"Mat and Pax are talking to Mat's grandma at her house," Eli explained. "Mat thought she might know something that could help keep Jany safe. Khonsu may be our Goddess, but I won't let her or the devotees do anything to him or try to split us up."

January took hold of one of Eli's hands and kissed the palm. "Even if I have to confer with Anubis himself, I refuse to be separated from any of you," he added.

"Oh, shit," Eli cursed, wide-eyed. "Is your God gonna be all pissed, too? Should we have let Mat and Pax go off without us?" The Omega leaned even closer to January. "What if your Anubis devotees got a message from him about things, and they're looking for us too?"

January shook his head. "Anubis's followers aren't like your devotees. They rarely know what's going on with the gods," he insisted.

"Okay, so...do you know how long until Mat and Pax return?" Maribelle asked as she shifted from one foot to the other. "Cause I don't know how long I can go without clinging to my mate like a monkey."

"Umm, I dunno," Eli had to admit, making a mental note to ask January more about Anubis later. "Do you want me to have Pax call you when he returns? Or we could just call his phone?" Elias asked. "Then you can go get your cling action on, and we can make plans for when we can meet hunky Mr. Maribelle."

The two Omegas' heads tilted in unison as the front door clicked open.

"Or I guess they're here right now," Elias said with a smile as he felt something comforting and safe click into his chest. His mates were close, and that's what he wanted. The Omega wasn't above clinging like a monkey. He could sympathize with Mari's feelings.

"We're back," Mateo called. "I hope you saved some of that hot lovin' for us. I need a brain scrub from some of the mental images Grandma Cira forced on me." The Hispanic wolf's voice dropped as he spoke to Pax next to him. "Seriously, remind me to never mention to our future grandkids how flexible or not flexible we were when we first mated."

Mateo's voice grew louder as they came closer. Eli grinned, keeping quiet, not wanting to ruin Mari's surprise for Pax. They must have been distracted not to notice Maribelle's scent. Although, now that Elias thought about it, the female Omega's scent had already been in the house, making it easy to overlook. Mari had been there the previous week to see Mateo for herself. Eli bounced a bit, feeling happy and excited about Maribelle finally finding her mate. This would be a fun surprise. Elias loved surprises. His smile widened as he heard his wolf mates about to walk into the room, Mateo still talking.

"I don't even know how that came up in a conversation about vampires and holy shit, Eli, please tell me that's not a devotee of Khonsu next to you!" Mateo blurted, frozen in the doorway and staring at Maribelle in horror.

Upon hearing the words "devotee" and "Khonsu" in the same sentence, Pax also rushed into the room, only to have Maribelle turn around to greet them.

"Oh, no devotee of Khonsu can boast having these hips, Maty," the female werewolf teased before rushing over to hug Pax and Mateo. "You're not gonna believe this, but...it's happened!"

"What's happened?" Mateo asked in confusion.

Mari again tugged her hair back to show off the deep aquamarine gem dangling on her ear. "I finally found him...ah, that is, we crashed into each other...the point is I finally found my mate!"

Pax let out a whoop of joy as he lifted her right up in the air and set her back down. "Where is he? We have to see him for ourselves!" He suggested.

Maribelle shook her head. "He's a human and lives on that side of town. But, more importantly, cousin-mine..." she trailed off as she pointed at January. "How come you haven't told me about him, huh?"

"Busted," Mat whispered teasingly as he sidled up next to Elias and January, giving the vampire a quick kiss and Eli a greeting cheek rub. "I didn't even realize it was Maribelle for a second. I was sure we'd been found out."

"I mean, I get it," she continued to fume. "Any devotee finding out would be terrible. But, not even a text?"

A troubled expression formed on Pax's face. "We only found him last night, Mari..." he explained. "And we snuck him in several hours ago! We needed more information, so it's been too chaotic."

Maribelle let out a loud huff as she folded her arms in front of her. "I'll let it slide this time...but you guys better confide in me more from now on. That goes for all of you." She added as she spun and gave each man a glare of warning.

Everyone but January flinched.

"Girls are scary," Eli whispered to Mat, who nodded in agreement as the redhead hid behind their vampire mate, peeking out from behind the tall man. January couldn't help his soft chuckle and fond smile. Being part of this group of wolves, this family, was delightful in many ways. Jany pulled Elias out from his hiding spot, tucking the petite Omega into his side as he draped an arm around Mateo's waist.

Maribelle quickly collected the mens’ solemn oaths that she would be called and informed of what they'd discovered from Mateo's grandmother. They congratulated her again on finding her mate. The ebony-haired Omega’s expression softened, and she gave everyone a quick hug, even January. She then hurried off, muttering about mates and monkeys.

"What did you guys find out?" Eli asked, flopping on the bed.

January, Mateo, and Pax joined Elias on the bed as the taller werewolves began to relay what they heard.

"Well, we were given a basic history lesson of the usual...you know, the weres versus vamps and how our devotees were urged by Khonsu to be firmly anti-vamp," Mateo began.

"To summarize, there was an Alpha and an Elder vamp who were tired of all the animosity and fighting and decided to form a truce," Pax explained. "According to Mat's grandma, the two were star-crossed lovers, which infuriated Khonsu." 

"And no one even knows what happened to them! Granny said something about the Alpha leaving a note saying he had to leave," Mat added. "But both of them ended up disappearing."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Eli asked worriedly. "I'll leave if I have to, as long as you're all with me, but I don't want to have to go. Our families are here. I grew up here."

"I believe it's too soon to think about moving out," January responded as he gently rubbed the Omega's shoulders to calm him down. "We can ask Mateo's grandmother if she knows where that parting note was; try to search for anything the Alpha and Elder left behind..."

Pax shook his head. "According to Mateo's grandmother, all the Alpha wrote in the note was something along the lines of letting them know he was okay but had to leave. No further information was given," he stated.

"Then, perhaps it is time I visit some old friends. Perhaps one of them might know what happened on the Elder vampire's side of things," Jany pointed out.

"Is that safe?" Mateo asked. "What if the vampires find out you're mated to us?"

"We tend to keep to ourselves. I doubt any of my kind would even care or react more than a simple brow raise," January responded. "Some vampires witnessed as much in the Black Orchid last night, but didn't pay it much mind after the 'show' was over."

"Shit!" Elias yelped. "There were wolves there! I didn't even think about it. We don't have much time to figure this out before they figure us out."

"Then it's time I call in a few favors..." Jany mused aloud. "Though nothing can be done until the sun fully sets."