His Dominant Human Mate

3: Sweet And Sour

A naughty grin was etched on Anthony's face as he exited the office, leaving a stunned Julian gaping at his back. He hadn't even got to the parking lot when his phone began ringing. It was his mother, Kathrine McCain.

“Mum,” he called cheerfully.

“Come to Mayner, your father had a heart attack.” She rasped, her voice trembling. Anthony's heart dropped and his excitement dampened. He was at least an hour away from the Mayner private hospital and considering the time of the day, there was no doubt there would be a massive traffic jam. But he didn't want to bother her, with the irrelevant information, so he agreed readily. “I will be there, mum.” He hung up and dialed his brother, Sebastian McCain, immediately.

“Has mum called you?” Anthony rasped immediately after his brother picked up.

“Yeah,” Sebastian murmured, sighing heavily.

“Look, I am just now leaving Ethan's school and will probably encounter an insane traffic jam. But I will be there as soon as possible.”

He explained, hating that he is not there with his mother when she needs him the most.

“Don't fret about it,” Sebastian argued, saying that he was already in the hospital before he hung up.

“What is it?” Joshua asked Anthony the minute he saw his boss' face. It was like someone had died.

“Take me to Mayner, dad has been taken there,” Anthony replied, getting in the back seat and without wasting time, Joshua stepped on the gas. He kept glancing at Anthony in the rearview.

“What happened? His heart again?” Joshua asked when he couldn't hold in his curiosity anymore, and Anthony wasn't offering like he had expected him to.

“Yeah, mum says it was a heart attack,” Anthony whispered shakily. He was visibly trembling. Even a fool could have seen that the business mogul was afraid to lose his father.

“Your old man will be okay,” Joshua assured. “He is damn stubborn to let a heart attack check him out of this world." Anthony laughed despite the situation. Joshua smiled in return. He had accomplished drawing Anthony from drowning in his own thoughts.

As Anthony had predicted, there was too much traffic. More than once, Anthony contemplated getting out of the car and just running to the hospital. But the scorching sun outside discouraged him.

It took them two and half hours to arrive. Before Joshua could even cut the ignition, Anthony had jumped out of the car. The worried son rushed past the reception, for he knew which doctor his father sees. Doctor John.

“Hey,” Anthony called once his eyes landed on his mother's and brother's figures. They both turned to look at him. Their worried expressions broke his heart further, if that is even possible. He rushed to them and went on his knees and hugged his mother by the waist. “How is he, mum?” Anthony asked, laying his head on Katherine's lap.

His mother sighed, beginning to run her fingers through his soft tresses. “He is in surgery, baby.” She offered softly. “John says, he will do his best.” She chuckled with an apparent uncertainty.

Their brother Damien arrived almost immediately, worried sick as well. The whole McCain clan sat and waited patiently for any news from doctor John.

It wasn't until eight hours later that the good doctor reappeared with good news for the distraught family. The surgery was a success and Luther McCain was being moved to a recovery room. They were allowed to see him, though they were told he would still be unconscious due to the much morphine in his system.

After seeing their father was okay, Kathrine urged her sons to go home and rest and come back the following day. They did try arguing with her, but she insisted. After budding her goodbye, the three McCain brothers left the CCU. They had a brief talk in the parking lot on how to better tell their old man that he needed to take it easy and relax, just the way the doctors have been recommending.

Damien, the Catholic priest, was the first to depart, claiming that he had some Lord's flocks to see very early the following morning, so he had to get to bed.

After he left, Anthony turned to Sebastian and the two began talking about Josephine Lawrence, Sebastian's lover. Of course, in return, Sebastian demanded to know why Anthony was looking particularly animated. Anthony tried to play nonchalant for a while, but Sebastian wasn't relenting.

“Who is she?” Sebastian blurted.

“Lean onto something,” Anthony retorted, knowing his news would shock the living daylights out of his brother.

“Is she someone I know?” Sebastian insisted curiously.

“No,” Anthony said calmly, zeroing his gaze on Sebastian's face, for he didn't want to miss the epic reaction he knew Sebastian would sprout. “It's a he,”

For a second Sebastian didn't say anything, and if not for his bulging eyes, Anthony would have thought he hadn't heard him. “Could you…"? Sebastian trailed, but his gesture was loud and clear that he wanted Anthony to repeat himself.

“I said I met a man,” Anthony repeated, slowly reeling in Sebastian's shock.

“I didn't know you batted for that team,” Sebastian blurted with genuine interest. There was no ounce of judgment from his brother.

“I didn't either man,” Anthony chuckled leaning on his Lamborghini Reventón and folded his hands over his chest. “But after meeting Ethan's teacher earlier today…” He trailed, shaking his head.

Anthony went ahead and narrated his exhilarating encounter with Julian Stark and how he couldn't get the man off his damn mind. Sebastian was grinning like a fool through the narration. He had never seen his brother that smitten.

At some point, they decided to pick up the conversation the following day because it was already late.

When he got back home, Anthony headed directly to the shower, where he spent almost an hour. Unknown to him, a certain werewolf had sent him a text and was waiting with a bated breath for a response.

****

Only after he had got into bed did he see Julian's message. Without hesitation, he pressed the call button, wanting to hear Julian's soothing voice.

“Hi,” Julian answered after four rings. Anthony had begun fearing that perhaps he had slept.

“Hey, beautiful," Anthony responded, deepening his voice deliberately. The breathless squeal he heard from the other end of the line was his undoing.

They got talking, mostly with Anthony asking the questions. They were on it for hours, until Julian slept, leaving Anthony listening to his soft snores. Instead of hanging up, Anthony stayed on the line as those snores lured him to sleep. The last thing on his mind was that he couldn't wait to see Julian Stark again.