A Hellhound Called Derek

"They're ready for you inside, boss," Knox said, stepping out one of the side doors of the Solston Paranormal Council building.

Derek nodded, taking a final pull off his cigarette and flicking it to the asphalt of the alleyway. The nicotine didn't affect him like it would a human, but he enjoyed the act of smoking all the same. Blowing the cigarette smoke, along with some of his own, out of his nose, he stood from where he'd been seated sideways on his Harley.

He was the hellhound alpha and lead demon presence in Solston so this arranged mating was his responsibility. It didn't mean he had to like it. The Paranormal Council and the human leaders of the city had gotten together to determine the best path forward to reduce friction between humans and paranormals. Somehow, they'd come up with this—reviving an archaic ritual that hadn't been practiced in a century.

A leader from every paranormal faction in the city was set to be mated to a human citizen that was either in equal standing in the human world or willing to take a job in one of the paranormal organizations.

Derek wasn't sure who the human he'd chosen was. He'd never even laid eyes on him, but his scent had been the most appealing when the council had passed around the files. Each file had held a picture and basic information about the human it represented, but also, a scrap of cloth with their scent. One whiff and he'd known. The outside of the file said the human's name was Hollis. Derek hadn't bothered to open it up and look at the picture.

Derek followed Knox through the door and down a long service hallway. The door they went through at the end opened into a carpeted hall Derek recognized. Four shiny wooden doors, two on either side, led to conference rooms. He'd been a part of many meetings there since coming to Solston and taking over the alpha hellhound position.

He and the hellhounds were the main enforcers for the council. They patrolled the streets, took care of rogue paranormals, and assisted the human police when necessary. Waiting in the hall were the other paranormal leaders about to meet their mates.

"Jacob. Leander," Derek said with a nod. Jacob was one of the twins leading the Saint Coven, and Leander was the second highest-ranking vampire in the city.

"Derek," Leander said, offering his hand to shake.

Derek took it, and after shaking Leander's hand, shook Jacob's extended one.

"You boys ready for this?" he asked, keeping his voice down. They'd all expressed their hesitance at the initial council meeting, but in the end, he knew their sense of duty was the same as his. They'd do what needed doing. More importantly, they'd do what their bosses commanded. Derek may be the leader of the hellhounds and demon presence in this city, but he wasn't the Demon King in this country. Kerak's orders were simple—do your duty and keep the peace.

That's exactly what he intended to do. And he'd take care of this human that was to be his mate. Hollis wouldn't want for anything and would have the protection of the hellhounds at all times.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Jacob said. He was young, barely in his late twenties, with shaggy brown hair and boyish good looks. By contrast, Leander was centuries-old, groomed down to his manicured fingernails, and dressed in an immaculate gray three-piece suit. Jacob was dressed nicely as well in slacks and a button-down. Derek had worn what he always did when he wasn't on duty—jeans, a black t-shirt, his leather jacket, and thick-soled black boots.

"Oh good, you're all here," Lenette, the lead vampire of the city and head of the council, said as she came around the corner. "Your humans are already in the rooms. You'll go in, have a few minutes to chat, and then we'll come in with the mating license for you each to sign. It will be your choice and responsibility if you want to hold a ceremony later on. Questions?"

When no one spoke up, Lenette chuckled. "Don't be so glum. It's your mating day." The sarcasm in her voice wasn't lost on Derek. She cleared her throat and looked down at the clipboard in her hands. "Okay, Derek, your human is in Conference Room One."

With a nod, he broke away from the group.

"You want me to hang around, boss?" Knox asked as Derek moved toward the first conference room's door.

"Nah. We'll get this mating settled, and then I'll bring him to the house."

"Okay. I'll take care of any calls that come up tonight." Knox was Derek's second-in-command, the vice president by human standards. He was a good man and a helluva soldier.

"Thanks, brother." Derek clasped Knox's hand and watched him walk away before he turned toward the conference room door. The small window set high in the door didn't reveal much, just a large plain wooden table and generic blue patterned carpeting. With a deep breath, he pushed the door open and got hit with a face full of the scent he'd chosen from a stack of files.

Hollis wasn't sitting at the table. Instead, he was pacing, hands fidgeting in front of his chest, off to one side of the room. As the door swung closed behind Derek, Hollis stopped pacing. Behind his dark-framed glasses, his pretty brown eyes widened.

"Um," Hollis said, hands still lifted in front of his chest.

His scent was mouthwatering, and for a moment, all Derek could do was stand there and stare, taking in lungfuls of the delicious aroma. "Hi," he said eventually, voice coming out more gravelly than normal. "I'm Derek."

"Hollis." He swallowed loud enough that Derek could hear him across the room. "You're the…aren't you the…"

"Hellhound alpha."

"And you're—" He cut himself off, one of his hands pointing slightly to Derek and then to himself.

"Your new mate. Yes." Derek moved toward the table. "Come sit," he said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. Hollis was obviously nervous, and while Derek wasn't sure that they'd have some great relationship between them, he didn't want his mate afraid of him.

Hollis moved to the chair Derek had indicated. He was cute, dressed in khaki slacks, a soft chocolate sweater, and brown Oxfords. He couldn't be more than 5'7", and with a mop of curly blond hair and the glasses, he was downright adorable. A smile pulled at the corner of Derek's mouth imagining Hollis on the back of his Harley.

Once Hollis sat down, Derek moved to that side of the table and pulled out the chair beside him. He sat, noticing that Hollis had tensed up with every step closer Derek had taken. Not knowing what else to do, he held out his hand. "Might as well do this officially. I'm Derek. I'm the hellhound alpha and lead council enforcer."

Slowly, Hollis slipped his hand into Derek's outstretched one. His hand was cold, smaller than Derek's, and somehow, a perfect fit. "Hollis. My uncle is the human police commissioner. I worked at the library before this, but I'll be working here now."

He didn't seem super happy about that, but Derek didn't want to pry just yet. Instead, he swiveled his chair to face Hollis and reached for his other hand. Hollis didn't fight him but did frown in confusion once Derek had clasped both Hollis's hands with his. "Your hands are cold," Derek explained, running his thumbs over the backs.

Somehow Hollis's frown got deeper as his cheeks started to redden. "Oh, you don't have to do that."

"Are you saying that because you don't want me touching you or because you think cold hands are something you should be embarrassed about?"

Hollis opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "I-I guess the second thing. I don't want you to think…"

Derek gently squeezed his fingers. "Don't want me to think what?"

"Good to see you two getting along," Lenette said, breezing through the door.

Hollis tensed up and pulled his hands from Derek's. He wouldn't meet Derek's eyes. Instead, he turned his chair to face the table and clasped his hands firmly together in his lap.

Derek shot a glare at Lenette, barely containing the growl that was building in his chest.

Lenette raised one eyebrow at him and smirked. Two of Lenette's assistants entered the room. One moved to the table and pulled out a chair opposite Derek and Hollis for Lenette. She sat and laid the folder in her hands on the table. "I've got your mating license here. You'll each need to sign, and once I've filed it with the city tomorrow, I'll send you a copy." She met Derek's gaze. "To the hellhound clubhouse, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Here we go." She pulled a paper out of the folder and turned it, laying it in front of them along with a pen. "Look it over for errors and then sign above your names at the bottom."

Derek could barely focus on the paper. All he could hear was Hollis's heartbeat increasing and the acrid scent of anxiety weaving through his scent.

With a shaky hand, Hollis reached for the pen, but Derek stopped him, covering his hand with his own. He looked at Lenette. "Could you give us a couple more minutes?"

She tilted her head, its tight spiral of brunette hair not moving an inch. "Of course." She and her assistants were out of the room a second later, the door quietly clicking shut behind them. Yet somehow, their absence seemed to make Hollis's anxiety spike even further instead of diminishing it.

"Hollis, talk to me." Derek turned more toward him, the rolling chair he was in making it easy to maneuver even on the terrible office carpet. When Hollis didn't immediately say anything, only getting more red in the cheeks even as the hand still under Derek's got colder, Derek looked around the room. Down from them, in the middle of the table, was a tray holding a glass pitcher of water and four glasses.

Standing, Derek went to the tray and poured a half glass of water. He went back to his chair and gripped the armrest of Hollis's, turning him so he faced Derek again. "Here." Carefully, he put the glass into Hollis's hands.

Hollis was shaking, but he held the glass tight and took a small sip.

"Hollis…" Derek tried again, voice as gentle as he knew how to make it. "What exactly are you afraid of right now? Is it just the mating, or is it…me?"

After a couple deep breaths, Hollis lifted his gaze. "Should I be scared of you?"

"No. I understand that this isn't ideal and kinda fucking crazy, and I have no idea how it's going go, but the one thing I can tell you about it is this." Derek took both of Hollis"s hands in his own again. "You don't ever have to fear me. Hell, you don't have to fear anything. You're my mate now and under hellhound protection."

Some emotion Derek didn't recognize crossed Hollis's face. "I believe you."

Derek huffed a laugh. "Well, that's a start."

For a moment, they watched each other. Hollis still seemed…wary. Resigned. Anxious. Derek didn't like it, but he figured the only way to fix it was with time.

Letting out a deep breath, Hollis squared his shoulders. "Okay, I'm ready."

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