Jake felt his face fill with heat. A couple of times? He could only remember the once. But then, Jake often forgot the names and faces of the men he took home. That would certainly explain why Cary had been so pissed off about Jake forgetting his name the week before.
“I never got his address.”
“What do you want him for?” Andre asked, suspicion evident on his handsome features. His gaze shifted to from Jake to Kelan. “He in some kind of trouble?”
“No, nothing like that,” Jake replied. “Actually, I’m worried about him.”
Andre frowned. “That loser of an ex been sniffing around again?”
Jake thought back to the argument he had seen Cary involved in the night before. He hadn’t recognised the man, but they’d definitely looked as though they knew each other well. You didn’t get involved in arguments like that with complete strangers.
“I think so,” Jake said. “I saw him here with someone last night. The guy was shouting at him. Cary looked upset when he left, so I wanted to check he was okay.”
Andre’s eyes darkened. “That piece of crap was in here? He’d better not show his face again or I’ll kick his ass.”
“The guy trouble?” Kelan asked.
“A real low-life. Used to beat up on Cary, from what I’ve heard, until Cary got wise to his ass and kicked him out a while back.”
“What’s his name?” Jake asked.
“Gill. But you don’t want to mess with him. Guy’s not right in the head, if you know what I mean. He recently started showing up at some of the leather clubs I go to. Fancies himself a Dom, I think, but he crosses the line. Most of the subs I know wouldn’t be caught dead with him.”
“We’ll be careful,” Kelan said.
Andre sighed. “Cary and I went out a couple of times but it never amounted to much. Even so, he’s a great guy. I wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to him. I kinda feel protective of him, you know?”
Kelan nodded. “We don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Ten minutes later, Kelan and Jake left Liberties with Cary’s address in hand. It was only a few blocks away from the bar.
“So now it’s looking like Cary’s ex could be the shifter that’s been bothering you.”
Jake nodded. “Cary is really sweet. I was hoping it wasn’t him but, well, I’m not sure of anything anymore.”
Kelan tried not to be made jealous by Jake’s words. He couldn’t wait to get Jake home to Texas with him. He knew his mate had a past, as did he, but he wasn’t sure how many more of Jake’s hookups he could stand to meet.
“This the place?” he asked, stopping outside an old tenement building that had long since seen better days.
Jake squinted in the darkness at the slip of paper in his hand.
“Yeah, this is the right address.”
“Christ, it’s a dump,” Kelan said, taking in the building’s dated and run-down façade.
Jake pressed the number on the keypad outside the main entrance door. He waited for an answer then buzzed again.
“Shit, what are we going to do now?” he asked, looking around the building for another entrance.
Kelan stepped forward and pressed every number on the keypad.
“Pizza delivery,” he said, when a male voice answered.
Jake raised an eyebrow when the door in front of them was buzzed open.
“Huh. Why didn’t I think of that?”
They made their way up to the fourth floor of the building. When they found Cary’s apartment, they knocked on the door and waited.
“I guess he’s not home,” Jake said.
“He’s home. I can smell him in there. He’s a shifter, definitely a cat but not the one from the alley and your apartment.”
“Then it has to be his ex.”
“It would seem so, yes.”
Jake knocked on Cary’s door again.
“He’s afraid,” Kelan said. “His apartment reeks of fear.”
“Cary! It’s Jake, open up!” Jake shouted through the closed door.
A moment later, they heard several locks on the door snick open. Cary peered out tentatively from behind the barrier.
“Jake? What are you doing here?”
Kelan heard Jake gasp when he saw the cuts and bruises adorning Cary’s face. His left eye was swollen and half-closed, and his lip was split.
“What the hell happened to your face?” Jake asked. “Let me in.”
“You can’t be here,” Cary said. “Go away.”
“Cary, let me in. We just want to talk to you.”
“We?”
Cary pulled the door a couple of inches wider, his eyes widening when he took in Kelan’s height and stature. He sniffed the air between them, and the moment he realised Kelan was a wolf showed clearly on his face. He looked terrified.
“Who is he?” Cary asked, trembling.
“I’m Jake’s mate,” Kelan said, stepping forward. “Can you let us in? We really need to talk to you.”
“Mate?” Cary squeaked. “What do you want with me?”
“We just want to talk to you, Cary. It’s important.”
“You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”
“Don’t worry,” Kelan soothed. “Gill won’t hurt you while I’m here. I promise you.”
Cary looked shocked by Kelan’s statement, then resignation set in. He sighed and pulled the door wider to allow them both access. When they were all inside, Cary closed the apartment door behind them, re-bolting each of the locks in turn.
“How do you know about Gill?” he asked, finally turning to face them.
“Was it Gill that did this to your face?” Kelan asked, ignoring the question.
Cary nodded and strode past them into the living room, gesturing for them to follow.
“Yes,” he said, finally, slumping down into an easy chair in the corner of the room, his eyes downcast. “Take a seat.”
Jake looked around the small apartment. Cary had made the best of the small space, but the furnishings were old and well-worn. Kelan sat down on the end of the threadbare sofa and Jake sat next to him.
“Jake was attacked last night,” Kelan said. “It happened in the alley behind Liberties. We think it was Gill.”
Cary gasped and looked at Jake wide-eyed.
“What? Are you okay? What happened?”
“I saw you arguing with someone in Liberties,” Jake said. “You looked upset, so I followed you to make sure you were okay. I lost you in an alley and when I turned to leave, there was a large, black panther blocking my way. It attacked me.”
Tears filled Cary’s eyes. “This is all my fault. I’m sorry to drag you into my shit. Gill told me to stay away from you, but I never thought he’d really hurt you, I swear.”
“Gill broke into Jake’s apartment the other night, too,” Kelan said. “And he’s been leaving notes, threatening notes.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Why don’t you tell us what’s been going on with your ex?” Kelan asked.
A tear slid down Cary’s cheek. He lifted a hand to swipe at it, but more fell in its place.
“Gill isn’t just my ex,” Cary said. “He’s my mate.”
Jake’s mouth fell open in shock. “Your what?”
“I’m sorry, Cary,” Kelan said. “I’d like to think all of us shifters get the mate of our dreams like I did, but sadly I know that isn’t always the case.”
Cary nodded, his eyes filled with misery. “Gill wasn’t so bad when I met him. Well, he had a fierce temper, but the first few months we were together he didn’t lay a finger on me.”
“What changed?” Kelan asked.
“I don’t know. He started getting more and more possessive. At first he had a problem with me meeting my friends. He was jealous of the relationships I had with them, I guess. Then it was literally everyone. It got to the stage where I couldn’t go out with him in public anymore, because he’d end up accusing some guy of looking at me and start a fight.”
&nbs
p; “How long were you with him?” Jake asked.
“Two years.”
“And when did he start to hit you?” Kelan asked, gesturing to Cary’s face.
Cary slumped forward in the chair. Kelan had never seen anyone look so dejected, so lost. “About four months after we met.”
“But why did you put up with it for so long?” Jake needed to know. He had never been able to understand why anyone would stand for something like that.
Cary met Jake’s eyes. “Because he’s my mate.”
Jake scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “But even so, how could you let him treat you like that?”
“You only get one mate, Jake. You’re human, you wouldn’t understand.”
Jake glanced at Kelan then back to Cary. He knew how important Kelan had become to him in such a short space of time, but he was beginning to realise the importance shifters placed on their mates. Did Kelan feel that way about him?
“Try me,” he said.
Cary sighed. “I hoped that things would get better between us, that somehow Gill would realise the way he was treating me was wrong, that he would see how it affected me, how much he hurt me. But he never did.”
“So you left him?” Kelan asked.
Cary nodded. “We were living together in New Hampshire and one day, about six months ago, he beat me up pretty bad, so I packed a bag and left.”
“That must have been difficult,” Kelan said.
Cary nodded. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Even after everything he did to me, I didn’t want to walk away. But if I’d stayed, he would have killed me, I’m sure of it.”
“You did the right thing,” Kelan said.
Cary hung his head. “Yeah. But my heart still aches for him.”
“I’m sure it does,” Kelan said. “But you can’t put up with that shit, mate or not. We’re supposed to cherish our mates, love them and protect them, not hurt them.”
Jake felt a lump rising in the back of his throat. He couldn’t believe what Cary had put up with in the last couple of years. His life must have been hell. It was a lot for someone so young to have to deal with. Hell, it was a lot for anyone of any age to deal with.
Jake felt worse knowing the way in which he’d behaved towards Cary himself. As if the kid hadn’t been through enough in his young life, then Jake had come along, treating him no better than a piece of meat. He felt thoroughly ashamed of himself and made a silent promise he would make it up to the young shifter. Whatever he could do to help him, he’d do it gladly.
“I’m so sorry,” Jake said. Somehow the words didn’t seem enough.
“How did he find you here?” Kelan asked.
“I was still in contact with a couple of my friends from back home. Gill threatened one of them until they told him where I was. I don’t blame him,” Cary said ruefully. “Gill is a difficult man to stand up to.”
“When did he show up here?”
“A couple of months ago. He didn’t confront me at first, though, just followed me around. He never showed himself to me, but I could sense he was close. I could feel him, you know? I think he was watching to see who I was meeting. He probably wanted to know if there was anyone else in my life before he did something about it. I guess that’s how he knew about you.” Cary gestured towards Jake.
Cary looked at Kelan apologetically. Kelan shrugged. There was no point him getting angry about something that had happened before he had even met Jake. Even though his natural wolf instinct was to be jealous, he didn’t see the young shifter as a threat. Besides, he felt sorry for Cary. The young man had been through a lot. Kelan wanted to help him.
“What happened after you left Liberties?” Jake asked.
“I ran into the alley to shift so no one would see me.” Cary said. “I was going to stick to the back streets to get home, and I can run faster in my panther form. I was worried Gill would follow me back, so I climbed one of the fire escapes at the end that led around the side of the building. When I made it to the next street, I ran home. I’m real sorry, Jake. If I’d known you followed me into the alley, I never would have left. I wouldn’t have intentionally put you in danger like that, I swear.”
“That’s okay,” Jake said. “There’s not a lot you could have done anyhow.”
“What happened next?” Kelan asked. “How did Gill catch up with you, do that to your face?”
“I was nearly home and I thought I’d got away from him. I had shifted back just around the corner when he caught up with me. He was furious. I’ve never seen him that mad before. I really thought he was going to kill me. Then a couple of men showed up and said they’d called the police, so he ran off. But he promised he’d be back.”
“How come you haven’t healed?” Kelan asked, pointing to Cary’s face.
“I have,” Cary said. “Mostly. I looked a lot worse than this last night.”
Jake gasped. Cary’s face was in pretty bad shape now, so Kelan couldn’t begin to imagine what state it had been in the night before.
“You can’t stay here, Cary,” Kelan said. “If everything you’ve said about Gill is true then you’re not safe here. If he gets hold of you again, there’s no telling what he’ll do next time.”
Fresh tears fell from Cary’s eyes.
“I know that, but I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said, in a small voice that tugged at Kelan’s heartstrings. “I used all my savings to get this place and my job doesn’t pay much. I haven’t been able to put anything away.”
Kelan nodded, his mind made up. He had to do something to help Cary. He couldn’t just leave him here at the mercy of Gill.
“How do you feel about Texas?”
“What do you mean?” Cary asked, confusion evident on his bruised and battered face.
“Well, I’m the alpha of my pack back home. You’d be more than welcome there. I have a working ranch, but if you’re not up for manual work then I’m sure someone in my pack would be able to find you a suitable job.”
Jake looked at Kelan in surprise. Kelan didn’t even know Cary, and yet here he was offering him somewhere to go, a home, a new life. It made his love for Kelan even stronger, if that were possible. Suddenly, Jake couldn’t think of a single reason why he shouldn’t move to Texas to be with Kelan.
“You mean, come to live there?” Cary asked. “With wolves?”
“Do you have any better options?” Kelan asked, with a roll of his eyes.
“But you don’t even know me,” Cary said. “Why would you help me?”
Kelan grinned. “I guess I’m a sucker for a hard luck story.”
“I’m not a charity case,” Cary protested.
“Whoa, I wasn’t offering charity,” Kelan said. “You’d have to work for a living, earn your keep, but if you want a fresh start, then the offer is there.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I’d do the same for any of my friends. I realise I don’t know you, but you’re a friend of Jake’s and that’s good enough for me.”
Cary looked from Jake to Kelan and back again, his eyes wide with wonder.
“Wow. You’d really do that for me?”
“Sure.”
Cary smiled for the first time since Kelan and Jake had arrived.
“Thank you,” he said at last. “Thank you so much. This means a lot.”
“Well, that solves your plans for the future,” Kelan said. “But you need somewhere to stay right now. I don’t think you should be here even temporarily. Gill could show up at any time. My brother Cody has a spare room. I’ve been staying in it myself, but you’re more than welcome to it. I know my brother won’t mind. That is, if Jake will put me up at his apartment.” Kelan looked at Jake expectantly.
Jake smiled. He leant forward and gave Kelan a peck on the lips.
“Where else would my mate stay?”
Kelan felt his heart soar. That was the first time he had heard Jake refer to him as his
mate, and he liked it. He liked it a lot.
Kelan looked down when he felt something brush against his legs. He smiled when he saw a jet black cat rub against him. Jake reached down to pet it and it arched into his touch, purring loudly.
“Friend of yours?” Jake asked, continuing to stroke the sleek, black coat on the cat’s back.
Cary grinned. “Yep, this is Henry. He keeps me company here. I think he likes you.”
To confirm Cary’s words, Henry jumped up into Jake’s lap and began circling before settling himself down, making himself at home.
Kelan chuckled. “I’d say you’re right. He has good taste.”
Henry’s head jerked up when Kelan spoke, as though he had only just noticed Kelan was in the room. He jumped up, arched his back and hissed at Kelan before fleeing to the kitchen.
“Uh, sorry about that,” Cary said. “I guess he’s not a fan of wolves.”
Jake burst out laughing at Kelan’s wounded expression.
“Cats never did like me,” Kelan mumbled.
“I like you,” Cary said. “And Henry will come around when he gets to know you, too.”
Kelan nodded and smiled. He was so distracted by the cat he almost didn’t catch the strong smell that was slowly making its way through the small apartment.
“What the hell?” Kelan said. “Is that smoke?”
Cary sniffed the air and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Shit, yes!”
Cary ran to his apartment door, unbolted the locks and threw it open before Jake or Kelan could tell him not to. The corridor outside was filled with smoke. It immediately caught in his throat, making him cough. He slammed the door shut and quickly turned around to face Kelan and Jake.
“Fuck! The building is on fire!”
Chapter Nine
“Is there another way out?” Kelan asked, running through the small apartment to throw open the window in the living room.
“Yes, the fire escape,” Cary said, “but you can only access it through the bedroom.”
Smoke was already making its way under the apartment door.
“We need to hurry,” Jake said. “We’re not going to be able to breathe in here soon.”
Kelan's Pursuit Page 9