“Geez-us,” Kiernan muttered.
“Pro, your aging process will slow, allowing you to match your life-span to them, possibly living four or five centuries.
As a result, you’ll heal faster. Not as fast as them, but pretty darn fast,” he continued as if Kiernan hadn’t said anything.
“Con, you could very well outlive any family not also mated to a shifter or other paranormal.”
Other paranormal? There are more than shifters out there?
Joe kept talking, this time smirking. “Pro, if you ever need help moving or building something, you have a built in work force. Pack-mates are normally happy to help their own.” He grimaced and shrugged. “Con, you become a target for crazy scientists. If they catch you, they control your shifter mate.”
Finally, Joe lapsed into silence, sitting back and drinking his beer.
“Wow, that’s, uh, that’s something,” Kiernan said quietly.
With Demitri, he’d never have to worry about cheating, but it sounded like he’d have to worry about a silent war with scientists. And he’d outlive his daughter? Shit, that’d be hard. Desperately needing a subject change, he asked, “So, how did you and your wife meet?” Getting a wistful, almost sappy, look on his face, Joe said, “She was going to college in Colorado Springs. There was water damage in her dorm, and I worked for the contractor who won the job. God, seeing her for the first time…it was like I was struck by lightning.” He grinned. “She walked right up to me and asked me out.” Shrugging, he added, “She finished school with a degree in business. I followed her here. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
“And the whole mate thing?” he pressed, unable to help himself.
Joe shrugged. “I won’t lie and say I took everything in stride, because I didn’t. When I saw her shift the first time, I freaked the fuck out.” He smirked and tipped his beer toward Kiernan. “Similar to what you’re doing now.
Fortunately, it only took me a couple days to realize I’d rather take her any way I could get her than let her go.”
“Huh,” Kiernan grunted noncommittally. Did he feel that way about Demitri? A pang shot through his chest thinking of his lover. Shit, he missed him.
Once Joe finished his beer, he stood. “If you don’t have any more questions, I’m gonna get home to my wife,” he said with a wink.
Kiernan grabbed his wrist as something occurred to him.
“Yeah, why are the scientists after Demitri?” he whispered.
Joe planted a palm on the table and leaned close enough to tell him quietly, “It’s circulating around the pack that his parents were in league with the scientists we’ve been struggling against for the last few years. Now, we don’t know if they’ve been helping them from the beginning, or just started recently. Last I heard, they’re still trying to get Demitri’s father and the other guy they caught to talk.” He hesitated for just a second, then added, “Everyone’s on alert.
If Demitri’s mother shows up, or any strangers from out of town, Declan wants to know. As you know, they’ve already gone after Demitri once. Alpha wants to know why.”
Before Kiernan could even fathom a question, or even a response, Joe pulled free of his grip and strode from the bar.
Kiernan sat there, stunned. “Well, fuck,” he muttered. Well, I did come in for answers. He just wasn’t sure he liked the ones he got.
“You want another beer, sugar?”
Kiernan looked up at the waitress smiling down at him.
“No,” he decided quickly. He needed something a lot stronger than that. He had a bottle of tequila at home calling his name.
There wasn’t shit on TV and it was really beginning to piss him off. When his phone rang, he set his tumbler down on an end table and grabbed his phone. He hated how much disappointment he felt when he saw that it was Valerie, not Demitri.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, forcing joviality into his voice that he didn’t feel.
His daughter wasn’t fooled. “Dad? What’s wrong?”
“God, everything,” he muttered before he could get his inebriated brain to control his tongue.
“Dad?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. Just…had a fight with Demitri.”
Okay, so that was a lie, but whatever. It wasn’t like he could tell her the truth. He’d given his word.
“Oh, Dad. I’m sorry. I know how much you really liked him. What happened?” Valerie pressed. “What was it about?”
“Oh, God,” he muttered. What the hell could he tell her?
“Did the age thing turn out to be a problem?” she asked.
“No,” he scoffed. “Like you pointed out. Mentally he’s way older than his age. He already knows what he wants to be when he grows up.” Rolling his eyes, he dropped his head against the back cushion of the sofa. “I hadn’t figured that out until I was twenty-three.”
“So, what? You don’t agree with his choice of career?”
Valerie pressed.
Huffing, Kiernan let his eyelids slide shut. “No. He wants to be a park ranger. He has some park ranger buddies, and they’re helping him figure out what he needs to do to become one. You know…what classes to take and stuff.” He had to work extra hard not to slur his words, especially as the goofy smile curved the corners of his lips. “They’re even helping him get a summer internship so he can get a leg up.”
“Okay,” Valerie murmured, drawing the word out.
Kiernan could practically hear the concern in her voice.
“Well, I can’t help if you won’t tell me what’s up.”
“I know, sweetheart. I—” He heaved a sigh. His head
