Death in the Shadows - 38. Bonus: Auspicious Audit

Stepping out of their rental car, Vincent admired the venue, Lino’s. The restaurant glowed with the waterfront and the night sky with its black awnings, pale-yellow paint, and incandescent lighting. It just looks warm and inviting.

“It almost feels like Biacci’s,” Mason pointed out. “Certainly smells similar.”

Feeling a set of eyes on him, he turned and saw a group of four. Tall guy with tied black hair, a slender man next to him, and a burly dude holding a short man’s hand. “That’s got to be them.” He approached with Mason in tow. Seeing a few nearby humans, Vincent asked, “Mr. Claude?”

The man nodded, a thin smile appearing on his face. “Mr. Bolton. My mate didn’t say anything about you being an alpha.”

“You didn’t ask.” The one at the alpha’s hip offered a hand and his neck. “Kieran. Awesome to meet you guys. This lunk’s Arric, and that’s our friend, Shea, and his husband, Cyn.”

As he was mentioned, Shea bared his neck as a stranger passed by. Cyn remained quiet and waved skittishly.

Vincent sniffed, then smiled. A cernunnos! Holy crap, that’s something you don’t see every day. “I’m sorry. Sin?”

“C-Y-N,” the deer spelled. “You… You smell strange.”

“Cyn, that’s not considerate,” Shea murmured.

Vincent shook his head. Looking around, he noticed they were by themselves. “That’s okay. I probably smell weird because I used to be a human.” The cernunnos was clearly interested. I’ve heard about this. Sometimes they have issues acclimating to both shifter and human communities. To be mated to a wolf though… That’s wild! “It’s nice to meet y’all. This is my mate, Mason Wilson.”

“Mace,” Mason corrected as he shook everyone’s hand. “For obvious reasons.”

“Because your name rhymes,” Cyn stated.

“Exactly,” he said while everyone chuckled. “What say we get inside?”

Being escorted to a private table in the Italian restaurant, Arric thanked their host and pulled a chair for Kieran. “Welcome to Sheb. Hope you found the place okay.”

“Yes, thank you,” answered Vincent. “RJ’ll be here tomorrow; his flight was delayed in Ontario.”

“I’ll be happy to see Grumps again, but that’s tomorrow. Tell us about yourselves. How’d you two meet?”

Holding Mason’s hand under the table, he shared a loving glance with his mate. “I came to Owensville, Kentucky to do some research at their library, picked up a job at the grocery store, and found out we were destined.”

“Destined?” Cyn questioned. “What’s that mean?”

Kieran grinned. “That’s dope! Destined mates mean they were made for each other by the gods above. From what I read, there’s a natural pull for one another. A shifter knows when they found their perfect person.”

“So like Sheamus and me?”

The delta chuckled. “Not exactly. We got a pretty strong bond, but it took you a little bit to warm up to me. If I was your destined, you would’ve known immediately.”

“Shea’s right,” Kieran agreed, “but it was pretty obvious you two would end up together. Everyone knew right from the beginning.”

“Oh, come on,” Shea argued. “It wasn’t that obvious.”

Arric raised an eyebrow. Kieran pursed his lips.

Vincent laughed. I like these guys. They’re definitely a family. The delta couple is freakin’ adorable.

After ordering, he noticed Cyn was constantly glancing at him. When he caught Shea’s eye, Vincent barely dipped his head in the deer’s direction.

Shea got the signal. “Something on your mind, little man?”

The buck’s cheeks reddened, but he asked quietly, “What’s that on your neck?”

“This?” He gingerly traced the scar on his neck. Examining the Sheboygan council, he felt careless. They don’t have marks. How did I miss that? “It’s my mating mark, but… you guys don’t have them.”

“That’s because we’re from different areas, Pup,” Mason explained. “We’re all considered lycan, but there’s some things that separate us. There’s groups, like us, that bite to mark what’s ours. Then there’s these guys… Truthfully, I got no idea what y’all do, but it looks like you don’t bite.”

“Thankfully,” Kieran whispered.

Arric snickered lowly, sounding demonic. “You’d rather have a knot than a permanent sign of my love?”

“A knot?” Vincent asked. “You… Not the best table talk, but your dicks… They–” Realizing what was being implied, he cringed and shivered. “And that doesn’t hurt?”

Arric snorted. “Depends. Are cuffs involv— Ow!” He cried out as the table clattered.

Kieran’s face turned pink, and Vincent smelled the lust and embarrassment wafting from the beta.

“It’s not painful,” Cyn stated blatantly. “It was uncomfortable at first, but I got used to how big Sheamus can get.”

Arric shamelessly cackled. It took every ounce of willpower Vincent had to hold in his own while Shea tried to hide himself at the table. Oh, my gods… That’s just hilarious! Feeling the need to pull the enforcer out of the hole his buck inadvertently dug, he looped an arm around Mason’s. “Sounds like when Mace’s hybrid came around.”

As the farmer growled under his breath, he pinched Vincent on the hip. “You ain’t cute.”

Shea whistled lowly. “Damn, y’all are hybrid alphas? You’re not one, are you Arric?”

“Nope,” the leader answered.

Mason leaned in and sniffed. “Yeah, you’re one of the verbal lycans.”

“Verbal?” Vincent asked.

“Yeah, there’s only two types of alphas: verbal and hybrid. Each is strong in their own ways, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I go up against a verbal alpha for funsies.”

Arric grinned. “I’ll take that compliment.” Looking at Vincent, the man reclined. “While you two can change into a different form, I’m limited to being human or wolf. With that, my voice is stronger. Even other alphas have a hard time disobeying.”

“Woah,” Vincent mumbled. “Could you show me?”

“You—” Shaking his head, Arric squinted. “You want me to use my voice on you?”

The auditor nodded. “I’d like to know what I’m up against. I’ve never heard of or seen a different kind of lycan like this.”

“Very well, if you insist.” Arric dabbed his lips with a napkin, glared at Vincent, and whispered in a satanic voice, “Pick up your fork.”

His breath left his lungs. Against his will, Vincent’s hand fell gracefully to his utensil. Gasping, he stopped before the fork was lifted. His heart raced. Wh-what was that? Staring at the alpha, Vincent tried to comprehend what he felt. That was intense! I almost did it without thinking. “I see,” he uttered. “And that would make my voice ineffective, right?”

“Correct,” Kieran answered. “A verbal alpha’s voice can only be countered with another one, and when that happens…"

"It's a pissing match," answered Mason.

"Exactly," Arric muttered.

Two waitresses came bearing their meals. Vincent and Mason shared glances and bites of each other's food. Upon seeing Cyn's plate of giant, white cheddar-stuffed mushrooms, the Owensville couple immediately placed an order. Upon their first nibbles, they noisily treasured each morsel. Cyn tittered from their reactions.

The three couples shared their life experiences. Some of them shook Vincent's world. Their former enforcer… What sick being would eat… He removed the thought from his mind.

Cyn was enamored by Vincent and his experiences. "You have magic?"

"Had," he corrected. "I lost it not too long ago."

"How is that?" Kieran asked. "I've never read about someone losing their affinity."

"Wow," Arric hummed. "Never thought I'd see you stumped."

Vincent didn't want to tell the tale, so he feigned ignorance and shrugged. "Just woke up one day and they were gone. Did some research but couldn't find anything. I just kind of accepted it."

"Shadow magic," Kieran cooed. "Not much is known about it. Ever thought about transcribing what you could do?"

"Yeah. I'm working with Alpha Drego in Pennsylvania on creating a book."

Arric huffed. "Bit of a know-it-all, but I don't think there's anyone better for the job." He saw Cyn's fascinated gaze and snorted. "I'll have Greta show you what magic can do, alright Cyn?"

The buck was pleased with the promise, and Vincent was intrigued by the subject. “You have a mage?”

"Greta Reil, our treasurer. She has the earth affinity.” Setting down his fork, Arric barely hid his grin. “It’s no secret she keeps this pack running. Hell, she practically held a shotgun wedding for these two.”

Shea leaned over and kissed the deer on the cheek. Vincent held Mason’s hand under the table. Cuteness overload!

With plates cleared, cheesecake was served. From what Vincent saw, every slice in front of each of them looked immaculate. The stringing of strawberry glaze was visually appealing. Upon first bite, Vincent was blown away. I… I can’t believe I’m even thinking it. He looked at Mason. “Biacci’s got nothing on this.”

His mate glared at him as if murder was committed. “Excuse me? Who are you? You’re certainly not the man I married.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you think the world of Biacci’s.”

Vincent took another piece of his cheesecake and gave Mason puppy-dog eyes. When he swallowed, he shook his head slowly. “Saying that hurt me more than it hurt you.”

After Vincent paid the bill, Arric invited everyone to his manor for drinks. Mason whistled as the three-story Tudor came into view. “Holy…”

Illuminated beautifully, the home was spectacular. Hedges were neatly trimmed, and the gated fencing was black as the night sky. Surrounded by woods, it was perfectly secluded. Once inside, framed pictures of Arric and Kieran littered the main hallway leading to the living room. When Vincent noticed a few of the photos featured a white wolf nuzzling a brown and black saddled one, he stopped Mason and pointed. "You guys are so cute!"

Arric growled under his breath. "This is why I didn't want photos done."

Swatting the bigger man on the shoulder, Kieran went to the open kitchen. "You're my mate, and I wanted pictures. Before you know it, we'll have to do another round of them."

"Kids?" Mason guessed.

The Sheboygan alpha went to a curio and pulled out a few snifter glasses. "We're going to foster in a few months. Eventually, I'd like to have a child of my own through surrogacy as well."

Mason asked for the rental car keys. "Be right back. We brought bourbon." When he left and came back, he handed the etched and slender bottle off to Arric.

"Smoke Wagon," Arric read aloud. "Haven't heard of it "

Popping the top, Mason poured. "Uncut, unfiltered from Las Vegas."

"So that's not real bourbon."

"No, that whole ‘bourbon's only made in Kentucky' thing is horse-shit."

Arric sniffed from the snifter rim, completely tantalized. Taking a sip, the alpha licked his lips. "Holy… Key, you gotta try this."

Everyone received a glass, aside from Cyn, who was given RumChata. Makes sense. He seems like to sweet things.

Parting from the mini-bar area, Arric held up his cup. "My wolf recognizes you two, and I hope my council does as well. Here's to new friends."

Kieran raised his, clinking with Arric's. "To new friends."

Shea, Cyn, Vincent, and Mason repeated the motion. "To new friends," they said in unison.