The Altered (21 page)

He hadn’t felt
truly safe in years.

The sound of
knocking on Jordan’s bedroom door woke them up sometime later, and
Matt poked his head inside. Jordan shot up from the bed with a
snarl, dislodging Daniel and almost tumbling him to the floor.

“What the f—?”
Daniel opened his eyes to see Jordan with his hand around Matt’s
throat, pressing him up against the wall. “Hey!”

Jordan dropped
Matt like he was on fire, backing away quickly. “Fuck, sorry.” He
scrubbed a hand through his hair, breathing heavily.

To Daniel’s
surprise, Matt shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “No, my
fault. I should know better than to just barge in like that.” He
put one hand up to his throat and massaged the reddened skin. The
marks had already started to fade.

“You okay?”
Daniel asked, concerned still. He started to get out of bed, but
Matt put his hand up to stop him, looking up at the ceiling.

“I’m fine, but
could you both come downstairs? And, um, maybe put some clothes on
first?” He waved a hand in Jordan’s direction, and Daniel realised
with a start that Jordan was standing there stark bollock
naked.

He laughed at
the pained expression on Matt’s face, especially the way his nose
wrinkled and his obvious efforts not to breathe in too deep. Daniel
could imagine what it must smell like in there. He flushed when he
remembered neither of them had showered after. No way would he be
looking Matt in the eye any time soon.

Jordan didn’t
flinch, clearly not bothered about being naked. “Give us ten
minutes.” Matt nodded and slipped back out of the room without
another word.

“What do you
think that’s about?” Daniel asked, a trace of unease settling under
his skin.

Jordan turned,
and his concerned expression did nothing to make Daniel feel
better. “I’m not sure. But we’d better hurry because they’re all
downstairs waiting.”

They showered
together—not the slow exploration Daniel had envisaged earlier, but
a quick, perfunctory wash. Neither of them said much as they
dressed quickly and then headed downstairs to find the others.

The voices
rose up from the kitchen. Daniel couldn’t make out what they were
saying, but from the way Jordan stiffened, the news wasn’t going to
be good. He reached for Daniel’s hand, clasping it tightly and
linking their fingers together—he was more worried than ever
now.

“Here.” Keira
handed them a cup of coffee each when they entered the room. “Have
a seat.” She indicated the spaces on the far side next to Matt. “I
think you’re going to need one.”

Daniel glanced
at Matt, noting his grim expression. Yeah, this was going to suck.
They sat down opposite Ash, Keira, and Charlie, with Sam lying next
to the table at Ash’s feet.

“What’s going
on?” Jordan set his cup on the table and leaned back in his chair.
Outwardly, he looked the picture of calm, but from the way the
other altereds tensed, that wasn’t how he felt.

It was Matt
who spoke first. “Remember that night at the bar?”

Daniel and
Jordan nodded.

“Well I
wondered who’d tipped them off about Daniel being inside. I thought
it might have been the bouncer, but—”

“But we
recognised the two shifters who sat at the table near the windows,”
Keira finished. “Chris and Ian Carter. They’ve been into the gym
before, and that’s how the ones outside knew about Jordan.” She
tapped her nails on the side of her coffee cup, then looked up at
Daniel. “They’re brothers, and a right pair of wankers. I think
it’s safe to say it was them. They must have had an idea of what
you were and called in reinforcements.”

Jordan sat
forward and rested his elbows on the table. “Shit. They were the
ones who started the fight.”

He cursed
under his breath, and Daniel thought that, as fascinating as this
was, what relevance did it have for them now? Unless….

“Have the
Carters and their friends been spreading the word about me? Are
there others who know? Is that why you lot look so worried?”

He’d expected
it at first. He and Matt had been extra vigilant those first few
days after the incident at the bar. But nothing had happened, so
Daniel—maybe naively—had assumed that for whatever reason, the
shifters who’d jumped him had kept that information to themselves.
He’d learned early on that he couldn’t live his life constantly on
edge like that, so he’d tried to put it to the back of his mind. It
wasn’t as though he could hide from an altered if they knew who
they were looking for.

“No.” Keira
interrupted Daniel’s train of thought. “I don’t think they told
anyone, or not many, anyway. I haven’t heard any rumours, and you
know how they travel fast where altereds are concerned.”

“Yeah.” Daniel
was only too aware of how quickly word got around.

“Dan,” Matt
sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “Nick called me about an hour or so
after you left the park. He was still at work, and he has one of
those corner desks that overlook the shops and that alley down the
side of the building.”

Daniel bit his
lip. He had an idea where this was going, but hoped he was wrong.
Nick was an altered. He was one of Matt’s friends who’d played
paintball with them. Matt trusted him. “And?”

“And he saw
someone get taken.”

“Fuck,” Jordan
hissed, and the whole table fell silent. “Was it one of the
brothers?”

“Yeah, it was
Ian.” Matt said. “Nick had been one of the last people at work and
had just turned out the lights when he saw them. He got a good look
before they bundled him into the van.”

Sam growled
from his spot on the floor. The feral sound echoed around the room
and sent chills down Daniel’s spine. He sounded so wolf-like,
Daniel found it hard to believe there was a person inside there
somewhere.

Or there
used to be
.

Eight years
was a long time to remain shifted. Daniel had no idea what effect
that would have on Sam’s human side, and he didn’t think it was his
place to ask.

He glanced up
at Ash, surprised to see him already reaching down to run his hands
through Sam’s fur, making soft shushing noises. Keira also watched
them, and Daniel didn’t miss the flash of hurt on her face before
she looked away.

“So….” Daniel
fidgeted in his seat. Obviously another altered being captured was
fucking awful—they’d all heard about what went on—but they hadn’t
had a big group meeting for the others who’d been taken. And
recently there had been a few. “You think he’s going to tell them
about you?” That was always a risk when you let people get close.
Many altereds kept to small groups for that reason.

It was
probably why Keira was so paranoid, and Daniel didn’t blame her one
bit.

“He knew about
the gym, but does he know about this place?” Daniel figured they
could lay low for a while until they could determine whether the
guy had talked. He knew for a fact Jordan had non-altereds who
worked at the gym. Surely they could take over for them for a few
days? “I know it’s a fucking horrible thought, but I’ve heard that
altereds would rather die than give names to the authorities. So
maybe—”

“Daniel,
stop.” Jordan grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face
him. “He knows about
you
.”

Oh. Fuck.
Of course he did
.

“He might have
second thoughts about giving up other altereds, and possibly that
includes you too, I don’t know,” Jordan said, squeezing him a
little. “But I’m not sure that’ll matter if they torture him for
the information. And if they get you, they won’t need anything
else.”

Ash cleared
his throat, and everyone at the table turned to look at him.
“That’d be even worse, then, wouldn’t it? I mean, if he tells them
about Daniel? Surely it’s in everyone’s best interests if he
protects your name at all costs.”

Jordan closed
his eyes, breathing deeply, and Daniel shuddered as he felt the
sharp prick of claws through his shirt. When Jordan spoke again, it
was around a mouthful of fangs. “The authorities can’t use Daniel
if he’s dead.”

“But who
would—?” Ash frowned for just a second, and then realisation
dawned. “
Oh
.”

Fucking
oh
indeed. The others might have left him alone before, but
now there was the real risk of Daniel being captured by the
authorities, he as good as had a target on his back. “Fucking
hell.”

Daniel
swallowed, suddenly very aware that he was surrounded by five
altereds, three of them full shifters, and he was now a real threat
to their lives. He trusted Matt with his life, and as he looked up
and caught Jordan’s worried expression, he knew he trusted Jordan
too.

But the
others?

Daniel was
clearly radiating unease and probably a healthy dose of fear,
because Keira rolled her eyes and snorted. “I’m wounded by your
lack of trust.” She grinned then, and that was probably more
terrifying than if she’d threatened him. “If we wanted you dead,
you’d already be a bleeding mess on the floor.”

“Good to
know.”

At least she
didn’t seem particularly offended, and Charlie seemed more amused
than anything. When Daniel caught Matt’s eye, Matt flicked his gaze
quickly over to Jordan and back again, and
fuck
.

Jordan looked
gutted.

“Hey.” Daniel
took Jordan’s hands in his. “Don’t think for one second that I
don’t trust you.”

“It’s your
closest friends that he has a problem with,” Keira supplied
helpfully.

Daniel shot a
glare her way. “I never said that.”

“Your body
spoke for you.”

“Look,” Daniel
tried, but Jordan beat him to it.

“Can you blame
him, Keira?” He squeezed Daniel’s hands and then turned to face
her. “You’ve not exactly been warm and welcoming.”

She shrugged
and flicked out her claws, idly picking at the edges of the
table.

“Okay, so no
one here is going to hurt Daniel.” Matt’s hands curled into fists
as he spoke. “But there are people out there who will—now more than
ever. What are we going to do about it?”

Daniel’s gut
instinct was to object. He hated being treated as the weak link,
even though he so obviously was—apart from Ash, all the others
present could easily rip him apart without breaking a sweat, black
belt or no. The words were on the tip of his tongue, and when he
met Matt’s eyes, he knew Matt could see it.

“Don’t argue
about this, Dan. Please.” Matt looked more worried than Daniel had
ever seen him. They’d always kept an eye out for trouble, ever
since the change, but this time it felt different. Inevitable
instead of just a faint possibility.

Daniel
swallowed down his objections and nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go
along with whatever you decide.”

Matt smiled
for the first time since they’d come downstairs. “Thank you.”

Daniel took a
back seat for the rest of the discussion. For probably the first
time ever, he allowed someone else to decide the best way to keep
him safe. He slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes, with
Jordan’s arm a solid presence around his shoulders, and let the
conversation wash over him.

He was so
tired of not belonging to either side—always the odd one out. And
now it felt as though he’d suddenly been thrust into the spotlight,
with the people waiting in the wings either wanting him dead or to
use him as an altered detector… and
then
probably kill or
experiment on him.

Super
.

He must have
dozed off because the next thing he knew, Jordan was gently nudging
his shoulder.

“Hey,
Daniel.”

“Hmmm?” He had
his face mashed into Jordan’s neck. God, he hoped he hadn’t
drooled.

Jordan smiled
against his temple as he kissed him there. “Come on, I’ll take you
to bed.”

Daniel blinked
his eyes open, to find the room empty and only Jordan and Daniel
still at the table. He sat up, suddenly a lot more awake, and
winced at the ache in his neck from sleeping at an odd angle.
“Where’d everyone go?” He yawned on the last word, and Jordan
laughed at him.

“To bed. Which
is where we should be going. It’s late.” Jordan pushed his chair
back and stood, tugging Daniel up with him.

“But, is it
safe?” Daniel turned and glanced out of the patio doors into the
inky blackness beyond and wondered if there was anyone out there
now, looking for him.

“Probably
safer here than anywhere else.” Jordan pulled Daniel back against
his chest, wrapped his arms around him, and rested his chin on
Daniel’s shoulder. With Jordan pressed up behind him like that, his
warmth seeped into Daniel, even through two layers of clothes. It
made him long to be tucked up in bed. “I doubt anyone would be
stupid enough to come near a house with five altereds in it, three
of which are full shifters.”

Daniel closed
his eyes, not wanting to look out into the darkness anymore.
“Altereds might know better, but what about others?”

“We have CCTV
around the outside of the house, and it’s alarmed. Besides, Ash and
Sam are sleeping in the lounge. Sam’s senses are better than both
Keira’s and mine—he’ll hear anybody coming long before they
arrive.

Daniel perked
up a little at that snippet of news. “Ash is with Sam?”

“Yeah.”

He knew they’d
seemed freakily close earlier at the table, but Daniel wasn’t sure
he liked the idea of Ash being alone with Sam all night. It would
probably piss Jordan off—and anyone else who heard him—but he had
to ask. “Is that wise?” he whispered as quietly as possible.

Jordan tensed
behind him, and there was the unmistakable sound of snarling coming
from down the hall.

Wonderful.

Jordan stepped
back and turned Daniel around to face him. “I realise you don’t
know any of them well, but I trust my friends with my life—Sam
included. He’s an altered in full shift, not a wild animal.”