Chapter Six
Troy felt he was about to explode. He also looked like it, and the last thing he wanted to do was to get out of his bed and his room to attend the party Keenan had organized.
He didn’t even know how Keenan had managed to do it and not tell everyone who the party was for in the first place, but then that was Keenan. He’d probably be able to get the Pope to attend one of his parties without giving any explanations.
“You ready?”
“No.”
Emery chuckled. “I don’t think you actually have a choice about attending this, you know.”
“Why couldn’t he wait until the egg was out? It’s not like we’ll have to take care of the th—baby right away.”
Troy bit his lower lip at the small frown on his mate’s face. He knew it was in reaction to the fact Troy had nearly called the baby a thing again, but he was trying as hard as he could. Some days were better than others, but unfortunately today wasn’t one of the good ones. Troy felt like shit, and the fact that he had to get up unless he wanted to face Keenan’s wrath wasn’t helping. It made him wish he’d never stayed with the pride in the first place.
Troy squashed those feelings as fast as he could. If he hadn’t stayed with the pride, he’d be alone. Sure, he might not have ended up pregnant, but he wouldn’t even know what he was, and he wouldn’t have been able to deal with the harpy.
“Come on. You know it’s no use to try to get out of this.”
Troy took the hand Emery offered him and let his mate haul him up. “I don’t want everyone to see me like this.”
“They’ll know about this when the baby comes anyway.”
“Yeah, but knowing about it and seeing me with a mountain instead of a stomach is different.”
“They won’t say anything, Troy. No one who knows reacted badly, why should they start now?”
“Only a few of them do know, though.”
“I don’t think Keenan invited all the members, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I feel so much better now.”
Emery grinned. “You really must feel better if you’re sarcastic again. I think I missed this side of you.”
“I think you miss my lower half side.”
“Aww, you know I don’t care about not being able to make love to you.”
“But I do!” Troy pouted and instantly felt stupid for acting like a child. “I just wish everything could be over already.”
“It’ll only be a few more days, you know that.”
Troy gave the bed a glance. It didn’t look like a bed anymore, not under the dozens of blankets and towels Troy had used to create a comfortable nest. He felt his cheeks heat at the thought that he really was behaving like a bird. “Yeah, well, the sooner the better.”
Troy let Emery slide an arm around his waist and help him waddle to the door. He didn’t really need it, although his balance was way off now, but he liked that his mate took care of him even if he didn’t ask him to. It was the little things—like when Emery brought Troy breakfast in bed or when he remembered to buy him his favorite candy—that made Troy realize just how well Emery had grown to know him. It made him feel a bit guilty because instead of doing the same, he’d spent the last weeks wallowing in his anger and pitying himself. Emery hadn’t said anything about that, though, and he was always there for Troy.
“Check if there’s someone in the hallway before we get out.”
Emery gave Troy a tolerant glance and poked his head outside. “No one.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Troy let Emery guide him toward the upstairs TV room, hoping Keenan really hadn’t invited the close to fifty members of the pride. Troy knew only a handful of them well enough to feel marginally comfortable showing them his stomach, and he could already imagine the conversations the parents would’ve to have with their kids when the sprogs asked how the baby had ended up in Troy’s belly and if he was a girl.
They paused in front of the TV room door and Troy looked at Emery. “Go on. I need you to tell me who’s in there.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Okay, sure.” Emery opened the door and looked in. The level of noise immediately lowered, except for Keenan’s voice.
“Emery! Where is he?”
“Right here.”
“Well? What’re you two waiting for? Come in!”
Emery looked at Troy. “I don’t think the entire pride is here. I think it’s only the people actually living in the mansion.”
Troy sighed. It was still a lot of people, but he thought he could deal with that. Probably. “Let’s go, then.”
He reached for Emery’s hand, glad when Emery squeezed it, and let himself be pulled in. He shielded himself against the questions he knew were about to come his way and looked up.
He was still standing next to the door, but everyone could see him now. The expressions on the faces looking at him went from reassuring to gob smacked to perplexed, and he didn’t know which one he should face first.
“Come on, I saved you the best armchair.” Keenan pointed to a squishy chair next to the window and Troy smiled. He knew he’d need help to get up from that, but it felt good to have someone care about his comfort, someone that wasn’t Emery. It made him feel like he belonged, something he’d tried to avoid since he’d got in Whitedell.
Troy waddled toward the window, ignoring the stares, and let Emery help him sit. He didn’t want to see him wander away, and was glad when Emery settled on the arm of the chair in a defensive position.
“Come on, people! Nothing to see! Haven’t you ever seen pregnant man before?” Keenan hollered, earning himself a few chuckles and breaking the spell everyone seemed to be under. People started to circulate toward the table that held the food, and while quite a few of them still looked Troy’s way, at least they weren’t gawking anymore. He knew he’d have to answer their questions sooner or later, but he didn’t mind waiting at all.
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?” Emery asked.
Troy shook his head. “I’m too nervous to eat right now.” Emery looked like he was about to protest, so Troy reassured him, “Later, okay? When I’m done with the stares and questions.”
“Okay.”
The men who already knew about Troy’s pregnancy seemed to gravitate around him, acting a bit like a barrier against the curious ones. They let only a few of them pass at a time, and it made Troy want to laugh. It seemed he’d gotten his own team of bodyguards.
Keenan made Troy’s life even easier when he climbed on a chair and explained what had happened. “Troy’s half harpy, harpies are females. I don’t need to explain to any of you what happens when two people really love each other, or at least I hope not, so you can guess what happened. Leave the poor man alone and give him your gifts now. We need to keep him happy.”
Laughter filled the room and the atmosphere relaxed. Troy leaned backward in his armchair and smiled—happy it’d been dealt with.
The amount of gifts he received was mind-blowing. Even not knowing whom they were having the party for, everyone had made sure to buy something that would be useful for the baby, and Troy knew he wouldn’t have to worry about anything now. He even received more than one offer to babysit the sprog once it was born, something he hadn’t expected.
He’d thought people would run, but instead he was being buried under a wave of affection and love he hadn’t expected. It made him want to cry, so he concentrated on the words flying around him instead.
“Well, I don’t think he’ll want to wear our gift. Maybe we can exchange it or something,” Soren said to his mate.
“I told you we should’ve bought something for the baby,” Andrew answered, scowling at the big tiger shifter.
“How was I supposed to know it was for a man? You can’t tell me you saw that one coming!”
“You didn’t even know who the gift was for! Why didn’t you choose somethin
g more...”
“Boring? Mainstream? I wanted to make the couple happy!”
“Yeah, well, I’m going to let you explain this to Troy.”
Troy looked from one man to the other. He was curious to know exactly what Soren had bought now. Soren handed him a small bag and Troy peered inside, blushing when he realized what it was. “I think it’d be better if you exchanged it, yes.”
“What is it?” Emery asked, and the blush on Troy’s face worsened.
Soren didn’t have any problems taking the gift out and show it around, of course. “See, I thought it would be nice, but of course Troy’s a man, so I don’t think it’ll work.” He held it up, showing the red baby doll to everyone.
Emery started laughing and Troy didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or amused. “I don’t think it’s Troy’s color.”
“Hey!”
“What? It’s true! The red would clash with your hair.”
The door swung open and an agitated Isaiah stepped in the room. “There’s a man at the gate. He’s looking for Troy.”
Troy frowned. “Who is it?”
“Name’s Kay Morris. He called before.”
“He did?”
“Emery! You didn’t give him the messages?” Keenan asked, and everyone turned to Emery.
“Uh, I forgot?”
“You forgot?”
“I had other things on my mind!”
“Yeah, well, we have to do something about this. The man’s a cop and he said he won’t go away until he sees Troy.”
“But I’m—he can’t see me like this!”
“We can’t risk having him call the authorities.” Everyone looked at Dominic. “Okay, let’s do this. Isaiah, let him in. Denver, wait for him at the front door and bring him here. Oliver, stay by the stairs and come tell us when they’re coming. Keenan, bring blankets. Emery, sit on the couch next to Troy. We’ll bundle him in the blankets and hope it’ll hide his belly. We can tell your friend you’ve been sick.”
“What about the decorations? It’s a bit obvious it’s a baby shower, but we don’t have a pregnant woman around to justify it,” Keenan pointed out.
“Jayden, Jamie, Derick and Nolan, I want you to take everything down, as fast as you can. Start with the most obvious stuff.”
The room exploded in a flurry of activity as people moved around and got to work. It didn’t take long for all the congratulations on your baby banners to come down and disappear while Soren, Casey and Joshua took care of the gifts. Andrew sat next to Troy with his best I’m a lawyer and I’ll sue your ass if you so much as breathe wrong expression on his face and Troy was overwhelmed again. These guys were doing everything they could to keep Troy safe, even without knowing what or who they were going against.
He bit his lower lip and reached for Emery’s hand, but before he could say anything the door opened again and Oliver barged in. “He’s here.”
* * * *
Emery squeezed his mate’s hand. He didn’t like how pale Troy was. “Who is he?”
“My best friend. I never thought I’d see him again.”
“I’m sorry I forgot to tell you about his calls. We could’ve avoided all this.”
Troy shrugged. “It’s okay. You really did have other things on your mind, and you couldn’t know he’d show up here. I didn’t expect him to, and I’ve known him since we were kids.”
“How do you think he found you?”
“He’s a cop. It couldn’t have been too hard.”
Emery wanted to ask more, to find out if Troy really was just friends with a man who’d gone through much trouble to find him, but the door opened again. He turned to look at the man, who stood there and scowled.
Kay couldn’t have been more different from Emery even if he’d tried. Where Emery was short, Kay had to be over six foot four. Where Emery was slight and lithe, Kay was muscled. Where Emery had dark hair and eyes, Kay was blond with blue eyes. The man made a stunning contrast with Troy’s red hair and green eyes, but they were built about the same.
Emery wanted to hiss and show the man his fangs, but he kept himself under control.
“Troy!” Kay rushed toward Troy and made to hug him, and this time Emery couldn’t keep the hiss in. He did manage to avoid flashing his fangs, at least, but he wasn’t sure it’d do much good, not with the weird glance Kay gave him.
The man bent toward Troy again, but Troy stopped him. “I’ve been sick. I don’t want you to get it.”
Kay seemed surprised, but he complied and straightened. “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.”
“I meant in private.” Kay looked around the room.
Emery smiled when he saw it was still crowded. Everyone had obviously wanted to be there for Troy.
“Could you guys leave, please? I’ll be fine.”
Emery saw Dominic mouth are you sure and Troy nodded. Dominic ushered everyone out, even Keenan, although Keenan didn’t leave without trouble. Emery could still hear him even with the door closed.
Andrew squeezed Troy’s shoulder before getting up and glared at Kay. “If you need help from me, just yell. I won’t be far.”
Troy nodded at that and Emery leaned toward his mate to ask, “Do you want me to go too?”
Troy shook his head. “No. Stay?”
“Of course.”
Troy turned to Kay, and Emery saw his fists tightening where they rested on his stomach. He could only imagine how Troy was feeling, and he hoped Kay wouldn’t make Troy feel bad. “I’m Emery.”
Kay offered his hand and Emery shook it. He liked the handshake—it was firm but not too strong. “Kay.”
“Why don’t you sit down?”
Instead of choosing the other couch or one of the armchairs, Kay sat on the coffee table, facing Troy. Emery felt Troy tense, so he tried to pass reassurance through their bond. Troy looked at him and smiled a bit. He relaxed, although the hand he had in Emery’s was still squeezing hard.
No one talked for a minute, so Emery decided to start. “So, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see Troy. I don’t know how much you know about him—” Kay’s eyes went to Emery’s and Troy’s entwined hands. “—but I was his best friend until he disappeared suddenly.”
“I know. He told me.”
“Really? So you also know what happened to him?”
Emery chuckled darkly. “More than you’ll ever know.”
Kay frowned and turned to Troy. “What happened to you? I’ve been looking for you for more than a year, and I find you living in a freaking mansion holding hands with some guy. You didn’t even bother to call. Your mother is still waiting to know what happened to you. How could you do this to us?”
“I didn’t mean to make you worry, but—”
“Why didn’t you call, then? Why, Troy? I thought I meant more than this to you. What about your family, your sisters? Don’t they mean anything to you?”
Emery didn’t like the way Kay was attacking Troy. He could understand where the man was coming from, but he knew Troy hadn’t stayed away because he felt like it. “He didn’t want to stay away, but he had to.”
Kay looked at Emery. “And who the fuck are you to talk for him?”
Emery straightened. “His husband.” He had the pleasure of seeing Kay gape in surprise. “Troy didn’t leave on his own. He was kidnapped.”
“Emery, please,” Troy said, but Emery just squeezed his hand and continued.
“He needs to hear it, or he’ll just continue to poke at you. Troy was kidnapped, and he was liberated five months ago. He’s been dealing with the aftermath since then, and he needed to heal and to find a new way to live before he could face his family.”
“Kidnapped? By who? What happened?”
“I was held in a lab. They... experimented on me.”
Kay looked gob smacked, but Emery could see his cop training kick in. “Who’s taking care of the investigation?” Wh
en neither Troy nor Emery answered, Kay came to the right conclusion. “What? You didn’t go to the authorities with this? Troy, what the fuck were you thinking? What the fuck happened to you?”
“There are... circumstances you can’t understand, Kay.”
“Then explain them to me. Please, Troy. We’ve been friends for more than twenty years. You know I’ll always be there for you. I’ll help you however I can, but I need you to talk to me.”
Troy looked at Emery, a question clear in his eyes. Emery shrugged. He didn’t know how much they could tell Kay, but Dominic had been adamant—Kay couldn’t find out about shifters. Emery understood the reasoning behind the decision, but he didn’t think Kay would go away with just a roundabout explanation. Kay would dig and dig until he discovered the entire truth.
“I can ask Dominic.”
“Can you call him and ask him to come here?”
“Sure.” Emery took his phone out and quickly sent a message to the alpha. He was more than happy to have the decision taken off his hands.
“Troy?” Kay asked. The man was angry, and Emery hoped for the good of everyone in the room that he wouldn’t do anything foolish.
“Someone’s coming. They’ll tell you what we can.”
“No. I want answers, and I want them now. If Troy really was kidnapped and experimented on, he needs to press charges and let the police take care of it. He needs to come home and let his family take care of him. We’ll take him to the doctors if he needs to go, but he’s coming home with me.”
“Shouldn’t he be the one making these decisions? Who are you to do it for him?”
“His best friend.”
“I’m his husband.”
“I don’t know what you did to him, but I know Troy. He wouldn’t have gotten married without his family there. Maybe you forced him, maybe you drugged him. Heck, as far as I know you were the one to kidnap him and do whatever was done to him.”
“What? I love Troy, I’d never do anything to hurt him!”
Kay wasn’t listening anymore. He rose from the coffee table and reached for Troy’s arm. He pulled and tried to haul Troy up, but Emery wrapped his arms around his mate and held on tight. “Leave him alone. He doesn’t want to go with you.”
Troy [Whitedell Pride: 12] Page 10