The Runaway Cat (Book 2 Cloverleah Pack Series) Read online

  “About 150 - 200 last I heard,” Shawn supplied helpfully.

  Groaning, Diablo put his head in his hands. He felt Griff’s hands on his shoulders soothing him with his touch even as Griff pointed out to Arthur that there were a lot more gay shifters around than perhaps he had first imagined. To say that Arthur was surprised was an understatement if the ensuing conversation was anything to go by. All he could think was how the hell do I get out of this? But he kept his thoughts shielded from Griff. Despite the fact that Griff had told Diablo that there would be three packs invited, he didn’t let on just how many of those people would be male orientated.

  Diablo felt a soft hand on his head and he looked up to see Cheryl had come around the table and was looking at him. Surprisingly her eyes were kind and she had a small smile on her face.

  “Don’t worry too much about it Diablo. Griff has been waiting for this his whole life. You won’t deny your man the right to fight for you, do you?”

  Rubbing his head with his hands Diablo answered softly. “No ma’am, Griff knows I would do anything for him. But…”

  “You are a gorgeous looking man, Diablo and Griff is so proud of you. Why wouldn’t he want to fight for you? It will be so positive for him if you have a lot of people interested in fighting for the right to have you.”

  Thinking about it for a moment, Diablo nodded. “I s’pose you are right ma’am. I’ve gotta let the man have his fun.” He smiled up at Cheryl, “but you don’t really need a picture of me do you?” He asked hopefully.

  “Of course I do, silly man. Now come on with me and we will go into the office and get it sorted, so I can send out the invite and the picture via email today. Got to give those guys in Texas time to get down here.” Cheryl nudged Diablo from his seat and waited for him to kiss Griff on the top of his head, before taking him by the arm and leading him down the hallway he had seen when he first entered the house. He felt Griff nudge his brain as he followed the determined woman.

  Are you okay, lover.

  Yes, sweetie, Diablo put unnecessary malice in his term of endearment. Just going for my photo shot as per YOUR Aunt’s instructions.

  Oh yummy, are you going to take your shirt off.

  Not if I can help it, but who knows with this woman. She could want me naked for all I know. Diablo could feel Griff growling and he grinned to himself.

  I am coming as well.

  No, you are not! You stay right there and keep everyone else out of this office. This is humiliating enough as it is. I haven’t had my photo taken since the one I had done for the academy.

  Mmm, I have seen that picture…you are very photogenic my lover.

  You are not helping. Now stay there but if I am not out in ten minutes then I need rescuing. Quickly.

  Cheryl pushed into a large double doorway and took Diablo into what must be the office. Like the living room and kitchen areas the room was large and filled with leather furniture, huge windows looking out onto a lot of land and trees and a mass of books all collected in floor to ceiling bookcases. It was a well-lived in, comfortable room that also housed the business end of things if the technology centered around a large desk was anything to go by. Cheryl pottered over to a cupboard by the desk and rummaged around obviously looking for her camera. She pulled out an impressive looking piece of equipment complete with a large lens.

  “Now,” she said, “Where would be the best place to take this,” she wondered as she looked at Diablo taking in white blond hair, tanned skin and black t-shirt and black jeans.

  “How about in the corner of the room, preferably with me facing into the corner instead of the camera,” Diablo couldn’t help his smartass nature especially when he was nervous and the way Cheryl was looking at him definitely made him feel nervous.

  “You’re not going to be difficult are you Diablo? Because I have handled bigger boys than you in my time and now you’re family I haven’t got a problem with taking you over my knee.” Oh, there was the voice that raised teenage boys like Kane and Griff and yep, there was that look - hard eyes, mouth grim and determined. Boy that little woman could look tough when she wanted to.

  “No ma’am, of course not,” Diablo was quick to mollify the woman. “Where would you like me to stand?”

  “Hmm…sitting would be better I think,” Cheryl was still studying him closely. “In that big armchair there if you would.” She pointed to a large dark brown leather armchair in front of the desk. Diablo went over and perched on the edge of the seat, his hands gripped in front of him on his lap, looking back at her.

  “No, no that won’t do at all,” Cheryl grumbled. “I want you to relax, sit back, and put your arms on the arms of the chair and your legs out in front of you. Own that bloody chair Diablo.”

  Swallowing a huge sigh, Diablo moved as she asked. He moved his bum back until it hit the back of the chair, relaxed his arms down the thick arms of the chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. He flicked his hair forward over his shoulders so it framed his face and looked at Cheryl again.

  Cheryl was looking through her camera. “Definitely better….but…nope…the chair is too dark with your dark clothing.”

  “A lighter chair perhaps,” Diablo suggested.

  “Take your shirt off. Your skin will be perfect against the chair.”

  “Ma’am, I am not sure this is a good idea. Surely a head shot would be enough.”

  “Diablo.” How Cheryl could manage so much menace and threat in one word was beyond Diablo but after a moment he sat up and shrugged off his t-shirt before leaning back on the chair.

  “Oh my,” Cheryl said as she looked through the camera lens again, “that’s a lot better. Such muscle definition. Hmmm maybe we should lose the pants too…”she started but stopped when she saw Diablo’s face.

  “Griff wouldn’t like it.” Diablo knew Griff wouldn’t after the fuss he made about the pictures taken without his knowledge in his shower when he was at Georgio’s. Cheryl nodded as if she understood and started taking a few shots. Diablo kept his face impassive and tried to ignore her although he was getting more and more uncomfortable with every passing minute.

  “Okay, just a couple more with you smiling, Diablo and then I will be finished.”

  “Ma’am, I am not really a smiley sort of fellow. Wouldn’t it be better if the pictures reflected who I really was most of the time?” Diablo went to get up.

  Cheryl glared at him from around the camera. “Your moody look will impress a lot of blokes I reckon, but I want a couple of shots of you smiling and you are not moving from that chair until I get some. Now think about Griff, let that smile that I know you’ve got show through and ignore me.”

  Sighing for real this time Diablo leaned back on the chair and thought about his mate. He thought about how Griff looked the first time he saw him in that smoky bar all tall dark and definitely handsome. Then he ran his mind over the vision of Griff making him breakfast, and how he looked as Angel when Griff came to get him from Georgio’s. Yep his mate was something to smile about all right and he was sure that showed on his face given that Cheryl kept clicking her camera. Finally she stopped and lowered her camera.

  “See, now that wasn’t too difficult now, was it?” Cheryl was grinning at him and Diablo couldn’t help but grin back.

  “No ma’am, but I am glad it is over. Can I put my shirt on now?”

  “Well, if you must although I have to admit you are a sight for sore eyes even to an old mated woman like me.” Cheryl was plugging her camera into the computer on the desk. “Come and have a look.”

  Diablo went around the desk and looked as Cheryl bought up an array of pictures up on the large monitor. Cheryl had taken about twenty five pictures of him from different angles, the last half a dozen with him smiling. The woman definitely had a good eye and Diablo knew he looked good in all of them even if he did say so himself.

  “Do you think Griff would like a couple? I can print some off if you like?” C
heryl asked.

  “I’m not sure, ma’am, why don’t I get him back here and he can have a look. I am sure he will want to make the final selection on the one you are going to use.” Diablo pulled his shirt over his head and headed for the door. As he did he heard a huge roar and a bang of wood hitting wood. Griff! Diablo ran from the room and headed back into the living room.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Running silently down the hallway Diablo came into the living room area and stopped short. Standing in the doorway were five large shifters, three of whom looked a lot like Griff. Fuck, Griff’s father, brothers and back up by the looks of things. What were they doing here? Diablo scanned the room and saw Kane and Shawn standing to the side and he slid behind the others, Arthur and his sons he noticed, to stand behind Kane. As Diablo watched over Kane’s shoulder he could see the largest of the men, Griff’s father, was alternating between screaming at Arthur and hitting Griff around the head. Arthur was trying to get the man to stand down, but obviously Griff’s father was in some kind of fit because he wasn’t stopping and Griff wasn’t doing anything to defend himself.

  Diablo carefully eased himself into his mate’s mind and was horrified to see Griff reliving the attack his father had committed when Griff had admitted he was gay and left the pack. No wonder he couldn’t retaliate, his memories were holding him prisoner. Rumbling deep in his chest, Diablo’s cat was desperate to get out and protect their mate but this was wolf territory and he was a guest - he didn’t know what to do.

  “Kane,” he hissed urgently. Kane looked over his shoulder and saw Diablo’s partially shifted state. He looked at Shawn and his father before nodding.

  “It’s a mate thing, Diablo, go ahead. I’ll sort it with dad.”

  Feeling nothing but a huge sense of relief, Diablo quickly stripped off his clothes, hidden by Kane and Shawn, and dropped to his knees shifting as he went. Tapping his nose on Kane’s thigh the man moved aside to let Diablo see what was happening. Griff was on the ground and the older man, his father, was standing over him yelling abuse and punching him repeatedly while Arthur stood to one side still trying to reason with the deranged man.

  This time Diablo didn’t try and hide his growl of displeasure. His rumble reverberated around the room as he leapt his huge black form aimed straight for the man bent over his mate. His big paws and forward momentum easily pushed the man back until his back was flat on the ground with a very big, very angry cat standing over him. Diablo looked at the man beneath him and remembered the pain he felt in his link with his mate. Without hesitation he lifted his paw with claws outstretched planning to slice the man across the throat. But before his claws could make contact he heard a rasped out, “Diablo, no.”

  Griff. Right. Can’t kill the man’s father. Could cause a few relationship issues. Diablo sheathed his claws as his huge paw connected with the man’s head. The man beneath him would have a headache, but nothing more. Diablo lowered his head until it was just inches from the man beneath him and staring into now frightened eyes, he opened his mouth wide, flashing huge teeth and fangs and roared his displeasure.

  The stench of urine hit Diablo’s nose and satisfied that he had caused the old wolf to piss himself he stood back and went over to where Griff was being helped by Kane and Shawn. He felt himself grumbling again as he noticed Kane’s arm around Griff’s shoulders and Shawn touching his face. Griff’s eyes were closed and seemed to be shaking. Kane noticing the cat had returned dropped his arm from his friend’s shoulder but motioned for Shawn to continue.

  “He’s just healing Griff, Diablo. He’ll be finished shortly.” Kane was speaking softly, obviously trying to calm his cat. Hmm, but Diablo needed to know that Griff was all right for himself. He stalked over until his huge front paws were on both sides of Griff’s thighs and leant forward, huffing softly. Griff opened his eyes and they lit up when they saw the big black panther invading his personal space. Diablo felt Griff’s arms come up and hug him and as Diablo stood there chuffing softly, he felt Griff’s shaking ease off. He couldn’t help himself and ran his huge tongue up the side of Griff’s neck, marking the man and assuring himself that his mate was all right. He felt Griff chuckle and stepped back, sitting on his haunches to the side of his mate, waiting to see what would happen next. Griff’s fingers were still entangled in his fur and Diablo didn’t intend on moving, or shifting until he was satisfied the danger had passed.

  Diablo looked around the room. No one else had moved and his big yellow eyes sought out Arthur, who stepped forward.

  “Yes, well, sorry about that Diablo. I…er…I wouldn’t have invited you guys here if I had known my brother was in the area. I am truly sorry that this happened in my home. As Griff’s mate you two have a right to restitution. What do you want done with this?” His arm swung out to indicate his brother who still hadn’t gotten up from the floor. The men who had come with the older man were still standing by the door but they were now flanked by other wolves, probably Arthur’s enforcers. There were other people standing out on the porch now as well, women and children.

  Diablo growled low in the back of his throat and bared his teeth. If he had his way the man would be dead, but then you couldn’t go killing a man in front of women and children, that just wasn’t nice. He looked down at Griff who, using Diablo as a leverage post slowly stood up, his hand still resting on Diablo’s shoulder.

  “It’s all right little kitty cat, I got this.” Griff’s voice was shaky but it held the same teasing rasp that Diablo loved to hear although he snorted at Griff’s term of endearment. He sat, his body quietly pressed against Griff’s thigh and was pleased as he felt Griff lean on him slightly.

  Griff carried on talking. “Firstly Uncle, it’s not your fault. We should be able to visit here - you being the Alpha and all, without any problems. Obviously that breach of etiquette is something you will want to deal with personally.” Arthur’s growl was a clear indication that he intended to do something about his brother’s shocking behavior. Breaking into the Alpha’s house and attacking a guest was definitely bad form.

  “As for me and Diablo, well we just want to be left alone to enjoy our lives together. If that means we can’t come up here and visit, then that is the way it will have to be. Been like that for fifteen years and it won’t be too hard to stay away. You know you and Aunty are always welcome to visit us.” Griff looked down at his mate. Diablo could see the unshed tears in his beloved’s eyes so he simply nodded as Griff turned back to the Alpha and said quite clearly, “We don’t want any restitution from the man who used to be my father.”

  “No, Griff no, it doesn’t have to be like this,” a woman’s voice cried out and suddenly a short older woman came pushing through the line of enforcers and the men who had come with Griff’s father. One of the men, who looked suspiciously like one of Griff’s brothers tried to catch her and pull her back as she went past, but she evaded him and ran straight into Griff’s chest, flinging her arms around him. Her little arms only went part of the way round and her head barely hit the middle of Griff’s ribs, but she clung on for grim death and would not let him go.

  Patting her arm gently, Griff pulled the woman’s face from out of his ribs and said gently, “Mom?” Diablo was probably the only one who picked up the barely discernable tremor in Griff’s voice.

  “Yes, Griff. Oh sweetie, I swear I didn’t know what was going to happen to you when they sent you away and I have really tried to keep track of you ever since. But your father,” she threw the man a hateful look, “would never allow me to contact you. Honey, I never cared that you were gay. I was worried that you would never find your mate, but when Cheryl came back from Kane and Shawn’s ceremony and told me about how the two of them were so clearly mated, I had real hope for you as well.”

  “And look at you now, you’ve grown up so big and strong and handsome and you have this lovely big cat that will fight for you even in the middle of a wolf pack. I am so proud of who you have become my son and that is why I am
doing something I should have done a long time ago.” Griff’s mother untangled herself from Griff’s body and turned to face her Alpha, her head turned to one side and her neck exposed.

  “Alpha, on behalf of my son Griff I petition for restitution for the attack by my husband on our boy. I ask that he be killed or banished for his acts against Griff, his mate, Kane’s pack and your home.”

  “Margaret,” Cheryl came forward to take her friend’s hand. “You can’t mean that.”

  “Cheryl, my friend you know how I have suffered over the years at the hands of this man. This is my chance to be free of him, if the Alpha will allow me and the rest of the family to stay of course.” Cheryl patted her friend’s hand and they both turned to face Arthur who was looking more confused by the minute. His gaze was focused on Cheryl and they were obviously having a private discussion. Within two minutes the Alpha was growling and by the time he broke his gaze from his mate his fists were clenched and the anger was painted over his face. In two quick strides he was standing over his brother.

  “You beat your mate? You intimidate your children? You rule your house with fear? What are you Reuben, a psychopath or someone with a king sized hate on for your own family?”

  “She’s not my mate, she’s my wife - there’s a big difference…and what do you care oh great and mighty Alpha? I saw what you did to Kane before he left. You’re no better than I am.” Griff’s father, Reuben, might be down but his attitude still needed a huge adjustment. There was no respect in his tone as he addressed his Alpha brother.

  As Arthur roared his disgust, the wolves in his pack all dipped their heads and tilted them in a sign of submission. Diablo didn’t feel the need to do so, although he could feel the power in the room. Looking up he saw that the members of his pack were similarly unaffected. Filing his questions away for another time, Diablo went back to listening in on the ongoing drama while enjoying the feel of Griff’s hand that was lightly scratching the fur on the back of his neck. It was really hard to sit still like a staunch cat protector when all he wanted to do was nudge Griff to the ground, shift while on top of him and kiss the man senseless.