Bitten By Mistake (25 page)

“Jesus Christ, Nate! What the fuck were you thinking?” Luke took one look at Jared’s neck and whirled on Nathan. Not the cool, calm discussion Jared had been silently praying for. “I was hoping maybe it was just a playful bite during sex—you know, just teeth marks—not a fucking
bite
bite. Fuck.”

Jared should have expected this considering their volatile nature, but they’d not even sat down yet.

Nathan groaned and ran a hand through his dark hair. “It was an accident. I didn’t bite him on purpose.”

Luke’s gaze zeroed in on the base of Jared’s throat again, and he took a step forward as though trying for a better look. Nathan was between them in an instant. His whole body rippled, a low growl building up from his chest, and Jared watched in horrified fascination as he shifted. Nathan’s jaw cracked, the sound awful in the sudden quiet of the room, and Jared winced. Nathan’s T-shirt stretched to breaking point, and his teeth and claws extended—both looking scarily sharp this close up.

Jared swallowed, not daring to move or make a sound. Some shifters could change into wolves, and Jared really fucking hoped Nathan wasn’t about to. The growl got louder, making the hairs on his neck stand on end.

What the hell do I do now?

“Fuck, Nathan. Did you two bond?” Luke glanced from Nathan to Jared, appearing far calmer than the situation warranted, then answered his own question. “Of course you bloody did. That’s what all the questions were about last week. This is so fucking bad.”

No shit
, Jared wanted to chip in, but thought it wise to hold his tongue. Nathan hadn’t budged an inch, still watching Luke’s every move as though expecting him to attack Jared any second.

“Nathan.” Luke raised his hands in submission, his voice soft, non-threatening. “I’m going to sit down over there.” He nodded at the chair—the farthest seat away from them—and started to back away towards it. “You know me, you trust me. I’m no threat to you or Jared.”

He sat in the chair, and Jared held his breath.

It seemed like ages but was probably more like minutes before Nathan gave an all-over body shudder and changed back in a kind of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ move. It happened so quickly that Jared blinked a couple of times to make sure his eyes hadn’t deceived him.

He let out a long, relieved sigh. “Thank fuck for that.”

Nathan turned to face him, his eyes full of worry, regret. Jared rushed forward, his heart aching and all his fear from moments ago totally forgotten, and pulled Nathan into his arms.

“I’m so fucking sorry.” Nathan held on to him tightly, his voice muffled with the way he had his head buried in the crook of Jared’s neck. “He moved towards you, and I—”

“It’s okay.” Jared slid his fingers into Nathan’s hair, and pressed his head more firmly against his skin. Nathan had been acting on instinct, and now it was Jared’s turn. He tilted his head to the side more, and Nathan sighed with relief before his mouth closed over the bite mark under Jared’s skin.

A shiver ran down Jared’s spine, the wet tease of Nathan’s tongue drawing a soft moan out of him. Their connection flared, sending the now-familiar warmth out from Jared’s chest all the way to his fingers and toes. He wanted to curl up in his bed with Nathan wrapped around him, and he took a step in that direction before Luke’s cough reminded him they weren’t alone.

“I don’t want to interrupt, guys.” He spoke so softly, as though worried he might spook Nathan into shifting again. “But we need to talk about this.”

Nathan sighed again, gave Jared a squeeze, then stepped back, leaving his hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Yeah, we do.” He turned and walked over to the sofa, taking Jared’s hand and tugging him along too. “I’m sorry about that,” he said, meeting Luke’s gaze. “I do trust you. I—”

Luke silenced him with a wry smile and a shake of his head. “It’s fine. I should’ve known better than to try and approach him like that.”

“But it was fine when you met him last time.”

Nathan sat and Jared followed suit, sitting close so they touched from thigh to shoulder.

“Yeah, but you hadn’t fu—hadn’t bonded then, had you?”

Jared flushed. He hadn’t realised they’d be discussing his sex life so openly, but all things considered, there wasn’t much chance of avoiding it.

Nathan shook his head in answer to Luke’s question, and Luke carried on. “I did some reading when I got back last night. In case my best friend had gone and done something incredibly stupid.” He laughed at Nathan’s warning growl but didn’t seem fazed by it. Jared squeezed Nathan’s fingers and the growling stopped. “From your reaction just then, I’m guessing you bit him first and then fucked?”

“What makes you think that,” Nathan hedged.

Jared didn’t know if it mattered which way round it had happened, but he kept quiet.

“Because if you bit him first and then fucked him, the bond isn’t complete until after the full moon. And even then there’s no guarantee—” He stopped, glancing between them with a worried expression as though he didn’t want to tell them the next bit.

Jared put him out of his misery. “Yeah, we know there’s a fifty-fifty chance it’ll go with the full moon, whether I change or not.”

Luke swallowed and looked as miserable as they did. “And that’s another thing. If you manage to keep this quiet until the next full moon, what happens if the change takes? What the fuck are the two of you going to do then?” He met Jared’s gaze, and Jared tried not to squirm. “You’ll be an illegal shifter, because you won’t have the paperwork to prove consent. If anyone finds out, then you could get in serious trouble for not reporting it and lose the right to decide Nathan’s punishment. The whole pack could be investigated.”

Jared’s mouth went dry. Thankfully Nathan spoke, because he had no words.

“Why would Jared get in trouble? It was me who bit him.”

Luke glanced between the two of them, shaking his head. “How do you not know this? They changed the law three years ago to prevent people paying for the bite and refusing to be tested to find out who did it.”

Jared frowned. “If they were willing to pay for it, why not fill in the paperwork in the first place?”

“Because they’re not the sort of people who would get approval.
Jesus
, that’s not the fucking point here. If you change, Jared, you’ll need a pack. If you get found out, the alpha, and anyone else who willingly helped you, is liable for prosecution, including you. They can test you to see who bit you, and then Nathan would be at the mercy of the courts.”

They all sat there in silence, taking that in. Not for the first time, Jared prayed that the changes coursing through his body were only temporary. But would that mean their bond was too? He struggled to remember exactly what that blog had said but couldn’t recall the exact details. He’d have to look it up again.

Nathan let out a harsh breath and sat back with his hands over his face. “We are so fucked if he changes.”

Luke reached over and gripped his knee. “Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean?”

Nathan peeked out between his fingers and Luke smirked at him. It was the first time Jared had seen him look anything other than worried. Hope stirred in his chest.

“You don’t think you’re the first people this has happened to? Granted, from what I understand, they usually fuck first and bite in the heat of the moment, but the outcome is the same. Well, apart from the bond being permanent. But if the human changes, then that still leaves an illegal shifter without a pack.”

“And?”

“And just like with everything else, you can get forged paperwork for a price.”

Nathan perked up at that, “Then what—?”

“You don’t have that kind of money, Nate. And the request needs to come from an alpha.”

“Fuck.” Jared sighed in defeat, and Nathan slumped back down.

“We’re going to have to tell Cam, aren’t we?” Nathan looked as though he’d signed his own death warrant.

Luke nodded. “But I’d start with Gareth first. No beta deserves to have one of their unit go behind their back, and you could do with his support. Plus he’s a good guy, and you can’t fuck him over like that.”

Nathan sat up with his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, of course. I would never.”

“Before we think about that, though, tell me how the fuck this happened. From the start.”

An hour later, Jared sat nursing a cup of tea as Nathan and Luke discussed the best way to approach Gareth. Luke had listened patiently as Nathan explained how he’d bitten Jared, and everything that had happened after, offering little in the way of commentary except for the odd raised eyebrow. Jared was relieved. Luke seemed to accept that it was what it was, and that there was no point dwelling on the hows and whys. Jared liked him.

“So, since we have work in about—” Luke checked his watch. “—three hours, I suggest we wait until tomorrow to speak to Gareth. We have the night off and I think this’ll be an all-day affair.

“We?” Nathan smiled for the first time since he’d arrived back at Jared’s flat with Luke in tow.

Luke grinned back at him. “Of course
we
. You’re my best friend, Nate. I’ve always got your back.”

They stood, and Nathan didn’t hesitate to pull Luke into a hug. “Thank you.”

They held tight to each other, and even though it was obvious they were friends—pack-mates and nothing more—jealousy curled around Jared’s insides and a low warning growl burst out of him. It freaked him out as it did every other time, and he stared at them wide-eyed as they turned to face him. “Fuck, sorry. It’s just—” He gestured at the way they were still wrapped around each other, then looked pointedly at Luke. “—I like you, but you need to stop touching him. Now,” he barked when they didn’t move away from each other quickly enough for his liking.

Luke jumped back with a grin and his hands in the air. “Sorry. I didn’t realise the possessiveness went both ways.” He glanced at Nathan, and his grin widened at the heated look in Nathan’s eyes. The look that made Jared’s jeans uncomfortably tight. “Okay, I think that’s my cue to leave. At least wait until I’m out of earshot before ripping each other’s clothes off.”

He nodded at Jared and made for a hasty exit, but Nathan stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You’re really okay with all this?”

Luke, with a wary glance at Jared, stepped back out of Nathan’s reach. “Yes. I mean it’s a shitty, messed-up situation, but you’re bonded. Not everyone gets to have that, and as your best friend, I’ll do anything I can to make sure you get to keep it.”

No one mentioned the fact that fate might have other ideas.

Jared followed Nathan as he went to see Luke out, looking at the floor as they said their goodbyes.

With Luke gone, Nathan turned to lean against the front door and stared at Jared. The heated look returned, but he put a finger to his lips when Jared started to speak. “Wait,” he mouthed.

Fifteen long seconds later, Nathan grinned. “He’s in his car. He can’t hear us now.”

Jared walked towards him and grabbed the front of his T-shirt. “Good, because I intend to make a lot of noise.”

When Nathan went to work later that night, he made Jared promise not to make an impromptu visit to the club again. Which was fine with Jared; he didn’t trust himself being around Nathan in public. He went to bed on edge all the same, and even the text he got from Nathan, assuring him everything was fine, didn’t calm his nerves. Now Luke knew about them, it felt like things were unravelling. Jared wouldn’t settle until they’d spoken to Gareth and Cam.

Plus, Wes was there at the club, and that pissed him off for a different reason altogether.

He went to bed late, and by the time Nathan crept in there with him, the sun was already leaking through the bedroom curtains. “Hey,” he muttered, snuggling back into Nathan’s warm body. “Time’s it?”

“Shh.” Nathan wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed the back of his neck. “It’s early. Go back to sleep. We’ll talk later.”

Later
turned out to be ten o’clock in the morning, and Jared woke to find Nathan sat next to him on the bed, already showered and dressed. “Hey.”

Jared blinked up at him, still bleary-eyed with sleep. “Hey.”

“We have to get back to the pack house. There’s a meeting this afternoon, and we need to talk to Gareth first.”

Now that Jared looked closer, Nathan had a tense set to his shoulders. Jared sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Did something happen?”

Nathan nodded and turned to face him. “We found them.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“The rogue pack?”

“Yeah, well, we think we have.” Nathan turned his body and sat sideways on the bed. “I caught their scent last night as we were leaving the club, and the four of us tracked it back to this disused warehouse about five miles away. We had to stay far enough back not to get noticed, but the whole area was heavy with their scent, so I’m pretty sure that’s where they’re holed up.”

Jared’s breath hitched; he leaned forward to grab Nathan’s arm. “But won’t they know you’ve been there? Your scent be must all around there, too, right?”

“Maybe. We only stayed for a moment, long enough to check the place out, and it’s finally raining now, so that should help. But yes, there’s a strong chance they’ll know we’ve been there. Which is why we need to move fast.”

Jared was up and pulling on his jeans as he spoke. “What time’s the pack meeting?”

Nathan glanced at his watch. “In three hours. We need to hurry. I wanted more time with Gareth, but we’ll have to make do with what we have.” He hoped it would be enough to get Gareth on their side. “Not sure when we’ll get to talk to Cam, but I want to tell Gareth as soon as possible.”

They were out of the flat twenty minutes later. Nathan jogged down the stairs and Jared hurried after him, almost bumping into his back when he stopped on the pavement outside.

“Shit.” Nathan scowled.

Jared put a hand on the small of Nathan’s back. “What’s wrong?”

“We have visitors.” Nathan pointed down the street. “Wes and another P-Pack shifter are apparently keeping tabs on us.”