“Will do,” said Steel, now wide awake.
After his mate left, Jackson said, “C’mon guys, we have a lot to do.” He turned and headed down the hallway to the stairs, his brother and Dylon following behind him.
~/~/~/~/~
“Cuore mio!” David whispered to his mate, shaking Zane again. “Wake up.” Still a light sleeper from his many years of imprisonment, it didn’t take much to rouse him, as the gentle knocking on their bedroom door proved. His mate on the other hand seemed to be able to sleep through anything. “Zane, someone’s at our door,” he murmured, pushing against his mate’s shoulder and getting no response, gave up, muttering to himself as he crawled from beneath the covers,He better not give me grief about answering the door.Grabbing his pajama pants from where Zane had thrown them last night after undressing him, David slipped into them before heading toward the door. Remembering his mate’s advice, David pressed his ear against it, listening for anything that might help him identify the person knocking, but without success. Finally, he asked in a semi-whisper, “Who’s there?”
Hearing the hesitancy in David’s voice, Steel gentled his tone before replying, “Hey, it’s me, Steel. Jackson sent me to get Zane.”
“Oh…uhm,” David murmured, turning to look at his mate who was still asleep, wondering how to wake him up.
“I gather he’s asleep,” Steel said.
“Uhm, yeah. I tried waking him but…” David’s voice trailed off. Unsure what to do, he turned back to the door and asked, “Is it important?”
“Yes,” Steel answered. “Jackson needs to speak to Zane right away.”
That made David’s decision easy. Jackson was his and Zane’s Alpha so ifhewanted Zane, he had no choice but to obey. Unlocking the door, David peered through the crack, up at the Alpha Mate. “I can’t wake him…do you want to try?”
Shifting his gaze away from the clearly frightened David, Steel glanced at the bed, finding Zane stretched out, partly covered by a sheet. “Was he working late again?” he asked.
“Yes,” David replied, shifting from foot to foot. “He was working all last week to find out about the enforcers who killed his family. My mate’s exhausted but he won’t give up. Not that I want him to, but I think he’s wearing himself out. I tried shaking him…several times…when I heard the knocking, but he never budged. I’m worried because he always responds to me but not now.”
“Hmm,” Steel said. “You’re a good mate, David. How about this? After he sees Jackson, I’ll speak to him about the hours he’s been keeping. Zane has a responsibility to you too and he needs to be reminded of it.”
Shaking his head vigorously, David whispered, “Noooo, I don’t want to get my mate in trouble.”
“Trust me, you won’t,” Steel replied. “I’m just going to remind Zane about his responsibilities as a mate…and part of that is making sure he has enough sleep so you can wake him, if needed.”
Studying Steel’s face, David found only sincerity there. Satisfied, he replied, “Okay.”
“Good. Can I wake him now?”
Chapter 6
Stepping back, David opened the door wider to let Steel in. “You can try but it won’t be easy. He is in a really deep sleep. Shaking him didn’t work.”
Advancing toward the prone figure, Steel agreed with David’s assessment—Zane was out like a light—reminding him of the times in college he needed to wake his brother so he wouldn’t be late for class. It drove him nuts; no matter how many times he lectured him about going to bed early so he could wake up earlier, he’d still find Slate dead to the world when it was time to get up. By the end of the first semester, Steel was at his wits end, having tried everything he could think of to make his brother wake up without having to drag him out of bed. It wasn’t until a chance encounter with a psychology professor, that he finally found out how to do it. Stopping at the bed, he grinned devilishly down at Zane, knowing he was going to enjoy rousing him.
Standing beside the Alpha Mate, David gazed lovingly at Zane. His mate was so good to him. He wishedhecould go see Jackson instead of waking Zane up, but without any computer skills, it was ridiculous to even think about it. His mate’s long hours began when Zane learned his mother was still alive. From that moment on, Zane spent every minute he could trying to find the men responsible for the massacre. Each dead-end Zane encountered just pushed him harder, so much so, that when David finally convinced him to go to bed that night, his mate had been awake for almost two days. Glancing at Steel, seeing the grin on the Alpha Mate’s face, David’s heart stuttered. Grabbing Steel’s arm, he pleaded, “Wait! Please don’t hurt him!”
Startled, Steel looked at David and, seeing the fear on his face, replied, “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt Zane…in fact, I won’t even touch him when I wake him up.”
“What?” said David, now confused. “How can you do that?”
“This is how,” Steel replied, bending down until he was close to Zane and letting loose a threatening growl before quickly standing up.
Leaping from his bed, shifting in a split second, Zane’s wolf stood facing the Alpha Mate and David, his back arched, tail rigid, hackles raised, baring his teeth and issuing his answer to the threat he heard.
Staring at his mate in astonishment, David murmured, “I don’t believe it.”
Realizing his mate wasn’t in danger, Zane shifted back, grabbing the sheet to wrap around him. Facing Steel, he growled, “What the fuck was that, asshole? Don’t you know someone could’ve been hurt? Didn’t you think about my mate before telling my wolf you were gonna attack him? Fucking bullshit! That was so not cool.” Stomping around Steel, Zane marched over to the dresser, yanked open a drawer, grabbed a pair of pajama pants and slipped into them. Once covered, he turned around, facing Steel. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again!”
Moving quickly between Steel and his mate, David looked apologeticallyat Zane. “Don’t blame him…it was my fault. I gave him permission to wake you…I tried, but you wouldn’t move and Jackson needs you so when Steel said he’d try, I told him to go ahead,” he explained nervously, his eyes pleading for understanding.
Zane’s shoulders fell, his anger gone. Reaching out, he pulled David to him, wrapping his arms around his mate’s waist. “Hey, babe, it’s all right. I’m not mad…just startled,” he murmured, giving David a kiss. “You did good. So, Jackson wants me, huh?”
“Yes, he sent Steel to get you.”
