to get intros done. Pretty too. There’s probably going to be some interest.”
Razor snorted. “Yeah, but you’d have to date her under Regan’s watch. My balls shrink with the thought.”
Instead of taking offense, Steel radiated smug satisfaction. “Damn straight. I pity the poor fucker that has to go head-to-head with my bitch.”
Razor threw his hands into the air in an exaggerated display of disgust. “Could you assholes be less obvious about slavering over your women? I’m fucking getting diabetes listening to all of you, and with Brick and House, I get a double dose of both mate and kid talk. I mean, someone needs to tell those two Danny didn’t fucking hang the moon.”
“Course he didn’t hang it, jackass, but he’s going to probably figure out how to get us to Mars and colonize it or something. You know his math teacher called us and said that he gets concepts that don’t start teaching until high school, even college?” House and Brick sidled up to the group, Tank following close, and the wolves had taken over a good stretch of the bar top. Iron set out fresh beers for everyone while House continued, now on a roll talking about his second favorite subject. “Gave us some names for these programs for gifted kids. Gifted. Even his teachers realize how fucking smart our kid is.”
House might have been the one speaking, but pride radiated from both him and Brick in equal measures, and Iron thanked God for how they loved Danny. Danny was theirs, in the same way Mel was theirs, and Iron wanted to see the bloodbath that would follow if any wolf was ever dumbass enough to question why they would raise a kid not their own.
“You bought him a tablet computer ?” Both House and Brick froze as Mel popped up behind them, years of working the bar making her quick and quiet, and no one noticed her arrival until she spoke, staring daggers at the two wolves.
House turned on his Hollywood charm, smiling at her a smile that deserved to be on a movie poster. “Sweetheart, he needs it for his studying.”
Unfortunately for him, Mel had never been swayed by the charm, and it wasn’t starting now. She poked him in the chest. “I have to overhear my son telling my father about his newest gift from his dads to know what’s going on in my own home ? We have a computer! He doesn’t need his own.”
“But he can’t travel with that one.” With a gentle grasp, House took her hand in his to stop the poking and rose to stand in front of her, Brick rising as well and coming behind her, the two wolves leaning over her and creating an intimate barrier from the world, and from the subtle scent change and slight clouding of her eyes, it was apparent Mel both noticed and was affected by their actions. “This will be good for school, and we already checked that it was allowed. We have all the safeguards in place so he can’t get anywhere on the web he shouldn’t, and he’s such a good kid, you know he wouldn’t anyway. We just want our son to have everything he needs to succeed in school.”
Then Brick leaned down and said in his low, rusty voice, “Don’t deny us taking care of our son.”
There was the KO, and Mel was gone, looking up at her mates like she was a hairsbreadth from pushing them both on their backs and having her way with them right there. Razor muttered, “I’m getting the hose,” but it was only the arrival of Mr. Harris that had Brick and House stepping back and straightening up like kids who were almost caught necking on the porch. Mr. Harris gave them an amused, knowing look before turning to Mel and asking, “Mel, sweetheart, your mother and I are going to head out now.”
“Already?” Mel frowned, stepping closer to her father. “Are you both feeling okay?”
Mr. Harris waved the words away. “Fine, fine, we can’t party with you young people all night, and we don’t want to miss our shows.”
The frown lifted but didn’t disappear, but Mel didn’t argue the point, only