Chapter Six

Kalen had felt Delta's gaze on his ass so hard his mate's eyes should have left behind retinal imprints on his skin. Not that Kalen was complaining. Why would he when he'd enjoyed his mate ogling his body?

As soon as Delta tore his gaze away, Kalen glanced over his shoulder and saw the elderly woman standing there, the one who'd been seated on the bench with her husband.

"Your order will be right up,"

the female behind the counter said.

Kalen gave her a single nod but remained standing at the same window and listened to the conversation going on behind him. He heard the woman's pearl of wisdom and agreed with her.

Relationships required constant care and attention. Finding one's mate was like Fate presenting a seed already planted in rich, fertile soil. But it was the couple's responsibility to nurture and tend to the seed, ensuring that it grew into a beautiful, blooming flower. Every moment spent together was like adding sunlight and water to the delicate plant, watching it thrive and flourish before their eyes.

As Delta started showing off his skills to the boys, the adult supervising them walked over. "Your friend is quite impressive,"

the guy said with a nod toward Delta. "Does he play professionally?"

Kalen saw his order at the other window and walked over to it, the guy following him. "He doesn't play professionally."

If Delta had, he wouldn't need a job at the diner. As Kalen sipped his water, he watched Delta, extremely impressed with his skills but even more enthralled with the look of pure joy on his mate's face as he bounced the ball around.

"Name's Jeremy."

The guy stuck out his hand, and Kalen shook it, providing his name. "I could use someone like him to help me whip my team into shape. They used to be motivated, but their enthusiasm has worn off. That's why I added extra practices to the schedule."

Kalen was getting a straight-up dick vibe from the human. He bet Jeremy was one of those coaches who thought of himself as a drill sergeant.

"As long as the kids are having fun,"

Kalen commented, his gaze riveted on Delta. His mate's cheeks were bright red from exertion and excitement, his green-gray eyes sparkling with joy.

Despite having spent some time with his mate, Kalen knew there was so much he didn't know about him. Their conversation this morning had been filled with benign topics that hadn't helped Kalen discover who his mate truly was on a deeper level.

But as he observed Delta with the soccer ball, Kalen knew in his gut there was more to his mate than met the eye.

He watched as Jeremy walked over to the boys just as Delta had spiked the ball high into the air, impressively catching it with one hand. Kalen chuckled when his mate dropped to one knee and presented the ball to the kid.

Delta's silliness only made Kalen's smile widen. He loved his mate's playfulness.

"Son, that is what you call a hustle,"

Jeremy said with a grin. "Maybe next time you shouldn't be so self-assured and cocky."

He pointed at Delta. "That's what commitment and dedication looks like."

His mate appeared uncomfortable as he looked at Kalen, causing Kalen's smile to fade. Delta was trying to convey something. As Kalen tilted his head to the side, understanding dawned on him. His mate wanted him to get the coach away from the boys, so the guy would stop wrecking their fun.

Shit. Kalen wanted to spend time with Delta, not the asshole coach. But this afternoon was all about his mate, so he gave a slight nod.

He wished he hadn't.

For forty-five minutes, Jeremy talked non-stop about his glory days as a high school soccer player, the proper way to clean a pool, and the benefits of reverse mortgages—which Kalen knew to be a scam.

He tried not to judge people based on their interests or personality. Everyone had their own story and struggles, but he would rather have listened to Damon and Elvine argue. Hell, he would rather fight a horde of vampires than endure this form of torture.

Listening to Jeremy drone on was almost unbearable. The guy didn't even attempt to make it humorous or engaging.

Kalen was so bored he ended up eating Delta's pretzel and ordering other items just for an excuse to escape from Jeremey's monotonous chatter for a few minutes at a time.

Finally, Jeremy walked over to the boys. Kalen had a fucking migraine now. He'd been tempted a few times to retrieve the roll of duct tape he had in one of his saddlebags so he could seal the man's mouth shut.

After Jeremy had given Delta a schedule of their practice and game times, the guy finally left, taking the boys with him.

"How bad was it?"

Delta winced.

"No big deal."

Kalen just prayed he never had to suffer Jeremy again.

"You are so lying."

Delta grinned. "I was lost in the zone, but I was peeping out your situation with him."

"You were observing me again."

Kalen rubbed his beard. "Should I be worried about having a stalker?"

Delta's grin wavered slightly, telling Kalen he'd unintentionally hit a sore spot. Did it have anything to do with Leo? Since he didn't want to put a damper on their time together, he continued as if he hadn't noticed his mate's slight discomfort.

"I love that you watch me,"

he growled playfully, nuzzling Delta's neck and inhaling his sweet scent. The height difference between them only added to the thrill, forcing Kalen to bend down in order to reach his mate.

As Delta moaned softly, Kalen's cock grew harder. He slid his hands down to grip Delta's ass and felt the heat radiating between their bodies as Kalen pulled him closer.

They were still in public at the ice cream parlor, but they were alone since the elderly couple had left shortly after Delta's performance.

His mate didn't even object to showing affection in public, which only turned Kalen on even more.

As their mouths fused together, he wrapped an arm around his mate and reached up to cup the back of Delta's head, teasing the guy's mouth open with his tongue. With a gasp, his mate eagerly let him inside, their tongues tangling as they both moaned with pleasure.

The sound of a car door slamming closed reached Kalen. Reluctantly, he pulled back, breaking the kiss while wanting to kill whoever had interrupted such a perfect moment.

Delta gazed at him with a small smirk. "Stop giving me such naughty pleasure before we're arrested."

You have no idea the extent of naughty pleasure I can give you, sweetheart.

Kalen grinned. "Only if you stop being so gorgeous."

"I guess I'm destined for more kisses in public then."

Delta sighed like it would be a hardship he would suffer through.

"Did you still want a pretzel?"

Kalen took a step back and let out a breath, trying to calm his raging body. That wasn't easy when he saw how disheveled Delta's hair was from running his fingers through the soft strands.

"Where did mine go?"

Delta glanced toward the window then looked back at Kalen. "You ate it, didn't you?"

He chuckled.

"Jeremy will make you put on ten pounds."

Kalen explained to his mate the topics of conversation the guy had covered.

Delta's brows shot up. "I don't even know what reverse mortgage is, but I'm suddenly picturing the old guy who used to do those diabetes commercials."

"Wilford Brimley."

Kalen chuckled. "I can totally imagine him doing some mortgage commercial, but it's Tom Selleck who stars in them."

Now his mate was gazing curiously at him. "How old are you, Kalen?"

He really didn't want to lie to his mate, but he couldn't tell him the truth. Not without disclosing everything else to him. Kalen found an out when he heard his mate's cell phone vibrating in his pocket.

"Are you going to answer that?"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

Delta searched Kalen's eyes, his mate's breath trembling slightly. "I normally don't date older men. Never even considered it until I met you. But I'm willing to give this a shot, whatever this is. All I'm asking is that you be honest with me."

"Then we're going to need somewhere private to talk."

Kalen thought of his house, but hell no. If he brought Delta home, everyone under his roof would try to spy on them just to get a glimpse of his mate. There would be fairies hovering above and others poking their heads around corners like spies.

Had Delta just said something?

"What?"

Kalen ripped his gaze away from his mate's lips, feeling like his body was too hard and too hot to concentrate. His wolf was howling for him to take Delta right there in the parking lot, onlookers be damned. That mouth had been too wicked, and Kalen wanted more.

"Why do we need to go somewhere private for you to tell me your age?"

Delta had enunciated each word slowly. "Did you catch the question this time, or did you go back to staring at my lips?"

The question was teasing, but the guy had no idea how badly Kalen wanted him. He cleared his throat and forced his gaze to meet Delta's. Like that was any better. Those thoughts still kept blasting his brain with the most erotic images. "Because what I have to tell you needs to be said in private."

Delta slid his tongue across his bottom lip, and Kalen's mind went haywire, images of that pink tongue sliding over his cock attacking him. He wasn't sure if his mate had done that on purpose, but it had had an electrifying effect on Kalen.

"You said your children were grown, so I'm guessing you live by yourself."

Delta reached into his back pocket, and the vibrations ceased. "We can go to your place if you're serious about needing privacy and not using a tactic to get me in bed."

His early thought of spies jumped into his head. That was not an option. "How about your place?"

With a grunt, Delta spun and headed toward the motorcycle. "You're too secretive, Kalen."

He pivoted and began to walk backward. "It was a simple question, and now you're suddenly acting all cloak-and-dagger on me. Tell me why we can't go to your house,"

he said suspiciously.

Kalen shot forward, closing the distance. He grabbed Delta and yanked him close, his heart hammering.

"What's wrong?"

Delta glanced around frantically.

"You almost backed into my bike."

Kalen was as strong as ten men combined and could have picked his motorcycle up if it had fallen over. But it was a custom paint job, and he didn't want it scratched to hell. Also, he didn't want anything damaged, possibly rendering it undriveable and stranding them. They were an hour away from Midnight Falls.

Delta looked skeptically at him. "I'm way too skinny to knock that heavy bike over. I think you just wanted me back in your arms."

His tone was no longer teasing.

Kalen narrowed his eyes. "I don't play games, Delta. If I'd wanted you back in my arms, I wouldn't resort to some tactic ."

He yanked the man closer, causing his mate to feel the steel rod in his jeans. "I would simply put you there, muffin."

This time when his mate licked his lips, Kalen knew it was from nervousness and not a way to entice or torment him. "Please let go of my arm."

His voice trembled, and Kalen saw the stark fear in his green-gray eyes.

His grip loosened, but he didn't let his mate go. "I have never raised my hand to anyone smaller than me, and I damn sure ain't starting with you. I can guarantee you have nothing to fear when it comes to me, sweetheart."

He brushed his knuckles over his mate's cheek while maintaining eye contact. "Who's hurting you, Delta? That's not the first time you've silenced your phone since we've been here."

"Let. Me. Go."

Releasing him, Kalen ground out, "I'm only trying to help you."

"Who asked for your help?"

Delta fired back like a wildcat showing his sharp claws.

Kalen's temper flashed through him, aggravated at the little tangle of pissed-off male who was testing him on every level imaginable. Especially when he spotted the fine tremble of Delta's slim body. The guy was afraid, but not of Kalen.

Of whoever kept calling him.

Just that fast, Kalen's temper dissolved into nothing more than mild irritation. The only way to resolve this was to be honest, even if his mate refused to believe him. "I'm 345 years old."

Delta's trembling worsened as stark terror filled his eyes. Kalen had been expecting the guy to call him a liar or become angry in some way, not look like he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"What sick game are you playing?"

Delta whispered, recoiling as if Kalen had burned him. "What was your twisted plan, to fuck me before you killed me? Is that why you brought me all the way out here, an hour away from my home?"

He backed away, tears brimming his eyes as he steeled his spine, his jaw clenched, his head held high. "Whichello sent you, so I have no doubt you're going to kill me, but I'll be damned if I'll willingly allow you to fuck me, you evil piece of shit."

Kalen slowly blinked, at a complete loss for words. Delta had taken his admittance at face value, which meant he knew about the preternatural world.

And someone wanted his mate dead.

Hands up, palms out, Kalen took a step back to show Delta he wasn't a threat. "Muffin, I don't know what you're talking about, and I certainly don't know anyone named Whichello. My name is Kalen Frost. I'm a wolf shifter, and so are my three sons. The reason we feel a connection"—he pointed between them—"is because we're mates, Delta."

The guy looked as if he would rabbit at any second, and Kalen wanted to prevent that. Delta was already terrified enough without having someone as big as Kalen chasing after him.

"How…how… How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Delta swallowed roughly, and fuck, man, Kalen wanted to pull his mate into his arms so badly they ached. His human should not be terrified of him.

"Because you feel our connection, muffin,"

Kalen said softly. "A need to be near me, like we've known each other longer than this morning."

Delta looked like he wanted to believe Kalen, but whoever Whichello was, he'd put the fear of Satan into the human.

"Tell me, from the beginning, what's going on, sweetheart."

Slowly, Kalen lowered his hands, but he didn't try to approach his mate.

"What if you're playing me?"

Delta asked. "If you are, then I'm only feeding into your sick game. Maybe you want to hear it all so you can, I don't know, get off on it before you snap my neck or something."

Goddamn. This Whichello guy had really done a number on Delta. "I'm grabbing my phone."

Kalen didn't want his mate freaking out when he reached into his pocket. Then he set his phone on his bike seat and dialed Jax, putting the call on speaker.

It figured the one time he needed Jax to answer, the call went to voicemail. Kalen tried Damon.

"What do you have, telepathy?"

Damon asked when he answered. "I swear it wasn't my fault. I was frying chicken. Casimir might have distracted me, and the next thing I know, the grease in the pan somehow caught fire."

Kalen closed his eyes and prayed he still had a house to come home to. "I need to talk to Whichello. It's important."

Delta stiffened, glancing between Kalen and his phone.

"While I agree Elvine has been acting insane lately, there's no need to call her names,"

Damon growled. "Give her a break. She's pregnant, so she's allowed to be nutty."

He paused. "Well, nuttier than she already was. Still, I don't appreciate you calling her some weird form of a witch." Damon muffled the phone. "I think our dear old dad is finally having some kind of breakdown. Maybe it's got something to do with finding his mate. His brain might have short-circuited or something."

"Give me the phone,"

Jaytee snapped. "Hello? What's going on, Dad?"

"I need to talk to Whichello,"

Kalen repeated, his tone more irritated than guarded this time. "And tell Damon he's no longer allowed to cook. Our kitchen is for meals, not sex, goddamn it. I prep food on those counters."

"First, you're on speaker, so he heard you. And second, who in the hell is Whichello? I thought you said your mate was human? What's going on? Has he tied you to his bed and is forcing you to be weird?"

"Good one."

Damon chuckled. "Shit, he can hear me. I'm just going to slink out of here. Forget you even talked to me, Dad."

Kalen wished he could forget the entire conversation. And what did Delta being human have to do with anything?

"You can't slink, moron. You're pregnant,"

Jaytee teased. "All you can do is waddle, waddle, waddle."

Kalen closed his eyes once more. How on earth was he related to his twin boys? They knew how to throw down when it came to fighting, but there were times, like now, when he questioned their common sense.

"Pregnant?"

Delta stared wide-eyed at him. "Did your one son just say your other son is pregnant?"

Jaytee and Damon fell silent. Then Jaytee groaned. "You didn't tell me he was there with you and listening, Dad. You cannot kick my ass over this. It wasn't my fault."

"Hey, Delta,"

Damon blurted out. "Welcome to our family. Tell my dad not to murder us in our sleep. Appreciate it."

"I will talk to you two when I get home,"

Kalen gritted out.

"Wait, who's Whichello?"

Jaytee asked.

"Bring me some gummy bears!"

Damon shouted.

Kalen ended the call. He was going to kill Jax for not answering.

"Okay, maybe now I see why you didn't want to take me to your house."

Delta took a few steps closer, the terror finally gone from his eyes. "How on earth is a guy pregnant? Where is the baby even going to come out of?"

Taking a deep breath, Kalen tucked his phone into his pocket, wishing he could start this day over. "Answer my questions and I'll answer yours."

* * * *

"What part of kidnap, not kill, do you not understand?"

Leo clenched his jaw. This was what happened when he tried going the cheapest route. He ended up with an idiot who couldn't comprehend a simple piece of instruction. Twice now Leo had had to repeat himself, because he'd already paid Mr. Fox—a ridiculous name he insisted Leo call him—who had a strict "no refund"

policy. So Leo had no choice but to deal with the buffoon.

This was the last time he hired anyone from an ad on the back of some seedy magazine.

If the guy killed Delta, Leo was going to be pissed.

And Mr. Fox would give him a goddamn refund.

It had taken forever for Leo to get into Delta's account and enable his location on his cell phone. Either his nephew had somehow accidentally turned it off or he'd done it on purpose. If he wanted to ditch Leo, Delta would have to try a hell of a lot harder.

"Hang on,"

the guy said.

Leo frowned when he heard his phone ping. Had the asshat just… "Did you seriously just send me a picture of him?"

he asked incredulously. There was no way the guy could be this incompetent. Even a six-year-old would know not to send pics of a victim on a cell phone.

"Look, I'm just making sure I got the right guy. There's no need to get pissed about it,"

Mr. Fox argued heatedly.

Sweet fucking hell. The guy was trying to get Leo sent straight back to prison. "Do not send me any more snapshots,"

he ground out. He'd already shown the guy a photo of Delta. His nephew had platinum hair for crying out loud. How could Mr. Fox forget so fast how Delta looked? It had been only two hours.

"So, is that him?"

Mr. Fox asked, seeming unfazed by Leo's last outburst.

Frowning, Leo expanded the picture and took a closer look. "Yeah, that's him, but who's the guy with him?"

His nephew didn't have any friends, none that Leo knew of. But if the massive biker was with Delta, that might complicate things. This was supposed to be an easy snatch job. That was why Leo had decided not to invest good money into having his nephew kidnapped.

He would have done it himself, but he didn't need anyone spotting him and pointing him out in a lineup. He'd been to prison already, and it had not been a Disney World vacation.

Not unless the tattooed roommate Leo had shared a cell with for five years had secretly been Mickey Mouse pulling a life sentence for murder.

"How should I know who the guy is?"

Mr. Fox asked. "You paid me a grand to snatch the platinum blond, not put together dossiers on him and his boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

"Dude, they're on the other side of the parking lot trying to suck each other's tongues out like they're making soft porn. Either they're dating or this ice cream parlor has top-notch service."

Fuck. My. Life.

"I won't be able to snatch him from the parking lot, so I'm going to have to follow them,"

Mr. Fox informed him.

"Why not?"

Leo argued. "You were going to kill the blond, though I instructed you twice not to, so kill the biker instead then grab your target."

"You didn't pay me enough to complete two jobs. Besides, the guy is fucking huge. I'm not tangling with him."

Leo banged his head softly on the wall, tempted to do it harder so he could knock himself out. "Fine, follow them then snatch the blond when he's dropped off. If you get into a bind and have to shoot one of them, for Christ sake, don't shoot the blond!"

"I heard you,"

Mr. Fox ground out slowly.

Yeah, but did he understand? "Just call me when you have him. And don't send me any more pics!"