The Altered (22 page)

Daniel
believed that going that long without being in human form had to
have had an adverse effect on Sam. He kept that thought to himself,
though. “I’m just gonna say goodnight to Ash before we go
upstairs.”
And make sure he really is okay
.

By the look on
Jordan’s face, he knew exactly what Daniel had thought, but led him
down the hall to the living room doorway. “See.”

Daniel peered
in to see Ash tucked up in a thick duvet, fast asleep on a huge
corner sofa. On the rug next to him was Sam, sat staring back at
Daniel, with his lip curled and baring most of his incredibly
sharp-looking teeth. Daniel took an involuntary step backwards, and
he was almost certain Sam laughed—his mouth fell open and his long
pink tongued lolled out. Yeah, definitely laughing.

Jordan
sniggered behind him. “At least Charlie seems to like you.”

Daniel elbowed
him in the stomach, hiding his wince when it felt like he’d hit a
brick wall. “Where’s Matt, then?” He let Jordan steer him back down
the hallway, toward the stairs.

“Upstairs in
Sam’s room.”

Daniel managed
to stop himself from asking why Sam had a room—since… well,
wolf
—but it was a close thing.

He was so
ready to sleep by the time they climbed the stairs to Jordan’s
room. It was a big house, far more space than where he lived. “How
d’you afford this place, then?” He yawned again as Jordan opened
the bedroom door and guided him inside.

“When I said
Keira’s parents paid her off, I meant set her and Sam up for life.
They gave them enough money for uni, a house, and living costs for
a while—as long as they cut all contact. I had some savings, and my
parents gave me the rest, so we didn’t need to worry about a
mortgage.” He shut the door and leaned against it. “Come here.”

Daniel yawned
again but walked over and let Jordan pull him in close and wrap his
arms around him. He fisted Jordan’s shirt, rested his head on
Jordan’s shoulder, and closed his eyes. Jordan smelled so good.
Daniel wondered if it was just him who thought so, and had a flash
of jealousy at the idea that anyone else might think it too.

Jordan kissed
him, nuzzling into the space between Daniel’s neck and shoulder. “I
don’t want to let you out of my sight.” Daniel knew just how he
felt. “I know you don’t like the idea of being babysat, but Daniel…
fuck
.” He let out a deep sigh, and Daniel shivered as it
tickled his skin. “I need to know that you’re safe. Please let us
do this.”

“I already
said I’d do whatever.”

He felt
Jordan’s smile. “Yeah, and I can tell how much the idea irritates
you.”

Daniel
couldn’t deny that. He did hate feeling useless, but rather that
than dead—or captured. “It may piss me off, but I’m not
stupid—contrary to popular belief.”

Jordan snorted
and dug his fingers into Daniel’s ribs. “Sure about that? You’re
the one who keeps pissing off the angry wolf downstairs.” Daniel
froze, thinking about the way Sam had bared his teeth earlier.
“Relax. I’m just kidding.”

“Sure you are.
I detected a distinct “I want to eat you” vibe when we were
downstairs.”

“He wouldn’t
do that. It’d upset Ash.” Jordan resumed his kissing, trailing his
mouth up and along Daniel’s jaw.

“Hmm.” Daniel
tilted his head a little, too tired to want this to go any further,
but enjoying the attention. “What’s up with those two, anyway?”

Jordan paused,
and Daniel prodded him in the belly until he answered. “He likes
Ash.” Jordan breathed, his lips brushing against Daniel’s skin as
he spoke. “Which is great, because he doesn’t take to many new
people.”

“No shit.”
Daniel grumbled. “But why Ash in particular?”

“Who
knows?”

Daniel felt
himself drifting off again, the soft caress of Jordan’s mouth
lulling him to sleep.

“Such a
lightweight.” Jordan started backing them toward the bed. “No
chance of round two, then?”

“Tired.” It
was a nice thought, but Daniel couldn’t summon up the energy to see
it through. “In the morning.” He sighed as Jordan pushed him down
onto the bed and pulled the duvet over him.

“I’ll hold you
to that.”

It was the
last thing Daniel heard, finally falling asleep, as Jordan’s strong
hands manhandled him into position against his chest.

Daniel, Matt,
and Ash went home on Saturday to change and pick up some spare
clothes. Charlie and Sam went with them, while Jordan and Keira
went into work as usual. The situation was far from ideal—Jordan
felt anxious all morning with Daniel gone—but they wanted to keep
their movements as normal as possible.

There seemed
no point in attracting undue attention, and Jordan had worked
virtually every Saturday morning since the gym had opened. It
didn’t stop him from checking his phone regularly to make sure
nothing had happened.

By general
consensus they’d decided to stick together for the next few days,
and since Jordan’s was the bigger house, it made sense to stay
there. Jordan had no illusions about it working long term—they’d
soon start to get on each other’s nerves—but it would do for now.
Safety in numbers and all that.

It also meant
he got to have Daniel with him every night, and that was worth
putting up with Matt’s constant eye rolls and knowing smirks.

Jordan’s room
now smelled like a combination of the two of them. Daniel’s scent
had easily absorbed into Jordan’s space until Jordan couldn’t
remember it smelling any other way. The whole house felt more like
home than it ever had before, and it might not be long term, but
Jordan had a hard time stopping himself from getting used to
it.

The weekend
was surprisingly uneventful. They’d been tense and on edge, waiting
for something to happen, but Sunday night came and went with no
sign that anything was wrong.

Jordan had
whisked Daniel off to bed, eager to work off some of the anxiety
they were both feeling, and Daniel had been totally on board with
that idea. The more time they spent together—exploring each other’s
bodies and getting to know one another better—the more Jordan
wanted.

He liked
waking up in the mornings with Daniel wrapped around him like an
octopus, all warm and sleep-rumpled, and his morning wood poking
Jordan in the thigh.

Saturday and
Sunday had both begun like that, followed by either lazy hand jobs
or a slow grind of hips as they rubbed off on each other enough to
come.

Everyone was
up bright and early Monday morning, though, with Daniel, Ash, and
Matt back at work. And then the problems started.

“For the last
time, I am not calling in sick.” Daniel gripped his hair in
frustration as he paced around Jordan’s bedroom. They’d been having
this same conversation for the past twenty minutes, going around in
circles with neither of them willing to back down.

“Just for a
few days, until we know more about what’s going on?”

“No.” Daniel
stopped in the middle of the carpet and turned to face him. “We
have no idea if they know about me, or you, or any of us. And
unless you have someone on the inside that you’ve neglected to
mention, we aren’t going to know until something happens. I can’t
live like that, Jordan.” He started pacing again, and Jordan wanted
to grab him and make him keep still. “We spent the weekend staying
out of sight, but I need to get out of this house.”

Jordan tried
not to take Daniel’s words to heart. He was clearly lashing out in
frustration, but it still stung. The past weekend had been one of
the best Jordan had had in a long time. He’d thought Daniel felt
the same.

“It’s only
been two days, for fuck’s sake!” He tried to keep his voice even,
but
Christ
, Daniel made it sound like they’d been locked
away for weeks. “I’m just asking you to take the week off and stay
out of sight. I just want you to be safe.” The thought of anything
happening to Daniel had Jordan on the verge of shifting, and it
took him a good few seconds to rein it back in.

Daniel looked
up at the ceiling, and Jordan would give anything right then to
know what Daniel was thinking. He felt the pull deep inside,
stronger than ever now, and he stood and walked over to stand in
front of Daniel. “If you won’t do the whole week, then at least two
or three days. I can’t… if they hurt or—” Jordan broke off as his
fangs slid down.

Fuck
.

Jordan closed
his eyes and concentrated on getting himself back under control.
“Please, Daniel. I don’t think I can handle you leaving the house
right now. It might be the sort of possessive bullshit you hate,
but I can’t help the way I feel. I just need to know you’re
somewhere safe.”

He waited for
Daniel to answer, forcing himself not to push him anymore. Jordan
got the feeling if he did, then Daniel would flat out refuse and
probably move back to his own house—consequences be damned.

After what
felt like hours, Daniel’s shoulders slumped, and he threw his shirt
onto the bed. “Fine. Two days. But if nothing’s happened by
Wednesday, then I’m going back to work.”

“With either
me, Charlie, or Keira,” Jordan couldn’t help but add.

“Fine.”

He didn’t
bother to hide his smile. So bloody relieved that Daniel had
agreed, Jordan gathered Daniel up in his arms and practically
lifted him off his feet. “Thank you.”

“Whatever.
It’s only until Wednesday, remember.” Daniel sounded put upon and
annoyed, but he held Jordan tightly, his hands gripping fast to the
back of his shirt, so it couldn’t be all bad.

Matt went to
work as usual since he was better equipped to take care of himself.
He also worked with two other altereds, so was relatively safe at
his office building. Jordan had still insisted on dropping him off
and picking him up after work—just in case they tried to get to
Daniel through Matt.

Daniel had
been delighted to see that Jordan was sort of babysitting Matt too.
But thankfully Matt just shook his head in amusement and went along
with it without a word of complaint—seemingly fully prepared to do
whatever it took to keep Daniel safe.

Jordan and
Matt were the last ones back to the house on Tuesday night. They
flinched as they walked through the door. The tension in the house
was palpable even from the hallway.

Jordan didn’t
bother taking off his shoes or his coat, just bolted the door
behind them and marched down the hallway toward the kitchen with
Matt hot on his heels. “What’s happened?” he asked looking around
the table at the three people sat there. His gaze landed on Daniel,
and he immediately narrowed his eyes, checking for any sign of
injury.

“I’m fine.”
Daniel held his arms out wide for Jordan to see. “And we’re not
exactly sure what happened.”

Jordan looked
over at Keira and Charlie, then back at Daniel, huffing in
annoyance when none of them elaborated. “What the fuck does that
mean? And where are Sam and Ash?”

Daniel pointed
behind him to the back garden, and when Jordan looked hard, he saw
Ash and Sam under the trees near the far corner—Ash bundled up in
his hat, coat and gloves, with Sam sat beside him.

“Two men came
to the house today,” Daniel began, and Jordan clenched his hands,
not liking the tone of Daniel’s voice.

“And?”

Keira stood up
abruptly and paced back and forth in front of the kitchen cabinets.
“They didn’t do anything overly suspicious—just knocked on the
door, and when no one answered, they shoved a flyer and a business
card through the letter box.” She gestured to a piece of paper on
the table before glancing out of the window to where Sam had now
curled up next to Ash’s side. “And before you ask, no, they weren’t
altereds.”

Jordan picked
up the flyer and the business card underneath. They looked harmless
enough—advertising garden landscaping—but more than likely were
just an excuse for the men to be in the neighbourhood.

“Did you
recognize them?”

Keira shook
her head. “No, neither me nor Charlie knew their scents. But—”

“But, I might
have seen one of them before at the library,” Daniel cut in, and a
trickle of unease slid down Jordan’s spine. “I only got a quick
glimpse of them as they were leaving to go next door, so I couldn’t
be too sure.”

“Okay.” Jordan
frowned slightly. While it sounded as dodgy as shit that one or
possibly two suspicious men had come calling on their house, he
didn’t think it warranted the level of anxiety currently emitted in
the room. “But—” He held his hands out, palms upward to show his
confusion. “—I don’t understand.”

“It was Sam,”
Keira added, wringing her hands in an uncharacteristic display of
nerves. “You should have seen him. He went berserk—staring at the
front door, ears almost pinned to his head, and snarling. He
dropped his fangs, Jordan. I didn’t know he could do that, but they
lengthened in his mouth, and he bared his teeth, and
fuck
….”
She looked up and met his eyes.

Even if the
air around them weren’t tinged with her fear, Jordan would have
seen it in her expression.

“It’s the
first time I’ve ever been scared for him.”

Jordan relaxed
the tiniest bit when she said
for
and not
of
. He knew
Keira worried that Sam would eventually lose his humanity if he
continued to remain a wolf, and Jordan was frankly amazed that he
hadn’t already, but the Sam Keira talked about constantly was still
in there if you looked hard enough.

The fact
they’d let him go outside alone with Ash—especially Daniel,
considering what he’d said a few days before—told him Sam hadn’t
turned on anyone, thank fuck. Jordan still stole a quick glance
outside to reassure himself that they were both okay out there.

Keira followed
his gaze and smiled softly, if a little sadly. “Ash was the only
one who could calm him down after they’d left.” She closed her eyes
and then turned away to get a drink of water from the sink behind
her. “He wouldn’t listen to me. For the first time since he
changed, nothing I said seemed to register.”