Let the Rain Come Down [The Moonlight Breed 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans (read a book TXT) 📗

wasn’t perfectly happy sharing Demitrius’s bed, and Demitrius really didn’t give a flying fuck what the rest of the coven thought of him.

“Yeah, we’re done, but only because you have company.”

“I don’t…” Demitrius trailed off when he heard the crunch of snow coming from the distance. “Oscar.” He should have known that the guy wouldn’t stay safely inside his dorm like Demitrius had ordered. There was a flicker of fire in his eyes that proclaimed him a fighter, and more than once Demitrius had been on the receiving end of the man’s stubbornness.

“I didn’t come here to be a fucking babysitter,” Xander continued. “Oscar is grown, and he knows his own mind. If anything were to happen to him, though, Braxton would be very unhappy. When Braxton is unhappy, I end up sleeping on the couch. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to eat him. He’s too thin. Probably be chewy.” Demitrius backed away a couple of steps, barely resisting the urge to turn and run to his mate.

“Let’s just address the elephant in the room right now.” Xander descended the stairs to face Demitrius head-on. Standing that close, there wasn’t much of a height difference between them, but Demitrius was definitely the wider of the two. “Yes, I told Braxton to keep his distance and that you could be dangerous. I tell him that about everyone until I get to know them. He’s my whole world, and I won’t apologize for protecting him.”

“And you shouldn’t have to.”

The explanation didn’t exactly appease him, but he did understand Xander’s position. Not only did he have his mate to worry about but an entire pack that looked to him to make the tough decisions. Now that he had a mate of his own, Demitrius could respect the guy’s suspicious nature. He’d just ignorantly thought that after nearly two months of working together, the alpha might trust him just a little.

“Go get him before he ends up burying himself in all of this damn snow.” Xander wrinkled his nose as he stared down at the ground. “This is unnatural.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.” Demitrius hated the shit.

Shaking his head as though clearing it of unwanted thoughts, Xander rested his hands on his hips and stared out toward the direction of the new property. “I’ll bring the rest of the guys to the dorms before sundown, but I’d appreciate it if you could stick around to keep an eye on things tonight. I don’t like leaving Braxton and Keeton alone while we hunt.”

“If you take the twins and Cicero, I’ll stick around the dorms with Oscar, Braxton, and Keeton.” Oscar was too small in shifted form to be out in the knee-high snow anyway, so hopefully, he wouldn’t put up a fight about running around the common room instead of roaming the woods.

“Do you have any idea what kind of shifter Cicero is?”

Demitrius opened his mouth to respond, but closed it just as quickly and frowned. “Actually, no. He doesn’t talk when I’m around.”

“He doesn’t talk at all,” Xander corrected. “I’ll definitely keep an eye on the twins, but maybe you could ask your mate about Cicero. It might be a good idea to keep him at the dorms tonight as well if he’s a small shifter.”

“Right. Got it.”

“I really do appreciate it, man.” Xander clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a little push. “I’ll let Braxton know that everything is on the up and up.”

“Right,” Demitrius repeated as he glanced over his shoulder. He couldn’t see Oscar, but he knew the guy was there, and it was killing him to be so far away.

“Go get him,” Xander said with a chuckle, giving him another shove to get him going. “I’ll see you at the dorms tonight.”

Dipping his head once, he turned on his heels and jogged back toward the dorms, though fighting the packed snow wasn’t an easy task.

“Oscar!” He wasn’t sure what prompted him to yell the man’s name like some bad eighties movie other than the fact that he wanted his lover to know he was on his way. He could feel Oscar’s frustration, laced with just a hint of fear, and he wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone.

“Demitrius? Crap, am I glad you’re here. I’m stuck.”

Cresting a small incline, Demitrius couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he spotted his mate struggling to walk but repeatedly falling like a drunken hobo. “Just be still. You’re only making it worse.”

“Gee, I would have never guessed,” Oscar shot back sarcastically, clearly irritated by his lack of progress. He did stop moving, though, fisting his hands on his hips and huffing indignantly. “Well, are you going to help me or just stand there and laugh?”

Reaching Oscar in just a few strides, Demitrius lifted him easily, swinging the man around so that he clung to his back like a monkey. “What the hell are you doing out here? Didn’t I already save your ass once today?”

It was a bit of an exaggeration. He’d simply dug the guy out of the snow near the front porch of the cabin where he’d been attempting to make his first snow angel. He had, however, told him to stay put until he could return at sundown.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there was a limit. Is there a point system? Do they roll over into next week? Is there a rescue fee if I go over my minutes?”

Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, Demitrius pulled Oscar’s legs tighter around his midsection and held him in place as he started the trek back home. His mate was spitting mad, and Demitrius didn’t have a clue what to do about it. He thought it was pretty damn cute, though.

“You never answered my question. What are you doing out here? I thought I told you to stay inside until I got back.”

“I did for a while, and just for the record, you’re not my mom.” Oscar paused for