Page 51 of Damien’s Mate

Jaeda seemed to have an endless supply of Pop Tarts that she was feeding into the toaster. Damien went over and joined her, jerking his head at Titan and Remy. “That de-escalated quickly.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Those two. They’re always fucking with each other. And it usually ends with Remy getting thrown off a balcony somewhere. They’re like middle school girls—addicted to drama.”

The toaster popped up and Damien grabbed a couple of chocolate Pop Tarts before the rest of the crew could get to them. He also scored some scrambled eggs from a huge pan Brandon was making.

He was glad to see that the shifters had the same huge appetites as Lila, so nobody remarked on how much she ate. He made sure she had some eggs, too, and sausages. She still needed protein to heal.

There were ten of them all together, so when they went outside Damien offered to take some people in his SUV. The twins and their mates were going in Remy’s truck. Damien asked Kitty if she and Brandon wanted to ride with him and Lila, but she shook her head.

“Nah, thanks, we’re taking Brandon’s truck. Apparently, Nick likes to ride in the back.” She gestured toward one of the trucks parked neatly at the side of the house.

A ghostly, translucent panther with glowing green eyes was just jumping into the truck bed. Damien froze.

Colt, passing by with a cardboard box in his hands, followed his gaze and said, “That’s Nick. He’s dead.”

Damien tried hard to close his gaping mouth. “I… can see that.” He added facetiously, “Is he a member of the crew?”

“Yep,” Remy said on his way past. “He was there when we were formed, so he’s part of the bond.”

No way. They had a crew with dead members?

Colt said, “I always wonder if he can feel the wind in his ghost ears, when the truck is moving.”

Remy grumbled over his shoulder, “I can’t even see his ghost ears.”

Colt explained, “Only some of us can see Nick, unless he puts a lot of effort into it. Nobody knows why.”

He and Remy and their mates piled into his truck. Titan came up to Damien, holding a brown paper grocery bag. “Can I ride with you and Lila?” From inside his front jeans pocket, Damien heard Titan’s cell phone give a notification alert. More polar bear pity?

“Um, sure, if you want.” He would have thought the big guy would want to ride with Brandon and Kitty. He hadn’t seemed to like Damien too much, and Lila had mauled his ass, literally.

Brock came up to them. “If he rides with Kitty, she’ll yell at him for taking all her snack cakes.” He nodded at the grocery bag, which made crinkly cellophane sounds every time Titan moved it.

Lila giggled faintly.

“Exactly,” Titan said. “Even worse, she’ll eat most of them.” His phone beeped again.

Brock bit his lip. “You might want to silence that, buddy.”

Lila murmured, “Or put it on vibrate and have yourself a real good time.”

Titan flicked his gaze at her, and she looked innocently back. He pulled out his phone and pushed a button—Damien couldn’t see which one.

Brock just shook his head.

Chapter 21

They set off for the town of Penile—Damien and Lila in the front of the SUV, Brock in the second row, and Titan and his snack cakes filling the entire rear seat.

At first they drove in silence, the only sound the crackling of snack cake wrappers. Then Damien said to Brock, “I hope you’re not in trouble with Brandon because I showed up.”

Brock shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not my alpha. I’m only here because of Jaeda, to help her with her animal.”

“Animals,” Titan said.

Lila turned half around. “Yeah, what’s up with Jaeda? Damien told me she was some kind of mutated bear, but last night she was an owl. I never heard of people having more than one animal.”

“Some do,” Brock said. “Mostly if they have mixed parentage, like Colt and Remy. But Jaeda’s a different story. She’s half human, and her shifter animal never manifested. When it finally did, a few months ago, it didn’t have a form. So it mimics whatever shifter she’s closest to.”