14. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

S eryn left his phone on the nightstand, which meant Mitchell couldn't call him and what? Grovel? It wouldn't change his mind about anything. What he really wanted was to get to know Seryn. He wanted to spend time with him and let his feelings grow and then see where that took them. And he wouldn't apologize for feeling that way, damn it.

Still, Mitchell felt like shit for the way the conversation had gone.

Mitchell picked up the phone, seeing if it had a password. It didn't so Mitchell could get into it with ease. He needed to talk to Seryn about taking more care with his own safety. His phone was a case in point.

Mitchell's chest ached as he scrolled through Seryn's contact. The thought of getting to talk to his brother after months of no contact brought tears to his eyes.

Mitchell wouldn't ever tell Seryn that he scrolled through the contacts, getting a quick glance. Nosy? Yeah. Very. But Mitchell wouldn't be a good thief without the quality.

Seryn knew a lot of people. Mitchell recognized some of them because they were notorious gangsters. As in, there were documentaries about them.

Mitchell felt like a little fish in a big pond compared to Seryn.

He finally found Daruss, the head of the Dragon Skulls. Or he thought it was Daruss. Seryn had put him under Boss.

Mitchell pressed the call button and then put it on the speaker. No one was in the room to hear their conversation.

"You better have some news, Seryn. My mate is worried." Daruss had a deep, commanding voice. That he directed it at Seryn didn't sit right with Mitchell. Neither did the mate comment because the only person who would worry about Mitchell was Jude, which meant Daruss had just made a claim on Mitchell's little brother.

"Where is my brother?"

"Mitchell." The way Daruss said his name, as if he was relieved, came as a surprise. "Is Seryn safe?"

Okay, fine. He'd give Daruss a chance. But it was only because he showed concern for Seryn. "He's fine. Out getting blood."

"Where are you?"

Mitchell didn't have a damn clue, if he were being honest. "A hotel room."

"Where Mitchell?"

"Mitchell!" Jude's voice came through so clearly it was as if he held the phone himself. "That's Mitch! Gimme, Daddy."

"Alright, boy. Calm down." Daruss chuckled. "I want to talk to him when you're finished."

"We'll see." Jude was happy. It came through in his voice.

"Don't you 'we'll see me', sassy boy." Daruss' tone held nothing but affection. "Raylee and I will give you some privacy. If you need us, we'll be in the kitchen."

He heard a softer voice say something, but Mitchell could only make out tones, not words.

And then he heard Jude say his name. "Mitch."

"Hey, little brother."

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"I'm good. Much better now." He meant every word. He felt lighter. The worry melted off him. "Are you safe?"

"Daruss is good at making sure I am. Well, now he is. He kinda sucked at it in the beginning." Jude sniffled. It was clear he was crying. "I missed you. And I was so worried."

"I'm sorry I made you worry." It was Mitchell's job as the older brother to worry about Jude. Not the other way around. "I missed you, too."

"Daruss said Terrell fucked you over."

That was putting it mildly. "Yeah. He trafficked me. But I'm safe now. And I plan on staying that way."

"Terrell's dead." It was news to Mitchell. But he wasn't exactly broken up about it.

"How?"

"Terrell…hurt me. Really bad. Daruss saved me. I'm fine." The last part, Jude said fast, as if doing so would make Mitchell not lose it. "One thing led to another and Daruss…solved the problem."

Saying it that way wouldn't stop anyone from knowing what Jude meant if they were listening in on the conversation. Mitchell doubted anyone was, but he guessed it paid to be cautious.

"Terrell hurt you?"

Jude sighed. "I knew you would home in on that one thing. Daruss took care of it, Mitch. And I promise, I'm happy and safe and all the things you wanted me to be by sending me to the Dragon Skulls."

Mitchell had never been gladder someone was dead in his life, and he'd never felt guiltier either. "I'm sorry, little brother."

"It's not your fault, so get that out of your head."

"It is, though." If he hadn't agreed to steal those stupid guns for Terrell, Jude wouldn't have gotten hurt. It made him a shit brother and an even shittier parent. Their father would have been so disappointed in him if he were still alive. "I'll be honest and say I'm not sure about Daruss. I'm reserving my judgement. But I'm glad he's taking care of you, since I failed so epically."

Jude groaned. "Everything about what you just said is painfully stupid, Mitch. Seriously."

Mitchell smiled. Leave it to Jude to be the one person who could give it to Mitchell straight without having to worry about retaliation. "How is it stupid?"

"Do you want me to go through the entire list of reasons or just the cliff notes?"

"Smartass." Mitchell chuckled.

"Well, you raised me, so that is your fault." Mitchell could practically see Jude roll his eyes.

"Give me the laundry list of reasons. I missed you so much. I'm willing to hear you tell me how wrong I am about something." Mitchell ached from it.

"I've waited my whole life for this." Jude laughed in an exaggerated evil way. "Well, first off, I don't know why you say you're reserving judgement on Daruss. You're the one who thought he was a safe space. That's why you sent me to him. And it turns out he's not only a safe space, but he's also one of the two people who make my world go round."

"Two people?" Who was the other person?

"Yeah." Jude sounded as if he took a deep breath, as if shoring up his courage. "So, it turns out shifters are real. Daruss can turn into a dragon. So can a lot of the Dragon Skulls. And they have this ability to tell when someone is their soul mate. Well, Daruss found his mate. Our mate. His name is Raylee, and he's…you'll like him. He's the sweetest person. Innocent and a much better person than Daruss and I."

It was another thing Mitchell felt guilty about. Jude implied he wasn't innocent anymore, and he was right. Living on the streets had stolen a lot from him, but Mitchell should have protected him from the harsh realities.

"So, what you're saying is you're in a relationship with two people?"

"Yeah. They chose me. Like fell in love and decided they wanted me too. And I…I wouldn't change any of it. You know, like all the crappy stuff that happened to us. And it's because it all led me to them." It might have been sappy, but it was so sweet.

"Be careful. You're going to give us both cavities." But Mitchell was grateful Jude found love. He couldn't have asked for more for his little brother.

Jude chuckled.

"Seriously though. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. Now you can stop beating yourself up."

Fat chance of that, but Mitchell was done with his pity party. "Tell me more about paranormals and this mating thing."

Jude was silent for an entire minute before saying, "Wait a minute. You called them paranormals. You already knew."

Mitchell grinned. Jude had always been good at reading people. "I just found out. Seryn can…do things no human should be able to do."

"Seryn. He's a weird guy, for sure."

"Don't call him that. He's not weird. He's unique."

Jude sucked in a breath. "Oh, my god. You're crushing, aren't you?"

What the hell had he said to give it away? But it was Jude. He knew Mitchell better than anyone. Mitchell would breathe a certain way and Jude could read into it correctly. "He says we're mates. Fated is what he called it."

"Oh, my god. Mitchell Burke is finally settling down and becoming an honest person." Jude chuckled. "Oh, my god. I must tell someone. This is too big to keep bottled up."

"Don't tell anyone yet."

"What? Why not? My older brother's finally in a committed relationship." Jude sucked in a breath. "Does this mean Seryn's my brother-in-law? Or wait! Since you raised me, is he like my stepdad? He is, isn't he?"

Well shit. Not Jude too. "It doesn't mean I'm in a committed relationship."

"I've got news for you. To a paranormal, it does. Anything less they see as rejection." There's no middle ground?

"What happened to taking things slow and dating?" He wanted to get to know Seryn before committing.

"They don't enjoy doing that. Daruss and I fell in love, but even then, it happened sort of fast. After Raylee, he didn't want to waste time. He got all bitey and wanted to fuck."

"Bitey." Yeah, that's what Seryn had wanted too, but he hadn't wanted to push Mitchell into anything.

"Yeah, it goes with the territory. It'll feel good. Just don't do what you always do and overthink. Just accept him."

Well, that advice would have been nice to hear an hour ago.

"You called Daruss daddy earlier." Seryn had called Mitchell that.

"Yeah, it's how our relationship is."

"What do you mean?"

"Daruss takes care of us by doing things for us. For Daruss, that mostly means he likes to make sure we have everything we need and want. And we like that, of course. But we also want him to…take charge. Like in the bedroom. You get what I mean, right?"

Mitchell rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jude. I understand."

"Well, I don't know what you're into."

Since Mitchell also liked to 'take charge in the bedroom', he understood. "And I don't want to tell you what I'm into. I also think we need to change the subject."

"You brought it up."

"Just one more thing I regret."

"Yeah, me too."

Mitchell chuckled.

"So, what else should I know about mating with a paranormal?"

"I don't know about all paranormals, but I know Seryn a little. He hung out at the club. Before Daruss sent him to spy on Terrell anyway, but that was before we met Raylee and before Terrell died. And before Daruss sent Seryn to rescue you."

"Tell Daruss not to send Seryn on dangerous missions anymore."

"Someone is protective." Jude thought it was cute.

"Seryn needs me to be." Mitchell quickly realized Seryn needed him for a lot of things. Seryn wasn't well. The bathroom incident told him that much. As effective as Seryn was at killing, he wasn't doing so hot with taking care of himself. So maybe Mitchell needed to make that his job.

And didn't he sound just like how Jude described Daruss' role in his life? Did that make him Seryn's Daddy? Did he want to be?