Jared let out a small groan and when Nate turned to look at him, he was squirming in his seat, hands covering his crotch. “Do you mind if we open the windows?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Okay, so maybe they both had the same problem.
Nate gulped down the fresh air that rushed in. It helped somewhat but didn’t alleviate the problem altogether.
Jared was seated too damn close for comfort.
“How long has your dad been in the nursing home?”
“Three years.” Nate honked his horn at a car that overtook and then slowed down in front of him, causing him to brake.
Why the hell did people do that?
Idiots.
“Are you the only person that visits him?”
“Naw, got a sister. She goes to see him a couple times a week, but she lives closer than me.”
“Do you see her often?”
“Never. We don’t speak. My sister and her husband don’t like the fact I’m gay.”
“You don’t think she’ll come around?”
Normally Nate would be changing the subject right about now, but he didn’t mind talking to Jared about his family, so he plowed on.
“I’m sorry to say that’s never gonna happen. They’re both pretty stuck in their ways. When my brother Rick was killed, my sister didn’t even contact me to let me know. I had to hear it from Kelan.”
“Wow, that’s harsh. Were you close to your brother?”
Nate sighed. “When we were younger, yeah, but we hadn’t spoken in two years when he passed.”
Nate was about to let the subject drop but he found himself wanting to open up to Jared, to confide in him. The conversation he’d had with Kelan had made him think about his brother a lot
“We argued over our father. It was bad. Pop’s dementia had started and it was becoming more and more difficult to look after him. I was down as his next of kin so I made the decision to put him in the nursing home.
“Rick didn’t agree with me. He said we could care for him ourselves, but there was no way. We both worked full-time and my sister lived hours away. Dad would have been neglected. I couldn’t have stood that.
“Of course, I didn’t want to see him in the nursing home either. We tried, at first, to take care of him, but it just wasn’t feasible.
“I came home from work one day to find the back door wide open and dad was gone. I shifted and tracked his scent all the way into town. I found him at the graveyard, near my mom’s grave.
“He was naked and it was still light out. He had to have shifted then shifted back when he got there. Humans could have seen him, you know? That was just one incident of many, so I made the decision to put him in the nursing home.
“My brother was furious and we argued. He told me I was being selfish, that he hated me, never wanted to see me again, so I left. I never saw him again before he was killed.”
Jared reached his hand across the small space and placed it on Nate’s knee.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but I’m sure your brother didn’t mean what he said to you. People say terrible things in the heat of the moment and it’s hard to take them back.
“For what it’s worth, you did the right thing. Wolves with dementia are unpredictable, dangerous. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make.”
When Nate next spoke his voice with thick with emotion. “One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Only one thing tops it.”
Jared’s brow creased. “What was that?”
Nate took his eyes off the road for a moment and met Jared’s gaze. “Rejecting you as my mate the day we met.”
Jared sighed heavily and squeezed Nate’s knee. “For me too,” he whispered. “For me too.”
An hour later they pulled up alongside the intercom box in front of the large, electronic gates that guarded the entrance of the nursing home. Nate gave his name and when the gates swung open with a loud creak, he made his way up the sweeping drive.
Guards stood sentry around the grounds, armed with guns that Nate knew to contain tranquilizer darts. The parking lot at the back of the building housed only a few cars, so Nate pulled up near the door and killed the engine.
“You ready to go in?” Jared asked.
Nate nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Thanks for coming with me.”
“I’m glad you asked. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”
Nate led Jared through the building to the nurses’ station where they both signed in before heading down the hallway to his father’s room. Nate stopped outside and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before pushing open the door.
His father sat in an armchair near the window.
“Hey Pop.” Nate crossed the small space.
“Rick?”
Nate swallowed and shook his head. “No, Pop, it’s Nate.”
His father nodded and turned to look out the window. “My eyesight’s not as good as it used to be. Where’s Rick?”
Nate sighed. “Rick couldn’t make it today, Pop. He had to work.”
Jared raised an eyebrow at his response, but he didn’t comment.
“I brought someone to meet you, Pop. This is Jared. He’s the deputy sheriff in Wolf Creek now. Jared’s my m—” Nate cut off what he’d been about to say.
He didn’t know if Jared would want him to introduce them as mates so he left it at that. His father raked his eyes over Jared then turned to Nate and scowled.
“You in trouble again?”
Jared chuckled, strode across the room and shook the old man’s hand. “Good to meet you, sir. I’m Nate’s mate, and no, he’s not in any trouble.”
The casual way Jared made the declaration made Nate’s heart skip a beat and a happy smile spread across his face.
“Oh, that’s nice,” his father said. “I’ll have to get Lillian to invite you boys over for supper.”
He turned to stare once again out the window.
“Who’s Lillian?” Jared mouthed to Nate.
“My mom,” Nate mouthed back.
Jared’s mouth curved sympathetically, but when he turned to Nate’s father again, his smile was bright.
“Thank you, sir. I’d love to come to supper.”
“How you doing, Pop?” Nate took a seat on the small bed, next to his father’s chair. Nate handed him a small paper bag and smiled when Jared sat down next to him.
His father shrugged. “Some damn lunatic down the hall keeps screaming all times of the day and night. I’m telling you if he doesn’t quit his antics, I’m going to go down there and rip him a new one.”
His father peeked into the bag. “Candy?”
“Yep, Werther’s Butterscotch, your favorite.”
He popped one into his mouth and grimaced. “Tastes like shit.”
Nate caught Jared trying to stifle a grin and it made him smile, too.
“What do you say I bring you some peppermint next time? Maybe next week?” Jared asked, reaching into the bag to snag a piece of candy.
Nate’s smile got even wider.
So Jared planned on coming back with him?
He wasn’t sure what that meant for them both but the idea that there would be a next time, and soon, made him incredibly happy.
His father shook his head. “Gives me gas.”
Jared laughed out loud, his eyes dancing. “Right, I’ll keep that in mind.”
This was the most lucid Nate had seen his father in a long time.
He could almost make himself believe his father was back to his old self…almost. Everything was going great until his Pop turned to him again and asked, “Where’s Rick?”
Jared put a hand on Nate’s knee and answered for him. “Had to work, sir.”
Nate gave a grateful nod of his head but he didn’t trust his voice enough to speak.
An hour later, Nate rose from his position on the bed and bent to kiss his father on the forehead. “Gotta hit the road, Pop, but I’ll come back and
see you next week, okay?”
His father nodded. “I’ll tell Lillian you came by.”
Nate sighed. “Right, Pop.”
“It was great to meet you, sir,” Jared said. “I hope you don’t mind if I come and visit you again.”
“Naw, don’t mind none.”
Just before they left the room Nate’s father called out, “Hey, Jared!”
“Sir?”
Nate was surprised his father had remembered Jared’s name. The old man pinned Jared in place with a pointed stare, and it reminded Nate of when he was younger and his father would chastise him for something he’d done wrong—there had always been something.
“You treat my son right, ya hear?”
Jared’s gaze flickered to Nate’s and he swallowed what must have been a lump in his throat before he answered, “You have my word, sir.”
As soon as Nate closed the door to his father’s room, Jared threw his arms around him and held him close. Nate reveled in the contact for a few moments before pulling back.
“You okay?” Jared asked.
“Yeah…yeah, I’m okay.”
“Doesn’t he know about your brother’s death?”
Nate nodded. “Yeah, he knows. Doctor’s said my sister told him when it first happened and I spoke to him once about it, too, but he forgets. The dementia, I guess.”
“He thinks your mom is still alive too?”
“Yeah. Doctors said it would probably be best to play along with it because every time you tell him the truth would be like the first time all over again.
“They said it would be best not to upset him because when he gets upset, he shifts and turns nasty. A couple of times they’ve had to tranq him until he calmed down and shifted back.”
When Nate next looked into Jared’s eyes, the emotion he could see there was raw. Jared reached down and squeezed Nate’s hand.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
Nate closed his eyes and let Jared’s words permeate. He only wished Jared had meant home together. The thought paralyzed him.
Was that what he wanted?
A home, with Jared?
Is that where this was going?
Nate shook the thought from his mind. Even if Jared wanted to forge some sort of relationship with him, it would a private one, behind closed doors. They would never be able to live together. Jared’s dream of making sheriff was too important to him to commit on that level, so Nate needed to get any stupid notions of the two of them ‘playing house’ out of his mind.
As they made their way to the parking lot, a tall, slim woman with long dark hair strode past. Her gaze flicked to Nate but she kept on walking. Nate stopped. He turned to watch her go, his heart hurting.
Jared stopped too.
“Hey, what’s up?” He followed Nate’s gaze. “Who’s that? Wait, was that…”
“Yeah,” Nate said quietly, hanging his head to stare at the ground. “My sister.”
Jared growled and the intensity made Nate quickly lift his head. Jared’s beautiful green eyes had become so dark they were practically black, he was shaking all over.
“To hell with that!” Jared said, and he marched off, leaving Nate standing in the corridor alone.
Chapter Seventeen
Jared raced down the corridor, his wolf furious and snarling within.
Fury bubbled just below the surface but he tried to rein it in. What the hell gave her the right to treat Nate like he was some Goddamn stranger? Nate grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back.
“Jared, just leave it. It doesn’t matter.”
“That’s your sister!” Jared snapped. “Don’t say that it doesn’t matter, it does.”
When Nate met his gaze, there was a pain in his eyes that stole Jared’s breath. “You know, you’re the second person to say that to me in just over a week?” He sighed.
“Look, she might be blood, but she can’t be forced into changing her mind about me and I doubt she can be reasoned with either.”
Jared tore his arm out of Nate’s grip. “She doesn’t have to change her mind. But she’s going to damn well listen, and she’s going to get a piece of my mind whether she likes it or not. What’s her name?”
Nate closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Lucy.”
Jared hurried away before Nate could stop him again. He caught up with her in the corridor that led to Nate’s father’s room.
“Hey, Lucy!”
She turned.
Now that Jared was able to get a good look at her face, he could see the resemblance. She had the same eyes as her brother, the same shaped mouth, which was currently turned down in a frown.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Jared, your brother’s mate.”
Jared couldn’t believe how easy it was to say aloud, and he realized the more times he said it, the easier it became.
She flinched then tore her gaze away from his. “I don’t have a brother.”
Jared growled.
If she was a man he would have thrown a Goddamn punch.
Instead, he grabbed hold of her arm and forced her to meet his gaze. “Don’t you dare say that! You had two brothers, two! One is dead, sure, but the other is alive and loves you.
“Don’t you think about him? Don’t you miss having him in your life?”
“He’s sick,” she said. “It ain’t natural.”
“Who the hell are you to say what’s natural? Who are you to pass judgment on who a man loves?”
Even as the words came out of his mouth, Jared wondered if they could one day be true. Could Nate come to love him?
“The Bible says…”
“Don’t go preaching to me about what the Bible says. I know what it says as well as anyone. Doesn’t the Bible tell us to love unconditionally?”
“It’s wrong,” she whispered.
“No. You’re wrong. Nate is the only brother you have left. You won’t get another, and if you throw away the chance to know him, to have him in your life, you’ll live to regret it. I promise you that.”
Jared wasn’t even sure who he was trying to convince anymore—Lucy or himself.
Lucy hung her head and Jared knew he’d said all there was to say, so he left her alone in the corridor.
But as he was walking away, she spoke up.
“But my mate…”
When Jared turned back, her eyes were pleading with him to understand.
“Your mate would want you to be happy, wouldn’t he? Isn’t that what we all want for our mates?”
The confusion in her eyes was evident. “I…I don’t—“
Jared shrugged. “Think about it, that’s all I ask.”
As Jared walked along the corridor to find Nate, he became more resolute. It was time he took his own damn advice. He would never get another mate, and just as he’d told Lucy, if he let Nate walk away, he would regret it, of that he had no doubt. He couldn’t live with himself if he let that happen.
Jared was running out of reasons why he and Nate shouldn’t be together.
Yes, he still had his brother to think about, but Tristan knew about their bond, and he was happy for them.
And Tristan wasn’t drinking anymore, either.
The dark cloud that had been hanging over his head for so many months finally appeared to be lifting.
Jared still wanted to make sheriff but it was just a job, wasn’t it?
What was more important to him?
When he rounded a corner and set eyes on Nate—leaning against the wall, waiting for him—he knew the answer to that question.
It was standing not five feet away from him.
Chapter Eighteen
Jared had been quiet on the drive back to Wolf Creek but Nate hadn’t been in the most talkative mood himself. He was pretty sure Jared was upset the talk with his sister hadn’t gone better than it had, but Nate wasn’t surprised.
Lucy hadn’t spoken to him in nearly ten years. That was a long time to pretend he didn’t exist.
A two-minute conversation with Jared wasn’t likely to change her mind about him.
Even though Jared hadn’t spoken much, Nate had felt his eyes on him the entire journey. He wondered what Jared had been thinking as he looked at him, but he’d been too afraid to ask. As he pulled up outside Jared’s house and killed the engine on his truck, Nate couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to know.
“Go on, spit it out.”
“Huh?”
“I can practically hear the cogs turning in your head. What is it? What’s on your mind?”
Jared averted his gaze and his cheeks turned bright pink. He was quiet for nearly a whole minute before he answered.
“I’ve just been thinking about some stuff…well, about us, actually.”
What the hell did that mean?
Nate’s mouth was suddenly as dry as a bone.
“Oh? What sort of stuff about us?”
“Do you want to come inside and talk?”
Nate nodded even though Jared was no longer looking at him. When he at last found his voice, it sounded rough, hollow. “Okay, sure.”
On the way to the house, Nate noticed Jared’s SUV was still missing from the yard.
“Tristan must be having a good time,” he commented.
“Uh-huh.”
Jared still wouldn’t look at him and Nate found himself growing more and more anxious as the minutes ticked on. What exactly was Jared about to tell him? That he didn’t want to see him anymore? When Jared had told his father he would visit again, Nate couldn’t have been happier, but maybe he hadn’t meant it. Maybe he was just placating an old man who wouldn’t remember what he’d said the next minute, let alone the following week.
Nate took off his hat when they entered the house then followed Jared into the living room. He looked around for somewhere to put it but decided to keep hold. If Jared was about to say what Nate thought he was then it was pointless making himself comfortable—he wouldn’t be staying for very long.
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