Free Mating Call by Martha Bourke Page A

sighed. “I’m sorry I bothered you with this. You must have been terrified. I’m so glad Troy was able to find you.”
    He stood up to go when the door opened. One minute Troy was in the doorway and the next the brother was materializing right in from of him. He grabbed him by the front of his sweatshirt and slammed him against the wall.
    Troy’s aqua eyes bore into him.
    “Get out, James,” he said with a feral growl.
    “Everything’s cool. I just asked her a question.”
    “Get out, James!”
    He didn’t even bother using the door. He gleamed back to his own room where he paced off the adrenaline. His mind was reeling. It was Seth. Seth had stabbed the female. As he walked back and forth, the seriousness of what had just happened with Troy started to set in. That was not the behavior of a protective friend—those eyes, that growl, the force behind that push. Those were the behaviors of a mated male. The brother was mated to a human.
    Holy fuck.
     
    Troy sat down on the edge of the bed and kissed his female’s cheek. “Are you okay?”
    Evy nodded. “I’m okay.”
    “You sure? I’m sorry I flipped out. Gettin’ a handle on the protective instinct after you’re mated takes some practice, especially for the male.”
    “I’m sure. I actually feel kind of bad for him. He asked about Seth.”
    “Seth?” Just like that his eyes lit up and reflected onto her porcelain skin. “The dirt bag who knifed you?”
    She reached out, closing his eyes gently with her fingers. Her touch was so calming that when he opened them the reflection was gone.
    “I think he knew Seth in high school. He looked really upset.”
    At first he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “Wait. You know, we rescued James from Toltec. He was in their holdin’ cells waitin’ to be given the serum that turns shifters into mutants—like the things that kidnapped you. Maybe he did know him.”
    “Oh, my God. No wonder. He said they were best friends.”
    He grinned. “Man, the crap you don’t find out about around here.”
    She gave his leg a playful slap.
    “Listen, I talked to X. I couldn’t get outta duty tonight.”
    “That’s okay. I’ll read. Will you be late?”
    “We’re usually in by three at the latest, but I’ll make sure I’m not that late tonight. I have a meeting after dinner. We’ll probably head out from there. Helen should be up and she’ll bring your dinner. Do you know what you want?”
    She grinned.
    He shook his head. “Lemme guess. Waffles. You’re gonna turn into one. I’m gonna be mated to a fucking waffle.”
    She sat up and threw her arms around his neck as she laughed. God, it felt good. Feeling her laugh resonate through him was like heaven. He held her an extra moment before letting her go.
    She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Where’re you going?”
    “I need to go next door to arm. I’d sit this out, Ev. It can look pretty overwhelming and you’ve been through a lot.”
    Thankfully, she waited on the bed. She had plenty of time to learn the ins and outs of being a New Breed’s female later. It didn’t have to be his first time out since they’d mated, thank you very much. He gave her a kiss and tried to make like it was no big deal, which was kinda stupid. She was real intelligent and she’d seen what he was capable of. He just didn’t want her climbin’ the walls while he was out. She wasn’t fully healed. At least, not yet.
     
    SE absentmindedly traced his mate’s mark on the back of her neck as she sat against him on the bed and fidgeted with the remote.
    “Did you DVR another Dancing with the Stars, my male?”
    He kissed the side of her long, gorgeous neck. “Maybe.”
    “God, I hate that show.”
    He kissed the other side. “I can’t understand how you can be Latina and hate a dance show, Ihkweea .”
    “It isn’t that one. It’s all those competition shows.”
    “You seem to have it in for that one in particular.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because you