Timeless

Chapter 8

Frankie had never been more afraid in his life then when he heard that scream. He thought

for sure something horrible had happened to his mate. Yes, Manny had been right there all along

in his life for the past few years, but it wasn’t like they had spent that much time together. Add in

the fact that Manny was only sixteen when he first came to Angelo and Morgan, and was way too

young for Frankie to even think of in a relationship kind of way. Then there was the fact that

Manny was part phoenix, and as like all phoenix, their scent didn’t start until they were nearing

their coming of age, which was twenty-one. So, really it didn’t matter even if Manny was sitting

on his lap twenty-four hours a day, Frankie still wouldn’t have been aware that the gorgeous

young man was his mate.

And Manny was gorgeous with his light, pale green eyes, and shoulder length light brown

hair. He stood only a few inches shorter than Frankie’s own five-foot-eleven, and was about

twenty pounds lighter than his own hundred and seventy, but Manny was well toned and slightly

muscular. His body was tight and sleek, and he moved with a sensual grace that Frankie found

fascinating for someone so young. The artist in him just wanted to sit and stare at Manny for hours

as he painted his gorgeous features, trying to capture the sweetness of the man, and the golden

glow of his silky looking skin. But Frankie knew that no matter how long he tried, he would never

be able to capture the real beauty and inner innocence of his mate.

When he burst through the door, splintering the wood, he expected there to be a foe to deal

with, but what he found stopped him in his tracks and had him staring at his mate in a whole new

way. Manny sat on the floor beside Avery, the two of them looking at them all rushing into the

room as if they were all crazy. Manny had a scared but confused look in his eyes, as if he didn’t

know why they had broken down his door.

With just that slight hesitation, Frankie couldn’t stop his body from going to his mate,

dropping down on his knees, and scooping the beautiful young man up into his arms. He needed to

feel that Manny was safe and okay.

“Damn it, Frankie! I told you if you laid one damn hand on my son I would cut your balls off.

Now, let him go!” Angelo demanded.

Frankie had had enough of Angelo’s meddling. He loved his friend like a brother, but this

was getting old. And insulting. He always thought he and Ang were friends, so what was his

fucking problem with him being Manny’s mate? It wasn’t like he was a scumbag and would treat

Manny like s**t. And Manny wasn’t just someone off or one night stand, he was his mate, and

Frankie would worship and cherish this gift that fate had blessed him with.

Frankie ground his teeth together, then flashed Angelo his angriest look before he seethed,

“No! He is my mate, and I won’t let you keep trying to keep us apart. Now back the f**k off,

Angelo or I’ll file a complaint with the council.”

Angelo’s eyes went wide and filled with rage as he sputtered angrily, “You’ll file a

complaint? You? I’ll file a f*****g complaint against you manhandling my underage son! Now get

your damn hands off him.” Angelo took a step closer, but was stopped short when Morgan

grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Angelo turned to look at Morgan, his eyes filled with hurt ans confusion, and confusion.

“Stop, Angel. Frankie is right. You need to stop trying to interfere with a mating. Not only is

it against our laws, but you’re not being fair to either Frankie or Manny. Come on,” Morgan said

calmly as he tried to pull Angelo from the room.

“But he’s our son and he needs us. Look at him Morgan, he’s scared,” Angelo pleaded.

“Yes, Angel, but that’s not from Frankie. It’s from all of us blasting into the room.”

“But he’s…also…changed. He needs us,” Angelo replied.

Morgan looked at Manny and gave him a loving smile. “Yes, he has changed, but he is still

the same Manny we love and he is still our son. Come on, Angel. You and I need to have a long

talk.” Morgan was able to pull a stunned Angelo from the room, but Angelo never stopped

looking at Manny with worry and love.

Once they were gone, the others all moved a little closer. “Manny, are you okay?” Justice

asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“We heard screaming,” Illan added.

“That was me,” Avery confessed.

Immediately Illan and Justice went to him and scooped him off the floor and into their arms,

sandwiching him between them. “Are you alright, baby? Are you hurt?” Illan asked as his hands

roamed over Avery’s body, checking for any injuries.

Avery giggled as he twisted around. “Stop that, Illan, before something happens we don’t

want to happen in front of all these people. And yes, I’m fine. I was just a little freaked out from

the green man that appeared.”

“Just because Manny is the color of the Jolly Green Giant now doesn’t mean he’ll hurt you,

Avery,” Jett said with a laugh.

“Hey,” Manny protested and crossed his arms over his chest as he turned angry eyes to Jett.

“He’s kind of right, Manny. You do look a little like the Jolly Green Giant, only sexier,”

Oliver stated.

Frankie growled from Ollie’s words and his appreciative glance over Manny’s body, and he

held Manny tighter against him.

“So, is it true, Manny?” Jett asked, his eyes lighting up with amusement.

Manny’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Jett and asked cautiously, “Is what true?”

Jett smirked. “That it’s not easy being green?” Jett and Ollie burst out laughing as everyone

else chuckled and turned away, trying to hide their smiles.

Manny rolled his eyes and Frankie could see him biting the inside of his cheek trying not to

smile. At first Frankie wanted to get up and smack the s**t out of Jett, but then it dawned on him

what the big dragon shifter was doing. He was trying to make Manny more comfortable by making

him see that it didn’t matter to any of them that he was now green and was a fairy. And Manny

was a gorgeous green. The new skin color didn’t detract from Manny’s beauty, only enhanced it.

Frankie could swear that along with the green skin, Manny now looked more defined and toned.

More delicate, but still masculine. He was absolutely stunning and Frankie just wanted to spend

hours gazing at his n***d form.

“Shut up, you butt muncher,” Manny murmured, still fighting to hold back the smile.

“Yes, I am a butt muncher and am really good at it. Just ask my mate,” Jett declared proudly.

Jett,” Illan said in warning.

“What? Yeah, like I’m the only one in this room. Am I right…Avery?” he asked and winked

at Avery.

Avery’s eyes opened wide as a pink blush rose in his cheeks and he smiled shyly while

biting his bottom lip.

“See, Manny. Trust me, once you lose the big V card and Frankie shows you how it’s

done―”

“Jett!” Justice huffed and shook his head.

“Fine. So, Manny, tell me, what is the Jolly Green Giant most afraid of?”

Manny chuckled as he pulled away from Frankie and got to his feet. “What?”

“Avocado pickers.”

Ollie, Pas, Illan, Avery, and even Frankie laughed at that one. “Hey, Manny, tell me, are your

pea’s free range?” Ollie snickered, and everyone joined in.

“Why did the Jolly Green Giant get kicked out of the garden?” Jett asked. When no one said

a word, he continued. “He took a pea,” Jett answered himself, then bent at the waist and started

laughing.

“Okay. I think that’s enough of that. I think we need to give Frankie and Manny some time

alone,” Justice chastised.

“Wait. Hey, Manny, you gotta do it for me just once, man,” Jett snickered.

Manny looked at him in confusion with furrowed brows. “Do what?”

“Say it.”

“Say what?” Manny asked.

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about, Jolly Green Giant,” Jett prodded.

Manny still looked at him in confusion.

Ollie laughed hysterical as he said, “He wants you to say, Ho ho, ho, green giant.”

“That’s enough. Jett, get your a*s out,” Frankie yelled and pushed on Jett’s shoulder to get

him to walk toward the door.

“Oh, come on, Frankie, you know you were thinking it.”

“Actually, no I wasn’t. I was thinking about why we came running in here in the first place.

Someone screamed,” Frankie replied in a huff.

Suddenly all humor left and everyone’s faces turned serious. “Why did you scream, Avery?”

Justice asked.

Avery looked to Manny nervously as he hit his bottom lip. “Um…”

Manny sighed. “Because my father, my biological father, Rune, suddenly appeared and

freaked Avery out. He threw an energy ball at him,” Manny answered.

“Oh s**t. He was just here?” Illan gasped.

Unexpectedly, Dain suddenly appeared in the room, his eyes showing his surprise at where

he was.

“Dain, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be on vacation or something

like that?” Justice asked.

“I am supposed to be on a forced sabbatical, but no one said anything about a vacation,”

Dain mumbled between clenched teeth.

“So, then why are you here in my mate’s bedroom?” Frankie asked angrily.

“I was following someone, and his trail brought me here.”

“Following who?” Illan asked.

“It’s not important.”

“You were following Rune, weren’t you? He’s the only other person that suddenly popped in

here,” Manny accused.

Dain’s eyes went wide with shock. “How do you know Rune? And…and why are you

green?”

“Because Rune is the one who took me. He’s my father,” Manny answered.