Nate's Deputy (2019 Reissue)

by Lavinia Lewis

  “Now I’m telling you the same thing I told him,” Pete said, nodding in Tristan’s direction. “I don’t want any trouble. If you’ve come in here to make any, you can leave now or I’ll call the sheriff.”

  The wolves were young.

  Nate would put the oldest at around twenty-two. He was the bulkiest, too, and obviously the ring leader because he took a step forward, puffed out his chest and sneered at Pete. There was real hatred in his eyes and it made Nate shiver.

  “Yeah, why don’t you call his brother so he can come down and save the little faggot’s ass again?”

  Nate flinched at the derogatory term and turned to gauge Tristan’s reaction. The kid didn’t say anything, but his gaze was fixed on the mirror behind the bar, and his hand gripped the bottle he held tighter, his knuckles white from the applied pressure.

  “I’m warning you, Neil, do not start anything,” Pete said.

  Neil ignored Pete and continued to stare at the back of Tristan’s head. Nate realized what was going to go down about five seconds before Neil struck. He waited for Tristan to take a drink of his beer then shoved his elbow into Tristan’s back. The bottle cracked against the kid’s teeth, and the amber liquid spilled down the front of his top.

  “Oops!” Neil and his friends began roaring with laughter.

  When Nate turned to meet Tristan’s gaze, the inebriated, glassy, and somewhat distant look in the wolf’s eyes had disappeared to be replaced by a sharp awareness.

  Quicker than Nate thought the kid was capable of in his present condition, Tristan slammed the bottle down on the bar, swiveled in his seat and threw a punch, his fist landing square between Neil’s eyes.

  Crying out from what must have been both shock and pain, Neil stumbled backward into the outstretched arms of his friends, his hand lifting as if by instinct to cover his injured nose.

  Calmly, Tristan got up from his seat and faced the three young men head-on. Blood poured from Neil’s nose and although he held his head back, trying to stem the flow, his gaze never left Tristan’s.

  “He bwoke it!” Neil accused. “He bwoke my fuckig nowse.”

  Jesus Christ.

  This was about to get ugly.

  Nate lifted himself from the stool and stood next to Tristan. He hated fighting—hated the beastliness of it, the way it turned grown men into nothing more than animals—but they were animals…partly…and right now the unpleasant side to their natures was about to be exposed.

  If there was something Nate hated more than fighting, it was goddamn fucking homophobes. Besides, three against one wasn’t a fair fight, and in Tristan’s defense, he hadn’t done anything to provoke the other men.

  At least, nothing that Nate knew of.

  Even if it hadn’t been an unfair fight, Nate felt as if he needed to look out for the kid, even though he had no clue why he was doing it. He held his place at Tristan’s side. Nate looked around the room but kept all four wolves in his peripheral vision.

  There was a group of men on the far side of the room watching the action with marked interest. They finished their beers and got up from their seats, but somehow Nate doubted they were going home.

  If he didn’t get the situation under control, it was going to escalate pretty damn quickly. The last thing they needed was a bunch of humans getting involved in a fight with wolves. It could turn into a bloodbath. He shifted his gaze around the rest of the room.

  There were a few men sat around tables and a couple of women around the jukebox, but no one in the room was talking or drinking. They were all watching the action at the bar, and most of them looked eager to get in on it.

  “Call the sheriff,” Nate told Pete.

  He turned back in time to see Neil’s body tremble, his skin literally pulsating before Nate’s eyes.

  The kid was about to change and with all the humans in the bar…

  “Aww, fuck, get Kelan down here, too. Tell him to hurry.”

  Chapter Five

  “Let me get this straight. You’re saying someone stole your cow?”

  Joe Walker’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. “My bull! Jesus Christ, did you hear a word I just said, boy?” the old man ranted. “He was my prized, black Aberdeen Angus bull! Cost me near on ten thousand dollars.”

  Jared nearly swallowed his tongue.

  Ten thousand bucks, for a piece of meat?

  “You’re shitting me.”

  While Jared watched, the vein in Joe’s forehead pulsed. “No, I am not shitting you. Someone stole him. What ya gonna do about it?”

  Joe’s face was puce. Jesus, if the man wasn’t careful he was going to have an aneurism. Jared needed to calm him down.

  “How do you know the cow was stolen, sir?” Jared asked. “Are you sure he didn’t escape? Wander into one of the neighboring properties maybe?”

  Well shit, that didn’t work.

  Joe’s eyes got even wider.

  “Where the hell is the sheriff? I can’t deal with you. You’re as dumb as a box of hammers.”

  Jared ignored the old man’s insult. “Sheriff Ferguson is busy on another call. If you want the matter investigated, you’re going to have to deal with me. Okay, can you tell me how you know the cow…uh…bull was taken?”

  Joe threw up his hands. “There was no hole in the fence,” he said very slowly as though he were addressing a young child. “The gate was open. Someone took ‘im.”

  “Are you sure the gate wasn’t left open by accident? Maybe by someone that works here?”

  “What sort of operation do you think I’m running here? I’ve been in ranching my entire life. The cowboys that work for me are experienced men. Not a one of them would be as damn stupid as to leave the gate open.

  “You need to go and question them Morgan brothers. Them boys have got it in fer me.”

  Jared wrote the name down on his notepad but there wasn’t a lot he could do with it. “Do you have any reason to suspect these Morgan brothers?”

  The old man stiffened. “Had me a few crossed words with them over the past year is all.”

  Jared sighed.

  That didn’t help him much.

  “You can’t go around accusing people without proof, sir.”

  “It was them, I’m telling you. Talk to them, look on their land. I know they’ve got my Dipsy.”

  Dipsy?

  What the hell name was that for a bull?

  Jared had to stifle a chuckle.

  “Do you have a first name for these brothers?”

  “Of course, there’s Kelan and Co—”

  “Kelan, Kelan Morgan?” Jared interrupted. “As in Alpha Morgan?”

  Joe’s face paled. “Well, I’m not saying it was him exactly, but I wouldn’t mind betting it was Luke or that ass-bandit he’s shacking up with. He’s got it in for me since I fired him. I’m telling you, it was him.”

  Jared felt his anger rise but he tried to tamp it down.

  This was the exact reason he couldn’t let people find out he was gay. There were too many haters in a small town like Wolf Creek. Too many people who would never accept him for who he was. Jared needed to ingratiate himself into the community if he wanted to be elected sheriff. He couldn’t afford to get on the wrong side of folks in town, and he certainly didn’t need to get on the wrong side of his alpha.

  Now that Jared came to think about it, he was sure he’d heard about the trouble between Alpha Morgan’s youngest brother, Luke, and Joe’s son. What was his name again? Ethan. That was it. It seemed Joe was holding the Morgans responsible for their son’s incarceration…although from what Jared remembered of the story, Ethan had been the one at fault.

  “This is the third bull gone in a month…third! I’m telling you someone has it in for me, and it’s got to be that faggot.”

  Jared winced at the term then pursed his lips.

  While he stared at Joe, trying to think of a way to placate him, his cell started vibrating in his pocket.

  “Yeah. It was him,�
�� Joe continued. “Him or Luke anyways.”

  The phone kept buzzing.

  Shit.

  “Has to be one of them. No doubt in my mind, and I wouldn’t rule Kelan out, either.”

  Jared pulled the cell out of his pocket and held it up. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m going to have to take this. It’s important.”

  Joe huffed out a long sigh and fixed Jared with a cold, mean stare, but thankfully he didn’t say anything. Jared walked a few feet away from the old man and answered the call.

  “Jared.”

  “Jared, it’s Pete. You’d better get down here. There’s trouble.”

  Jared cursed under his breath. “Is it Tristan again?”

  “Yeah. Wait a minute…aww, fuck!”

  Pete’s voice cut off just as glass smashed in the background.

  “Pete? Pete? What’s going on?”

  The line was dead.

  Jared quickly walked back to Joe. He had to get to the bar before the situation down there got worse. “Right, well I’ve got everything I need from you at the moment, sir. I’ll check out the lead you gave me and I’ll be in touch.”

  “What? That’s it?”

  “For now, sir. I’ll contact you if I need anything else.”

  Joe nodded. “Call me as soon as you find anything.”

  “Of course.”

  Jared tipped his hat and strode to his car.

  As he was making his way down the drive, he passed a sleek, black sedan with tinted windows making its way towards Joe’s house. It slowed down as it passed as if the person inside was watching him.

  Jared shivered.

  He didn’t like that he couldn’t see the driver but they could see him. It was creepy. He dimly wondered who it could be. You didn’t see cars like that in a town like Wolf Creek every day.

  Five minutes later Jared was pulling up in the lot outside Jessie’s Dancehall. He couldn’t believe he’d been called over again. What the hell had Tristan got himself into this time?

  Jared wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

  He killed the engine then grabbed his hat from the passenger seat. He only had one foot out of the cruiser when the door to the dancehall opened and a young man came bursting out of the building backward and landed heavily on his ass.

  “Goddamn it!”

  Jared slammed the car door and ran in the direction of the floored man. He hadn’t made it five feet before another five or six men burst through the open door. Everyone was shouting and trading insults and while Jared looked on, fists started flying.

  It was utter chaos.

  Jared made it to the young man on the floor.

  He remembered him from a couple of other times he’d been called out.

  Neil Rafferty.

  He was a nasty piece of work—a troublemaker.

  Lived out on a ranch the other side of town with a bunch of other young kids. Dried blood covered his face and he was groaning loudly, clearly in pain. When Jared bent down to check if he was okay, he noticed the kid’s eyes and teeth had shifted.

  What the fuck?

  It was the middle of the day and there were humans present.

  “Neil, can you hear me? I need you to calm down. You cannot shift here, do you understand me?”

  Jared put a hand on the kid’s shoulder to try and calm him but it only served to infuriate him. He growled and bared his fangs.

  “Neil! I’m warning you, do not shift!”

  When Jared looked up, he saw his brother just outside the bar door.

  Tristan pulled his hand back and threw a punch. There was a large man standing at his brother’s side. He grabbed hold of Tristan and pinned his hands behind his back. Jared watched as one of two men that stood in front of Tristan shifted his hand into a claw and drew his arm back.

  Jared saw red.

  He left Neil’s side and sprinted across the lot.

  “Tristan! Look out!”

  Jared dived for the man, hoping to knock him out of the way before his claws caught Tristan’s throat, but he wasn’t fast enough. The young man struck out and Jared screamed out his frustration. But a second before the razor-sharp claws made contact, the man holding Tristan pulled him out of the way and got caught in the face himself.

  The man roared and let go of Jared’s brother.

  Instantly blood began oozing out of the deep gashes along his cheek and he fell to his knees, his whole body trembling. Jared made to help the man but the young wolf raised his hand to strike again. Jared’s gaze flickered to the man on the floor and for a second their eyes met.

  A shock like a thunderbolt hit Jared and an adrenaline rush unlike any he’d ever known swept through his body like a tidal wave.

  What the hell?

  Jared didn’t have time to process what he was feeling.

  He charged the young wolf before he could strike again, knocking him from his feet so that they landed on the hard, dirt floor with a thud. They scrambled for dominance until Jared was able to grab hold of the wolf’s arms and pin him to the ground.

  All around them the fighting continued.

  Sounds of fists hitting flesh and low growls tore through the otherwise quiet afternoon air. The reek of blood and fury in Jared’s nostrils made him want to gag.

  Pulling his cuffs free from his belt, Jared was about to slap them on the wrists of his captive when a sound rang through the air that made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention.

  A single word…

  “Silence!” the voice boomed out, cutting through the noise and chaos until it was suddenly so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  When Jared looked up, Kelan Morgan was walking calmly into the fray. The dark glint in Kelan’s eyes was the only indication of his anger, or was it disappointment Jared could see there?

  He couldn’t be sure.

  Kelan’s younger brother Cody was walking alongside the alpha.

  Jared wasn’t sure why Kelan had brought Cody with him—the younger wolf was a lot smaller and Jared doubted he’d be much use in a fight—but as Cody wound his way through the men, they seemed to calm down considerably.

  Jared cuffed the young wolf beneath him but he needn’t have bothered. His eyes were trained on Kelan and they were filled with fear and apprehension. It seemed none of the wolves present wanted to get on the wrong side of their alpha.

  Kelan strode straight to the man who had been holding Jared’s brother and knelt down beside him. The wolf’s hand was pressed against the deep gash on his cheek and blood was seeping out from between his fingers.

  “Nate, you okay?”

  The man—Nate—nodded, but he didn’t look at Kelan.

  His eyes were focused on Jared—wide and disbelieving.

  “Mate,” he whispered, reverently.

  Chapter Six

  Nate stared at the wolf in front of him, equal parts shocked and surprised at what he was seeing and what his body was feeling. His face was bleeding—the warm, wet liquid seeped through his fingers and trickled in a steady rivulet down his arm—but he couldn’t feel any pain.

  He could, however, feel other things, things he shouldn’t be thinking about at a time like this.

  Things he didn’t want to feel…not now, maybe not ever.

  Nate was not the sort of person a man would want as his mate.

  He wasn’t reliable—he let people down. If he couldn’t even be there for his brother when he’d needed him, how the hell was he supposed to be there for a complete stranger? It was of little consolation but the wolf watching him—with a strong, masculine face and beautiful emerald green eyes—looked as devastated by the discovery as Nate himself.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Kelan patted Nate’s shoulder and got up. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

  Nate had been so stunned to discover his mate that he’d forgotten Kelan was at his side, awaiting a reply to his question.

  “Sure, okay.”

  Kelan nodded, satisfied.

>   He crossed the lot to speak to some of the other wolves present.

  “Jared, are you okay?” Tristan went to stand in front of the wolf who was still staring at him, mouth open wide with shock.

  Tristan’s brother, Nate realized as soon as the kid spoke the wolf’s name.

  Nate’s mate was Tristan’s brother.

  Jared nodded, but he didn’t look at Tristan.

  His gaze was still fixed on Nate. “I’m fine.”

  “Hey man, get off me.”

  The words seemed to yank Jared out of his daze. He shook his head as if to clear it then looked down at the wolf whose chest he was still draped over, pressing him to the ground.

  “Don’t move,” he said to the young man.

  Jared got up then surveyed his surroundings.

  Kelan and Cody’s presence had calmed the fighting wolves and even the humans that had got involved in the brawl were now somewhat subdued.

  When he seemed certain the trouble had been contained, Jared strode to Nate’s side and knelt in front of him. The proximity caused a rush of endorphins through Nate’s body and when their gazes locked, Nate grew embarrassed at the way his body reacted. He cursed his stupid dick for hardening inside his pants, but it looked as if he wasn’t the only one affected. There was a distinct bulge in the front of Jared’s uniform pants, too.

  “Your face is in a bad way.”

  Jared took hold of Nate’s hand, which was still covering his cheek, then moved it aside to inspect the damage.

  He curled his fingers around Nate’s jaw.

  Nate shrugged, his hand tingling from the touch. He couldn’t stop staring into Jared’s bright green eyes.

  They were like beautiful gemstones.

  “I’ve had worse. It’ll heal.” He surprised himself with his cool, indifferent tone.

  When Jared frowned and removed his hand, Nate almost whimpered at the loss. He had an insane urge to reach out and grab it, to place it back in position under his chin.

  “The wound is already starting to close. I think we’d better get you out of here before people notice.”

  Nate nodded but he couldn’t seem to lift his body from the ground.