Chapter 49

Armand, Sean, Gabriel, and Kane joined them for breakfast. Kane was off for the duration of the one-month spring vacation the loup garou used to go home to tend to their packs. So he was able to come shopping with Donal and Alexei. Today they were going to Best Buy and Crutchfield for electronics. Alexei needed everything, a television, a computer, and a tablet, good phones; frankly, he needed to buy out the stores. Gabriel sipped his coffee while Sean, Kane, and Donal stuffed themselves on cream cakes.

“I want a very big set for the media room and a slightly smaller one for the great room. Do you want a television for the bedroom, mouse?” Alexei asked between bites.

Donal paused with the fork halfway to his mouth. “My mother used to say bedrooms are for sleeping not watching television. Besides, I can think of more interesting things to do in the bedroom that we can’t do in the media or great rooms.”

Alexei burst out laughing. “My mouse had a small nibble of lovemaking last night. I think he enjoyed himself.”

Donal blushed furiously. Armand chuckled the moment Donal realized what he had revealed to the table at large. Donal attempted to hide his reddened face behind his napkin.

“So tomorrow is your birthday. You’re going to be twenty-one. Nice of you to give us notice,” Sean said with a little bit of sarcasm.

“I didn’t remember until Julio said something that reminded me. When Apuso had me, I could barely keep track of what day it was, never mind the date.”

“Well, I’m putting it on my calendar, so it won’t be forgotten again.” Sean smiled. “And I know what I’m going to get you. On Monday, Ian, Colin, Kane, and I are going to take you to the best men’s salon in the city where you’re going to get plucked, trimmed, and massaged.”

Thunderclouds appeared on Alexei’s face.

Sean finished his sentence, “…by she-wolves who do this for all the Mates.”

Alexei’s tight facial expression eased.

“I’ll call the others to make sure they are available for Saturday night and Monday,” Armand interjected. “Are you sure you don’t want to go for dinner and dancing?”

“No thank you, Armand. I don’t know how to dance, and Katya said she’s going to make me a cake. She had Boris buy her The Cake Bible. She said something about chocolate decadence with a liquid Grenache glaze served with whipped cream and raspberries. It sounds yummy.”

“You’re right, it does,” Kane declared. “Nothing that has the words chocolate and decadence in the same sentence could possibly be bad.”

Gabriel laughed.

“It seems like all the Mates have a sweet tooth,” Armand teased, picking up his coffee cup.

“Besides, Julio is coming, and Alexei invited Alpha Daurensbourg. He said I should meet him before the wedding because he is such a good friend.”

“Isn’t Julio your friend with the blue Mohawk?” Kane asked

“He has a Mohawk but yesterday it was pink. Julio is going to be a hair stylist. Alexei is sending him to school.” Donal gave Alexei a smile.

Armand raised an eyebrow.

“He kept my mouse alive and if he didn’t tell Rémy who Donal was, we would have had trouble with Don Ferone,” Alexei said with conviction.

“Before I met you guys, Julio was my only friend. He was an independent, but we shared a corner. He used to buy me hot cocoa and stuff off the dollar menu at McDonald’s even though he was saving for school. He got his GED all by himself.”

Alexei gazed at Armand. “Interestingly enough, Mr. Reyes is three-quarters Irish. His father was half Irish, and his mother was full-blooded Irish. He has green eyes.”

Armand arched his eyebrow. “Hence the invitation to Daurensbourg…”

“How did he wind up on the corner with you, Donal?” Kane asked leaning back in his chair.

“His parents died in a boating accident upstate when he was fourteen,” Donal said, frowning. “The state put him in a group home, but he was abused so he ran away and came to New York. He always had a goal. He worked toward it. He worries about me.”

“Julio does worry about my mouse. I think yesterday, at dinner, I finally convinced him of my good intentions. It’s a shame I can’t invite him to the wedding. However, the situation with the pack is too new, and this is the first time they’ve had to come together for their Alpha. I didn’t think it was a good idea to throw a stranger into the mix.” Alexei took a sip of his coffee.