Halloween Werewolf (The Holiday Shifter Mates Book 1) Page 11

  “We want you to come home,” Gale said. “Ike misses you. Weston, Cary, Lance, Yuri, Mama, Papa—”

  “I get it,” Mateo interrupted. His chest swelled with warmth and ached with the threat of shriveling at the same time. His gaze went to his hiking boots.

  “Bring your mate.”

  Mateo’s head snapped up in surprise. “To a shifter haven?”

  “Trinity wants humans and shifters to live in peace, right? This is perfect. Maybe this is what the shifters who come to Eurio need along with that open expanse of land.”

  Austin laughed nervously. “I’d be the only human there?”

  “For now,” Gale said thoughtfully. “Mateo told me you saw him, four years ago. He said you must’ve seen his eyes change, his teeth, too. You’ve kept Mateo’s secret all this time, haven’t you?” He said it like a question, but there was no question behind those words. He was stating a fact.

  “I’ll take it to my grave,” Austin said solemnly. “I… I don’t want to draw the attention of more crazy monster hunters. I’m sure there are more out there.” Austin looked up at Mateo with a light and love in his eyes so warm Mateo wanted nothing more than to kiss him senseless.

  “Unfortunately,” Gale said, “but I think the shifter-human divide would start to change if you came to Eurio.”

  “Gale, what the fuck are you doing?” Mateo didn’t know what kind of game the polar bear shifter was playing. Mateo wasn’t good at mind games or the complex strategies that inevitably came with them. He wanted to be pointed in a direction and told when to shoot. He was surprised he was still in control with Gale riling him up like this. “You can’t expect Austin to just pick up and come with me when he’s built a life here. Did you see all those kids in the gym? They adore him.” And, oh, did Mateo say those words with pride. His mate was so damn good. So damn perfect in every way. Mateo was damn proud of him.

  Gale smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Mateo knew he was thinking about his mate. It would have been impossible for him not to in this situation. Mateo didn’t need to be able to read his mind. He had known Gale long enough to read his moods, long enough to know when the emptiness, the loss of his mate, expanded and tried to break him for good, but Gale always managed to push it back. He had a son to raise. He had Mateo. He had all the shifters in Eurio. He gave himself responsibilities, things tying him to a world that, perhaps, he didn’t much care to be in anymore. There were many things Mateo didn’t get, but he understood grief.

  “I see it. I see him,” Gale said. “You picked a good one.”

  Austin pushed his glasses up his nose. “You hardly know me.”

  “Shifters are often good judges of character. Mateo is one of the best.”

  “How’s Yuri?” Mateo dared to ask. The question bubbled to the surface, and he couldn’t stop himself.

  “He’s doing well, but he’s been moping around since you left.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “And by moping, I mean being more reckless than ever.”

  Mateo winced. He wanted Yuri to take it easy, but asking him to do that when he wasn’t bedridden never ended well. He said he would live his life to the fucking fullest until it was over, and if he died doing something he loved, great. Mateo loved him and hated him for that stubbornness.

  “When are the hunters coming, Mateo?” Gale asked. “I need details.”

  “Tomorrow. They’ll call.”

  “Fine. When they do, you call me immediately and we make a plan. I want this done quick.”

  “So do I, old bear.” That dig had been a thing that stuck since Mateo was a teenager. Gale wasn’t that old, but he’d always feel old to Mateo. That was inevitable when he took over raising Mateo. Hell, Mateo really wanted to tear into him right now. He waited all this time to fix things. It took Mateo running away, escaping Eurio, to fucking do it.

  “I’m sorry,” Gale said, placating. “I didn’t think revenge was the best way to help you heal, Mateo.”

  “It’ll never heal.”

  “I know that, too. Better than most.”

  Mateo nodded, because he did. “Why do it now, then? Why’d you change your mind?”

  Gale glanced at Austin. “Because you aren’t consumed by anger or hate. You’re just stepping up because no one else would. Shifters are still a secret to the vast majority of humans. We can take matters into our own hands easily enough. And because I agree with you. These two must be stopped. I heard news of a couple of other wolf shifters who were killed and skinned the same way your parents were a week ago. The hunters responsible were nowhere to be seen, but I saw the pictures. It was them. But it’s over now. They’re done. They don’t deserve compassion or mercy of any kind.” Gale winced. “One of those wolf shifters was half shifted when they killed him… They knew they were killing much more than ‘dumb animals.’ There’s absolutely no excuse.”

  Mateo growled and growled, and his bones snapped. But Austin was there. Austin was in front of him, arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly, face buried into Mateo’s shoulder. “Shhh. Calm down, Mateo. Not here, okay?” Austin whispered. “If you need to run, do it, but I need you safe.”

  And Mateo didn’t shift. He focused on the sound of his mate’s voice as Austin murmured soothing words, as Austin grounded him with the warm press of their bodies. Mateo took in a shaky breath and hugged Austin back. He closed his eyes and focused only on the sensation of his mate, the green smell of him. Mateo didn’t know how to explain it, but everything about Austin was green like new life, like the first scents of spring.

  “Do you have a place to stay, Gale?” Austin asked.

  “The hotel.”

  “I need to finish up with the school dance decorations. Then I’m staying for the dance. You and Mateo could—”

  “No,” Mateo growled. “I’m going to the dance with you.” He possessively ran his nose along Austin’s cheek.

  Gale chuckled. “I think I’ll leave you two alone. I’ve kept you long enough anyway, showed up unannounced. Let’s exchange phone numbers. When the hunters call you tomorrow, call me first, and we’ll finally end this. All right, Mateo? Don’t forget.”

  Mateo nodded. They exchanged numbers, and then Gale caught Mateo and nearly squeezed the life out of him in a literal bear hug.

  “Trying to kill me?” Mateo wheezed.

  “No, just glad to see you, kid.” Gale let him go. “I know… If you ever felt like we were trying to change you in Eurio, I’m sorry. We weren’t. We like you the way you are, Mateo. I like you the way you are. You got the nickname Bleeder, but that’s not what you are, Mateo. You’re a protector. You’re not a killer. You’re not like them.”

  “I just get out of control,” Mateo said.

  “Everyone gets out of control sometimes, but it’s like I said. You’d never hurt your mate. You’ve never laid a hand on Ike even when you were angry.”

  “Just put some holes in the wall.”

  “So you have no regard for inanimate objects, it’s not the end of the world. And it was your house you put holes in. You only fight when someone else is up for that fight or when there’s reason to hunt. You’ve never wasted anything, never killed indiscriminately. We always point out what a wildfire you are, but we never point out your good qualities, and I’m sorry about that. Because maybe you never knew, but we always did.”

  Mateo cocked his head, looked Austin over, this boy—no, this man—who loved him for some inexplicable reason, and decided Gale was right. He didn’t understand himself, and everything went white sometimes, but he always came back. Weston was okay. He hadn’t killed him like he had feared. He could balance out the need to bleed with more running. It could be okay. He could go home—if Austin wanted to come with him. He wasn’t going to uproot Austin’s life. No way. Austin had built something for himself, and Mateo… Mateo was still figuring things out. Maybe he always would be.

  “Try not to break my stuff. Okay, Mateo?” Austin said, but the twinkle in his eyes mea
nt he was teasing. And Austin was particular about his stuff. This was trust.

  “I won’t break your stuff,” Mateo vowed. And he meant it. If it was important to Austin, he would do his damnedest not to. He hung his head, though, feeling deflated, and uttered a deep, dark secret. “I get scared when everything goes white. Like I’ll forget you all and hurt you without realizing it.”

  “Being scared of that means it’ll never happen. It means you care,” Gale said. “I trust you,”

  “I trust you too, Mateo,” Austin said. And he squeezed Mateo’s hand.

  “You don’t have to come back to Eurio either,” Gale said. “You are missed, and we would like you back, but more than anything, we want you to be happy. Are you happy?”

  Mateo grabbed the back of Austin’s head, burying his fingers in his mate’s wavy brown hair. Austin leaned into his touch. Mateo grinned and said, “I’m happy. Really happy.”

  Despite the hunters, despite everything that had hurt for a long time, he was happy. He was loved.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  WHEN THE DANCE WAS about to start, Austin had to introduce Mateo to the principal and the other teachers who had volunteered to help supervise the dance. He made sure to keep it short so as not to overwhelm his growly fiancé. He wouldn’t make Mateo stay if he didn’t want to, or past his limit, but he was hopeful for at least one dance before then.

  Everyone accepted Mateo easily enough, but Austin could see the questions in his fellow teachers’ eyes, specifically those who knew he had just been dating Matt. This was going to take a while to smooth over. It didn’t help that he had to introduce Mateo as his fiancé after what he said to Timothy. He couldn’t be inconsistent, and it was the truth anyway. People could think what they wanted. They didn’t know their history—except some of them did. Some of these teachers had taught Mateo and Austin when they were in high school. That was a bit awkward to think about. Those teachers welcomed Mateo with warm hugs and said things like, “It’s good to see you again.” No one brought up Mateo’s expulsion. They acted like it never happened, and Austin was grateful for that.

  “Sorry,” Austin said when he was finally able to pull Mateo away from everyone. They stood against a wall of the gym where a board decorated with autumn leaves was mounted. “They’re my coworkers, and they’re friendly, and they—”

  Mateo placed his pointer finger against Austin’s lips, silencing him. “I know some of these teachers too, you know. It was nice to say hi. And I don’t mind. I like seeing your world.”

  Austin breathed. “Okay.”

  Mateo smirked. “I’m not fragile. Stop treating me like I am.”

  After pursing his lips, Austin nodded, and the first song began. It was the “Monster Mash.” Hardly surprising, and a good way to set the fun tone of the dance Austin supposed. “Dance with me?”

  “That’s why we’re here, right?”

  “Aside from me being a volunteer supervisor, yeah.”

  Mateo took Austin’s hand and led him out onto the nearly empty dance floor where multi-colored lights flashed exuberantly. Most of the students weren’t brave enough to put themselves out there yet, even the ones with dates. Mateo stopped, looked at Austin, and cocked his head. “What do I do?”

  Austin laughed, wiggled, and shook his hands to the beat of the song. The way Mateo grinned told him he looked ridiculous, but he didn’t care. They were already severely underdressed since they didn’t bother changing after all, but he had made a point not to think about that. Mateo’s eyes lit up. He followed Austin easily, focusing solely on him as students and some teachers gathered around them after they had broken the ice. Soon, it became hard to move without bumping into other people. Mateo was okay at first. He zipped up closer to Austin to adjust to the lack of room. But after a couple more songs, he took Austin’s wrist and jerked his head over his shoulder to indicate he wanted to leave. Austin followed him as he weaved his way through bodies, out of the gym, and into the hall.

  “Mateo—”

  Mateo growled. “Not yet.”

  Austin didn’t say another word until they were outside, behind the school, standing on the blacktop underneath the stars and a full moon. Mateo continued holding Austin’s hand as he tilted his head up toward the moon. It bathed him in a soft yellow light. And he looked beautiful. Austin’s breath caught when Mateo’s eyes flashed the same shade of yellow as the moon.

  “Time to run?” Austin asked.

  “I don’t want to.” Mateo gritted his teeth. “I want to stay with you.” But his teeth were getting longer, sharper, and his eyes stayed yellow. His wolf was coming.

  “It’s okay, Mateo.” Austin hugged him.

  “Ground me.”

  “What?”

  “Ground me.”

  “How?”

  Mateo’s hand shook as he placed clammy fingers on Austin’s neck and moved them down until he was lifting the tape holding down the gauze covering the bite he had given Austin. Austin unbuttoned his shirt a little farther and pulled the collar down, giving Mateo better access. Mateo was careful with the tape, easing it off so he wouldn’t take Austin’s skin with it. Then he dropped the gauze to the ground. He pressed his nose into the bite and inhaled deeply. The bite was raw and sore, but Mateo’s touch somehow didn’t aggravate it. Austin’s hands were on Mateo’s head, pressing gently into his skull, through short but thick black hair. Then Mateo stopped shaking.

  “Okay?” Austin whispered.

  “Okay,” Mateo said. He slowly moved back while Austin buttoned his shirt back up. Mateo growled.

  “What?” Austin asked.

  “I like seeing it.”

  “The bite?”

  Mateo nodded, and Austin raised an eyebrow.

  “It shows you’re mine,” Mateo said.

  “Maybe other wolf shifters see that. I don’t know what the humans in there would think, though,” Austin teased.

  “It’s more about the smell anyway. I don’t think all bites scar.”

  Austin shrugged. He didn’t think he smelled any different, but he wasn’t a wolf shifter either.

  Mateo growled. Austin was about to give him a hard time for it because he never growled so much in high school, but Mateo was looking over his shoulder, upper lip curled up into a snarl. He silenced it almost immediately, but something didn’t feel right after that. There were two figures looming in the distance, behind Mateo. Austin couldn’t make out their faces. It wasn’t because it was dark either. It was Halloween night, so maybe it wasn’t strange these two had white masks with black holes for eyes and an elongated oval set into a yawning mouth. They also wore huge black cloaks that concealed anything about their figures. It made Austin uneasy. He was quite certain these two weren’t students arriving at the dance late. It was still a “formal.” All of the students were in fancy dresses and freshly pressed tuxes. Kids their age didn’t do much with trick-or-treating anymore, so what was these strangers’ excuse?

  “Can we help you?” Austin asked. He tried to step forward, to stand at Mateo’s side, but Mateo moved in front of him again, so he was forced to tilt his head and look past Mateo’s muscular arm.

  “Depends. What’s that on the ground?” one of the figures, a man with a gravelly voice murmured.

  “What are you…?”

  “He’s got the bite,” the other figure said, a woman.

  It all happened so fast after that. One minute, Austin was facing the figures, trying to see them better. The next, the world blurred around him as Mateo gripped his waist tightly and darted to the side. A shot fired at the same time. It was a pop, a whistle, quiet, but it pounded in Austin’s ears all the same. It was the sound of a gun equipped with a silencer or something. Was that it? Was that what those two were hiding under their cloaks? Who were they?

  Austin was on the ground, next to one of the school walls, in the bushy garden, hidden away from the psychopaths with a gun. They were a fair distance away and around a corner in the span of a single heartbeat.
How did Mateo get them away so fast? Austin looked up when the moonlight was blocked by a shadow. Mateo was on his knees hovering over Austin, yellow eyes wild and chest heaving. Heaving. Blood was dripping from his mouth.

  “Mateo!” Austin cried. The shock registered. Tears stung his eyes. He couldn’t breathe.

  “Stay down, and don’t move,” Mateo said. “They came early.” He got to his feet but crouched low, pushing Austin against the wall and the mostly dead foliage. They were closer to the school’s side door than the back one now. In fact, Austin could hear students giggling and screaming and bursting through said door.

  “Someone’s over there,” a girl said. Austin recognized her voice. It was Katey.

  Mateo stood up from the brush, clutching his side and ignoring the teens as he scanned the area. He was bleeding through his gray hoodie, red coated his hand.

  “Mateo?” Austin knew that voice well. It belonged to Timothy.

  Austin pressed his hand against the school’s rock wall and stood despite what Mateo had told him. “Call the police, Timothy!” Austin cried. He tried to move Mateo’s hand away from the wound he was covering, but he wouldn’t budge. Austin succeeded in nothing but slicking his fingertips with Mateo’s blood. He was losing so much. Too much.

  “Oh, my God. Is he bleeding?” Timothy asked.

  “Timothy!” Austin shouted, desperate.

  Mateo grabbed Austin’s arm with his free hand. “Austin, calm down. Get your kids out of here.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Austin blubbered.

  “You need to go. Now. They’re coming.”

  Mateo didn’t wait for a debate, he shoved Austin toward the teens and ran. At first he limped, but then he was running faster than an Olympic champion—and it worked. The masked monster hunters were peeking around the corner, probably making sure they wouldn’t get hit with any surprises, and then Mateo came zooming past, and they ran after him without a second thought. Or so Austin thought until they split up and one came for him and his students.

  Austin went into protector mode. He rushed for the kids, grabbed them, ushered them until they were all safely inside of the school. Luckily, he had keys to the school with him and was able to lock the door right behind them. He didn’t know what the hunters would do to a bunch of humans like them, but he was glad he locked the door when it shook furiously as one of the hunters tried to come in after them.