“That’s just about it,” Kelos said. “We could stay here and let it play out. But I know Amber is scared for her brother.”
“And your lives together will be tainted forever if anything happens to him.” Mac glanced up at his brother. “I think we can relate.”
“I have no siblings, but I can understand and empathize with Amber.” Kelos looked from Hex to Mac and back again. “I hate to ask since I don’t want to cause any trouble for you and your families.”
“We have your back,” Hex confirmed quickly. “Between us and Joey, we can keep Margie and the kids safe.”
“Why don’t they come and stay here at the sawmill for a couple of days?” Mac offered. “There’s plenty of room.”
Kelos chuckled. “And you have beds and better plumbing than me.”
“While you’re gone, we could also go over to your house and do some work for you,” Mac offered.
“You don’t have to…” Kelos was humbled by the offer of help.
“Hey, what are friends for?” Hex placed his hand on Kelos’s back. “When you bought the property, you thought you had plenty of time to fix the place up. It was a project to take your mind off not having a mate. We’ve all done the same.”
“We have,” Mac agreed.
“So, this is where we pay you back for the help you gave us. I haven’t forgotten the time you spent helping me and Beck build our houses. Or the fact that you rescued us in the snow.” Hex’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I hate to think what might have happened if you weren’t there…”
“What Hex is trying to say,” Mac continued, “is that sometimes you have to let people help you because it makes them feel better about themselves.”
“Yeah, only my way wasn’t quite so direct,” Hex added.
“When are you direct?” Mac asked.
“Let us know what you need and we’re there for you.” Hex downed the rest of his coffee. “Also, it’ll give me something to think about other than impending fatherhood.”
“I would think you would want to think about impending fatherhood.” Kelos had never met a shifter who had found his mate who didn’t want a child of their own.
“I’m not worried about the fatherhood side of things. I’m more concerned about watching Martha go through the pain of childbirth,” Hex admitted.
“Ah, yes, I see now. No shifter wants to see their mate in pain.” But pain was what Kelos’s mate felt. Pain for her brother and his family who were torn apart and left to live in fear and uncertainty.
But will a visit to Fabian, if we can even find him, make things better? His dragon had a point. There was no telling if speaking to Fabian would make things better or worse. All he knew was that if they could not find Fabian, Kelos would tear the city down until they did.
“I wondered where you all were.” Joey stuck his head around the door and glanced around the room. “What did I miss?”
“A lot,” Mac replied.
“I know one thing I missed,” Joey said. “You found your mate.” He punched Kelos playfully on the arm. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Kelos bowed his head.
“So now we’re one man down in our bachelor club. It’s just me and Shawn,” Joey joked but it was evident he’d like to find his own mate and leave the bachelor club for good.
“You’ll find your mate,” Kelos replied. “You deserve to find true happiness.”
“Is that what you’ve found?” Joey asked as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
“With my mate, yes.” Kelos took a breath. “But my mate is in a situation and I need your help to get her out of it.”
“Then you have it,” Joey raised his coffee cup and took a slug of coffee. “Anything I can do to help, I’m there. After all, what have I got to lose?”
That had been Kelos’s mantra for so long. But now he had everything to lose.
I do not intend to lose anything, his dragon said.
Neither do I, Kelos agreed. But life was not always fair.
Chapter Eighteen – Amber
“Hi, Joey. It’s good to meet you.” Amber reached out her hand to Joey’s. Was that too formal?
Joey grinned and took her hand, shaking it briefly before pulling her into a hug. “I’m so happy Kelos met you. The old dragon has been waiting long enough for his mate.”
“Less of the old,” Kelos told him as he kept a wary eye on Joey and Amber. He was jealous, it was written all over his face as he watched his friend.
But then Amber probably would feel the same way if someone hugged Kelos. She might just have to beat them off with a stick.
“Joey, this is Margie.” Amber let go of Joey and stood back so he could meet the person he was here to protect.
“Margie. Never fear, I’m here to protect you.” Joey hugged her, too, much to Lauren’s and Elliot’s amusement. Lauren giggled behind her hand as she ate her spaghetti. “And you two must be Peter and Jenny.” Joey grinned as the children wrinkled their faces and shook their heads furiously. “No. I got it wrong. Derek and Penelope?”
“I’m Elliot and this is Lauren.” Elliot kicked his legs under the kitchen table with excitement.
“Oh, you guys are going to have so much fun.” Amber grinned at Margie’s disapproving expression.
“I think we might have to redefine fun,” Margie murmured as Joey pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with the children. After dinner, he was going to drive them all over to the sawmill where they would spend a couple of nights, before coming back to the house the day after tomorrow. Amber hoped to be back by then. Margie couldn’t wait and had repacked all their stuff within minutes of being told the news.
Luckily, Joey found her behavior amusing rather than insulting.
“I have shifter hearing…” Joey pointed to his ears, “I can hear everything you say.”
“Sorry.” Margie ran her fingers through her
