8=The O'Hagan Way 3 A Zane Po Boy

The O’Hagen Way 3

A Zane Po’ Boy

In a world where humans and paranormals coexist in secret and
where soulless demons roam, numerous vampires dream to be

united with their mates.

Brian and Banning O’Hagan are twins from Ireland who have been
waiting for their mate the longest out of all their brothers. When

they finally meet Zane, they learn that if they want their mate to
love and accept them, then they must first forgive each other.

Zane is a warrior in the United States who deeply desires to be
with his mates but is plagued by horrible memories from his

past—memories that make it hard for him to show the love he
feels for the two men.

Will Brian, Banning, and Zane be able to resolve their separate
issues, open their hearts to one another, and become true mates,
or will they all be destined to a life of loneliness and pain?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Ménage a Trois/Quatre,
Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 35,864 words

A ZANE PO’ BOY

The O’Hagan Way 3

Joyee Flynn

MENAGE AMOUR

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour ManLove

A ZANE PO’ BOY
Copyright © 2012 by Joyee Flynn
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-532-X

First E-book Publication: February 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover 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 A Zane Po’ Boy by Joyee Flynn
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
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The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying
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This is Joyee Flynn’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect
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DEDICATION

To all of us who have learned the hard way to let go of the

mistakes of the past…Life is just too short.

*On a side note, when I wrote the first Marius Brothers, I had no

clue how big the world would get. Then I had so much fun with the
world, that I thought, why not Irish twins? So the O’Hagans were
born. Now there are other minor characters who need their stories
told...And that’s how one world ended up with three different series.
To keep everything straight, I’ve added a few pages to my site,
including a brief background on the world so it’s not repeated in
every book, the chronological order of the books, character charts,
and a list of who’s who. I hope this helps make sense of the madness
that is my brain.

www.joyeeflynn.com/themariusworld.htm

A ZANE PO’ BOY

The O’Hagan Way 3

JOYEE FLYNN

Chapter 1

Eight Months Ago
Zane

“Holy shit,” I gasped as twin blurs raced toward me. They

knocked me back onto the couch and started rubbing themselves
against me while doing naughty things with their tongues while we
were in public.

“We found our mate, Brian,” one of them said. Okay, Isaac had

asked about a Brian and Banning. I guessed this was them and I was
meeting them up close and very personal. Yeah, since the other was
now groping me. Very, very personal. Brian stopped long enough to
gaze at me with this funny look I couldn’t place. “Ya be wanting us,
me mate?”

“Oh, yeah,” I moaned as they did their best to drive me wild. They

were hot and twins. Who wouldn’t want them? I mean, they were
twins. Twins good. Especially when they were about five ten with
bright red hair that was cut short but not too short where I couldn’t
tell that their hair would curl if they grew it out. They had silver eyes
that were almost iridescent and were getting darker. Trippy.

A Zane Po’ Boy

I heard people talking around us, not really paying attention when

hands moved under my shirt. Then I froze. Did Brian say mate? I
breathed in deeply and took in their scents. Shit. Yes, they were my
mates. They smelled like fresh oranges and strawberries, a heavenly
scent in my book. I’d never smelled anyone better. That had to make
them my mates, right?

I started to pull away, but Banning tightened his grip on my shirt.

“Ya be having a room in this house?” Banning asked me as they
pulled me to my feet, those strange, gorgeous eyes pulling me in.
Damn, that accent made me weak in the knees. “Because if not, I
think we be biting ya with everyone here.”

“I–I’m in one of the guest rooms,” I stuttered, glancing at Isaac.

He smiled widely at me and gestured for us to leave. Great, he wasn’t
going to be any help.

“Go, go claim your mates and be happy.” He chuckled. I knew

that laugh and sighed. It wasn’t the mean you’re so screwed laugh that
comes when a friend is knee-deep in crap and it’s just too funny not to
laugh at. It was the I’m so happy you’re happy kinda laugh. Except I
wasn’t happy. I was about to shit a brick and run.

“Lead the way, me mate,” Brian purred and rubbed himself

suggestively against me. Then they took off toward the main hallway
by the front entrance, and it was move with them or simply be
dragged along by them.

Talk about coming on strong! Yeah, that wasn’t adding to the

amount of freaking out I was doing inside. But we needed to be alone
to talk anyways. I wouldn’t have this discussion around my best
friend and the twins’ brothers.

I was trying to figure out how to explain that this was happening

too fast when we got to my room. And of course they started taking
off their clothes, unbuttoning their collared shirts, and beginning to
pull off their jeans.

“Stop, just stop!” I shouted as I covered my eyes. “There’s no way

I can think if you’re both naked.” They were identical twins of

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gorgeousness, and just from the pale flesh exposed when they took off
their shirts, I was rock hard.

“Why do ya need to think?” one asked in that sexy brogue. “Ya

not want us?”

“I want you so much, but I don’t think in the way you mean,” I

admitted, feeling like a Grade A douche bag. I couldn’t just hop right
into mating, no matter how hot they were. I needed to think.

“Brian, he means he not planning to keep us, just have some fun

with us,” Banning said quietly. “That all your mates worth for to ya?
A little fun, some slap and tickle, and send us on our way?”

“That’s not what I said!” I snapped, removing my hands from my

eyes because I felt silly standing there like that. “You’re going too
fast. I can’t think. I didn’t even get your names before you threw
yourselves at me. I heard Isaac say them and—”

“Threw ourselves at ya!” Brian growled as he yanked on his shirt

and buttoned it back up. “Ya be our mate. We didn’t know we had
certain rules to follow or games to play. Ya want us to court ya like
some bonny lass before talking about a dowry?”

“That’s not what I meant—” I started to argue. I wasn’t implying

they were sluts, but they did, literally, launch themselves at me. And
since I’m not used to men jumping me, yeah, it was a shock.

“We wait six hundred and forty-three years to find our mate and

this be what we get?” Banning shouted, throwing his hands up in the
air in exasperation. “A mate who doesn’t want to mate and just wants
to roll around in the hay!”

“Would you just listen to me?” I begged, feeling as if the floor

that was already unstable was falling out from below me.

“We heard enough,” Brian sneered as he stormed to the door.

“Have a nice life.”

“No,” I whispered as a pit formed in my stomach. I watched as my

mates left without another word. What the fuck just happened? I just
wanted to talk. Was that so wrong?

A Zane Po’ Boy

* * * *

Now
Brian

“There’s a car coming,” me twin grumbled as we loaded up the

wool onto the truck. We’d spent the past week shearing all the sheep
Dillon had bought in the spring to diversify our farms. It was a dirty,
crappy job that I was glad we didn’t have to do too often. But it put us
in a foul mood, not that our normal mood had been great recently.

“Doesn’t look familiar,” I replied with a grunt. “Maybe Dillon

bought Shane and Sean a new car? That man does dote on them.”

I heard Banning mumble under his breath. I wasn’t sure, but it

sounded like, “Must be nice to have a mate like that.” Yeah, I
couldn’t agree more. Me heart hurt when I thought of our mate.
Mostly because of longing.

“Oh fuck, it be Isaac and his cat mate,” Banning groaned. Our

gazes met, and we realized the only reason they’d be showing up
here. Zane. We dropped what we were doing and raced to the car.

“He be hurt?” I asked immediately as we got to them.
“Depends on your idea of hurt,” Rory scoffed as he stepped out of

the car and looked us over with contempt. His bright blue eyes were
flashing with anger.

“You fix my friend!” Isaac shouted as he slammed the car door. I

flinched at the sound. “I can’t fucking keep quiet anymore. He’s
going to end up getting himself killed, and then I’m going to kill you
both, in-laws or not.”

“What be the meaning of all of this?” our ma hollered as she came

out on the front porch. Her hands were on her hips, her hair and long
dress blowing lightly in the breeze as she regarded us with one of her
fiercer expressions. “Don’t ya go threatening me sons, lad. Ya won’t
like the outcome.”

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“I’m sorry, Brighid, I truly am,” Isaac replied in a calmer tone,

still focused on us. “But they’ve destroyed my best friend, someone
who’s like a brother to me. If I have to take on the whole O’Hagan
clan to get him back and have your sons pull their heads out of their
asses to do it, then so be it.”

“We talking about Zane?” she asked in a cold tone. “The bastard

who wanted to use them for sex?”

“What?” Rory and Isaac gasped. It was Rory who continued.

“Where did you get a crazy idea like that?”

“From us,” I growled. “He wanted to romp and not keep us.”
“Yeah, he told us that’s what you thought,” Rory sneered. “But

that’s not what he meant, and he certainly never said he wanted to use
you just for sex. He asked you to slow down and talk. You freaked
out on him and left. You never even gave him a chance to explain.
Hester said you left before the Mariuses did and that meant you were
with Zane a whole ten minutes maybe.”

“He didn’t want us as mates,” Banning said, not sounding so sure

this time. I wanted to smack him. I knew we handled this wrong. I’d
begged Banning to go back to America and give it another go at
talking with Zane. He was too hurt from the rejection to even consider
it.

“He wanted a minute to fucking think!” Isaac shouted, rubbing his

hands over his face and growling in agitation. “Did he ever say the
words I don’t want you as mates?”

I exchanged a look with me twin before we both shook our heads.
“Did he ever say that he only wanted you for sex? Or did he just

say that yes, he wanted you and found you both attractive?” Rory
asked, his hands fisted on his hips, looking just as pissed.

“The latter,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Oh, lads, I think ya fucked up good,” our ma whispered softly.

“Ya flew off the handle again, didn’t ya?”

“He said he didn’t want us in the way we meant,” Banning said

stubbornly, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“We wanted to mate and claim him. What else could he have meant?
He wanted our bodies.”

“Of course he did, but just because he didn’t want more than that

right that second when you just fucking met, didn’t mean he wanted
you only for sex!” Rory rambled, rolling his eyes.

“Wait, huh?” I asked. The shifter lost me on that one.
“You’re both hot,” he answered in a huff. Isaac growled and Rory

shook his head and turned slightly so he could talk to his mate. “They
are. Stuff it. You can get jealous I appreciated other men later.”

“I love you, baby.” Isaac chuckled.
“Me, too.” Rory gave his mate a wink before turning back to us.

“Yes, he didn’t deny that he wanted you. He knew you wanted to
mate, and he said he didn’t mean it in that way.”

“See, that’s—” I started to argue.
“For once, let someone finish their thought,” Rory growled. I shut

me trap before ma did. “He meant he didn’t want to mate right that
second. He’s got issues, just as you clearly do. And when you jumped
him—”

“He said that, too!” Banning exclaimed. “He said we threw

ourselves at him.”

“You did,” Isaac growled. “Literally. You freaked him out,

shocked him, and he needed a minute to catch up. But you couldn’t
give that to him, could you?”

“He—I—we,” Banning stuttered, looking to me for help. I didn’t

have any to give. They were right.

“We flew off the handle,” I whispered, months of longing

swarming me. It was so strong and full of regret it almost brought me
to me knees. “We screwed up.”

“You think?” Isaac sneered, shaking his head before turning back

to Rory. “This was a mistake. They don’t deserve Zane.”

“What’s the other option, Isaac?” Rory asked gently as he moved

to his mate. “We’ve tried everything else. If Zane keeps going the
way he is, he’ll be dead in a few months. We both know he doesn’t

Joyee Flynn

take any precautions on missions. He almost died this last one and
he’s wasting away to nothing.”

“What do ya mean?” I was scared to know the answer, but part of

me had to.

“He used to be more built than I am,” Isaac answered, his eyes

showing a deep sadness. “We’re both six six, but he used to have at
least a good twenty pounds of muscle more than me. He used to be
two hundred and seventy-five pounds. The clinic weighed him when
he got back and was injured. He’s one hundred and eighty pounds. In
eight months he’s lost almost a hundred pounds of muscle. He won’t
work out, he barely eats, and I doubt he has been drinking enough
blood to sustain himself.”

“Zane’s been volunteering for the most dangerous missions since

you both left,” Rory explained, getting choked up. “He always comes
back hurt. The moment he’s healed enough that they’ll send him back
out, he goes. One of these times he won’t come back. Gabriel was out
with him on this last mission and said Zane didn’t even fight back
when the demons attacked him, like he was trying to die.”

“It was either come talk to you or tell the Council that he has to

take a leave. And he won’t ever forgive me if I do that to him,” Isaac
said sadly. Rory went and hugged him, and Isaac buried his face in his
mate’s hair. “I can’t lose my best friend. Zane’s always been there for
me. He’s a good man. He’d never just have used his mates for sex.
You misunderstood him and bailed before he could explain.”

It only took me a split second to make me decision. “Give me five

minutes to shower and pack.”

“You fix this because if he dies because of you I’ll file a formal

grievance and kill you myself,” Isaac said evenly, his eyes flaring
with hate.

“I can only promise to try.” That was the best I had. I turned and

ran toward the house, not even waiting to find out what Banning was
willing to do. I ran past me ma and into the house, me frantic

A Zane Po’ Boy

footsteps echoing through the house. Banning caught up with me at
our room.

“Are ya even going to ask me what I think?” I could feel his anger

as strongly as me own.

“We fucked up, twin,” I answered, shaking me head as I peeled

off me dirty clothes. “We fucked up big-time. I be asking ya for
months if we could go back and try again, but ya said no. I’m done
letting ya decide for both of us. Our mate needs us, and if ya can’t
swallow ya pride and go to him, then that’s ya decision. Mine is to
go.”

“Ya would pick him over me?” he whispered, and I could hear the

pain in his tone.

“Why does it have to be one or the other? I’m not picking him

over ya! I’m going to help our mate. Ya should be, too.” I left him
standing there and took the quickest shower ever. Hell, I didn’t even
wait for the water to warm up. I grabbed a towel and started drying
off on the way back to our room, not caring if anyone saw me naked.
Time was of the essence, and I wasn’t going to waste any more of it.

“Ya are right and I’m sorry,” Banning said softly, grabbing me

arm as I walked past him. “Don’t leave without me.”

“Never, me twin,” I whispered as I pulled him into me arms. “We

can fix this. We’ll get our mate. But we need to work as a team, okay?
No more of this him versus ya shit. It be the three of us against the
world.”

“I’ll try.” That was the best I was going to get from him, and I

would take it.

“Hurry up now. I’ll pack for both of us.”
“Right.” He jogged off toward the bathroom, and I quickly threw

on some clothes. I just grabbed the first thing I saw, which ended up
being an old blue T-shirt and some faded jeans. Banning just walked
back into the bedroom, freshly showered, as I finished packing a
couple of bags with the basics. I’m sure in me confused daze of worry

Joyee Flynn

and apprehension I forgot half of what we’d need. But it wasn’t like
we couldn’t buy basics in America if we needed them.

Five minutes later we were both ready and running back out to the

car. Our das were in Greece helping Caleb and our brothers out. So I
couldn’t help but feel bad bailing on our ma when she needed us on
the farm. But it was like she guessed what I might say.

“Go to ya mate. I’ve been running a farm long before ya both

came into the world. Dillon and your brothers will come help, too,”
she said firmly, giving us both a kiss and a hug. “Ya only get one
mate, lads. Don’t fuck up this time and make this right.”

“Aye, we’ll fix what we broke,” Banning replied sheepishly. “Ya

know we didn’t mean to though, right?”

“It be hard when dealing with matters of the heart. But ya both be

men and dense, so I’m sure none of ya did the right thing and were
too stubborn to go to the other one. None of that should ever matter.
Ya mate need ya both and ya go. He be family and nothing would
ever make ya walk away from any of us no matter what we said. Ya
remember that and ya both be fine.”

“Love ya, ma,” I said, swallowing back the lump that had formed

in me throat. She was right. We walked away too easily no matter
what we thought Zane had said. I just hoped he would forgive us. I
wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t, but I really prayed he was a better
man than we had been. Otherwise, we were screwed.

We finished our good-byes and hopped in their rental car. The air

was thick with tension as we drove to the airport.

“Umm, I just realized something. Don’t we need to be booking

flights?” me twin asked after several miles. “Did ya think we would
agree so fast and you have seats on a flight soon? Or do we have to
change your tickets, too?”

Rory turned around and gave us a wink. “Isaac has his own jet.

We took it here. I can’t say I don’t want to spend more time in
Ireland. It’s a beautiful country. But we need to get home to Zane. We

A Zane Po’ Boy

hoped you’d be coming with, but if you wouldn’t, we still have to get
back to him. I don’t like leaving him alone.”

“He’s not alone,” Isaac replied, slipping his hand into his mate’s.

“Besides, it’s not like we can watch him at the warrior compound
anyways. When I was there the other day, all he did was grunt at me.”

“He no longer be living with ya both?” I asked, me eyes going

wide.

“No, he moved out a few months after you both left,” Rory

answered with a weary sigh. “He said he was tired of us hovering and
pushing him. We were trying to get him to go to Ireland or at least
take better care of himself. It backfired and now he avoids us. The
only time we get to see him is when he’s injured and lying in the
clinic.”

I felt me eyes burn at the pain our mate must have suffered. Isaac

was right. We didn’t deserve Zane. Why had we ever left?

“Don’t worry, we can fix this,” Banning said as he took me hand.
“I hope so,” Isaac mumbled from the front seat. “Zane’s had a

hard enough life. He deserves to be happy, and after what he did for
me, god knows I would do anything for him.”

“What did he do for ya?” I asked, wanting to learn as much about

our mate as I could.

“He saved my life. I did a lot of bad shit in the name of trying to

keep my family together, but it all ended up backfiring on me. I broke
when I had to kill my father and was trying to let myself die from an
injury I got in the fight. He saved me and made me see there was life
beyond an old promise I made.” He glanced at Rory before focusing
back on the road. “I owe him everything. He put me on the path to
finding the love of my life.”

“He sounds like a good man,” Banning said quietly.
“He is. I hope that part of him hasn’t completely died after what

you did. If you can’t bring him back, I’m scared he’ll be lost forever.
And the person he is now isn’t good.”

Joyee Flynn

“We can fix this,” I whispered, more trying to give myself a pep

talk than believing it. I wasn’t sure we could. But I knew we had to
try. What other choice did we have? He was our mate, and we
wouldn’t be walking away from him again.

A Zane Po’ Boy

Chapter 2

Zane

“Hey, buddy. We brought you something,” Isaac said hesitantly as

he showed up in the doorway of my room. I watched for a moment as
his eyes darted around my room, taking in the piles of dirty clothes
and uneaten food that surrounded my bed and dresser. Normally I
kept my room immaculate, but I saw no point in keeping it clean now.

I know Isaac was probably thinking about how this room was very

different from the one I had been using at his house. It was small and
cramped since it was pretty much just a single’s dorm room. The
furniture was old and worn, having been used by who knows how
many people before. Yeah, there was no denying it was pitiful in
comparison to the huge, lavish suite I had been staying in at Isaac’s.

“You might as well return them and see if you can get your money

back,” I grumbled. I didn’t even bother glancing at him, Rory, or my
mates, my eyes never leaving the stupid Xbox game I was playing.

“Zane, just hear them out. Please?” Isaac begged.
“Nope.”
He sighed, and I heard him step into the room. “At least you’re

out of the clinic. You look good.”

I stared at him as if he’d grown a second head and then let out a

bark of laughter. “I look like shit and we all know it. Thanks for the
lie though.”

“You look good compared to the state you were in when you got

back from your mission,” he growled. I winced. Yeah, that was true

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enough. Since I had practically been on death’s door, anything would
be better than that.

“The demon said I was cute, so I figured I’d let him play.” I

shrugged nonchalantly as if I didn’t care. “It wasn’t my fault his idea
of foreplay involved my guts on the outside of my body.”

Isaac growled and Rory let out a soft gasp at my offhanded

comment. Good, be shocked. Just leave me the fuck alone.

“Can we talk to ya, Zane?” one of the twins asked me.
“No,” I replied in a deadpan tone even as I felt anger stirring

inside of me. Looking at the twins, I noticed they were even more
beautiful than I remembered. Although they didn’t seem to have put
much thought into what they were wearing, since their clothing
looked all wrinkled. And I did notice that they both had dark circles
under their eyes. “I tried to talk to you, but you didn’t want to hear a
goddamn word I had to say. That was eight months ago. All I have to
say now is go fuck yourselves.”

“Hey, is Zane in?” I heard Darcy ask from the hallway.
“Yeah, come on in. I didn’t invite these people over,” I called out,

wanting my guests to take the hint and leave.

“Excuse me,” Darcy purred as he slid past everyone. He moved

closer, stopping when he was in front of me, blocking the TV. “Heard
you got hurt. What’s up with that?”

“Nothing doing. I’m on the mend,” I answered with a wink. Yeah,

I was a being a douche, but my mates deserved it.

“Fair enough. I’m being sent out in a few hours and I wanted to

see if you felt up to playing until then.” His brown eyes twinkled with
mischief and lust.

“Yeah, I’m in.” I shut off the TV and tossed my controller on the

bed. Darcy grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. I made
sure to look at Brian and Banning as we walked by. “Hours of hot sex
is just what I need right now. You always know how to satisfy me,
Darcy.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

I felt like a royal ass when I saw tears fill up their eyes, looking as

if I’d just kicked them in the nuts. I shouldn’t have cared after the way
they treated me, but I did.

“Don’t do this, Zane,” Isaac begged, glancing at my mates. “There

are some things you can’t undo no matter how sorry you are later.”

“I have no reason to be sorry later,” I growled, my hackles going

up at the accusation. “They rejected me, remember? They left without
letting me get two sentences in. As far as I’m concerned, I have no
mates. And thanks for being on my side, my friend.”

Isaac stared at me with that soul-searching look that had had my

knees melting once upon a time. “Where has my best friend gone? I
want Zane back.”

“I am Zane. The new and improved, fuck-everyone Zane.”
Darcy glanced at me with a funny look, and I nodded for him to

go. We left everyone in my room, not bothering to lock it up. I didn’t
care. I didn’t have anything worth taking anyways. It was just stuff.

We didn’t say a word on the walk to his room. It wasn’t far, just

down the hallway. The moment we were alone in his room, I went
and collapsed on the bed.

“Want to tell me what that was all about?” Darcy asked gently as

he sat down next to me and pulled my upper body onto his lap.

“Nothing, let’s just have sex,” I answered but didn’t even move.
“Yeah, I can so tell we’re going to get it on.” He snickered. “You

might have fooled them that you were going to get laid, but I know
you better than that, Zane. The only reason I went in there was
because I was walking by and heard how upset your tone was. We’ve
not fucked around since Isaac met his mate. I thought it was because
you still had feelings for him and were mourning his mating, but now
that I see the two hot redheads staring at you like you are a god, I
know there’s more to the story.”

“Those are my mates. They rejected me and left. I’ve not seen

them in eight months. End of the short story,” I whispered.

Joyee Flynn

“Oh, buddy,” Darcy whispered as he lay back on the bed, pulling

me up onto his chest and holding me tightly. “Is that why you’ve been
treating yourself this way? Zane, love, you deserve so much better
than this. Why didn’t you let me help you?”

“Darcy, all we ever did was drink too much sometimes and fuck.

If I showed up here, sobbing my mates didn’t want me, you would
have held me as I cried?” The implied yeah, right in my tone couldn’t
have been missed.

“I’m doing it now, aren’t I?” he replied gently as he ran his

fingers through my hair. “We were friends long before we ever had
sex, Zane. I’d be here for you just as you would for me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe that.” And I was because I should have.

Darcy was a great guy, always understanding, and the one person
most warriors could go talk to. He never judged or talked shit behind
anyone’s back. He was easy to be around, a great listener, and truly a
nice person.

Why couldn’t fate have given me him as a mate? Things would

have been so much simpler then.

“They didn’t want me,” I whispered, my body starting to shake

with silent sobs.

“They’re here now though. Maybe they realized they missed the

opportunity of a lifetime,” he said gently. I shook my head, not
willing to jump back in the snake pit and see if they bit me again. I
just couldn’t handle that. I knew I wouldn’t survive it.

* * * *

Banning

“Fuck this,” I growled after a few minutes of us all standing in

shock and stormed after me mate. “There’s no way I be standing by
while he fucks another man.” I was tired and irritated. We had been

A Zane Po’ Boy

traveling for a long time and now we were in this huge warrior
compound that was totally foreign to me.

When we had driven up to it, both Brian and I had been amazed

by the enormity of the building. It was made entirely out of stone, and
as soon as we had entered, we were faced with a labyrinth of hallways
and doors to choose from. I was glad Isaac was with us. Otherwise it
was a sure thing we would have gotten lost.

“You lost the right to get upset about it when you left,” Rory

pointed out. He was right, and that just made me want to throttle him
even more.

“Banning, ya going to make it worse,” Brian pleaded as he ran

after me. I shook my head, not thinking there was any way to make
this worse. He grabbed me hand seconds before I could knock on the
door where our mate’s scent ended. “Listen.”

“They didn’t want me,” Zane said so quietly that even with our

advanced hearing we could barely hear him through the door.

“They not be having sex,” I whispered, feeling even more like an

ass that we were all listening on what was obviously a private
moment.

“Oh thank god,” Isaac sighed as he wiped his hands over his face

in relief. “Then some part of Zane is still in there. He might have
lashed out and wanted to make you hurt as much as he was hurting.
But he couldn’t be that big of an asshole and actually go through with
it.”

“What do we do now?” Brian asked, his eyes so full of sadness

that I pulled me twin into a hug.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. We’d decided to come so

quickly that it wasn’t like we had time to formulate a plan or
anything.

“I think we’re going to have to go to the desperate-measures plan,

Isaac,” Rory said with an exhausted sigh. “I can’t think of any other
way to get through to him. Can you?”

Joyee Flynn

“No, but he may never forgive me.” Rory rubbed his hands over

Isaac’s chest in a comforting gesture. “But I’d rather him hate me and
live a real life than be the shell of a man he’s been.”

“I know, my love. Once he sees reason, he won’t stay mad at

you.”

“What ya both be talking about?” I asked, all for some type of

plan.

“Let’s get out of here before we get busted. We’ve got a lot to do

if we’re going to make this work.” Isaac glanced around, and sure
enough, there were several warriors in the halls casting glances our
way.

None of us said a word as we headed to the front hall where we’d

come in. Isaac stopped by an office and left a letter on a desk. Now
me curiosity was eating me alive. We rushed out to his car, all
climbing in quickly.

“We built a cell in the basement,” Isaac said once we were driving

again. “Zane could get out of a normal room simply by breaking
down the door or punching through the drywall. But I had a solid steel
room built that he can’t get out of, especially in his weakened state.”

“Ya want to kidnap our mate and lock him up?” Brian asked, his

eyes going wide with shock.

“I’m up for other suggestions,” Isaac growled. “He’s slowly

dying, and after this last mission, now people know something’s up
and he will become even more reckless. If we can’t get through to
him in his grief and anger, then I’m going to lock his ass up and force
him to eat and get the blood he needs until he sees reason. I’m not
going to chain him to the wall or anything. We would even give him a
bathroom.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I agreed, given how badly our mate

looked. Gone was the blond Adonis I remembered. Zane looked like a
human cancer patient that was riddled with the disease. His skin had
almost sickly gray tones and was practically hanging off his bones.
His shiny hair was dull, his dark green eyes sunken in his head,

A Zane Po’ Boy

having also lost their sparkle and vitality. He did look like he was
knocking at death’s door, begging to be let inside.

It scared me enough to agree to any crazy plan that had half a

chance of working.

“He might hate us, too,” Brian replied, nibbling on his lower lip.
“Aye, but he’ll be alive. Even if he never forgives us, I can’t live

with the idea we destroyed him,” I whispered, me eyes burning in
grief. “I’d rather set him right and send him on his way to that Darcy
man just so he leads a happy life. If he can’t forgive us, then we have
to let him go, but we can’t just leave him be as he is.”

“I told you anyone related to Shane and Sean had to have good

hearts,” Rory said with a smile as he turned to look back at us from
the front seat. “You’re still assholes for walking away like that and
not coming right back. We shouldn’t have had to come to you out of
desperation eight months later.”

“Aye, ya be right, cat,” Brian agreed with a nod, shooting me a

nasty glance.

“Don’t ya dare be blaming me. I didn’t tie ya down in Ireland. Ya

wanted us to go, and I said no, I wasn’t going. Ya still could have
come on ya own.” I was tired of taking the blame for that one.

“Aye, ya right,” he sighed as he rubbed his hand over the back of

his neck in agitation. Then he glanced back at Rory. “In our defense,
we thought he not want us. If we had even the slightest idea that Zane
be suffering, we would have dropped everything and come back.”

“Which is the only reason I let you on my plane,” Isaac said,

glancing at us in the rearview mirror. “If you had been dicks in
Ireland, we would have told you where to shove it. But it only took us
two minutes to get you to come with us. All’s not forgiven, but that
said something for your character.”

“Fair enough,” Brian replied as he glanced out the window. “So

where we be going? We need help kidnapping Zane, right? And what
was that letter?”

Joyee Flynn

“We’re going to the Marius compound to get a few of those

knockout darts Riley has,” Isaac explained as we sped along. I had a
feeling he was breaking every American law on how fast the cars
could go. “The letter is from Desmond. I begged him to write orders
that Zane was going to Greece to help Caleb with something.
Hopefully that way no one will know he’s missing and his standing as
a warrior won’t ever be questioned.”

“Why would that be a concern?” Brian asked, shooting me a

confused look.

“You’ve seen him, Brian,” Isaac answered gently. “He’s not fit to

go out on missions, but we’re so short on warriors nowadays that they
can’t be too picky. But the other warriors have started refusing to go
out on missions with him, stating that he’s a wild card and takes
dangerous risks. Much more of that and they would have benched
him, maybe permanently.”

“Being a warrior means that much to him?” I didn’t think any job

was that important, but Isaac was making it seem as if Zane would die
inside if he got fired.

“First thing you have to know about being mated to a warrior is

that it’s not just a job, but who they are. It’s a calling,” Rory
explained.

“But Dillon gave it up so easily?” Brian was as confused as I was.

I didn’t get it either.

“Mostly because he was worried that our father would kill your

brothers if he came back. He didn’t fully give it up, but their safety
was more important to him.” That part we knew, but Dillon never
made it seem like a big deal. Maybe it was different for everyone?
“Plus, Dillon had put in his time. He spent centuries being a warrior.
Zane is still pretty young. He’s not even a hundred. So he still has, or
had, I guess, that drive to save the world.”

“Okay, we can handle him being a warrior if he’s not reckless,” I

said quickly. At this point, we didn’t have a leg to stand on to demand

A Zane Po’ Boy

anything. “So part of this plan consists of saving his ass with the
warriors as well.”

“Exactly,” Isaac replied as he pulled up to huge iron gates. He

pushed a button on the call box and identified himself and who he had
in the car. There was a beeping noise and the gates started to part. We
drove up to the main house, parking in front before climbing out and
heading to the main doors.

“I’m surprised the Mariuses were on board with this plan,” I said

quietly. “It seems that it would go against their morals.”

“Please, they’re even more nuts than any of us most times,” Rory

replied with a snicker.

We were let inside and shown to what the butler called the sitting

room. I would never get used to these huge mansions. This one room
was bigger than several of our bedrooms back home combined.

The walls were painted a deep red that went well with the leather

chairs and couch. There was also a huge fireplace in front of the
seating area. Logs were crackling pleasantly in the fireplace that was
surrounded by a mantel made from some type of dark wood. Possibly
cherry. Above this impressive mantel I noticed several massive
paintings of mountain scenery.

They must have each been about four feet tall. I found myself

getting lost in the intricacy of the detail of the water, the sky, the
trees. Eventually I turned me head and saw a bar on the other side of
the room. The same cherrywood had been used, and the top was
comprised of this beautiful black stone, which I assumed was granite.
Several partially empty bottles and four crystal glasses decorated a
corner of the bar’s surface.

A drink definitely sounded good right about now.
“So we’re putting the last-resort plan into effect?” Desmond

Marius asked as he walked into the room with his wife, Elena, his
son, Micah, and Micah’s mate, Dr. Riley. All of their faces wore
expressions of concern.

Joyee Flynn

“I can’t think of any other way to save him,” Isaac answered with

apparent weariness.

“We can’t either, Isaac. You’re doing all you can to help Zane.

Don’t beat yourself up,” Elena said gently, giving Isaac a hug. “Good
to see you, too, Rory.” Then she turned to us. “And I had a long talk
with your mother. She was very clear that if you screwed up in any
way or moved a toe out of line, I was to tan your hides and send you
right home for her to beat.”

“Aye, that sounds like our ma,” I admitted, wincing. Upon

Desmond’s insistence, we all moved to take our various seats on the
couch and chairs. Once we were settled, Elena spoke again.

“You both look very different,” she gasped, eyeing us over

intently with her kelly-green eyes. “I remember you being much
smaller.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and adjusted the
folds of her silver dress a bit before resting her hands in her lap and
returning her gaze back to us.

“Everyone handles grief and rejection differently,” Brian

mumbled with a shrug. “Zane might have stopped eating and drinking
blood, losing all that weight. We went the other way, working out like
crazy to try and distract us from the pain.”

It was true. We both put on at least thirty pounds of muscle. We

were about five ten and had gone from slim one seventy to more
meaty and toned two hundred pounds.

“You really never got what he was trying to say,” she said in a

softer, more understanding tone.

“We thought he just wanted us for sex and we not be good enough

to keep,” I whispered, rubbing me eyes roughly when they started to
burn. I would not break down right now when me mate was suffering.
“We might have flown off the handle, but not all this can be deemed
as our fault.”

“No, you’re right,” she sighed. “Zane could have run after you

and made you listen to what he was trying to say. I’ve learned a lot
about him these past few months, and I understand why he didn’t, but

A Zane Po’ Boy

I just want to throttle you all. This could all have been so much
easier.”

“Ya understand what about him?” Brian asked, and I was curious,

too.

“It’s not my story to tell.” She gave us an apologetic look filled

with sadness. “But your mate has had a hard life full of rejection.
That’s all I can say without betraying his confidence.”

“That’s fair. Thank ya for being there for our mate when we not

be,” I said quietly.

“It’s not been easy,” Desmond admitted, shaking his head. “We

threw a party a few months after you left, to celebrate Elena winning
the Council seat. Zane got drunker than I’ve ever seen anyone be
while still being able to stand. He didn’t behave very well.”

“More specifically, he asked if I would be okay if one of our

remaining single sons took him as a sex slave.” Elena winced when
we gasped. “He said his mates didn’t want him, but my son’s mates
seemed so happy that maybe one of the other single three could just
keep him until they found their mate.”

“Oh dear lord,” I groaned. The situation was even worse than I

thought. It never crossed me mind that our mate might need to mend
fences with other people than Isaac and Rory for the way he’d been
treating them. Zane didn’t have an easy road ahead of him. But we’d
be there every step of the way…if he’d let us. And that was a really
big if.

* * * *

Brian

The whole situation was out of control, and I doubted Zane would

ever forgive us. From everything we’d heard about him, Zane was a
good man. For him to go so off the farm and act like we saw at the

Joyee Flynn

warrior compound, and now what Elena told us. Well, me heart just
hurt.

“So what be the plan?” I asked quietly, hoping I was man enough

to hold it together long enough to help Zane.

“I’m going to go in and check on him as the warrior doctor and

inject him with a sedative,” Riley explained as he held up a wicked-
looking gun with a needle on the end. “Micah’s going to help Isaac
get Zane out of the compound and to the Dragos estate while he’s
unconscious.”

Desmond nodded and then took over the plan. “The letter I wrote

told the warrior coordinator who handles assignments that Isaac
would be in Greece for six weeks working on a security check. That’s
all the time I could get you without raising too many questions.”

“So we basically have six weeks to get through to him and get him

back on the path to mending and being his old self. Best-case
scenario, forgiving you guys as well and realizing he has something to
live for. Hell, live happily ever after, too.” Isaac hugged Rory, not
sounding as if he had much faith in that outcome. I didn’t blame him.

“You need to keep your tempers in check and be willing to make

sacrifices for this to work. You can’t just demand he come back to
Ireland and do what you want. That will never help.” Rory gave us a
sharp look that didn’t brook any argument.

“We already resigned ourselves to the fact that if he forgives us

we’ll be staying here permanently,” I agreed quickly. “We be fine
with that as long as he wants us here. If he doesn’t, we understand
we’ll have to let him go. We just want him happy.”

“Okay, let’s do this,” Micah said with a firm nod. “I want to be

back before our daughter wakes up from her nap.”

“There were a lot of people around when we were there,” I

replied, me eyes going wide. “We’ll get caught.”

“We were there during the lunch break of training. Everyone will

be back to their tasks and the living quarters should be quiet and
deserted.” Isaac checked his watch just to be sure. “If we wait until

A Zane Po’ Boy

the night, everyone will be back in their bunks. One slight sound and
we could have a lot of people showing up. We need to move now.”

I glanced at me twin, both of us nodding in agreement. “Okay,

we’re in. Let’s move.”

We said our good-byes to Desmond and Elena, who wished us

luck. Then we hopped back in Isaac’s car, Micah and Riley taking
their own so we didn’t have to drop them off after kidnapping our
mate.

In a million years I never thought I’d be saying that. But then

again, I never thought meeting our mate would go like this either.

Less than an hour later, we were back at the warrior compound.

We followed Riley, waiting in the hall, hiding while he knocked on
Zane’s door.

“Fuck off! I’ve had my fill of visitors today,” our mate shouted,

breaking me heart with the pain I heard in his voice.

“It’s Riley, Zane,” he said gently as he opened the door. “I know

you hate me showing up, but I have to fulfill my duties as doctor.”

“Fine, can we just get this over?”
“I’ll be quick, I promise.” Riley walked in, leaving the door open

so we could get in there quickly when we needed to. “Shirt off.”

“Yeah, I know the drill,” Zane grunted. There was a few

moments’ pause before our mate yelled, “What the fuck, Riley?”

That was our cue. We raced in the room, Isaac leading the way.

Sadness was written all over our mate’s face as he realized we set him
up.

“Why?” he gasped as he swayed while sitting on the bed.
“Because I won’t let you die any more than you would let me,”

Isaac said gently as he knelt in down in between Zane’s legs, cupping
his face. “Please, buddy? I need you to fight. Things aren’t ever as
bad as they seem.”

“I trusted you,” Zane slurred. “I thought you loved me and were

my brother.”

Joyee Flynn

“I am,” he whispered before planting a kiss right on his mouth. He

kept his lips there until Zane passed out. I glanced at Rory who had
the same expression I was sure Banning and me had. Mouths hanging
open with shock. Isaac laid Zane back on the bed, turning to us with
wide, tear-filled eyes. “I didn’t cheat.”

“Did you use tongue?” Rory asked with a calmness I wasn’t

feeling. Glancing over at Banning, I saw he wasn’t either.

“No, I swear, my love. It was like that kiss Elena gave me after

she won the Council seat,” Isaac sputtered.

“Kisses aren’t always sexual, Isaac,” Riley said gently. “They’re

just a sign of love and a kiss can come in various forms.”

“Our daughter kisses us on the lips all the time.” Micah chuckled,

nodding in agreement.

“I just didn’t want him to be scared,” Isaac whispered as he hung

his head, tears still running down his cheeks. “I know he felt betrayed,
and I needed him to know we were doing this for the right reasons
because we love him.”

“I know, my love,” Rory said gently as he wrapped his arms

around his mate. “I’m not mad. Just don’t get in the habit of kissing
everyone often.”

“Deal.” Isaac chuckled, snuggling up against his mate. He shot us

a look as if trying to gauge if we were about to rip his balls off.

“Aye, ya love our mate, but ya not be in love with him. No, we

not be mad. I’m glad ya thought to comfort him and he’d let you near
him. He would have freaked if we tried.” Banning sighed, and I knew
it to be true.

“Let’s get him out of here before anyone notices,” Micah said

quickly. We nodded and got to it. Banning, Riley, Rory, and I quickly
packed some essentials for our mate while Micah and Isaac lifted him
up.

“Fuck, I can get him by myself,” Isaac whispered as he moved

Zane over his shoulder. “He’s deadweight, but there’s not enough
meat on his bones where it’s hard to carry him.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“We’ll fix that,” Banning said with more conviction than I felt. “If

we have to tie him down and promise hourly blow jobs to get him to
eat and drink the blood he needs, we will.”

“To be a fly on that wall when you promise him that.” Riley

snickered. Yeah, I felt along the same lines. But then again, looking
over me sickly mate, I’d offer up me nuts if that’s what it took to get
him better.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 3

Zane

I groaned as I woke, bright lights blinding me, and suddenly I was

feeling like I had one hell of a major fucking hangover. I grabbed my
head, wondering what the license plate was on the car that hit me.
Then, suddenly, I remembered what happened and growled. I sat up
in bed, wishing I hadn’t moved so fast as dizziness swarmed me.

“You kissed me after Riley shot me,” I snarled. I could scent Isaac

in the room from the moment I woke up. “Care to fucking explain that
one?”

“I didn’t want you to be scared,” he answered quietly. I blinked

several times, trying to dispel the effects of whatever drug I was
given. “You looked so hurt and betrayed. I was trying to let you know
I wasn’t betraying you, but I couldn’t think of any other way to save
you. And I refuse to let you die.”

“I’m not dying,” I grumbled as I glanced around the room. The

walls seemed to be made of steel and the furnishings were sparse with
only the bed I was lying on, a nightstand, the metal chair Isaac was
using, and a table in one of the corners. It was depressing and
prisonlike to say the least even if there was an Xbox and a TV with a
stand against the wall. “Where the fuck are we?”

Isaac stared at me for a moment as he thought about his reply, his

light brown eyes conveying the pain he felt when he looked at me and
at what I had become.

“I had this built in the basement so you couldn’t escape it.

Desmond bought you six weeks with the Council. You stop this self-

A Zane Po’ Boy

destructive path and start taking care of yourself and I’ll let you out.
But I will not stand by and watch you kill yourself or try to get killed
on missions!” His hands were now balled into fists and his jaw
clenched.

“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?” I asked, the anger

dissipating from me for the first time in months. “You think I’ve been
trying to kill myself?”

“Zane, you’ve lost over a hundred pounds. You don’t eat, you

don’t drink blood, you take huge risks on missions, you always come
back injured. You almost died this last one.” I could see the grief and
misery on him as much as I could almost feel it coming off of him in
waves. “I love you, man. Don’t leave me. You wouldn’t give up on
me, and I’ll be damned if I let you.”

I thought about it a few minutes. While he wasn’t correct that I

was trying to kill myself, he was right that my way of dealing with the
grief wasn’t working. I eyed Isaac over. He was my best friend, one
of my only friends really, and the only family I had.

“Are you going to make me spend time with my mates?” I asked

hesitantly. I was willing to give his way a try, like an intervention, or
six-week sabbatical, but I had conditions.

“I think you should, Zane,” he answered slowly, as if choosing his

words carefully. “They’re sorry. You could have run after them just as
much as they should have given you a chance to explain. They
thought you didn’t want them. You thought they didn’t care enough to
give you time to think. In the end, does it really matter how it went
down when both parties are hurting and want to be with the other?”

I shrugged. What he was saying made sense, but the pain I felt

wasn’t really listening to reason. “Can you just give me a bit to wrap
my mind around seeing them again first? I need to think about what I
want. I never got the chance last time.”

“That’s fair. I can do that.” There was a pause before he spoke,

eyeing me over suspiciously. “Why are you being so accepting of
this? I thought you’d throw a fit and hand me my ass for doing this.”

Joyee Flynn

“Because you’re right,” I whispered, my eyes burning as I hung

my head in shame. “My way hasn’t been working, and I kinda hate
who I’ve become. I’m not trying to kill myself, but I’m so fucking
depressed that the idea of food, blood, or doing anything makes me
just want to go back to sleep. And taking risks on missions? I just
jump right in because I’m afraid I’ll get another dizzy spell or pass
out in the middle of something.”

“You’ve been passing out?” He sounded horrified that I was in

worse shape than he had guessed.

“Yeah, not eating will do that.” I snickered, wiping my eyes. “It’s

just when I finally can make myself eat, the shit they serve at the
warrior compound makes my stomach churn. And I don’t want the
blood because it reminds me that I can’t drink from my mates.”

“I know, Zane. We’re going to go slow and get you healthy.

Maybe they can just come in and play a game with you.” He gestured
to the TV and Xbox. “And I’ll have the cook make whatever you
want, but you have to start eating again. You’ll feel better if you have
some strength.”

“Steak?” I asked with a smile. If I was being kidnapped, I should

at least get some good stuff.

“You can have surf and turf for every fucking meal if you want. I

just want you to eat something.”

“Okay, bring it on.” I chuckled. Maybe forced captivity wouldn’t

be so bad.

“There are pills that Riley wants you to take,” he said quietly,

probably thinking he was pushing his luck. “They’re low-dose
antidepressants that he said he altered to work with our system.”

“You want me to be one of those doped-out Prozac humans?” I

asked, my eyes going wide with shock. Fuck no!

“No, nothing like that. He said they’re gentle and you won’t even

really notice a difference. They will help take an edge off the
depression and get more happy hormones firing in your brain or
something. I didn’t really understand what he was saying.” His

A Zane Po’ Boy

eyebrows were wrinkled in confusion, and knowing Riley, he’d
rattled off a bunch of medical lingo that would make anyone’s head
spin.

I thought about that for a minute. “You really went to a lot of

trouble to plan all of this out, didn’t you?”

“You’re worth the effort to me,” he answered quietly. “Please just

let me help you.”

“Okay, I’ll give you two weeks without putting up a fight on one

condition,” I conceded, feeling bad my best friend was so upset.

“Anything,” he agreed immediately with a happy nod.
“I want time outside, too. You know I’d go insane if I was trapped

in here all the time.”

“Deal. Now get some rest while I get your food. Let me know

when you’re ready to see your mates. They’re chomping at the bit to
talk to you.”

I sighed, realizing it might just be easier to get it over with than

delay the inevitable. “Just send in one as long as they promise not to
jump me or try and bite me.”

“No, they’re too upset to be horny,” he said sadly. I watched with

curiosity as he placed his thumb on a sensor by the door.

“You really went all out on this plan to keep me in here.”
“Yup. And don’t think you can bypass the system. If you even try

to remove the cover without my prints first, the door will go on
lockdown. And it rotates which print of mine is needed, so don’t try to
lift my print or something.”

“I said I’d behave as long as this works. But if they come running

in here demanding shit of me, then I’ll fight you to get out,” I said
firmly. I wasn’t going to be trapped and force-fed by the men who
abandoned me or some shit.

“No, you’ll see that they’re very sorry and willing to do whatever

it takes to make you better.” Isaac paused as if debating something
before he spoke again. “They want to help and said they’d let you go
if you wouldn’t forgive them. They said it would kill something

Joyee Flynn

inside of them, but if you wanted to go back to Darcy that they’d let
you go.”

“Oh, they sound kinda nice,” I admitted with a shrug. They were

here to help and didn’t really expect me to just forgive and forget. It
gave me hope.

“They are good guys or we wouldn’t have brought them back with

us.”

“I so want to hear how this all went down later, but right now I

just need to take a little of this information at a time,” I said wearily.
But when I saw the frown on my friend’s face, I tried to crack a joke.
“It’s my first time being kidnapped and all.”

“Well, technically I’d say it was kidnapping when we got our

tattoos.” He snickered, giving me a wink.

“Oh god,” I groaned. “How am I going to explain that one to

them?”

“I will if you want, but don’t get upset. Rory loves mine. He

thinks it’s his own personal invitation to my ass.”

“TMI, dude. TMI.” I shook my head as he laughed, leaving

through the door. It closed with a thud and a loud click, signaling that
I was locked in. I almost started to panic at being held in the room. It
took me a few deep breaths and remembering that it was my best
friend doing it, not some crazed killer, to calm down.

I decided to check out my new home. I opened the closets,

shocked to find my clothes there. And then I went into the attached
bathroom. Again the walls were steel, but the shower and bathtub
were actually really big. The bathroom in general was sizeable to
where the sink, toilet, and shower were not all cramped together.

White tiles comprised the wall of the bathing area and the

bathroom’s floor. This seemed odd with the steel walls, but whatever.
I moved to the sink, which stood by itself against the wall. It had a
cabinet built beneath it that I imagined that towels were being stored
in. There was a mirror above it that I looked into briefly but turned

A Zane Po’ Boy

sharply away from when I saw my reflection—so different now from
what it had been.

At least it wasn’t just a barred cell where everyone could watch

me do my business when I needed to. It wasn’t jail. It was like forced
rehab, though I wasn’t addicted to anything. I decided to call it my
sabbatical and leave it at that.

I smiled when I saw that Isaac had gotten me a new Kindle Fire. It

was on the nightstand by the bed. I lay down and grabbed it, wanting
to see what he’d put on it. I scrolled through for two minutes, my
mouth hanging open. He had all my favorite authors on here and a
bunch of gay erotic romance I was very excited to read. It wasn’t
normally my thing, but I had a feeling I’d be doing a lot of reading I
never got to when working so much.

I glanced up when the door opened, trying to keep calm when one

of my mates stepped inside, letting the door close. I couldn’t help but
notice how perfect he looked as he stood there shyly, his toned
muscles visible beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. I sat up, not willing
to be on my back during our first interaction in months. There was an
awkward couple of minutes when we just stared at each other, not
sure what to say.

“You look bigger than I remember,” I finally said, wanting to roll

my eyes at how lame it sounded.

“Aye.” He chuckled, shaking his head as he moved to sit on the

end of the bed, not coming too close to me. “We keep getting that. Ya
stopped eating and Banning and I went the other way. With the
improvements Dillon’s been making to both farms, there’s been more
than enough work to keep us somewhat distracted.

“Not really, but the only way we seem to be able to sleep is if we

work ourselves to exhaustion. So yeah, the side effect be we added
thirty pounds of muscle. Didn’t make us any taller unfortunately or
anything. I’d like a few more inches—” He paused, his eyes darting to
his hands instead of looking at the wall. “Sorry, I ramble when I’m
nervous.”

Joyee Flynn

It made me feel that letting one of them in here was the right

move if he cared enough to be nervous. “I didn’t sleep with Darcy,” I
blurted out. God, I sucked at this. “I haven’t slept with anyone since
we met.”

“Then why did ya say that ya were going to?” he asked hesitantly,

glancing over to me.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged because I didn’t really have a good

answer. “I was angry. I wasn’t ready for you guys to show up and
bring my feelings and the rejection to the surface again. I wanted to
hurt you the way you hurt me.”

Brian nodded a few times, taking it in. “I understand that. We

deserved it, but ya need to know we were suffering, too. We
thought—”

“I know what you thought,” I growled as I got up off the bed and

started to pace. “But that’s not what I said. You two were too busy
talking all over me and—this isn’t going work. I need to get out of
here.”

“Wait, please don’t,” he said so quietly I barely heard him. I

turned to face him and suddenly he was there, hugging me. I wanted
to push him away. My head was screaming for me to do just that, but
my heart…my heart wanted to hold my mate until all the pain went
away. “I’ll leave, okay? Ya need to get better. I didn’t mean to make
things worse for ya.”

“Okay,” I whispered, taking a moment to rub my face against his

soft red hair.

“Okay, ya want me to leave?” He sounded confused and a bit hurt.
“No, okay, I’ll try and let go of what happened.” He shivered in

my arms, letting out a happy sigh.

“We be willing to do whatever it takes. Just tell us what you need,

me mate.”

“I don’t know what I need,” I admitted. I felt like a lost kid or

right after I went through my transition—no. I wasn’t going to think

A Zane Po’ Boy

about that right now either. That wouldn’t help me snap out of my
funk.

“Want to shoot zombies?” he asked as he tilted his head to look up

at me. It was such a random topic change I found myself just staring
at him as if saying huh? “There be a game Banning and I like. Zombie
Apocalypse on the Xbox. Isaac said you like to play, and that’s the
only one I know.”

“Okay, let’s kill some zombies.” I chuckled, hugging him back

slightly. He smiled up at me, and I felt some of the ice that had built
around my heart melt. A little, just a little bit, but it was a start.

We sat down, pulling two of the chairs from the table, and played

for about half an hour before Isaac brought us some food. I had to
admit, I was having fun. For the first time in a long time, I actually
laughed some.

“Ugh, my stomach is not liking this idea,” I groaned as I eyed

over the best-looking steak ever. But just because it looked good
didn’t mean my stomach wanted me to eat it.

“Riley ran over some other pills when I called and told him why

you weren’t eating. He said they would help with the nausea and calm
your stomach,” Isaac said gently, glancing between us. “You okay? I
don’t want to push you—”

“Yeah, we were having fun,” I replied quickly, interrupting him so

he didn’t have to finish that thought. “I’m willing to try and start over,
I guess.” I hadn’t said that much to Brian, but as we hung out, I
realized it was what I wanted.

“Really?” Brian gasped, his eyes wide with hope. I nodded and

instantly had my arms filled with my mate. “Thank ya, thank ya,
thank ya.” He pulled me down and peppered my face with kisses. One
landed on my mouth, and we both froze for a split second. Then I
growled and attacked his lips. He gasped and opened up for me, and
all the months of need and longing swarmed me, almost enough to
bring me to my knees.

Joyee Flynn

“No,” I whimpered as I ripped my mouth off his and pulled away.

“I–I–I can’t th–that yet.” Was that even a complete thought or making
any sense?

“Aye,” Brian said gently as he moved to sit in one of the chairs by

the small table. “I didn’t mean to do that either. I won’t deny it felt
good, but ya be right that we not jump into anything.”

I sighed in relief. They really were trying to do things differently

this time. I was afraid he’d jump all over me for denying him or
leading him on. Isaac let out the breath he’d been holding as well.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me. I am going to do activities like that

with my mate,” he said with a wink. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning
before breakfast. We’ll take a walk around the property and ramp up
our workouts from there. It will help you feel better and clear your
mind.”

I nodded and blurted out what I’d been thinking of saying. “I’m

not sure if I should kick your ass or thank you for this, but it means
the world to me that you cared enough to pull a stunt like this.”

“Try the thank-you. If you kick my ass, you’ll have to deal with

Rory, and it’s getting close to the full moon. You don’t want to tangle
with my cat.” He threw back his head and laughed before walking out
the door.

Yeah, he was right. Rory was wicked fast and scary protective of

my friend. I was in no condition to take on a shifter.

“This be nice,” Brian said as he took the lids off the plates on the

tray.

“Yeah, our first date is in my cell,” I grumbled as I sat down. I

winced. “Sorry. Seems I’m not as okay with all of this as I thought.”

“That be understandable.” He gave me a smile and a nod, letting

me know his feelings weren’t hurt. “It not be me first choice either,
but it’s better than no choice and still being separated.”

“Good point,” I conceded and reached for one of the pops. I read

the instructions Riley wrote out with the bottle of pills. Shaking one
out, I swallowed it with some liquid and set them aside.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Mint tea always helps with an upset tummy as well. Ma always

gives it to us anytime we are sick. I’ll see if Isaac has some later or
make sure he gets some.” I watched Brian with an open mouth as he
cut into his steak and took a bite. “What?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled, snapping out of my shock. He was still

staring at me, and I realized I wasn’t going to get out of it quite that
easily. “I’m just not used to someone caring enough to worry for me.”

“Isaac does.” He swallowed loudly and glanced at his food. “That

Darcy character seemed to care a great deal for you.”

“Isaac’s like a brother,” I said slowly, trying to pick the right

words so I didn’t stick my foot in my mouth. I cut up my meat, taking
a bite before deciding how to phrase what I wanted to say. “You have
nine brothers, right? Is there one of the bunch that’s easiest to talk to?
Someone who never judges, always listens, and lets it be all about you
sometimes?”

“Aye, that be Fergus.” His eyes went wide and he cursed under

his breath. “I’m not talking bad against Banning. He be me twin, but
when you share emotions and feel what the other one is, it’s hard just
to talk sometimes.”

“That makes sense. I didn’t take it as you slighting your twin. It’s

just there’s something in certain people that makes them so easy to
talk to, to be around.”

“I agree. Fergus is almost like talking to a father. Ya know it

won’t go anywhere, and he just lets ya get it off your chest without
trying to be involved or suggesting how ya should handle things.”

“Yeah, that’s Darcy. I’m not the only one who talks to him, and

being a warrior, it’s hard to talk to anyone. Plus, we have somewhat
similar backgrounds, so we were kinda friendly and drinking buddies.
But then when Isaac was going through all kinds of shit with his
family, he shut me out. For so long we’d been best friends and then
suddenly it was like I didn’t matter anymore. Darcy and I became
closer and we started sleeping together.

Joyee Flynn

“But that’s all it was. Just sex. We both knew it and there’s no

hard feelings or wanting more from each other. We were friends who
scratched each other’s itch sometimes or when we needed to not feel
so alone.” It was the best explanation I had, and I was trying to make
Brian realize that if things were going to work out between us, my
heart didn’t belong to another.

“I’m glad ya had someone to turn to when ya needed them.”
We ate in comfortable silence for a while. I’d read the instructions

for the other pills, and they were to be taken after meals, three times a
day. I got about halfway through my steak and baby potatoes before I
was full. I went over to the nightstand and popped one of those, the
bed calling to me.

“Wait, before ya go to bed ya have to have some blood,” Brian

said gently. He stood and went to a small fridge next to the TV stand
that I hadn’t even noticed was there. It was about three feet tall and
stainless steel, making it blend into the surroundings. I watched him
pull out a bag of blood with apprehension. “Banning and I said we’d
offer to give ya a blow job each time ya drank blood if that’s what it
would take to get you to do it. It seems funny to suggest now. But I
am willing to do anything to get ya better.”

I just about swallowed my tongue. What sane man passed up that

offer? Oh right, me. “Thanks, but I couldn’t use you like that. And it
would kind of go against the whole taking this slow policy.”

“Aye, that be true,” he agreed and handed it to me. I sat down and

let my fangs come out before sinking them into the bag. I drank it
down, doing my best to ignore my rolling stomach. It would probably
get worse before it got better, but I had to start putting what I needed
into my body. I tossed it in the trash when I was done, groaning as I
suddenly felt dizzy. “Do I need to get the doc?”

“No, but I’d like it if you lie with me for a while. No funny stuff. I

just think it would be nice if we just lay here and got used to each
other.” It sounded stupid and sappy. I waited for him to laugh at me.

A Zane Po’ Boy

Instead I got a bright smile. “I’d like that.” He toed off his shoes

as I did the same and crawled into bed with me. We didn’t spoon, but
Brian did lie on his side next to me, our bodies not quite touching. I
took his hand and intertwined our fingers, laying them over my chest.
He sighed contently and I closed my eyes. It felt right, and I drifted
right off to sleep.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 4

Brian

I heard a growl and started to wake up. Then I gasped in pain. I

shot out of bed, crying out and stumbling to the ground. Me body felt
as if millions of bugs were crawling under me skin. I tried to scratch,
but me hands and arms weren’t cooperating with me.

“Help,” I cried out, writhing on the floor in pain.
“Oh fuck,” Zane shouted and picked up the phone next to the bed.

“Help us. I used my gift on Brian.” His voice sounded panicked.

I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, and I didn’t really care,

though I would ask what me mate’s gift was later. All I cared about
was if they could make it stop.

“Just breathe, baby,” Zane cooed. Suddenly I was in his lap, his

hands rubbing all over me body. Wherever he touched, instantly the
pain stopped there. I took a few deep breaths, me heart slowing down.
The door burst open and I smelled Isaac, Rory, and me twin, hearing
their frantic footsteps as they all ran to help me.

“What did you do?” Banning growled as he knelt in front of us,

pulling me out of Zane’s lap.

“No,” I whimpered, trying to fight him. “His touch helps.” Me

twin instantly let me go but still looked pissed enough to chew nails.

“It was an accident,” Zane whispered, his tone pleading that we

understand. I saw him glance at Isaac. “I woke up with someone
draped over me and smelled my mate. I got scared and lashed out
before I even realized it. I’d forgotten that they’d come here or where
I was. I thought I was having a nightmare and wanted to wake up.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“It’s okay, I know you’d never hurt them on purpose,” Isaac said

gently as he knelt next to us. I wasn’t in pain any longer and started to
sit up before collapsing right back in his lap. “Rory, get Brian some
blood.”

“On it,” Rory said, his eyes as big as saucers, looking completely

confused and shocked. Yeah, I felt the same way.

“What does him being scared have to do with Brian being in

pain?” Banning barked out, his gaze darting between Isaac and Zane.
Our mate nodded, swallowing loudly.

“Zane’s gift is the ability to screw with people’s nerves. You

know that little creepy chick in Twilight?” Isaac asked. I thought it
was a weird thing to bring up, but I figured Isaac had a point so I
nodded. “Well, she’s got nothing on Zane. She says pain and people
grab their heads. Zane can control all the nerves in someone’s body
and fry them out.”

“Holy fuck,” Banning gasped, his eyes going wide with fear.

“Why in god’s name would someone be given that gift? Gifts are
supposed to be good and, well, gifts.”

“But he’s a warrior,” Isaac explained, shaking his head. Rory

came over and handed me a bag of blood. “We’re given gifts that are
useful in battle. It’s extremely valuable when engaged in a life-or-
death situation or fight.”

“It hasn’t been working,” he admitted with a wince. “I’ve been too

weak and drained to use it.”

“I wondered how the demons got the drop on you on that last

mission.” Isaac looked pained at the idea, and Banning and I
exchanged a confused look.

Rory must have seen it because he explained. “Zane was

practically torn to shreds from the demons’ claws. Isaac said he
normally scrambles their nerves when in a fight and they can’t
function well.”

Joyee Flynn

“Aye, I can attest to that. Me body wasn’t listening to me,” I

agreed and stuck me fangs in the bag. I felt much better the more I
drank, the sickish feeling leaving me.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Zane whispered as he hugged me closer to

him. Feeling me mate’s arms around me was very comforting.

“Demon claws also have a poison on them that acts like acid so

any cuts by them are incredibly painful.” Isaac finished off Rory’s
explanation.

“And yet ya kept going out into the fight knowing ya not be fit?”

Banning asked, his eyes narrowing in accusation at our mate. “No
wonder Isaac be thinking ya were trying to kill yaself.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Zane sighed, shaking his head. “I couldn’t

have being a warrior taken away from me, too. It was all that I had to
hold on to. I wasn’t trying to kill myself, but I wasn’t willing to give it
up even if it killed me.”

I pulled me fangs out of the bag, having drunk it all, and tossed it

in the trash. “That all be in the past now.” I gave Banning a look that
clearly said back off. This was upsetting our mate, and the whole
point was to help him, not bring up painful memories.

“Yeah, but I’m glad we cleared the air on that though,” Zane said

as he stood with me in his arms. “It was bugging me that everyone
thought I was suicidal and I couldn’t figure out how to put what I was
feeling into words.” He laid me on the bed and bit his lip. “I
understand if you don’t want to stay the rest of the night with me.”

I knew this was an important moment. If I admitted Zane’s gift

scared me or denied him now, he could crawl right behind that wall
he’d built that we were trying to tear down. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Accidents happen,” I said, giving him a smile. “I not be going

anywhere tonight as long as ya want me here.”

He gave a relieved sigh and nodded. I gasped as I felt the despair

coming off me twin.

“Okay, well, have a good night,” Banning mumbled as he headed

to the door, his head hanging slightly.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Wait,” Zane whispered, swallowing loudly. “I’m not picking one

over the other or saying I only want Brian. It’s just both of you
together scare me. I feel like I’m getting ganged up on.”

“That be the last thing we want,” Banning replied, giving him a

sad smile. “It be okay, me mate.”

“Could just you and I have breakfast tomorrow after I work out

with Isaac? Maybe play the zombie game and just hang out?” Zane
was trying, god love him, he was. It warmed me heart. I felt
Banning’s excitement at the idea.

“I’d like that a lot,” me twin answered, his whole face lighting up.

Everyone cleared back out, saying their good-nights before Zane
climbed into bed with me.

“I really am sorry,” he whispered as he pulled me back against his

chest, spooning me from behind. I tried to hide me shock. This was a
lot more intimate than before, and given the way his hard-on was
rubbing me ass, I knew he felt it, too.

“Ya didn’t do it on purpose and helped me when I needed it.

Nothing to forgive,” I said gently, rubbing me hands over the arm
wrapped around me.

“Are you afraid of me now? Because Banning looked at me as if I

was a monster.” Zane sounded so sad and lost I did the only thing I
could think of…I lied me ass off.

“It’s a shock and not a gift I’ve ever heard of before so yes, the

gift is scary. But ya? No, ya not be scaring either one of us. If
Banning had been feeling fear, I would have known it. I only felt his
shock and confusion.” I wanted to sing liar, liar, pants on fire in me
head for that one. Banning had been ready to shit a brick.

“Okay, good,” he sighed in relief. “I’d never use it on you guys

intentionally. Hell, I hate using it on the demons most times. It seems
so cruel, even if they are the bad guys.”

Right then, I knew what I’d said wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t afraid of

him. Anyone who cared about not torturing evil demons wasn’t

Joyee Flynn

someone I should fear. And as soon as I told this to Banning, he’d
agree.

“Ya be a good man, me mate.” And I meant it. A few moments

later, I heard Zane’s breathing even out, signaling he’d fallen asleep.
Good, we both needed it.

* * * *

Zane

“You guys okay after last night?” Isaac asked as we walked

around the Dragos grounds. The grass was green and lush and the
trees were thick with leaves. Which was really strange since it was
December. How they hell was the grass green in Virginia in
December? And I didn’t remember it being like that around the
warrior compound. Maybe those happy pills were making me a little
loopy, too.

Weird.
The fresh air felt good as I breathed it in. Isaac kept slowing me

down, but I felt better than I had in months and wanted to really
stretch my legs.

“Yeah, Brian said they weren’t scared of me and knew it was an

accident,” I answered, relieved that we’d overcome that hurdle, and I
didn’t just mean that I’d accidently hurt him. My gift tended to freak a
lot of people out. “I’m still really nervous around them though.”

“How so?”
“It’s like after all these months of having a part of me hate them

for walking away and another part wish they’d come back, my insides
don’t know what to do with them being here. Hell, I keep thinking
I’m going to blink and realize it was just a dream.”

“I think that’s normal given what you’ve all been through,” Isaac

said after a minute of thought. “I’m thrilled how much better your

A Zane Po’ Boy

coloring is today. And I don’t want to sound like an ass, but I’m
proud of you that you’re giving them another chance.”

“You are?” I was worried he thought I was letting them back in

too easily.

“Yeah, Zane, I am. They screwed up but they didn’t mean to hurt

you. They were acting rashly on their own emotions, but they hopped
on a plane the second they knew you weren’t doing well. That speaks
a lot to their character.” He went on to tell me exactly everything that
happened in Ireland and how my mates ended up back here.

“It felt really good to hold Brian,” I admitted sheepishly, my face

heating up with embarrassment. “I felt complete in a way and sad in
others.”

“Because Banning wasn’t there?” he asked gently with no

judgment at all.

“I think so,” I whispered, feeling like a pussy.
“You need to tell them about your past, Zane. I know you don’t

want to, and I will if you can’t, but I think it should come from you. It
will help.”

“How will them knowing I had a fucked-up family and life before

becoming a warrior help?” I growled, hating my past.

“Because they’ll understand why they need to ease you into both

of them being around you at the same time. Plus, it’s not something
you should hide from your mates. No matter how hard it was, I never
regretted telling Rory everything. Fate wouldn’t have given both of
them to you if they couldn’t handle it.”

“What if they get too freaked out and run again?” I asked, voicing

my biggest fear.

“Dude, not to rub in what happened last night, but you almost

fried your mate’s nerves and he climbed back into bed with you.
They’re not going anywhere.” He seemed so sure about it that I was
willing to trust his instincts.

“Okay, I’ll talk to them. I’m just not sure I can tell them both at

once.”

Joyee Flynn

“Then tell just one of them and let them tell the other. They can

feel each other’s emotions, so I doubt anything will be lost in
translation,” Isaac suggested, but I shook my head.

“No, I need to tell them together. They’re going to start thinking I

only want one of them if I keep dividing my time between them.”

“Just go slow. You’re doing better already, and I don’t want you

to crawl back in your hole.”

I was glad when we walked back up to the house, ready to be done

with this discussion. It was as if I’d fried my own nerves with
everything that had happened. I could only deal with issues a little at a
time. Too much and I felt like I was going to overload and burst.

“This feels kinda silly.” I chuckled as Isaac escorted me back to

my cell/room thing.

“Just humor me until I know you won’t snap again,” he said

gently. I winced but nodded. That was fair. “I’m not bringing it up to
be a shit, but I wanted you to understand why. The road to getting
better isn’t straight and narrow. Hell, mine had all types of twists and
loop-de-loops to where, if I didn’t have someone watching me, I
would have jumped right off the path.”

“But at some point in time you’re going to have to have to trust I

can do this,” I replied with a nod, not fighting, as we walked back into
my room. “Letting you go to the airport to run away was one of the
hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I was so scared you wouldn’t come
back or would off yourself. But I trusted you to tell me the truth.”

“Right, but you had a few days of keeping me in the hospital

before we got to that point. So I at least get a few days of you here,”
he countered. I shrugged and pulled off my sweatshirt. “I’ll see you
after work.”

“Okay. Can you send both my mates in with breakfast? If proving

to you I can handle things gets me out of here and back into my
normal life, then I will.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Why are you so against this all of a sudden? I thought you were

going to take this time as a sabbatical.” He seemed confused and hurt.
That wasn’t what I wanted.

“Because it’s a cage, Isaac. It’s a nicely dressed-up, fully

equipped cage, but it’s still a cage. You had to know how hard that
would be for me, and everyone just keeps looking at me with pity.”
His face paled so fast that I realized he didn’t ever realize it.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he whispered. “I wasn’t thinking. I just

wanted to help you.”

“I know, and I’m not mad, but it’s still hard.”
“How about we amend the rules,” he said quickly when I turned

toward the bathroom. “If you promise not to fight your mates and stay
with both of them, you can leave the room anytime you like. Deal?”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” I sighed with relief. Suddenly I didn’t feel so

trapped. “I can handle that.”

“Okay, good. Good. I didn’t think about when—”
“It’s okay. Go get your ass to work.” I chuckled, not wanting to

delve into the past when I was going to real soon when I talked to my
mates. When I saw Isaac still looked upset, I decided to try and throw
him a bone. “How about you and I just have dinner tonight? Get
Hadley to make lasagna and we’ll just hang out if Rory’s okay with
it.”

“Yeah, he goes into heat tomorrow so he’ll be cool with it.” My

friend’s face looked equal parts relieved and happy at the idea. He
gave me a wave and headed out. I walked into the bathroom and
turned on the shower. It amazed me how sweaty and tired I was after
simply walking. But then again, after months and months of not
taking care of myself, sometimes just getting out of bed was
exhausting.

I just finished showering, reaching for a towel to dry off, while

still lost in my thoughts. I wrapped it around my hips, grabbing
another one for my hair, thinking I needed a haircut as I stepped out

Joyee Flynn

into the room. Brian gasped and almost dropped the tray of food he
was holding. He put it down on the table and raced over to me.

“Dear god,” he whispered as he traced the jagged marks on my

chest with his fingers. I realized what had him so freaked. I glanced
down and winced at all the claw marks still marring my body. “Why
haven’t they healed?”

“Injuries from demons normally take longer to heal, but since my

body wasn’t at full health, it’s taking longer.” I shrugged, not really
trying to make a big deal about it. I shivered when both his hands
started tracing the marks.

“Can’t the doc heal ya?” Banning asked from across the room,

concern in his tone.

“Riley’s got enough people who need to use his gift. Plus, he’s got

a baby and other responsibilities,” I answered as I moved away from
Brian. “They’ll heal in time. They’re not life threatening or anything.
They’re just ugly.”

“Nothing on ya be ugly,” Brian whispered as he stepped closer

again. I started to get nervous until I realized Banning was still in the
same spot. He was watching me intently with those gorgeous silver
eyes, but his body was still, indicating he had no intention of moving.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a higher pitch than my normal

tone.

“I just wanted a good-morning kiss,” Brian admitted shyly,

blushing a pretty color that turned me on. “I thought it would be okay
after last night. I apologize—”

I didn’t even let him finish that sentence. I leaned over and

brushed my lips over his. He moaned and leaned against me. “I’m not
good at this stuff,” I said in a husky voice I barely recognized.
“Always assume I don’t understand and not that I’m trying to rebuff
you.” I glanced up at Banning. “Okay?”

“Aye, I understand. Do I get a morning kiss as well?” I saw his

eyes flare with lust, and I started moving toward him, drawn like a
moth to a flame. Suddenly I was across the room with my hand

A Zane Po’ Boy

wrapped behind his head, pulling him up to my mouth. I kept it
simple, especially since I was in a towel and Banning could feel
exactly how much I liked the kiss.

“Wait,” I whimpered as I felt Brian at my back. “I can’t be

surrounded like that.” I quickly darted out from in between them,
feeling like a complete pussy. “I’m sorry.”

“Ya want to tell us why ya react like that?” Brian asked gently,

worry and slight confusion playing across his features.

“That’s why I asked if both of you could come down with

breakfast,” I said quickly.

And then I needed something to do with my hands. I moved over

to the closet with my clothes and grabbed some sweats and a shirt. I
ducked into the bathroom and quickly yanked them on. When I came
back out, both my mates were sitting at the table, having already
uncovered breakfast, and were looking uncomfortable.

I walked over and grabbed one of the plates of eggs and bacon,

moving to sit down on the edge of the bed. “This is going to be hard
for me, I’ve only ever told Isaac and the warrior coordinator when I
finally found my way to the compound. So if you guys could just bear
with me and stay over there.”

“We can do that,” Brian said slowly. We all took a few bites of

breakfast.

“My parents weren’t good people,” I sighed, shaking my head.

“They had children so they could have workers in their sweatshops.
They kept us locked up in the back room of their small factory when
we weren’t working. My first memories are of working at a sewing
machine making designer suits.”

“How old were you?” Banning asked, his face paling.
“Probably five or six,” I answered with a shrug. “It’s hard to tell.

We didn’t celebrate birthdays or keep track of how old we were. It’s
not like we were loved or taken care of. Hell, I grew up sickly and
underfed, wearing scraps of cloths.” I paused, taking a deep breath
before continuing. “I couldn’t have been more than eight when my

Joyee Flynn

gift appeared. We were beaten sometimes if we weren’t behaving
according to my sick and twisted parents.

“And I’m guessing my age. Hell, I still do. But my dad came at

me to hit me for screwing something up and I screamed. He fell to the
ground, writhing around in pain, and I realized I was controlling it. I
was so scared I remember peeing myself and crying for forgiveness.
He got up after the pain passed and laughed. I mean it was a psycho,
scary laugh. I thought he might kill me.

“But he was excited. I could hurt people without leaving bruises.

The next time one of my siblings got out of line, he threatened to
shoot my baby sister if I didn’t use my gift on them. I was somewhere
in the middle of all the kids and the older ones had become just as
abusive after the years of beatings. So it was either hurt someone who
had been mean to me or watch my father kill my little sister.”

“Ya had no choice,” Banning said gently. “Ya were put in an

impossible situation, Zane.”

“I know, but I didn’t know how to control my gift and ended up

accidently killing my older brother. My parents freaked out and beat
the shit out of me,” I whispered, my eyes starting to burn.

“Which is why two of us surrounding ya freaks ya out,” Brian

said, nodding his head in understanding.

“No.” I laughed bitterly. “That was nothing compared to what my

older siblings did. They ganged up on me every night when we were
locked back up in the rooms. I barely survived my childhood and tried
my best never to be backed into a corner.”

“Can I ask how ya can be a warrior and go into battle when they

might surround ya?” Banning gave me a curious glance. It wasn’t
filled with contempt or condemnation, just wonder.

“Because then the goal is to kill,” I answered, hanging my head in

shame before stuffing my mouth full of more food and chewing
furiously. It was a stupid stall tactic, but I needed just a few moments
before continuing. “I never fought back against my family. I couldn’t.
Yeah, they were horrid, but they were still my family. It’s not the

A Zane Po’ Boy

same with demons, but it would be with you both. I don’t care if you
were trying to kill me, I know I could never retaliate or risk hurting
you.”

“So it’s frightening to have people you care about surround ya or

gang up on ya,” Brian surmised with an understanding nod. “And fear
not be logical so ya not knowing we would never harm ya either.”

“I guess.” I shrugged again. What else could I say to try and

defend my fucked-up mind? “It’s not like I think you will hurt me or
anything. But when I feel surrounded or ganged up on, I wig out.
When I’m fighting demons, I have weapons and I’ll use them. With
you guys, it’s more an instinct to run. That’s why I wouldn’t let you
claim me when we met.”

“Ya thought we would hurt ya?” Banning asked, his eyes wide

with shock.

“No, but there was two against my one, and I freaked. I needed a

moment to think and you misinterpreted what I was trying to say. I
just meant I couldn’t jump right into mating. I needed time to process
that I had two mates. And I felt you needed to know the truth about
my past before claiming me as well.”

“We’re so sorry,” Brian whispered, his eyes overflowing with

tears. Eventually one spilled over and slid down his cheek. “We
totally flew off the handle and jumped to conclusions. We should
have been better mates and listened to you.”

“We all made mistakes on this one. I just needed you to

understand when you blew up why I couldn’t go after you then. I
thought—”

“Ya might be walking right into the same situation like ya past

with the way we acted.” Banning looked as if he’d been kicked in the
nuts he was in so much pain, but I wasn’t going to lie. I nodded,
glancing back down at my plate.

“I couldn’t make my feet move. I couldn’t go after you. I was so

scared,” I whispered, feeling as if someone should take away my

Joyee Flynn

badass warrior card. “And you both got so mad. Two of you to my
one and I froze.”

“We understand. We knew we misunderstood ya and walked

away. Once Isaac told us we didn’t hear ya right, we were never mad
ya didn’t come after us.” Brian shook his head in frustration. “Hell, I
wouldn’t have come after us either.”

“I just needed you to know why I didn’t run after you. I thought it

was important you understand.” It seemed they already did even
without my additional explanation. I started to feel foolish, like the
guy who shares too much when not asked or appropriate. And I didn’t
know what to do.

“I be glad ya told us,” Brian said with a smile. “It’s important that

we know about each other so we don’t inadvertently hurt each other
again.”

“I feel stupid telling you now. You weren’t mad at me anyways,”

I mumbled, stuffing the rest of my food in my mouth so I was
occupied.

“No, we needed to know this, Zane,” Banning replied firmly.

“And I want to ask how ya ended up at the warrior compound. Ya
made it sound like there was more to the story.”

“Yeah, there is.” I glanced up at them and sighed in defeat. Both

their faces were serious, as if letting me know there was no way I was
getting out of this one. “I transitioned. How old I was, I don’t know.
Maybe fifteen or sixteen, the doctors guessed.”

“What age do ya say ya are?” Brian asked gently.
“Isaac deemed me to be sixteen when we met so he could teach

me how to drive. He was the first friend I made when I came to the
compound. So that makes me ninety-nine. I’ll be one hundred on New
Year’s.”

“That be ya birthday?” Brian was trying so hard, but it was a

sensitive topic.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“I don’t know. Isaac gave me that one because he said it was the

time for new beginnings and was trying to make me leave my past
behind me.”

“He be a good, smart friend.” Banning gave me a warm smile, and

suddenly I didn’t feel so stupid. “So, ya were saying about ya
transition.” He was trying not to be intrusive, which I appreciated, but
he was still curious.

“Most warriors are born of warrior family, like the Mariuses. I

was an anomaly. It was a rough transition, mostly because of the
living conditions my parents kept us in. But when I was done, I look a
lot like I do now, too tall for the weight on me, not filled out yet. My
parents were pissed. They beat me badly and kicked me out,
screaming that I was nothing but a shameful bastard.”

Brian gasped, his hand fluttering to his mouth. Banning was the

one to speak.

“It be an honor for a warrior to be born in a family.”
“Not to my fucked-up family.” I chuckled bitterly. “I wandered

around New York City, where I was from, until I smelled other
vampires. I followed the scent and they called the East Coast Council.
They sent someone for me, and I was taken back to the warrior
compound. After they helped me, giving me the blood and food I
needed, I started training.”

“How long after your transition did you finally get blood?” Brian

asked quietly. I knew why he did. We needed it immediately after, our
bodies hurting and craving it.

“A week.” Both my mates winced, understanding the immense

pain it had caused me. “And the rest is history, so to speak.” I glanced
down at my empty plate, unable to watch as their expressions turned
to pity…like everyone’s did when they heard my story.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 5

Banning

Our mate was in such pain that I didn’t even realize what I was

going to do until I was already doing it. I stood and closed the space
between us, taking his plate and setting it back on the table. Then I
moved back to the bed. It wasn’t as soft as I would have liked, but the
comforter and the pillows were soft and inviting, a pretty shade of
green, too. I pushed Zane to lie down on one side of it before crawling
on the other side.

“We stay on this side, no surrounding ya,” I said gently when he

gazed up at me with questioning eyes. “No biting or claiming. We’re
just gonna ease ya into getting comfortable with both of us near ya.”

“I don’t know how,” he whispered, his face filling with fear.
“Just like ya did earlier,” Brian replied as he joined me on the bed.

“We make ya feel uncomfortable in any way and ya tell us. We won’t
judge ya or get mad, me mate.”

“Okay.” Zane nodded and took a shaky breath, letting it out

slowly as he relaxed back against the pillows on the bed. I was lying
horizontally across the top of the bed as Brian sat toward the bottom,
rubbing his hand up Zane’s leg in comfort. I moved me hands up his
chest, scooting a little closer.

“We’d never hurt ya,” I said quietly as I lowered me face down to

his. He nodded before tilting his head ever so slightly so his lips met
mine. Just as it was earlier, the kiss was explosive for one so calm. I
wanted to take everything so much further and fuck our mate into the

A Zane Po’ Boy

mattress, but he needed gentle and slow. Neither were me strong
points, but I was willing to try for him.

I moved me hands to the bottom of his shirt, giving him ample

time to stop me. When he didn’t I slowly tucked me fingers beneath
the cotton fabric and peeled it off of him, breaking the kiss for a
second so I could get it over his head. Then I whipped off me own
shirt and moved for more contact with him. Zane growled and
deepened the kiss. I let him take control, knowing he needed it more
than anything right then.

When his hips lifted, I glanced down and saw Brian had lost his

shirt as well and was removing our mate’s pants. I felt a thrill of relief
run through me. This could work. Our mate wouldn’t shut us out
always as long as we were patient with him.

“Can I rim ya, me mate?” Brian asked in between kisses along

Zane’s now-naked thighs.

“Yes please,” he groaned, his whole body giving a shudder,

anticipating the pleasure.

“And I will blow ya,” I purred as I started licking me way along

his collarbone.

“Okay,” our mate almost squeaked. I smiled to myself. That was a

high pitch for such a big man, and we were the cause of it. That was a
total ego boost. And I also realized if he’d had problems with too
many people around him at once, then he’d never had two men please
him at once. I liked that we were giving our mate something he’d
never had before.

I really fucking liked it.
Brian moved between Zane’s legs, pushing them back and to the

side so he could get at our mate’s hole. That was a sight I wanted to
see very badly, but it would have to wait. Our mate needed slow and a
little tenderness.

I kissed me way down his chest, stopping to play with his nipples

a bit. I admired how they had become perky pink discs in his aroused
state. Then I kept moving down, licking along every muscle and

Joyee Flynn

healing wound I saw. Zane was panting and moaning, his dark green
eyes echoing the lust in mine and his head thrashing from side to side.
His blond hair was damp, and I noticed some beads of sweat dripping
down his temple. I knew he was getting close. Time to stop teasing
him or I’d miss the whole show.

Moving his left leg back toward Brian and over me twin’s

shoulder, I swallowed down Zane’s cock. He cried out and came up
off the bed. If that didn’t make a man feel like a god, I didn’t know
what did. I applied gentle pressure on his swollen, throbbing flesh. I
wanted to do a cartwheel and the jig at the same time. I was finally
getting to be intimate with our mate!

It didn’t take long for Zane to come. He tugged on me hair, which

was also slick with sweat from me exertions, giving me the warning. I
shook me head and sucked on him harder. He screamed our names
and shot down me throat. I swallowed every drop, moaning in
pleasure. I couldn’t even imagine how great his blood would taste if I
enjoyed his cum this much.

When he was cleaned up, I pulled back off of him, his softening

cock leaving me mouth with a loud pop. Brian was smiling at a job
well done as he sat up, three of his fingers still inside of Zane. It
seemed he ate our mate’s ass while fingering it as well. No wonder
Zane was so quick on the draw.

Glancing up at him, I saw Zane’s eyes were wide, glazed over as

he gasped for air. “Brian, fuck me,” Zane panted as he took me head
and pulled me toward him. “I want to suck you off, too.”

“Won’t that be too much? Both of us at once already?” Brian

asked hesitantly. I shot him a glance. Why did he have to always be
so damn understanding? I cared for Zane, too. It wasn’t me fault I
didn’t always know the right thing to say. I would have taken Zane at
his word and trusted that he knew what he was ready for.

“You’re both on the same side of me,” Zane answered with a

smile. His breathing had returned to normal. “I can handle that, and I
want to please my mates as they did me.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Oh thank fuck,” Brian groaned, pulling his fingers out of Zane’s

ass and using the extra slick on his cock. I must have missed where
he’d gotten lube from, but it didn’t matter when I realized Zane was
trying to bring me closer to his mouth as his big hand pressed on the
small of me back. I was about to get me own fun.

Though, if I was willing to be petty and admit it…it bugged me

that Brian was getting to have sex with Zane first. And then suddenly
I didn’t care. Zane wrapped his lips around me cock and I couldn’t
have cared if the room was burning down around us.

I braced me hands against the wall when he slid one of me legs

over his chest to straddle him. Me hips and body were screaming to
thrust. It took every ounce of control not to. I couldn’t risk hurting me
mate, most importantly. Secondly, if he felt that I was pushing him
too hard, he might wig out and that would undo everything we’d been
trying to do.

It was also incredibly difficult because Brian was pounding into

his ass at such a fast pace I had trouble keeping me balance. It wasn’t
like I was straddling a little guy. Oh no, me mate had a broad, sexy
chest. I did the best I could while enjoying me blow job, deciding
holding back was well worth the pleasure I was getting.

And it was a lot of pleasure. Zane knew what he was doing. It

made me wonder how many men he’d been with. Pushing aside the
disturbing thought, I tried to focus on me mate, taking in all of the
perfect features that made up his face and the sweat glistening in his
hair. It got easier the closer to climaxing I got.

“Fuck! Ya mouth be heaven,” I groaned, me sac drawing up

against me body. I heard Brian cry out behind me and smelled our
mate’s release. That was all it took to throw me into me orgasm.
“Zane!”

I came down his throat, moaning as he kept sucking as each wave

hit me. I didn’t realize how tightly wound I was until I finally felt
sated, relaxed. When I was spent, I quickly fell to the side of him,
careful not to fall on his face or hurt him.

Joyee Flynn

“I came again,” Zane gasped in shock and from exertion. I

glanced up at him, laughing at how Brian had collapsed on our mate’s
stomach. He looked as happy and sated as I felt.

“Ya gave two orgasms and got two,” Brian mumbled as Zane

wrapped his arms around me twin. “That be how we roll.”

“Good to know.” Zane chuckled, kissing the top of Brian’s head.

It was incredibly intimate and tender. And I lay on the other side of
the bed…alone. Me heart sank as again I felt as if I was the outsider
or third wheel on their mating. Zane liked Brian better already. That
was apparent. Just as everyone always did.

The fun was ruined for me, and I just wanted to go back to the

room Isaac gave me and take a nap. Maybe after bawling me eyes out.
But I had to be strong for me mate. Stay and give him what he
needed, no matter the cost to me.

I had to prove I was just as good of a mate as Brian. Nothing was

ever easy. And didn’t that just suck?

* * * *

Zane

A few days later I was walking the grounds with my mates. I

finally felt like myself and knew soon I would be upgrading from
walks into real workouts. Already I’d put some weight back on and
my stomach no longer rebelled at the idea of food or blood.

I was also out of my cage, staying in a room across the hall from

my mates’ rooms. We hadn’t worked up to all sleeping together yet or
claiming each other, but I was happy and hopeful with the progress.
Yeah, not everything was perfect, but we were working on it.

That was the important part. We all cared enough to try. I glanced

over at Brian, who was walking to my left. He smiled at me impishly.

“Maybe we should take a shower when we get back and ya can

fuck me into the wall,” Brian purred playfully. I was just going to

A Zane Po’ Boy

readily agree to it, excited for fun especially since we’d not had sex
since the first time a few days ago.

“Ya got to fuck him first and now he’s gonna fuck ya first, too?”

Banning snapped, his eyes narrowed in anger. Where the fuck had that
come from?

“I’m sorry, Banning,” Brian said, immediately backing away from

me. “I not be meaning it like that.”

“Ya never do,” he grumbled and went to storm away. I grabbed

his arm before he could, furious when I saw the destroyed look on
Brian’s face.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I growled, giving him a little

shake. “This isn’t a competition, Banning. Why are you jumping all
over Brian?”

“It’s not?” he asked, turning his anger on me. “It feels that way to

me. Ya both are falling in love, and I’m just the third wheel being
dragged behind as an afterthought.” His voice had changed from
angry to sad.

“That’s not true,” I gasped, releasing him as if he’d burned me.

“How could you think that? I care about you both equally.”

“No, ya don’t,” Banning whispered, backing away slowly.
“Don’t run from this, Banning,” Brian pleaded. “Zane not be

Cesar. None of this be his fault. It’s mine.”

“What are you talking about?” Something major was going on,

and I couldn’t afford to be as lost as I felt.

“Nothing. Brian needs to shut his trap.” From his clenched jaws

and narrowed eyes, Banning looked as if he was going to beat the shit
out of his twin. Yeah, that was so not happening while I was around.

“Look!” I shouted, stepping in between them, making Banning

focus on me. “I know something’s up between you two, so you might
as well spit it out. I saw how close Shane and Sean were. You don’t
treat Brian like he’s your twin. Hell, you barely act like you’re
brothers. What is wrong with you?”

Joyee Flynn

“Aye, it be me fault like always,” Banning replied quietly,

nodding his head. “Brian be the good twin who everyone loves, and
I’m just the other one.”

“It’s me fault,” Brian whispered with such pain I turned to look at

him. He glanced up at me with tears in his eyes. “When I was young,
I made a huge mistake that Banning never be able to forgive me for.”

“This is not about Cesar!” Banning shouted. His voice sounded

strangled as he said the words. Not only had his voice changed, but
his entire face had transformed from the calm man I was familiar with
to someone wild and unhinged. It seemed almost as if my mate was
on the verge of being torn apart from the pain he was feeling.

“Both of you sit down,” I said firmly but as kindly as I could

while I pointed to one of the gray stone benches by the terrace
decorated with various carefully placed potted plants and rocks. A
bronze statue of a woman stood at the terrace’s center, the serene
expression permanently carved on her face contrasting sharply with
our distress. They both nodded and moved over there. I rolled my
eyes when Brian sat on the one I’d pointed to and Banning took
another one a few feet away. “Now who’s Cesar?”

“No one,” Banning said quickly. Riiiight. I turned to Brian, who

bore an expression of deep despair on his face. His silver eyes, which
were normally sparkling with happiness, had become almost dull. He
took a shaky breath before opening his mouth to speak.

“When I was a lad, I met a man in town, a vampire named Cesar. I

felt a pull to him, he smelled amazing, and I thought he be our mate. I
brought Banning out to meet him, and Banning said I was mistaken,
that he felt no draw to the man. I was crushed and felt stupid that I’d
made a mistake. Banning left, disappointed as I was. But I stayed to
have dinner with Cesar because I thought he was nice.”

“I take it he wasn’t?” I had a sinking suspicion this was going to

go badly.

“No, no he wasn’t,” Brian whispered as he shook his head sadly,

his eyes full of shame. “Cesar told me that not all twins shared a mate

A Zane Po’ Boy

and that was just a myth. There are so few families with twins, and we
didn’t know any, so I didn’t know what to believe. Me das had both
had me ma as a mate, but that was all I knew. Cesar said he knew
other twins and they didn’t share mates and I didn’t think he had any
reason to lie. We went to bed and I was hooked. Probably because he
be taking me virginity—”

I couldn’t help the growl that passed my lips. Okay, I hadn’t

claimed them yet, but I didn’t like hearing about them being with
other men. They were mine!

The side of Brian’s lips curved up in a smirk as he continued. “I

didn’t tell Banning I was still seeing Cesar.” I glanced over at
Banning, whose lips were drawn in to a thin line. He wasn’t looking
at Brian, instead focusing on something in the distance, but I knew he
was listening. I turned my attention back to Brian.

“After a month of being with him, he talked me into mating. I

brought him home to meet our parents and they freaked out. They
knew the truth, but I was too young and stupid to listen. I thought I
was in love, and why would they want to take that from me? Cesar
asked me to leave me family. Banning begged me not to do it, but I
packed a bag and walked out the door.”

“Oh,” I whispered, glancing at Banning. Things were starting to

make a lot more sense at why Banning was so closed off and a little
snippy at times.

“Aye, oh.” Brian chuckled bitterly as he looked away from me

and picked at a small hole in his jeans. “I was waiting for Cesar to
pack outside of his home. His neighbor and lover came over. I saw
them embrace through the window and start kissing. Then the man
asked if Cesar had been able to pull it off and get me to give up me
family. It seems he’d had a thing for Banning, but since they weren’t
mates, Banning wouldn’t hear of dating someone.

“I guess they were both really into twins and figured if they both

got one of us, they’d eventually get us both to play with. I fell for it.
Banning didn’t.”

Joyee Flynn

“What did you do?” I asked gently, squatting down in front of

him, so I could meet his gaze.

“I went home.” He shrugged as he made efforts to look anywhere

but at Banning or me. “I didn’t talk to anyone for a while, worked the
farm, and eventually apologized for not listening to me family like I
should have. But by then, the damage be done. Banning never forgave
me.”

“That’s not true,” Banning said firmly, finally turning his head to

look at his brother, his tone filled with annoyance. “I forgave ya the
moment ya came home. Ya couldn’t have known Cesar was playing
you. I didn’t even remember the guy who wanted me. They were nuts,
Brian. It not be ya fault.”

“I know ya say that, but ya never were the same with me. I’ve

been trying for over six hundred years to make it up to you—”

“I never asked ya to!” Banning shouted, jumping to his feet. “I

never asked ya to act like the martyr, always doing whatever I want to
try and make up for Cesar.”

“Bullshit,” Brian growled as he shot to his feet as well, knocking

me back on my ass onto the hard stone. “Ya never looked at me the
same after that. Ya have to let it go, Banning. I’ve more than paid me
dues for me crimes! I was eighteen. I was young and stupid. I’m sorry
I hurt ya, okay? I’m so fucking sorry. I would do anything to undo
what I did, but I can’t. Ya have to forgive me!”

“Ya want to know why things were never the same?” Banning

shouted as he shoved Brian hard in the chest. “Because of ya! Ya
stopped talking to me like we used to. Ya were poor little Brian, who
got hurt by the big bad world. Poor, sweet Brian got misled. Everyone
was so worried about how it affected ya that I was just an
afterthought. When I be the one ya walked away from!

“Ya the sweet one, the one everyone loves. Hell, even when

people call us, ya be first. Brian and Banning. Brian and Banning.
Aye, Brian, and okay, guess we’ll have to take Banning. Ya left me
and yet I wasn’t the good one everyone loved. Ya didn’t trust me!

A Zane Po’ Boy

And ya never acted like ya did after when I was right! Ya need advice
or to talk, ya go to Fergus. Ya spent six hundred years acting like the
wounded party when ya the one who caused it!

“Ya the one who never acted like things were before. Ya acted

like I be the mean, older, demanding brother, and ya poor baby
Brian.” He glanced over at me. “And now we meet our mate and ya
still be the favorite.” His eyes filled up with tears, immediately
overflowing. He wiped them away angrily with his balled-up fists. “I
still just be an afterthought. Ya gonna leave me all over again. I’m
that easy to be tossed aside.”

“Banning, that’s not true,” I whispered as I stood and pulled him

in my arms, ignoring his struggles. “I can’t speak for Brian or how he
feels, which you should know since you share the bond, but I can’t
lose you. You both mean the exact same to me. It’s just been harder to
fall for you because you’ve been behind this wall. I didn’t know if it
was me or why you had such a hard shell. It makes sense now.”

“It does?” Banning asked, his eyes revealing the hope my words

brought him. Suddenly he stilled his movements and tilted his head so
he could see me better. I nodded, giving him a quick kiss, and ran my
fingers through his hair. “What now?”

“You have to let go what happened.” The hope in Banning’s eyes

disappeared and they filled with such rage I was surprised he didn’t
combust.

“Of course ya being on his side,” he snarled and shoved me hard

enough to move me away. Damn, my little mates were strong. He got
about three feet away before I dove and knocked him to the ground.

“I’m not taking sides,” I said as I straddled him and pinned his

arms down. He might be strong, but I was a well-trained warrior and
was bigger. He wouldn’t get away from me if I didn’t want him to.
Banning had caught me off guard before. I wouldn’t make that same
mistake. “You both need to work on this. But you haven’t let it go. I
can see why Brian doesn’t go to talk to you when he needs it. I have
trouble talking with you because of this wall, this shell.”

Joyee Flynn

I turned to glance at Brian, still pinning Banning down. “And you

need to stop walking on eggshells around him. You fucked up. It was
six hundred years ago. Move the fuck on. He’s your twin and you
guys both act more like strangers. Stop apologizing or feeling bad for
what you did and learn who your twin is as a man now. Neither of
you are snot-nosed teenagers anymore. You’re adults who are twins
and love each other. Act like it.”

“Ya not be on his side,” Banning whispered in awe.
“No, I’m Switzerland here,” I said gently, looking back down at

him. “Well, not really because obviously I’m getting involved and
have an opinion. And I have a stake in the outcome. But I think
you’re both equally at fault.”

“No one’s ever said that,” he cried softly. “It always be Banning

fix this, or don’t be so hard on him, Banning. I’m so tired of
everything being me fault, me responsibility, me wrong.”

“It’s made you jaded and a little bitter,” I replied, finally getting it.

He nodded, tears still running out of his eyes. “Time to let it go. I’m
just getting to know you both, and I see this as equally each of your
faults.” I slowly got off of him, standing and helping him to his feet.
“But you guys need to fix this before we go any further.”

“What?” they both gasped, their eyes going wide with shock.
“Ya be punishing us?” Brian asked in sadness.
“No, far from it,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’m going to

give you some time to yourselves to work this out. I can’t keep being
in the middle of your issues. I won’t spend my life worrying that one
of you thinks I care more for the other or having to take sides. I don’t
care if you two fight it out, scream it out, or just sit down and talk.
But it has to be hashed out before you consider bringing me into the
mix. I won’t be the Band-Aid to try and fix a huge gash. It won’t
work and will destroy us all.”

They both still looked shocked, but it was a different kind as if

they heard me and understood what I was saying.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“What now then?” Banning asked, glancing between me and his

twin.

“I’m going to get back into working out and training at the warrior

compound,” I answered. I hadn’t realized I’d made that decision until
now, but it was the right one. It was what I needed to do. “I need to
wrap my head around a lot of things as well, decide what I want for
the future, and get back on track for my job.”

They both looked scared, as if I would take off. I stepped closer to

both of them, running my hands down each of their cheeks. They both
leaned into my touch.

“I’m not running, I’m not leaving. We’re just taking a quick time-

out while you guys work this out and I process what’s happened. You
know where to find me when you’re ready, okay? This isn’t the end.
It’s the best way to get past this small speed bump.”

They nodded, and I leaned down to give Banning a passionate

kiss. Then I did the same for Brian. Before they could say anything, I
turned and walked away, praying I knew what the fuck I was doing.
This would either work or blow up in my face.

After the shitty childhood and crap in my life, I thought fate owed

me one and should have it be the first option. But that was just me.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 6

Brian

I stood there with me mouth hanging open in astonishment,

watching our mate walk away. I mean, he just walked away and left
us like naughty children who needed to clean up their own mess.
Glancing over at Banning, I winced, realizing that the analogy really
wasn’t all that far off.

Zane was right. I understood the situation a whole lot better now

and wasn’t surprised to realize I was wrong in that Banning still
wanted me to keep begging for forgiveness. So it was good we got
that settled. But then came the main issue, the one I couldn’t get over.
Zane leaving us to figure out ourselves.

How did you bring up the elephant in the room without starting a

major fight? Especially when that elephant was over six hundred
years old and seemed to include more than just the two of us? Damn
elephant.

I really just wanted to shoot the fucking thing.
“How—” I started to ask and grunted when I took a punch to the

face. I felt a sharp pain that started somewhere on me left cheekbone
and radiated out to the rest of me face. I gasped and took a few steps
back. I leaned forward for a moment, me hands on me knees, feeling a
constant pounding in me head.

Eventually it subsided slightly, and I looked up at me brother. He

was standing, unmoving, his head tilted slightly to the side and his
arms crossed over his chest. When he saw that I was watching him, he
opened his mouth to speak.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“That be for not believing in me or trusting me over someone ya

just met,” Banning growled, his fangs out.

“So we be fighting this out then?” I snorted, spitting out the blood

that was in me mouth now. I wiped me mouth with the back of me
hand, and then shook out me head to clear it.

“Sounds like a start to me,” Banning said with an evil smile.

“Maybe I wouldn’t have had to spend the last six hundred years
toeing around ya if we’d just done this in the beginning.”

“Fair enough,” I growled, letting me fangs come out as well. He

wasn’t the only one with anger that had built up. I jabbed left and he
ducked right, so I used me right foot to kick out, hitting him in the
ribs. I heard his sharp intake of breath as he stumbled away from me.
“Ya think this has been fun for me either? I couldn’t get ya to talk to
me about it and it just festered. And the arrival of more brothers in the
family, all close and inseparable, made it worse. Ya think they love
me better? No, they pitied me because, no matter what I did, I
couldn’t get us back to where we were.”

“See, that’s part of the problem,” he yelled, giving me a one-two

combo that I could only duck the first of. The cut in me mouth had
just healed and now I was bleeding again, lip split right back open.
Fucker. “Ya kept trying to force everything. Ya came back, still didn’t
talk to me, making me think ya blamed me when it not be me fault.
Then all of a sudden ya are sorry and want me forgiveness and have
everything go back to normal. Well, forgive the fuck out of me for not
being able to switch gears that easily! Then I be the bad guy.”

“I never blamed ya for not switching gears,” I screamed, throwing

me hands in the air. “I didn’t know how to help ya switch them. I
tried, Banning. By god, I tried.”

“No, ya pestered me,” he said, lunging for me again. And that

comment pissed me off. I spun past him and jabbed hard in his side as
I went by. “Banning, I be sorry. Banning, can’t ya forgive me yet?
Banning, I was wrong.”

Joyee Flynn

“What should I have said? That’s what people say when they

apologize!” I tackled him to the ground, but he was just as strong and
flipped us over. The side of me head cracked painfully against the
ground, and I felt blood dripping down. We rolled for several feet
before he stopped and went limp.

“That ya believed in me,” he whispered, his eyes getting watery.

“That ya loved me and wouldn’t leave me again.” I froze with me fist
in the air, suddenly not wanting to hurt him any more than he
obviously was. “Ya never say ya love me. Cesar screwed ya over, ya
were hurt. I would have comforted ya in a second, pushing what I felt
aside. But ya didn’t come to me. Ya went to ma so ya still didn’t want
me.”

“Oh, Banning,” I gasped, never having in a million years thought

he felt that way. I let me arm fall to me side. “That not be true. I just
didn’t want to rub salt in the wound I caused by crying to ya that me
heart be broken. That wasn’t ya burden to carry. It was mine.”

“Of course it was mine!” he snapped and shoved me off of him.

Banning jumped to his feet, pissed off again. “Ya be me twin. I felt ya
pain, ya idiot! And yet, I couldn’t help ya because ya wouldn’t let me.
Ya still didn’t want me.”

“Ya want to know what I went crying to ma about?” I asked,

trying to keep calm because one of us had to obviously. I didn’t wait
for him to answer. “That I broke us and didn’t know if I could fix it.
Fuck Cesar! I hated the bastard, but I loved ya. I didn’t know how to
make it better.”

“Ya were?” His eyes were wide in shock. “Ya weren’t crying over

the love you lost?”

“A few times, sure. But after a few months, it wasn’t about that,” I

answered gently. I brushed me hand over the side of me head that had
hit the ground, feeling the blood that had dried there. The cut had
healed already though. “It wasn’t real love, Banning. It was a cruel
joke and it hurt, but nothing compared to losing ya.”

“Ya didn’t lose me! Ya just never came back to me.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“I tried, dammit. Ya shut me out.” We were starting to talk in

circles. We needed ma here to kick both of our arses.

“Because ya always wanted me to forgive ya. I did. I forgave ya

the moment ya asked and probably before. But then ya turned to ma
always, and I still felt as if ya didn’t want me around.” He slumped
down to his knees, looking so forlorn and lost. I couldn’t help what I
did next. Maybe he’d slug me again, but I had to take the risk.

“We be idiots,” I whispered as I wrapped me arms around him. “I

never meant it to be this way or hurt ya. I thought ya didn’t want me
anymore either after I broke us.”

“All I wanted was me twin,” he mumbled as he hugged me back.

“I just wanted ya to love me and have faith in me again, need me.”

“I’ll always need ya, Banning. And I do love ya. Ya be me twin.

Zane might be our mate, but ya come first to me. And I do trust ya
and have faith in ya. Why do ya think I did everything you did or
wanted ever since?”

“To try and get me to forgive ya,” he grumbled, starting to pull

away from me embrace.

“No,” I said firmly, shaking him. “Because I trusted ya judgment.

If I had listened to you before, none of this would have happened, ya
idiot!”

“Oh.”
“Aye, oh.” I snickered. God, were we both stupid. All these years

of issues and hard feelings, and really, we created them by ignoring
that damn elephant instead of talking and beating the bastard together.

He slumped against me, probably feeling as exhausted as I did

from finally getting this all out in the open. “Should we go get our
mate then?”

“No, give him some time. He needs to think about all of this, too,

and honestly, I’d like a few days just to hang out now that we’ve
beaten the elephant.”

“What elephant?” he asked as he sat back on his feet, eyebrows

drawn together in confusion.

Joyee Flynn

“This elephant that’s always been in the room.” I chuckled as I

gestured between us. It took him a second before I saw realization
dawn on his face and he smiled. Yeah, we’d be okay now. I knew it.

“Zombies?” Banning shrugged, and I wanted to laugh. When in

doubt, shoot shit on the Xbox.

“Zombies sound great, me twin.” I smiled at him and stood,

holding out me hand to help him to his feet. He mirrored me grin and
let me. Then slung an arm over me shoulder, and that’s how we
walked back to the house…together.

* * * *

Banning and I spent the week catching up. It sounded odd since

we had lived together for centuries…Hell, we shared a room. But it
was something we needed and we were closer than ever now.

We also talked about plans for the future. We liked America, and

while we would miss home, we both agreed that we needed to stay
here to make Zane happy. But where did that leave us?

We bounced around some ideas that we would need to discuss

with our mate. That was the only stress we felt. Zane. We missed him
something fierce, and it was a constant struggle between rushing off
and dragging him back to Isaac’s house and giving him the space he
asked for.

After a week, we went for a compromise. Visiting him at the

warrior compound for lunch. At least that way we could talk face-to-
face with him. We’d been texting, but it wasn’t the same. It was time
to show our mate that things were going to be okay and pray he’d
sorted out what was in his head.

Rory gave us a ride, neither of us being legally allowed to drive in

this country. He was going to drop in on Isaac as well, so it worked
out for all of us. Our new friend, who we liked a lot, had called his
mate, and Isaac said Zane would be training in the weight room.

A Zane Po’ Boy

We followed Rory’s directions after we got there, and I for one

was in for the shock of me life. I stood there, struck stupid as I’m sure
Banning was.

Water, water everywhere, but now we were mated! There were

dozens of hot, shirtless, sweaty warriors, or warriors-to-be, still in
training, all over the place. I mean, me god, it was just a sea of
yummy muscled flesh.

“Fuck me,” I gasped quietly, drinking it all in. I might have found

me mate, but I wasn’t dead. I could appreciate the view.

“I’d love to, baby,” a man purred as he moved up to me side. I

stepped back in surprise. He was tall and tan and I could see sweat
dripping off his bulging muscles. He was hot…so hot, and he was
saying something else now. I shook me head and tried to focus. “But I
have a feeling you’re here to see someone already.”

“Zane, we need Zane,” Banning whimpered. Good to know he

was just as affected by this as I was. Fuck, I was instantly horny.

The guy glanced around and pointed to a one of the large weight

machines in the center of the gym. There were a bunch of huge, bulky
contraptions and weights distributed throughout the space along with
a few gray mats strewn here and there. It looked like the machines
were organized based on what they exercised.

Our mate appeared to be in the area focused on getting an upper-

body workout. The man who had come over to talk to us was nothing
compared to Zane, who looked absolutely mouthwatering as he sat
there shirtless, his muscles working.

We nodded our thanks and practically ran to our mate, skidding to

a halt when we saw he was focused on what he was doing. Lifting
tons of weight was not the time to distract him.

“Holy hell! He be lifting over six hundred pounds,” Banning

groaned. I felt like Rory in heat. Zane was pulling down a bar
attached to dozens of black weights. He’d pull it down behind his
head until it was level with his shoulders and then extend his arms
again.

Joyee Flynn

The result? Every firm, sweaty muscle in his chest, arms, sides,

and stomach was on display, showing how well worked they were.

“He’s put back on weight,” I said happily. It looked like a good

twenty pounds of pure muscle. Damn, he looked hot! I didn’t realize
warriors could bulk up that quickly, but I planned on launching me
own investigation. Starting with licking every inch of his body.

Zane released the bar, his chest heaving with exertion. He still

didn’t even see us as we launched ourselves at him, each straddling
one of his thighs.

“Whoa, you need to cut that out.” He chuckled, catching us before

we all fell off the bench. “I have two hot, jealous mates at home, and
they won’t take kindly to men attacking me.”

“Fuck them,” I purred as I licked a bead of sweat off his

collarbone. “We be here now, and now we’re horny. Fuck me, Zane.”

“Me, too,” Banning whimpered again, mirroring me movements.

“We need ya cock, our big, strong, sweaty, hot man.” Our knees kept
bumping, and I realized it was because both of us were grinding our
cocks into Zane’s thighs. Yeah, we were like a couple of cats in heat
or something.

“Aye, throw us to the floor and have ya way with us,” I begged

shamelessly.

“You want me to fuck you in front of a room full of half-naked

men?” I didn’t know if he sounded pissed or just surprised. I was too
overcome with lust to focus on the minor details of his tone.

“Aye!” we said together. Banning grabbed Zane’s face and shut

him up with a deep, passionate kiss as I groped our mate between the
legs. We were lost in the moment, all of us forgetting there were
others around.

“Zane, are you sharing?” someone called out, breaking through

our fog. “Can I get them next?”

“Fuck off, Travis!” Zane snarled, ripping his mouth away from

Banning. “These are my mates.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Oh, sorry man, I was just playing,” Travis said. I saw him back

away slowly from the corner of me eye. “I didn’t mean any
disrespect.” He, Travis, apparently, was a big guy. He looked like he
was possibly a little taller than Zane and his shoulders were slightly
broader. Certainly he was attractive with his amber eyes and light
brown hair, but I wasn’t attracted to him.

The only person I wanted was me mate.
“He’s going all caveman on us,” Banning purred, moving his hips

faster. “Fuck, I’m gonna come.”

“Not in front of everyone, you’re not,” Zane snapped and stood.

He threw one of us over each shoulder and took off. I felt Banning’s
lust shoot through the roof as did me own. We were each two hundred
pounds, and he was lifting us like a ten-pound sack of potatoes. Holy
fuck, that be hot!

When he stopped moving and lowered us down, we slithered

down his body. I glanced around, realizing he’d brought us into the
locker room. Oh sweet ma of mercy, this was getting better and better.
I heard Banning groan and nodded me agreement. Zane laughed as he
shook his head at our antics, pushing us back into an empty shower
stall.

“Let us show ya that we think ya be a god of a man,” I begged,

finding me tongue again.

“And for interrupting ya workout when we just meant to say hi

and see if ya be wanting lunch with us,” Banning added, not looking
the least bit remorseful.

“And how would you show me that?” Zane asked, his voice

getting deep with lust. I would say it was husky even.

We didn’t need more of an invitation than that. I yanked down the

front of his gym shorts and dropped to me knees, Banning following
suit. I took the right side, he took the left, and we licked our mate’s
cock like it was the best treat in the world. Then I sucked him down
me throat as Banning did the same with his sac.

Joyee Flynn

It was one of the most erotic but yet dirtiest moments of me life.

We were hiding in the shower stall blowing our mate. Hell, I could
hear people in the locker room. I glanced up at Zane, making sure he
was enjoying it.

Oh, was he ever. He had his fist practically in his mouth to keep

himself quiet. His head was tilted back, leaning against the tiles of the
shower wall, his eyes wide from the pleasure we were giving him.
Nice.

I quickly got me own jeans unzipped and started jacking off

before I blew a gasket with need. Zane came first, shooting down me
throat. It sent me right over the edge as well. I heard Banning grunt
and knew I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t hold out.

When we were all spent, Zane leaned against the wall as I sat back

on me feet, Banning mirroring me action. We all glanced from one to
the other, big smiles breaking out on our faces.

“Sooo, will you have this reaction anytime I work out in front of

you?” Zane asked with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.

“Aye, probably,” I admitted with a shrug. “Ya look great, me

mate. Ya put on more weight.”

“Warriors can bulk up faster than humans on steroids.” He

chuckled, shaking his head. “Remind me wherever we live that we
need to get a home gym.”

“Or we could visit the one here after hours,” Banning purred,

wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as we got to our feet.

“There is always that, too,” Zane agreed with a wink. “Now you

said something about lunch? I can’t today. I have a meeting with the
coordinator.”

“Oh? That doesn’t sound good,” I said, fear racing through me

body.

“Well, there were a few issues about me not really being in

Greece when I waltzed back in. Desmond told everyone that he
delayed the trip when I went to talk to him about the problems I’m
having. The coordinator gave me a week to get my shit together and

A Zane Po’ Boy

get back on the right path or he’s going to bench me.” He opened the
curtain, and we stepped out into the locker room. “I’m not worried.
I’m not the first warrior to get burnt and need some time.” His
expression was calm and he didn’t seem nervous, so that eased some
of me worries.

“Okay, well, good luck with the meeting,” Banning said, standing

on his toes to give Zane a soft kiss. “We just wanted to see ya and tell
ya we miss ya.”

“Yeah, we really do,” I admitted quietly, giving Zane a small

smile, kissing him next. “We worked our shit out. Will ya be coming
home soon? We have a lot to talk about.”

“I agree,” he replied, looking a little tired but happily sated. “This

meeting will decide a lot, but I’ll be over for dinner tonight. Isaac
wants to talk to me, and I plan on staying the night and hanging out
with you guys. I just need to get some of my ducks in a row and we
can go from there.”

It sounded a little ominous, but I figured he didn’t have time to

explain it all right then. We said our good-byes, after giving him a
few more good-luck kisses, and headed home. I knew I’d be a
nervous wreck while he was in the meeting despite Zane’s chilled-out
demeanor.

He’d been a good warrior according to Isaac, never had any

problems or started issues. The Mariuses were on his side along with
Isaac. The coordinator, or whoever, had to take that into account.
Right?

Fuck. When all else failed and me nerves be shot…it was time to

kill zombies.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 7

Zane

A promotion. That was the only thought that ran through my head

the entire way home. I got a promotion. Wow, I so hadn’t seen that
one coming. And I had a feeling it had something to do with Isaac.
Probably Desmond and Elena as well. But why? Why me?

It wasn’t until I pulled into the Dragos estate that another thought

hit me. Fuck, my mates. What was I going to tell them? We hadn’t
discussed anything yet. Would they be willing to stay here? What
about Ireland?

I knew the European Council had asked Dillon to start up a small,

very small, training facility and outpost for some warriors in Ireland.
But I really didn’t think I could work day in and day out with him.
Isaac was able to forgive him, but Dillon wasn’t my family, so I
wasn’t so nice about the whole thing.

Yeah, mating got him to pull his head out of his ass, and he

seemed truly sorry for being blind all those years. But that didn’t
mean we were ever going to be bestest friends, holds hands while we
skipped, and braid each other’s hair at night. It just meant I could be
civil when we saw each other.

God, could I leave Isaac? He was really the only family I had. But

then Brian and Banning would have to leave Ireland…And why the
hell did the trees on the Dragos estate have leaves on them when it
was snowing? I swear either those drugs didn’t like me or something
was going on.

A Zane Po’ Boy

Silly thought? Yes, but much easier to focus on instead of

everything else swirling in my head. That was one small question
instead of the huge ones I had on my mind as well. I glanced at the
dashboard and realized I really couldn’t stall anymore. It was quarter
after six, and I guessed they’d be holding dinner for me.

With a resigned sigh that the discussions I needed to have tonight

wouldn’t be easy, I got out of the car. I glanced at the grounds.
Everything was green that was poking out under the snow. None of
my other colors were screwed up. Something else had to be going on
besides the happy pills Riley gave me screwing with me.

I jogged into the house, took off my jacket, hung it in the coat

closet by the front door, and headed to the dining room. Sure enough,
my mates were waiting for me, sitting together on one side of the
long, wooden table that was covered with a dark green tablecloth.
They were looking so nervous that tension crackled in the air.

“Did ya get fired?” Banning blurted out, his eyes wide. As if

realizing how blunt he had been, Banning’s hand flew to his mouth.
He started to apologize, but I shook my head to let him know that it
wasn’t a big deal.

“No.” I chuckled, realizing they were nervous for me. I walked

over and gave each of them a kiss before sitting down. Rory and Isaac
were glancing at each other like the cats that ate the canary. “You
knew.”

“Yeah, I found out yesterday. Since we’d be working together, I

got the heads-up. It’s been fucking hard to keep it a secret,” Isaac said
with a big smile.

“Wait, before we get into what happened, I have one question.

Why is everything green in December on your estate? I’m not the
only one seeing it, right?” Now it was more just my curiosity bugging
me. Isaac gave me a wink and pointed to my mates.

“I asked them last week already.”
“It be our gift,” Brian said as one of the staff served us our garden

salads. I poured some Italian dressing on mine before picking up my

Joyee Flynn

fork and taking a bite. I chewed my food for a few moments before
speaking again.

“You can make leaves green in winter?” I asked, not sure I’d ever

heard of that gift.

“No.” Banning chuckled, shaking his head as he dug into his food.

“Plant life responds to us. It’s not like most gifts where ya have to
focus to use it. It’s just something in us. Anywhere we are, the plant
life around us responds and grows like crazy.”

“Then you can’t leave Ireland,” I whispered, my heart sinking at

the realization. “Your family needs you for their farm, don’t they?”

“Aye, but we would only need to visit a few times a year for a

week or so,” Brian said slowly, eyeing me over. “We already decided
to stay in America if that’s what ya want.” He shifted his gaze back to
his salad as if nervous about what I might say.

“Really?” I was shocked they would make such a big sacrifice for

me.

“Aye, me mate,” Banning answered with a smile.
“Tell them,” Rory said excitedly, seeming to almost be bouncing

up and down in his seat. “They’re going to be thrilled.” I had to smile
at his enthusiasm.

“About?” Brian raised an eyebrow as he glanced between us.
“I got a promotion. I’m not in trouble at all. It seems the Council

thought my coming forward and admitting what was going on with
me, putting my safety and others’ before everything else, was
admirable. There was an opening on the teaching staff, and I was
asked to fill it.”

“Ya not be in danger anymore?” Banning looked like he was

going to bust open with joy.

“Sometimes,” I hedged, trying to figure out how to get this all out.

“When warriors go through training, there are many levels.”

“I handle more the tactical and fighting training,” Isaac explained,

helping me out. “Sparring and getting the newly transitioned warriors
into the way we do things.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Makes sense. What would they have ya do?” Brian asked. I

appreciated their interest, caring about something so important to me.

“When they reach a certain level, someone needs to teach them

how to go out in the field—”

“No!” Banning shouted, slamming his hands down on the table as

he stood. All of our plates and silverware rattled from the force of his
contact. I was shocked at the coldness in his tone. “Ya not be the
guinea pig sent out with pup warriors to see if they can hack it. Ya get
killed if someone ill trained had ya back.”

“No, baby, not like that,” I said gently with a smile, understanding

now why he blew up and interrupted me.

“Oh. Okay, sorry then.” He cleared his throat as his face flushed

with embarrassment and sat back down, grabbing his napkin off the
table and busying himself by adjusting it on his lap. “I just saw ya life
flash before me eyes because someone didn’t know what they were
doing and got ya hurt.”

“Nothing like that, I swear,” I replied quickly. “My job would be

to help them blend in with humans when they need to. Sometimes
demons don’t stay on the outskirts of society and we can’t just go
charging in and drawing attention to ourselves.”

“What Zane means is he’d take a few pup warriors, as you called

them, into the city on something like a field trip. Show them how to
rent a car, or deal with the airport just like humans would. Which
hotels to use to blend in. How to interact and learn to navigate the
metropolitan areas, so when they do start going out on missions, they
don’t have to try and figure that all out and fight demons.”

I wanted to kiss Isaac for putting it that way. I hadn’t been doing

such a good job of explaining it. But that wasn’t all of it.

“How to transport weapons to other covens,” I said cautiously. “I

would be taking them out on real missions but not going after
demons. Maybe a few scouting jobs and how to run a convoy. The
main goal would be to teach them how not to be seen by blending in
with the real world.”

Joyee Flynn

“And if there’s ever an attack close to home or all hands on deck,

instructors or not, they will be called in,” Rory said sympathetically.
He should know. He had to go through all of this several months ago.
“They might mostly train, but they are warriors, so you need to deal
with the danger.”

“We can handle that,” Brian replied, placing his hand on

Banning’s arm as if to say I got this one. “We knew that when we
came back. We can’t handle recklessness or him being surrounded by
others’ imprudence that could get him killed. We spent time with
Stefan when he visited. We know the risks, but we also know how
well trained ya are and the improvements being made in weapons. We
can handle ya being a warrior.”

“And we be ready to move here if that be what ya want, Zane,”

Banning added hesitantly, not meeting anyone’s gaze. “But we have
questions. Like where would we live? What are we to do now if we
can’t farm? Can we visit and help our family with the crops given our
gifts?”

“I can answer those,” Isaac said with a wide smile.
“What did you do?” I groaned, wanting to bang my head on the

table.

“We got you a promotion and mating gift.” Rory giggled, giving

my mates a wink. I shook my head as the main course was served,
salmon on a bed of rice, and the salad plates were taken away. I was
grateful that they brought a pitcher of blood as well. I’d been going
through it like water, trying to get better and bulk back up. I poured
some for Isaac, then myself, drinking it right down and refilling.

I waved Isaac on now that I had a little more fuel in my system.

“Okay, hit me. What did you get us?” Wow. I swooned a bit when the
blood hit me. What was in that stuff?

Isaac was grinning from ear to ear as he began to explain. “You

know that vineyard that abuts the warrior compound?” he asked, and I
had a sinking suspicion I knew what he got us.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Yeah, the one that has all the greenhouses and went out of

business,” I replied, shooting a look at my mates.

“Well, it went out of business because the old human couple died

about a decade ago and had no heirs. And a few people tried to buy it
and keep going with it, but I guess all the people who used to buy the
wine did it because the couple was so good at it. They didn’t after it
was sold.”

“Ya bought us a vineyard?” Brian gasped, filling in the pieces.

Yeah, that’s what I’d guessed, too.

“Yup!” Rory exclaimed, giddy as all get-out. “You’ll be like

twenty minutes away from us. The compound is right there. The
Mariuses are less than an hour away. You’ll be surrounded by people
who care about you!” His blue eyes were shining with delight as he
beamed at the three of us.

“Did ya say greenhouses?” Banning’s eyes were wide with joy.
“Yes, and I talked to the compound kitchens and—”
“Wait,” I said quietly, shaking my head. “That place is huge. How

are the two of them going to be able to handle that much land and not
collapse after twenty-hour days?” Both my mates’ faces fell. “I’m
sorry. I have to know that doing this won’t end up being too much of
a strain on you both.”

Suddenly I felt very hot…and very hard. What the hell? Produce

didn’t normally turn me on.

“Aye, that’s fair since we were worried about ya new job, too,”

Banning conceded with a nod. Wow, things really had gotten better
between them and with them now that they had let the past go. I was
worried he’d jump all over me. I had another glass of blood, feeling
worse instead of better. By the third one, I felt like clawing off my
skin. I used by napkin to dab the sweat that I could feel forming on
my forehead.

“I handled that, too.” Isaac chuckled. “You know how bad the

food has gotten at the compound. I found out why. We used to get all
our produce from a human organic farmer, but I guess he started

Joyee Flynn

asking lots of questions, curious where all the food was going, and we
stopped using him. I got the coordinator to agree that each warrior
give one morning or afternoon a week to help Brian and Banning and
they won’t have to buy meal cards anymore. It’s win-win.”

“You’ve just thought of everything.” I snickered, shaking my

head.

“You’re my family,” he said quietly, glancing at my mates. “I’m

sorry if this is stepping in on you guys’ business, but for a long, long
time Zane was all I had. I couldn’t lose him.”

Brian and Banning exchanged a glance, smiling before focusing

back on Isaac. “Ya did it for the right reason and we appreciate the
help. It not be like ya kidnapped us here or something. Ya giving us
other options and not forcing our hand.”

“Thanks for understanding,” Isaac replied with a smile. He drank

his blood, his eyes going wide as he set down his glass. “Zane, are
you okay?”

“No, not really,” I admitted, uncrossing and re-crossing my legs.

“I feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin and hump the table.” I
was trying to hide my discomfort, but now that he brought it up,
desire swarmed me.

“Rory,” Isaac groaned and gestured to his glass. “How are we

drinking your blood?”

“Oh shit,” Rory gasped, his eyes going even wider than his mate’s

had.

I was only half paying attention, focused on how gorgeous my

mates were. Brian swallowed some of his food, and I was practically
panting with lust just watching his throat muscles working. It didn’t
hurt that I remembered how his mouth was doing other things to me
earlier that day.

“Zane? Ya be okay?” Banning asked, reaching over to touch my

hand. In a flash I was up out of my chair, grabbing him from his, and
pushing plates away as I threw him on the table.

“Shit,” Rory moaned. “It’s starting.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“What? What’s starting?” I asked in almost a panic, my hands

stopping their frantic movements to undo the button on Banning’s
pants. Banning looked just as worried at my sudden actions. “Why
can’t I think about anything but fucking my mates?”

“Welcome to drinking shifter blood,” Isaac purred as he pulled

Rory into his lap. “It’s like liquid speed and Viagra all in one.”

“Rory’s blood was in one of the bags?” I asked, focused on them

until I heard Banning whimper. I glanced down at him and realized
I’d shredded his clothes. He was now lying naked on the table for all
to see. I knew I should be jealous anyone else was seeing him, but all
I could think of was his glorious pale flesh. I leaned over and licked
one of his nipples, which hardened when my tongue made contact.

“I had Riley take some,” Rory moaned. I looked over and saw he

was yanking off his clothes. “I figured it was a last resort if we
couldn’t get you guys to make up. I put it at the back of the fridge, I
swear I did. I wasn’t going to use it until I talked to Isaac. How did
we go through so much blood already?”

“Lube,” I growled as I used one hand to undo my jeans and the

other to spread Banning’s legs wide.

“Ya gonna fuck me right here?” he asked, panting with desire as

his eyes glazed over.

“You wanted me to fuck you both in the gym earlier. You’re just

getting other witnesses instead.” My fangs came out I was so turned
on, and Banning simply nodded his head, looking as if he was too
overcome with lust to speak. “It’s going to be down and dirty, baby.”
He nodded again and something hit me in the chest.

“I keep lube with me always. Isaac’s a horndog.” Rory giggled.

Sure enough, there was a small tube of slick on the table where it
landed after bouncing off of me. I gave Banning a feral smile as I
picked it up. “Besides, I already have a plug in.”

“Not for long,” Isaac growled, and I heard the pop of the toy being

pulled out. “Ride me, baby.”

Joyee Flynn

I glanced over at Brian after getting my fingers lubed up. “Get

yourself ready because you’re next.”

“Aye,” Brian whispered as he took the lube from me, desire in his

eyes before turning to Rory. “How did they get your blood?”

“More vampires here drinking,” Isaac grunted, fucking his mate. I

was barely listening, already having one finger inside of Banning.

“I like the burn,” he whispered gently. I smiled at him and pushed

in a second one. Good, because the way I was feeling I didn’t think I
could go slow. This was not how I had envisioned taking them for the
first time, but in a way this was better. No time to get nervous, and
it’s not like any of us were virgins either.

“And Zane’s been drinking a lot more than most, getting his

strength back,” Isaac added to his explanation.

“Less talky, more fucky your mate,” Rory begged with a

whimper. I saw him bouncing around out of the corner of my eye, and
normally it might have been interesting to watch. But I only wanted to
focus on Banning right then.

I pushed in a third finger as I tortured his nipples with my mouth.

He cried out and spread his legs wider, placing his feet on the edge of
the table.

“Fuck me. I’m ready. Take ya mate,” he moaned, his head

thrashing on the table.

“Thank you, baby,” I whispered as I pulled my fingers out of him.

He was being so understanding and giving me what I needed that I
fell the rest of the way in love with him. Granted, I knew I was in love
with both of them, even before they agreed to stay in America, but my
brain had just caught up with my heart.

I yanked his hips to the end of the table as I slammed my cock

inside of him. Banning screamed, his back arching off the table.

“Turn me around,” Rory whimpered, “I want to watch them, too.”
“Kinky kitty,” Isaac purred. I’m assuming he did it, but my eyes

never left Banning. I knew what I wanted. I just didn’t know how to
ask for it. I decided just to go with what I was feeling.

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Still want to bite me?” I didn’t wait for his answer, fucking him

hard and fast so he couldn’t form the words. Talk about chickening
out. I wanted to mate them, but I was scared that they weren’t ready.

But he found a way to tell me his answer without words. Banning

pulled on my arms, bringing me on top of him, and tilted his neck,
pushing my head there. I’d take that as a yes.

“Harder, fuck me harder as ya bite me,” he said in between gasps

for air.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear as I increased my thrusts until

it was a punishing pace. If the noises he was making were any
indication of his enjoyment, I’d guess my mate liked it a little rough
sometimes.

“Aye, I know,” he said before shouting my name to the heavens. I

bit into him as he was climaxing, moaning at the sweet taste of his
blood. He came again, more hot seed filling the space between us.

I humped him like a man possessed, shoving my cock into his

tight hole over and over again. When I’d drunk enough to properly
claim him, I lifted my head and roared out my release. My heart
soared. He was mine. Banning was mine forever now.

“I love ya, too,” he whispered as I licked the bite closed, having

already collapsed on top of him when I was spent. But my dick was
still hard as nails.

“I know.” I chuckled as I pulled out of him. “And I’ll be back for

more.” I tenderly brushed a damp lock of his red hair back from his
forehead.

“Mmm, sounds like fun,” he purred. Rory yelled Isaac’s name,

and I guessed they were done, too. But I wasn’t. I gave Banning a
quick kiss and covered him with part of the tablecloth so he wasn’t
just lying there naked and debauched. Then I turned to Brian.

“Ready?” I growled as I moved toward him. He nodded his head

and pulled his fingers out of his ass. While Banning ended up
completely naked, Brian just pulled down his pants down a bit and
bent over the part of the table that I had folded the tablecloth away

Joyee Flynn

from. Hell, his cock was hidden under the table. Fine by me. I just
wanted him. I didn’t care how he wanted to do it, whatever was easier
on him.

Fuck, this blood was amazing. I could totally see myself fucking

my mates all night and never tiring. I knew Isaac said Rory’s blood
was like liquid fire, but I thought he was exaggerating because Rory
was his mate or something. But shifter blood really was something on
a level of its own.

“I want it harder this time,” Rory demanded. Holy shit! Was this

normally how their sex life was? I was almost jealous. Almost.

“Are you going to let me bite you, too?” I asked seductively as I

molded my body against Brian’s back.

“Aye,” he moaned, pushing his firm ass against my cock. “I be

yours, me mate.”

“Right answer.” I leaned up only enough to tear off my shirt

before gripping his and ripping it off his body with one swift tug.

“Oh god,” he whimpered, squirming under me. “Shove that big

cock in me arse!”

Like I was going to say no? Yeah right! I wrapped one arm around

him, protecting him from the wood of the tabletop, lined up my dick,
and slammed home into his willing body. Brian cried out, and I
moved my other arm under him as well before going all caveman on
him.

“Mine,” I snarled, raking my fangs over his neck. “You’re all

mine!” I felt him shiver with pleasure beneath me.

“Aye! Aye, I am,” he screamed. I liked his screams. Fuck, I loved

his screams of bliss and wanted more. My hips moved of their own
accord, taking him faster and harder than I thought possible.

“Ya gonna break the table.” Banning giggled as he got off of it. I

caught sight of his naked ass, and it just spurred me on more.

“Don’t go anywhere,” I growled before focusing back on Brian.

“Like my cock, baby?”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Oh god, aye. Talk dirty to me,” he begged. Nice! I had kinky

mates.

“Such a tight ass.” I licked along his neck, a thrill going through

me as he trembled. “And that blow job today was out of this world.
You can visit me at work anytime.”

“Ya gonna fuck me in front of all of your friends?” he asked

quietly.

“Is my baby an exhibitionist?” I purred, slamming into him even

harder.

“Aye!” he screamed, coming all over my hand. I didn’t hold back

any longer, sinking my fangs into his neck. Brian went wild, shouting
loud enough to rattle the windows as he climaxed again. I grunted
around his flesh, filling his ass with my seed. It was done. Both of
them were mine.

I heard a loud crack and had just enough time to lift Brian up

before the corner of the table we’d been on broke. I was gasping for
air, still having aftershocks from my orgasm. It was then I realized
that I’d been taking him so hard we pushed the table about ten feet
across the room.

Whoops!
“You broke my table,” Isaac growled as he moved Rory against

the wall and kept pounding into his mate.

“Blame Rory,” Brian mumbled. I licked the bite closed, loving the

taste of him. He tasted almost like Banning but with just a hint of
tartness.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear as I knelt down on the

hardwood floor and laid him down.

“Aye. I love ya, too, mate,” he said with a happy sigh, reaching up

to stroke my cheek. “Now go attack Banning again. I know ya still be
hard.”

“Thank you for being so understanding,” I replied, kissing his

shoulder as I pulled out of him.

Joyee Flynn

“Yeah, it was a real burden for me.” He giggled, his silver eyes

shining with joy as he lay there like a limp noodle. He didn’t even
bother pulling back up his pants. “I’ll suffer like that again anytime.”

“Good to know.” I snickered. I glanced over to Banning as I

stalked him like a predator on my hands and knees. His gaze was
thick with lust as he shivered. I gave him an evil smile. “Run.”

He nodded and jumped to his feet, his pale, naked ass streaking

across the dining room. The chase was on, but I knew we’d both
enjoy it when I caught him.

A Zane Po’ Boy

Chapter 8

Banning

Zane caught up with me at the top of the stairs and tackled me to

the ground. Fuck, he was fast! And quiet. I hadn’t even heard him
behind me until it was too late.

“Love you,” he whispered before pinning me on the floor on me

stomach and slamming that huge pole of a cock into me. I shouted his
name, hoping I could talk Rory into sharing his blood with our mate
again. Just maybe when we planned it.

Zane fucked me within an inch of me life, carefully covering me

privates so I didn’t get rug burn on them. When it was time, he bit me
again and I came all over his hand. I felt his release pumping into me
ass, feeling thoroughly fucked.

When it was over, he lifted me up, never pulling out of me body,

and carried me to his room. I was too wiped to ask what was going
on, but I hoped maybe the days of separate rooms were gone.

“I’ll be back. I have to make sure Brian’s okay,” he said tenderly

as he laid me down on the bed gently, pulling out of me.

“Aye, let me know when ya be ready for more.” I chuckled,

pursing me lips for a kiss.

“Always, you sexy, sexy man,” he growled before kissing me.

Then he was gone. I wiggled around, adjusting myself so I was in a
comfortable position.

I must have dozed off because I woke to what I thought was an

earthquake. Then I realized Brian was screaming his head off. Nope,
wasn’t an earthquake, just our mate fucking him.

Joyee Flynn

Then it was me turn again. Zane took me against the wall, having

said he was going to clean me up.

We obviously didn’t make it.
I slept for a while, I thought, before I was woken up for more sex.

Part of me wanted to ask how his pecker hadn’t fallen off yet. Can a
man, even a vampire warrior, go ten times in a night? Oh, me arse
was gonna be raw tomorrow.

I would love every minute of it.
The next morning I woke up first. I noticed we hadn’t even made

it under the covers. We had all just collapsed on the bed in utter
exhaustion. I opened me eyes to see that Zane had passed out face-
first on the bed, an arm over each of us. I gasped in surprise. He was
in the middle of us. Would he freak out when he woke up?

I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I slowly moved out

from under his arm, careful not to wake him, and hopped in the
shower. Once I was done, I quickly raced across the hall to me room
in me towel and got dressed.

Since they were both asleep, I decided to bring up some food and

blood. All of us would need to replenish our systems. Just not with
shifter blood.

I padded down the stairs, barely aware of where I was going in me

exhaustion. I found me way back to the dining room, laughing when I
saw the broken table. Everything else had been cleaned up of course.
Must be nice to have servants.

“How was last night?” Rory asked in a teasing tone from across

the room. I glanced up and saw him fixing a tray of food, blood, and
coffee. He was wearing a red robe, and his hair was sticking up at an
odd angle on one side. If I wasn’t already taken, I’d have told him
how cute he looked.

“Me arse smarts, but I won’t be complaining anytime soon,” I

answered honestly. “Ya think ya can donate blood again sometime?
Just maybe not as much for me mate next time.”

A Zane Po’ Boy

He gave me a funny look as I approached him. “You don’t want to

try it?”

“I didn’t think about it.” I shrugged. What was the big deal? “I

just like how Zane went all caveman and fucked us into the floor, and
bed, and wall, and—”

“I get it.” He giggled, shaking his head. “Just be careful. My pack

warned me never to let a vampire drink from me because we can be
addictive.”

“Oh.” Yeah, I wasn’t ready for that one. “Isaac be okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” Rory answered, a friendly smile tugging on his

lips. “I don’t think it works with mates, but I just wanted to warn
you.”

“I wouldn’t want him having it a lot.” I snickered, rubbing me

already-healing but still-sore, rug-burned forearms. “But once in a
while to spice things up.”

“I think there’s no worries on that. Riley tested my blood and said

there’s nothing addictive about it, but I thought it was fair to share the
warnings.” He leaned in and lowered his voice, taking a moment to
glance from side to side to check that no one else was coming into the
room. “Between you and me, Riley says if it wasn’t for the horny side
effects, he’d want to get shifter blood into the warriors’ diets. We are
actually faster than vampires.”

“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, not sure if I was buying

that. I’d seen Rory move and he wasn’t all that fast but—“Holy shit!”
Rory was on the other side of the room in a blink of an eye. Yeah, that
was fast.

“I wasn’t trying to be a jerk, but I can see why you wouldn’t

believe it if you haven’t grown up around shifters,” he said modestly
as he walked back over toward me. “I wanted to ask you something
on the side. Well, you or Brian.”

“It be amazing to me that ya never get us wrong.” I chuckled,

shaking me head. Most had to look at the birthmark only I had to tell
us apart.

Joyee Flynn

“You guys smell differently to me.”
“So ya sense of smell is better, too.” I snickered.
“I’m part cat,” he replied, rolling his eyes.
“Fair enough. What ya want to be asking me?” I thanked him

when he brought out another tray from the sideboard cabinet and
helped me set it up for me twin and mate.

“Well, about the vineyard, there’s a bunkhouse on the edge of the

property that needs some work done,” Rory explained, twisting his
hands as if needing to burn off some nervous energy. “I still have
some ties to the shifter community, and they know of a few people
who’ve been exiled like I was. And I’d ask Isaac but he’s important—”
His eyes went wide, his face reddened, and he sputtered helplessly as
he tried to fix that one. I gave him a smirk.

“Ya mean he be one of the founding families in the area and under

everyone’s watchful eye,” I said, deciding to help him out.

“Yes, thank you,” he sighed, his face still bright red. “You know

I’m not an elitist or anything. Hell, I’m a poor orphan.” Rory gestured
around the grand-looking dining room. “I mated into all of this. So I
don’t want you to—”

“Rory, I get it.” I chuckled as I held up a hand to cut him off. “The

O’Hagans be a founding family in Ireland, too. It comes with a certain
level of scrutiny like being in the government or something.” I
glanced around at all the fancy decorations. The ornate, gold
chandelier glittering down at us from the ceiling was beautiful, and
there was an intricate tapestry depicting some scene with a tree, a
man, and a horse. “Though not all of us get the perks of being filthy
rich.”

“Yeah, I’m still adjusting to it,” Rory said with a sigh, running his

hands through his disheveled white hair. Then he flinched as if
realizing something. “If you’re part of a founding family, then you’d
be under the same scrutiny. Damn, this won’t work then.”

“What won’t work?” I asked in frustration, ready to throttle the

cat. “Spit out the problem and I’ll try to help find a solution!”

A Zane Po’ Boy

“Okay, fair enough,” he replied with a nod.
We ended up sitting by the table and grabbing a cup of coffee.

The food would keep a little while longer. I had a feeling whatever
was going on with Rory had been bothering him for a while and he
needed to get it off his chest before he blew.

“When a shifter is exiled, either for being gay or whatever other

crime he committed in the eyes of the pack, they’re left with nothing.
I barely had five minutes to stuff what I could into my backpack
before they literally tossed me out of the house where I was staying.”

“That’s horrible,” I whispered. Maybe me newfound intrigue in

shifters wasn’t so interesting if this was how they treated their kin.

“And it doesn’t always take much to get thrown out. I was gay,”

he fumed, shaking his head. “I knew someone who got tossed because
he was getting too big and the Alpha basically realized the guy might
challenge him one day. So he was exiled.” Rory looked at me with
pleading, tear-filled eyes. “It wasn’t so bad for me because my parents
were dead, but when a shifter is exiled, that’s it. There’s no going
back, no talking to your family unless they want the same fate, and no
hope.”

“Ya want to help in some way?” I surmised, not against the idea

but not sure what to do either. “How?”

“You’re going to be growing a huge vineyard, and just from what

I’ve seen you guys can do on the estate, you’re going to need all the
help you can get. I can contract some help to fix the bunkhouse and—”

“No, I get the logistics of how we can help them once they’re

here,” I said quickly, stopping him again. “How do we get them here?
We can’t just put out an ad in the paper. And how do we know the
ones who were exiled for bullshit reasons versus ones who aren’t
good people? I won’t bring risks or harm to me family by trying to
help shifters.” Me words came out in a firm tone.

“No, no, I get that. That’s totally fair,” Rory rambled, nodding in

agreement like an obedient puppy. Or cat, I guess. “I’m not saying we
open a halfway house or make it public knowledge. The shifter

100

Joyee Flynn

community is like high school, all gossip. When one of us gets exiled,
it’s huge news we all talk about. And we all know why. The pack is
told the reasons.”

“Okay, but ya were exiled, right?” I asked, pinching the bridge of

me nose. Something was missing in this picture. Rory gave a quick
nod, looking like even talking about it still felt like a kick in the nuts.
“Then how do ya know about any exiled shifter? Shouldn’t they all
not be talking to ya?”

“Oh yeah. They’re totally not supposed to, but rules are made to

be broken,” he answered with a giggle. “My pack wouldn’t want to
since that’s where I was exiled from. But I know people from
different packs or species of shifter, and it’s hard to keep track
sometimes of who’s been exiled or not. I get e-mails from the few
friends I had, but it’s not like I can just walk onto pack land and say
hi.”

There we go, I sighed mentally, finally understanding. “Okay,

how many are you talking about rescuing to start with?”

“I know two who have nowhere to go and are living on the streets.

Granted, they might not be in that area long, but I was just told about
them. Oh, and I found a wolf a few months ago.”

“Come again?” I asked, me eyes going wide in response to his

nonchalant statement.

“I found a wolf when I had to go into the city to meet with an art

dealer to look at some painting for the house and others we wanted to
sell off. He’s a wolf shifter. I think he’s stuck and can’t change back
to human form.”

“That can happen?” Okay, at this point, I felt like me eyes were

going to bug out of me head.

Rory nodded sadly, looking so forlorn. “In cases of extreme

trauma. He’s tame. He knows what’s what, so he’s not feral like he
lost a mate or anything. I think someone’s hurt him bad.”

“Will he ever shift back?” This was fascinating and creepy to me.

Being stuck in an animal form for the rest of me life sounded like hell.

A Zane Po’ Boy

101

“No one can tell. I’d take him to see Riley, but I don’t think he

knows enough about shifters to help. And Riley’s important, being the
Council’s appointed doctor for the warriors. He’d have to report the
wolf. What if the guy was abused and got away only so we would
hand him right back?”

“Aye, that would be bad,” I agreed, rubbing the back of me neck

as the gravity of the situation sank in. “Okay, let’s go check out the
vineyard while Isaac and Zane be at work. We’ll look everything
over, start making lists of what needs to be done, hopefully start
getting the greenhouse together.” I paused, realizing something. “Did
ya say you already bought it or were going to buy it for us if we
wanted it?”

“Oh, no, we bought it and put it in your names last week.” Rory

chuckled, his light mood returning.

“How did ya know we’d—” I started to ask, but then realized I

didn’t want to know. There’s no way they really could have known
for sure, and Rory might take the next hour explaining his lucky guess
to me. “Ya both took a big chance that we’d stay.”

“We know, but it was worth it. Besides, the Council wanted one

of the vampire families to buy it since it abuts the warrior compound.
Isaac saw it as win-win.” He paused, hope filling his face. “And if we
can get more shifters here, maybe Riley can test their blood, too, and
it can help the warriors. Help keep our mates safe and strong.”

“Good deal.” I chuckled. It was hard to keep up with Rory and

how vampires did things around here. But we would. “So we figure
out what needs to be done and I’ll talk to me mates. Also, if ya hear of
any shifters overseas that be needing help, me ma would welcome
them with open arms, and the farm can always use more help.”

“I don’t know of any, but I’ll keep my ears open.” His smile was

so bright it made me glad I was giving our new friend hope. We both
stood and grabbed our loaded trays. “And I’ll fess up to Isaac what’s
going on. I don’t want to have Zane keeping secrets from his best

102

Joyee Flynn

friend. Hell, it’s been killing me to hide the wolf. I just didn’t want to
get him tangled up in anything because I wanted to help.”

“Good luck with that.” I laughed, not envying him. But then

again, I wouldn’t have kept something like hiding a wolf shifter from
me mate for months.

“Yeah, maybe I should give him a blow job first and relax him

some,” Rory muttered as he walked away with his tray. That was one
idea. I threw back me head and laughed as I followed him out of the
dining room. We parted ways at the top of the stairs and agreed to
meet by his SUV after the warriors went to work.

When I got to Zane’s room, I had a little trouble opening the door,

but then suddenly it was yanked open.

“I woke to a missing mate,” Zane grumbled, narrowing his eyes at

me. I raised an eyebrow and lifted the tray a little higher as if to show
him what I had been doing. “Oh.”

“Did ya think I changed me mind and ran away?” I teased,

walking into the room and setting the tray down. When I turned
around, I saw Zane looking at his feet. Oh fuck! “No, Zane.”

“Okay.” He shrugged and adjusted the towel wrapped around his

hips as he sat down on the bed. I could still tell he was worried, so
without another thought in me head besides making him feel better, I
moved to him and plopped onto his lap. “It’s just you were gone a
long time for only grabbing breakfast.”

“Oh, Zane,” I sighed, pulling his head down for a kiss. Mmm,

minty fresh! “Rory had something he needed to talk to me about.”

“Why did you leave our bed without waking me?” he asked

hesitantly, seeming lost as he absentmindedly rubbed me back.

“Honestly? Because I woke up and you were in the middle of us

and I was worried ya would freak out. Also, because ya needed as
much sleep as you could get after last night. I went to get food and
started talking to Rory. That’s all, Zane. We not be going anywhere
without ya ever again.”

“Really?” His eyes lit up with hope.

A Zane Po’ Boy

103

“Aye, really.” I chuckled. “Ya claimed us, boy-o. Ya be stuck

with us now.”

“Good.” Zane gave me another kiss as Brian walked out of the

bathroom, freshly showered. “And I knew I was in the middle of
you.” He shrugged, acting like it was no big deal when I knew it was.
“It just felt right. I’m not saying I’m cured and being surrounded
won’t still freak me out sometimes, but last night, it was all I wanted.
I wanted to be sandwiched in between my mates.”

“A Zane sandwich,” I purred, wiggling me eyebrows at him.
“No.” Brian burst out laughing. “Shane and Sean told me they

called sandwich already with Dillon. We not be allowed to take it.
Liam and Lorcan make Caleb footlongs. I think we be running out of
innuendos.”

“A Zane Po’ Boy,” our mate whispered so quietly that I barely

heard him when I was sitting right on his lap.

“That not be nice,” I chastised gently.
“But I was a poor boy,” he replied with a soft smile. “And while

I’m not that boy anymore, it’s who I was. Money doesn’t matter or
my shitty childhood as long as I have you both. I can be in an Irish
Po’ Boy sandwich.”

I wasn’t sure I understood that, but it seemed important to Zane in

some attempt to overcome his past. I glanced at Brian, who I could
feel wasn’t comfortable with it either. We both nodded and turned
back to Zane.

“Whatever ya want, me love,” I said with a smile. “We’ll make

our first Zane Po’ Boy tonight.”

“I’d like that.” His eyes flared with lust for a moment and then he

frowned. “Are you guys okay after last night? I wasn’t exactly
gentle.”

“Don’t ya dare apologize for that,” Brian growled as he sat down

on the bed as well. “We loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to do it
again in our own house.” He smiled at Zane wickedly.

104

Joyee Flynn

“Agreed,” I said firmly. Zane smiled and nodded, not asking

anything else about it. Good. We had other things to deal with instead
of guilt that shouldn’t be felt. “Speaking of our own house, I need to
talk to ya both about a few things.”

They both looked at me apprehensively but nodded. We ate, and I

explained everything Rory had told me. I couldn’t hold in me laugh
when Zane’s jaw fell open and he dropped his fork after I told him
about the wolf.

“I’m not against helping,” Zane said when I was done. “And I like

the idea of you guys having extra help when I might be taking short
trips a lot. But we need to swear that we won’t ever keep things from
each other like Rory did. I’m not judging him, I understand why he
did it, but I won’t have secrets in our mating.”

“Right answer,” I purred, giving him a heated kiss.
“Aye, we be agreed in that.” Brian chuckled. And for the first time

since we’d met our mate, I didn’t doubt that things would work out
anymore. We were so on the same page, as mates should be.

A Zane Po’ Boy

105

Chapter 9

Zane

“He was trying to protect you, Isaac,” I said again with a sigh. I

was sitting in Isaac’s office in a chair across from the desk where
Isaac was, waiting to hear from my mates that they liked the vineyard
before officially agreeing to my promotion.

“I know,” he replied in a distant monotone. Part of me just wished

he’d start bawling and get it all out. This slow, eating-away-at-him
distress was way worse than just crying. The theory that men,
warriors especially, didn’t cry be damned. A heartbreak was a
heartbreak whether you had a pussy or a dick. “My head understands
it.”

“Buddy, I hate to say you’re overreacting,” I said gently, raising a

hand to hold him off when he snarled and his eyes flashed with anger.
“I’m not saying you are. I’ve not been mated to someone for almost a
year, so I can’t know what you’re going through. But Rory loves you.
He didn’t keep the wolf from you because he was boinking it on the
side. He made a judgment call, thinking it was the best thing for you.
He was wrong, but he didn’t have any ill intent.”

“But he lied to me. I can’t help but wonder what else he’s been

lying about.” His voice was still that awful monotone.

“Enough,” I growled, not willing to listen to my best friend

question the loyalty of his mate and my new friend. “Rory’s not a
cheat. He’s completely loyal to you. I’ve never seen someone so in
love with their mate, almost to the point of it being sickening.”

106

Joyee Flynn

“I know, I do, but that fucking voice is in the back of my head.”

He sighed, looking like a lost puppy.

“Well, if that wasn’t an invitation to beat you upside the head, I

don’t know what is,” I replied with a chuckle, trying desperately to
lighten the mood. I saw his lips twitch, and knew I was finally getting
somewhere after an hour of comforting him. “Rory is new to our
world. Shifters don’t have warriors and founding families or the same
rules as we do. He did the best he could in a tough situation, trying to
protect his mate.”

“True,” he hedged before groaning again and letting his forehead

drop to the desk. “He’s going to kill me for the way I blew up and
accused him of cheating.”

“With who?” My eyes went wide, not thinking Isaac had said the

evil thoughts aloud to his mate.

“The wolf.”
I just gaped at him for a few moments. “Isaac, the wolf is stuck in

animal form.” Ewww.

“I know that, but I said if he’d been keeping the wolf from me,

how did I know the wolf really can’t turn into a man and they were
having an affair?”

“You. Idiot,” I gasped as I burst out laughing.
“Shut up,” he growled as he lifted his head, but I couldn’t stop. It

took me a few minutes to calm back down.

“Did you smell a random man on your mate?” I asked, deciding to

deal with this logically.

“No.”
“Did Rory seem less interested in sex or not as affectionate?”
“No.” He winced, realizing where I was going with my line of

questioning.

“He ever slip out when it was an odd time or you ever realize you

didn’t know where he was?”

“No! Okay? I suck. My mate is great and always lets me know

where he is, what’s going on, and never treats me like anything other

A Zane Po’ Boy

107

than the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” He was breathing
heavily after his outburst.

“Want me to look up the number for a local florist?” I asked with

a smirk. Might be good information to have myself since I had two
mates.

“No, I have them on speed dial,” he mumbled as he pulled out his

cell phone. I threw back my head and roared with laughter. At least I
wasn’t worried about Isaac and Rory anymore. They were going to be
just fine…as soon as Isaac was done groveling.

* * * *

Brian

“Rory, honey, ya have to calm down,” I whispered as our friend

started hyperventilating again. He’d long since cried out every tear in
his body, probably dehydrating himself in the process.

“Isaac’s going to leave me,” he whimpered, pulling his knees

tighter to his chest. “He’s going to throw me out and tell me to hit the
road. He already thinks I was cheating on him. I just lied about
finding a wolf. Well, technically I didn’t lie. He never asked me if I
had found a wolf lately.”

“Lying by omission still be lying,” Banning said gently. I wanted

to smack him. We all knew that. Why rub it in?

Rory’s facial expression didn’t change. He still had that look of

complete loss and sadness. “I know, but I was trying to protect him.” I
think he would have said more, but Hester, one of the house staff,
came into the study with a smile on her face.

“You need to come see this, Rory.” She gave him a wink and left

the room.

“I don’t wanna,” Rory whined. Banning rolled his eyes as we

dragged him off the couch and out of the room. When we got to the

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Joyee Flynn

main entrance, our friend bitching the entire way, I gasped. “I didn’t
order flowers.”

“They’re for you.” Hester chuckled and handed him a card. “Isaac

mess up again?”

“I did, but I guess he thinks he overreacted,” he said, finally

smiling. We glanced over the dozens and dozens of white roses in
vases littering the foyer. “I love him so much.”

“Then call him.” Banning snickered, bumping his shoulder into

Rory’s.

“Right!” His eyes were as wide as his smile as he stared at his

haul. He pulled out his cell and pushed a few buttons.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I love you. Will you forgive me?” Isaac

rambled the moment he picked up the line. We could all hear the
conversation given our enhanced vampire hearing.

“Of course I forgive you,” Rory blubbered. “You have every right

to be angry with me. Just promise you won’t leave me or divorce
me!”

“Never, Rory. You’re my other half, the reason I get up in the

morning. Nothing’s more important than you, baby.”

“Me, too,” he whispered, wiping his eyes and smiling slightly.

“Fight over?”

“Yes, but you have to promise not to ever keep anything from me

again. I don’t care if you think you’re protecting me, okay?”

“I swear. I’ll tell you everything. Even when I jack off when I’m

going into heat because I’m horny and you’re at work.”

“That sounds promising,” Isaac purred seductively. Then he

cleared his throat, probably remembering he was at work. “Did you
guys go see the vineyard?”

“No, the twins were comforting me while I sobbed and freaked

out,” Rory admitted with a chuckle. “We can go now. I know Zane’s
waiting to accept his promotion until they say they like it.”

“We’ll like it. Tell the damn man to accept the job already,”

Banning grumbled. I agreed, but Zane wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t

A Zane Po’ Boy

109

want us agreeing to more than we could handle and wanted us to
check it out first. It wasn’t hard to understand why we’d fallen so hard
and so fast for the man.

“Okay, we’re going now. I love you,” Rory said before hanging

up. I realized I’d missed part of the call while I was lost in me
musings. That was okay, I felt a little intrusive as it was. “He forgives
me.” Rory’s smile was jubilant.

“Aye, we got that when we saw the flowers.” I snickered. Banning

had already grabbed our jackets and Rory’s car keys. We teased Rory
relentlessly as we headed out, wondering if Isaac cleaned out all the
florists in just Virginia or the whole East Coast.

Half an hour later, we were pulling off the main road onto a dirt

drive. I glanced around, noticing there were posts for a sign, letting
people know what the name of the vineyard was, but it was gone. It
seemed so sad to me. The couple that died had probably put their
hearts and souls into this place and wouldn’t be happy to know this
was how it ended up.

We would fix that, I realized with a smile. We would make this

place great again.

Banning hopped out to open the gate and the damn thing

practically broke off in his hands. I pulled out me notebook, ready to
start making lists. That would be first on the needs fixing now list. As
if agreeing with me, Banning ripped the thing off the hinges with one
good tug and tossed it to the side of the drive.

“Interesting approach.” I snickered when he got back into the

SUV.

“What?” He shrugged at me as Rory pulled forward. “There be no

point in having a broken gate. We’re gonna need to replace it
anyways.”

“We haven’t accepted the gift yet,” I sighed, rolling me eyes.

“Until we do, this not be our place.”

Now it was me twin’s turn to roll his eyes. He gestured out the

window. “Right, like we be saying no to this.” I followed his hand,

110

Joyee Flynn

getting me first good look at the place as Rory steered toward the
main house.

It was breathtaking. Mostly because I knew it was ours without a

doubt. Because the vineyard itself would need a ton of work. It was
overgrown, dying, warped, run-down, and in desperate need of some
tender care. But it had history, character, and we would just be fixing
things instead of having to start completely from scratch.

I surveyed the vineyard, taking in the beautiful fields with their

delicate fencing. The fields seemed to roll out before me, a thin layer
of snow covering them as well as the big barn and numerous
greenhouses, which were charming even in their dilapidated state.
“Me answer be yes already,” I said quietly, swallowing around the
lump in me throat. “But there’s no way we have enough in our
savings to fix all of this, Banning.”

“Aye,” he whispered sadly. “Unless we started out small and just

kept improving as we go.”

I nodded, not thinking that would work. We climbed out when

Rory pulled up in front of the main house. Now I just wanted to cry. It
was an enormous ranch-style house. Although it only had two stories,
the house stretched across a large portion of the property. As we got
closer, I noticed the light brown paint was chipping off the siding and
a number of the rails were missing in the wraparound porch.

Many of the shutters on the windows were also in need of repair

as they hung precariously from their location, the breeze blowing
them gently back and forth.

“We’re farmers, not carpenters,” I said more to myself than

everyone else, me heart filling with despair. “We can’t fix this.”

“Aye,” Banning agreed, looking as if someone just ran over his

puppy. We both turned to head back to the SUV, totally heartbroken,
when Rory cleared his throat. We turned to face him and I had no idea
how to thank him for a generous gift we couldn’t accept.

“You didn’t think we were going to give it to you in this

condition, did you?” he asked with a raised brow.

A Zane Po’ Boy

111

“Ya bought us the land. That be the most generous mating gift

ever,” I answered, not sure what he was getting at. There was no way
Zane would let Isaac pay to fix this place up.

“But we’re not the only ones giving you presents.” He giggled,

handing us a few cards. Banning glanced at me as I reached for them.
I opened the first one and gasped, quickly handing it to me twin.

“Dillon, Shane, and Sean contracted a crew to fix the house and

update it as we want!” Banning exclaimed, reading what I just had.

“Holy fuck me,” I yelled as I read the next one. I passed it along

as well. “The Marius family be replacing the glass and broken items
in the greenhouses!”

“We can’t accept all this, ma would kill us,” Banning whined but

still took the third card. He broke out laughing as he read it, handing it
back to me.

Lads,
Ya be gracious and accept the gifts given to ya by people who be

loving ya both and ya mate. Make them proud as ya have always
made me and ya das. We love ya more than we can ever put into
words and will miss ya dearly. So ya better all plan on visiting a lot,
or we’ll be coming there to kick ya arses for neglecting ya family.

Love always and with all me heart,
Ma

“I fucking love that woman!” I whooped with joy. If the house

and greenhouses were fixed, that was a huge start, and the rest we
could do as we went along. We would have warriors to help, and with
the deal Isaac got us, we would still be making money by handling all
their produce.

“So I take it the answer is yes?” Rory asked, his eyes twinkling

with laughter.

“Aye!” we both shouted as we attacked him, hugging him with

everything we had. “Thank ya, Rory.”

112

Joyee Flynn

“I’ll be honest because I like you both now, but don’t think I did

this all for you,” he said gently as we let him go.

“Aye, we know,” I said with a smile. “Ya done it for Isaac so

Zane wouldn’t go, but ya also did it for Zane to keep us happy and
wanting to stay. So, we’d still be thanking ya.”

“But ya don’t hate us anymore for hurting Zane, right?” Banning

asked hesitantly, and I knew it was hard for him to talk about this kind
of stuff. It was a new leaf me twin was turning over, going back to the
loving brother I remembered before too much shit went down in our
lives.

“Aye, I be liking ya lots,” Rory said in his best imitation brogue.
“Bratty kitty,” Banning grumbled and hugged him again. “Now

what?”

“Now we call our mate and tell him to take the damn job,” I

answered, doing a quick jig. “Then we call ma before Dillon, Shane,
and Sean. Then we get to work and start our lives here with our
mate.”

“And I’m going to call the Mariuses and the contractors everyone

hired.” Rory chuckled.

For the next ten minutes, all the three of us did was talk on our

phones. We paced around, carrying out our own conversations,
excited, flustered, and a little scared.

Then, as if like magic, all three of us hung up our phones at the

same time. We were done. It was done. This was our new home.

“Let’s start the lists,” Rory said with a wide grin, rubbing his

hands together in glee.

We each ended up grabbing a notebook and pen, figuring with all

of us taking notes there were less things that would be missed. Rory
told us, as we moved into the house and started looking around, how
he felt bad because the contractor and crew had been waiting. He
didn’t know that everyone had been on hold during his meltdown.

We swore we’d never tell a soul what had happened and told him

to blame us and that he didn’t want to give away the surprise and raise

A Zane Po’ Boy

113

suspicions by rushing us. I think Rory liked us even better after that.
We understood. Not everyone needed to know about every fight
between mates. Hell, everyone knew about our issues when we met. It
didn’t make it any easier when people stuck their noses in whether
they had the right intentions or not.

People started showing up at the house. First it was Elena Marius,

with Damian, Gabriel, Stefan, and Patrick. They were all ready to
work and help out in any way they could. Then a few trucks showed
up and dropped off Dumpsters for us to toss what we couldn’t
salvage.

More warriors showed up with Desmond, who also brought lunch.

I kept glancing over at Banning, wondering if he was as shocked as I
was. This was better than the barn-raising scene in that old Harrison
Ford movie!

A little while later, the contractor showed up with his crew. They

started helping with the demolitions while we walked the house and
talked to him about what needed to be done first. Elena helped us with
that part, and I wanted to kiss her.

“I raised seven sons and have handled countless renovations of

rooms and the house over the centuries,” she said with a smirk,
waving off our thanks. “Besides, I promised your ma I’d help you get
settled since she’s far away. Your family was there for Caleb when he
needed you most and that makes us all family in our eyes.”

“Aye, ya be a great second ma.” I chuckled, giving her a quick

kiss on the cheek.

By the time the workers and help were ready to call it quits for the

day, we had a good chunk of the demolitions and removal out of the
way. Elena guided us over to one of the greenhouses where she
showed us that they’d already ordered windows last week and Remus
was installing them with Stefan’s help.

“I heard you guys have a green thumb,” Stefan teased. “Just

remember I’m partial to fresh tomatoes.”

114

Joyee Flynn

I glanced over at Banning and smiled. We raced off to find a few

pots of soil and whatever seeds we could find leftover in the
greenhouse. Sure enough, there was a cabinet full of seeds left behind.
We grabbed what we could and went back to everyone, getting
curious glances from all of them.

“Normally plant life responds to us being around and flourishes,”

I explained as we planted some seeds in the pots we found.

“But we can channel it and make it work faster, but it’s tiring like

when any of ya use ya gifts,” Banning finished for me. When we were
done, we both focused on the seeds we’d just planted. A few seconds
later a tiny sprout appeared in each pot. They kept growing until they
started budding. Minutes later, we had full plants with fresh tomatoes,
fully grown and ready to eat.

“I knew my mates were amazing,” Zane said from behind us. I

gasped and threw myself into his arms, Banning joining me.

“Love ya, me mate,” I whispered as I nuzzled his neck.
“Me, too,” Banning added.
“I love you both so much,” he said tenderly. “Are you happy? Is

this what you really want?”

“Aye. We want ya and nothing else matters, but this vineyard be

the icing on the cake,” Banning answered. I couldn’t have agreed
more. “Ya did promise us a Zane Po’ Boy as well though.”

“That I did,” he purred. “Let’s go christen our new house.” He

threw one of us over each shoulder, both of us laughing like loons. I
couldn’t think of a better idea right then.

THE END

WWW.JOYEEFLYNN.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyee Flynn grew up in Chicago, living in the same house all her

life until she left for college. Though she has a great life, she loves to
get lost in fantasy that only books could bring. Her wide interest in
reading was reflected in her writings. Currently Joyee lives with her
dog, Marius, named after a vampire from Anne Rice’s Interview with
the Vampire series. She dreams of one day living out in Montana,
enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of cowboys of
her own.

A lover of men, Joyee’s all about them in any form in her books.

Vampire, werewolf, military, doesn’t matter at all as long as they are
hot, hard, and sex fiends!

Also by Joyee Flynn

Siren Classic ManLove: Marius Brothers 1: Micah

Siren Classic ManLove: Marius Brothers 2: Remus

Siren Classic ManLove: Marius Brothers 3: Stefan
Siren Classic ManLove: Marius Brothers 4: Victor

Siren Classic ManLove: Beyond the Marius Brothers 1: Isaac Dragos

Ménage Amour ManLove: The O’Hagan Way 1: A Dillon Sandwich

Ménage Amour ManLove: The O’Hagan Way 2: A Caleb Footlong

For all other titles, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/joyee-flynn

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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