From Scratch_An M/M Paranormal Romance Mystery Page 2

  Lake searched Happy's gaze for clues.

  Happy turned to the dads, which was a mistake. The sparkle of excitement and the way he moved from one foot to the other gave him away.

  How could they be identical on the outside and so different in personality? "I guess they’re bringing some shifters from Fountain Village. I'm so hopeful one of them will be my mate. Or maybe Lake will find his."

  Wow, the bullshit was thick. There was no way the gate monitors would let new people inside the compound who weren’t already sanctioned to be inside. They either had to be the mate of someone who was a member of the compound or a pregnant male bat shifter signed up for one of the pregnancy cabins. Everyone knew that, including Happy.

  Lake grinned, waiting to see how Happy untangled himself from his twisted web. Papa also looked at Happy with amusement.

  "Becky's letting strangers inside Nirvana Orchards? That sounds odd." Father never sat up from his prone position or looked away from the television as he spoke.

  Happy's eyes shifted up, likely coming up with a lie that worked. "I guess Jonathan's brother's lying to her."

  "Kind of like your lying to the dads," Lake mumbled under his breath.

  Happy kicked his chair, jostling him a bit.

  "Are they dangerous?" Father asked.

  Happy sighed and shook his head. "Not everyone outside the wall is dangerous, Father. Sheesh."

  "Yeah well, not everyone has good intentions. Come home if they’re shady."

  Lake smirked. "Yeah, Happy. Be careful. Everyone in Fountain Village is prepared to pilfer and plunder."

  Father gave him a narrow-eyed stare and pointed a finger at Lake. "You've never been outside the walls. You don't know what kind of evil is out there."

  And that was purely the fault of his overprotective parents. "Hello. Twenty-three years old here. Old enough to find out about people on my own."

  "Not just people, Lake. Paranormals. Witches. Warlocks. Vampires. Not just shifters." According to the television, Humans were far worse than any paranormal out there. But then again, the humans controlled everything on the air and didn't know about paranormals, so anything on television didn’t include paranormals unless it was fiction based.

  "Jonathan told me that his brother told him that the Fountain Village clan wasn't prejudiced. Which makes sense. We wouldn't have the pregnancy cabins otherwise. No one cares about males having babies anymore, Father." Lake rolled his eyes.

  “Some still do.”

  “How would you even know that? You haven’t left the compound in years.”

  Father pointed his finger at Lake in a silent command to get him to quit arguing but Lake had one more thing to say on the matter. “Fountain Village is as much a bat shifter town as Nirvana.”

  It was Papa who spoke next, his command clear. "Go. Now. Whatever you're doing, be careful."

  As Lake stood, following Happy out, a piece of paper slid against his palm. Lake looked at Happy’s now empty hand and then at the back of his head. “What’s this?” he whispered.

  “Directions.” Happy’s sleight of hand trick might have worked but him speaking so loudly would give them away.

  Lake shook his head. “For where?”

  Happy pulled open the back door, holding it open for Lake. He grinned like a lunatic with a secret as Lake passed him. “You’ll see.”

  So much for his comfy chair nap.

  The wall surrounding Nirvana Orchards was hella tall, with no real way of getting over it. Lake Truman looked from it to Happy and waited for some spark of genius to light a fire under him.

  Whatever Happy came up with, it better not include climbing the wall. He would rather have it out with the dads and move to the singles building.

  "I hate the wall. I know some of the bat shifters in town used to be prejudice douches, but that had to be better than being locked inside this prison. What were the elders thinking?"

  Happy turned to him. "Why do we have to be the only two people trapped inside?"

  "Because the dads are overprotective. It would serve them right if we moved into town." Lake couldn't get out of Nirvana Orchards fast enough, and if it were up to him, he would have left when he hit the human legal age. Unfortunately, he wasn't a human, so his age didn't matter as much as his first shift, which he couldn't have until he met his mate.

  Of the one hundred twenty-three people living inside the compound none of them was his mate, and according to his dads, he couldn't leave until he properly bonded.

  "We could walk out the front gate. We're adults. Maybe we should act like it." Happy looked up at the wall, biting his bottom lip.

  "Fuck that. Papa gets that look on his face that I can't stand. I'd rather act like a child and sneak out than have to see that." Lake put his fist on his hip. He'd get the hell out of Nirvana Orchards if it were the last thing he did.

  "You mean this look." Happy gave his best impression of their papa's disappointment.

  Lake chuckled but it died the second he saw Brannon walking across the field in their direction. He grabbed Happy's arm in a tight grip and pulled him along, looking behind them before turning. "Brannon is coming our way."

  "Brannon won't say anything."

  "Happy! Wait up." Brannon jogged to them.

  Lake let out a huff of breath. "Great. Now he's gonna know."

  When Brannon slid up beside them, he threaded his arm through Happy's. "There's a way out on the east side. Mama told me about it."

  Lake groaned when he realized Happy had already filled Brannon in on their plan. "If we go, you're going with us. That way if the dads find out we can blame it on you."

  "I've been out of the compound before. I could leave from the front gates if I wanted. I'm not agreeing to anything until you tell me where we're going."

  "To that bar, Batshit Crazy."

  "Oh, yeah. I'll go. When are you leaving?"

  It was already getting on to dusk. "At dark."

  Brannon shrugged. "We can go now if you guys want. No one's around the secret passage this time of day."

  Lake grinned. "Let's go then."

  Brannon bent at the waist and disappeared into some brush, so suddenly Lake was taken aback.

  "Come on, guys." Brannon's voice was a whisper, his body unseen like a specter.

  A second later Happy disappeared as well, whispering about hating bugs as he bent and made his way through the vines covering the entire area.

  Lake took a deep breath and followed them. As soon as he bent over and moved forward, his brother's ass was inches from him. Happy didn't seem to care. The only thing on his mind was creepy crawlies. "Hurry up. It's uncomfortable all bent over like this."

  "With your ass in the air, you mean? You should be used to that." Brannon chuckled at his own joke.

  "Let's just say this position isn't exactly my favorite." Unless he braced against something, a stand-up fuck from behind wasn't all that comfortable, especially with an over-enthusiastic top who pushed him into next week, making him stumble.

  Yeah, Lake had firsthand experience.

  "Missionary, right? You seem like the vanilla type." Brannon had a way of getting under Lake's skin.

  "Why do you care about my favorite sexual position? You trying to tell me something?"

  Lake straightened when Happy, and Brannon did only to have something poke him from behind. He moved closer to Happy to get away from it, making Happy stumble into Brannon.

  Happy cursed and righted himself. "By the gods, that better not be your dick."

  "Eww. Why the hell would I be hard with you two in here with me? Pervert." Lake pushed Happy on the back to emphasize his point, and of course that made him stumble again.

  It served him right.

  Brannon sighed. "Let's go before you two kill each other, or me."

  Happy grabbed Lake's hand, pulling him along until they were through the vines. If there was ever a time he felt more closed in, he couldn't recall. The vines brushed against his face and clothing as he
squeezed through.

  The vines birthed him until he stood on the side of the road next to Happy and Brannon.

  Lake shook himself at the same time he ran his hands over his coat, brushing off any mess the vines might have left behind.

  Once his heart stopped pounding against his ribs, Lake managed to look around. The outside didn't look all that different from inside. The forest held the same type of trees and was just as dense as the one inside the wall. The pavement looked the same as the ones inside the compound. The compound didn't have lines on their pavement, mostly because they weren't necessary. Folks walked, moving over for tractors and the rare truck that passed.

  It could have been the other side of the country for the excitement that welled up in Lake's stomach. "This should be fun."

  He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket as Brannon pushed against a section of the wall, closing it. The darkness made the directions on the paper difficult to read. "The bar is that way, I think."

  Brannon confirmed what Lake already suspected. "I've been there. I know the way already."

  CHAPTER THREE

  The bar was only a couple of miles walk away. The road remained dark and deserted until the glow from the bar's lights lit up the sky over the top of the tree line. A few more steps and they were standing across the street looking at a building with wooden shingles for siding and a neon sign, spelling out the name of the bar.

  The word OPEN flashed off and on in red neon.

  Two people went through the front door and two more made out on the side of the building, barely visible from where Lake stood.

  Cars littered the parking lot until very few open spots remained.

  Lake grabbed Happy's hand and pulled him across the road, grinning as they passed between cars. The second his hand touched the door he smelled something amazing. A bat shifter went blind when they shifted into their animal counterpart. He knew it would be lights out the second the smell became more prominent. Thankfully, it was still dull enough that he had his vision.

  The thought of going blind scared him enough that he stopped and pulled his hand away from the door.

  He turned to his brother and Brannon. "My mate's inside." Lake sniffed the air again to make sure, not trusting his senses after he made the comment.

  Happy turned to Brannon. "You can go in if you want."

  Brannon drew his eyebrows together and shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'd rather help. It's kind of a shitty place to meet a mate. Lots of guys will try and take advantage anyway without you being so vulnerable."

  Lake smiled and took a deep breath, which came out shaky. He tightened his fingers around Happy's hand before laughing. "By the gods, I'm nervous."

  With his free hand, Happy patted his arm. "We'll go back if you want."

  Lake sucked in a breath. "Hell no! I want a mate. It's the blindness that scares the shit out of me."

  Happy grinned. "Oh. Well, then you're going in."

  Happy put his free hand on the door and pulled him a little. Lake let him go and tried to back up, but Brannon pushed him from behind. Lake didn't even realize Brannon had moved, so his position startled Lake, which gave Happy the advantage. He grabbed Lake's arm, pulling him through the door.

  The scent of vanilla grew stronger but still not enough to allow for partial shifting, which allowed Lake time to look around. A dance floor with a live band was to the far right with tables scattered between the bar and it. The bar was to the left and had the most handsome man pulling drinks behind it. He had on a black t-shirt that stretched tight across his chest, showing his sculpted pecs. Lake longed to see further down, but the bar covered everything except the start of flat abdominal muscles. The bartender had dark hair longer on top than on the sides.

  He had a bored expression on his face when he handed a glass full of pale gold liquid to a patron. He scanned the room every few seconds, watchful in a way Lake hadn’t seen before.

  Lake ignored everything else, including Happy and Brannon as he closed the distance between himself and the man. Others were at the bar, but Lake barely saw them.

  He squealed when the scent of vanilla assaulted his body and made his vision cut out. It was as if someone shut off the light in a cave. He stopped moving and then felt a hand on his elbow. He stiffened but relaxed when Happy whispered in his ear. "Like I'm gonna leave you. Silly."

  Lake took a deep breath. "I think it might be the bartender."

  "I'm going to lead you to a seat and then talk to him."

  Heat crept up Lake's neck to his cheeks. He wanted to tell Happy not to approach the bartender because he was a twenty-three-year-old man who was suave and charming enough to talk to the bartender himself. The scenario, playing out in his mind, included a storage room in which the hot bartender lay him on a box that happened to be the perfect height and fucked him to within an inch of his life. Lube and a condom magically appeared. Nowhere in that little fantasy did it include his brother stepping in on his behalf.

  Lake didn't have a choice, though, so he nodded and let Happy lead him.

  When they stopped, Happy leaned in, whispering, "A bar stool is on your left. Also, the bartender just saw you. Shit. Here he comes."

  Lake felt around for the stool and sat down. He knew the exact second his mate came close because the vanilla scent overwhelmed the air around him.

  "What can I get you?" His mate had a deep voice. Sexy. And it sounded gravelly. If they were fucking, it would be breathy too.

  Oh man, just thinking about it had Lake's cock plumping.

  "You know about shifters?" Happy's straightforward question confused Lake for a second and then the human scent underneath all that vanilla registered. He had smelled it before but couldn't think past it.

  "I wouldn't be working in this bar if I didn't, honey." The bartender had a good point. Batshit Crazy catered to bat shifters in all ways, including sexually, which was why they had the orgy rooms. Or they had a room like that if all the rumors were true.

  Lake squeaked, his bat coming to the surface when his mate called someone else honey. It didn’t matter that the someone was his brother.

  The waves from the sound he made bounced off everybody and everything. He heard the difference and knew precisely where the wall was versus the people around him.

  He couldn't tell where his mate was, though, so he hummed in the back of the throat.

  The bartender must have moved closer to Lake because the sound pinged off someone in his direction, who drew nearer. The vanilla scent enveloped him as well, and then he felt warm breath waft across his face.

  Lake held his breath, wondering what the bartender intended. "I don't suppose your eyes look pure black naturally?"

  Lake smiled and shook his head. "You're my mate."

  "Shit." The bartender moved away from him, but how far Lake couldn't tell. He hummed to find out, but no one remained where the bartender had stood.

  Happy, whispering in his ear. "He left. Went into the back, I think. You want me to help you follow."

  Lake shook his head and slid from the stool. "I've figured out this blind thing, I think. Just get me moving in the right direction."

  Happy grabbed Lake by the shoulders from behind and gently turned him. "Just follow the bar all the way around. The door the bartender went through is on the left past a small counter."

  "Thanks." Lake kept his hand on the bar as he moved. He hummed so he’d know when a person sat at the bar. He had to move twice to avoid patrons but successfully followed the bar until he came to an opening.

  "You need me to come around?" Happy asked from the other side of the bar.

  "No. I'm fine."

  "Okay. The door is about two feet from you."

  Lake let go of the bar and took a step to his left. He hummed to find the counter and again as he moved to a door. It turned out the door was one of those that swung both ways with no knob. Lake reached out at the same time a whoosh of air washed over his face and then the door smacked into his ha
nd. He cried out and drew his arm to his chest.

  Lake stumbled, his back hitting the bar. He leaned against it and froze when he felt someone's body heat. His mate's scent washed over him right before a warm touch ran down his arm.

  That deep voice whispered, "Are you alright?"

  Lake swallowed the giddy giggle welling up in his throat. He tried to speak but could only nod.

  "You're not supposed to be back here."

  The giggle escaped. He slapped a hand over his mouth to contain it. "Sorry," he said through his fingers before dropping them again. "I laugh when I'm nervous."

  His mate took hold of his injured arm, moving it at the elbow, back and forth as if Lake couldn't do it himself. "Does it hurt?"

  "No." His mate slid his hand down. The touch was strong but gentle. The contrast intrigued Lake.

  And then Lake forgot all about everything because a sharp pain shot through his wrist when his mate pulled him close. His wrist smashed between them.

  “What the fuck is he doing out of jail?” His mate asked the question in a whispered tone.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Just someone I know. Do me a favor and stay away from Donnie Medina. You don’t want what he’s selling.”

  Considering Lake had no idea who that was, it wouldn’t be a problem. There wasn’t one person living inside Nirvana Orchards with the first name Donnie, so Lake was in the clear. “He’s bad news, huh?”

  “Yes.” Bryson let go of him enough to turn them toward the back. "I'm guiding you to the back. I think my brother has a first aid kit in his office."

  "Hey." When Happy spoke, his mate stopped. His turned to meet Happy's gaze. His mate reached out a hand. Lake knew because the air displaced around him. And then a paper rustled around at the same time Happy said. "If you're gonna be an ass and leave him, just call that number. Someone will come. He's vulnerable right now, all blind and shit. Understand, human?"

  Lake sucked in a breath when he realized what Happy had done. He shook his head, not wanting to think his mate wouldn’t want him, but Happy must have seen something in the bartender’s expression that Lake couldn't.