Cole watched as Carter noticed Rick and the way he and Cole were holding hands. “Carter. What do you want?”
“Hey, Cole.” Carter was still the same man Cole remembered. He was actually surprised the man had been sitting on the stairs, because it was something he wouldn’t normally do, but then he had to be tired after traveling for most of the night and being left standing there.
Carter’s blond hair was slick and pushed back in a neat hairdo. He was wearing dress pants and a white shirt under his jacket. It had always made Cole feel underdressed, but it made Carter look out of place now.
Carter held his hand out to Cole and Cole noticed how his nails were perfectly manicured. He reluctantly shook Carter’s hand, a hand that probably had never known manual labor, not with how smooth the skin was.
Once Cole let Carter’s hand go Carter offered it to Rick. Cole growled at the thought of that man touching his mate, but Rick slapped his back and extricated his hand from Cole’s to shake Carter’s.
Rick kept it short, thankfully, and took Cole’s hand again as soon as he was done. It put Cole’s bear at peace and the grumbling animal retreated.
“I take it this is your mate.”
“Yes. This is Rick. Are you going to answer my question now?”
Carter crossed his arms on his chest. “You know why I’m here.”
“You want money. What made you think I’d give it to you because you came all the way here from New York?”
“I thought you’d want to get rid of me as soon as possible.”
“That I can believe. You know, you should have kept the money you spent on the plane tickets, because I’m not going to give you even a cent.”
“You can’t—”
“I can. I’m going to say this one last time, Carter. You’re not my brother. You’re nothing to me, because you made sure you kept your distance before my mother died. I wasn’t good enough for you then, was I? But now that I inherited my mother’s money, I’m suddenly your brother.” Cole shook his head and chuckled. “I don’t think so. I didn’t forget, Carter. I remember how you treated me, and it’s how I’m going to treat you right now. Like you don’t matter. Because you don’t.”
“I’m your only family.”
Cole snorted. “You’re definitely not family. Hell, your sister is more like family to me than you are. Did you know she still calls me a few times a year? Sure, I haven’t seen her since the funerals, but she calls, and not because she needs something.”
Carter opened his mouth, but Cole continued. “I don’t need you to be my family. I have Rick. I have the pack. They’re more than enough for me.”
“They’re not bears.”
“So? They’re people, better people than you. They want me to be happy, you want my money. Well, that’s not going to happen. You can go back to New York and stop calling me. Delete my phone number from your phone.”
Cole felt Rick squeeze his hand and he looked back. He smiled at his mate and Rick smiled back, although not as widely as he usually did.
“Cole, please.”
Cole shook his head. A part of him wanted to trust Carter. He had, more than once, even if his brain was telling him he shouldn’t. He’d given Carter what he’d asked for before, but after the last time, he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t fall for it, not anymore, and he intended to keep that promise. “I’d rather burn it than give it to you. You’re a leech, and you’ve already sucked enough time and money from me. Go back to New York, Carter, and leave me alone.”
Cole turned around and walked back in the house.
“You’ll regret this, Cole!” Carter yelled from behind him. Cole wasn’t worried. He could already hear what he thought was Nick corralling Carter away and hopefully out of pack territory. Cole was done with him. Forever.
* * * *
Rick watched as Cole lit what had to be his hundredth cigarette of the day and reclined in the chair he’d taken out on the porch. He’d been more than nervous ever since Carter had shown up, and Rick couldn’t blame him. He didn’t like the man either.
Carter was too perfect, too neat. Maybe it was only because Rick wasn’t used to being around people who obviously cared very much about their physical aspect—his best friend was stuck in wolf form, his mate looked like a biker, Duncan was often dirty with paint from his mate’s work, and Rick’s mother... well, she was how she was.
“You shouldn’t s-smoke so much.”
Cole glared at the cigarette but didn’t throw it away. “Why not?”
“It’s not good.”
“I’m a shifter.”
“And I f-feel like I’m kissing an a-ashtray.”
Cole arched a brow. “Does that mean you don’t like kissing me when I smoke?”
“Yes.”
Cole sighed. “Fine. I’ll stop after we move into our house, if that’s okay with you?”
Rick knew there was no way it’d be as easy as Cole made it sound, but he nodded anyway. “Perfect. When will the h-house be ready?”
“I think about a week.”
Truth to be told, Rick felt very nervous about moving in with Cole. He was already living with him in a way, but they weren’t alone, and it wasn’t their house. Rick’s life was about to change again.
He was prepared for it this time, though. Well, as prepared as he could be anyway. Rick had no idea how to live with someone. His mother didn’t count—they’d barely spoken in the last few months. Rick took care of the house and did the various jobs he could find around the pack, and she’d spent most of her time out, drinking, or sleeping.
Really living with someone was different, or at least he hoped so. He knew they had to decide on some rules, on who did what, who slept where. He didn’t want to be the one who ended up doing everything just because he didn’t have a job. Not that Cole had one either. Actually... “What do you d-do for a living?”
Cole smiled. “Not much. I don’t exactly need to work, so I’ve been traveling a lot, working with the council, things like that.”
“And now that y-you won’t travel anymore?”
“Well, I hope I still can. Don’t you want to?”
Rick had never thought about traveling. He hadn’t thought he’d ever have the opportunity to do it, but Cole really had opened a new world to him, and it was so full of possibilities that Rick wasn’t able to wrap his head around it. “Maybe. Where c-could we go?”
“Wherever you want. We could just take the bike and go. The desert, the ocean, Canada, New York. We can see whatever you want.”
It was so tempting that Rick wanted to say yes right away. “I still have t-therapy.”
“Yes, but you’re doing so good, pup.”
“I still s-stutter.”
“Barely, and you’ve been talking a lot more lately. You also seem to be more comfortable with touch, at least with me and those you consider friends. We’ll ask Gentry if we decide to go, though.”
“I should find a j-job.”
“I know you probably won’t want me to pay for you, even if I can, but I think you should go back to school.”
Rick shook his head. “I’m not g-good at that.”
“What about culinary school? You love to cook. I’m sure you could set up a catering service in Gillham.”
The idea appealed very much to Rick. He did love to cook and bake, and being actually paid for doing it would be a dream. “What about you? What w-will you do if I go back to s-school?”
“I’m sure I can find something to do around the pack. Didn’t Kameron say Andy needs a hand in his shop? I know my way around cars and bikes.” Cole pressed his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up. He put the ashtray on the floor next to the door and stretched.
Rick couldn’t help but look. He’d never allowed himself to take interest in another man’s body before Cole. He’d watched sometimes, but he’d had to keep it a secret, so after a while he’d just ignored the men around him. He’d spent most of
his time with Erskine’s inner circle anyway, and they weren’t exactly what Rick was looking for. They’d been mean and cruel, and Rick had been in the first row to see it.
Even after Kameron became alpha, Rick had tried to keep to himself as much as possible. He’d noticed how hot Kameron was, how cute Zach was. He wasn’t blind. But he’d tried to avoid looking because he didn’t think he’d ever have the possibility of doing something about it. Cole had changed that.
Even if Rick was embarrassed at the idea of being caught watching, he knew Cole wouldn’t mind.
“Where are Kam and Zach?” Cole asked as he turned around. He smiled at Rick and didn’t even comment on the fact that Rick’s focus had been glued to the small strip of skin Cole had exposed while stretching.
“No i-idea. They said they were g-going out for dinner.”
“So we’re alone?”
Rick’s heart accelerated at the tone of Cole’s voice. It was sensual, pure sex. It rolled over Rick’s skin and made him shiver, and Cole smirked when he noticed it.
“What do you want to do, Rick?”
“I d-d-don’t know.”
“You’re sure?”
Rick opened his mouth to answer but steps at their side interrupted him. They both turned to look who it was and Cole’s entire body tensed again. “Carter. What are you doing here again?”
“I told you you’d regret telling me no. I should have done this months ago, but I thought you’d be reasonable.”
“Do what?”
Carter started yanking his clothes off, obviously not caring where they ended up on the dirt.
Rick knew what the man was doing. He jumped to his feet, but Cole was already there, throwing himself down the porch steps and against Carter.
They rolled in the dirt, pieces of clothes flying around as they both started to shift. Rick wanted to do something, but he was paralyzed. Other fights flashed in his mind, faces of people who’d died in front of him swirling around him.
The two men on the ground weren’t men anymore. In their place were two bears, and they were both trying to get up while trying to fend off the attacks of the other bear. Rick couldn’t tell which one was Cole, and that scared him more than anything.
He wrenched his eyes away from the fight and ran into the house, throwing himself toward the phone in the living room. He dialed Kameron’s cell phone number and waited for the alpha to pick up.
“C-c-come on, come o-o-on!”
“Yes?”
“Kam! Carter is b-b-back! They’re f-f-fighting!”
“Carter and Cole are fighting?”
“Yes! In f-f-front of the h-h-house!”
“We’re coming back. Zach is already calling for help. Stay out of the fight, Rick.” The alpha hung up and Rick ran outside again.
The two bears were clawing at each other, both going for the throats. One of them was bleeding from a wound on the stomach, the other from a cut on the shoulder.
The bears were about the same height. One of them had a bigger bulk, but the other was faster. Rick squinted his eyes hoping to find something that would tell him which one was his mate. He tried to find out through their bond, but the only things he could feel were anger, pain, and worry.
One of the bears, the one with a darker fur, bit the other one on the shoulder. Blood flowed and the bear took a chunk of meat and fur from the wounded bear, then pushed it to the ground. The bear grunted as it fell on its back and the other bear lost a few seconds just looking at his fallen opponent. It was enough time for Rick to notice the piercings on the ears of the fallen bear.
His wolf reacted before Rick could even think about what he was doing. He shifted, his clothes flying around him in tatters.
His wolf was already running toward the bears, just in time. The bear on the ground—Cole—was trying to push itself up, but the other one roared and started to grab him. Rick jumped between them and snapped his teeth at the bear towering over him.
The bear reared back, probably more in surprise than in fear, but it was enough for Rick. He lunged and clamped his fangs around the bear’s ankle. He bit as hard as he could and blood gushed into his mouth.
The bear roared and hit Rick with one of his huge paws. Rick had to let go if he didn’t want to be hurt, so he jumped back and took his previous place standing above Cole.
Carter roared again, and Cole prayed the other pack members were coming, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep Carter away for much longer.
* * * *
Cole whined and mentally begged Rick to move away. He couldn’t let Carter hurt his mate, even if it cost him his life.
He tried to stand, but Rick briefly looked his way and snarled. The message was clear—stay down. Cole didn’t care. He felt the same need to protect his mate that Rick did.
A wolf howled somewhere in the woods and Rick howled back. Cole took the opportunity to sit up. He winced as the pain shot through his shoulder and his stomach. The shoulder would be useless for a while, but he still had his teeth and the claws of his other paw.
Carter roared and tried to get to Cole again, but Rick was there, teeth snapping at the bear. A second wolf burst from the trees and ran toward them, quickly followed by a third one. They took position on both sides of Rick.
Carter didn’t look so sure of himself now that Rick and Cole weren’t alone anymore. He took a step forward and swiped a paw at the darker wolf, but he wasn’t as aggressive as he had been only moments before.
The wolf snarled and threw itself at Carter’s arm. His teeth clamped on the bear’s wrist and Carter yelped. He tried to shake the wolf off, but the other one was distracting him, snapping at Carter’s legs and continuously moving around him. Rick was still standing in front of Cole, his teeth still showing as he snarled.
A roar came from the forest and Cole turned just in time to see a white lion come out of it, followed by three other wolves. They made a beeline for Carter. The bear shifter must have realized he couldn’t win, not against a lion and six wolves. He tried to retreat, to run, but the first wolf that had arrived after Rick didn’t let him.
Cole realized it had to be Kameron—he was behaving like an alpha would, fighting for a member of his pack and defending his territory. Cole knew they should try to contain Carter and lock him away in jail, but when he saw Carter roar and launch himself at the smaller wolf who had arrived with Kameron—Zach, it had to be Zach—he knew Carter probably wouldn’t make it out alive. He’d threatened Kameron’s home, his pack, and his mate. There was no way he wasn’t going to pay.
The wolves moved around Carter, almost dancing as they snapped and took turns biting the bear shifter, while the lion just watched them. Carter’s fur was slick with blood now, but the wolves weren’t stopping, or even slowing down. Cole shifted back to his human form and grimaced at the pain. He looked at the wound in his shoulder and wished he hadn’t.
Carter had managed to tear away a chunk of Cole’s shoulder, and Cole knew it would scar. Rick noticed him and shifted too. He had blood on his face and mouth from when he’d bitten Carter, his hair was sticking up every which way, but what most gave away the wildness he still felt were his eyes.
They said everything Cole wanted to know. They were huge, filled with fear and concern as Rick rushed to Cole’s side, but they were also a little wild still. Rick helped Cole up. Cole was still bleeding and got dizzy once he was on his feet. Rick was there, his arm sliding around Cole’s waist while the other pulled Cole’s good arm around his shoulders. It wasn’t a comfortable position, especially given Rick’s smaller stature, but it helped.
One of the wolves howled and Cole turned to look at the fight. Kameron jumped on Carter’s chest while Carter was trying to get rid of one of the wolves hanging from his paw. Carter lost his balance when the alpha landed on him and toppled down. Kameron was at his throat instantly, teeth sinking into the thick fur. Blood gushed, but Kameron didn’t let go.
Cole pulled
Rick closer and let his mate turn into his hold until he could bury his face against Cole’s chest. Cole wouldn’t look away, though, as much as he wanted to. This was the shifter way, had been for centuries. Kameron would probably regret killing Carter once he came back to himself, but right now his wolf was guiding him, acting on instinct. Carter had done too much to be allowed to survive. He could have surrendered when Kameron and Zach had arrived, or even when the other wolves had, but he’d stubbornly refused, even if he’d known what he was going against.
But Kameron stopped.
Cole didn’t know how the alpha managed it, but he stopped before killing Carter. It was almost like a signal, because the other wolves stopped too and stepped away. Carter didn’t try to stand up. He wasn’t moving except for the shallow rising and falling of his chest.
Kameron shifted back and the other wolves and the lion followed. It was a horror movie sight—six humans, covered in blood, standing around a dying bear. Two of the men got to their knees and tried to help Carter while Zach ran inside the house. Cole hugged Rick close and followed Zach. He gave one last glance at Carter before stepping inside. A brown haired man was with him right away, making him sit on the couch and healing his wounds with just a touch of his hands.
“Is Carter o-o-okay?” Rick asked.
The Nix shook his head, “I don’t know. Jared and Noem are with him.”
Cole’s shoulder tingled as the pain vanished. He sighed in relief and looked at the wound. Like he’d thought, it had scarred. The skin was still pink and puffed, and he could clearly see the imprint of Carter’s teeth. He didn’t care.
He pulled a trembling Rick on his lap, not caring that they were both naked. Rick didn’t seem to care either as he cuddled against Cole, his hands moving over Cole’s body as if to check that Cole really was fine. The Nix draped a blanket around the two of them and Cole gave him a grateful smile.
There was a flurry of activity around them, people running around, informing others of what had happened. Cole heard Kameron yelling all the way from his office, berating whoever had let Carter pass through pack territory. He heard Zach move around the kitchen, quietly talking with what Cole thought were probably the wolves who had fought Carter with their alpha and alpha mate. No one came to bug them, though Zach did peek in the living room at one point.
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