Overcoming His Pride Read Free

protested. “Listen, you guys are really sweet but…”
    Chen clamped a hand down over Andrew’s mouth, his touch gentle but firm. “I don’t want to hear those words from you again. You are exactly what we need. Your age means nothing.”
    Andrew shook his head and dislodged Chen’s hold. He stepped away from the wrens, more than a little surprised when they let him. He needed to stand where he could see them both and know where their hands were.
    “How can you say that my age is inconsequential? You’d both outlive me even if you were human. I hope you have a backup mate because you’ll probably still look like that when I’m old and grey.”
    He hated to keep harping on their age difference, but they simply refused to get the message. They still believed in happily ever after and everything turning out for the best. Sweet, delusional boys. Destroying their dreams brought him little pleasure, but breaking their hearts would bring him even less.
    “We don’t get another mate. That’s not how it works,” Marlen insisted.
    Andrew’s phone rang. When he saw his son’s name on the screen, he answered the call. James rarely phoned him without a reason.
    “Hello, James.”
    “Morning, Dad,” James’ cheery voice came over the receiver followed by a long pause as if he didn’t know what to say next.
    “What’s up?” They hadn’t mended things so well that they were in the casual ‘call each other just to chat’ stage.
    “Umm… If you have time I need your help.”
    Andrew clenched the phone until the edges bit into his fingertips. “What happened? Are you okay?”
    Concern for his child pushed everything else out of his mind. With his son’s partner out of town for a law enforcement meeting, James was on his own. Andrew had thought his son would be safe with Talan’s pride keeping an eye on him.
    “Sorry, didn’t mean to panic you. Nothing drastic. The car broke down and since Lou’s out of town, I was hoping you could pick me up. The tow truck won’t be here for another hour. Apparently the owner went fishing. They said if I left the keys, they would come by and get it.”
    Only in a small town could a person leave their keys in the car and still expect it to be there for the tow truck driver an hour later. Of course in a shifter town, the odds were Talan would maul any potential thief and scare him back to the big city.
    Andrew sighed with relief. He’d been imagining the worse. Inwardly he did back flips. James could’ve called someone in the pride or from the sheriff’s office. Both groups would eagerly help James out. The fact he’d called Andrew had him smiling.
    “I was just about to leave home. I can pick you up on the way to the hospital.”
    “Thanks, Dad.” James rattled off his location, giving Andrew enough landmarks he was confident he could find his son.
    Andrew grinned. “You’re welcome. See you soon.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket.
    “Problem?” Chen asked.
    “James is having car trouble.”
    “You have to get to work. Why don’t you let us pick him up?” Marlen offered.
    “I don’t know.” Andrew worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “He’s expecting me. He doesn’t usually call me for help.”
    He didn’t want his son to feel he’d pawned him off on the wrens, not when they were growing closer.
    “He’s counting on you to help out. We’re willing to do that and make sure you’re not late.” Chen kissed Andrew’s cheek. “Let us take care of this. We need to get to know him better anyway.”
    “Are you sure?” Andrew looked from one wren shifter to another, not certain of the right thing to do.
    Marlen kissed Andrew’s other cheek. “He should get to know his stepfathers.”
    Cold sweat sprang up across Andrew’s body. “Stepfathers?” he asked weakly. He knew the wrens wanted him to be their mate, but he hadn’t considered the stepfather aspect. Robbing the cradle could make things awkward.
    Chen grinned. “Don’t worry.