Force of the Dark Wolf (Force of Nature Series) by Kathi S. Barton Page B

friend. He leaned in and kissed her cheek , giving a little of his magic to her. She would never know and he would have her around for a bit longer. He also made a mental note to do the same to Jessie as well.
    He had the gift of longevity. Not many vampires possessed his power , especially not half breeds as he was. He had given the gift to CJ and Austin, also to the other boys in the house. Nancy Force he had not. She knew that he’d been doing it slowly over the months and told him if he did that to her she’d hurt him.
    “I want to go to my husband soon. Well, not soon , but when my time is right. You keep your voodoo and leave me to my own death.” He ’d kissed her cheek , but kept this gift to himself. “Now go and make me a grandma before I die, will you ? ”
    That had been three months ago and he was no closer to keeping his promise to her than he’d been back then. He walked into the dining room just as they were sitting down. He glanced at Darcy and knew that the girl was watching him. She was another puzzle he wanted to solve.
    “Well, Alexis my dear , have you and your mate given any thought to my offer?” He needed her blood now more than ever. He was worried when she glanced at Gordon. He could feel the tension between them. “What is it?”
    Gordon cleared his throat and handed a plate to Tim. “Why don’t we bench this until after dinner? Then we can go out onto the deck and talk. And Tim here has an announcement to make.”
    The boy grinned. The first happy grin Phil had seen from any of the children since he’d met them. But something had happened to the couple at the head of the table. They would barely look at one another and they didn’t speak to each other. He knew that they had mated , bec o me a true mated pair , but their scent was different . I t was more. Phil couldn’t help but wonder if they’d found out something about Patrick Booth. But he doubted it would be that easy.
    “I got an A plus on my math test today. Gordo n helped me with figuring out how to add them up without using my fingers so the teacher would catch me.”
    “Really?” Alexis asked. “You taught him to cheat without being caught. Great. What’s next, are you going to show him how to sho o t your gun?”
    “Can you ? ” Tim asked excitedly. He realized they were kidding about the same time Alexis shot him a look. “Oh. Well, that’s not fair to get a kid ’s hopes all up then take ‘ em away.”
    “If you bring home two more A s I’ll show you how to throw a knife,” Jessie said without missing a beat. “In my day I was quite the shot.” She put peas on Phil’s plate as she continued talking to Tim. “I could knock the eyeball out of a rat a yard away.”
    “Oh for heaven’s sake, you could not. Why you can barely threa d a needle much less throw a knife.” Gladys turned to Tim as she took the peas off Phil’s plate. It was dizzying how fast the two women teamed up on his food. “You stay away from her , son , when she has a knife. She’s more likely to cut your pecker off th a n to throw it with any kind of accuracy.”
    Phil looked around the table at the stunned faces. While the silence reigned he had a pork chop put on his plate and taken off as well as a pile of mashed potatoes that would have fed a small army. He finally took his plate and moved far away from the two older women. He wasn’t even hungry , but they were making him nuts with the switches.
    Tim nodded and didn’t say another thing about learning to throw a knife or shoo t a gun. Phil did notice that he cupped himself whenever his aunt got close to him. The rest of the dinner was made in relative chaos, but the kind that he had seen in hundreds of families over the centuries. After dinner and the kids were set up with a movie , he went out into the warm night with the adults. Austin and CJ came just in time for dessert.
    “How true is it that Caroline found Alexis and is not her real mother? Or you for that matter?”