Oliver

by Catherine Lievens

  What matters is not what you are, but who you are.

  Oliver is human, or at least he was until the Glass Research Company kidnapped him and experimented on him. Now he has a bear sharing his mind, but he’s not able to shift, and he’s confused. Is he a shifter, or a human? What’s worse, he’s getting sicker every day, and no one seems to know how to help him. He can’t even bond with his mate because he doesn’t want Sebastian to hurt if something happens to him.

  Sebastian wants his mate to be cured, and the only way to do that is to go to New York and kidnap one of the company’s scientists. With the help of his pride brothers, he manages to do just that, but having Oliver cured doesn’t mean all their problems are over.

  Oliver will have to deal with learning how to shift and trying to convince Sebastian that he’s fine and that he can be claimed, but once he manages to do that, other problems arise. Will the two lovers finally have the time to just be together, or will the pressure push them apart?

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Oliver

  Copyright © 2015 Catherine Lievens

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0255-6

  Cover art by Latrisha Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  Oliver

  Whitedell Pride Series 6

  By

  Catherine Lievens

  Dedication

  To Jessica, who wanted to know Sebastian’s story.

  Chapter One

  Oliver was hiding, again. He knew everyone just wanted to help him, and he was grateful, but he couldn’t stand them anymore. Sometimes he thought he’d been better off when he hadn’t come out of his room, even if he knew they meant well. No one bothered him then, no one asked him how he was feeling over and over again, no one asked him a thousand times a day if he needed something. But he had promised Sebastian that he would at least try, and he couldn’t disappoint his mate.

  Wow, his mate. Oliver still couldn’t believe he had lived in the house for six whole months without knowing his mate was only a few doors away from him. Of course, he had barely gone out of his room in all that time, so it was understandable, and maybe it was better like that.

  Oliver was sick. Everyone knew it, and they treated him as if he was about to fall over dead in front of them. He was so thin he could have played the role of the skeleton in a horror movie, but he was still very much alive, although he didn’t know for how long.

  In the beginning his problem had been the bear inside of him. Those scientists had used him as a guinea pig and had mixed his DNA with a bear’s in the attempt to create a shifter. It hadn’t exactly worked the way they wanted, though. The bear was present in Oliver’s body, always right there under the surface, but Oliver couldn’t shift, and he didn’t think he ever would.

  He was a human, his body was not made to shift, so maybe it was a good thing that he couldn’t, but it made life in a mansion full of shifters hard. In the beginning he had tried to make friends and be sociable, but it was hard to see all of them shift easily while his bear roared at him from the inside because no matter how hard Oliver tried, he was trapped in there.

  Oliver had a conflicted relationship with his bear. It wasn’t like the born shifters who lived in harmony with their animals, no. Yogi and him—yeah, he had named his bear, so what—had started on the wrong foot, but they had managed to get past it. Yogi had been angry because Oliver never let him out, as well as because of all the experiments that were done on them, but he had slowly gotten used to it. He rarely ever tried to take control anymore. He had finally understood it was no use, so the only time he made himself known was when Sebastian was near. Sebastian was the one thing that made Yogi come out these days.

  It was weird how Oliver actually missed his bear. He had been a presence in the back of his head for the last year, usually a growly, roaring presence, but he had made Oliver fell less alone. Now that Oliver was getting worse, it was as if Yogi was slowly fading away. It made sense, actually, since it was what was happening to Oliver, but it made him sad.

  “Oliver?”

  Oliver recognized Jared’s voice behind his closed door. He might have promised to Sebastian that he was going to try and be more social, but he usually was too weak to even make it out of bed in the morning, so he had to wait for the others to get to him. “Come in.”

  He was still buried in the covers, his frail body shivering anyway. It was a result of the lack of food, but Oliver couldn’t do anything about that. Every time he tried to eat, he ended up throwing up everything soon after. The only thing he managed to keep down was chicken broth, and not even every time he tried to eat it.

  It wasn’t this bad at first—in fact, he was fine when he had arrived there six months earlier, apart from the wounds and stuff that had been done to him in the lab. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but thinking about it he knew he had started to get sick about three months ago. At first he was only tired, then, he didn’t feel the need to eat. A month or so ago he had started throwing up, and now Jared was feeding him artificially. The tube in his nose was anything but comfortable, and he had to be hooked up to fluids, but it was keeping him alive, for now. He hadn’t started to throw that up, yet.

  “How are you feeling today?”

  “Same old, same old, doc.”

  Jared neared the bed and began taking Oliver’s vitals, the frown he always wore in Oliver’s presence in place. Oliver knew Jared wanted to do more for him, but he wasn’t a geneticist. He was a normal doctor—well, a shifter doctor, but still. It was obvious to everyone that Oliver’s problem came from his altered DNA. They just didn’t know how to fix it, and they couldn’t even try, since they didn’t know what the problem was exactly.

  “I heard Sebastian is going with Denver to New York.”

  “Yeah, that’s what he told me.” Oliver’s mate was going to New York to, well, kidnap the geneticist who was behind Oliver’s problem. Yeah, it wasn’t ethical or anything, but at this point Oliver was ready to do just about anything to get better. He knew Sebastian and Denver weren’t going to hurt the man—much—even if he did deserve it for what he was doing, both to humans and to shifters. He just wanted answers and a cure. It couldn’t be so hard to get, right?

  “Okay, you’re basically the same as yesterday. You’re keeping down what I’m feeding you, right?”

  “Yeah.” Nothing new, then. Oliver watched as Jared scribbled down on his notebook and his lips tightened in a stubborn line. Oliver knew Jared was kicking himself for not doing more, but he was tired of reassuring the man. He had told him so many times it wasn’t his fault that he had lost count, and he had other things to worry about. Like if he was going to keep his breakfast down today. Or if he was going to make it to the bathr
oom without any help, since he’d refused the catheter Jared wanted to put in. Shit, he was still able to go to the bathroom on his own!

  “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

  “Yeah, sure. See you, doc.”

  Oliver heard Jared stop and talk to Sebastian in their living room. The lion had insisted that Oliver move in with him and hadn’t taken no for an answer. Oliver knew he shouldn’t have. It would only make it even more difficult when he died, and he had no doubts he was going to die, soon. He didn’t want Sebastian to mourn for him. They didn’t really know each other, but now...living together, spending time together, it was making everything so much harder.

  “Hey, babe. How are you feeling?” God, Oliver heard that same question a million times a day. He knew everyone meant well, but he was sick of it!

  “I’m fine. When are you leaving?”

  Sebastian sat down at the foot of the bed, and Oliver felt his bear shift inside his head, humming in happiness. He also felt his cock twitch in a valiant attempt to rise, but he knew it wasn’t going to work, as much as Sebastian’s vanilla scent was tempting. It wasn’t sweet, not like the one that was used to make cookies. It was darker and spicier, mixed with cinnamon, and it made Oliver’s mouth water. He just couldn’t act on it, as much as he wanted to.

  “In a few hours. We’re taking the pride’s private plane. Denver seems to think we’ll be back in a day or two, maximum three.” Oliver heard the silent questions his mate was asking—are you going to hold up until then? Are you going to wait for me to come back? He was going to try, that was for sure.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Keenan is going to come by later to watch a movie and he offered to sleep here if I wanted him to.” A low growl rose from Sebastian’s throat. “On the couch. I meant on the couch.”

  “Of course. Sorry I reacted like that.” Oliver knew why he had reacted that way, of course. They were mates, but they weren’t mated. Oliver refused to mate when he knew he had only a handful of days left to live, even if the lion had insisted. He knew he was hurting Sebastian by refusing, but he wasn’t budging.

  * * * *

  Sebastian wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to hold his mate, to reassure him, but he was scared to touch him because Oliver looked frail enough to break. His dark hair hung limply to his shoulders and his brown eyes betrayed his extreme exhaustion. The spark in them was still present, but they were weary and surrounded by dark shadows. He disappeared in the middle of the many blankets bundled on the bed “Do you need something? Did you eat already?”

  Oliver huffed. “I’m fine. If I need something, you’ll be the first to know.” Sebastian knew Oliver was annoyed at his mother hen behavior, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted his mate to be fine, and if he couldn’t have that, he wanted him to be at least comfortable.

  “Right. So, I came to say goodbye.”

  Oliver’s expression softened. “Why don’t you come up here and snuggle for a bit? Or do you have to pack or something?”

  Sebastian hesitated. Of course he wanted to snuggle, but...”I already packed.” Oliver hadn’t noticed it because Sebastian had done it while the man was sleeping. He hadn’t even stirred from the noise.

  “Okay then. Come here.” Oliver started to move and Sebastian hurried at his side, his hands raised to be sure he could catch him if he fell. Oliver let out a growl and scowled as he batted Sebastian’s hands away. “I’m fine, damn it! I can move on my own, it’s not like I’m running a marathon or even going down the stairs! I’m just moving my butt, like, four inches to the right!”

  Sebastian raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, babe.”

  The fight fled from Oliver as quickly as it had appeared. “Yeah, okay,” he grumbled.

  Sebastian sighed. He just didn’t know how to suppress his protective streak when he was with Oliver, and he was the first to admit the streak was a mile wide.

  Taking advantage of the space Oliver had liberated, Sebastian settled next to him and looped his arm around Oliver’s shoulders. Oliver resisted for a while, his body rigid, but soon he slouched against Sebastian’s chest. Yeah, Seb was afraid to hurt his mate, but it felt so good to have him in his arms, even if Oliver felt so small.

  “You’ll be careful, right?”

  “Of course. Don’t worry, the man is not a fighter, and Denver will be there. He doesn’t need me, not really. I just wanted to be there, to see the man who has hurt you so much and is still doing it. I needed to do something, anything, to help you, and I’m not really doing anything here besides sitting on my butt and making you crazy.”

  “Yeah, well, try not to hurt him too much. I need him to work something up for me.” Oliver smiled softly. “As for not doing anything here...I know I don’t exactly show how grateful I am for what you’re doing for me, but I am, really. I just wish I wouldn’t be so...so weak. I want to be your mate, not your charge.”

  There was nothing Sebastian could say that would make Oliver change his mind, so after that they settled in a comfortable silence. Soon Oliver started to softly snore, and Seb had to practically wrench himself away from the man, both because he didn’t want to leave, and because Oliver had hooked his arms around his waist and wasn’t letting go. The man might be sick, but where Sebastian was concerned, he used all his remaining strength. That was evidence that he cared, and it helped sooth the hurt Sebastian was feeling after Oliver’s refusal to mate with him. He had hoped that ingesting his blood would have helped Oliver, but the stubborn man had refused to even try. Sebastian could understand his reasoning, but it didn’t mean he had to be happy with it.

  He moved gently, trying not to jostle his mate as he laid him down on the mattress and covered him. He took a moment to look at him, at the way his forehead was slightly creased even in his sleep, at how his chest rose irregularly, and he knew that even if they didn’t bond, he would hurt badly if something was to happen to this man. He wouldn’t die, not literally, but his life would end anyway. He wished he had talked to Oliver before, that he hadn’t waited six months to give him space, but the only thing he could do now was find that scientist and bring him home to help Oliver.

  With that in mind Sebastian, gave one last soft kiss to his mate’s forehead and headed downstairs to find Denver. He knew the man was probably still saying his own goodbyes to his mate, Jeremy, and their son, Adam, but the sooner they left, the sooner they would be back.

  “How is he?”

  Sebastian turned to look at Finn. It was thanks to the Nix that he had finally managed to talk to Oliver and help him get out of his self-imposed isolation. “He’s...as fine as he can be, I guess.”

  “When will you be back?”

  “A few days.”

  “I’ll look out for him, don’t worry.”

  Sebastian smiled. He knew the Nix would take good care of his mate. Everyone in the house always looked out for him, but Jamie and Finn were even more attentive. The three of them shared a difficult story, since they’d met in one of the labs, but among them Oliver was the one who had suffered the most. “I know. I just wish...I want to do something more, you know?”

  “You’re already doing so much. Your presence is helping him deal with everything, and once the geneticist solves his problem, you’ll help him get better.”

  Sebastian shook his head. “What if that guy can’t do anything?”

  “He’ll help him. You can’t lose faith in that. Besides, I think that with a little help Oliver will actually be able to shift.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t tell you earlier, because, well, you already had so much to deal with, but...that day when I shimmered you inside his room, I saw his hands shift.”

  The implications of what Finn had just said slammed into Sebastian. What if they managed to make Oliver shift? He could finally feel complete, and maybe his bear could help him heal. Okay, so maybe it was a remote possibility, but right now Sebastian was surviving on possibilities. If he considered only the facts, he wo
uldn’t have the will power to get up in the mornings, much less take care of his mate. “Okay. Why don’t you find Jared and tell him that? I don’t really think it’ll change anything until the geneticist gets here, but it’s still something the doc should know.”

  Finn nodded. “Get that man and bring him back.” His fierce expression almost seemed out of place on him, since he was usually meek, but it warmed Sebastian heart to see how much Oliver’s friends cared.

  “Will do. We’ll be back in a few days.”

  As Finn walked away, Sebastian tried to get into the right frame of mind. He had to forget how worried he was for his mate—it was time to find and capture that man. And once he was home, he could go back to being Oliver’s caretaker and friend. They weren’t anything more than that for now, but he hoped that would change, and soon. If the geneticist managed to find a way to cure Oliver, Sebastian was going to claim him, no matter what.

  * * * *

  “Hey, sleepy head. I thought we were going to watch a movie.”

  Oliver woke up at the sound of Keenan’s voice and smiled. Yeah, he loved Jamie and Finn, but no one treated him like Keenan. He was the only one to act as if Oliver was perfectly fine, well, as much as he could, at least. “Hey, Keenan.” Oliver opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get used to the light.

  He remembered falling asleep in Sebastian’s arms, but the man was nowhere to be seen. Oliver knew he had had to leave, of course, but it didn’t help the fact that he wanted to see the man anyway. He would have liked to talk a little more with his mate, but he was always so damn tired all the time that he usually fell asleep during the conversation.

  “Hey, stop being so lazy and sit up. I brought some horror movies. What do you think of that? Ready for a good old zombie attack?” Keenan settled next to Oliver on the bed after setting up everything they needed. “Mmm, chips or intravenous feeding...now that’s a hard choice,” Keenan said as he presented the bowl full of snacks to Oliver.