André Read online

  Sometimes we punish ourselves more heavily than anyone else could.

  André is used to shifters. He considers Dominic Nash, the Whitedell pride alpha, like an older brother, and loves spending time with the pride. He’s not looking for a mate, even though he hopes he has one somewhere.

  Nicky was abandoned by his pride when he lost the challenge for Dominic’s council seat the year before. He refused Dominic’s offer to stay with the pride and become a member, and instead fled to the human world, where he works in a bar. The last thing he expects is for his mate to be the pretty man who walks into the bar and gets drunk.

  When André isn’t able to go back to the mansion on his own, Nicky decides to drive him there. He doesn’t know how the pride will greet him, and once André is safe, he flees. André is his mate, though, and he feels drawn to the mansion. He needs to keep André safe, and if that means making the pride’s battles his own, Nicky will do it eagerly, even if it means going against human hunters when they attack.

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  André

  Copyright © 2016 Catherine Lievens

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0762-9

  Cover art by Latrisha Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  André

  Whitedell Pride Book Twenty-two

  By

  Catherine Lievens

  Dedication

  To Tanya and Laura for the help in whipping this book into shape, to Grace for letting me use a phrase of hers, and to my family.

  Chapter One

  André rolled his eyes and stuck his phone between his shoulder and his cheek so he could type on his computer. “Dad, I don’t see what the problem is.” He wasn’t saying anything André hadn’t already heard from him.

  “The problem is that you’ve been spending more time in Whitedell than with me and your father.”

  “So? I’m twenty-nine. It’s not like I still live at home with you.”

  “But you don’t have any problems living in the mansion with Dominic.”

  “I don’t live with him, Dad. There are so many people around that it’s more like living in a hotel, really.”

  “Doesn’t change the fact that your father and I haven’t seen you in three months.”

  “I didn’t spend those entire three months here. I was in Chicago two weeks ago and in Boston last week.”

  André’s dad sighed. “I can see I’m not getting through.”

  “Sorry, Dad. I’ll come home in a few weeks, okay?”

  “Call me when you’re in New York and I’ll make sure both your father and I are free for a few days.”

  André wasn’t sure he really wanted to spend a few days with his dads, but he knew there was no getting out of it. His dad was like that—he wanted them to spend time together as a family, and it was getting worse ever since André had started staying weeks at a time in Whitedell.

  He liked being there. He liked shifters, was fascinated by them, and he harbored the not so secret hope that he’d one day find out he was a shifter’s mate. His best option was to stick around the mansion, because there were a lot of shifters coming and going there. Besides, it also put some distance between him and his parents. His father was fine, but his dad was a bit clingier. André knew it was because his dad loved him, but it didn’t help much.

  “I will. I have to go, Dad.”

  André’s dad sighed. “Of course you do. Call me next week, okay?”

  They had a set day to call each other. It was always on Saturday afternoon, every week, and André liked it. That way they were always in touch, but not too much. Neither of his dads called much during the rest of the week, and if they did, it was usually for something urgent. André loved them both, but he was old enough to be able to go a week without hearing from them.

  “Of course I will, and you know you can always call if you feel like it.”

  André’s dad chuckled. “Oh, of course. Why didn’t I think about that? I can call you and hear you bitch at me because it’s not Saturday yet.”

  “I never did that!”

  “Excuse me? You did it that time I called you and you were on a date, and I seem to remember that two weeks ago I called you on Wednesday because I knew I’d be busy on Saturday, and you weren’t enthusiastic about it either.”

  “That’s because I was busy!”

  “Busy doing what? I remember hearing TV noises.”

  “Fine, fine. You’re right. You can still call whenever you want, though.”

  “And I will. I’ll try to restrain myself, though.”

  “Right. The day you restrain yourself is the day I marry a woman.”

  André’s dad snorted. “Until next week, André.”

  “Bye, Dad.”

  They hung up and André threw the phone on the free seat next to him. It was Saturday and the mansion was almost empty. Everyone had something to do except André. He was one of the few who didn’t have a mate or even a boyfriend, so that wasn’t surprising. Everyone was getting ready to go out or to spend a nice night in their room, watching TV and having sex. André would have none of that.

  But he could still go out, maybe go dancing or something. He sucked on his lower lip and thought about it, ignoring the computer in front of him. Did he really want to dance? No. He’d rather have a quieter evening, so maybe a bar. That sounded like a good idea. It wouldn’t be as fun as going drinking with friends, but he wasn’t about to bug anyone.

  He’d gotten back to Whitedell a week earlier, and while everyone was nice and everything, he didn’t really have friends there yet. He traveled too much for that.

  Nysys and Keenan looked like they might become friends, but they were both mated, so they were out for that night. Maybe André could organize something for next week. They surely didn’t spend all their Saturday nights closed in their rooms with their mates, right?

  André tried to think of who was still single. He knew Benjamin, the fox shifter, was, but he was also a loner and probably spent his evenings in the library. Not that André had anything against books, but it wasn’t his idea of Saturday night fun.

  So Benjamin was out. The nurse was still single, too. André thought his name was Noem, or something like that, and some of his friends were single, too. Neither of them were André’s type, but maybe they’d be game for a night of fun.

  André put his computer down, got up from the couch, and grabbed his phone. He went to the infirmary, thinking it was the most obvious place to find a nurse, but when he got there, no one was in the infirmary main room. He peeked into the office since the light was on, but no nurse.

  Jared looked up from whatever he was writing. His brows rose on his for
ehead. “Can I help you?”

  “I was looking for the nurse, uh, Noem, right?”

  Jared smiled. “Yes. He’s not here at the moment, though.”

  “Oh?” Well, there went André’s plan.

  “He and Aeron went to have a night out with the other Nix.”

  And there went André’s last option, unless he wanted to find Benjamin. He could have, but he doubted Benjamin would say yes to anything he might propose. “Okay, thanks.”

  “Did you need something?”

  “Ah, no. I was just feeling a bit lonely, and everyone else seems to be busy with their mates today.”

  Jared looked at the folder on his desk, then back up. “I see. You reminded me it’s almost time I go find my own mate, actually, so thank you.”

  André bowed slightly. “It was a pleasure helping you.”

  Jared rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you can find something else to do.”

  “I think I’ll go out for a bit, even though I’m alone. I might meet new friends, who knows?”

  He left Jared and went up to his room. He wasn’t going clubbing, so after his shower he threw on jeans and a sweater, then put tennis shoes on. He grabbed his jacket on his way out and bounced down the stairs to get his rental car.

  Once in Whitedell, he stopped at the first bar that didn’t look like a hole in the wall. The town was pretty open when it came to same-sex couples, so when André walked in, he wasn’t surprised to see two guys sitting together holding hands. No one paid attention to them, or to him.

  He took his jacket off and sat at the bar. He eyed the bartender. Now that guy was exactly what André looked for in a man. Tall, blond—and when he came closer, André saw his eyes were dark blue.

  “Hey, handsome,” he purred, thinking that maybe his evening wasn’t a disaster after all.

  The barman glared at him, and André’s smile fell. Right. So he wouldn’t get any fun out of the man. “Can I have a scotch, please?” he asked in a more sedate voice.

  The barman nodded and a few seconds later, André had a drink and the barman was gone doing whatever it was barmen did when they weren’t serving clients. André sighed and sipped at his glass. Of course the barman wasn’t interested. André should have known. He wasn’t that lucky.

  He tried to get the barman’s attention a few more times, but apart from serving him the next drink, the guy didn’t even look at André, so André gave up. He was well on his way to being a little drunk anyway, and the rejection didn’t hurt as much as it had before.

  * * * *

  Nicky kept an eye on the cute guy drinking scotch. He might have glared when the guy had tried to pick him up, but he wasn’t blind.

  The guy was exactly Nicky’s type. Not too tall, slight, and if Nicky wasn’t wrong, tattooed. The peek of ink from the guy’s sweater sleeve made Nicky want to undress him to see more of it, but he was working, and he needed his job. His boss would be furious if he found out Nicky mixed work and pleasure. Nothing would stop him from hooking up with the guy when he was done working, though.

  Not that they actually would do it. The guy was well on his way to being drunk, and Nicky didn’t have sex of any kind with drunks. He wanted to be sure of consent. He didn’t need a guy crying he’d been raped. The last thing he needed was to attract the council’s attention, or worse, Dominic Nash’s.

  Nicky had been stupid. He’d let his beta push him into doing something he hadn’t wanted to do. Talk about being a hypocrite—he’d challenged Dominic Nash for his council seat for being bisexual when he himself was as gay as they came. His pride and his beta hadn’t known, of course, and Nicky hadn’t been able to find a good enough excuse to get out of it. He’d lost, and he wasn’t sorry he had, but it had ruined his life. He’d gone from being alpha to dozens of people to being a broke and lonely bartender.

  He looked at the cute guy again, just to make sure he was fine, and frowned when he noticed another guy had sat next to Cute Guy. This one was obviously drunk off his ass. He swayed on his stool, and Cute Guy didn’t have any problem pushing his wandering hands away.

  Nicky stepped closer when the drunken guy started getting too pushy. Cute Guy climbed off his stool, and Nicky wasn’t surprised when he had to grab the counter to stay upright. It lasted only a few seconds, because he was standing strong when the drunken guy almost fell off his stool and reached for him.

  Nicky swore and started to walk around the bar. He wasn’t about to let the drunk guy assault his Cute Guy without doing anything.

  Before he could get there, though, the drunken guy had leaned forward and grabbed Cute Guy’s arms. He almost crashed against Cute Guy as he tried to kiss him, but Cute Guy wasn’t having any of it. He moved too fast for the drunk guy to be able to stop him and punched him right in the nose.

  Blood spurted from the drunken guy’s nose, and Cute Guy swore and pressed his own hand against his chest after shaking it. By then, Nicky wasn’t the only one who’d noticed what was going on, and a few of his regulars bracketed the drunken guy and helped him outside as he whined and blood poured down his face. Nicky nodded at them in thanks as he passed them. “Once he’s outside, come by the bar. I’ll pay for your next round.”

  They nodded back, but he was already by Cute Guy’s side. The guy was still nursing the hand he’d used to punch the drunk guy, and Nicky thought he’d probably hurt it. Punching someone was never a good thing to do, especially when one wasn’t used to it and didn’t know how to do it without hurting himself.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. He hadn’t meant his voice to be so growly, but Cute Guy didn’t seem to care, because he smiled broadly and started to reach for Nicky. He winced as soon as he let go of his injured hand, though.

  Yup, definitely drunk, Nicky thought.

  “Hey, handsome. I thought you didn’t want to come near me,” Cute Guy drawled.

  “I’m just checking on you. If you’re fine, I’m going back behind my bar.”

  Cute Guy extended his hand again. “I’m André.” He grimaced and looked at his hand. “And fuck, that hurts.”

  Nicky rolled his eyes. “You’re not used to throwing punches, huh?”

  André grinned. “No, but I might have to start if it gets you to talk to me.”

  “Come on, go sit down. I’ll bring you some ice.”

  André managed to reach his stool without help, so Nicky walked around the bar again. He took out some ice and wrapped it in a clean towel, then handed it to André. He rolled his eyes again when he saw that André was still trying to get on his stool. He reached forward and pulled André toward him, hoping André would get the hint and accept the help. He did, and once he was settled, Nicky put the ice on his hand and went to serve the two beers he’d promised the guys who’d helped with the drunken guy.

  “He’s still out there?” he asked as he handed out the first beer.

  “Yeah. We called a cab, though.”

  “You think he’s going to stay there until the cab comes?”

  The guy shrugged. “No offense, but it’s none of my business.”

  Nicky wasn’t about to make it his, so he served the second beer and looked at André again. André was still on his third scotch, but from the way he was staring at it, Nicky thought it wouldn’t be long until he asked for a fourth one.

  Sure enough, André grabbed his glass with his unhurt hand, downed it, and slammed it a bit too hard on the bar. He winced at the noise then gestured at Nicky. “Can I have another one?”

  Nicky went to him and took his empty glass. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”

  André puffed his chest out. “Of course I am. Who are you taking me for?”

  “For a guy well on his way to being drunk.”

  “So what? It’s not like anyone cares if I do. Well, my dads would, but it’s not like they’ll find out, since they’re in New York.”

  “Did you drive here?”

  “Yeah.”

  Nicky
gave André another scotch. “Don’t you have to drive back, then?”

  André waved, nearly knocking his glass down. “I’ll take a cab. They exist for that reason.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not giving you another drink.”

  André pouted, and damn if that didn’t make Nicky want to kiss him senseless. “Aww, come on. I’m a big boy. I can handle my scotch.”

  “A last one, then, but after that, you’re done.”

  André grinned, moving his hand in the process and wincing. Nicky shook his head and left him to his scotch and his ice. He worked for the following few hours, but he always kept an eye on André. The guy nursed his fourth drink for a while, then asked for a fifth one, and Nicky gave it to him even though he’d said he wouldn’t. André didn’t ask for more after that, and Nicky didn’t offer, but he went to him every so often to give him new ice.

  By the time Nicky was done working, André was asleep, his injured hand under half-melted ice, his cheek settled on his other arm. Diego, the only helper Nicky had at the bar, stopped by after cleaning up the tables and nodded at André. “Should I call a cab?”

  “Nah. I’m going to drive him home.”

  “You don’t have a car.”

  “He does.”

  “How are you going to come back?”

  “I’ll walk.” Nicky would run, actually, but that would have sounded too weird, since Diego had no idea Nicky was a jaguar shifter, or even a shifter, actually. It had been a while since he’d last shifted, and his jaguar was chomping at the bit to be free for a bit. This was a perfect occasion to do just that.

  “You sure? I could follow you and bring you back here.”

  “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”

  “Go, then. I’ll close the bar.”

  “Thanks.”

  Nicky dried his hands and walked around the bar. He walked closer to André and shook his shoulder. It took him a while to wake him up, and when he did, André jerked up and almost fell off his stool. “Whoa, calm down,” Nicky said, holding his hands up.