Then Casey’s mate ruined everything by saying, “So, can I go now?”
* * * *
Okay, so Nolan’s mate was hot. Like, really hot. Six foot something of slim muscles and creamy skin, blond hair that fell just above his collar and perfect green eyes that glittered as they watched Nolan’ body. It seemed his mate was as affected by Nolan’s body as he was by his mate’s.
Since no one was answering him, Nolan asked again, “Can I go home? Oh, and it would be really helpful if you could give me some clothes. I can’t really go around naked.” Nolan gestured down his body and his mate growled in response.
“No one will see you naked! You’re mine!”
Talk about caveman. “I’m no one’s possession, big guy, and if I want to go around naked I will. Now, since it’s snowing and I don’t want to freeze my bits and pieces off, can I have something to wear?”
His hot mate growled again as he handed Nolan a blanket that was on the couch. Thankful, Nolan wrapped himself in it, not really for the cold, since this house was well heated, but for the nudity. He didn’t really care if anyone saw him naked but he didn’t want the man in front of him to see how his growls affected Nolan under the belt. Not that he was wearing one, but still…he didn’t want to flash his growing erection around.
Nolan was actually surprised by the way his cock and his entire body were reacting to his mate’s proximity. He had never been interested in sex. That didn’t mean Nolan was a virgin, but he had never understood the interest. Sure, it was nice and sometimes pleasurable, but he had never seen the fireworks and stuff and it seemed to him that it was so much work for nothing, at least not on his part. Was it really worth it?
“So, are you going to tell us your name and how you ended up in my pride?” the big blond asked. Had he said he was the Alpha?
“I’m Nolan, cat shifter.” Yeah, that had to be obvious to them. “One of the women who lives here picked me up in town. She named me Fluffy and told me she was going to neuter me.” Nolan shivered at the thought. Who would be so cruel?
His mate chuckled and Nolan snapped. “What? Do you think it’s funny someone wanted to cut my balls off? I don’t use them all that much, but I’d rather have them than not!”
The guy held up his hands in surrender. “It’s not the neutering part that’s funny, but…Fluffy?”
Nolan groaned. “Yeah, I know. What can I say, she’s not good with names. I can only hope it doesn’t extend to her children.”
“Can we go back to how you ended up here, Nolan?” the Alpha asked. Nolan thought it might not be a good idea to ignore the massive man, but he didn’t really have a clue on how he should behave. Domestic cat shifters didn’t live in prides but in families, probably because those families were pretty big. It would have taken an entire castle to house a pride of cats.
“Sorry. As I was saying, that woman—”
“Marian.” Nolan’s mate supplied.
“Okay, Marian. Anyway, she picked me up in an alley.”
“How did you end up there? Do you live around here? I haven’t heard of cat shifters moving in Whitedell,” Hot Mate asked, and Nolan really needed to ask for his name. He couldn’t continue thinking about the stud as his mate.
“What’s your name?”
Hot Mate blushed a little, and wasn’t it sweet and hot at the same time? Nolan shook himself from the thought of just where that blush ended just in time to catch his mate’s name.
“I’m Casey, and the Alpha’s name is Dominic.”
Nolan sniffed a little. “Oh, lion, right?” Dominic nodded. “Cool. I’ve never met feline shifters other than cats.” He turned to Casey. “I’m not sure what you are, though. It’s weird, since I’m usually able to tell by the scent. I’d guess cheetah, though.”
“You would be right,” Casey answered, and Nolan nodded.
“I think you weren’t able to tell because your cat is focused on the mate part of his scent in this case,” Dominic told Nolan, and it kind of made sense.
“Anyway, why were you in that alley in the first place?” Casey asked, and Nolan knew he was going to tell them everything, if nothing else because he hoped they were going to help him go home.
“A few months ago I was…relaxing in my cat form on top of my car.” It was embarrassing. Nolan had wanted to enjoy the last sunny days of the season, but his home had been too crowded, so he had taken his car and driven up in the mountains. There he had shifted and had fallen asleep on the hood. “I was asleep when someone snatched me. I didn’t see who it was and they tucked me in a bag. They let me out in their lab.” Nolan shivered and clutched the blanket closer as he sat on the couch. “I was locked in a cage for three months before one of the guards grew himself a conscience and helped me to get out. He dumped me in town from his car and I have been looking for a way to go home since then.” He wasn’t going to tell them exactly what had been done to him in that horrible place. He didn’t want to relive that.
Casey sat beside Nolan and hooked his arm around Nolan’s shoulder. Nolan didn’t want to get near the cheetah, but he was grateful for the warmth. It had been too long since the last time someone touched him without trying to hurt him, so he leaned into Casey’s body, inhaling his mate’s citrusy scent and letting it sooth him.
“Do you think you could tell us where this lab is?” the Alpha asked.
“No. I was in the bag when they brought me there and hidden under the seat of that guard’s car when I got out. I wouldn’t even know where I am and how much time I was away from home if I hadn’t found a newspaper the other day.”
Dominic nodded. “I know you want to go home to…” he looked at Nolan in question.
“Colorado Springs.”
“Right, Colorado Springs. I’m sure you want to go home, but I would like you to stay here for a while. We’ve had problems with the labs more than once in the past months, and even if you don’t know where it was located I would like you to tell us everything you can about it. I’ll call my Beta and the wolf pack that lives not far from here and we will discuss everything, if that’s okay with you.”
Nolan sighed. He really didn’t want to relive what had happened there. He wanted to be selfish, to go home and hug his mom and sleep with his litter mates, but he also remembered the other shifters that were kept there with him. He didn’t really know them, but no one should be treated like they had been. “Okay, I’ll stay at least for a while, but can I call home?”
“Of course. Casey will show you to a room where you can take a shower and call your family.” He turned to Nolan’s mate. “After that, give him a tour of the house and give him something to eat. We’ll all talk tomorrow. Nolan, I’m sure you want to rest now.” Dominic gave Nolan a warm smile and Nolan couldn’t help but trust the guy. He knew he should be afraid, but the lion hadn’t done anything to hurt him or to indicate he considered Nolan inferior or anything like that, so he decided to trust him for now and see where the situation was going.
Casey rose from the couch, his arm never leaving Nolan’s shoulder, so Nolan ended up having to get up with him.
“Come on, I’ll take you to my room.”
Oh no. Nolan waited until they were outside the Alpha’s office to talk to Casey. “Look, I don’t have anything against you, but I don’t want a mate.” He stepped away and had to literally stop himself from reaching for Casey when he saw his mate’s face fall in sadness.
“Why not? I’m sorry if I laughed back there—”
“It had nothing to do with that. I just…can we talk about it after I eat and sleep, please?” Nolan’s stomach growled, showing it was definitely okay with that program.
“Okay. I’ll show you the room next to mine, is that okay with you?” The man had so much hope in his eyes that Nolan couldn’t say no, it was just impossible.
“Sure, that’s fine.”
* * * *
Why didn’t Nolan want him? Casey had been so happy when he had smelled
his mate in the house. He was only forty-five, so he hadn’t thought he would find his mate so soon, but he had been happy to find someone who would love him.
Casey’s parents had been killed when he was a teenager. They had been on the run because Casey had been found kissing another boy of their pride, and rather than let him be killed, his parents had taken him and fled. When their pride had caught them they had killed them and Casey had found himself alone. He had stayed in the forest for years, staying mostly in his cheetah form. It had been easier to deal with the guilt and the loneliness that way. Without knowing it, he had come down from the town he lived in in British Columbia, passing the frontier between Canada and the States in cheetah form. He had passed through Montana, ending up in Wyoming, where Dominic had found him while running in the woods near the mansion fifteen years ago. Casey had been alone for sixteen years by then, and it had been hard to get used to living with others again.
Even though he now lived with more than thirty people, he always felt alone, like no one could really understand him. He put on a happy and carefree façade, but inside his soul screamed for someone to love him. He thought he’d finally found that someone in Nolan—but when the cat told him he didn’t want a mate, Casey’s world had started to crumble around him. He hadn’t let it show on his face, but he felt dead inside. Nolan would soon go back to his home, and Casey would be alone once more.
“What’s wrong?” Derick asked from behind him, clapping his shoulder.
Casey realized he had been standing in front of the open fridge. He’d come down to the kitchen after leaving Nolan to shower and showing him where he could find clothes. Nearly every room of the house had some sweats and plain t-shirts in a drawer so no one would ever have to go around naked after a shift. It happened often when the kids passed through puberty, although none of the kids in the pride were that old yet. The excess hormones made it hard for them to control their emotions and their shifts.
“Casey?”
Now Derick sounded worried, so Casey plastered a smile on his face, grabbed a plate from the fridge without even checking what it was, and turned around. Luckily for him almost everyone was in the dining room by now, so he didn’t have to answer too much questions.
“I’m fine.” His friend didn’t seem convinced but he let it go.
“So, a cat, uh?” Derick asked, sitting down. Casey wanted to swear. Did everyone know it by now? He guessed it was his fault, too, since he’d chased Nolan all over the house, but he had thought it was worth it.
“Yeah.”
Derick waited a few minutes before asking, “Are you going to tell me about it, or do I have to torture it out of you? What’s wrong, Casey? You found your mate, yet you look as if someone killed, well, your cat.”
It would have been funny if Casey hadn’t felt so hollow inside. Making sure no one was around, Casey slumped on the chair next to Derick. “He doesn’t want me.”
“What?”
“My mate doesn’t want me. He told me he didn’t want a mate, and that as soon as he could he would go home.” Casey felt so defeated.
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
“Have you talked about it? Did you ask him?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Casey, you can’t give up if you haven’t even talked about it yet! Your mate could have a thousand different reasons for not wanting a mate, and if you don’t know why how can you work on it?”
“But he looked so…convinced. He knows what he wants.”
Derick snorted. “Please! I didn’t want to mate with Nate when I met him. I wanted to wait, to get to know him, but I had to rush everything. Still, it went well. And look at Jamie. He didn’t want to mate with Ward, either. You just have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and sit down with your mate. Talk about it.”
God, I’m an idiot! Derick was right. Nolan had spent the last three months in a medical facility, being experimented on. It was obvious the man wasn’t ready for a mate. Casey would have to get the man to trust him and to know him. That way he would know Casey would be a good mate for him. The first step was to feed his mate, so Casey put the plate in the microwave and started it.
“Go, bring him some food and talk with him.”
Casey smiled at his friend. It turned out he wasn’t as lonely as he always thought he was when he was in one of his black moods. He had friends, and Derick was quickly becoming the best of them.
“Thanks. I’ll do that.”
“You’ll see, you’ll end up thanking me for my precious advice,” Derick said with a grin. “But if you need to talk, you know where to find me, right?”
“Yup. In Nate’s lap.”
With a laugh, Casey took the plate out of the microwave and headed for the door after grabbing a fork and a knife, ready to try and convince Nolan to at least give him a chance.
It seemed to Casey that everyone was looking at him while he passed in front of the dining room’s open door and climbed up the stairs to Nolan’s room. He was sure by now every single member of the pride knew about the chase that had happened earlier and wondered what was going on. They had yet to meet Nolan in his human form, but Casey wanted to keep his mate for himself a little while longer.
He nodded at Marian when he passed her in front of the upstairs sitting room, but he didn’t stop to talk—he had better things to do.
Knocking on the door, he waited for Nolan to answer before entering. His mate was coming out of the bedroom just as Casey put the plate down on the coffee table.
“Umm, smells good. What is it?”
“Some leftover chicken parmesan. If you prefer, we can go down and have lunch with the pride, though.”
“No, this is perfect. Thanks.” Nolan settled on the couch and started to eat, obviously trying to keep a slow pace but not completely managing to. Casey knew his mate had to be starved. He couldn’t imagine the scientists in the lab giving decent food to their experiments.
Casey couldn’t keep his eyes off his mate. Nolan’s hair was damp from his shower, curling around his ears and his nape, the strands a shade darker than when they were dry. His brown eyes were concentrated on the meal, and they sparkled as if he had never eaten something that good, which was probably right since the cat had been practically in jail for three months. It showed on his body. Nolan was thin—too thin. Casey could have counted his ribs if he’d wanted too because they showed so much.
“You’re still here?”
Casey scowled at his mate. He sure couldn’t wait to get rid of Casey, uh? “Yup, I’m not going anywhere before we have a nice little chat.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my mate and I want to know why you don’t want me. You might not care about mating, but you’re the only mate I’ll ever have, and I won’t give you up without fighting, even if I have to fight you.”
Nolan looked at him, his eyes never leaving Casey’s face.
“There’s no way to avoid this, right?”
“Nope. If you don’t even want to try to get things right, you’ll have to tell me why. We need to work this out together.”
Casey waited, his heart fluttering as he watched Nolan lick his lips. After a while Nolan sighed and said, “Fine, we’ll talk. But don’t keep your hopes up, because I don’t think the main reason for which I don’t want a mate is something that can be fixed.” Now there was more than one reason for it? How the hell would Casey get over all of them? “I’m broken, and I don’t think I can be fixed.”
Chapter Two
Casey sat down next to Nolan and tucked a leg under his butt so that he could face Nolan. His vicinity sent a jolt of warmth down Nolan’s belly and his cock took notice, twitching in the thin cotton pants he’d found in a drawer. Uh. Usually it took a lot more to make it react.
“So, why are you so sure you don’t want a mate?” Casey asked, and Nolan saw a flash of hurt in his eyes. It actually made him feel guilty, but he pushed that tho
ught away. Why should he feel that way? He didn’t know the guy, and he didn’t owe him anything.
“You’re a cheetah, I’m a cat.”
Casey waited until he understood that Nolan wasn’t going to elaborate. “I already knew that, but I don’t see why it’s a problem.”
“Come on, we all know how you big predators treat the smaller shifters!”
“Nolan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been here for the last fifteen years and Dominic doesn’t tolerate abuse in any form.”
“And before? How did you treat non-predators in your other pride?”
Casey’s face darkened. “I lived with my birth pride until I was fourteen, and I never met small predators. After that I lived on my own for sixteen years, so I couldn’t abuse anyone even if I had wanted to, which I didn’t.”
“Why did you live on your own?” Nolan was curious.
“I’ll tell you another time, okay?” Casey’s expression shifted. “Besides, I’m trying to convince you to give us at least a chance, so now is not the moment for this. If you accept, then we can get to know each other better. Deal?”
Nolan wanted to growl, but he couldn’t help it. He was so damn curious. Curiosity killed the cat, though, remember? But he just couldn’t resist. “If you can convince me I get the story?”
“Yup. Anyway, now that you know abuse won’t be a problem with me, do you have other reasons? You said something about being broken.” Casey’s worry was clear in his eyes, and Nolan couldn’t help but feel warm in response. Someone cared for him. Well, someone who wasn’t part of his family. Family had to care for each other, so it didn’t count, right?
“I live in another city.”
Casey sighed. “Again, I don’t see why that’s a problem. We will talk about it when the time comes, but if you really don’t like it here, I’ll follow you to Colorado Springs.”
Nolan gasped. “You’d really do that for me? You’d leave your pride, your family, to be with me?”
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