Page 4 of A Clutch for Hutch
And if I never got a mate, never had young, maybe one of them would be the next alpha. Males were traditional, but little Daphne had a big personality and a way of getting anyone to do what she wanted. She was a natural.
This vacation was a real gift from Father in that he was working so hard himself to get me ready to take over his position, but he said it would do me good to have a little break. With the back of my car piled with gifts for the amazing grandchildren, I drove away from the fluffle and down the highway.
Usually, over the years, I’d left the lands on a regular basis to shop or go to the movies, visit non-fluffle friends, run other errands, but since my brother left and my training began, I hadn’t been to town or basically anywhere else in months.
Almost as if the outside world had ceased to exist beyond what the screen of my phone could bring me. I used to watchtelevision, too. Maybe I’d find some time to catch up on the reality shows so dear to my heart while on vacation.
Mating among humans was a strange and drawn-out process, which the shows revealed in detail. While it was fun to observe, it made me extra glad that shifters didn’t have to go through that nonsense. We met our mates, and that was it. No need for lots of dates or convincing the other party that we belonged together with Fate in charge.
That said, not everyone got a mate, for some reason only Fate understood; meaning, you might choose to be with someone anyway for companionship or affection or family, but you would always know that you’d missed out on the true, full experience that others enjoyed.
If Fate did not deem me worthy of a mate, I would stay single. My brother’s mating had cemented that for me. I wanted my own version of what he had and not anything less.
My phone buzzed, and I used my hands-free system to answer it. “Hello, Brother.” The dash had shown me who was calling. “How are things in the desert?”
“You aren’t in the desert yet?” he huffed. “I thought you’d be here hours ago.”
“How early did you think I was starting out?” Early bird! “I’m on vacation.”
“Sleepy head. How is Father handling your lazy-bones self?”
“Better than I probably deserve. I’ve been getting up earlier by the way, but sometimes…anyway, I’m on vacation. Did I already say that?”
“Yes, you did. Just give me an ETA and I’ll be at Animals when you get there. Karma is expecting you, and she says she’s got a great room for you to stay in.”
“I thought I’d stay with you.”
“You’re on vacation and our house is a zoo. I’ve done the job you’re attempting to do, and it’s exhausting. But you can hang out with us as much as you like.”
“I’ll be there in an hour or so. You sure you can get away from the family that late?”
“I’m sure. Grant gave me the night off to spend with you.”
“Sorry I won’t see him tonight, but I’ll be over there tomorrow to bring the twins all the gifts from their grandpas.”
“They’re spoiling them, aren’t they?”
“Well, there was still room in the car for me, so I’d say they held back.”
I let him go then so he could get out of the house and head for Animals to meet me. Since they’d had the kids, my brother and his mate didn’t exactly have a lot of date nights, so I appreciated my brother-in-law even more than usual. He probably would have preferred the two of them had a night out, but he was sending my twin to hang out with me instead.
I listened to music on the radio for the rest of the trip, my mood lifting even more to the heavy bass. Hoover had instructed me to go around back to the employee parking lot, and lucky I did because the regular one was packed and people were circling, looking for a space. The road I took after passing the main lot rose steeply with a sheer drop on the driver’s side. It might have bothered me a while back, but after all the training from my father, I had discovered wells of bravery I never knew I had.
Compared to some of the mountains I’d climbed lately, this road was a walk in the park. I left all the gifts in the car, figuring they’d be safe enough here, and started for the building. There were two wolf shifters in chefs’ whites standing outside the door, and I expected to be challenged, but one greeted me as Hoover, and the other offered a friendly smile. I didn’t bother to correct them; we’d had that happen all our lives. However, before I wentinside the building, my brother, the real Hoover pulled up to park.
“Hey, little bro!” He climbed out of his car and hurried over to give me a big hug. “It’s good to see you.”
The two chefs gaped, and my brother took me over to meet them.
“Brothers, huh?” the one who called me Hoover said. “I didn’t know you had one.”
“Twins.” He slapped me on the back. “Identical, but I’m better looking.”
“He’s deluded,” I put in, shaking hands with the males. “But my dads say I have to keep him because he’s blood.”
We bantered back and forth as we walked through the kitchen and into the main club area. The place was as full as the parking lot had indicated, with music playing, people dancing, and lots of chatter. Including from my brother, until I told him to shush so I could hear myself think. The town nearest the fluffle had no night clubs, nothing that could even remotely be called one, and it was all a little overwhelming, but exciting at the same time, and I accepted his offer to go get us drinks while I found a table.
I’d heard Animals got its name because it started out as only a shifter club, but once the owner met his mate, Karma, he opened the doors to every other paranormal and humans as well. A lot of the details I’d gotten had been vague, but there was no doubt the guests here tonight were of a wide variety of people. Vampires, fae, humans, and every kind of shifter under the sun. A few of them were even in beast form. A sign on the wall near the table warned that witches were not allowed to ride their brooms inside the building. With everything else going on, something must have happened to incur that rule. Must have been bad.
