“Good to see you in one piece, Oregano,” he called out teasingly.
I reached out to shake Dalton’s hand as Rosemary bounded down the steps toward the stranger.
Sidestepping Dalton, I monitored the interaction closely. My mate shoved at the newcomer with a laugh and then stepped in for a hug. Was that the fictional mate?
Every muscle in my body tensed until she jerked away with a curse. I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision.
“Shit, I forgot,” the man said with a grimace, glancing at me as he raised his arms out at his sides. “You okay?”
“Oh, ew,” Rosemary exclaimed. “I forgot about that bullshit.”
Dalton chuckled beside me. “They grew up together,” he informed me. “Nothing to be worried about.”
I scoffed. “I’m aware.” Even if Rosemary and this pup had anything going on before, it was over now. The mating bond would make it physically painful for them to fuck around.
“Come meet my mate,” Rosemary said with a frown, stomping back toward the house. She was barefoot and didn’t seem to even notice the rocks beneath her feet.
“This is my son Ian,” Dalton said, nodding toward him. On closer inspection, the young Vampire was barely an adult. His face hadn’t lost the innocence of youth yet. “Ian, this is Rosemary’s mate, Daniel Boucher.”
“Boucher?” Ian asked, reaching out to shake my hand.
“Yes, one of those Bouchers,” Dalton murmured with a smile. His expression dropped as he looked at me. “I was very sorry to hear about Zeke. You have my condolences.”
“Thank you,” I replied, finally relaxing a little as Rosemary grudgingly sidled up to me.
“Is Gary inside?”
“Where the hell else would I be?” Rosemary’s dad called.
Dalton chuckled as he moved toward the door.
“We can’t stay here,” I said, stopping him. “Rosemary can’t stay here.”
“Why the hell not?” she interrupted.
“You were abducted here,” I replied slowly. She was clearly intelligent, but if I were guessing, her sense of self-preservation was completely absent. “You’re no longer where they put you. Where do you think they’ll look for you first?”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened a little. “About that…”
“Have you told him nothing?” Dalton asked incredulously.
“I didn’t have time before you and Sunflower here showed up.”
“Stop calling me that,” Ian hissed in embarrassment.
“Inside,” Dalton ordered, gesturing toward the door. “Everyone inside.”
If it had been any other Vampire ordering me around, I would’ve balked, but Dalton had been one of my first team leaders when I joined Vampire Command. I trusted him with my life and, more importantly, with my mate’s.
Setting my hand on Rosemary’s back, I let her hair tangle around my fingers for a moment as I led her inside. As we moved through the door, she leaned slightly into the touch. Well, that was comforting. At least she felt the pull too. I was beginning to wonder.
Mates were hardwired to be drawn to their other half, even when they didn’t want to be. I’d seen it time and again. Even if mates were fighting, even if they couldn’t stand each other, even if it was inconvenient and frustrating, they still gravitated toward each other, pulled by an invisible and nearly unbreakable thread.
Rosemary seemed to be able to ignore that thread for the most part, but the longer I was near her, the tighter I felt that thread pulling. I wanted to get my arms around her. I wanted to pull her onto my lap. I wanted those long legs wrapped around my back. I wanted her hair in my face and trailing down my chest.
“Good to see ya,” Gary announced, snapping me out of my fantasy as he performed some strange handshake with Dalton.
Ian immediately dropped down on the floor, and the dog scrambled onto his lap, panting like he’d just run a mile.
