The Boy in the Woods (boyxboy)

Chapter 16

Damian's POV

Charlie squealed and threw himself at the stranger that we couldn't see from our position. I traded a glance with Galen and walked closer to the doorway to see.

A rugged, tanned man stood with his arms at his sides as he looked to the sky with an expression of fond exasperation on his face. Charlie was wrapped around him like an octopus, straddling him with his arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he rubbed his face obnoxiously into the man's neck. When I came into view, the man flicked his green eyes to mine and smiled, making his laugh lines more apparent. He grabbed Charlie by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from his body, making Charlie hang mid-air like a kitten in its mother's grip. He dropped him into the arms of the man next to him and stepped into the foyer with his hand out to me.

"I'm Jeremiah Cole. You must be one of the twins Charlie has told me nothing about," he grumbled in deep baritone with a backward annoyed look towards the vampire in the startled man's arms. He gripped my hand in a firm handshake. I aimed an amicable smile towards him and replied.

"Yep. I'm Damian Moriarty. You must be one of the "friends" which Charlie also told us nothing about. Pleasure to meet you." I shifted to angle my body toward my brother and mate. With a nod to them, I introduced them. "That's my brother Galen and our mate Yuki."

Jeremiah's eyes widened and flashed with an unreadable emotion when he saw Yuki's cat ears and tail from where he was perched on Galen's back. They flickered at the attention but otherwise didn't move aside from the constant swishing of his tail. Jeremiah opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him. We can talk in the office later about the important stuff.

"Before we get into that story, I'd like to introduce my father, Vizin, the Alpha." I nodded to him and continued. "Standing next to him is Samuel, the Beta, and Spencer, the Gamma." I turned back to him to see him glance at me speculatively. But otherwise not speaking his observations.

He held his arm out to the door where his group had filed in during introductions. A beautiful woman stood at the front of the group, and at Jeremiah's motion, she moved forward, swaying and graceful in a way that wasn't unlike Charlie.

She positioned her body next to Jeremiah so she was pressed up against him with her shining, straight black hair flowing as she turned her head toward me. She licked her lips and the way her grey eyes scanned my body up and down made blood unwillingly rush to my face so I forced myself to look away.

Jeremiah chuckled as he saw my reaction. His eyes flicked behind me and flared with amusement at something there. Dad walked over from where he stood at our right and shook hands with Jeremiah. Galen crept up to me from behind and nudged the back of my neck with his nose, his scent soothing me in a way that made me realize how tense I was. He stood next to me with Dad on my right.

Jeremiah introduced the woman. "This is my... lover, Maxine Lewis. She-"

"Call me Max," she interrupts with a smile. She bypasses Dad's hand to invade my personal space faster than I can blink to smell my neck, her hair tickling my arms. I jerk backward and bump Galen's arm that was stretched out to catch me. Yuki snarls from his place on Galen and throws himself at her.

She cackles and evades his leap, turning elegantly and throwing herself behind Jeremiah. Yuki's green eyes flash and he bares his little fangs at her, his hair standing on his tail and his ears thrown back. Before he can attack her again, I wrap my arms around his waist and embrace him so he can't move. He relaxes almost instantly, turning in my arms to sniff at my neck. He sticks his tongue out and starts laving at my neck. I quickly stop him before my body can react more than a twitch in my pants. He pouts at me before throwing another glare at the woman and curling his arms around my neck.