Jago shook his head and slumped next to Eli. “Thanks for telling me.”
“It’s okay. Just remember I’m here if you need to talk.”
Eli’s words seemed to make Jago feel better and he smiled. “Right. Thanks. Now close your eyes, I need to dress.”
Eli rolled his eyes but complied. “You know you wouldn’t be the first man I’ve seen naked.”
Jago snorted. “Really? I’m not sure I believe you, but even if I weren’t, do I have to remind you I live with your mate? I don’t want to end up torn apart because you saw too much.”
“You wouldn’t. Blake’s a big softie.”
“With you, maybe, but he’s an enforcer, He has to be good at fighting and stuff. You can open your eyes.”
“And stuff?” Eli asked as he complied.
Jago was now wearing black jeans and a red sweater almost the same color as his hair. “You know me. I’m a lover, not a fighter. I have no idea what enforcers do and I don’t want to know.”
A door slammed somewhere in the house and they both jumped. Someone yelled, and Eli and Jago went straight for the door and toward the yells. Eli followed Jago in the living room and wished he hadn’t.
Zane was laying on the couch, pale and shaking, while Blake hovered next to him.
“What happened?” Jago asked, snapping into his nurse mode.
“The creature scratched him.”
* * * *
Blake had brought Zane to Kameron’s house on a whim. He knew Jago was supposed to go out with Elias and their friends, but he also knew Jago was famous for always being late for anything that wasn’t work, so he’d hoped to catch him still at home. He was relieved to see he’d been right.
“Where did it scratch him?” Jago asked as he kneeled next to the couch.
“On the back of his hand.”
“Right. Eli, go and get me the first aid kit. Blake, call Kameron.” He briefly looked around and noticed Jarrett and Corbin had sidled in the room too. He took his cell phone from his pocket and threw it at Jarrett. “Call Noem and tell him what happened and to get his ass and Jared’s here right now.”
Eli came back running with the first aid kit a few minutes later and Jago got to work. Blake hovered close, in case he needed help, but he obviously knew what he was doing, while Blake wouldn’t know what to do.
Jago cleaned the wound, and Blake grimaced at the sight. It had looked like a mere scratch before, but it was already getting worse. The skin around it was darkening and it was oozing blood and other stuff that made Blake shudder. He looked around the room and noticed Jarrett looked green and about to throw up, while Eli was stoic and hovering close. Corbin... well, his face was blank, just like always, and once again Blake wondered what it would take to make him react.
There was some noise and steps coming their way, and Noem and Jared appeared at the living room door. They made a beeline for Zane, ignoring everyone else, and started talking in their medical jargon with Jago.
They were prepared, and Jared took a vial containing a clear liquid from his bag. He injected it into Zane’s arm. “The first batch of the antidote is nearly ready. I’ll be sending it as soon as it is. I hope the creature will stay away until I do, because this was the last dose I had,” Jared told Jago.
Jago kept his head down and worked on Zane’s wound, and Blake decided he wasn’t needed for now, so he walked to Elias side. His mate was pale and slightly trembling, so Blake opened his arms to him. Elias took the opportunity and leaned in Blake’s arms, and Blake wrapped his arms around him.
“Are you okay?” Elias asked in a shaking voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. The thing just knocked me down, but it didn’t hurt me.”
Elias leaned away, his eyes wide. “It knocked you down? Are you sure you’re fine? We should check.”
“I’m fine, really. I’d be like Zane if I wasn’t.”
“I still want to check.”
The front door slammed open in that moment. “Blake?”
“Living room.”
Angelo and Nootaw came in without even taking their boots off, trailing snow inside. They both looked at Zane and the small group working on him, then at Blake. “How is he?” Angelo asked.
“I have no idea. They gave him the antidote, but it’s all I know.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. What about you? Did you find the fucking thing?”
“No. Nootaw managed to trail it for a while, but its scent disappeared and we weren’t able to track it down.”
“How did we not realize it was there?” Blake wondered as he shook his head. He felt guilty for what had happened to Zane, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault.
“It must have arrived just before attacking,” Nootaw decided. “Did you get a good look at it when it pinned you in the snow?”
Blake grimaced.
“It pinned you in the snow?” Elias exclaimed. “That’s it, we’re going to your room, and I’m checking it didn’t hurt you.” Blake opened his mouth to insist it wasn’t necessary, but one look at Elias’ face told him it would be useless to protest. He closed his mouth and shook his head instead, and resigned himself to the idea.
“Fine, let’s go to my room.”
Angelo grinned at him when he passed, whispering, “Totally whipped.” Blake rolled his eyes and followed Elias in the hallway. He knew they didn’t have a lot of time, because Kameron was bound to arrive soon.
Elias closed the door as soon as Blake was in and ordered, “Clothes off.”
Blake arched a brow and Elias stared him down until he sighed and complied. He pulled his jacket off and put it on the bed, then his sweater and his T-shirt. He stood there and slowly turned around, showing his mate that he really was fine, but he should’ve know Elias wouldn’t be happy just with that.
“Now the jeans.”
“Elias, the creature was on my chest. It didn’t even come close to my legs.”
Elias crossed his arms on his chest and cocked his head as he arched his brows. Blake gave in, smirking. Elias obviously didn’t remember he didn’t wear underwear.
Muttering, he unlaced his boots and took them off, then peeled his jeans off. He let them fall on the floor and looked at Elias, smirking when he saw his mate was blushing. Blake did another twirl, slower this time, and he took care of flexing his ass cheeks as he moved.
When he faced Elias again, Elias looked like he didn’t know where to look. He was obviously doing his best to avoid looking at Blake’s dick, but he wasn’t succeeding very well. Blake could see his gaze slide down every few seconds before snapping back up to Blake’s face.
“See? I’m fine.”
“Yeah, okay. You are. You can put your clothes on now.”
“You sure you want me to?”
Elias licked his lips, but the door swung open before he could answer. Blake looked at Jago, who was blushing almost as red as his hair. “Sorry.” He slammed the door closed. “I’m sorry I interrupted you guys. I just thought you wanted to know that Zane is going to be fine,” Jago yelled from the other side of the door.
Blake rolled his eyes while Elias blushed. He took his jeans from the floor and put them on. “You didn’t interrupt anything except Elias’ paranoia. He wanted to make sure the creature didn’t hurt me, and me telling him I was fine wasn’t enough.”
“Oh, okay. You sure I don’t need to check you?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
Blake quickly dressed again and they followed Jago back to the living room. Kameron was there now, as well as Nick, the pack’s beta. Their faces were grim and they immediately started questioning Blake, Angelo and Nootaw. “What is it?”
“I have no idea,” Blake answered. “It’s nothing I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure. It was like a weird mix of human and animal. Walks on two legs, but they’re weird, all twisted. It’s furry, but it has a flat face. No muzzle or anything.”
“And it can shimm
er,” Nootaw added.
Kameron nodded. “We already knew that.” He rubbed his face. “Damn. Okay, we need to have new rules until this thing is gone. We need a curfew, and I don’t care how angry people are going to be. Our houses are too scattered, and we can’t go in the woods, especially at night. No one should move around pack territory on their own. The bigger the groups the better.”
Elias walked toward the couch and crouched next to Zane. Blake’s wolf didn’t even growl, and Blake was happy for that. Zane was still pale and sweaty, but his face wasn’t distorted in pain anymore, and he looked like he was sleeping more or less peacefully.
“We need to find this thing, and we need to find it now,” Kameron declared. “I’m calling a council meeting and I’ll ask to have other enforcers. We need all the man power we can find, because next time, we won’t be so lucky.” Kameron looked at Zane as he said those last words, and Blake knew the alpha was right. Zane had been very lucky.
“What if we don’t find it?” Angelo asked.
“We might have to leave pack territory,” Kameron told him, his face grim.
Abandoning pack territory was the last resort. Kameron would be viewed as weak by a lot of other packs, and it wouldn’t help his position in the council.
The last thing Blake wanted was to leave his home now that he’d finally come back. He looked at Elias, at Kameron, at Jago, and he knew he’d do whatever it took to find the creature and get rid of it.
* * * *
Eli was going crazy. He’d been inside for an entire week, ever since the creature had attacked Blake and the others. The only time he got out was to go to school, and after that, he went straight back home. Not even watching how the other students and the teachers reacted to Corbin’s presence in school distracted him anymore.
It had been funny in the beginning. A few girls had tried to talk to him, but Corbin had ignored them and had stayed close to Eli and sometimes Jarrett. Of course, that had made gossipers happy, and now most of the school thought Corbin and Eli were an item. Eli didn’t really care what they thought, but he wasn’t sure how Blake would react to that if he ever found out.
Corbin was also scary smart, and he obviously had already studied most of what Eli was doing in his final year. He had no problems with homework, and Eli was envious.
He threw his pen onto his book and stretched his neck. Corbin looked at him from his own book but didn’t talk. Eli was starting to learn to read Corbin, though. “I want to go out. My wolf’s been longing for some space and fresh air.”
Corbin looked at his book again. “You can’t.”
“I know. What if you come with me?”
“No.”
“Aww, come on.”
“No. Now do your homework.”
“You’re no fun.”
“I know.”
Eli grabbed his pen again and reread the first paragraph, but he realized he didn’t remember anything once he was done. He tapped the pen on the book, and tried to reread again. And again.
Corbin’s hand snapped out and snatched Eli’s pen from him. “You’re annoying me.”
“Are you going to take me outside?”
“No.”
Eli threw his hands in the air. “All right, I give up.”
“Call Blake and go do something with him.”
Eli arched a brow. “Something. What do you mean by something?”
“Go bug him. Talk to him. Have him take you out. Have sex with him. I don’t care. I just need you to stop bugging me.”
Eli sputtered. “Sex?”
Corbin arched a brow. “You know, what people do when they like each other.”
“I know what sex is! Besides, when did you become a smartass? You hardly ever talk usually.”
Corbin shrugged. “I like you. Not enough to have sex with you, but I like you.”
“And that’s why you’re actually bantering with me?”
“Yes.”
“That’s great.” And Eli meant it. He was happy to see Corbin was coming out of his shell.
“So?”
Eli frowned. “So what?”
“Are you going to go have sex with him?”
Eli sighed and tilted his head backward. “No,” he said with a sigh.
“Why not?”
Eli looked at Corbin again. “Every time we’ve come close, no, wait, not even close. Every time we started kissing and stuff, someone interrupted us.”
“Your dad.”
“And Jago, although he didn’t really interrupt anything. It’s not like we were going to have sex with Zane hurting in the next room or anything, but he was definitely teasing me.”
“So organize something.”
“Like what?”
“You’re really asking me that?”
“Yeah.”
Corbin finally put down both his pen and Eli’s. “I’ve never had a boyfriend. I’ve never kissed anyone, or held hands. I have no idea where to start.”
A light bulb went on in Eli’s brain. “Oooh, is that why you’ve been avoiding Jago this week? I know he came by to see you the other day and you told Craig to tell him you weren’t home.”
Corbin shrugged and looked at his book.
“It’s okay not to know, you know,” Eli said softly. “Jago knows about your past. You should just tell him what you told me. He’ll understand.”
“Weren’t we talking about you?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
Eli had no idea. He wasn’t even sure Blake would be on board with having sex with him, even though they kissed pretty often. They’d never gone further than when Eli had touched Blake’s dick, though, and while Eli wanted to believe it was because they’d been interrupted, he wasn’t sure. What if Blake still thought of him as a kid?
Even though they’d decided to mate this summer, mating had nothing to do with sex. Most of the couples Eli had talked to had done it during sex, but it wasn’t a requirement, and if Eli knew Blake, he’d be sneaky enough to do just that.
Eli understood Blake’s point of view, really he did, but he didn’t share it.
“I don’t know. Nothing, I guess.”
Corbin sighed and got up. “Come on.”
Eli scrambled to follow him out of the kitchen. “Where are we going?”
“His house.”
“Blake’s house?”
“Yes.”
“But we can’t set foot outside the house. Not that I’m not all for disobeying Dad usually, but I’d rather stay here than risk running into the creature.”
Corbin paused in front of his room’s door. “I thought you wanted to go running:”
“I didn’t think we’d really go. I was just... talking.”
“Grab your coat.”
Eli didn’t know what Corbin had in mind, but he went to get his coat anyway. He also put on his boots, then he went back to Corbin’s room. The door was open and Corbin was on the phone. He hung up, took a picture of his room, and typed something on the phone.
A few seconds later, two men appeared in Corbin’s bedroom.
Eli didn’t yell, because he knew of Nix and how they shimmered, even though he’d never actually seen anyone do it. It was still weird, although not as weird as one of the guys was. He had pink hair, lots of piercings, and the ugliest orange coat Eli had ever seen. Eli knew his dad wouldn’t want him to hang around anyone with so much metal in his skin.
Eli loved it.
“Corbin!” the other guy yelled. He tried to hug Corbin, but Corbin stepped away and held his hands up. The guy pouted but didn’t insist. He looked around the room instead. “Nice room. It’s still a pity you couldn’t stay with us.”
“No one said I couldn’t,” Corbin replied.
Pink-haired man scoffed. “All Morin’s fault. Sometimes I wish I could dump his ass.”
“No you don’t,” normal-looking guy answered. “You luuurve h
im. You can’t be without him.”
“Shut up. He’s still an ass.”
“Well, he does have a nice ass. If I wasn’t mated to Jonah and you weren’t my best friend, I might want to tap that.”
“Morin’s ass is mine!”
“I know, I know. I’d never do something like that.”
“Thanks, Poodle.”
“Poodle?”
“I’m trying new pet names for Morin.”
“And you’re trying them on me?”
“Why not? At least you won’t yell at me because I use pet names for you.”
“Aww, he didn’t mean it. And you got your revenge.”
Pink-haired guy snickered. “He promised he wouldn’t cross me ever again.”
“I wouldn’t either.”
Corbin cleared his throat and they both looked at him. Eli felt a bit overwhelmed by their chatter, and he couldn’t look away from the pink-orange combination, even though it hurt his eyes.
“This is Eli. Eli, these are Keenan and Nysys,” Corbin said.” Nysys is the colorblind one.”
Nysys’ eyes went round. “Did you just make a joke?” He turned to Keenan. “Did he just make a joke?”
“I think he did,” Keenan replied.
“Maybe it was a good idea to have him move here, then.”
“Can’t be bad anyway, not with Dominic being an ass about Corbin not being an enforcer.”
Nysys snorted. “As if he didn’t have enough of those already.”
“I told him, and he said it was a waste of useful resources.”
“I hate when he’s an ass.”
“Me, too. And he doesn’t like it when I point it out to him, so I told him that if he’d just stop being one, I wouldn’t bug him.”
“What did he say?”
“He threatened to fire me. So I told him that if he did, I’d move here and I’d become Kameron’s PA.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did.”
“What did he say?”
“He growled and gave me a raise.”
Elias Page 9