Let’s Talk One True Mate (One True Mate Companion, Vol. 1)

4-Beckett and Cerise ♦♦

“The next to meet his mate was Beckett, a month later.” Timber faced Burton squarely. “Chief—we’re going to need you to take a valium or something for what’s coming next.”

Grey really pulled some shit, Canyon said.

Burton started growling on idle.

“See, Chief, we can’t work under these conditions.”

This hostile work environment.

Timber picked up the receiver to the office phone on his desk. He pointed it at Burton saying, “Do I need to call HR? Because I’ll do it.” Timber slammed the phone back down. “Seriously, Chief, Grey fucked up several of our own. If you can’t handle it, it’s our duty not to tell you.”

Burton stood and left the area. He walked down the corridor of shelves without a word. Canyon and Timber exchanged a look, then sat and waited.

After a moment, Burton came back and sat in his chair. “I can handle it. Give me the light version.”

“Like we would tell a pup at bedtime,” Timber agreed, standing. “I need a second to think.”

Canyon opened several files and police reports, cascading them on his monitor.

Timber scanned a few reports. “This seems like an opportunity to me,” he said.

Definitely.

Canyon got up and pulled a specialty mini-fridge out of their pile of equipment and slid it across the floor, right in front of Timber, who pressed the button on the top, which opened it, revealing four cold sodas and four cold sandwiches.

“Got anything harder?” Burton said.

“We’re on the clock, Chief.”

“Right, right,” Burton mumbled. He popped open a soda and drained it, then grabbed a sandwich and downed it in two bites.

Did you take the wrapper off that, Chief? Canyon said, glancing at his unopened sandwich.

Burton burped. “I sure as shit hope so.”

Timber pointed at the last drink and sandwich. Burton took them both.

Timber paced, soda in hand. “Ok. Beckett is our wolf prince and Cerise is our captured princess. Grey is our bad guy and Khain is our bad guy boss. Got it?”

“Timber. This is stup—.”

Timber held up a hand. “Chief—I know you're the chief and all, but I’m going to need you to stop interrupting me. It’s rude.” He picked up the phone and waggled it at Burton, then he held it to his ear. “HR?” he said in a loud voice, then he pointed the phone at Burton again. “Chandra in HR looooves me. I’m even on her Christmas cookie list. And if I make just one complaint? No cookies for you.”

Canyon laughed softly, shaking his head. Timber ate it up like steak—he loved an audience.

Burton looked irritated. “I should demote your ass,” he growled.

Timber laughed and put the phone down. “Look, Chief, the story is about to get really good now.”

“Get on with it,” Burton grumbled.

Timber shook his head. “No, you were right the first time, Chief. It’s stupid. I should just give you the straight up facts.”

Canyon was laughing again and Burton was fuming.

“Tell me the fucking story,” Burton growled.

Timber put his hand up and Canyon tossed him the ball. Timber caught it and tossed it back.

“Okay, so there's the wolf prince, the princess, the bad guy and the bad guy boss. Are we clear on that?”

“Uh huh,” Burton said with an eye roll.

“Once upon a time, the bad guy did a bad thing to the family of the wolf prince.”

Burton growled deep and resonant. Timber waited for him to stop, knowing this might go bad. Burton could bind both him and Canyon at the same time and Timber was determined not to let this conversation get out of control. He watched Burton carefully, waiting for him to calm before he went on.

“Let’s start somewhere else—the captured princess.” Timber thought for a second, then said, “Unfortunately, she fared no better. A long time ago, the bad guy did a lot of bad things, and one of them was capture the princess, steal her pendant, and put her with a bad human family, one the bad guy knew would abuse her. We’ll call this human family ‘not-dad’ and ‘not-mom’. This bad guy yoinked another girl from her family—”

Burton growled.

“—to distract her parents from bad guy’s crimes. We’ll call this second girl, ‘lil bit’, because that’s what the wolf prince calls her. Anyway, the captive princess and lil bit ran away, but were caught and taken home. They snuck out when they could and burgled houses for cash and one day, they broke into a patrol officer’s house and found the tunnels. The retina scanner worked for captive princess, just like she was a wolf. She was drawn to the wolf prince's house, and once again, a sleeping badass was woken by his One True Mate’s first kiss.”

Canyon snickered . Just like in the fairy tales.

Burton looked unimpressed.

“Captive princess’s power is mind control, and when wolf prince woke, captive princess freaked out and zapped his brain to forget her—she calls it ‘pushing.’ She pushed him to forget her and he did—for weeks. But her loins burned for him, so—”

Canyon snorted. Burning loins.

Burton pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “What are you, twelve?”

“AS I WAS SAYING,” Timber continued loudly, “One day while everyone was sleeping, she snuck back to wolf prince’s house. This time, he didn’t wake up so she didn’t do the brain shove thingy before she left. When he did wake up, he scented her and followed her backtrail, but too late to stop the disaster at her place.”

“While captive princess was checking on wolf prince, not-dad turned into monster craptastic not-dad. Captive princess returned home in time to save lil bit, but not-dad attacked her. Lil bit, protecting captive princess, shot and killed not-dad dead. Captive princess grabbed up lil bit and they ran for it, but they were caught and before anyone knew who they were, captive princess was put in the cellblock and lil bit was sent to the juvenile interim home. Clear Sky Lake caught on fire so we were a little distracted.”

Vahiy sign , Canyon said. Several lakes caught on fire but we put them out with baking soda.

Burton frowned. “Where did you find enough baking—”

“Focus, Chief! Anyway, when the lakes were out, Beckett—I mean the wolf prince—found the captured princess at the hospital where she’d been sent after a fight in the cellblock. She brain-shoved wolf prince and he helped her out of the hospital, then took her to get lil bit out of the interim home, and then he drove them west because captured princess was trying to get lil bit back to her parents in California. Bad guy and two lackeys followed them and attacked before they got there, but they fought back and escaped. Once they got to California, they went to lil bit’s family home but her parents weren’t there, they’d been lured away by Grey—still, come to find out, lil bit’s part wolven —I know, gasp , right?! Khain—I mean bad guy boss showed up and that freaked her out so bad it made her shift… wait. I’m getting ahead of myself again. Bad guy attacked again and wolf prince was in real trouble, which got Crew’s Spidey-sense tingling from all the way across the country. Graeme got Mac and Bruin out there within a couple of minutes, using some extra spicy fire magic or some shit.”

Timber paused and took a swig of his soda. “So while they were saving wolf prince, bad guy gave captured princess her pendant, and told her to call bad guy boss with it. Then, like I said, bad guy boss showed up, lil bit hulked out, and snapped his arm like a Slim Jim.”

“Lil bit’s tough as shit,” Burton said.

No doubt.

“They fought,” Timber said, speaking fast and loud. “Bad guy boss grabbed bad guy and the pendant and took them to the Pravus and that was the last we saw of bad guy for months. Wade invited lil bit and her family to come live in Serenity—the end!”

Timber put his arm up for the ball, Canyon threw it. Timber caught it, spiked it, then did an endzone celebration dance around his desk.

Burton watched Timber, then growled, “Forget the demotion. I will bury your ass in the backwoods—less paperwork.”

“You better be nice to me,” Timber said, retrieving the football and tossing it to Canyon. “Or I won’t get you an electric wheelchair when you’re old and feeble.”

“I’ll never be old and feeble,” Burton said. “Besides, Canyon’s building me a jetpack for my twilight years. Ain’t that right?” Burton said to Canyon.

Canyon nodded. Yep. Bionic legs, too.

“I better be getting a jetpack,” Timber said.

Canyon gave him a thumbs up.

“Hell yeah. Now what was I saying before I was so rudely interrupted?”

Wade invited lil bit and family to live at VF.