Chasing Seth (12 page)

Kasey’s eyes followed Seth as he left his office. His hands clenched at his sides as he focused on Nick the instant the door shut behind the slender back of his mate. “I want to know everything.”

Nick leaned against the wall nearest him. His eyes were clear with sincerity. “You might want to have a seat, Sheriff, because as Seth’s mate, what I’m about to tell you might bring you to your knees.”

“So you believe I’m Seth’s mate, then?” Kasey’s gut twisted. If Seth’s past was as bad as he feared, he could only pray he’d be able to control himself. He knew the pain in his mate’s past was what kept Seth from accepting Kasey as his mate.

“I know you are, Sheriff,” Nick said confidently. “Aside from me, only his mate could get that close to Seth. His instinctive reaction to be near you when he’s afraid showed that even more clearly. I can’t believe anything otherwise.”

“How does he not know what you are?” Kasey demanded. “And why haven’t you told him you’re wolf?”

Nick settled his long length into one of the clean desk chairs. He crossed one leg over the other in a careless gesture. “You have to understand that Seth is very special and very rare. Seth is a Rho.”

Kasey’s breath caught as his lips parted in surprise. Seth was a Rho? Rhos were extremely rare and very special indeed. That explained his pup’s ability to heal.

The only things Kasey knew about Rhos were from the stories the elders of his pack had told of their last Rho, who had died over seventy years ago. Rhos were born every 100 years. A pack could go two or three hundred years before they were graced with a Rho again. Rhos were known from birth because they were born in their true wolf form and over the course of the first year of their life slowly shifted to their human shape. It was during their fifth year that the ancestral Mother gifted them with an extraordinary ability. Some of the abilities the elders spoke of included the chance to become a healer like Seth, to take on other forms like those of a coyote or fox. The rarest gift that Kasey knew of was the ability to speak telepathically to more than just one’s mate or pack, including humans. 

Rhos were highly coveted by a pack because of their unique gifts, and it was common for members of a pack to break out into fights over the right to claim a Rho as their mate. But only a Rho’s true mate could rightfully claim them. The mating bond with a Rho would not take unless the Rho chose to take another as their life-long partner.

The protective instinct, already prominent when Kasey thought of his mate, increased tenfold. It meant Seth would constantly be in danger until Kasey claimed him. “Go on.”

“Seth’s father knew from the day Seth was born that he would constantly be in danger, and he left our pack in fear of the others becoming violent with the need to claim Seth as their own. Our pack sent me to watch over and help protect Seth from others who would take advantage of him or seek to claim him.”

Kasey interrupted Nick. “Why is it you were able to control yourself around Seth if the others weren’t?”

Nick’s lips twisted in a cynical smile. “I’ll admit it wasn’t easy, but when your Alpha orders you to do something, you can’t exactly say no or go against him. Unless that person is your mate, which Seth was not. After a while, it became manageable and then as simple as breathing air. Seth and I became best friends, and I wouldn’t do anything in the world to change that.”

“Yet he has no idea who you are? You think it’s not going to change anything when he finds out?” Kasey raised an eyebrow at Nick.

Nick grimaced and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “He knows me. He just doesn’t know that I’m also wolf. Would you like to hear the rest or not, Sheriff?”

Kasey scowled but nodded for Nick to continue.

“Seth’s father taught Seth how to gather his power around him and use it to project a human scent over the stronger one of the wolf. It is how I have kept myself a secret from him, as well. His father preferred Seth believe they were the only ones in the world able to shift, and the Alpha agreed, ordering me not to reveal my wolf side to him. For a time, it left him able to live a relatively normal life. Until three years ago.” Nick’s face became hard with rage, and his lips flattened into a line so thin they almost disappeared.

Bitterness rang out in Nick’s tone as he spoke. “Our pack has never tolerated the existence of the Created ones. They bring danger to us all. Their animal sides are in control more often than not. Because of Seth’s sheltered upbringing, he wasn’t aware of others in the world like him or like the Created. One of them found him. An Alpha of a small pack of the Created called the Triad. There were six of them.”

A sharp swear word cut through the tension in the room. “They figured out Seth is a Rho.” It was a statement, not a question.

Nick nodded, his jaw tightly clenched. “Yes. Taggart found out and, playing on Seth’s lack of knowledge, claimed to be his mate. Overjoyed at finding others like himself, including a man saying he was his mate, Seth believed him and spent the next four months in hell. All of the men in the Triad, including Taggart, had been imprisoned at one point or another for armed robbery, rape, or attempted murder. A friend of mine heard rumors around the neighborhood of their ‘pack’ and eventually word of them having a Rho amongst their numbers. By then I’d been searching for Seth for a couple of weeks, and when I heard that, my blood ran cold.

“They brutalized him. Taggart allowed the entire pack to rape and dominate Seth anytime they wanted. When I finally found him, they had him chained to the wall of the warehouse they inhabited. He was broken, a shattered shell of his former self.” Nick’s nails lengthened and dug into the arms of the chair, puncturing the leather.

Kasey’s heart froze inside his chest, and it took all he had not to howl in rage and pain for his mate. “What happened?” he managed to choke out. His chest felt tight at the things Seth must have suffered those four months. No wonder his mate didn’t want anything to do with him and didn’t understand the bond between them.

“During an attempt to rescue him, the Triad returned, and some of it is still unclear even now, but somehow a fire started. It spread quickly. It was all I could do to get Seth out before the whole building went up. Taggart and the rest of the Triad were still inside when the building exploded. Or at least, we thought so. Until today.” Nick ran a hand over his suddenly tired face. Dark circles made his eyes stand out starkly against his tan features.

“It took me months to get Seth back to even a fraction of who he used to be. These past two years have been hard on him. A lot of moving around and just trying to function again. This clinic was his attempt to return to a normal life. And it would seem that is what Taggart was waiting on. For Seth to come out of hiding. Dammit!” Nick growled low in his throat, his eyes flashing from human to canine and back again. “Two years! If Seth falls into his hands again, I don’t know if we can ever bring him back.”

A fierce look came over Kasey’s face. His dark eyes glowed with power and strength as he spoke. “I’ll break him into little pieces before he touches Seth again. I promise you. I want to know what he looks like, what he smells like, what his habits are, everything you can tell me. Because I fully intend to take the son of a bitch down before he can even so much as look at Seth.”

Nick smiled. Seth had finally found his mate. Now if only his friend could accept Kasey into his heart and as his mate, then he would truly have the chance to be happy. When wolves mated, they mated for life, and they protected their mates as ferociously as a mother bear protected her cubs. Nick’s heart ached that he hadn’t found his own yet. He tried to fight off the loneliness with whatever warm body would accept him, but it wasn’t the same.

When Kasey growled impatiently, Nick shook himself out of his thoughts. Melancholy didn’t suit him, so he never really dwelled on it too much.

For the next ten minutes, Nick pumped out as much information about Taggart as he could remember. Taggart, a mean bastard, was big, tall—about six foot five—with a huge scar across one of his dark-silver eyes, rendering it almost useless, and a nose that was crooked from being broken in one too many fights. Nick had done some research on Taggart’s history before he became one of the Created and disappeared from the human world. He’d been a violent man by nature even before being bitten, in and out of jail several times for armed robbery and rape. “The most defining feature is the scar. He got it before he became one of them, so it didn’t heal like ours would.”

Kasey cataloged each and every detail. He wouldn’t allow Taggart within a hundred miles of Seth if he had anything to say about it. “Fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my mate needs me.”

He turned to leave, but Nick grabbed his wrist from where he sat. Kasey glared at the other wolf, growling in warning. “Just take it easy with him, Sheriff. Have patience. He will come to accept you if you just give him the chance. No wolf can deny his mate forever,” Nick said, grinning lopsidedly.

A tight nod of his head was Kasey’s only acknowledgement of Nick’s words, and then he rushed out of the office. No matter what his mate said, he wasn’t leaving his side.

Seth sat on the hood of his own vehicle, just staring forlornly at his clinic. The look of desolation on the slender man’s features caused Kasey to growl in frustration. He stepped up to the front of Seth’s car, practically standing between his mate’s thighs. Instinctively, he reached out and brushed a strand of hair that had blown across Seth’s pale cheek behind one ear. “Everything is going to be all right,” he murmured soothingly.

“How can you possibly know that?” Seth croaked out, ignoring the way his heart leapt inside his chest at the tender gesture from the taller wolf.

Kasey quirked his lips in a soft smile. “’Cause I say so. I’m very stubborn, which you will soon find out.”

Seth wanted so badly to just give in to it, to let Kasey take care of him, to lean on the older male, but it wasn’t what he’d trained himself to do these past two years. He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, digging them in. No matter how hard he tried to forget, he couldn’t get the image of his office out of his mind. The sweet smell of the dog’s blood stung his nose as if he were still standing there. He jerked, startled, when he felt warm hands drop onto his shoulders and start kneading the tense muscles there. “I’ll find him, pup. I swear it. He won’t get near you again.”

Seth tensed even further, knowing without having to ask who Kasey meant. His hands dropped, and he glared at Kasey. “It’s none of your business, Kasey.”

“It is my business, dammit,” Kasey snapped. “Whether you choose to believe it or not, I am your mate.” His voice gentled as he cupped Seth’s face in his hands. “I will protect you, Seth. I can do nothing else.”

Seth’s eyes stung, and he blinked furiously. Depression had long since settled over him. It left him reeling, and without thinking, he threw himself against Kasey’s chest with a sob. His face pressed into Kasey’s throat tightly. “I don’t want to go back to him,” he cried desperately.

Kasey naturally wrapped his arms around the shaking, slender form of his pup. His hand rubbed over Seth’s back. “Shhh. You won’t go back to him. I swear to you.”

Seth greedily accepted what Kasey offered right then. He knew he should pull away and stand on his own two feet, but he didn’t have the strength to push the warm body away. His lungs drew in the sheriff’s scent deeply, and his body reacted. The wolf side of him strained to be closer to the other man. He could feel it just there beneath the surface, begging him to let it free. He’d never felt such a sense of “home” when Taggart claimed him. The idea of accepting the feeling of rightness singing out inside of him frightened him.

The uncertainty swirling through him allowed his canine half a bit of freedom, and his lips pressed to the pulse beating beneath Kasey’s throat. He felt Kasey shudder against him, and his arms tightened around him. Seth’s tongue slipped out to pass over the same spot, licking wetly, hotly over the smooth, salty skin. Kasey pressed forward between Seth’s thighs, urging them further apart. The hard length digging into Seth’s belly stripped a harsh groan from Seth’s throat.

“Seth?” Kasey questioned hoarsely, his breath stirring the strands of hair atop the dark head.

Seth realized what he was doing and jerked away from Kasey with a horrified look, almost falling off the hood of his car. He would have if Kasey hadn’t reached out to steady him. “God, what am I doing?” Seth growled, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Kasey knew it had been his wolf side coming through, begging to be with its mate, but it still stung that Seth seemed so angry with himself for kissing him. He could smell Seth’s arousal from where he stood, and it left his own body hard and aching. “Your wolf was responding to mine,” he said flatly, his voice void of all emotion.

Standing, Seth moved away from Kasey. He looked up and could see Nick standing and talking to Chessie. Seth wanted nothing more than to go back to his house and just curl up in his bed. His hands clenched tightly at his sides. “I can’t handle this right now. It’s too much. I just wanted a peaceful life here. It doesn’t look as if I’m ever going to have it,” he said bitterly, wearing an agonized expression that ripped through Kasey like a sharp knife.

Suddenly Kasey felt as though his shoulders would collapse in despair. Would Seth ever open up to him? Accept him as his mate? He’d been overjoyed to find him, and he’d never imagined his mate wouldn’t know him or accept him. “You will have it, Seth,” he replied quietly, still watching his mate with a longing in his eyes he wasn’t even aware of. “And I hope someday you’ll choose me to be a part of your life.”

He didn’t wait for Seth to respond before turning and stalking back toward Nick. “Stay with him. He doesn’t want me around right now. And I need some time to think.”

Nick frowned, tilting his head slightly. “What about what just happened over there? He seemed to accept you easily enough just now.”

“He didn’t accept me, just the comfort I offered him,” Kasey said in a pained tone. It ravaged him, and the pain etched itself deeply into his face. Chessie gave him a sympathetic look, which he ignored. “I’m going to check with my deputies at the station. See if there has been anyone new in town or drifting through town. See if they match the description you gave me. Just… please stay with him.”