Demi Read online

  “You didn’t listen to my side of things. I’m still convinced that if only you’d come home with me—”

  “Mom, have you even listened to anything I just said?” Reed’s voice grew angry.

  “Of course I have, but—”

  “I don’t know how to say it in a way you’d understand. I’m not coming home with you. This is my home now. That’s it. I have nothing more to say.”

  “I—”

  “Please, mom. Enough.”

  “How can this be your home when none of your family is here?”

  Demi grimaced. Reed’s mom—oh god, Demi’s mother-in-law!—had to be the most stubborn person he’d ever met, apart from maybe Larsen, and wasn’t that a bad comparison to make?

  “I already told you, my friends are my family, and my—” Reed clamped his lips together and looked at Demi, a question in his eyes. Demi hesitated, but he knew there was no getting out of this. He was Reed’s mate, for better and for worse. Reed was the perfect man for him, even if they didn’t know each other yet, and Demi wanted the blissful happiness he’d seen in the mated couples he’d met.

  So he pressed his lips together and nodded at Reed, even if he still wasn’t a hundred percent sure of what he was doing. The answering smile on Reed’s lips was enough to make him feel just a little bit surer, though.

  “And my mate. My mate is here too, and I’m not leaving him.”

  Reed’s mom gaped. “Your mate? When were you going to tell me? Who is he? Have I already met him? Why haven’t you—”

  Reed rolled his eyes and Demi stepped forward. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to present himself when he didn’t know anything about Reed except his name yet, but the woman was there and it wasn’t like Demi could avoid meeting her.

  “Uh, hello, ma’am. I’m Demi.”

  She gave him a look and dismissed him, only to freeze a few seconds later as the fact that Demi was her son’s mate made itself clear. She slowly turned to face Demi and cocked her head to the side, blatantly examining him.

  Demi sent Reed a what do I do now glance, but Reed just smirked and shrugged just as his mother seemed to make a decision. “Well, you two are too thin. What do they feed you here?”

  She stepped forward and engulfed Demi in a motherly hug, uncaring of the fact that he had to be almost an entire foot taller than her. Noah was laughing his ass off from where he leaned against the counter, and Reed was smiling, but neither of them made one move to help Demi, even if he was pretty sure his expression was one of mild fear.

  “So, are you Noah’s brother?” Reed’s mother asked as she finally moved away—only after Demi had awkwardly hugged her back and patted her shoulder.

  “Oh, no, we’re just friends.”

  “Best friends,” Noah added.

  “I see. I’d never met a demon before Noah, so I don’t know much about your species, but I’ll learn.”

  Demi didn’t know whether to be happy with that or just plain scared.

  “Mom, leave him alone. I don’t even know him yet,” Reed told her.

  “I know, I know. The fact that you presented yourself made it pretty obvious, Reed. I just want to know my son-in-law a bit before I have to go back home.” She didn’t look too happy about it, but Reed beamed at her.

  “You’re going back to Florida?”

  Reed’s mother huffed. “You’re not leaving me any other choice.” Her expression softened. “Besides, now that I know your mate’s here, I can’t very well insist you leave.”

  Noah cleared his throat and everyone in the room turned to look at him. He blushed a bit. “Demi, we still need to go talk with Kam. He needs to know you’re here and why.” Noah emphasized the why, and of course Reed noticed.

  “Something’s wrong?”

  Demi sighed. “You might as well come with me. I’ll need to tell you anyway.” Larsen wasn’t going to be happy when he found out Demi was a shifter’s mate. And Demi had no doubt Larsen would find out. But did he care? Not one bit.

  “Mom...”

  “Go. I’ll go back to the hotel and start packing after I check when the first available flight is.”

  “You don’t have to leave so soon.”

  Reed’s mother slapped the back of his head. “Idiot. You’ve been trying to send me back ever since I got here and now you tell me I can stay a bit more?”

  Reed rubbed the place she’d hit, even if it hadn’t been that hard. “I just don’t want you to feel like I’m kicking you out.”

  Her gaze softened, and Demi’s heart hurt. He wished he’d known his own mother. Had her eyes ever held that soft light when she thought about him while she was pregnant?

  “I know you’re not kicking me out, but you’ve been clear enough. Besides, who knows what your father’s been up to for the past few weeks?”

  She waved at them and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Demi feeling like a tornado had just passed.

  Reed smiled softly at him. “You okay?”

  “I think so. Maybe?”

  Reed smiled and followed his mom, but Demi was already thinking about what would happen. Would he have to move to Gillham? Of course he would. The conclave would never accept a shifter in their town, so he had no choice. But what about his father? Would he move with Demi, or would he want to stay home? Would he even be happy Demi had turned out to be a shifter’s mate? Would he be angry? Would he want Demi to stay with him and forget about Reed?

  What about Reed? Would he even want Demi to move to Gillham? Demi’s head was spinning with questions, and he had no answers to them.

  Someone took his hand, and he looked up into his best friend’s eyes. Noah flicked a finger at Demi’s nose. “Don’t think too hard, you’ll give yourself wrinkles.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I know. But you still worry too much. I could almost see what you were thinking because you were thinking so hard. Let’s just go and talk with Kameron, then you can talk with Reed.”

  “Oh joy. Today’s going to be full of conversations I’d rather avoid.”

  * * * *

  Reed left Noah and Demi in the kitchen and walked his mother to the front door.

  “I’ll be back to say goodbye and thank Kameron, of course, but if you could tell him about this I’d be grateful.”

  “Of course, mom.”

  Reed couldn’t do much more than say yes. He was still stunned by the turn his day had taken only minutes earlier. He’d thought he was in for a day of arguing with his mom and having to deal with mood swings and anger, maybe even an extra meeting with Gentry. Instead, his mom was leaving without him having to insist too much, just because Noah’s best friend happened to be Reed’s mate.

  Reed still had to wrap his mind around that. He was trying to keep any strong emotions away because he knew they would swamp him when he started thinking about what having found his mate implied and all the questions it would raise.

  “And I’ll expect you and Demi for Christmas. Reed, are you listening to me?”

  “Yes, but mom, Christmas is only a few weeks away. I can’t ask him to dump his family and the plans he probably already has just to come with me to Florida. I’m not even sure at what point we’ll be by then.”

  Mom huffed. “Fine. But I’ll expect you for Christmas next year, then.”

  “That’s... really? You’re already making plans for next year?”

  “Hush. I’m just making sure the two of you don’t make plans that don’t include sunshine and the beach.”

  “Demi can’t go to the beach, mom. He has a tail.”

  Her brows rose in surprise. “Really? I didn’t notice it.”

  “That’s because I’m guessing he hides it like Noah and keeps it rolled around his waist.”

  Mom patted Reed’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, huh? And you better have good news for me.”

  “What kind of good news?” Reed asked warily.

  “I want to know th
at you two have at least kissed.”

  “Mom!”

  She laughed and kissed Reed’s cheek. “And eat well at dinner. You’re too thin, no matter what you try to convince me of.”

  Reed waited until her rental car had disappeared from sight to go back inside the house. He found Noah and Demi still in the kitchen, talking quietly. “So...”

  Noah straightened and marched to the door. “One, you two talk with Kameron. I’ll be there too, because I know Larsen. Two, I leave you two together and go back home to find my mate and tell him the good news.”

  Reed followed him down the hallway, Demi by his side. “Who’s Larsen?”

  Demi grimaced. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  “That’s doesn’t sound too good.”

  “It’s because it’s not.”

  “Larsen’s an asshole,” Noah added. “But I don’t think he’ll be a problem anymore, not with this new development.”

  He knocked on Kameron’s office door, but no one answered. “Where is he? Anyone know?”

  “He said he would be in his office,” Reed answered.

  The door swung open, revealing a flustered Zach. He was wearing his T-shirt inside out and had an obvious hickey on his neck. Noah smirked at him. “Oh, I see why Kameron wasn’t answering.”

  Zach slapped his chest. “Shut up.” He looked at Demi, then at Reed, and his eyes widened, probably at seeing Reed in the demons’ company. “You need Kameron?”

  “This better be good,” Kameron growled from somewhere behind Zach, making Zach blush.

  Noah snickered. “Do you want us to come back later? We were just going to tell you about Reed meeting his mate, and—”

  Kameron’s head appeared at the door. “Wait. Reed met his mate? I left him in the kitchen with his mother, how did he manage that?” He looked past Noah and noticed Demi standing close to the wall, looking like he wanted to melt in the wood or run far away. “Oh, I see.”

  “Good enough?” Noah teased.

  “Yeah, yeah. Come in, all three of you. Although I’m not sure what you’re doing here,” he said, pointing at Noah.

  “Supporting a friend.”

  “Okay, come in, all three of you.”

  There was an awkward moment when they had to decide who would sit where since there were only two chairs in front of Kameron’s desk. Zach was already settled in his mate’s lap and watched with an amused expression on his face. “You know, one of you could go get an extra chair from the closet.”

  Noah hopped on the desk and settled on the edge of it. “Nah, we’re fine.”

  Reed fiddled with the frayed sleeve of his sweater and avoided looking at the others, even though he knew he was in the spotlight. And sure enough, Kameron spoke to him first. “Is it okay if I congratulate you and Demi on finding each other?”

  Reed hated how hesitant the alpha’s voice was. Everyone was walking on egg shells around him, checking and double checking they didn’t do anything that could send him in one of his flashbacks or make him angry. He wanted to get rid of the compulsion to stand up and storm away just because Kameron was being so cautious, and he clutched at the chair he was sitting on.

  He gulped, pushed down the anger, and nodded. “Sure.”

  “All right. What else did you need?”

  “We were going to ask if Demi could move in with me for a while,” Noah explained. “He’s had some problems with an ex-boyfriend who apparently can’t take no for an answer.”

  “There has to be more than that.”

  “My ex... boyfriend,” Demi said, hesitating. “Well, I work for him, or worked, rather. My father and I are gardeners, and we take care of several estates. Larsen’s parents’ is one of those. He’s... a lot higher in our society than me. He can make my life almost unbearable if he wants to, and that’s exactly what he threatened to do. Noah thought it would be better for me to stay away for a while, so that Larsen could forget about me.”

  “You know what they say,” Noah added. “Far from the sight, far from the heart.”

  Demi snorted. “As if he was ever in love with me.”

  “Yeah, well, the important thing is that he forgets you even exist.”

  “I don’t have a problem with Demi living with you, but what’s going to happen when he goes back and Larsen sees him again?”

  “We hadn’t thought so far ahead yet, but now that we know Demi is Reed’s mate...”

  Three pairs of eyes looked at Reed and he felt the need to run and hide—again. Maybe in the laundry room, although he was pretty sure most people knew that was where he hid when he needed to be alone.

  “We haven’t talked about anything yet. The only things I know about him are his name and that his mother is worried for him,” Demi declared

  Reed had to smile at that. “And the only things I know about him are his name, that he’s a demon gardener and has a jealous ex-boyfriend. We haven’t had the time for anything more.”

  “All right. I guess we can start by welcoming Demi here and giving you two the time to get to know each other. If you give me Larsen’s full name, I’ll have someone keep an eye on him, just to check he doesn’t come too close. What about your father?”

  “I told him I’d stay here for a while, but he doesn’t want to stop working. We can’t really afford it, even if it’s become time for him to retire.”

  “Is he safe?”

  “I think so. He doesn’t even know about me and Larsen. I never told him.”

  “Okay. Let me know, then. And welcome to Gillham.”

  “Can I... do you have anything for me to do? I’m a gardener. I’m used to working with plants.”

  “We don’t have big gardens, but you’ve already been here, so you know how the pack is scattered. You can keep the paths clean between the houses and buildings, maybe ask around if someone needs help.”

  “That’s good. Thank you.”

  “I’ll ask someone to show you where everything you’ll need is. I just have to warn you to be very careful and to never wander in the woods alone, especially not at night.”

  Demi looked taken aback. “Why?”

  “We’ve had an accident with an unknown creature. It attacked a pack member, and it was touch and go for a while. He’s fine now, but the creature’s claws are venomous and we don’t know anything about it yet.”

  “Yes, all right. I’ll be careful.”

  Zach jumped from his mate’s lap. “Now shoo. I’m sure you have better things to do than to cock-block us.”

  Demi’s eyes went wide, but Noah burst out laughing. “Yeah, yeah, we’re going. I’m taking Demi home so he can unpack.” He slid down from the desk. “Reed, are you coming with us?”

  “Can I come by later?” Reed asked. He hoped Demi wouldn’t take offense. “I think I need some time to digest everything.” Reed looked at his mate and smiled, hoping to soften the small rejection.

  Demi smiled back and nodded. “It’s fine with me. I’ll see you later.”

  Reed hesitated, wondering if he should shake Demi’s hand, or maybe kiss his cheek, but he got up and waved at everyone instead, then ran to the laundry room.

  * * * *

  Demi’s head was spinning with what had happened, what would happen, and all the possibilities in between.

  “You okay?”

  Demi looked at Noah. “I think so. It’s not like I’m not okay, just overwhelmed, you know?”

  “Want me to drive?” Noah asked with a grin.

  “Gosh, no. No one but me drives my baby, you know that.”

  The car was the only thing Demi had indulged in, ever. He’d bought the 1969 Mercury Cougar for a little over three thousand dollars some years before and worked on it when he had time and money to spare, which wasn’t often, especially nowadays. He loved his car, and he knew it was worth more now, but he couldn’t bring himself to sell it. The money he’d used to buy it had been left to him by his mother, and even just thin
king about selling it felt like a sacrilege.

  Noah pouted, but Demi didn’t give in. He opened the door and slid in. He felt marginally more settled as he put his hands on the steering wheel. There was familiarity in his car, something he needed after the day he’d just had. Explaining he was taking a vacation to his dad hadn’t been easy, not when he didn’t want to explain Larsen to him.

  Of course the old man had refused to stop working for the Esslemont family. He’d wanted a good reason why he shouldn’t, and Demi had been unable to give him one. He hadn’t tried to push because his father had already been angry enough, and he hoped that once he went home, his dad would have calmed down enough not to take Demi’s words for granted and let go.

  That was if Demi ever went home.

  Of course he’d go, but would he stay? Reed couldn’t come with him. The only shifter who had ever been allowed in Demi’s town was Duncan, but only after he’d mated with Noah and because no one wanted to offend Noah’s father, and even then, he couldn’t stay for long. Demi’s family didn’t have money or power, so Reed would never be welcome. Which meant that if Demi wanted to be with Reed, he’d have to come live in Gillham.

  “I still think I should drive. You look absolutely out of it,” Noah pointed out. The amusement had disappeared from his voice and he was frowning at Demi.

  “I’m fine,” Demi reassured him, then turned the car on and drove away from the Gillham pack alpha’s house. It was a short drive to Noah’s house, luckily, so Demi didn’t have the time to get distracted again.

  He parked next to Duncan’s car and climbed out. He’d already been in Noah’s house, but never for an extended stretch of time. Demi couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be able to live with Duncan and Noah without making things awkward. Of course, he’d known Noah since they were kids, but they’d never actually lived together. He had no idea if they’d be able to stand each other for that long.

  He watched Noah bound to the front door and swing it open. Demi’s best friend disappeared inside and Demi heard him call out to Duncan, then silence. He sighed and opened the trunk to take out his bags.

  He hadn’t brought much, at least not in the way of clothes, but he had taken way too many books with him. He was going to take the opportunity to study all the ones on plants he’d bought lately. His greatest wish—well, one of them—was to have his own garden where he could build a greenhouse and breed roses. Maybe he could do it if he moved to Gillham. They certainly had the space for him to build a greenhouse.