Chapter 5

Manu walked into his brother's house and shouted his name. Mintu glanced up from the drawing in front of him and furrowed his brow. "Thought you were in a meeting?"

"What are you doing?"

"Blue prints for a new block of apartments that will be constructed here. Meeting?"

Manu flung himself in the chair next to Mintu's desk and closed his eyes. "I've found my mate."

"And?"

Opening one eye, Manu stared at his brother. "That's it?"

"Knowing you and the way you barged in here, there is an and."

"It's Preston."

"The man hired to copy our records. You've known for a while, then, and you've kept it quiet. Does he know?"

"He asked, and I said no. Called me a liar."

"So that's a yes, then. Are you going to mate him?" Mintu went back to the prints in front of him.

"You know the pull." Manu crossed his arms over his chest, watching his brother act not at all impressed by Manu's news.

"No, having never found my mate." Mintu coughed and ducked his head.

"It's annoying." Manu huffed out a breath. "Really fucking annoying. I don't know if I want to punch the bastard or fuck him."

Mintu snorted, then laughed. "Only you could have a mate that would annoy the shit out of you."

"He is, and he came here to steal our information! Why him? Of all the people on this planet, why did it have to be him?"

"I need popcorn."

"Huh? What the… What?"

"This is gonna be fun to watch. Beer and popcorn at the ready." Mintu grinned, and Manu contemplated punching him in the face. "Nah ah! No hitting your brother. We're adults now."

"Fuck off."

"You'd miss me too much, and I have too much work to do." Mintu leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Fuck, I'm tired, but we have another group of shifters planning to move here in the next few months, plus all the new buildings, homes, outposts… I've never been so busy."

"You'd think we'd begin to catch up at some point. We've been here a couple of years now."

"Once the word got out about here and Salutem, we had a flood of requests. Security at Salutem now has a dedicated team just for background checks on anyone who wants to move here and there." Mintu dropped his arms. "It's good that more people are moving here, but the increased pressure on the local infrastructure…" Mintu shook his head. "I was out surveying a new sewage system for the houses we're building. Jake and Kris are working so many hours, and they've doubled the number of people they employee."

Jake and Kris Crocker, who owned Crocker Construction Company, had become partners with Mintu's company when he'd moved to Morefield Village. Between them, they were responsible for all construction and feeling the pressure. They were rightly cautious in bringing outside help, considering the threat they all lived under, but it might be something they'd have to consider.

"What has Indy said about all the work?"

"He has his hands full with the fallout from the Council, plus everything with your mate and the new locations, plus the existing ones under watch." Mintu closed his eyes. "Sometimes, I think we should reveal ourselves." Opening his eyes, he gave Manu a small smile. "Maybe when we can better protect ourselves from that fallout."

"You know the king would vouch for us."

"King Jacques is a good vampire. He's done a lot to show the world vampires can be trusted after the previous king all but destroyed it." Mintu ran his fingers over the specs in front of him. "Might have to look into hiring more staff. Apprenticeships." Sighing softly, Mintu asked, "Tell me about your mate."

"He annoys me."

"I gathered that." Mintu grinned, his eyes crinkling at the sides. He was a couple of years younger than Manu, but they'd always been close. Yes, they argued like brothers do, but they'd stuck to each other through the hard times. "Is there anything you like about him other than his ass? You've always been as ass man."

Manu grunted and pouted. "Yeah, the fucker has a great ass, which only makes this worse."

"So fuck him from behind. Won't have to see him then."

"But I'll hear him." Groaning, Manu dropped his head into his hands. "I kissed him." The words were muffled, so when Mintu asked him to repeat what he'd said, he lifted his head and groaned. "I might have kissed him."

Mintu stared at him, then threw his head back as he laughed. "Oh, that's good. That's really good."

"No, because he can kiss, and that's even more annoying."

"Let me get this straight. He's hot, he can kiss, he has a great ass, and he drives you nuts. So he's perfect then."

"Fuck off," Manu muttered, with no real heat behind the words. Mintu laughed even more and Manu exhaled heavily. "He might be okay," he admitted grudgingly, which only made Mintu laugh more. Why had he come here?

"As fun as this is, I have a shit ton of work to do and not nearly enough hours to do it in."

"When did you last eat?" Looking at Mintu, Manu could see the shadows under his eyes, and his cheekbones appeared sharper.

Mintu furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Yesterday?"

"If you don't know for sure, then that's a problem. Let me cook something, and you can eat and work. I'll leave some in the fridge for you to heat up later."

"Thanks. Time keeps getting away from me."

"When was the last time you shifted and ran?" Being a shifter meant actually shifting and letting the wolf run free. Not doing it enough could lead to increased anxiety and restlessness until the wolf inside forced the shift. Not what you want if you're in a diner full of humans.

"I did do that a couple of days ago. I could see my wolf crawling under my skin. I know I ate then. Caught a fat rabbit."

"Good. If you need help, call me."

"I know, but I also know how busy you guys are, which makes me think about the big world reveal again."

"I think it will be a question of time. Technology is improving all the time. We won't have the luxury of remaining hidden for much longer. Every phone has a camera now, and CCTV is prevalent. Amazed we haven't had an incident yet."

"Yeah, it's a matter of time now, isn't it? We need to be prepared, because once the cat's out of the bag, there is no way we can go back."

"Protect as many as we can." Manu sighed. "I'm worried."

"Me, too, but we have a great team here and in Salutem. It's the other shifters out there I'm worried about."

"There's another town a couple hundred miles away. Preston's giving details to security so we can contact them. They have one of those labs near there, and according to Preston, a village disappeared, and he thinks they were taken to this place."

"Those bastards need eradicating." Mintu yawned, and Manu shook his head. They were both burning the candle at both ends.

"I'll see what you have in and cook something."

"Thanks, bro."

Manu went into Mintu's kitchen and stopped. The place looked like a disaster had hit in. He needed someone to come in and keep the place clean and tidy. Opening the fridge, Manu gagged when the smell hit him. He'd need to clean the fridge, then do some shopping, then cook.

Cleaning the fridge, then tackling the dishes that lay scattered on the counters took Manu almost an hour. "I need to do some shopping for you."

"I ain't going anywhere!"

Manu grunted, and left Mintu's apartment, walking to the shop. Inside, he saw Alvin, who gave him a nod, then disappeared. Sucking in his breath, Manu found Alvin and asked how he was. Alvin shrugged and walked off, leaving Manu alone.

"Eli's a fucking idiot."

Grabbing what he needed, which was pretty much everything, Manu paid and carried the bags back to Mintu, who was still bent over his desk, muttering to himself. Manu put the food away and cooked something easy that Mintu could reheat. Once he was done, he plated it up and went into Mintu's office.

"Here."

Mintu barely looked at the plate before stuffing some ham into his mouth. Shaking his head, Manu put everything away, shouted good bye, and went to his own apartment, which was on the floor above Mintu's. Fuck, he was tired, and he had to work later and probably speak to Preston. No, his mate could wait until Manu was ready to face him—whenever that was.

Lying face down on the bed, Manu sighed and closed his eyes. He needed to sleep, and he didn't want to dream about the man who annoyed him more than his brother.

The phone ringing woke Manu,and he scrambled to find it. Sitting up, he found his phone near his pillow and grabbed it. "Hello," he murmured, his voice gravelly.

"We have a situation."

All sleep disappeared, and Manu focused on Eli. "Details."

"Fabien is tracking someone or something on our east side. They're doing a good job of avoiding our cameras, but they slipped up, and we caught them. Rand is on his way out there now, but I want you to go as well."

"On it."

"Good."

Manu quickly freshened up as he called Rand. "I'm on route. Where are you?"

"Near the old well, past the Cavendish estate."

"Yeah, I know where. I'll be there soon."

Manu stripped, then packed his clothes in a bag. He left his apartment, after making sure no one was around, and shifted into his wolf form, then picked up his bag. Running, Manu quickly covered the ground, and ten minutes later, he saw Rand and ducked behind a hedge.

Dropping the bag, Manu shifted, then dressed. "Anything?"

"No. See the well?" Manu nodded. "Just to the left, inside the tree line. Flashes of movement."

Manu concentrated, then saw what had caught Rand's attention. After a few minutes of watching, he shook his head. "It's like whoever it is, is trying to hide, but not at the same time."

"They want to appear as if they are hiding, but they want us to see them. Distraction?"

Manu hissed. "Feels like it."

"I'll call it in." Rand made the call as Manu watched. "Monitor, but don't engage. They'll increase patrols elsewhere."

Nodding, Manu got comfortable. "Could be here for a while then."

"Let them think they have our undivided attention." Rand grinned. "I haven't hurt anyone in a while."

"Been good for too long."

"People get what they deserve," Rand muttered flatly. Rand and his brother Jim had lost their younger sister after she had been kidnapped and abused, then murdered. The men responsible had gotten off on a technicality, so they'd hunted them down and dealt with them. Yes, they'd broken the law, but Manu couldn't find any reason why Rand and Jim should be reported. Those men had deserved everything they'd suffered at the brothers' hands, all except Smith, the last man they'd gone after.

Turned out Smith was as much a victim as their sister, so the brothers had brought him to Morefield Village, where he'd met his mate in Ray, one of Manu's colleagues. Both had gone through their own versions of hell, but were now happily mated.

Ray handed Manu a chocolate bar, then leaned back against the hedge. "Should help to pass the time."

Opening the wrapper, Manu sat. "I cooked for my brother earlier and forgot to eat."

"You know he found his mate?"

Manu paused, the chocolate bar suspended in mid-air. "Mintu?"

"Yeah." Rand grinned. "Guess he never said anything."

"Mintu?" Mintu, as in his brother, Mintu?

"Mated to the new guy who runs the bar."

"He's your friend, right? What's his name? Jun Sang?" Manu had some vague recollection of meeting Rand's friend when he'd moved to the village.

Chuckling, Rand nodded. "And they don't want to mate."

"Er, they're both shifters. We tend to mate as soon as we know we have a mate."

"Neither of them want it. They fuck." Rand shrugged.

"He told me before he hadn't found his mate. No wonder he couldn't look at me."

"They're happy. They fuck and live their lives the way they want to."

"They could still be mates and live the way they want to."

"How's Preston?" Rand grinned and bit into his chocolate.

"Your friend has told you already?"

"Yep. Mintu told Jun Sang, and he told me."

Mintu was quick because Manu had just told him. "They are the strangest shifters I know." He thought about Eli and then himself. "Okay, maybe not. Seems to be a bit of not mating our mates going around."

"Maybe one day they'll mate, but for now they don't need to." Rand moved forward, eyes focused. "Movement."

"Wanna play hide and go seek?" Manu grinned, and Rand did the same thing.

Time to have some fun.