by Oliver, Lisa
Five minutes was more than long enough in a shower alone, and Kellen moved quickly, wanting to be back in bed with his mate before Phillip came to. When he sauntered back into the bedroom, washcloth in hand, Phillip was lying where Kellen had placed him, curled around himself, his hair disheveled, one leg curled, one stretched out, tempting Kellen with the way it molded so effortlessly with an ass that was tight and hard.
In the half light of the room, Kellen could see the scars the riddled Phillip’s back. White stripes against a pale skin. Phillip clearly hadn’t shifted in a while, or he did his shifting at night. As Kellen gently cleaned Phillip front and back, his eyes kept going back to those scars. There were more than the twenty lashes Pearson said he’d been given. His heart lurched at the depth of pain Phillip must be carrying to allow himself to be so badly injured. The welts given by the pathetic human earlier hadn’t even broken the skin and were already fading, and for that Kellen was grateful. He knew if there’d been one lash that had drawn blood, the Dom who’d inflicted them wouldn’t have been walking.
“I know they’re ugly, but they’re part of who I am.” Phillip’s voice broke the silence and Kellen looked up to see blue eyes regarding him steadily.
“I don’t find them ugly,” he said truthfully. “You’re right, they’re part of who you are and in my opinion any scar is the sign that a person has overcome tragedy and survived. I’m a warrior at heart, it doesn’t bother me.”
“They’re a reminder,” Phillip said, his blue eyes darkening and Kellen moved quickly, scooping him up in his arms. If his mate was going to dwell on unhappy memories, then Kellen wasn’t about to let him face them alone.
“Pearson told me what happened,” he said when Phillip was settled. “Why you were punished; why you feel you betrayed your pack.”
“I did betray my pack.” The scorn in Phillip’s voice made Kellen wince inside although he knew it was self-directed hatred.
“For a chance to reconnect with your family; Pearson understood and so do I.”
Phillip huffed, but Kellen noticed he didn’t put any space between them, and that was a positive in itself.
“I thought my family would forgive me. I could no more hide my true nature than fly and I thought they understood. Turns out they were looking for a sucker and who better than someone so blinded by…blinded by….”
“Love,” Kellen said gently when Phillip broke off. “You loved your family, missed them and wanted to see them again. They’re fools, every last one of them for not appreciating what a decent man you are.”
Phillip snorted this time. “You have no idea what sort of man I am.”
“Oh yes I do, or at least I can guess,” Kellen replied easily. “You see I know what type of man I am. I make mistakes just like everyone else and all I can do is to admit that honestly when I have. Just like you. But I also know that for the most part, I’m decent, too, and you’re the same.”
“You’ve never betrayed your pack.” There was a hint of bitterness in Phillip’s tone that Kellen chose to ignore.
“I’ve done worse. I betrayed my father, who was my pack Alpha, so I betrayed pack and family.”
Phillip half-twisted in his arms, those expressive eyes showing shock and concern. Kellen was pleased to see that the mating bond worked both ways. It was the concern he saw that prompted him to continue.
“I allowed my father to believe things about me that weren’t true. That I would take a wife, have pups, and become the leader of the pack after him. When it came down to it, when I was introduced to the woman who was to become my wife, I realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t commit to someone who wasn’t my mate.”
“What happened?” Phillip’s voice only held concern now, and Kellen felt a strong slim hand cup his jaw. He leaned into the touch, taking the comfort offered.
“I went to my father. I’d been raised in a loving family; I had no reason to suspect he would be angry with me. I didn’t tell him I was gay. I told him I wanted to wait for my mate.”
“He didn’t see things that way?”
Kellen let out a half laugh. “That’s putting it mildly. Apparently the woman was the only child of another pack Alpha – you know the old story – two packs merging through marriage, becoming stronger through shared resources and territory. It’s still being done in some parts of the country; although for me this was over forty years ago, when it was a lot more common.”
“Remind me to ask you how old you are later,” Phillip said, and there was a small smile on his lips, which disappeared quickly. “What happened?”
“The usual.” Kellen shrugged. “After yelling at me for hours, I was locked underground for almost two years, not allowed to run in my wolf form, not able to see the sun. My father was waiting for me to change my mind, come to my senses, as he called it. He came down once a month, just before the full moon, ask if I’d changed my mind and then left when I told him I hadn’t.”
“It’s a wonder you didn’t go mad.” The hand on Kellen’s jaw tightened and then slid around to his nape. Kellen found he was calmed by the gesture even though he would never usually allow anyone to touch him there.
“I shifted infrequently, but not being able to run and hunt devastated my wolf, so I stopped doing that. It’s not as though I was in total darkness. There were lights in the cell, I was brought food once a day and I could shower once a week. But not being able to sniff the fresh air, feel the rain on my skin, hunt and run – it wasn’t easy.” Kellen didn’t like thinking about his past, and the betrayal from his father was one of the reasons he lived his life behind a façade of arrogance. But Phillip was different. They were mated and maybe, somehow, his story might help his mate.
“So what happened? Did you escape?”
“No, I wasn’t that lucky.” Kellen wasn’t so sure he wanted to explain the rest, but he didn’t have a choice. His mate had a right to know all of it.
“I was dragged up to the pack circle one night. It was a full moon, the night the pack would all go for a run. At first I thought my father had forgiven me, was accepting me back into the fold. But no. In front of the pack he said that as I wouldn’t take the match given me, my younger brother would become Alpha Apparent. Apparently he had no qualms mating a woman who wasn’t his intended.”
“They banished you?” The concern in Phillip’s voice was all too real, yet Kellen knew he didn’t deserve it.
“No.” Kellen took a deep breath and then, as steadily as he could he said, “My father ordered me to fight my brother for my place in the pack.” He looked down and found serenity from his mate’s calm acceptance. “You have to understand that even though I’d been imprisoned for so long, I was still bigger and stronger than my brother and both of us knew it. I like to think my father ordered my brother to kill me because he couldn’t bear to face me himself, but the reality of the situation was that I was bigger and stronger than my father, too.”
“What did you do?”
“I would not fight my own flesh and blood so I shifted for the first time in months and ran.”
Kellen let the words fall between them, his shame laid bare. He could imagine what Phillip was thinking. To run from a fight, to not even try and face his brother, had Kellen labeled as a coward from that moment on. He’d never been back to Florida; where his pack had their territory, and he refused any assignments anywhere near the state. He’d run for months, heading for the Council, where he turned himself in as a rogue wolf. The Council was a bit more understanding than his father had been and Kellen had trained as a troubleshooter, rising through the ranks quickly until he was one of the best on the books.
“Phew, thank goodness.” Kellen didn’t realize he’d been staring off into space, but his eyes found Phillip’s face only to find there was a hint of a smile dancing around the man’s lips.
“Thank goodness?”
“Well yeah.” Phillip brought his other arm up to encircle Kellen’s neck tugging him down until they were within kissing distance
of each other. “If you hadn’t run, then you’d have been married, and I have to tell you raising kids is not on my to-do list.”
You never have to worry about that. Those were the words Kellen meant to say, but Phillip’s lips had found his, and suddenly he didn’t feel the need to say anything at all. He had made a promise earlier that evening and he meant to keep it – starting with those luscious lips.
Chapter Ten
The sun was high in the sky when Phillip eased himself out from Kellen’s possessive grip and padded through to the bathroom, noticing it’d been used, but there were no towels on the floor. Aww, he cleaned up after himself. It wasn’t as though he was anal about his living space, but after spending years in the Navy before finding the Washington pack, Phillip was used to keeping his living areas spick and span. Apparently Kellen had picked up on it and Phillip felt a warm glow.
That wasn’t the only warm tingle Phillip was feeling as he made his way through to the kitchen and searched his fridge for cold cuts and a fresh loaf of bread. A snack was definitely in order, given the energy expended in the acrobatics from the night before. He winced as he reached for a jar of pickle, the twinge in his ass a physical reminder of just how well his body had been used. He shouldn’t have been grinning but he was.
Phillip had just piled the sandwiches onto a large plate when his phone rang – Hail to the Chief – Pearson’s ring tone. Grabbing the phone, he sent a silent prayer for good news as he answered the call.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Good afternoon, Phillip. I trust Kellen is treating you well.”
“Ah…yes, Alpha. We seem to have a bit in common, although it’s too soon to tell.” Phillip’s face heated and he was glad Pearson couldn’t see him.
“But you’re mated?”
“I’ve been claimed, yes.” Phillip touched the bite on his shoulder, feeling a bit self-conscious, although like all shifters he would wear the mark with pride.
“Excellent. I’m really pleased for you. I think he’ll be a good man for you. But unfortunately that’s not why I called.” Phillip’s muscles tensed. Somehow, from the change in tone, he knew whatever the Alpha was going to say next wasn’t good news.
“I need the pair of you to come into the office. I know you’re entitled to your three days to bond, but something’s come up that can’t wait. I doubt Kellen has had a chance to tell you yet, but it seems there was something decidedly off about his orders for coming here.”
Phillip felt his stomach drop. “He was planning to hurt the pack in some way?”
“No.” Pearson was quick to assure him. “Admittedly he did have plans on killing Devin, or at least trying to, under orders, but he and I discussed that yesterday and we both realize he was given false information about this gig.”
His mind racing, Phillip stared at his heavy granite counter. For once his negative self was completely silent, and he didn’t have a clue what to say. Was Kellen in danger? Or the pack?
“Phillip. Steel and Levi have been working through the night getting the background information we need. There’s no immediate danger to your mate, but I do need to fill you both in on what’s going on and we need to make some plans.”
“Of course, Alpha. I’ll…er…Kellen’s still asleep. I’ll…er…”
“I’ll expect to see you both in two hours. Pack a bag Phillip; it might be necessary for the pair of you to stay at the club for the time being.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Phillip swiped his screen to end the call and dropped his phone on the kitchen counter. He focused on the plate of sandwiches he’d made; so much for sharing a bite to eat and then more fun stuff with his mate. Any plans of that nature would have to be put on hold at least until after the meeting.
“Hey, babe. Was that your phone I heard?” Phillip turned, and a smile flew to his lips. In the bright sunlight Kellen looked magnificent – his broad chest and shoulders flexing as the man ran a towel through his hair. His only clothing was a towel slung carelessly around the man’s slim hips. Suddenly Phillip felt the blood rush to his cock and he quickly put a hand on the countertop to stop from grabbing Kellen’s hand and dragging him straight back to bed.
“Yeah, it was Pearson. He wants to see us in two hours.”
“Damn.” Kellen came closer and rested his hands on Phillip’s hips. “I was hoping to grab a bite to eat and we could spend the rest of the day in bed.”
“Great minds,” Phillip said softly, standing on tiptoes to take a quick kiss. Just one inhale of his mate’s scent was enough to calm his spirits and send a pulse through his balls. “I made sandwiches.”
“You also said we had two hours,” Kellen growled, tugging him close. “Grab the plate, I’ll set the alarm.”
/~/~/~/~/
Kellen could sense Phillip’s nervousness as the two men strode hand in hand through the Bound and Bonded club. Phillip had shared a smile as he introduced Kellen to the beefy shifter who was working that day – a truly handsome man with a flirtatious attitude called Sebastian. Any time Phillip waved at someone, he told Kellen who it was – Roger who was sitting with a pretty little man in a booth; his mate Cam, the omega Kellen was supposed to talk to. Farren, who looked like a blond bear, was manning the back rooms. Kellen saw Ace and Devin having a mid-afternoon meal and he was surprised when Devin gave him a friendly wave. Ace’s glower more than made up for it though. Kellen shrugged it off. If anyone had threatened to kill Phillip, then he’d probably have a similar attitude.
“Let’s hope they’re decent,” Phillip whispered as they got closer to the office door.
“Is it possible they won’t be?” Kellen knew that mates were touchy-feely with each other, but alphas were usually too worried about the impression they made on others to indulge in any hanky-panky.
“It wouldn’t be the first time they’d been caught out,” Phillip said, and Kellen was pleased to see the man had a trace of a smile on those lovely lips. Phillip knocked loudly and waited for permission to enter, which came readily enough. A quick look around the office showed that Pearson and Dante were fully clothed, although Dante looked a little mussed, and there were two other men in the room.
“Thank you for coming,” Pearson said. “Come in, sit down. Kellen, I don’t believe you’ve met Steel, our head of security, and Levi, his mate.”
“You have a high number of true mate couples in your pack,” Kellen observed as he quickly shook Steel’s hand. He’d noticed the bright gold and emerald chain around Levi’s neck and, recognizing the significance, simply nodded at Levi. Steel was a man who oozed military training from the top of his tightly-cut hair, to the bottom of his lace-up boots. The scar on his face simply added to the impression and Kellen knew that until he got to know the man better, he was going to have to be wary around him.
Levi, on the other hand was no slouch in the looks department. His dark hair went well past his collar and his muscle shirt and jeans did nothing but emphasize a slim but definitely sexy figure. Smaller, darker, and probably cheekier that Phillip, Kellen was glad someone like that hadn’t been chosen as his mate. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep a young man like that in line.
“I put it down to there not being a lot of gay packs around,” Pearson said, answering Kellen’s opening comment. “Most of my wolves want to stay once they’ve been accepted here, and as we get a lot of applications for admission every year, it makes sense for the men to stick around, and hope that one of the new applicants is their intended. In the meantime, we have a three to one, sub to Dom ratio, so everyone can play as much as they like in the meantime.”
“Sounds like a win-win for everyone” Kellen agreed, leading Phillip to a seat and taking the one next to it. The Alpha allowed them a moment to get settled and then smiled.
“First, congrats on your mating. You’ll be able to take your three days leave as soon as this other little matter is sorted, Phillip. Kyle has already been informed and will make the necessary changes to the roster. I don’t allow my mated enfo
rcers to work more than five days a week, and try to ensure that they have two or three days off in a row wherever possible,” he added to Kellen.
“Sounds good.” Kellen hadn’t heard anything he didn’t like so far.
“I doubt that Phillip has had a chance to mention it yet, but if you plan on staying in this area, and becoming a pack member without going through our rigorous application process, then you’re going to have to allow Phillip to claim you. Since the…issues…we’ve had in the past, it’s now mandatory for all pack members to either go through our screening process, or have a claim mark.”
Kellen felt Phillip twitch beside him and he put his hand on his mate’s knee. He knew his face was probably resembling a cooked lobster, but he managed to find a tight smile for Pearson. He wasn’t about to have a conversation about that in front of strangers. At least Pearson seemed to understand.
“You can let me know what you decide later. I can’t and won’t force any person to claim another,” the Alpha said with a smirk of his own. “So onto pack matters. Kellen, how well do you know Councilor Malcom?”
Kellen shrugged. “No more, no less than any other council member,” he said. “The man’s been around forever from what I’ve heard. He’s given me jobs before, although he usually gets one of his minions to see me, rather than find me himself. But I’ve always been aware of him and he was part of the council who originally approved my troubleshooter position.”
“So you had no idea he was batshit crazy, a wolfist and had a hatred for what he considers the perversion of wolf packs by other species?” Levi asked.
“That’s not possible.” Kellen stared at the pretty young man who was busy studying a tablet in his hand. “To get a position on the paranormal council anyone would have to be above reproach, open and fair to all paranormal species regardless of who they are. Otherwise they can’t be impartial in any rulings they make about anything.”