Authors: Ryan Loveless
Westley pulled the door shut. “Yeah. Can I use your phone? My battery’s dead.”
“You didn’t use all the ingredients you asked for,” Tom said, ignoring Westley’s request.
“
The rest are for my tea,” Westley said.
“
The tea that stops you from shifting?”
“
Yeah.”
“
Westley....” He couldn’t believe Westley was going to pull this now. However, he guessed he shouldn’t be surprised, since apparently Westley had been getting one over on him and everyone else for months. Time to put a stop to that. “I need you healthy today, West. It’s all hands on deck. We don’t know what Denton’s going to do. Promise me.”
“
I need it.” Westley’s voice rose; not enough to be a plea, but enough that Tom recognized the first hint of desperation.
“
Not if it makes you sick like I saw. Fuck, Westley, Cody and I found you
unconscious
. Do you know what that was like for us?”
Westley stared down at his feet at the mention of Cody.
“Ah, shit. I didn’t mean to remind you—”
“
No. It’s fine. I killed him. And you want me to be a wolf again. It’s fine. I understand. I—” He cut himself off with a loud sniff and suddenly Tom found himself with Westley’s nose against his collarbone and Westley’s arms around him. He hugged him back, tight. Westley was taller and broader than almost everyone in the pack, but he’d always fit against Tom like they were made for each other. Tom stroked his hair for a few moments. Upstairs, he heard the doorbell and footsteps walking toward it.
“
Until things go back to normal,” Tom said. “Then I won’t say anything about it. I promise.” It killed him to see Westley like this. Maybe his mother was right about Westley walking all over him, but Tom figured he used Westley as much, and he never had to question that Westley would do anything for him, or vice versa.
Westley pulled back and looked like he was going to protest, but gradually he let out the breath he was holding and unclenched his fists from Tom’s shirt. “Fine. Now can I use your phone?”
“Yeah.” Tom handed it over.
He watched as Westley looked at a piece of paper and dialed, his tongue protruding from the corner of his mouth in the “thinky face” he used when he thought no one was looking. “Who are you calling?”
“No one.” Westley waved for Tom to be quiet. “Hello, Danni? This is Westley. I’m a friend of Jaylen’s and—”
“
The gardener?” she asked, loud enough for Tom to hear.
“
Uh. Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s Westley.”
Tom snatched the phone out of Westley’s hand. “What are you doing?” he mouthed, cutting off Westley’s protest. He swung the phone to his ear in time to hear Danni say, “Well, honey, he’s told me all about you. If you’re calling to ask for his hand in marriage, you can ha—”
Tom covered the mouthpiece. “Did he convince you to call for help?”
Westley fixed Tom with a look that normally translated to “You stupid moron, why are you drunk again?” “No, he didn’t. He said he might have put this girl in danger, though, so he asked me to warn her.”
“Don’t tell her anything else.”
“
Wasn’t going to,” Westley said.
Tom shoved the phone back to Westley, who flipped him off.
“Oh, um, thanks,” Westley said to Danni. With his hearing, he’d picked up Danni’s end of the conversation. She had continued to talk and was in the process of offering her cottage for the wedding when Westley got the phone back. “But I’m actually calling because Jaylen asked me to tell you that, um, he’s really sorry but he might have put you in some trouble.”
Her laughter spilled out of Tom’s speakers and into his sensitive ears. “So what else is new? Werewolves coming my way?”
Westley shot a panicked look at Tom. “Maybe.”
“
Well, I guess they found out.”
“
Um—”
Tom motioned at Westley to find out what they’d found out.
“Yeah, uh.”
“
Well, you keep him safe, Westley. You seem like a nice guy. Be careful now.”
“
Right,” Westley said, as she ended the call.
“
She didn’t seem surprised,” Tom said. “About werewolves, I mean.”
“
No.”
“
You have any idea what she was talking about?”
“
No.”
Tom studied Westley’s face and decided he was being honest. He also decided that if he ever needed to put someone on interrogation detail, Westley would be his last choice. “So, how was it with the hunter?”
“Fine. And his name’s Jaylen.”
There was something Westley wasn’t saying, but Tom didn’t feel like pushing it. Westley looked ready to fall over.
He aimed to keep his voice gentle. “Go upstairs and eat some breakfast. I’m going to talk to your boyfriend.”
“
He’s not—” Ignoring Westley’s protests and his “Please don’t kill him,” Tom opened the door. Jaylen sat in the middle of the bed, cross-legged in Tom’s underwear, and leaning against the wall. Red scratches slashed thin lines over his chest, some going all the way across. Tom was pleased that he was still bound. He hadn’t fully trusted that Westley would keep him that way. Jaylen didn’t look surprised when Tom walked in.
“
If you’re looking for an apology about your friend, he should have stayed dead the first time I killed him.”
“
Not why I’m here.” Tom grabbed the wicker chair and moved it right up next to the bed. He hadn’t heard from Austin’s family. He hoped Cody had delivered his body to them safely and that their silence was because they were sitting vigil, not because they’d been caught up in the night’s chaos. He flipped the chair around and straddled it. Jaylen’s eyes darted down to Tom’s crotch. Rather than hide what he’d done, Jaylen next met Tom’s gaze head on and offered up a challenging smirk. “If you’re done comparing our dicks, we’ve got some talking to do,” Tom said.
Jaylen shrugged. “You’re the jailer.”
“Look, I’m going to cut through the shit with you and get to the point.”
“
Suits me.”
“
I’ve got wolves going crazy out there. I’ve got the total destruction of human and wolf relations that we’ve built up over the past hundred and fifty years on my hands. And I’ve got you, the guy who brought the Alpha to town.”
Jaylen made a show of tugging his ropes. “I followed him in, but hey, let me go and I’m out of here.”
“Yeah, somehow I don’t believe you’re the Pied Piper of the Alpha. See, I don’t think he’ll go jigging after you once you’ve left. I think he’ll go when he pleases, and I suspect that’ll be after he’s torn this town to ruin. I’m fifth generation here, and I will not let that happen on my first day as pack alpha.”
“
So what do you want me to do?”
“
Stick around until he’s dead. Help us with him,” Tom said.
Jaylen leaned forward, his face set. “He killed my family. I want to kill him.”
“I’m proposing a truce,” Tom said. “The only wolf you kill from here out while you stay in La Mer is Denton.”
“
Until I kill Denton, then I’ve already made a pledge to kill another one.” Tom followed Jaylen’s gaze up to the ceiling.
“
Westley.”
“
Yep. And after him, I’m perfectly happy to put you next.”
That explained why Westley was acting cagey. Tom ignored Jaylen’s threat. “You told him this?”
“Yeah.”
“
And he’s okay with it?” Tom was going to give him a good thrashing, that was for sure.
“
He seems confident he can change my mind.”
Tom held up his hands, letting Jaylen see their size, curling his fingers and letting Jaylen imagine them crushing his throat. “I’d prefer that you don’t do that. Westley is dear to me.”
“Yeah, he was a real kitten last night when he went on a murdering rampage.”
“
And saved your life.”
A decent man would have looked away, lowered his eyes in shame.
Jaylen wasn’t decent.
“
Do we have a deal?” Tom asked.
“
You’ll let me out of this room?”
“
You’ll stay in here and give us whatever information you think we should know to defeat him.”
Jaylen crossed his arms. “Nice try.”
“No one knows Denton better,” Tom said.
“
And I’m not saying a thing until you let me out. I’m a sitting duck in here.”
“
It’s not safe for you. There’s a house full of wolves up there.”
Jaylen snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you care about my safety. Look, if you’re going to torture me, been there, done that. I doubt your skills are quite up to Denton’s.”
Tom stood. “Suit yourself. By the way, Westley called your friend. She says she’s fine and thanks for the warning.”
This seemed to take some of the wind out of his sails. “Thanks.”
“Who is she to you?”
“
Just somebody I trust.”
“
She said they’d ‘figured it out.’ What did she mean?”
“
No idea.”
“
Give me something here, man.”
Jaylen held out his bare arm. “Your friend Cody had to burn me before I’d say her name. And you think I’ll tell you who she is by your asking?”
“I don’t do torture, Jaylen. If you don’t want to help us, that’s your choice. But I hope you’ll change your mind. If you don’t, could be that none of us will make it through the night.”
“
Save me from killing you.”
Tom sighed. “We’re not monsters. If you’d get your head out of your ass, you’d see that. I’d think you would’ve seen that with Westley. He’s never hurt anyone in his life. And now he’s figured out how to—”
“How to what?” Jaylen sounded curious, a change from his confrontational tone.
Tom weighed his options. Tell the hunter about Westley’s method of preventing his shift? Or keep it secret? His mind zipped through the consequences, good and bad, but stalled on the wall of uncertainty. He didn’t know Jaylen, and Westley’s trusting him wasn’t enough. Jaylen could easily use this new information against Westley, as Tom could probably use whatever Jaylen wasn’t telling him against Jaylen. It was a loop that Tom wasn’t yet prepared to break.
“Never mind. Shout if you need anything.” He closed the door and stood against it a moment. If Jaylen did end up shouting, no one would hear him, but Tom was all right with letting Jaylen sit with uncertainty after that conversation. Westley would probably spend plenty of time with him anyway, so Jaylen wouldn’t go without food, water, or, from the smell of him, sex.
WESTLEY WASN’T HUNGRY, but he grabbed a granola bar off the kitchen counter because Tom had told him to eat. Not liking the way the others looked at him, he didn’t stay in the kitchen, but instead swallowed it in two bites and made himself scarce. The house had filled up since he’d been downstairs with Jaylen. The Wards’ floor plan had a fairly open layout. The only room that was truly separate was the kitchen. From there, a person could stand at the base of the stairs and be in the front parlor, living room and dining room all at once. From that vantage point, Westley assessed the situation. Seeing the other omegas occupied with their mates, he hurried off for towels and warm rags to soothe the injured. They lay in bedraggled heaps on the furniture and carpet. He knelt beside Tiffany, a beta he’d gone to school with when she was human. She’d been turned while he was away at college.
“
Westley.” She smiled weakly. “Still single?”
He laid the washcloth over her forehead. “How do you feel?”
“Like a two hundred pound wolf ran into me.”
He checked her over, gently pushing up her sleeves and part of her shirt to see her stomach. “All I see are bruises. You’ll be fine.”
“Marry me,” she said, drifting off.
“
Is it true what they’re saying?” Scott asked. He was an alpha a year younger. He sat on the floor with his omega mate trembling beside him. Westley handed him a towel, which Scott used to cover them both.
“
What’s that?” Westley asked.
“
That the hunter’s downstairs and we’re all doomed because Tom’s protecting him.”
“
I don’t see how we’re doomed unless someone tells Denton about it,” Westley snapped. Scott’s face changed. He’d been talking smack before, but now he knew. He
knew
because Westley had confirmed it.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I mean, if he were here....” But it was too late to backpedal. Without turning around, he sensed he was surrounded by werewolves on silent feet, all leaning in to know what else they could get out of the stupid, weird, solitary omega. How else could they think of Westley? His own parents felt the same, and now he’d gone and proved them right. He stood quickly, almost losing his balance as the blood rushed back into his legs. “Excuse me.” He stumbled toward the stairs and ran up.