The door opened and a slender, sandy-haired man stared at him with hazel eyes. Lifting a brow, he tilted his head and scented Dobs and his friends. "Can I help you?"
"My name is Vincent Marché. I'm looking for Frankie. Reb said he might be here?" Dobs asked, forcing his tone to remain cordial, when all he really wanted to do was shove his way inside and find Frankie. With the door open, the smell of his beloved's blood called to him. He wanted to taste the shifter again.
After a moment, the shifter nodded. "Sure. Wait in the front room," he ordered, backing up and pointing to his right. "I'll get Frankie."
He'd only just stepped into the foyer when Frankie, probably drawn by his scent or the sound of Dobs' voice, appeared around the corner. "Dobs? What are you doing here?"
Dobs wanted to answer, really he did, but all he saw was miles of skin and muscles. The question he'd had earlier if Frankie had tattoos was answered quickly. Unfortunately, his mind didn't focus on the colorful ink covering his left peck. Instead, all he saw was his naked beloved in another man's house-and there was another naked man standing directly behind him.
Possessive jealousy roared through him, and he knew his eyes bled to a crimson color, since he now saw everything through a haze of red. His nails grew into sharp claws and he launched toward the young, naked stranger. One thought pounded through his skull. Shred the interloper and prove to Frankie he belonged to him.
Chapter Six
Frankie's eyes widened as he watched the irises of Dobs' eyes bleed to a dark red color. His mate's nails thickened into claws. His gaze riveted on someone behind Frankie and an angry, feral expression tightened his features. Letting out a roar, Dobs lunged toward Frankie.
He couldn't understand why his mate would want to attack him, but then Dobs shoved him aside, obviously going after whoever was behind him. Demetri! Oh, no! Frankie didn't know what the hell was going on inside his vampire's head, but he couldn't let him hurt a pack-member. That would get him kicked out of the territory and they'd never be able to figure out if a mating between them would work.
Frankie leaped at Dobs, wrapping his arms around the more slender, slightly shorter man. He used his bulk to drive Dobs sideways, into the living room he'd just vacated, and to the floor. Without looking at the young shifter, Frankie ordered, "Demetri, go in the kitchen."
There was shouting in the background, but Frankie ignored it. He focused his attention on getting his mate secured. Dobs struggled underneath him, trying to use his vampire strength to buck Frankie off him. Frankie grabbed his mate's wrists and pinned them above his head. Using his greater weight, he sandwiched Dobs against the floor.
"Let me up, Frankie," Dobs snarled.
Frankie's wolf really wanted to obey their mate. He hated holding Dobs down, and he worried he was damaging their precarious relationship beyond repair, but he couldn't release him, yet. Not until he knew Dobs would talk about what the hell was going on.
"Why are you so angry?" Frankie asked, voicing his thoughts almost absently.
"You're naked with another man," Dobs snapped, once more trying to pull his hands free.
That made no sense to Frankie. "I'm a shifter. I get naked with other people all the time."
The fight seemed to go out of Dobs. He gave a whole body shiver, which actually almost succeeded in dislodging Frankie, then went limp.
Worried, it was a trick, Frankie didn't release him right away. "Dobs?" When he didn't get a response, he nuzzled his mate's neck and moved his weight to his knees and elbows. "Dobs? Are you okay, Dobs? Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to. Reb's always reminding me to be careful."
Instead of answering Frankie, Dobs mumbled, "I'm calm, now, Frankie. You can get up. I won't attack your … friend."
The slight hitch in Dobs' voice worried Frankie, as if maybe he really had hurt him. Frankie wanted to smack himself. Of course he'd hurt him. He'd stopped his mate from attacking someone, proving which of them was stronger. At Declan's, Dobs had been pretty dominant. A dominant man wouldn't like being shown that he was weaker than his mate, would he?
Frankie scrambled off the vampire and onto his knees. Dobs immediately rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, not meeting Frankie's gaze. "Dobs?" he called after several seconds.
Dobs' eyelids slid shut for a moment and he released a breath through parted lips. "This is going to take some getting used to," he finally said.
His brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of Dobs' comment. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Finding a mate is always a big adjustment. My brother says it's worth the compromises, though."
Meeting his gaze, Dobs frowned at him. "You really have no idea, do you? I thought we talked about this."
Frankie nibbled his lip, his gaze straying to the floor. What was Dobs talking about? What did he think they talked about? "I'm not-I'm not sure what you mean," he admitted.
"God damn it, Frankie," Dobs snapped. "I said there would be differences in mating with me than if you'd mated with another shifter. I'm a vampire. We don't run around naked in front of other people."
Frankie watched as Dobs rose and stalked to the fireplace. He rested his hands on the mantel for a second, his head hanging between his arms as he growled. Frankie knew his eyes were wide and his jaw dropped open. "Huh?"
"We aren't bonded, yet, Frankie," Dobs grumbled. "Seeing you naked with another man is not acceptable." He spun around and glared at him. "Even after we're bonded, I'm not sure I can handle that." Waving a hand at Frankie's naked form, he continued, "I mean, you just sit there, completely comfortable with your nudity. I don't-" He shook his head sharply. "Gods above. If we were visiting a coven, this kind of behavior wouldn't be acceptable!"
Finally, Frankie thought he understood. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well, duh. If we were at a coven, I wouldn't wander around naked," he said, snorting. "It's not like I run around naked in front of humans. I'm slow, not stupid. I understand the difference."
His knees were getting sore on the hard wood floor, so he shifted sideways onto his butt and stretched his legs out in front of him. He swung his arm, indicating the living room they sat in. "I work with young shifters, helping them learn to shift faster, more easily, and then learn how to use their animal body. I help them understand their animal instincts, which are really very similar to a human's basic instincts-the desire for food, shelter, companionship," he rattled off, ticking off points on his fingers. Once done, he paused, trying to remember where he'd been going with this.
"Wait, what do you mean you're slow, not stupid?" Dobs asked, dislodging any hope of Frankie remembering. "You used that term before, didn't you? Slow, I mean?"
Frankie sighed. If he lost his mate now, it'd be for the best, right? Better to know now than later if his mate could handle his … situation. "I … " he paused and frowned. Maybe he could ease into it? That's how people gave bad news, right? Most would consider this bad news, wouldn't they? Or, at least, life altering … "When I was two, my parents died in a car accident. A logging truck's cables broke, and the logs fell off and crushed the car."
Dobs' brows shot up. "I'm sorry."
Waving his hand, Frankie focused on the next bit. His brother had explained it a few times. What had he said? "I was in the car, too, but I didn't die. I was in a coma for a while." He pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He looked at his mate's shocked expression and forged ahead. "When I woke up, I had to relearn things. How to walk, talk, everything really. It took a long time," he finished in a whisper. He didn't have too many clear memories of that time. All he remembered was the frustration, the sadness, the depression.
"Gods above, Frankie. I'm so sorry," Dobs murmured, his brows drawn in concern.