Bitten By Mistake (26 page)

“Where? I can’t see anyone.”

Nathan turned to glance at him. “Might be too far for you to see.”

“Can they hear us? Do you think—?”

Nathan shook his head. “No, they’re too far away. But they can see us.” If it wasn’t for the joint pack meeting later, he’d be tempted to give them a wave. No point causing trouble before then. “Come on, let’s go.” He hurried to his van, with Jared hot on his heels.

Despite checking in his rear-view mirror every few minutes, Nathan didn’t notice anyone following them. They walked into the building and up to Nathan’s flat in silence. Once inside, Nathan headed straight for the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Jared jumped on the bed and lay flat with his arms above his head. “Not that I’m averse to a little stress relief, but aren’t we expecting Luke any minute?” He trailed one hand down his belly and grabbed his crotch. “Unless you were thinking threesome?”

Nathan bared his teeth and Jared laughed at him.

So Nathan said, “Okay, but only if I get to fuck Luke first.” Jared stopped laughing immediately, and it was Nathan’s turn to grin. “Yeah, not so funny now, is it?”

Jared narrowed his eyes. “Get over here.”

They didn’t have time for anything, but Nathan climbed onto the bed and crawled up Jared’s body until he had him pinned. “Now what?”

Jared licked his lips. “I need to do one thing before Luke gets here.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” He was so close his mouth almost brushed Jared’s.

“This.” Jared reached up, fisted Nathan’s thick hair, and kissed him—long and hard and deep.

Nathan moaned, wanting nothing more than to stay right where he was. “Come on,” he said, reluctantly pulling away and sitting up. “I don’t want to have a hard-on when Luke arrives.”

From the smirk Jared sent him, that was exactly what he was hoping for. Nathan shook his head and stood, immediately missing the warmth of Jared’s body under him. He held out this hand and Jared took it.

“He’s on his way.” Luke walked in, took one sniff of the air in the living room and glared between the two of them. “You won’t need to explain. He’ll see the bite, smell the sex in the air, and know straightaway. Jesus, couldn’t you have waited?”

Nathan frowned. “We haven’t had sex.”

“God, it must be your flat.” Luke shook his head, then started to pace the living room, checking his watch. He seemed almost as nervous as Nathan was.

“For God’s sake, sit down.” Nathan nodded at the chair, and Luke sat as a knock sounded on Nathan’s door. Neither of them startled, they’d already heard Gareth approach.

Jared grabbed his arm. “Is it him?” he mouthed.

Nathan nodded and walked into the hall to open the door.

Gareth stood on the other side, looking grave. “Going to let me in?” He asked when Nathan just stood there looking at him, trying to figure out what his expression meant.

He couldn’t know they had something incredibly bad to tell him, could he? Maybe it was the imminent pack meeting bothering him? “Yeah, sorry.” Stepping out of the way, he ushered Gareth inside.

In the living room, Luke perched on the edge of the chair and Jared leaned against the wall by the window, making no attempt to cover his bite mark. Nathan met Jared’s gaze and his chest tightened at the fear he saw there.

“Shit.” Gareth closed his eyes for a second and ran a hand through his hair. “I’d hoped maybe I was wrong.”

Everyone turned to stare at him. Gareth was looking at Jared’s neck, but not with shock or surprise as Nathan had expected. More like resignation.

“You knew?” Nathan glanced at Luke, who vehemently shook his head. “What the fuck?”

Gareth gestured to the sofa. “Let’s sit, shall we?”

Nathan moved to sit, feeling like it was all happening in slow motion.

How could he know?

Jared took the seat next to him, pressed tight to his side, and Gareth sat in the chair opposite.

“You don’t look surprised.” Nathan slipped his hand through Jared’s, needing the skin-to-skin contact. “Why?”

“When you bite someone, there’s a scent that clings to you both for the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours.” He waited for that piece of information to sink in.

Nathan sighed. “So, when I came to the unit meeting on the Saturday?”

Gareth relaxed back in the chair, looking tired. “None of the others recognised it for what it was, but I smelled it on you as soon as you walked in.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because as you weren’t already in police custody, whoever you’d bitten hadn’t reported you. I figured maybe the two of you were waiting till the full moon to see what happened. At that point it was probably better I didn’t know. With any luck the change wouldn’t take and it would all blow over.”

“When you encouraged me to ‘look serious’ with Jared, did you know it was him I’d bitten?” Nathan was struggling to accept that Gareth had known what could happen between them and had actively encouraged it.

Gareth’s smile was wry. “I was fairly certain, yes. But you didn’t smell like you were having sex, so when Cam suggested you make it look serious, I assumed it wouldn’t be a problem because it wasn’t like that between you. I thought it might involve a few wanks and some embarrassment, but nothing more.” He looked pointedly at their joined hands and sniffed the air. “Obviously I was wrong.”

Luke snorted, putting his hands up in apology when Nathan glared daggers at him.

“We bonded,” Nathan blurted, and Gareth actually laughed at him.

“No shit.” Gareth checked his watch and sat forward with his hands on his knees. “I’m assuming the reason you’ve told me now is you want Jared in our pack if he changes?” He addressed Jared directly before Nathan could answer. “Is that what you want too? Because in the end it’s your decision. You’re bonded, so we’d accept you without hesitation—the paperwork can be acquired without too much difficulty as long as we keep it between Cam and us. But it needs to be your decision.” His focus turned to Nathan. “No one else’s.”

Nathan tensed. Jared had to join his pack—the thought of him going elsewhere burned hot like acid, and he had to actively stop himself from growling at his own fucking beta.

“Hey,” Jared tugged on his hand until Nathan looked up at him. “If I become a shifter, I want to be with you.” But something in his expression made Nathan squeeze his fingers, trying to cling onto him, because it wasn’t that simple and they both knew it.

Jared turned to Gareth and swallowed. He held tight to Nathan’s hand. “What happens if I don’t change and we’re still bonded, or I do change and the bond dies?”

Gareth’s expression turned soft for just a second. “You’ve been reading up on this, then?”

“A little,” Jared admitted.

Nathan bit his lip, not sure he wanted to ask, but Gareth was older; he might know. “Have you seen this before?” He indicated the two of them.

“Yeah, it happens more than you might think. It’s just kept quiet.”

“And?”

“There are exceptions, but in my limited experience if the change holds then more often than not so does the bond.”

So that blog entry must have been one of the exceptions. That sucked for them. “And if it doesn’t hold?”

Gareth shook his head.
Oh.

He couldn’t look at Jared. Their connection had become a part of him, and he couldn’t imagine not having it, and he didn’t want to, but…
fuck
. Jared’s attitude towards shifters might have changed, but Nathan didn’t know if Jared wanted to be one. Should he desperately hope for something that his bonded mate didn’t want? His stomach churned with indecision and wrongness, and he felt sick.

Jared’s cool hands gripped his face, and Nathan closed his eyes. “It’ll be okay,” Jared whispered, then leaned close to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

But would it?

Gareth cleared his throat, capturing everyone’s attention. “I have to go tell Cam about this before the pack meeting.” He glanced between the three of them. “Between now and the full moon, you need to keep this to yourselves, and for God’s sake make sure that bite mark stays covered.” He addressed Jared again. “Have you experienced any symptoms of the change yet?”

Luke jumped in. “Fuck, yes. Aggression, possessiveness—”

“Strength,” Nathan chipped in, trying not to blush. “And um, some physical changes too.” He gestured to his teeth and fingernails.

“My sense of smell is better.” Jared added.

Gareth nodded like all this was normal, and hope sparked in Nathan. Surely that many characteristics was a good sign the change would take.

Gareth eyed Nathan. “I know what you’re thinking, but it doesn’t work that way. His body could still reject it. We have no way of knowing until the full moon. But things will get worse from here on in. You should probably stay in here or in Jared’s flat from now on.” He stood and smoothed out his clothes. “I’ll see you at the meeting, and we can all talk to Cam afterwards, okay?”

They all nodded.

Nathan got up and walked him to the door. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I thought—well, you’re taking it a lot better than I expected.” Shame and guilt washed over him, but Gareth placed a hand on his neck and squeezed.

“I understand why you didn’t, and I know the stories passed around the pack about this sort of thing, but times have changed, Nathan, and Cam isn’t like our last alpha. Yes, he could get in a lot of trouble if the authorities find out, but no harm would come to Jared or you. His job as alpha is to look out for his pack, no matter what.”

“But Alec and the others—”

“No matter what.” Gareth drew Nathan close, his scent surrounding him and soothing his anxiety. “Alec may have something to say about it, I’m sure, but Cam is the alpha, not him. Besides, you’re bonded for now, and that trumps everything else as far as the pack is concerned.”

Thank God for that, or I’d be fucked.

Gareth sighed. “I’m your beta, Nathan, and as such I will always be there for you. Next time don’t hesitate to come to me first. Promise me.”

Nathan let his head drop onto Gareth’s shoulder, his cheek against Gareth’s neck.

Warm. Safe. Pack.

“I promise.”

“We should get going.” Luke stood and motioned towards the door. “I just need to fetch something from my flat.” He left quickly, leaving Nathan and Jared alone.

“He doesn’t really need anything, does he?” Jared hadn’t moved from Nathan’s side.

“I don’t think so, no.”

They’d sat in the living room since Gareth left, half-heartedly discussing what might happen in the upcoming meeting. Nathan’s mind had been elsewhere, and he suspected Jared’s had too. Until the full moon arrived and finally put them out of their misery, it would be hard to concentrate on anything else, however important. He turned on the sofa to face Jared better. “Did you hear what Gareth said to me before he left?” The idea that Nathan had been wrong about everything—the need to keep Jared a secret from his own pack, that they were a danger to his life—sat uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach.

Jared nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong about them. I—”

“Shh.” Jared put his fingers to Nathan’s lips. “It really doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“I believe you thought you were doing the right thing at the time, and the fact that they don’t want to kill me isn’t something I’m going to get upset over. Honestly, I think we have other shit to worry about now.”

“Yeah, we do.” Nathan sighed; Jared was right. “We’re going to go after the rogue pack. That’s what the meeting’s about.”

“I know. You’re going to find them and kill them.”

“I told you there’s no other way. Cam and Alpha Newell will want them dead. All of them.”

Jared stared at him, and Nathan wondered if his opinion on shifters was changing yet again. “And I still think that’s murder.”

“Not according to pack law. They’ve issued a challenge by attacking members of our pack and the Primrose Hill one. We’re within our rights to answer it and defend our territory. Like I said before, as long as no humans are involved, the police will stay out of it.”

“I still don’t see why it has to be to the death. Can’t you persuade Cam to take prisoners?”

“We’ve been over this.” Nathan sighed. “That jail is run by human law; they put shifters in there after convicting them of a crime against a human. No one in law enforcement would get involved in a pack war. It won’t be over until one side is gone.”

Jared’s nails dug painfully into the back of Nathan’s hand, but he kept quiet. “Will you be expected to fight?”

“I have no idea.” He slumped back against the cushions, pulling Jared with him. “Usually Alec’s unit handles stuff like that, but we haven’t had to deal with anything on this scale in a long time. It’ll take more than one unit.”

“So you’ll be risking your life again,” Jared whispered.

“Yes.”

A knock at the door stopped them from saying anything else. They both stood.

“I have to go.”

Jared nodded, but he wrapped his arms around Nathan’s neck and kissed him. “You won’t do anything before coming back here first, will you?”

Nathan fisted the back of Jared’s T-shirt and dipped his head, nuzzling Jared’s neck. “No.”

Another knock, sounding impatient.

“Go. You can’t be late.”

Nathan stepped back. Leaving Jared seemed to be getting harder to do. “I’ll see you later.”

Luke was waiting in the hall outside but didn’t say anything about Nathan taking his time to answer the door.

They walked to the pack meeting in silence; everything had been said already.

When they got to the room, it was open and full to capacity, already packed with shifters. The divide between the two packs was glaringly obvious. Nathan nodded a greeting to Daryl and Ben, and then he and Luke joined their unit, where Gareth stood talking quietly to the other members.

“Hey,” Nathan nodded in greeting, and got murmured welcomes in reply.

Cam and Alpha Newell walked out into the middle of the huge room, one pack on each side, and a hush settled over the crowd. Cam spoke first. “We’ve located the pack house the rogue shifters have appropriated. As you are aware, they are responsible for the attacks on our packs, so as pack law dictates, we will work together to eradicate the threat.” He glanced around the room; his gaze landed on Nathan for a second before moving on. “The small warehouse they’re using has limited access, and I believe it’s safe to assume they’ll be watching for our attack. We need them to open the front loading doors so we can attack en masse. Going in through either of the side doors isn’t an option—we’d be picked off as we entered.”