Page 22 of Bunny Be Mine
“I appreciate it, brother.” Fen held out a hand, and the two shifters shook. “Let’s get back to the house. You can let me know what your friends did to Marcus and his boys later. I hope they heed the warning and leave us alone.”
“I can almost guarantee they won’t,” Patrick chuckled as he stood, and we began to walk toward our house. “I’ve met their kind before. They might need a bit of a larger push to finally run home with their tails between their legs. I hope we didn’t make a bigger mess for you. Just wanted to make sure Arley was all right.”
“They are the ones making a mess.” Fen shook his head. “Arley and I left town and don’t plan on returning. My parents even said that they will visit us instead of us ever needing to step foot in that town again. Marcus just doesn’t know when to stop.”
“Well, if they show up again, call us. We will help you punctuate your message to leave you alone.”
Fen
“They got away. Sorry.” Patrick shook his head. “We chased them through campus but lost them once we hit the city streets. We tried tracking their scents but the cars diluted it. There was just too much traffic.”
“It’s okay, man.” I slapped my friend on the back. “We appreciate all your help. Hopefully we scared them enough that they ran back home to their backlands.” Although I had my reservations about Marcus’ intelligence. Didn’t he understand no meant no? “I doubt it though. I can’t believe this is the third day this week they have shown up on campus and bothered my mate.”
“Well, we are here to help. Between all of us on the team and you, we can keep Arley protected. Let us know any times you can’t walk him to class or back home and one of us will be there to make sure no one messes with him.” Patrick’s dragon made himself known in the roughening and deepening of his voice. “I know you aren’t officially part of my clan, but I will still ensure the safety of all shifters on my lands.”
“Thanks, man.” I really felt Patrick’s sincerity; it eased a part of my heart that had been on edge with the entire Marcus ordeal. “I think we are ready to be part of the campus pack. Clan, pack, dens whatever you all use for the mixed shifter collection we have here.”
“I think we use all thousand terms interchangeably. But officially the council uses pack.”
“So you have an elder council and then an alpha?”
“We have the elder council, but also we have three alphas that represent different types of shifters that sit on the pack council with the elders.” Patrick described the setup of his pack. It was impressive. I knew a little bit about it but had been focused on my classes and being so close to graduating now that I hadn’t dug deeper. For all they were doing for me and Arley, I’d have to see if I could help them any. “As we grow, we can add more. But all decisions go through the council ultimately. Although the alphas do have authority to act justly and quickly if a situation arises and there’s no time to wait for a council vote to take action.”
“I like that structure, honestly.” I nodded, sounded too good to be true, but I had witnessed it in action. They ran their pack the way a pack should be run. “My old pack was attempting that but Marcus doesn’t want to give up claim to the alpha seat.”
“Marcus needs to be brought to heel.” Patrick sneered, a wisp of smoke leaving his nostrils. “He doesn’t deserve the title of alpha and I really hope your old pack realizes that and sticks with the council.”
“That’s what we are hoping as well. We may not live there still but we grew up there, have ties to the land. We don’t want to see the area destroyed by Marcus’ antics.” It would be more than just my parents that would suffer, and that just didn’t sit right with me and my wolf.
“And the guys he runs with are idiots. I bet if he went down, they would soon fall as well. Maybe I should dig a bit deeper for you guys and make a friendly call to a fellow pack about the things their potential leader has been up to.”
“You could try. I plan to call as well. Maybe once the council sees that Marcus really is no good, they will put an end to his bullshit.” That was all I could do for now. With my mate safe from Marcus for a third time now, I still felt apprehensive. Like it wasn’t the last time we’d run into Marcus. That thought alone had my wolf’s hackles rising. “Have your friends found anything yet about the virus that is plaguing the pack? Maybe Marcus is involved in some way?”
“They did find that there was magic involved and they are attempting to unweave the spell to see the situation more clearly. They were able to treat some of the members and they feel better, but without knowing the source of the issue, the virus will just keep recurring and spreading.” Patrick confirmed what I had suspected. There was someone behind this mysterious cough. “Don’t worry though, my friends are working on it and have been advised to bring in the Shifter Council if they have no progress over the next week.”
“I really appreciate this, Patrick. I am grateful for everything you have done for me, Arley, and for my parents and our old pack.”
“Like I said, Fen, we protect everyone who is on our land or is connected to our friends. We will find out what is wrong and we will help rectify it. No one deserves to be threatened and no shifter deserves to be kept ill. We will fix this.”
“I am going to get going. Arley needs rest.” I placed a hand on Arley’s round belly and felt a bit of movement. Our pups had gotten a bit of adrenaline when their papa was in danger. Hopefully they were settling down now and would be okay.
“Take care of your mate and pups.” Patrick slapped me on the back and placed a hand on Arley’s shoulder, transferring some of his alpha calming power to him and the babies. “I hope that helps bring them peace. Let me know if you need any more help.”
Walking away from Patrick, I did worry about what was going on in my hometown and where Marcus and his men had gone, but there was one priority I had to focus on. Regardless of what was to come, I needed to get my mate home and fed. He was all that mattered.
Chapter Twelve
Arley
EverywhereIlooked,Iexpected to see Marcus or one of his friends. Jumping at every slight noise, excessively checking locks on the house, and starting to get a headache from the stress. I didn’t want to even leave the house for the last few days. It was driving me insane and I couldn’t figure out how to deal with it. On top of all my extra hormones, I knew it couldn’t be good for the babies or myself; yet, all the extra stress wasn’t going anywhere.
“How’s it going trying to convince the dean to let you switch to virtual classes?” Fen’s hands kneaded my shoulders. He’d been trying to help me relax all week. Sexy times with my mate only relaxed me for so long, even if I craved them.
“Not great.” I closed my eyes and let myself relax into his touch. I could get lost in his touch alone. A simple hug, or a loving caress; his touch made everything better. “They don’t like switching midsemester. But if I can get all my professors to sign off on it, Dean Anderson said she’ll approve it.”
“So all you need to do is get the signatures?” Fen turned me around to face him. “We can do this. Let me help.”
“Thanks, babe.” I leaned in and kissed him, addictive as always. “I really don’t want to walk around campus right now. The bigger I get with these pups, the harder it is to navigate classes. I just hope they see my reasoning and agree.”
