Arlen
Page 1
Sometimes you have to walk off the beaten path and create your own to be happy.
Arlen’s been stuck in his wolf form for months and he’s had to watch his mate fall in love with another man and live with him. To his surprise, Arlen falls in love with both men, so when he becomes human again, he knows exactly what he wants—both Gentry and Nick.
Gentry helps Arlen to become human again, but when Nick finds out Arlen is his mate, Gentry thinks he’ll have to leave the man he loves. Then Arlen proposes a threesome solution, but Gentry is hesitant.
Nick accepts Arlen’s solution more easily, even though he isn’t sure his wolf will be happy with it. But the wolf wants both Gentry and Arlen, and after a bit of stumbling, the three settle in their new throuple.
Will Nick and Arlen be able to resist the urge to mate and really include Gentry, or will Gentry end up alone and rejected? And how will their families and friends react to their solution?
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Arlen
Copyright © 2015 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0551-9
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Arlen
Gillham Pack Book Six
By
Catherine Lievens
Chapter One
Arlen put his jaw on his paws and looked at the house in front of him. Nick wasn’t home yet, but Gentry was there. Gentry, the man who was dating and living with Arlen’s mate.
Arlen huffed and the leaves in front of his nose moved gently. Yes, Gentry was dating his mate, but it wasn’t like Arlen could do anything about that. He was stuck in his wolf form and he couldn’t tell anyone it was due to whatever they’d implanted in his neck during his time in the labs. Hopefully it would wear out sooner or later and Arlen would be able to shift back to his human form.
Not that that would help with this particular situation—Gentry was already dating Nick, and as strange as it sounded, Arlen liked Gentry. More than that, he loved him. Leave it to Arlen to fall in love with both his mate and his mate’s lover while he couldn’t even do anything about it.
But he could see Gentry was good for Nick, that he made him laugh and gave him a reason to live that wasn’t his job, so it softened the blow.
Arlen had lived with Nick ever since they’d rescued him from the lab, and he’d seen how Nick was. He was both the pack’s beta and a detective, and that left him very little time for everything else. Add to that, he didn’t have a family that actually cared, and it meant Nick was used to working every day of the week. He woke up with the dawn and came back home only to collapse in bed and sleep.
Nick’s rhythm had changed since Gentry had arrived, though. It had slowed, and he didn’t work as much anymore. He looked happier, and more relaxed.
It was nice to see, even though Arlen couldn’t help but feel hurt that he hadn’t been the one to do that, at least a little. It should’ve been him, but it wasn’t. Nick had never had the time to shift and run with him. He didn’t spend time with Arlen, not enough to smell him at a close range anyway, which was why he didn’t know about them being mates.
Surprisingly, Arlen actually spent more time with Gentry than with Nick. Along with Rick, Gentry was the only other person Arlen considered a friend. Gentry talked to him as if he were human, asked him how his day was and what he’d done, even though he knew Arlen couldn’t answer. They actually had had conversations in which Gentry talked and Arlen answered as well as he could, nodding and using his paws. It wasn’t easy, but it made him feel less lonely, like he mattered to someone.
“Arlen? Are you out there, buddy?”
Arlen yipped to make Gentry know that yes, he was out there.
“Oh, okay. Are you going to come in for dinner or should I save you a plate?”
Arlen knew what Nick saw in Gentry in that moment more than ever, knew why he’d fallen in love with Gentry too. They both knew Arlen ate like a dog—a wolf. He had to eat from a bowl on the floor, yet Gentry never mentioned it. He made Arlen feel human, even though he wasn’t, even if he himself wasn’t sure there still was a human part in him. The fear he’d never be able to shift again or to walk on two legs instead of four was always there in the back of Arlen’s mind. It never left him and it tortured him. Always.
It was there when he watched Gentry and Nick together, when they kissed and when he knew they were making love. It was there when Arlen watched them eat, when he saw Rick with his mate. He longed for that so much it hurt.
That was why he’d started to avoid everyone, with the exception of Rick. Of course, Rick didn’t have that much time to dedicate to him now that he was mated, so that left Arlen mostly on his own.
“Arlen? I don’t know what’s happening to you, but you know I’m here if you need to, I don’t know, cuddle or whatever.”
Arlen was amused and decided to give Gentry a break. Rick might be the person Arlen felt most comfortable with, but Gentry was trying so hard, almost as if he knew what Arlen meant to Nick. Or could’ve meant, anyway.
“Okay, I’m going back inside. I’ll leave the door open for you.”
Arlen heard Gentry move and he huffed again. How was it that that man was able to make him feel guilty for not answering? He rose from the dead leaves he’d been resting on and shook his fur out. He wasn’t sure he managed to get them all out, but it’d have to do.
He trotted to the house and up the porch stairs. He walked in the house but couldn’t close the door, so he stayed next to it and yipped. Gentry appeared at the kitchen door and smiled. “I’ll get that. You want dinner?”
Arlen nodded and made his way to the kitchen. Gentry was right behind him and took a plate from the counter. He hesitated and looked at Arlen. “I can put it on the table if you want. I’m not sure how comfortable you can be sitting on the chair, though.”
Arlen shook his head and hit his paw on the floor. Gentry gave him an apologetic smile and put the plate down. At least it was real plate and not a bowl.
Arlen quickly ate the meatloaf and the peas, then sat in a corner and licked his muzzle clean while Gentry rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He talked as he worked, even though he never looked Arlen’s way. “Nick is still at work. He’s working on a case, so he’s going to come home late. Want to watch a movie?”
Arlen stopped cleaning his right paw and yipped. It’d been a long while since he last watched a movie, or anything else for that matter. He missed it, but what he missed the most was reading. Nick didn’t read much—he didn’t have the time—but Gentry did, and Arlen wanted nothing more than to sit next to him, both of them with a good book in hand, and read for hours.
He missed the smell of books, the feeling of paper under his fingers, the weight. Hell, he even missed his e-reader. He’d had an extensive collection at home, both of paper books and e-books. Sometimes, when he allowed himself to think about it, he wondered if Mal—his roommate and best friend—had kept everything, or if he’d given it away. He knew Kameron had tried to find his family, but it wasn’t like they’d be happy to hear about him. He only had Mal.
“Any particular movie you want to watch?”
Arlen shook his head and watched as Gentry turned the kitchen light off and walked to the living room. Arlen followed him and sat on the carpet while Gentry sat on the couch and used the remote to find them a movie.
“Come up here, come on,” Gentry said as he patted the empty space next to him.
Arlen hesitated. He might have spent some time with Gentry, but his wolf still saw him as the man who’d stolen their mate. On the other hand, Arlen longed for any type of touch, especially from one of the men he loved. The only person who touched him was Rick, and that didn’t happen as often as it did before. The two parts of him warred in his mind, but the wolf was mollified by the way Gentry seemed to care for them, so it didn’t take much to make it cave in.
“Come on. I don’t bite, I swear,” Gentry said with a smile, and it was enough to convince Arlen.
He jumped on the couch and made sure to keep some distance between them, then curled on himself, his head on his paws so that he could see the TV. Gentry had chosen a crime series, but it had been so long since Arlen had last watch TV that he had no clue what series it was.
“I like this. I know it’s probably not realistic, but it’s entertaining. I can’t watch it with Nick because he makes fun of me and comments on everything the characters do. He always finds something wrong, and it takes the fun out of it.”
Arlen sighed. He could imagine it. He could imagine the way Gentry and Nick spent their evening together, first watching TV and talking, then moving to the bed and making love. Okay, so he probably shouldn’t imagine it, because it hurt like a bitch, but there wasn’t really anything else Arlen could do.
“Arlen?”
Arlen turned to look at Gentry. The light coming from the TV—the only light on in the room—cast shadows on the man’s face and it made him difficult to read.
“I know you used to spend a lot of time in the house, but you haven’t lately. Is it because I moved in? Is it giving you problems?”
Arlen huffed and moved toward Gentry. He bumped his head into Gentry’s elbow and yipped, hoping the message was getting through.
“Is that a no?”
Arlen rolled his eyes and licked Gentry’s hand. Gentry laughed and scratched under Arlen’s chin. “I’ll take that as a no. I just... I hope you know you can come by anytime you want. This is your home, too.”
* * * *
Arlen puzzled Gentry. Gentry had talked to Kameron to know the wolf’s story, but not even the alpha had been able to tell him more than we found him in the lab, his name was on the cage he was in, and he hasn’t shifted back yet.
They didn’t even know why he couldn’t shift back, or if it was a choice, although with the way Arlen sometimes looked at Nick, at food, or at other things in the house, Gentry was ready to bet it wasn’t. He thought Arlen wanted to be human, which meant something wasn’t allowing him to shift.
That didn’t mean he’d change his mind. Gentry had decided to do whatever he could to help Arlen, and he would do it. He’d already contacted Jared Sykes, the doctor who’d taken care of Arlen when he’d first been released.
The man was still looking through the files of all the survivors, and it was taking longer than they’d thought. Some of the experiments had been kept a secret even from some of the doctors in the labs, but they were slowly piecing things together. They still hadn’t got to Arlen’s files, though, and who knew how long it would take. Gentry didn’t want to leave Arlen in his wolf form for much longer.
He couldn’t even imagine how it felt. He loved his own wolf form, but he couldn’t imagine living in it all the time. His human side needed out too, it needed to be hugged and to make love, to talk and read and all those things that made a human being a person. That was why he’d asked Arlen if he wanted to watch TV, and he wasn’t surprised when Arlen had accepted.
He’d been surprised by the way Arlen had reassured him that Gentry wasn’t why he was staying away. Still, even with the reassurance, Gentry was frustrated. He wanted to know more, he wanted to help Arlen, and he couldn’t, with the little information he had.
Gentry sighed. “I wish you could communicate with us, tell us at least your entire name.”
Arlen bumped into his hand again and Gentry smiled at him. “Do you want me to scratch you?”
Arlen yipped and Gentry took it as a yes. He slowly held his hand out, because one could never know. Maybe the yip meant something else, like are you crazy? and Gentry was about to have his hand bit off.
But no. Arlen put his head down again and let Gentry put his hand on his neck. Gentry scratched the top of Arlen’s head and Arlen sighed deeply. The wolf shifter didn’t move as Gentry stroked his fur, scratched behind his ear and generally behaved like Arlen was a dog. Shifters didn’t usually enjoy rub downs from anyone but their mates, but what with Arlen being stuck and spending much of his time alone, he probably needed contact.
Gentry’s cell phone rang. He sighed and reached for it on the coffee table “Yes?”
“Hello, son.”
“Dad. I wasn’t expecting your call until Sunday morning.”
“Your mother wants me to take her out for breakfast on Sunday.”
“Ah, I see. At least you’ll get to eat bacon, huh?”
“Better than the rabbit food your mother serves me all the time.”
“You know she just wants you to be fine.”
“I’m mated with a shifter. I’m more than fine.”
Gentry chuckled. That was the usual fight between his parents—his father was human, and his mother was scared his father would get sick and die even though they were mated. So she did her best to keep him healthy. She fed him vegetables and fruits and limited meat and greasy foods. There hadn’t been bacon in their house in the last ten years, and Gentry knew she wasn’t about to change that.
“Let her be. I’ll feed you bacon when you come to visit.”
“That’s my boy. So, how are you, Gen? Everything okay with Nick?”
Gentry smiled to himself. “Yes. He’s... everything’s fine.”
“He treats you right?”
“Of course he does. I’m not your little boy anymore, you know? I can defend myself.”
“I know, but you had such a hard time after Leonard died. I didn’t think you were going to make it for a while.”
Arlen whined next to him and Gentry started rubbing his head with his free hand. “But I did, and I’m fine now. Really.”
“I’m happy you found someone else, Gen. And he’d better treat you right.”
Gentry laughed. “He does. Don’t worry.”
“So what are you up to?”
“The usual. I have my weekly appointments, and I’m still trying to figure out what’s wrong with Arlen.”
“Arlen? That’s the wolf, right?”
“Yes.”
Arlen whined again and Gentry looked at him. Arlen looked back, but Gentry wasn’t able to read his eyes. Did he want Gentry to stop talking about him?
“I suppose he was checked by a doctor to see if there was something wrong with him.”
“I’m not sure, actually, but I suppose so. I’ll ask Kameron tomorrow, anyway. I know they still haven’t found his complete file, so they don’t know what happened to him.”
“Well, if you take out the possibility of him refusing to shift back, it has to be something they did to him.”
“But what? That’s the problem. We don’t know what they did. It could be anything.”
Gentry frowned. “I don’t know. Wait, I’m going to ask him.” He looked at Arlen, who was now sitting next to him and looked highly interested in his conversation. “Arlen? You heard my dad? Has Jared x-rayed you?”
Arlen shook his head. His eyes were wide and he looked excited, as much as a wolf could anyway. “I think we’re onto something, Dad. Arlen looks livelier than I’ve ever seen him.”
“So he knows it’s something that would’ve shown on an x-ray. Gen, check the back of his neck.”
“What am I looking for?”
“An implant. Probably something similar to the birth-control implant your mother has. It’s thin and not very big, but if it’s there you should be able to feel it.”
Arlen exposed his neck to Gentry and Gentry buried his fingers in the fur there. It was thick and it made it hard to get to the skin, but Arlen wasn’t moving, so he managed.
Gentry pressed his fingers around until they encountered something hard but flexible. “Dad? I found something.” Gentry felt along the stick. “I think it’s big like a match, more or less, and it’s flexible, like plastic.”
Arlen yipped and Gentry moved his hand away. Arlen licked his cheek and Gentry laughed. “Okay, okay. I’m going to hang up with my father and call Kameron. Dad?”
“It’s an implant?”
“I think so, yes. There certainly is something there, and Arlen is excited about it.”
“Why hasn’t anyone found it before?”
“I don’t know. There were wounded people when they got to the lab, and while Arlen isn’t shifting, he wasn’t hurt, so they only checked him to see if he was fine.”
Gentry’s father snorted. “Nice excuse. Poor guy hasn’t been human in who knows how long, and no one seems to care.”