by Marcy Jacks
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “And? Are you sure you’re okay? You told us not to tell him where you’d gone.”
“Yeah, he tracked me here, but he…he saw that I was with someone else, and I guess that was enough for him to back off. He said he wasn’t going to be bothering me anymore.”
“If you don’t feel safe then you should come home.”
That was the entire point of this conversation. It wasn’t that Dillon was worried about his own safety. He was worried about his father, and his mother, but they sounded all right. “No, no, I’m fine. At least for now. I might stick around for a while longer.”
Maybe.
His dad was still doing that thing that he did whenever he was worried. The man used to work as a police officer, and though he’d never made detective like he wanted to, he still retained some of that suspicion that came whenever he was questioning someone about something.
Which meant that Dillon had learned how to be careful when he was lying about something.
“So long as you believe you’re all right,” he said after a long, thoughtful pause. “So, did I just hear you say that you’ve found someone else?”
“Dad,” Dillon said, but he couldn’t help but smile as his old man teased him.
“I’m just asking. Is he anyone I need to tell your mother about?”
“No, not yet,” Dillon said. “We’re still…not sure where this is going. So don’t get her hopes up of breaking out the china or something.”
“All right then, so long as you know what you’re doing, son.”
He didn’t know what he was doing, and that was the entire problem. “Thanks for the talk, Dad,” Dillon said.
He gave his mother his best since she wasn’t at home, off at her painting class with her friends, and then he hung up.
Dillon held on to the phone for a little while though, staring down at it as if it was the only thing in the world that would connect him to his parents and sister. He didn’t call his sister just because he didn’t want to bother her with this. He wouldn’t be able to tell her much more than he had to his father anyway.
He was lucky to have them. He was so damn lucky to have such good parents when so many other gay men and women either had parents that didn’t understand them, or barely tolerated them, or flat-out pretended that they didn’t exist.
Dillon didn’t know what to do. He wanted to keep both Rowan and his family, but choosing Rowan would ultimately mean that he wouldn’t be able to see them again.
Rowan had promised him that he wouldn’t force Dillon to give up his parents, but that was a promise that he couldn’t keep. Not when they would be in danger and have to face people breaking into their houses, surprise attacking them for no good reason.
Dillon ran his hand through his hair and paced around outside some more. Rowan was going to be back any minute, and Dillon still had no idea what he was about to say to the man.
The main thing he had to decide was did he love the man? And if he did, did he love him enough to want to give up his family? His father was a cop and he knew how to handle himself just fine, and his sister wasn’t even in the state.
Maybe if he was careful, and if he only visited them for the holidays.
And the only reason why he’d be making little deals with himself like that concerning his family was because he loved the other man. He was in love with Rowan, and being mated had nothing to do with it.
Fuck.
“Got you!”
Dillon was grabbed from behind, one arm looping around his arms and pulling his back against the chest of someone big, and a large hand clamped over his mouth before he could get much of a yell for help out.
He still had the phone in his hand, so he tried to dial for help while he still had it, but it was smacked out of his hand and kicked away before he could put in 911.
A pair of lips came close to his ear, and Dillon shivered when he looked down and noticed all the blood that was on the man’s arm.
“You’re coming with me, and if you even think about doing something I don’t like, I promise you’re going to regret it.”
Dillon tried to pull away from the man, but the guy’s grip was like iron, despite being injured.
“Don’t you worry, we’re not going far. I just want to get that wolf out here that bit me. See? Everything’s going to be fine. You just have to stick with me for a little while longer.”
The man let him go, but then grabbed the back of his shirt, and when Dillon turned away, he saw a clawed hand holding on to a gun, which was pointed right at his face.
Dillon swallowed at the sight of it.
“No,” the man said, and there were fangs in his mouth. He was turning into a werewolf. “Walk with me. We’re going for a dip in the lake.”
Chapter Ten
Rowan loved him, but he had to decide whether he loved him enough to let him go.
He stepped out of the shower and toweled off. He was clean and presentable now at least. He wouldn’t look like a sore mess when he spoke with his mate, but he still wasn’t sure what to do.
Should he be selfish, or turn Dillon loose back to the human world, where, as far as he was concerned, none of this existed?
He picked up some of the clothes that had been set aside for him to wear when he went out to meet his mate, and he cringed. Looked like the sort of stuff that a man wore to a funeral.
Fast feet pounding outside his door immediately had him on edge, and he was just getting into his pants when he opened the door to the heavy knocking that was out there.
One of the omegas, Peter, was standing there, holding on to his child. Both had wide expressions on their faces. “You need to get outside now,” Peter said. “There’s someone out there with Dillon.”
Though Rowan was gentle as he pushed past the omega in his way, there was nothing slow or gentle about when he burst through the front door to see all the commotion.
A number of alphas were already outside, his brother included, but it seemed that Alistair and Edward were not yet back.
He wasn’t thinking about that at all at the sight of the two men in the water, up to their chests. Dillon had his hands up while the man behind him held him by the back of his red shirt, and pointed a gun to the back of his head.
Rowan growled at the sight of it and stepped forward. He recognized the hunter who he’d bitten, and the man recognized him as he stepped forward.
“You, stop right there, or I will blow his fucking head off.”
Rowan stopped immediately.
Dillon called out to him. “I’m sorry, Rowan, I didn’t hear him sneaking up on me!”
Dillon got a hard shake for that. “You keep your mouth shut.”
“It’s all right, Dillon,” Rowan said, and he locked eyes with the hunter. “What do you want? I’ll give it to you for his life.”
The man smiled. “I knew you’d say that. You mated with this little bitch, didn’t you?”
Rowan growled. “What do you want?”
“I want you to walk into the water, very slowly. I don’t want you near any of those alphas.”
“Don’t do it, Rowan! He’s turning into a werewolf!”
“I said shut up!” The man smacked Dillon on the back of the head with the butt of his gun, and Rowan could feel his rage building up within him. Every alpha on the beach growled at that as Dillon was briefly ducked underwater thanks to the force of the strike, and when he was yanked back up again, he was coughing and sputtering for air.
Only then did Rowan realize the true danger before him. The hunter not only still had a weapon with him, but he could very well drown Dillon before Rowan could get to him.
He turned to Brishen. “Could you do something?” he asked.
“With a weapon in his hand, he could just as easily shoot him no matter what I did, before I even had the chance to pull him under,” Brishen replied.
Fuck.
“No! Do it! Pull him underwater!” Dillon yelled, and he
got smacked over the head one more time for that.
Rowan wanted to kill the hunter for what he was doing. He could end up knocking Dillon unconscious, and then he would be completely at the hunter’s mercy to keep his head above the water.
“I’m here now,” Rowan said. “What do you want?”
The gun was suddenly pointed at him, which was much better than having it pointed at Dillon’s head. “I want you dead for what you did to me!” the hunter screamed. “My best friend, his name was Johnny, he didn’t leave me there to die and because of what you did to me, I just lost it. I slashed his throat, because of you!”
“Lost control of his wolf and killed his friend. Stupid fool,” someone muttered behind him.
Rowan growled a bit at hearing that. Only because he knew that the hunter before him could also hear it, and the man was crazed enough as it was without being further provoked.
The man growled, and the sound of his own growl seemed to make matters worse. “Fuck! Why did you do this to me? Why didn’t you just kill me!”
“I still will if that’s what you’re really after,” Rowan replied.
He could hear Dillon’s heart beating incredibly fast, but the man’s face was damn near stoic. He wasn’t even looking at Rowan. He was staring down at the water. Some of his own blood was trickling from his head and pouring into it.
“No, I want to kill you,” the hunter said. “If I kill you then I’ll be human again.”
Humans still believed that story?
Regardless, Rowan didn’t move, and he waited for the shot, but it didn’t come before Dillon grabbed on to the hunter’s arm with a yell and pulled the both of them underwater.
“No!” Rowan yelled, and he rushed forward to get to his mate before he killed himself.
The splashing around lasted for as long as it took Rowan to get there, but he didn’t have the chance to reach under and pull Dillon up. He and the hunter came up on their own, with the hunter pointing the gun at Dillon’s face.
The hunter was angry enough, and he screamed at him. “You stupid fuck! You stupid, stupid—”
Dillon was flinching back, staring at the gun as the hunter continually pointed it at him. Then Rowan realized what had happened. The hunter wasn’t just jamming the weapon in Dillon’s face, he was trying to fire it.
Trying and failing. Something was wrong with it, and soon, even Dillon relaxed as a horrified expression came over the hunter’s face.
“Got your gun wet. You can’t fire it now,” Dillon said, and he started to back away.
The man lunged forward, but Rowan reached for him, grabbing on to the front of the hunter’s shirt and pulling him away from his mate.
“You will never hurt him again!” Rowan yelled.
He and the hunter charged at each other. The man was a new werewolf, so he didn’t have much control over himself or his abilities, but what control he did have, he used very well, as he slashed and clawed at Rowan’s face and chest.
“Rowan!” Dillon screamed.
Rowan turned his head long enough to see Dillon rushing to him, as though he thought he could save Rowan from what was happening, but a small wave of water came in and picked him up, pulling him back to the shore where the other alphas were waiting for him, and held him back and away from the fighting.
Rowan sighed when he finally saw his mate safe, but then he howled in pain when his neck was grabbed on to, and the claws of the hunter dug into his flesh.
“I’m going to rip your throat out!” He roared, and fur was coming in on his face, his eyes changing red as he became wild and out of control.
No. Rowan was not about to let him do that. He punched the man in the throat, hard enough to make the bones inside cave in.
It seemed to be shocking enough for the man that his claws immediately retracted from Rowan’s skin as he clutched at his own neck and choked for air.
Rowan watched him as he gasped and fumbled in the water, attempting to breathe but unable to do so. Honestly, it was a miracle he was still alive, considering what Rowan had done to him.
He thought perhaps he should use this time to heal the man, perhaps send him on his way and let this be a lesson to him, but then he looked to Dillon, who was still soaking wet and being held back by Roarke and Maddox on the beach.
If Rowan let this man live, then he wouldn’t stop until he had his revenge. Today was proof enough of that, and Rowan would not take the risk with Dillon’s life, or that of his family.
He walked away from the hunter as the man took his last breaths and fell into the water. Brishen, Owen, and Jason, all stepped forward to carry the body out of their lake before any contaminations could occur.
Rowan could barely look at Dillon as he got out of the water. He was almost afraid of what he would see in his eyes.
“You had best go back to your family,” Rowan said. “There’s nothing for you here.”
He chanced to look at the man, and Dillon was frowning at him. Rowan shook his head and began walking.
He did not live in Roarke’s houses, any of them, none of his brothers did, except for Edward who now had a mate and child to think about, so Rowan walked to the trees. He wanted to get out of these damned pants and go for a run. When he got back, hopefully Dillon would be gone, and then Rowan could have time alone with his brother so that he could properly mope over what had just happened.
He shook his head and bit down on his bottom lip at the sound of twigs snapping behind him in one human’s failed attempt to follow at a quiet pace. “I told you to go home, Dillon,” Rowan said.
“Yeah, I heard you saying something like that,” Dillon replied.
“Then why are you following me?” Rowan asked, and he barely looked over his shoulder at the other man as he just kept on going.
“Because I don’t like having decisions like that made for me. You didn’t even hear what I was about to say.”
“It doesn’t matter, because my decision has been made. I don’t want to be with you.”
“Yes you do, otherwise you wouldn’t be acting like this.”
Rowan rounded on the man. “Oh, and you believe you know me? You know my feelings just because you like to write stories about them?”
“I know your feelings because I’m mated to you. You, yourself, told me about this so I know for a fact that this just isn’t in my own head.”
Rowan threw his hands up. He wanted to walk away, but he circled around again and came back to him.
“What just happened back there will keep on happening to you. Do you really not understand that?”
“I do,” Dillon said, “but I still want to be with you. If having a gun pointed at my face and being forced to walk in the water told me anything, it was that I didn’t want to die without you. I’ll leave my family behind so they can be safe, but I want to be with you.”
Rowan could hear the way Dillon’s heart was beating. He was sincere. He meant what he said. He would choose Rowan over the people who had loved and raised him. It was an incredible honor.
“I can’t make you do that,” Rowan said. He was shaking his head, but that didn’t stop him from taking hold of Dillon’s hands and holding on to them.
They were cold.
“You’re not,” Dillon said, and his voice was small. “I can’t exactly go back to a normal life after this. I can’t pretend that you don’t exist. It doesn’t work like that.”
The same was true for Rowan. He wouldn’t have been able to simply go on with his life as though nothing had happened, but he would have been able to go on knowing that his mate was safe and happy somewhere.
“Don’t chase me away, I’m making my decision, and I promise I won’t regret it later,” Dillon said, and he stepped closer and put his arms around Rowan’s back, hugging him in a way that Rowan had never been hugged before.
Dillon was touching him and holding him like he would break if Rowan sent him away from here.
He hardly knew what to say, but he sighed a heavy sigh
. “You already know I’m going to give in, don’t you?”
“I’m your mate. Of course I do.”
“Which makes you a little devil for taking advantage of me like this,” Rowan said, and he kissed the top of Dillon’s head. “I will go to hell for this. There’s no doubt in my mind that I will.”
“That’s fine, just so long as I can be there with you.”
Rowan nudged him. “Don’t say such things as that.” He kissed Dillon’s hair again, which was still dripping with water. He was going to have to get the man back to the house and warm him up before he caught something. Humans were so fragile compared to werewolves.
“If you wake up in the morning and change your mind,” Rowan said.
“I won’t,” Dillon replied quickly, squeezing him tighter, but Rowan continued to speak as though he hadn’t heard that. “If you change your mind, there will be no ill will against you. I want you to know that.”
Dillon didn’t release his grip on Rowan at all. He pressed himself even closer. “I believe you, but I still won’t leave. Fuck, I really don’t think I can at this point.”
Rowan chuckled as he held his mate close and pet the man’s hair. It was the selfish part of him that was glad for that, because, even though he was truthful and he would hold no ill will against his mate should he wish to leave, it would destroy Rowan to have to watch him go.
“Let me hold you for a minute longer,” Rowan said. “Before we go back.”
“That’s fine with me,” Dillon said softly, and neither of them moved.
* * * *
Everyone was silent when Dillon walked back onto the property with Rowan. Brishen was staring at Dillon and Rowan’s joined hands with a brow raised.
He could practically hear the man threatening him inside of his head. If you break my brother’s heart, and all that other stuff.
The body was gone, and Rowan’s two other brothers had finally come back.
They were stunned to find out what had happened, but Rowan and Dillon just wanted to be alone. Luckily, Roarke offered them a room for the night.
“I’ll have to go back to the cabin and pick up my stuff really fast,” Dillon said. “Is that all right?”