacrifice. To him, that had voided any hard
feelings he may have still been harboring toward the vampire. Sloane
was even willing to feed the man now.

“Tell him to back off.”
“No, Raven. You are the ones who stormed into his house, so you

back off,” D shouted. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

Sloane wanted to roll his eyes. It was true that vampires were

strong, but Sloane was sure he could handle his own without his pint-
sized mate trying to help. If the situation wasn’t so damn serious,
Sloane would show D his appreciation in so many different ways.

Lynn Hagen

Raven slowly backed toward the door, his eyes never leaving

Sloane’s. “We’ve backed off. Now tell the wolf to shift back to his
human form.”

“Uh, no,” D said as he moved closer to Sloane, waving a hand at

him. “He’ll be naked if he does and I’m sorry to say this, but if you
see my mate naked, I’ll have to make you go blind.”

Sloane let out a small snicker.
“Believe me, I don’t want him.”
“That’s not the point, Raven. Why are you here?”
Sloane sat back on his haunches, but his muscles were coiled

tight, ready to leap at the first sign that these bastards were going to
hurt D. He didn’t trust them. They may be his brothers-in-law, but
they had already come after him once already.

Raven let out a long sigh. “Father sent us to do the job right.”
“No!” D shouted as he ran off into the kitchen. Sloane, along with

D’s brothers, turned their heads to see what in the hell D was doing.
His mate ran back into the living room a moment later, a knife held
high above his head as he shouted. Sloane jumped, clamping his jaw
lightly, but firmly around his mate’s wrist.

“Get the fuck off of him!” Raven shouted, taking a step forward.
“He’s just trying to stop me, but I don’t see why,” D said in a

strained, tear-filled voice. “I don’t want to hurt any of you, but he’s
my mate and he comes before anyone else.”

Sloane had had enough. He shifted, releasing his hold on his mate

as he glared at the brothers. “Get the fuck out of my house before I
kill all three of you. And since that would upset Dudley, I suggest you
leave.”

“We didn’t come here to fight you,” one of the other brothers said

as he stepped forward.

“Then why are you here?” Sloane was a bit confused. Hadn’t

Raven just said that they were here to do the job right?

“Daniel,” Raven warned.

His Imperfect Mate

“No,” Daniel snapped as he moved away from Raven, which only

put him closer to Sloane and Dudley. Sloane was watching all three of
them closely. “You said so yourself that father was wrong for sending
us in the first place. Dudley is our brother. What right does Magnum
have to make us come here and hurt anyone?”

Sloane had never heard anyone call their parent by their given

name. The man had to be a real bastard if his sons kept referring to
him as Magnum.

“What do any of you care?” D asked, once again planting his body

in front of Sloane’s. Sloane smiled inwardly. He knew what his
vampire was doing. He was trying to protect him as much as he was
trying to hide Sloane’s groin from his brothers. “Where were you
when I was growing up, huh? All three of you acted as if I didn’t
exist.”

“We care about you, Dudley,” Daniel said with a gentler voice.
“I didn’t say anything about caring,” D corrected him. “I said

where were you? While all three of you had your noses stuck up
Magnum’s ass, I was left to fend for myself. Did any of you defend
me when Magnum called me a disappointment or told me that he
wished I was a stain on the sheets?”

Sloane growled. What father would say that to his very own son?

He wanted to meet this guy so he could kick his sorry ass. Sloane was
starting to get a whole different picture of what his mate was like.
Sloane no longer saw him as someone vindictive when D had called
the hit on him, but as someone who was crying out for attention and
made the wrong decision. He pulled his mate close to him, glaring at
all three vampires standing by the door.

“He said that to you?” Raven asked. The shocked look on his face

was genuine.

“And a lot of more hurtful, hateful things. I know you guys cared

and at times when you smothered me with your lessons, but none of
your actions told me anything positive either. None of you told
Magnum to kiss your ass like I did.”

Lynn Hagen

Raven smiled from ear to ear. “You told him that?”
Sloane could feel his mate relax as he nodded. “I did, right before

I left.”

“Damn, I’m proud of you,” the brother who hadn’t said anything

so far spoke up. “You told him what I’ve wanted to tell him for ages.”

“Really, Remus?” D asked.
Okay, Sloane was really happy his mate was bonding with his

brothers, but there was still the fact that these men were standing in
his living room uninvited. His ass was catching a slight draft as well.
“You can call him and tell him all about it,” Sloane bit out as he
waved toward the door. “Now get out.”

“We can’t,” Daniel said as he took a step closer. “We don’t want

to go back.”

Say what? “Oh hell, no. You are not staying here!”
“Sloane!” D spun in his arms, smacking his bare chest. “They’re

family.”

“That tried to kill me. Again, hell no.” What the fuck did he look

like, an idiot? “If you think I’m going to let these men into my home
after they tried to off me, you’re just as loony as they are.”

“They didn’t try to…never mind, they did,” D said as he bit his

bottom lip, staring up at Sloane like a damn puppy with soulful eyes.

“No.”
“But—”
“N. O.”
D turned around, sighing, telling Sloane without words he wasn’t

going to fight him on this one. “Sorry, guys.”

“That’s okay.” Daniel was the one to speak. Sloane noticed that

Daniel was the more reserved one, the one who seemed less inclined
to attack…maybe. “Do you know anywhere we can go?”

Ah, fuck. Sloane slapped a hand over his face, knowing…just

knowing.

D nodded, and his eyes sparkled a little brighter. Sloane could tell

D was eating up the ability to help his brothers. He wasn’t sure of

His Imperfect Mate

their history, but from what he’d heard, hell if he would have helped
any damn one of them. “I’ll call the Lakelands. They’re really nice
shifters. Pa has decided to open his home to the less fortunate, and I
think you guys qualify.”

“A shifter?” Raven sneered and then curled his lips in, giving D a

nod.

Sloane wasn’t going to feel sorry for them. They brought this on

themselves. Hell, he was the one they had gone after. Why should he
offer a damn thing to them?

“Don’t attack each other,” D warned, his eyes narrowing on his

brothers and then Sloane. “I’m going to go call them.”

Sloane watched his mate leave and then turned back around,

eyeing the three men as they cautiously watched him. He didn’t trust
them. Not after what they had attempted to do to him.

“So, uh, you’re a shifter.” Daniel stated the obvious more than he

asked. “Pretty cool.” He took a seat on the sofa, strumming his fingers
on his knees. “Nice place. I love the smell of smoke, nice touch.”

Sloane was going to keep an eye on this one. He was a little off

balance. Those were the ones that needed careful watching. Raven
wore his contempt on his face, letting everyone know how he felt.
Remus hadn’t said much, so Sloane couldn’t get a good fix on the
guy. He was more of a brooder, just watching everything around him.

But Daniel wore that let’s-be-buddies look, and Sloane didn’t trust

it one bit.

“Okay,” D said as he walked back into the living room, looking

between all four of them. “Pa said he’ll come pick you men up, but he
has a young son at home and he’ll sooner kill you than let you harm
anyone.”

“What?” Raven cut his glare over to D.
D threw his hands up. “I’m just relaying the message. So I would

suggest you play nice if you want somewhere to lay low. If you think
Magnum is scary, you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t piss Pa off.

Lynn Hagen

I’m warning you. I thought he was going to skin me and lay me out in
front of the fireplace when I cleaned his pantry out.”

“I’ll remember that,” Raven replied acerbically as if he thought no

shifter could do something like that to a vampire. Sloane prayed he
was around when Raven pissed one of the bears off. Because there
was no if about it.

* * * *

D walked into the kitchen once his brothers were picked up by

Pa—and that had been interesting enough. Pa made it clear up front
that he wasn’t going to stand for any bullshit, and his brothers made it
clear that they weren’t going to give any.

But that didn’t mean his brothers had changed overnight. D knew

they had a long way to go when it came to their prejudice against
shifters, and he had his fingers crossed that living with the bears
would help them see that shifters weren’t savages out to kill vampires.

Well, not all of them at least. D wasn’t foolish enough to believe

that there weren’t some shifters out there that hated vampires just as
much. He groaned when he stood in the kitchen, taking his first good
look at the damage. When he had come in here to use the phone, D
had kept his eyes downcast, not wanting to go into a meltdown while
he was trying to handle his brothers.

But now that he was looking at the mess, he wanted to turn around

and walk away, pretending it didn’t exist. The walls were black from
the smoke, blackest behind the stove. And the stove? It was so
discolored that it was hard for D to even see what it truly resembled.
The knobs were melted into tiny clumps of useless plastic, and the
cupboards surrounding the stove were going to need replacing as well.

He walked over to the counter, looking down at what had to be the

two round pans of cake batter. There was nothing left but a tiny clump
in the middle, and the pans themselves were warped into nothing
more than two tins needing a trash bin.

His Imperfect Mate

This kitchen needed more than a paint job and new stove. The

smell of charcoaled cake and smoke still hung thickly in the air. He
wasn’t sure they would ever be able to get that smell out. D closed his
eyes briefly when he felt two strong arms wrap around his waist,
Sloane resting his strong chin on D’s shoulder.

“It’s not that bad.”
D’s jaw slid down as he turned his head to look up at his mate.

“The walls and cupboards have to be replaced, along with the stove,
and the flooring is ruined. How is it not that bad?”

“We’re alive,” Sloane reminded him and then planted a kiss on his

neck.

“How in the hell do you always look on the bright side of things?

You should be tossing me out on my ass and telling me to get my
problematic ass out of here.” It was the truth, even if D prayed Sloane
wouldn’t come to his senses and do just that. It would kill him, but
Sloane would be in his full right to make D leave after what he’d done
to the man’s home.

“Is that what you want?” Sloane asked as he pulled back, his eyes

flickering over D’s face as if he was trying to get a read on him. His
jaw tightened, and his emerald-green eyes seemed to smolder with a
touch of anger. D didn’t like that look, but he wasn’t going to lie. “For
me to make you leave?”

D swallowed as he shook his head, being honest with his mate. He

never wanted to leave Sloane’s side.

Sloane’s posture relaxed, and a smile tipped the corner of his

mouth. “You’re not problematic, just imperfect, but isn’t everyone?”

“What, problematic?”
Sloane chuckled as he ran his thumbs over D’s back in lazy

rotation, making him feel as if he were the only man in Sloane Brac’s
world. He liked that feeling. “No, imperfect. I can’t think of one
person who is perfect, but you come damn close.”

Lynn Hagen

D felt his insides melt at Sloane’s words. “If you’re trying to get

me into the bed, you’re wasting your breath. All you have to do is tell
me to get naked.”

D smiled when Sloane threw his head back and laughed. It was

the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. The musical lilt echoed
through the kitchen and settled deep in D’s chest, wrapping around
his heart. The full-blown smile on his mate’s face only enhanced his
already-handsome features.

“Get naked, hon.”
D couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough. He was pretty sure he

heard fabric tear. What the fuck did he care? Sloane wanted him
naked? He would get naked. By the time he dropped the last of his
clothes on the floor and looked up, Sloane was just standing there
with his jaw dropped.

“This will work a lot better if you’re naked, too,” D said.
D swallowed hard at the wicked grin that crossed Sloane’s lips.

There was something feral in the shifter’s eyes, something that told D
to run. D did exactly that, turning on his heels and sprinting out of the
room. He could hear Sloane’s deep growl as the man gave chase.

D had no idea where he was going. Running was too huge in his

mind to think of anything else. He swerved left then right. Sloane
blocked his every turn. The deep growls coming from Sloane grew
louder each time Sloane cornered D somewhere and D slid free.

D stopped with the recliner between him and Sloane. He quickly

glanced around the room for every possible escape route. There really
didn’t look to be any. If he ran toward the front door, Sloane would
reach him before he even touched the thick wood. If he headed into
the kitchen, he’d never make it to the back door before Sloane was on
him.

The stairs were just a little past Sloane’s shoulder. If he darted

left, then right, D just might be able to make it past Sloane and up the
stairs. It was a slim chance, but it was still a chance.

His Imperfect Mate

D darted left. The second Sloane’s body tensed and he started to

the left, D changed direction and darted right, running all out for the
stairs. A loud wail fell from his lips when he felt Sloane’s arms wrap
around him from behind just as he reached the bottom of the steps.

“Got you,” Sloane growled.
D grunted as he was slung over Sloane’s shoulder and carried up

the stairs. A small cry filled the space around them when he was
tossed through the air, bouncing on the bed several times. When he
finally stopped bouncing, D looked up to find Sloane standing at the
bottom of the bed, stark ass naked.

When Sloane started crawling up the end of the bed, D scrambled

toward the top. His joyous laughter filled the air as his ankle was
grabbed and he was pulled down the bed. Sloane’s larger body
covered D from head to toe.

“How’d you know chase is one of my favorite games?”
D grinned. “Duh, you’re a wolf.”
“You’re pretty good at it. If you hadn’t run for the stairs I might

not have caught you for a while yet.”

D arched an eyebrow. “Who says I didn’t run for the stairs on

purpose?”

“Did you?”
“I’ll never tell.”
Sloane wiggled his eyebrows. “I have vays of making you talk.”
D laughed at the bad accent Sloane used. The accent was horrible.

But it was also wonderful at the same time. D was a little astounded
that he was laughing when they were in bed together. He never once
considered that sex would be fun or filled with laughter. He always
thought it was hot and sweaty and intense.

There should be a damn manual for this shit.
“Do your worst, wolf man.”
D yelped when his legs were suddenly grabbed and pulled up. He

could feel his cock rubbing against Sloane’s, and it was the most
wonderful feeling in the world. Sloane was hard as a rock and

Lynn Hagen

leaking. It created just enough lube so that they could easily slide
against each other.

“Sloane,” D groaned. So far they had rubbed off together and

done the whole blow job thing. He had yet to be fully claimed by his
mate, and he wanted it more than he wanted to feel sunshine on his
face. “Please.”

“I’ve got you, hon.”
Oh, and he did. D could feel Sloane’s hands stroking along his

sides. Each gentle touch ramped up the lust coursing through D’s
body. Sloane seemed to know exactly where to touch him, and just
how hard or soft, to make D squirm.

“You like that, hon?”
D nodded rapidly. There was no way on earth he could even begin

to describe how much he liked having Sloane’s hands on his body.
Besides the fact that his brain had melted, he couldn’t  speak to save
his life.  That would have meant not groaning,  and that just wasn’t
possible at the moment—not when Sloane was licking and nipping at
his nipples.

Hello, hot spot!
D arched into the air, pushing his chest closer to Sloane’s mouth

and hot, slick tongue. His hands opened and closed on Sloane’s
shoulders. He didn’t know whether to pull Sloane closer or push him
away to stop the overwhelming sensations sweeping through his
body.

D didn’t even notice that Sloane had slicked up his fingers and

pressed them into him until they started to wiggle around—and then
he couldn’t concentrate on anything else. He knew what those fingers
meant. Sloane was finally going to claim him.

D almost came just from that knowledge alone. He had been

waiting forever for Sloane to claim him, to want him for keeps. He
had begun to think it would never happen. And yet, now it was. D was
scared and horny and nervous and—oh hell, he was everything all at
the same time.

His Imperfect Mate

He had never been good enough for anyone else. D was terrified

that he wouldn’t be good enough for Sloane. Sure, he gave great blow
jobs. So what? That didn’t mean Sloane wanted to keep him for the
long haul. No one else did.

“Honey, you’re thinking too hard, and if you’re able to think, I

must not be doing this right.”

D’s eyes rolled back into his head and then slowly flickered

closed. His body stiffened when he felt Sloane curl his fingers. They
brushed over a spot inside of him that sent an electrical pulse zinging
throughout his entire body.

“Oh my fucking god!” D shouted.
“That’s much better.”
D opened his eyes and looked up at Sloane. The man was staring

down at him with a feral heat in his eyes that D had never seen before.
It startled him to shaking, knowing that Sloane wanted him that much,
and it was all there in his emerald-green eyes to see.

“Sloane,” D whispered desperately as he snaked his hand around

the nape of Sloane’s neck. “Please.” D didn’t know exactly what he
was begging for. He just knew that he needed and he needed bad. He
needed now.

D eagerly pulled his legs up to his chest when Sloane pressed on

them, but the sight of Sloane kneeling between his thighs almost
made him drop them. Sloane looked so incredibly hot kneeling there,
cock in hand as he gently pushed the tip into D’s ass.

Once the head pushed in, Sloane leaned over D, his arms pressing

against the back of D’s legs just under his knees. It gave D something
to push against when he felt Sloane start to slide the rest of the way
in.

D heard Sloane groan when he finally bottomed out, his balls

pressing against D’s ass cheeks. He felt so full. There was a bit of an
ache, but it only seemed to heighten the intensity of what he was
feeling.

Lynn Hagen

D whimpered when Sloane started to move. The head of Sloane’s

cock seemed to know right where that hot spot was inside of D’s ass
and dragged across it every single time Sloane thrust in and out of
him. It was driving D out of his ever-loving mind.

“Sloane.”
“Are you going to come for me, mate?” Sloane asked, panting

heavily between each word, each thrust of his hips. “Are you going to
come all over my cock?”

D was sure his eyes had crossed at Sloane’s words. No one had

ever spoken to him like that. It was hotter than hell. D tried to wrap
his legs around Sloane as best as he could then grabbed the man’s
face and pulled it down to his. D captured Sloane’s lips with his own
in a kiss that curled his toes. He wanted to consume Sloane.

Sloane’s thrust started turning forceful, harder. D felt the sweat on

Sloane’s back as he scraped his fingernails down the man’s back. He
could feel the muscles tensing, hear Sloane’s breathing becoming
rapid.

He also felt a tingle begin in the base of his spine and work its

way around to his balls and his cock. The pressure was building, and
D wanted Sloane to explode with him. Just as the fire inside of him
reached a fevered pitch, D arched his head back and offered his throat
up to his mate. The feeling of Sloane’s tongue sliding over his hot
skin was all D needed to send him right over the edge.

D cried out, filling the space between them with the sweetest

release he had ever experienced. Pleasure swamped him when he felt
Sloane’s teeth scrape over the pulse in his throat as the man above
him roared out his own release.

Disappointment beat down on D when Sloane started kissing his

neck instead of biting him. He knew enough about shifters to know
Sloane had to bite him to claim him. He just didn’t understand why
Sloane didn’t do it.

Unless…

His Imperfect Mate

Chapter Eight

Sloane could feel the furtive glances D kept sending him as they

sat in the truck. He knew why he was getting them, too. He just didn’t
know what to do about it. He hadn’t claimed D when he had the
opportunity, when D had offered his neck. He’d turned away instead.

Sloane just couldn’t bring himself to take that last final step in

claiming D when there was something missing. Granted, Sloane
wasn’t exactly sure what that something was. He just knew it was
missing.

He felt horrible for denying his mate, especially when he could

see the confusion and hurt on D’s face every damn time he looked at
the man. D hadn’t said anything, at least not outright. Sloane doubted
he ever would. D was still too afraid Sloane would kick him to the
curb if he did.

Maybe that was the problem. Even after everything they had been

through and the progress they had made, D still doubted him, doubted
them. He was walking around Sloane on eggshells, trying to be the
perfect mate even though Sloane tried to explain to D that no one was
perfect. Not even him.

He just wanted his mate, flaws and all, and he didn’t have a clue

how to get that across to D. But he knew he couldn’t take that final
step until D was in the relationship with him one hundred percent.
Sloane didn’t want a repeat of the last time he had tried to claim D.

“We’re almost there, D,” Sloane said. “Are you sure this is

something you want to do?”

D nodded. “It’s something I have to do.”

Lynn Hagen

Out of all of the things D had done since he met the man, this little

stunt had to rank right up there with one of the dumpiest. D wanted to
go over to the Lakelands’ and talk with his brothers. He wanted to
invite them out to dinner and see if there was any way that they could
be a family again. Sloane thought D was out of his mind.

D’s brothers were vampires, for one. They had tried to kill Sloane,

for two. And they had been sent out to kill him again, for three. That
was three strikes against them as far as Sloane was concerned. He
didn’t want to see what the fourth one would be.

One the other hand, they were D’s brothers. Sloane knew he

couldn’t deny D the right to see his brothers. He just didn’t have to let
D see them alone. If he had his way, D would never be alone with
those killers again.

“You know, D, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. No

one will force you to spend time with your brothers, least of all me.”
He’d just rather go home and spend a quiet night alone with his mate.

“No.” D shook his head. “I never really had a chance to find out

why they left. I mean, I know what they told me, but I think it’s more
than that. And, they’re my brothers. I need to know.”

Sloane’s shoulders slumped as he pulled into the bears’ driveway

and saw that they were all there. He had hoped no one would be home
and he could just turn the truck around and drive away. So much for
that idea.

“Okay,” Sloane said as he brought the truck to a stop and turned it

off. He turned toward D and grabbed his hand before the little man
could scoot out the door. “But, you have to promise me one thing, D.”

“What?”
“Don’t go anywhere alone. Stay by my side.”
“Sloane—”
“I know they are your brothers, but I don’t trust them. Promise

me, honey.”

D sighed deeply. “I promise.”

His Imperfect Mate

Sloane smiled and let go of D’s hand just long enough to climb

out his side of the truck and hurry around to D’s side. Once there, he
grabbed D’s hand again. Sloane drew in a fortifying breath when he
looked at the house. This was going to be so much fun.

Not.
Sloane would rather have a root canal—on his canines.
“Hot damn, look who it is,” Chauncey whooped at the front door.

“As squirrelly as you are, I missed your mug.”

Sloane wasn’t sure if the bear was insulting his mate or not. He

decided to keep quiet and listen further.

“That’s because you’re a big dork,” D said with a smile, “and off

your rocker.”

Chauncey reached out and shook Sloane’s hand. “What brings

you two here?”

Sloane cut his eyes over to D, telling Chauncey that his mate was

the reason. Chauncey gave a slight nod and opened the screen door.
“Come on in.”

Sloane walked in with D, keeping his mate’s hand in his as they

entered the bear’s home.

“Your brothers are upstairs in your old room.” Chauncey waved a

hand toward the steps. “Good luck.”

D spun around, his eyes cautious as he stared up at the bear.

“Why, what happened?”

“They think we’re supposed to cater to them,” Chance said as he

walked out of the kitchen with baby Cole in his hands. Sloane had
heard that their pa mated a fey who had a son, and he was a cute little
bugger.

“I’ll be right back.” D tugged at Sloane’s hand, trying to get free,

but Sloane refused to let it go. He wasn’t going to allow his mate to
go upstairs with siblings that had tried to kill D’s mate. He’d be a fool
to allow such a thing.

“I’m coming with you. Remember your promise.”

Lynn Hagen

Sloane gave a slow nod of his head when D looked as though he

wanted to argue. D drew in a deep breath. “Come on.”

The twin bears snickered as D pulled Sloane up the stairs. He cut

a glare at them, but followed his mate. Once they reached the hallway
upstairs, Sloane spun his mate around until his back was against the
wall. D looked wide-eyed up at him.

Sloane caressed the side of his face, his fingers lingering on D’s

jaw. “Last chance to cut your losses and run.” The sadness in D’s
midnight-black eyes belied the smile on his face.

“I can handle them. Remember, I grew up with all three.”
“And I remember you telling me how they weren’t there for you.

Listen, Dudley, you don’t have to do this.”

D shook his head, chewing on his bottom lip as he looked up to

Sloane and then down the hallway. “Yes, I do.”

Sloane let out a long breath as he leaned back, allowing D to

resume his walking. He knew what it was like to have a need to right
the wrong, to question why something was happening. Sloane had felt
that need on more than one occasion, and he wasn’t going to deny his
vampire his right to do so.

“I feel weird knocking on my own bedroom door.”
Sloane had felt the same way the first night D had slept in their

home. He reached out and turned the knob, pushing the bedroom door
open. “Now you don’t have to.”

D narrowed his eyes at Sloane and then walked into the bedroom.
“Checking up on us, little brother?” Raven asked as he sat up from

his lazy position. “Why, do you think the shifters ate us?”

Sloane wanted to knock the smug look from Raven’s face. The

guy was an arrogant jerk, and Sloane would like nothing more than to
put him in his place. Too bad D was standing right here.

“No,” D answered, trying to take a seat on the bed, but Sloane

pulled him back by his hand, giving his mate a warning glare. D
rolled his eyes as he looked back to Raven. “I want to know why you
jumped ship. What made you leave Magnum’s home?”

His Imperfect Mate

Magnum’s home? Fuck, the brothers’ references to their

upbringing and their father were anything but normal. Sloane wanted
to ask what that was all about, but now wasn’t the time. He’d ask his
mate once they were back home.

Raven gave a lazy shrug. “We needed a change of scenery.”
“Liar,” Daniel uttered softly.
Sloane could hear a gentle rain begin outside, tapping at the roof

in a soothing rhythm. He always loved the rain and wondered why in
the hell he was thinking about that instead of concentrating on the
men in front of him. God, his mind wandered a little too easily these
days.

D yanked his hand from Sloane’s as he pointed at Raven, anger

and disappointment coloring his face. “After the help I gave you,
you’re going to sit there and give me a hard time?”

Raven shot from the bed, Sloane inserting himself between the

two.

“Help? We wouldn’t be in this damn mess if it weren’t for you.

Why in the hell did you have to go and mate a shifter?”

Sloane was shocked at the speed D used to come from behind him

and shove his hands into Raven’s chest. “Dumbass, fate chooses
mates. You should know that by now. I had no more say in this than
you do for breathing. But that’s neither here nor there. He’s my mate,
and I stand by his side. I love him, and there’s nothing you can do to
change that!”

Sloane was sucker punched with D’s declaration. The vampire

loved him? Why did his mate have to choose now to say this? It
would have been nice…fuck it, at least D had said it.

“Boy, this is awkward,” Remus said as the side of his lip lifted

into a smile. “From the stunned look on the wolf’s face, this is news
to him.”

D spun around, his eyes wide for a moment, and then he dropped

them to Sloane’s chest. “Are you mad?”

Lynn Hagen

“We’ll talk later about you keeping things from me.” Sloane

placed his hand on the small of D’s back, encouraging him to finish
what he had come here to do.

D nodded and then turned back to Raven. “So why did you

leave?”

“Magnum should never have been a parent,” Daniel spoke up,

answering D’s question. “You know this, Dudley. He’s cruel and
cold, only wanting power. He’d sacrifice all four of us to gain it.”

“You knew this before. Why leave now?” D pressed.
“Maybe because we’re nothing like him. Maybe because we know

it’s wrong for him to pit his sons against each other,” Remus said as
he leaned his hip into the dresser. “The first time he sent us here, we
honestly didn’t want to hurt Sloane…well, Daniel and I didn’t want
to.” Remus glanced over at Raven before he continued. “We had to
make a show of it for Magnum. Sorry about that,” he said to Sloane.

Sloane wasn’t sure what he should say. He gave Remus a nod,

words failing him.

“I didn’t want to either,” Raven snapped. “But I would rather go

after you than deal with Magnum. He wasn’t too happy with us when
he found out you were still breathing.”

Gee, that made Sloane feel so much better. Whatever. They could

have stated this from the start, and it would have avoided a lot of hurt
feelings. Maybe. Sloane wasn’t sure what to think at this moment. He
didn’t know if the brothers were lying or telling him the truth, and
honestly, he didn’t care. All Sloane wanted to do was take D home.

Sloane yanked D behind him when furious argument erupted

between all four men. Damn, this family was more dysfunctional than
his own. At least Sloane knew for a fact Maverick had wanted him
dead. There was no grey area. The bickering among these men was
giving him a damn headache.

“Enough!” Sloane shouted and then took in a deep breath, trying

his best to steady his nerves. The room fell silent, all eyes on him.
“We’re leaving. If D wants to talk to you, he’ll call.”

His Imperfect Mate

“Sloane,” D started then curled his lips in when Sloane gave him

an even glare.

“Later, mate.” Sloane pulled D from the room and down the steps,

happy to get away from the verbal fighting. His head was pounding in
sync with the rain falling as he climbed into his truck. D slid into the
passenger’s side, not saying a single word.

His mate was mad at him, too bad. He wasn’t going to let D stand

there and feel the brunt of what his father had done. It wasn’t D’s
fault, and he wasn’t going to let his brothers pin it on him.

They drove back in silence. The only thing heard was the wipers

swishing back and forth and the tires on the wet road. He knew
coming here was a bad idea.

* * * *

D sat there sulking, so damn angry that he knew not to say

anything because he just might regret any words he spoke right now.
The truck pulled into the driveway, Sloane cutting the motor. Sloane
got out, slamming the truck door behind him.

Oh no, Sloane was not getting away with just walking into the

house. D slipped from the truck, slamming his door with just as much
anger. “You had no right!”

Sloane spun around, his eyes blazing as he locked his emerald-

green orbs with D’s black ones. “I had every right. You are my mate,
and I will not stand by and watch your brothers pin the blame on
you.”

“So that gives you the right to boss me around?” D questioned in

amazement, anger pulsing in his voice. He took a step back when
Sloane crossed the yard, looming over him. His eyes were filled with
anger, but his expression stayed cool.

“That gave me the right, mate.”
D slammed his hands into Sloane’s abdomen, pushing the wolf

back a step as he swiped the wet hair from his eyes. He was getting

Lynn Hagen

soaked to the bone, but D didn’t care right now. The other shoe was
falling, and he wanted to be completely focused on Sloane when it
happened. “You would probably have that right if you claimed me,
but thus far you act as though I’m a temporary fix for you. In-house
dick that is nothing more than a convenience for you.”

Hurt washed into Sloane’s eyes, the silence heavy between them

now as his mate’s lip slowly lifted into a snarl. D stopped himself
from taking a step back. He wasn’t going to show any fear if his mate
was about to sever their ties.

“Why do think that is, Dudley?”
The words were harsh, cutting D deeply as he began to shiver. It

was partly because of the cold rain, but mostly because of the fear
creeping inside of him. Sloane looked ominous as he frowned down at
D with so many emotions flickering through his green eyes that D
couldn’t get a read on them.

“I don’t know,” D answered honestly.
“Because,” Sloane said around a clenched jaw, his fingers curling

in to make tight fists at his sides. “You walk around here on eggshells,
fear always playing in your eyes, as if you think I’m going to do
something to you or kick you out. You have yet to show me the real
you. If I can’t have Dudley Constantinople, in all his imperfect glory,
then I can’t see myself giving you the full trust of our mating. I set
aside my hurt and anger to make this work. The least you could do is
return the favor.”

D stood there stunned as he pushed the fallen hair from his eyes

once more. No one had ever begged to see the real him. Hell, they had
begged for him to stop acting that way. “But what if you don’t like the
real me?”

“I already told you I don’t want a perfect mate. I just want you, D,

just you.”

“I don’t think before I speak or act. I almost burned your house

down, and I screwed up our mating from day one. How could you
want that?”

His Imperfect Mate

Sloane smiled at him, his fingers caressing the side of D’s face.

“Because it’s who you are, the real you. I don’t care if the house
burns to the ground. It can be replaced, but never knowing who the
real Dudley is will never be satisfying to my soul.”

Dudley threw his arms around Sloane, praying his mate was

speaking the god’s honest truth. “Just remember, you asked to see the
real me.”

Sloane lifted D’s head, tilting it back until his pretty green eyes

were staring down at him. “Stop worrying that I’m going to get rid of
you. It’s not going to happen. I’ll get angry at times, that’s a
guarantee, but making you leave me is something that will never
happen.”

D nodded quickly as he swallowed back the tears. Sloane wanted

him. There was no other shoe, and it wasn’t going to drop on his head.
Sloane wanted D in his life. The feeling of finally belonging was the
most magnificent thing D had ever experienced in his life.

“Now let’s get inside. We may not be able to get sick, but my

balls are trying to crawl up inside of me from the cold.”

D laughed as he ran into the house with his wolf. He laughed even

harder when Sloane shook himself like a dog. Water sprayed
everywhere, including all over D, and then Sloane began to strip from
his wet clothing. D quickly parroted his mate, dropping the rain-
soaked clothes onto the floor. He rubbed his hands up and down his
arms, shaking from the cold.

“Come here and let me warm you, hon.”
D was all for that. He quickly fell into Sloane’s arms, instantly

feeling the warmth creep inside of him. He also felt Sloane’s cock
thickening as his mate ran his hands up and down D’s back. He loved
the way Sloane was always aroused around him. It made D feel like
he truly mattered to the man.

He arched his back when he felt Sloane palm his ass, ready to

wantonly give himself over…until he saw the rat. “Rat!” D shouted

Lynn Hagen

and tried to climb up Sloane’s body in an attempt to get his feet off of
the floor. “I thought you were getting rid of them!”

Sloane’s head whipped around, his eyes scanning the room. D

grinned when he saw that Sloane was just as terrified of those things
as he was. “I’ll get some traps first thing in the morning,” Sloane said
as he picked D up and raced up the stairs. “In the meantime, let’s get
warm under the covers.”

Now that sounded like a real good plan.

His Imperfect Mate

Chapter Nine

D rolled his shoulders as he sloshed the paintbrush into the pail.

He never knew painting was so boring. He lifted the brush, watching
the thick paint glop back down into the paint can. The stove had been
removed, a new wall replacing the old one. And now it was his job to
paint the wall before the new stove arrived later today.

The walls had been white, and D had no idea what he was asking

for when he begged Sloane to change the color of the kitchen.
Painting sucked. He was ready to dip into his savings and pay
someone else to do the job, but Sloane had insisted that D would feel
accomplished if he did it himself.

He wasn’t too sure about that. The only thing he was feeling was

sore muscles in his shoulders and back. All in all, the kitchen wasn’t
looking too bad with the new daisy-yellow paint. But then again, D
had only started. He had picked out the yellow color to make the
kitchen a much brighter place. Even if he wasn’t in the room during
the day, it still made him feel like sunshine was bursting in here.

Sloane had even gone out and bought matching accessories for the

kitchen. Daisy curtains, hand towels, and other things, to make the
room homier. D may not eat in here, but he planned on learning how
to cook for his mate.

He just had to remember not to fall asleep when the stove was on.
“Looks good,” Sloane said as he walked into the kitchen in

nothing but a pair of jeans. D instantly forgot about painting as he
ogled his mate’s well-defined body. He had the power to make D
forget everything when he was half-naked, and especially when he
was full-naked. The man was a god on two legs.

Lynn Hagen

“You’re dripping the paint,” Sloane pointed out as he nodded

toward D’s hand.

D glanced down to see a large puddle at his feet. Great, now they

were going to have to replace the flooring that had just been replaced.
D tossed the brush into the can and grabbed some paper towels,
hoping he could get the bright yellow paint out of the wood. “Sorry.”

Sloane brought the trash bin over, helping D with the cleanup.

“It’s no big deal. I’m guessing that the kitchen is going to look great
once it’s finished.”

It still amazed D how calm Sloane always was about his fuckups.

The only time the wolf seemed to get mad was when D tried too hard
to be overly cautious and perfect. He had yet to claim D, but he had a
feeling that Sloane was giving him time to relax in his own skin.

As long as that was the only reason, D could wait.
“Luckily we have extra flooring,” Sloane said as he stood, tossing

the paper towels into the bin, the floor still holding a yellow smudge.

“I’ll be more careful.” D tossed the towels into the bin and then

stood, grabbing the brush from the can.

“You’ll paint, you’ll make a mess, and our kitchen will look

great.” Sloane grabbed an extra brush and dipped it into the can. “And
I’ll help.”

D couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his face, and he didn’t

want to. They worked together over the next couple of hours, painting
the walls, and some of the floor. D could see that Sloane was just as
imperfect as he was. His mate was the one who got more paint on the
wood than he did on the walls. He wasn’t sure if his mate was doing it
on purpose, but D loved him for it regardless.

“There,” Sloane said with a smile as he took a step back, admiring

their work. “That’ll do for the first coat.”

“First coat?” D asked and then groaned. They had to do this all

over again? “I’m still thinking that hiring someone is a much better
idea.”

His Imperfect Mate

Sloane dropped the brush into the can, swaggering his way over to

D, making him feel jittery inside. The man had that effect on him.
“Why would you want that, hon? Think of the hours we just spent
together.”

D shuddered as Sloane wrapped his paint-laden arms around him.

The wolf hadn’t gone to put a shirt on, and he had bright yellow
splashes all across his golden chest and neck. D traced his fingers
over the smudges, biting his bottom lip as he studied his mate’s upper
torso. “True.”

“We need to clean this mess up and take a shower.”
“Together?” D asked with hope. They’d never showered together

before, and the thought had his cock getting hard at seeing his mate
with water streaming over his sexy and muscular body.

“Together.” Sloane winked at him as he picked the used

paintbrushes up. D quickly gathered their supplies and dumped them
into the trash bin. He didn’t want to waste any time. His cock was
getting harder by the second as he thought of Sloane under the spray
of the shower.

“In a hurry?” Sloane chuckled as he replaced the lid on the paint

can.

D gave him a duh look as he picked up the used paint tape and

plastic. He tossed that into the trash as well before rubbing his hands
together and looking around the freshly painted kitchen. “Looks clean
enough to me.”

“Then I guess it’s shower time.” Sloane walked out of the kitchen,

leaving D behind. He quickly caught up to Sloane as they entered the
bathroom. D shucked his clothes and stood there, waiting for Sloane
to regulate the water.

Damn if the man didn’t have one fine ass. The muscles were tight,

giving his mate the right amount of flare to both mounds. D had an
urge to bite them. He felt his face heat when Sloane turned around
and caught him staring.

“Like what you see?”

Lynn Hagen

“That’s an understatement.”
Sloane grinned as he climbed into the shower. D had been correct.

The man looked like a god as he stood under the spray. The water
trickled down his body in small rivulets, making D lick his lips.

“Are you joining me?”
D stepped into the shower and closed the door, unsure what to do.

He felt odd just standing there as Sloane showered.

“Why are you standing back there?” Sloane asked as he grabbed

D’s wrist and pulled him in front of the wolf. “Now this is a proper
shower.”

D closed his eyes as Sloane grabbed a towel, squirted some soap

onto it, and then started cleaning him. Sloane’s hands felt wonderful
on his skin. His mate ran the towel over his shoulders, his touch
gentle as he washed away the paint from D’s body. “Now doesn’t that
feel good?”

God, yes. D never wanted Sloane to take his hands away from his

skin, ever. It felt too damn good. Sloane laid his hands on D’s waist,
turning him until he faced the wall. “Relax, Dudley.”

He shivered as he nodded.
“Put your hands on the wall.”
D followed Sloane’s instructions, wondering what his mate was

doing behind him. He gasped when Sloane lowered to his knees, the
soapy towel caressing over his globes. His skin buzzed as Sloane ran
the towel down his crease, cleaning him thoroughly and then turning
his back toward the spray.

Sloane turned him back around and then parted his cheeks,

lapping at his hole. D pressed his cheek into the wall, trying to steady
himself as his legs shook, threatening to give out. Sloane’s tongue
swirled around his back entrance as he washed D’s cock and balls
with the towel. He’d never in his life had such an erotic shower like
this before.

He fought to breathe evenly, but that was a losing battle as Sloane

pulled his cheeks further apart and took D to a place he’d never been

His Imperfect Mate

before, at least not without Sloane. He keened his pleasure as Sloane
slipped one wet finger inside of him, making D’s head spin.

“I love how you feel, even around my finger.” Sloane’s words

were spoken in an almost awed fashion, sending spikes of electricity
shooting through D’s body. His fingers curled into the tile, his
breathing broken and erratic as Sloane slowly stretched him.

D tightened when Sloane pushed a third finger into him, shivering

at the feel of his mate’s lips against him. Small little gasps fell from
his lips as Sloane stood, his fingers still buried deep inside D as he
pressed his chest into D’s back. “You’re so tight, Dudley.” Sloane
whispered gutturally into his ear, the stubble of his day’s beard
growth scraping against D’s sensitive skin. “I love the way your body
sucks me in, the way your skin stretches snugly around any part of me
that I place inside of you.”

A cry fell broke from somewhere deep inside of D as he pushed

against Sloane’s fingers. “Sloane—” A plea stole from him as Sloane
worked his fingers magically inside his hole, grazing repeatedly over
D’s sweet spot.

“What do you want, hon?”
“Mate me, please.”
Sloane kissed the back of D’s neck gently and then scraped his

teeth across his flesh, sending a fresh wave of shivers through his
body. “Do you trust that I will never leave you or make you leave my
side?”

D nodded his head rapidly as Sloane scissored his fingers, making

D cry out. “Yes.”

Sloane removed his fingers and pressed the blunt head of his cock

to D’s stretched hole. “Then I will claim you.” He thrust inside of D
on the last word, sending shock waves through D’s body. Sloane
buried his face in D’s smoky-black hair as he slammed his hands onto
the tiled wall next to D’s, his breathing ragged in D’s ear. “You are
mine, and I’m never letting you go, Dudley.”

Lynn Hagen

“Don’t ever let me go.” D cried out as Sloane thrust his cock

deeper into his ass. His knees buckled, but before he could fall,
Sloane’s arm was around his waist, holding him in place. D shouted
in protest when Sloane’s thick cock pulled free. His wolf spun D
around, kissing him so hard that D tasted blood in his mouth.

Sloane pulled back, kissing the side of D’s neck. “Wrap your legs

around me, hon.”

D quickly complied, and then Sloane’s cock was right back where

it should be, buried deeply inside of him. D’s back scooted up and
down the slick wall of the shower as Sloane thrust inside of him over
and over again. He grabbed his mate’s shoulders, hanging on for dear
life as Sloane fucked him like a beast.

“Do you accept me as your mate, Dudley?” Sloane asked as he

nibbled up the side of D’s neck, licking his way back down.

“God, yes, Sloane. Yes, yes, yes.”
Sloane chuckled deeply before biting into D’s neck. A moment of

pain and then pure pleasure tore D away from reality and sent him
spiraling into an abyss so erotic that he felt as though he wasn’t going
to survive.

D could feel their bond forming, snapping into place as Sloane

growled softly as he hammered his cock into D’s ass. D sank his
fangs into Sloane’s neck, unable to stop himself. It was instinctual,
something D couldn’t have stopped even if he had wanted to.

And he hadn’t wanted to stop.
Sloane roared out his release at the same time D’s orgasm took

over, his back arching and his seed erupting from his cock, splashing
between them. Sloane licked the wound closed, and then D sealed the
twin pinpricks, both panting to bring their breathing back under
control.

“Mine,” Sloane said softly as he nuzzled D’s neck. “All mine.”
D wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck, feeling elation

overtake him that he had finally been claimed by his wolf. Sloane cut
the water off, stepping from the shower and carrying D to bed.

His Imperfect Mate

He snuggled into Sloane’s side as he sighed his sated contentment.

He was finally Sloane’s, and no one was going to take his wolf away
from him…not even his coldhearted father.

Sloane ran his hands over D’s hair as he pulled him closer, once

again nuzzling his neck as D drifted off to sleep.

* * * *

Sloane walked into the kitchen and then stopped. He leaned his

shoulder into the doorframe as he watched D clean up the paint mess.
His mate’s backside wiggled around as he picked up the used brushes,
making Sloane grit his teeth in need.

He pressed the palm of his hand into his erection, wondering if the

effect D had on him would ever diminish. God, he hoped not. The
small vampire seemed to set his blood on fire. Sloane stood up
straight when the paint can lid rolled away, D chasing after it. The lid
stopped at the door, and D ran his head right into the back door. “Are
you okay?”

D rubbed his head, glancing at Sloane and blushing profusely.

“Yeah, it’s normal for me to do things like this.”

Sloane chuckled as he pulled D into his arms, kissing where his

mate was rubbing. “Better, hon?”

“Much,” D said as he smiled up at Sloane. “You said you wanted

to see the real me.”

That he did. He just had no idea how accident-prone his mate truly

was. The vampire had already fallen on his ass getting out of the
shower, broken Sloane’s clippers, burnt Sloane’s dinner, and that was
all in one night. He was going to have to make D wear protective gear
if his mate kept this up.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think that included physical harm.”
D gave a slow shrug and then bent down to pick the lid up. Sloane

had an urge to reach out and place his hand between D’s head and the
door. “I’m used to it. I haven’t ever really harmed myself that badly.”

Lynn Hagen

Was that supposed to make Sloane feel better? He wanted to

install foam walls and rubber matting for floors. He checked his
mate’s head once again before releasing D.

“I’m fine.” D swatted away his hand. “I’ll let you know when it’s

something major.”

Sloane was going to die young of a heart attack if his mate kept

harming himself this way. He was afraid to let the vampire out of his
sight. How the hell had he managed to live for so long without being
in traction half the time?

“Do you want me to make you something else to eat?” D asked as

he pressed the lid onto the paint can. “All we have is the microwave
right now, but I promise not to burn anything else.”

How D managed to burn his food in a microwave, Sloane would

never know. “No, thanks. I was thinking about going down to the
diner. Want to join me?”

The sun still set early enough to where Sloane could take D out

with some of the businesses still open. Sloane was starving, and he
really didn’t want to test his luck with D’s cooking. He knew the man
was trying, and he loved him for that, but Sloane was in the mood for
something thick and hearty.

“Let me get cleaned up, and we can go.”
“Don’t slip this time.”
D shot him a narrowed glare and then ran up the steps. Sloane

chuckled as he pushed all the painting supplies to the side. He didn’t
want his mate walking in here and falling over anything.

“Shit,” Sloane shouted and then ran when he saw the rat again.

Goddamn it, when was he going to remember the traps?

“What’s wrong?” D called from upstairs.
Sloane shuddered as he walked out of the kitchen, sticking his

tongue out in disgust. “Nothing, just saw our pet again.”

“You really do need to get those traps.”
No shit. Hopefully the store was still open by the time they made

it into town. Maybe he should just pay an exterminator to come out

His Imperfect Mate

and take care of them. He wasn’t going to admit it to his mate, but
those damn vermin scared him as well.

“Ready,” D said as he came downstairs. “I’m paint-free.”
Sloane glanced toward the kitchen as he grabbed D’s hand,

pulling him from the house. “Let’s get out of here then.”

D laughed as he trailed behind Sloane. “Afraid of the rat?”
“You are, too, and we have more than one.”
D froze, his pale face paling. “Really?”
“Now who’s freaking out?”  Sloane climbed into the truck and

turned the key, the motor roaring to life as D slid into the cab. “Don’t
worry. I’ll save you.”

“How, when you’re just as scared as I am?”
“Am not,” Sloane grumbled as he pulled from the driveway.

* * * *

Chauncey sat back in the diner, waiting for his mate, Curtis, to

finish up at the bookstore. He had some kind of inventory to get done,
something about new books coming in. Chauncey just wanted to see
his mate and get frisky with his honey bunny.

It had been a whole day since he saw his mate, and Chauncey was

horny as hell. Curtis working was killing him. Of course, he had to
work the ranch, but that was beside the point.

“Can I get you something?” Seth, the new waiter, asked as he

pulled his scratch pad out.

“My mate would be nice,” he said, a little too edgy. Damn, Curtis

working overtime was really making his bear grumpy. “Sorry, coffee
is fine.”

Seth gave him a knowing grin, and then he left Chauncey to get

his coffee. He smiled widely when he saw Curtis walk through the
door, a big goofy grin on his mate’s face when he spotted Chauncey.
Yeah, baby, come to papa.

100

Lynn Hagen

Curtis slid into the same side of the booth as Chauncey, wrapping

his arms around his neck and giving him little kisses all over his face.
Chauncey was eating it up like a starving bear. “Have you been
waiting long?”

“What do you think, that I can’t handle being without you? I’m

cool, been hanging out with the new waiter.”

Curtis rolled his eyes and slapped Chauncey’s chest. “You suck at

lying.”

“Maybe so, but I can handle going a day without seeing you.”

Well, he could…if the days were only four hours long.

Curtis grinned as he picked up the menu. “Are we eating here?”
“We might as well. It’s late, and the food is probably devoured at

home already.”

Chauncey grinned when he saw Chance walking into the diner.

God, his brother was so good looking. It made a bear proud. His
twin’s eyes cut over to him, and then a smile formed on his face.

“Long time no see, bear,” Cody called out from behind the

counter.

Chance waved at the proprietor and then stopped at Chauncey’s

table. “Eating again?”

Curtis snorted and smacked Chauncey with the menu. “I thought

you were going to wait for me to eat dinner?”

“Ah, honey bunny, I was hungry.”
Curtis rolled his eyes and glanced down at the menu. Chauncey

narrowed his eyes at Chance. His twin only laughed. “Getting that ass
spanked, I see.”

Chauncey cocked his head to the side when Chance froze, the

smile sliding from his face. What the hell?

Seth walked over just then, placing Chauncey’s cup on the table

and smiling as he pulled his scratch pad out. “What can I get for you,
Curtis?”

Both Curtis and Chauncey were staring at Chance as his brother

turned toward the waiter and inhaled sharply. “Mine!”

102

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Ten

Sloane opened the diner door for his mate, stopping as soon as he

stepped into the chaos in front of him. What the hell was wrong with
those bears? Chauncey had Chance in a choke hold, and Cody was
hiding the new waiter behind him. He didn’t think the food was that
bad here.

George sauntered out of the kitchen, a cleaver in his hand. “I like

ya, Chance, but Seth said no. So back the hell off or I’m gonna have
to make you leave.”

“What’s going on?” D asked as they walked further into the diner.
Yeah, Sloane wanted to know as well. The damn diner was

erupting into chaos, and D wasn’t even involved this time. Would
wonders never cease? “Do you want to grab something at the market
and just go home or try and fight off the vermin?”

D looked a little pale as he shook his head. Okay, paler than usual.

“I’m pretty sure the vermin at home are bigger. Let’s eat here.”

Sloane chuckled and walked further into the diner. He kept D

glued to one side of him as he edged around the men arguing. He
wasn’t sure who was winning, but his bet was on George. That was a
damn big cleaver.

“Uh, when you get a chance,” Sloane said as he slid past Cody

and the cowering waiter, “we’d like a menu.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Does it look like I have time for that shit

right now? Get your own damn menu.”

“I’ll get it,” Seth said as he hurried off.
But Seth’s leaving seemed to only enrage Chance even more.

Chance roared and broke free of the hold Chauncey had around his

His Imperfect Mate

103

neck. Sloane reared back when Chauncey tried to get by him. He
shoved D and Seth behind him as fast as he could.

“Chance, I’m warning you!” Sloane snapped. He didn’t have a

flipping clue what was going on here, but he wasn’t about to let
anyone hurt his mate. “You need to back the fuck off.”

“Mine!”
Sloane’s eyebrows shot up. He slowly turned and looked behind

him. D looked just as shocked as he felt. Seth, on the other hand, was
pale ass white. “Oh shit!”

“Dude,” Seth scoffed, “you are nuts.”
“Damn if this doesn’t feel like déjà vu.” George snickered.
Sloane shot a quick glance at Cody to confirm his suspicions. He

groaned when Cody shook his head. Fuck, this was just getting better
and better. Seth had no idea what they were. Sloane couldn’t help but
wonder, considering how many of them ate in the diner on a regular
basis, how Cody could keep a human working for him that had no
clue about their kind.

“Now, look, Chance,” Sloane began as he turned back to face the

bear. He needed to defuse this situation before someone got hurt. “I
know how you’re feeling right now but—”

Sloane blinked and wiggled his jaw as he pushed himself up off

the floor several feet from where he had been standing not a second
ago. Fuck, that hurt. He gently felt around his jawline. While it hurt
like hell, nothing seemed to be broken.

Sloane turned toward Chance, ready to hand the man his head for

hitting him. He was brought up short by shock when he saw D and
Seth beating their fists over the top of Chance’s head and shoulders.

Yeah, he just knew somehow D would get involved.
Sloane walked over and grabbed D around the waist, pulling him

off of Chance. As much as he was touched by D attacking Chance, he
couldn’t allow his little mate to get hurt. He couldn’t allow Seth to be
hurt either.

“Cody,” he hollered, “a little help here?”

104

Lynn Hagen

Cody rolled his eyes as he walked between the men standing in

the middle of the diner. He eyed Sloane and then cut a glare at
Chance. “He doesn’t know, so back the fuck off until things are
explained to him.”

Chance growled, extending his chest. Sloane thought for sure the

man was going to start beating on it like a caveman. To his surprise,
Chance’s stance relaxed and he grinned. “I can do that.”

“Wait or explain things to him?” Cody asked skeptically.
“Both,” Chance said as he slid into the nearest booth. “I know

where he works now. It’s all good.”

Sloane didn’t trust the calmness. Not when Chance had just gone

so totally apeshit. He gently pushed D into a booth, sitting on the side
so that he could keep a close eye on the bear. He wasn’t taking any
chances.

“The shithead is cool,” Chauncey announced to everyone.

“Sometimes his brain takes a dump, but it should be back online any
moment.”

Sloane smiled when Curtis swatted his mate’s chest. “Not nice,

Chauncey.”

“But, honey bunny, you know it’s true. Chance is just mad

because it’s his turn to get his ass handed to him.”

“Still not nice,” Curtis said as he slid into Chance’s booth,

Chauncey scooting in beside his mate. Sloane could see Seth staring
strangely at Chance as he grabbed two menus and brought them over
to his table.

“Don’t mind them,” D said as he waved toward the twins’ booth.

“They were dropped on their heads as cubs.”

“Cubs?” Seth repeated the word, his eyebrows shooting into his

hairline.

Sloane groaned.
“Hon, think before you speak,” he reminded his mate gently. D

curled his lips in, dropping his eyes quickly to the menu. Sloane

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tapped D’s leg with his foot, winking at his mate when the vampire
looked up at him.

“Have you decided yet?” Seth asked as he held the pencil over his

pad.

“I’ll have the special.” Sloane handed the menu to the waiter.
“And you?” He turned to D.
“Uh, nothing for me, thanks.”
Seth nodded and walked away, his eyes darting over to Chance a

few times as he walked behind the counter.

“I want to check out the hardware store and see if they have any

traps,” Sloane said. “Will you be okay for a minute?”

D rolled his midnight-black eyes. “I think I can manage in a diner

full of shifters.”

Sloane pushed from the booth and bent at the waist, placing a

quick kiss on D’s lips. “I’ll be right back.” He gave Cody a nod,
letting the shifter know to keep an eye on his mate. Cody nodded back
in understanding.

Sloane walked out of the diner, heading down to the hardware

store. If he hurried, he could catch them before they closed. He didn’t
like leaving D by himself in the diner. There was no telling what other
shit would jump off, and Sloane shuddered at the idea of his vampire
being involved in any of it.

Chance was a bear, and Sloane really didn’t know too much about

them, but he did know that the shifter had found his mate and there
was nothing anyone could do to keep Chance away from that human.

Sloane cursed when he pulled on the hardware door to find it

closed. He was going to get rid of those rats one way or another. It
was just gross having them in his home. He didn’t even want to think
of the possibilities of the vermin reproducing in his basement.

Sloane was caught off guard when he was suddenly slammed into

a wall. He knew right away that it was a vampire because he couldn’t
easily break the hold whoever it was had on his arms. With no other
way out of this, Sloane reared his head back, slamming it into the

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other person’s face. He heard a crack of bones and a howl of pain, the
hold falling away.

He spun around to see another man standing there with a

lecherous grin on his face, and for some reason, Sloane knew who the
man was without introductions. “Magnum.”

“Very good, shifter. You know your better when you see him.”
“Hardly,” Sloane spat. “I know a coldhearted bastard when I see

one.”

Magnum’s nostrils flared as his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. They

were as black as D’s, but they were empty, void of anything kind or
nurturing. “I see Dudley has been speaking out of turn about me.”

Hearing his mate’s name on this man’s lips inflamed Sloane.

“Don’t talk about my mate.”

“Ah, you see, that’s why I’m here. Dudley is not your mate. He is

a vampire, a pureblood, and it will remain that way. He has duties and
obligations to this family, and I will not allow him to wallow with
lowly shifters, savages among the paranormal world.”

“He left home, so his duties are no longer your concern.”
“Yes, he wanted to get out and experience life a little. I allowed

him his freedom to do so, but it is time he returned home where he
belongs. Dudley cannot handle the real world and must be watched
constantly. I granted him some time to sow his wild oats, but I never
dreamt he would stoop so low as to try and mate with a filthy shifter.”

Sloane leapt, but was taken down by two vampires before he

could tear Magnum’s throat out. The bastard had no clue who D even
was. His mate was kind, funny, and warm, always smiling now and
quick to try and please Sloane. The man had no clue what a true
treasure D was, and he wasn’t going to let this man anywhere near his
mate.

“Dudley seems to be handling himself just fine.”
Magnum scoffed at Sloane’s words, a tsk falling from his thin lips.

“So foolishness is added to your qualities. The boy is irresponsible,
accident-prone, and havoc on my nerves, but he belongs at home.”

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107

“Don’t forget a disappointment and a mistake,” Sloane sneered.

“You must not forget those things, Magnum.”

Magnum placed his hands behind his back, giving Sloane a tight

smile. “How could I ever forget?”

“You bastard,” Sloane growled as he shifted, fighting off the two

vampires that held him down. When he finally broke free, Sloane
turned to give Magnum a piece of his rage, but the man was gone.

Fear gripped his heart as he raced back to the diner. If Magnum

had gone after D, Sloane was going to tear the man apart, slowly. He
hadn’t gone through all the bullshit with his mate to turn around and
lose him. Sloane shifted  back to human form and raced  down the
street to the diner. He ignored the gasp as he pulled the door open and
ran inside. He stood there naked as the day he was born as he scanned
the place  for his mate. Sloane  breathed a sigh of relief when he
spotted D over by the counter talking with Keata.

“Damn, put some clothes on,” Chauncey said as he chuckled.
“I…” Sloane raced across the room and pulled D into his arms,

inhaling his scent and kissing his temple.

“Why are you naked, Sloane?” D asked as he yanked his shirt off

and tried his best to cover Sloane’s cock.

He kissed his mate again as he chuckled. It felt so good to have D

back into his arms. “Because the hardware store was closed.” It was a
stupid reason but the only one he could come up with at the moment.

“So you stripped out of your clothes?”
Sloane ran his hands over his mate’s hair, staring down into his

beautiful midnight-black eyes. “Come on, let’s go.”

D shrugged as he slid from the stool and then looked back at the

kitchen. “What about your food?”

“Here,” Cody said as he handed the Styrofoam container to

Sloane. “We’ll talk later.”

Sloane grabbed D and his food, heading out of the diner. He

scanned the area as his mate climbed into the truck, assuring himself
that Magnum was nowhere around. “I need to stop at my cousin’s

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house.” Because there was no way Sloane was taking D home. Not
while Magnum was on the hunt for his son.

He also needed to talk to the Lakelands and let them know

Magnum was in town. He waved his hand at Chauncey and waited for
the bear to come outside.

“Dude.” Chauncey snickered. “If you want to talk to me, put some

clothes on.”

Sloane ignored the man as he lowered his voice so D couldn’t

hear. His mate would only go into a full-blown panic attack if he
knew Magnum was near. “Dudley’s father just paid me a visit. Keep
D’s brothers safe.”

Chauncey gave a grim nod as he glanced over to D. “Keep your

mate safe as well. I’ll let my brothers and Pa know.”

“Thanks,” Sloane said and then slid into the truck.
“What was that all about?” D asked as Sloane reversed the truck

and headed for the Den. He didn’t want to lie to his mate, so Sloane
knew he was going to have to come clean. The fallout was not going
to be pretty.

Sloane grimaced as he slid a quick glance over at his mate. “I ran

into your father.”

“What!” D shouted and then spun toward Sloane. “Did he hurt

you?”

The terror in D’s eyes warmed Sloane from the inside out. He was

finding that his mate was very protective of him—which was a total
flip of the coin from their rough beginning.

“No, he didn’t hurt me. But I don’t want to take you home with it

being only the two of us there. He had others with him.” And Sloane
would die if something happened to his small vampire. He hated
running, but if it meant keeping his mate safe, Sloane would run to the
other end of the earth.

“I’m sorry,” D said under his breath. “I didn’t mean for any of this

to happen.”

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Sloane reached over and grabbed D’s hand, entwining their

fingers together. “It’s not your fault you were raised by that pompous
bastard. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But my father wants you dead because of me!”
“No,” Sloane disagreed. “Your father wants me dead because he’s

a racist pig. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t see one,” D confessed as he turned and stared out of the

window.

Sloane reached over and pulled D to his side. “Stop being so

rough on yourself, baby. You’re my imperfect mate, and I love you.”

“You do?” D asked in amazement.
Sloane realized that he hadn’t even told his mate yet how he felt

about him. He would make sure he corrected that every single day of
their lives. “Yes, I do, Dudley.”

His vampire scooted closer as Sloane pulled into the gravel

driveway. Sentries came around the house, eyeing the truck and then
turning back around when they saw it was Sloane.

“Isn’t it going to be hard to explain to your pack why you’re

naked?” D asked as he pushed to his side of the truck. “And for the
record, I don’t care if you are a shifter, stop showing off what belongs
to me.”

Sloane chuckled as he reached behind the seat and grabbed a pair

of jogging pants, quickly slipping them on. “Better?”

D shook his head. “No, you should have a shirt on as well.”
“So should you,” Sloane pointed out.
D glanced down at his chest and then blushed. “I used it to cover

you.”

“Well put it back on before I have to rip someone’s eyes out.”

Sloane led his mate inside the Den once his shirt was back in place.
No one was going to see his mate’s glorious body but him. Sloane
was a selfish bastard when it came to D, and he didn’t share, not even
the sight of his mate’s body.

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“What brings you here so late?” Maverick asked as he walked into

the foyer.

Sloane wrapped his arm around D’s shoulder, pulling his mate

close. He hated that Magnum had him jumpy now, but he knew that
the bastard wasn’t just going to walk away. “Dudley’s father paid me
a visit outside the hardware store.”

Maverick’s jovial expression morphed into anger as his eyes

shifted between Sloane and D. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but I’d feel much better if my mate was someplace with

warriors all around. The man didn’t seem like he was going to give in
that easily.”

“He won’t,” D interjected. “If I know one thing about my father,

he’s tenacious when he wants something.”

“Take your old room,” Maverick said to Sloane as he waved a

hand toward the stairs. “I’ll look into the man’s presence in my
town.”

Sloane took D upstairs, not wanting his mate to hear any more of

his cousin’s plans than he had to. It was one thing for D to know his
father was a coldhearted bastard. It was something different  to hear
how his demise was being planned. D was a good guy,  and Sloane
didn’t want him to suffer any more than he needed to in this.

* * * *

Maverick kicked his booted feet up onto the desk as he rubbed his

soul patch, waiting for Christian, the prince of vampires, to answer his
damn phone.

“Hello, Maverick.”
“How’s it going, Christian?” Maverick asked.
“About the same as the last time you called.”
The man was an arrogant prick, but Maverick had grown fond of

the prince over the years. He would never in a million years tell him
this, though. “Had a visit from Magnum Constantinople tonight.”

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111

Maverick cut to the chase, not wanting to be on the phone any longer
than he had to. He’d rather be out there throttling the uninvited
bastard.

Christian sighed. “I told him to stay away from Brac Village. It

seems his prejudice runs even deeper than his loyalty to me.”

“Apparently. What do I need to know about him, aside from what

you’ve already told me?”

“Since no one can disseminate into your home, you’ll just have to

watch the surrounding grounds. Even though you have warriors, a
vampire has many ways of gaining entrance into a shifter’s home.
Keep me abreast of the situation, and I’ll take care of things on this
end.”

“That’s just what I didn’t want to hear.” Maverick pinched the

bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “Thanks.”

“Watch your back, Maverick. Magnum isn’t known for his

bedside manner. He’s ruthless in the vampire world, not caring about
anyone as he amasses his fortune. From my understanding, he would
even sell his sons if he thought it would gain him power and wealth.”

“He sounds like someone I’d like to meet, up close and personal.”

Maverick would love to get his hands on Magnum. It was people like
him that made a bad name for the paranormal world. Hell, he made a
bad name for men.

“I’ll keep my eyes open.” Maverick hung up the phone, sighing as

he pushed away from his desk to warn his sentries of Magnum.

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Chapter Eleven

D paced the bedroom upstairs after Sloane left to go talk to the

alpha. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the people who lived here, or even
being here. He just hated that he couldn’t be in his own home. It was a
disconcerting feeling when someone made a person flee, and even
more disturbing when it was a parent.

Magnum had done some lowly things in D’s life, but to go after

his mate and threaten the wolf was the lowest thing D could think of.
If he could find his father right now, he would give him a piece of his
mind.  He may be useless, a bumbling idiot, and accident-prone, and
Magnum may not think he was worthy enough to be his son,  but he
was worthy enough to be Sloane’s mate. To D, that meant more to D
than anything in the world.

Magnum could kiss his ass.
He hated the fact that his father just wouldn’t leave him alone.

What was so special about him that Magnum had to make his life a
living hell? Walking over to the window, D pushed aside the thick
curtain and stared off into the backyard. There were spotlights here
and there, but not enough to make the yard overly bright.

D saw some small cottages decorating the backyard. Some still

held the glow of soft lights inside, indicating that the occupants were
still awake. He wondered what it would be like to live in one of those
cottages, having an entire pack surrounding him and Sloane.

D shuddered. No thanks. He’d rather live in that big house…rats

and all. He was happy. For the first time in his life, he was happy, and
his father was threatening to destroy that.

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113

As he gazed into the yard below, thinking of how his mate loved

him for who he was, he saw movement by one of the cottages. He
focused his eyes closer. At first he couldn’t make out anything but a
shadow, but then the shadow stepped into one of the lights falling
from one of the cottage windows, revealing his father!

D gasped and then growled. He had had enough of the man, and

he was tired of this. He was going to take care of Magnum, once and
for all. How? He wasn’t sure yet, but the thought of that man getting
anywhere near Sloane made him see red.

He just wished he could disseminate down there. Since he

couldn’t without taking a chance of ending up in Scotland, how was
he going to get past everyone?

One corner of Magnum’s mouth pulled up into a cold smile as he

curled his finger in for D to come down and join him. As scary as
Magnum was, D was tired of the man controlling his life. He had to
put a stop to this once and for all.

Magnum wasn’t going to get away with this. Sloane was

everything to him, and his father wasn’t going to harm one hair on the
wolf’s head.

He quickly crossed the bedroom and peeked out into the hallway.

When he saw no one, he quietly closed the door behind him and raced
down the stairs. With his back to the wall, D scaled down the hallway
until he came to the kitchen.

Performing a quick head check, D saw that the kitchen was void

of people. His pulse thundered in his ears at the idea of going out
there to face his father on his own. He pulled drawers open, searching
for something he could use as a weapon. D wasn’t foolish enough to
face his father unarmed. He would need more than just his feeble
strength when it came to Magnum.

He snatched a knife from the drawer and placed it in the back

waistband of his jeans, and then hurried out of the kitchen door,
praying he didn’t fuck around and fall along the way. It would really
hurt if he stabbed himself in the ass.

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He crept along the picnic tables in the back and then around one

of the cottages. From down here on the ground, D couldn’t remember
exactly which one Magnum was standing by. An overwhelming urge
to run back into the house and lock the door hit him hard in the gut,
but D had to do this for Sloane, for their life together. If they stood
any hope at all, he had to teach Magnum a lesson.

“Always the defiant one,” Magnum said from behind him, his

voice a deep baritone that sent a cold chill down D’s spine.

D stiffened, his heart pounding so hard his chest hurt as he slowly

turned around and took a step back. Magnum looked powerful, his
presence demanding D’s attention. But it was Magnum’s eyes that
scared D the most. They were shining in the pale light of the moon,
and the black orbs reminded D of someplace cold, barren of life and
love.

He stood there frozen, his bravery fleeing him now that he was

actually confronting his father. His mouth felt like it had dried up, and
his tongue had swollen two sizes too big, incapable of saying any
words.

D knew that having the balls to give his father a piece of his mind

while up in the bedroom was totally different from standing in front
of the man. Seeing just how coldhearted Magnum truly was from the
self-satisfied look on his face intimidated him.

This was some scary shit.
“W–Why?” D stuttered, finally finding his voice, even if it was

weak and lacked any conviction or strength.

“Why?” Magnum asked with an air of spiteful teasing in his

voice. “Because, Dudley, I can. It’s just that simple. I won’t have one
of my sons mating a savage beast. Now you’ll come home with me,
like a good little son, and do as you are told.”

D took another step back, swallowing hard at the resolute tone in

his father’s voice as he placed his hands behind his back, near the
knife. “You practically helped me pack my bags when I left. Why
would you want me to return?”

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115

Magnum crossed his arms over his broad chest, leaning his

shoulder into the back of one of the cottages, his stance relaxed as if
D were no threat to him at all. “I honestly don’t want you to return.
But I’d rather have your incompetent ass back under my thumb than
everyone finding out that my son is a shifter’s whore.”

“I’m not a whore!” D shouted, his limbs shaking with the anger

and rage building inside of him. “If you want to put a label on me,
fine, but make it accurate. Sloane was my first!” D took a deep breath,
trying to rein in his frazzled nerves. “Which does not make me a
whore,” he added through gritted teeth.

“It’s disgusting,” Magnum sneered, his lip pulling up into a snarl.

“When you set out to fuck things up, you get the job done correctly,
don’t you? Not only have you rutted with a dog, but a man no less.
How can you look at yourself in the mirror knowing these things?”

D could feel his fangs elongating and his small black claws

stretching from his fingernails. The anger from all the years of
Magnum’s verbal abuse was coming  to the surface. “I can look at
myself in the mirror just fine,”  he snapped. “I may have mated a
shifter, and I may be gay, but I know when I look at myself in the
mirror I’m proud of who I am.”

“Pride,” Magnum scoffed. “What does that have to do with power

and wealth? It’s a small blip on the radar in the whole big scheme of
things.”

D snorted loudly, not believing what he was hearing. “You seem

to have plenty of pride, Magnum. You’re too proud to allow your
sons to lead their own lives, always the controlling one, always
putting us down. You should be the one breaking every damn mirror
in the house. I don’t see how you can stomach looking at yourself.”

D leapt back when Magnum stood and lifted his arm, as if to

backhand him. His face was pulled back in a mask of rage as he stared
down at D with those cold, anger-filled eyes. “How dare you speak to
me that way! For over one hundred years I have clothed you and put a
roof over your head.”

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“And that makes you a father?” D sputtered. “I could have

received those things from anyone. The fucking servants treated me
better than you ever did! But stupid me, I still chose to love you, no
matter how badly you treated me. I’m tired of trying to prove to you
what kind of a man I am.”

“You shouldn’t even carry the Constantinople name. You—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I should have been a stain on the sheets.

Yeah, I’ve heard that one over and over again. God, you would think
after all these years you would come up with something more
original.”

Was he fucking nuts? D wasn’t sure where all this bravery was

coming from, but he was tired of Magnum putting him down, telling
him what a huge disappointment he was. Sloane had taught him that
he was allowed to be himself, mistakes and all, and that it was okay.
There was nothing wrong with him, and he wasn’t a mistake. He
didn’t need Magnum’s approval, not when he had Sloane’s.

His wolf had shown him that he was a great person, and D wasn’t

going to allow this man to stand in front of him and take that away.

“You will return home,” Magnum demanded. “Or I will make

sure every last shifter in that house pays for your insubordination.”

“I highly doubt that,” Maverick said as he walked from behind

one of the cottages, his canines bared, his eyes promising death. D
stepped away from Magnum, making sure the alpha killed the right
person. The man was even scarier than Magnum could ever hope to
be. The shifter stood so tall that he even loomed over D’s father.

Go Maverick!
He felt relief wash through him when he saw Sloane swagger

from around another cottage, his eyes locked onto D’s. His mate had
pride in his eyes, but D could also tell his mate was pissed off.

Fuck, he was in deep shit.
“You. You’re the one responsible for poisoning my sons against

me,” Magnum accused as he pointed a finger toward Maverick and

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117

then glared at Sloane. “Shifters are nothing but filthy animals that
can’t be trusted. What did you do, brainwash him?”

D rolled his eyes. “I do have a mind of my own, and I do know

how to think.”

His father’s eyes snapped to him before locking back onto

Maverick’s, which only incensed D further.

“I think you’ve outworn your welcome,” Maverick said. “Oh, wait

a minute. You were never welcomed here in the first place. So get the
fuck off of my property.” He said the last sentence with a low and
lethal authority that made D shiver where he stood.

“Do you think a filthy shifter can command me?” Magnum asked

as he laid a hand on his chest. He looked as if he were insulted to his
very bones at Maverick giving him a command. “I’m a vampire. My
station in life is too high to listen to such beasts speak to me that
way.”

Everyone rolled their eyes this time.
“Your ass is full of a lot of hot air, and a lot of bullshit.”
D bit his lip to stop the giggle from erupting. Now would not be a

good time to laugh.

“Now, like I said before”—Maverick uncurled his arms from his

chest and took a step forward—“get the fuck off of my goddamn
property.”

“And if I don’t?” Magnum asked with a sarcastic tone.
“Then I’ll make you,” Sloane said as he walked away from the

cottage, situating his body between Magnum and D’s. “Dudley is
mine. You have no rights to him since he left home. Dudley is no
longer under the care and protection of his parent. He’s been of age
for a very long time.”

“That law doesn’t apply to you shifters. I don’t recognize shifters,

so I don’t relinquish my parental rights.” Magnum looked triumphant.

“Whether you recognize it or not, it is the law of mating, and you

will adhere to it.”

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D’s eyes snapped up when he saw Christian standing behind

Magnum. What the hell? Was this a three-ring circus or what?
Everyone and their goddamn mother were showing up for his
confrontation with his father. D felt as though he should have sold
tickets to this damn event. There were even a couple of wolves
emerging from the woods, slowly making their way to circle around
the small group D was standing in.

“Prince,” Magnum said, his voice lowering to a respectable tone.
“I thought I told you to drop this matter?” Christian asked

Magnum. “But I see that you feel you are at a higher station than I am
with your blatant disregard at my orders.”

“But he’s my son,” Magnum pointed out. “Not even the prince

can tell me what I can do with my son.”

Christian cocked a fine, black eyebrow. “Oh really? Are you

defying me?”

“Why no, Prince,” Magnum sputtered. “I would never defy you.”
“Wise move. Now I suggest that you leave your son be and go

home. He is mated to the wolf shifter now, and there is nothing you
can do about it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Magnum’s fingers curled into fists at his

side. “There is no such thing as a vampire mating a shifter, and a man
at that. It’s an abomination, and I won’t stand for it!”

“You’re an ass,” D murmured. “Just leave me alone. I won’t

bother you, and you don’t bother me,” he said loud enough for his
father to hear.

“I won’t have my son mated to a shifter!” Magnum roared as he

leapt toward Sloane. D wasn’t sure what happened next. Everything
was a blur. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn’t think,
only acted as he pulled the knife from out of his pants and plunged it
into Magnum’s gut.

“Don’t touch my mate!”
Magnum stumbled back, looking down at the knife in his stomach

and then up at D. “You stabbed me!”

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119

“And I’ll do worse than that, you sorry son of a bitch!” D shouted.

“You’ll heal from the wound, so stop crying like a little bitch. But if
you come near my mate again, I’ll stab you in a place you can’t heal
from,” D threatened as he jutted out his chin.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Maverick chuckled from the side of D.

“The little vampire has a set of balls on him.”

D couldn’t stop the grin at Maverick’s compliment.
It was a compliment, right?
“Fuck you and your brothers.”  Magnum spat the words

venomously as he yanked the knife from his stomach and threw it on
the ground at D’s feet. “I disown all four of you. Never show your
faces in my presence again.”

D snorted as he waved a hand toward Magnum. “I can guarantee

that won’t be a problem.”

Christian grabbed Magnum’s shoulder and disseminated, letting D

finally take a deep breath of relief.

“Well, that was fun,” Maverick said as he spun around and started

walking toward the house. “Next time, sell tickets.”

D gasped when Sloane grabbed him by both of his upper arms, a

snarl on his lips. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” His wolf
pulled D into his arms. “I thought I was going to have a damn heart
attack.”

D smiled as he wrapped his arms around Sloane’s waist, letting

the feel of his man soak into his skin. “I’ll defend you anytime if
anyone tries to harm you.”

Sloane chuckled.
“How much of it did you hear?” D asked as Sloane held him.
“Everything. Maverick and I saw you leaving the kitchen and

followed.”

“And you let me think I was about to get my ass handed to me the

whole time?” D screeched. “Thanks a lot.”

Sloane kissed him on his temple, a smile on his lips. “I knew you

had to face your father and speak your mind. I wasn’t about to take

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that away from you, but I was close enough to kill the bastard if he
touched you.” Sloane leaned back, his eyes narrowing. “Why didn’t
you tell me I was your first?” There was a slight growl in his words.

“Would that have changed anything?” D asked.
Sloane sighed. “No.”
“Then it didn’t matter.”
Sloane released D and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go home, hon.”
Those were magical words to D’s ears. He had a mate, a home,

and someone to love for all eternity. Their beginning had been rocky,
but D knew that his mate loved him for who he was, imperfections
and all.

Now all they had to do was get rid of the rats.

* * * *

Chance walked back into the diner, scanning the place for his

mate. There was no way he was allowing the little human to get away
from him. Seth was as glorious looking as the sunrise, and Chance
wasn’t going to let the man get away.

“He’s off today,” Cody said from behind the counter. “His

nephew had a doctor appointment.”

Chance took a seat at the counter. His shoulders slumped as

disappointment filled him at the fact that he wouldn’t be able to see
his mate today. “Why is he taking his nephew to the doctor?”

Cody leaned his arms on the counter, sighing. “He has custody of

Oscar after his parents were killed in a house fire. I know you’re his
mate, but take it easy on him, Chance. Seth has been through a lot,
and so has Oscar. I don’t need you adding to that.”

Chance was stunned. His mate was a parent? He smiled and

nodded toward Cody. The thought of helping his mate raise a cub
made his chest fill with pride.

He was going to be a papa.
Hot damn!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but

lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to
find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart.

You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a

cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story.

Also by Lynn Hagen

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 21: Alex’s Secret

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 22: Tater’s Bear

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 23: Curtis’s Dads

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 24:

A Brac Pack Crazy Family Christmas

Everlasting Classic ManLove: Brac Pack 25: A Cold Winter’s Day

For all other titles, please visit

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