Nuallan

by Catherine Lievens

  “Nuallan.”

  Nuallan bunched his hand into a fist and swung it toward Jarah’s face. He’d never punched anyone before, and fuck, it hurt.

  It didn’t even seem to faze Jarah, who was looking down at Nuallan, looking both amused and worried. He wasn’t even rubbing his jaw or anything. Nuallan struggled to get away from him, and a growl behind Nuallan was enough for Jarah to finally let go.

  Nuallan stepped backward and stumbled, but strong hands were there to hold him up, and he was pulled against a hard chest as Alex pushed by him and went to stand in front of Jarah, teeth bared.

  Alex was ready to kill Jarah, and Nuallan wanted him to. It would be one less person who’d try to kill Nuallan and his brother, one less person to worry about.

  Nuallan swallowed. He had a hard time believing this was who he’d become, but he couldn’t deny it. He wasn’t the meek man Titus had sent to kill Kameron anymore. He wouldn’t hesitate to try to kill Jarah himself, even though he knew he’d probably end up dead in the process. He didn’t care.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Jarah said, looking past Alex and straight at Nuallan.

  “Who are you?” Alex asked, his voice barely better than a growl.

  Jarah raised his hands. “I’m what you call a beta.”

  “You’re not a shifter.”

  “No. I’m a Nix. I was Nuallan’s beta before he disappeared.”

  Nuallan snorted. “Disappeared? Really? That’s what you’re going to call it?”

  The arms around Nuallan’s waist tightened. He hadn’t even realized he was still in the arms of whoever had grabbed him. He turned his head, and he wasn’t really surprised to see it was Ethan holding him. He knew he should push away, but he didn’t want to. He never wanted to.

  Staying where he was would be enough to tell Jarah Ethan was important to Nuallan, though. It would give him another person to threaten Nuallan with, and Nuallan couldn’t afford that.

  He pushed Ethan’s arms away and stepped sideways, ignoring that Ethan kept his gaze on Jarah. “How did you find me?”

  Jarah’s brows rose high on his forehead. “I’m not here for you. We thought you were either dead or in jail when you didn’t return.”

  Alex looked at Nuallan. “Who is this guy?”

  “Titus’ beta.”

  Alex growled again and reached for Jarah, but Will intervened before anyone could be hurt. “I think we should all calm down and wait for Kameron to get back to do anything.”

  “You don’t know what this guy has done to Nuallan,” Alex replied.

  “I’ve never done anything to him, at least not without being forced to,” Jarah protested.

  “You’re the beta of the guy who’s keeping Nuallan’s brother hostage while sending him to kill one of the council members. That’s enough for me.”

  “You don’t know the entire story.”

  “I don’t want to know it. I don’t care.”

  Jarah swallowed, and Nuallan couldn’t remember ever seeing him that troubled. “You should. I know where Neriah is.”

  Nuallan took a step toward Jarah. He wasn’t sure why, because it wasn’t like he could do anything more than he’d already done, but Ethan’s arm wrapped around his waist again. Nuallan was pulled against Ethan’s side, and damn, he wanted to stay there so much.

  He couldn’t, though, and he pushed away again. Ethan frowned, and Nuallan knew he was wondering what was happening. He’d just found out about shifters, and he’d been thrust into their world without so much as a warning. Nuallan wasn’t sure how Ethan hadn’t run away screaming his head off yet, but he was expecting that to happen soon.

  Will pushed Alex toward the living room. “Let’s go sit down.”

  Alex looked like he wanted to protest, but he stomped his way toward the living room. Will stared at Jarah until he obeyed too, and Nuallan wondered why Jarah wasn’t shimmering to Titus to tell him he’d found Nuallan.

  Seeing Jarah sitting on the couch in Kameron’s living room, his long blond hair braided and his arms crossed over his chest, was the weirdest thing Nuallan could ever remember seeing. He had no clue what was happening, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

  He couldn’t help but hope. The fact that Jarah was still there and didn’t look ready to kill Nuallan had to be a good thing, right? Did it mean Jarah wasn’t as bad as Nuallan had thought he was? That he might actually help get Neriah out of Titus’ hands?

  Ethan gently pushed Nuallan, startling him. Nuallan walked slowly, choosing to sit onto the couch opposite Jarah. Ethan unsurprisingly sat next to him, and Nuallan was glad. It made him feel better.

  He knew no one in the room would let Jarah hurt him, but they couldn’t do anything if Jarah decided to shimmer. He could be at Titus’ side in seconds, and Neriah would be dead.

  Nuallan swallowed and waited for Jarah to talk.

  * * * *

  Ethan had no idea what was happening, but he wasn’t going anywhere, not before he got some answers and managed to talk to Nuallan alone. Even if the man rejected him, Ethan wanted to hear it from him.

  Everyone was silent for a moment, and Ethan bounced his knee. Will finally took control of the situation and looked at the guy who’d been in the house when they’d arrived. “Who let you in?”

  “A guy with a toddler. He said his name was Merle.”

  “Why are you here?” Nuallan blurted out. “Are you going to take me back? Is that why you’re in Gillham?”

  The guy shook his head, but before he could answer, Will raised his hands. “I know everyone here wants answers, but I think we should wait for Kameron. He’s not going to like the fact that you were in his house. I bet he doesn’t even know you, right?”

  The guy shook his head. “No, he doesn’t. I can’t stay long, though.”

  “You’ll stay for as long as we need you to,” Alex growled, and Ethan was glad he was on the guy’s good side, or at least he hoped so. Maybe finding out Ethan was Nuallan’s mate wouldn’t go down well. Ethan didn’t know, but he did know he wouldn’t be able to do anything against Alex. The guy was a shifter after all, and Ethan was only human.

  “I already texted Kameron,” Will said. “He’ll be here soon. In the meantime, I’m Will. You obviously already know Nuallan, and the man next to him is Ethan. The growly guy is Alex, and the last guy is Mal, my mate.” Will arched a brow at the guy and waited.

  The man nodded. “I’m Jarah.”

  The room fell silent after that, and it was uncomfortable, to say the least. Ethan wanted to say something, but it wasn’t his place. He wished he could talk to Nuallan, ask him about being mates and find out more about him. He didn’t know anything about Nuallan yet, apart from what Mal had told him, but it was obvious Nuallan was in some kind of trouble. He seemed to be scared of Jarah even though Jarah hadn’t done anything to him that Ethan had seen.

  They knew each other, and from Nuallan’s reaction, it wasn’t a good thing.

  Ethan slid closer to Nuallan. He was glad Nuallan didn’t move away, but he knew it wasn’t because he’d accepted Ethan. He was still staring at Jarah and didn’t seem to notice anyone else.

  The wait felt long, but it couldn’t have lasted more than fifteen minutes. Then Ethan heard cars, doors slamming, and footsteps coming closer. The door opened, and Nuallan tensed. Ethan wrapped his arm around Nuallan’s shoulders and smiled when Nuallan didn’t try to move away. He even leaned closer.

  Kameron Rhett entered the living room, Zach close behind him. Ethan could hear other people in the house, but they didn’t come in.

  Kameron stood by the coffee table, looking at everyone in turn. His gaze stopped on Jarah, and he didn’t even ask Jarah to explain himself. Jarah did so without being prompted.

  He got up and faced Kameron. “I’m Jarah. I’m the second in command of my tribe, and I’m here to ask for your help.”

  Nuallan jerked in Ethan’s arms, and Ethan tightened his
arms around Nuallan’s shoulders.

  “My help?” Kameron asked calmly.

  Jarah’s gaze slid to Nuallan, then back to Kameron. “My leader was allied with Tom, the wolf shifter who attacked you.”

  Kameron stared at Jarah for a second. He sighed and gestured at Will. “You should take Mal back home.”

  Mal huffed, but he got up. “I never get to know anything.”

  Kameron smiled. “You know this will be all over the pack in a few hours. You can even tell everyone you were here.”

  “But I won’t be.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want the problems that will come with this.”

  Mal’s lips twitched. “Probably not. Yeah, I think I’ll go. But I expect someone to call me and tell me what’s happening as soon as the meeting’s over.”

  Kameron shook his head, but he was smiling. He patted Will’s shoulder when Will passed by him, and once Will and Mal were gone, he looked at Alex. “I’d try to get you to leave too, but somehow I don’t think I’d have much success.”

  Alex crossed his arms over his chest, and Kameron shook his head again.

  “Right. Well, since we’re all here we might as well stay.”

  Kameron sat, his gaze on Jarah again. Jarah followed suit and sat back. “My leader sent Nuallan to kill you. I’m surprised to see Nuallan is fine and free.”

  “What should I have done?”

  “We thought he was dead, to be honest. Titus, well, he expected Nuallan to succeed and come back. He had... good reasons to think Nuallan would do whatever it took to fulfill his orders.”

  Kameron looked at Nuallan. Nuallan looked like he’d rather be anywhere but there, but he swallowed and looked back. “You knew someone had sent me to kill you.”

  “I did, but you never said why. Why you?”

  Nuallan shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s what he does,” Jarah intervened. “We’re not a big tribe. That’s one of the reasons Titus aligned himself with the shifter. He wanted protection and more men, but the shifter put conditions to it. Titus needed to prove the tribe was worthy of being part of that other council.”

  Nuallan shook his head. “Why not send you, or someone else? He knew I couldn’t hurt anyone.”

  Jarah looked away. “You know there weren’t many people left after Titus sent most of us to Tom. You were the best of the worst, I guess.”

  Nuallan got up. “Where is Neriah? Is he all right? Has Titus... has he done anything to Neriah?”

  Jarah shook his head. “He’s keeping Neriah locked up. No one has seen him in a while. That’s one of the reasons I’m here. It isn’t right.”

  “Titus has always been weird. What changed?”

  “Aligning the tribe with the shifter was a bad idea. We lost a lot of people instead of gaining them. Some died, some were imprisoned, but the result was the same. The tribe is basically gone. There are only a few of us left. We can’t survive on our own, no matter what Titus seems to think. I hoped I could save what remains of us by coming here. I still do.” Jarah looked at Kameron. “I know I’m the tribe’s second. I obeyed Titus’ orders when I shouldn’t have, but the only alternative was dying and someone else taking my place. I tried my best to protect the tribe members, and I didn’t always succeed. I need help. I want what remains of our tribe to be safe, but I can’t do that on my own. Even if I get rid of Titus, the tribe will still be vulnerable.”

  “You need a safe place for them,” Kameron said. “Somewhere you can move them and start again. Either that, or you need some enforcers to move in with the tribe.”

  Jarah shook his head. “Unless we get back the people we lost, we can’t stay where we are now. There are other tribes around, and they’re just waiting for the right moment to attack and take our territory. It’s not big, but that doesn’t matter.”

  “What do you expect from me, then? Why did you come here and not to another council member?”

  Jarah looked at Nuallan before looking back at Kameron. “I wanted to find out what happened to Nuallan. I never wanted to send him here, but Titus doesn’t really trust me. I don’t think he trusts anyone but himself, to be honest. He made that decision on his own, and Nuallan was gone before I could do anything about it.”

  Kameron turned to Nuallan. “I think it’s time for you to tell me how you ended up in my bedroom trying to stab me.”

  That wasn’t something Ethan had ever thought he’d hear.

  Chapter Three

  The only thing Nuallan wanted was to go to bed and sleep for a week. He’d had to tell his story not once, but twice today, after keeping it a secret for weeks. It felt good, liberating, but it had been hard.

  Nuallan wanted to disappear from the surface of the earth when he’d told Kameron about how Titus had sent him to Gillham. Nuallan might not have been trained to be a killer, but he wasn’t an idiot either. He’d taken the time to shimmer to Gillham and observe the pack for a few days before actually shimmering into Kameron’s bedroom.

  Kameron’s expression had tightened when Nuallan had explained that, and Nuallan knew Kameron had been thinking about how to protect the pack better. As Nuallan had shown, there was nothing anyone could do against Nix shimmering in.

  Titus was an idiot, but then Nuallan didn’t think he’d really wanted Kameron dead. The tribe had never cared about what was going on with the other paranormal groups living around them. Nuallan understood why Titus had gone to Tom for protection, but he’d obviously had no clue how to play in the big kids’ playground, and when Tom had given him his first assignment, Titus had told Nuallan to carry it out.

  “I’m sorry,” Nuallan said, his voice soft.

  Kameron had never hurt him, not even that night, when Nuallan had tried to stab him. He’d been taken away and locked up, and that was better than what Nuallan had expected. He’d thought he’d be killed on sight. He’d thought Titus would kill his bother. What had he done to Neriah after Nuallan had disappeared on his mission? Was Neriah all right?

  Guilt ate at Nuallan. He should have gone back. He could have shimmered in, grabbed Neriah, and left.

  “Nothing of this is your fault,” Kameron said.

  Nuallan knew it was a lie. “Of course it is. I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have let Titus take Neriah. I shouldn’t have let him force me into this. I should have gone back to Neriah instead of hiding out here and trying to—to kill myself.” That was the stupidest thing Nuallan could have done. It had seemed like the only way out at the time, but now Nuallan cringed when he thought about it.

  He’d really thought his life was over. He’d thought his brother would die if he didn’t disappear, if Titus found out he’d failed and was still alive. Nuallan had thought Kameron would eventually either kill him or lock him in the council jail, even though he’d never told him he would.

  “You did what you thought was right.”

  Nuallan scoffed. “I was obviously wrong.”

  “Everyone is sometimes. I’m not going to kick you out, Nuallan. I know what you did, and now that I know why you did it, I’m even more convinced you deserve to be here with us.”

  Nuallan swallowed and looked down at his hands. Ethan was still pressed against Nuallan’s side, and Nuallan was glad. Even though Ethan hadn’t said a word ever since he’d come in, he was a strong presence by Nuallan’s side. It made Nuallan feel safe.

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  Kameron leaned against the back of the couch. “We’re going to get your brother back. I wish you’d have told me about him sooner.”

  Nuallan’s eyes burned with unshed tears. “Me, too.” It would be his fault if something had happened to Neriah. He should have trusted Kameron when Kameron hadn’t hurt him. He should have told him why he’d done what he’d done.

  Kameron looked at Jarah. “We can welcome what remains of your tribe here. There are a few houses that are still empty, if you don’t mind sharing. We’ll have to take care o
f Titus, though. He can’t remain in charge.”

  Jarah nodded. “I knew it would come to that when I decided to come here.”

  “I expect your people to become part of the pack and answer to me, but they should have someone close to them available. You won’t become tribe leader, but you’ll be that person. I want your people to be able to go to you with whatever complaint and concern they might have, and I expect you to tell me about them. I know it will take a while before you and your tribe members can trust me and mine, so until then, I expect you to be the bridge between us. If you or some of them can’t deal with being here and being part of a wolf pack, then we’ll find another solution.”

  Nuallan had never seen Jarah look so relieved. He’d never realized what Jarah had had to do for the tribe. Nuallan had lived his life, doing his best to be there for Neriah since their parents had died. He’d worked too much and he knew it, but it had been the only thing to do.

  “Don’t blame yourself for what happened,” Ethan whispered.

  Nuallan shook his head and closed his eyes. “How can I not? I can’t imagine what Titus has done to my brother in the past few weeks. I’ve been here, comfortable and happy, and he’s been in Titus’ hands for all that time. I should have gone back even if it meant dying. I would have done it, for Neriah.”

  “Blaming yourself now won’t change anything. You made the wrong decisions before, but you can make the right ones now. Kameron will get your brother back, and Neriah is going to need you. Will you be there for him, or will you drown in your guilt? You did what you thought was right, and you have no faults in what Titus might have done to your brother. He probably would have found another way to get to Neriah if you hadn’t come here, or if you’d gone back after trying to kill Kameron.”

  Nuallan rubbed his eyes and looked at Ethan. “Why are you still here?”

  Ethan arched a brow. “Do you want me to leave?”

  “No! No, I don’t want you to go, but I didn’t think you’d want to stay after learning what I did.”

  “You mean after learning you tried to kill Kameron?”