Nolan

by Catherine Lievens

  Gregory’s lips were blood red, his jaw already swelling and changing color. Shifter healing meant that the man would soon heal, but it didn’t mean he would forget about this, and others would notice he had been struck.

  “Don’t worry.” Gregory gestured to his face. “I’m fine, and I won’t punish you. I thought you wanted this too, that I could convince you with a kiss, but it’s obvious it didn’t work.”

  Casey shook his head. This couldn’t be real. He felt as if he had ended up in a parallel world. “Gregory…I’m sorry, but I can’t go back. I’m sorry that you came all the way here for nothing and that you somehow assumed that I liked you, but I have nothing to give you.”

  Casey watched as Gregory took a deep breath and tried to get a little control back. “All right, I’m sorry, Casey. It’s just…I thought you loved me too, and I was so happy to think that we would finally have a chance to be together. You’re my first and only love.” Gregory’s face was back to its normal color, which accentuated the bruise rapidly forming on his jaw. “I’ll leave right away.” The Alpha went for the door and Casey panicked. If Gregory left, that meant he would take Elena and Trevor with him, but Casey wanted to talk to them.

  “Wait! The trip was long, stay here for tonight and rest, please.”

  A gleam passed in his old friend’s eyes but Casey wasn’t able to identify the emotion. It gave him the creeps, though, and he just knew this wasn’t over. Gregory would try to seduce Casey again, in spite of everything that had just happened.

  He had tried to be understanding, to keep things smooth because the man in front of him had once been his friend, but Casey had had enough. He would keep as far away as he could from the Alpha until he left. He needed Gregory to stay only because he wanted to be with his family, but the man in front of him…it wasn’t the kid he had grown up with anymore. Casey didn’t know what had happened, but the sweet boy had grown up to be a somehow corrupted man who seemed to listen only to his desires. He should have listened to his uncle and to Nolan and stayed away from Gregory.

  The Alpha nodded and Casey hurried to the door, opening it and rushing to Dominic’s office. He was feeling so stupid for not seeing what was right in front of his eyes while everyone else had understood.

  Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Casey realized he wasn’t ready to face anyone yet, so he turned back and headed for the gardens. He needed to think and to be ready to face Gregory again.

  * * * *

  “Come on, spill the beans.”

  Not surprisingly, Nolan had been the one chosen to give Casey’s relatives a tour of the house, and he had chosen the gardens to start his third degree interrogation, even if it was so damn cold it would probably start snowing soon. It was the only place Nolan was sure no one would come by. He looked at the two persons in front of him. They were looking at everything but at him, and it was irritating.

  “So? I know that Gregory has something in mind and I sure hope you’re not here to help him hurt Casey.” That seemed to get a reaction out of Trevor, Casey’s uncle.

  “No! We’re not here to hurt him!” He apparently realized he had yelled and tuned down the volume. “We were ordered to come with Gregory—we had no choice. Since he found out Casey was alive he has been…obsessed by him.”

  “We know he’s planning something, but we don’t know what exactly. He ordered us to come to try and woo Casey back to Orston. He thought Casey would consider being able to be with us like an added bonus or something,” Elena muttered, looking around as if she thought Gregory was going to jump out of one of the rose bushes.

  “I’m going to be honest with you, Nolan, since you’re Casey’s mate.” Nolan nodded and Trevor took it as a sign that he could go on. “We thought Casey was dead, too. That’s what the old Alpha told everyone, that Casey’s parents betrayed the pride and that they had to kill them, Casey being an unfortunate innocent victim.”

  “We never believed their version of the fact. Our sister would never have done anything that would hurt her kitten or us, and neither would her mate. But we did believe that Casey was dead, since he disappeared at the same time, even if they never brought his body back. We still don’t know what happened that evening or what happened to Casey after that.” There was sadness and guilt swimming in Trevor’s eyes, and while Nolan thought it wasn’t their fault, he couldn’t be the one to forgive them or to tell them what had happened.

  “Our old Alpha…he was very keen on traditions and hard, bordering on cruel. If you didn’t do what he wanted when he wanted it, you were punished. Things are going the same way with Gregory, unfortunately, and we had no choice but coming here with him. He told us he would make us pay if we didn’t, and while I don’t really care about what happens to me, I’m scared that he could hurt Casey. I wasn’t able to protect him all those years ago—” A broken sob rose from Elena’s throat and Nolan couldn’t help but pat her arm, trying to comfort her as best as a virtual stranger could. “When we found out Casey was still alive we promised ourselves that we would keep him safe this time, no matter what.”

  Nolan nodded. “I’m glad to hear that, because if you try to hurt him I’ll hunt you down and make you regret it. I may only be a cat, but I can take you down.” Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but they didn’t have to know it, right?

  Trevor lifted a brow in an amused expression. “You’re a cat?”

  “Yeah, I’m just a cat, but it doesn’t mean I love Casey anything less than if I was a cheetah or that I won’t be able to protect him if I need to.”

  Trevor raised his hands in a surrendered gesture. “I know that. I’m sure that if Fate chose you to be Casey’s other half, you will be good for him.”

  With that settled, Nolan wanted to know more about the Gregory situation. “Are you going to tell me more about Gregory?”

  Elena looked around once more, worry literally pouring out of her every movement. “We don’t know how the Alpha found out that Casey was still alive, but as soon as he did he called us to his house and asked us what we knew about it. We didn’t know anything, so he let us go, but in the months and years that followed, we all could see how obsessed he became with finding him. He called a number of Alphas and asked them if they knew about Casey or where he could possibly be.”

  “Everyone knew something was wrong, but the few times someone brought it up it ended up bad for them, so we all let him be. I didn’t think he would actually be able to find Casey.” Trevor shook his head. “When he found him, he called us and said that he was coming here to bring Casey home, that he would take his rightful place at Gregory’s side as the Alpha mate. We didn’t know Casey had already mated, and neither did Alpha Howard. He told us to do our best to convince Casey to come back home, and we agreed, both because we wanted Casey back and because we knew what would happen to us if we didn’t.”

  Nolan suddenly felt something coming from Casey, an anger so strong he wanted to run to his mate and sooth him. He didn’t, though, because he knew that what he was doing was important for Casey and that the cheetah was more than able to defend himself if he needed to. Still, he had a hard time controlling his cat.

  “We didn’t know Casey was so happy here, but we saw it as soon as we got out of the car. It’s obvious in the way he held onto you and when he looks at you.” Elena gave Nolan a sad smile. “We want him to stay here, but I don’t know what will happen to us now.”

  Nolan thought about it, his fingers caressing the soft petal of a pink Christmas rose. “I know Casey doesn’t want to go back, especially if Gregory wants him to be the Alpha mate.” Nolan couldn’t understand how Gregory could be obsessed with someone he didn’t really know. What was the man thinking? “Do you have family in Orston? Mates, kittens?”

  The siblings exchanged a glance before Elena answered. “I haven’t found my mate yet.”

  “What about you, Trevor?”

  The man looked at his feet. “I know who my mate is, but we haven’t been
able to claim each other yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “The old Alpha wouldn’t have allowed it, and with Gregory…I wasn’t sure it was safe.” There was something there. Nolan waited for Trevor to go on. He didn’t want to push, but he had an idea that might help everyone, so he needed to know. Trevor sighed. “I guess I can tell you, since both you and Casey are males and your Alpha doesn’t seem to have a problem with that. My mate is a man, and he’s human.” Trevor waited as if he thought someone was going to beat him up for that.

  “As you said before, Fate choose our other half, so who cares who it is, right?” Trevor gave Nolan a small, relieved smile. “Dominic won’t give you problems over this. You don’t know it, but most of the members of this pride are either gay or have human mates. That’s why they’re here, because they were shunned from their prides.”

  “Okay, but I’m not sure I get what you’re saying.” Elena was hesitant, but Nolan could see the hope in her eyes.

  “You’re Casey’s family. You can ask Dominic to become a member of this pride so that you can be with your nephew. Since you don’t have mates you don’t even have to go back to Orston now, and Gregory won’t be able to hurt you.”

  Nolan watched the siblings as the hypothesis sank in. “What about my mate?” Trevor asked.

  “If Gregory doesn’t know about him, it shouldn’t be a problem to go and get him once you settle here.”

  Trevor shook his head. “Micah doesn’t know about me. I’ve never told him anything, and I’ve talked to him only a few times, about his job. I didn’t want to risk someone finding out what he was to me.”

  That was a problem, but Nolan didn’t think it was insurmountable. They could find a way to get Micah in Whitedell somehow, or Trevor could go there and talk with the man. “What does he do for a living?”

  “He’s a computer technician. He helped me a few times when I had problems with mine.”

  They could work on that, but Nolan had to talk with Dominic before anything happened. “Let’s go.” He gestured to the siblings to follow him to Dominic’s office.

  “Do you really think your Alpha will let us stay here?”

  “I’m sure of it. Even if I have been here for only a few days, I already know that Dominic is a fair Alpha and he always tries to help the pride members, or anyone else for that matter, in any way he can. We’ll tell him what happened and I’m sure he’ll welcome the two of you with open arms.” They entered the house through the kitchen door and Nolan waved at Steve, a leopard shifter that was cooking at the stove. He let Elena and Trevor pass before him, watching as Trevor put a hand on his sister’s arm and talked to her in a soft voice. A loud clang resounded from behind him as Steve roared, “Mine!” and jumped ahead, snagging Elena from Trevor’s hold and pushing her behind his back.

  Well, things had just gotten even more interesting.

  * * * *

  What the fuck?

  Casey had been on his way to the gardens when he had heard the commotion coming from the kitchen. He didn’t know where Gregory had gone and he really didn’t care, but since Nolan was somewhere in the house he wanted to make sure it didn’t involve him, so he ran that way.

  Casey reached the kitchen door and froze at the sight of the scene in front of him. Steve, a member of the pride, was fighting to keep Elena behind him while she yelled at him and hit his back. Trevor was in front of them, looking perplexed, while Nolan was laughing in a corner.

  “What’s going on here?”

  “Hey, babe! Are you done with Gregory?”

  A wave of anger rose in Casey as he heard that name and he quickly suffocated it, not wanting to make his mate worry.

  “Yeah, I’m done, I hope for good. So, what’s going on?”

  Nolan looked around as if he was making sure no one other than their little group would hear what he was about to say. “I was talking with your aunt and uncle about the possibility of them coming and live here so that they can be near you, so we were going to talk to Dominic. We passed through the kitchen and apparently your aunt is Steve’s mate.”

  “Wait, you’re her brother?” Steve asked Trevor when what Elena was saying finally got through.

  “That’s what I was telling you, you thickheaded man! Let me go!” Elena hollered from behind Steve, making Nolan laugh again. Now that Casey knew what was going on he could admit that it was kind of funny.

  “Anyway, since it seems your aunt is going to have a very good reason to live here, I think the problem doesn’t exist anymore.”

  Casey pulled Nolan into his arms, back to chest, and rested his chin on his mate’s shoulder, breathing in his scent. It never failed to arouse him, and this time wasn’t different. Casey felt his cock starting to plump in his jeans, and he wasn’t the only one. Nolan pushed his ass back against Casey’s crotch, a low moan rising from his throat. Casey grabbed Nolan’s lobe between his teeth, sucking it into his mouth and lavishing it with his tongue.

  “Uh, guys?”

  Trevor’s voice penetrated into the lusty cloud surrounding Casey and Nolan and Casey groaned. He couldn’t wait to get his mate alone, but now was not the right moment. Reluctantly, he laid one last kiss on Nolan’s cheek and turned his attention to his uncle. “What is it?”

  Elena was softly talking with Steve, the man’s hand caressing her cheek, and Casey was glad to see his aunt looked already happier than when she had arrived. Now the only thing they still had to do was getting his family away from Gregory before he hurt them, and Casey knew he would if he managed to take them back to Orston.

  “Can I ask what happened with Alpha Howard?” Trevor’s gaze was wary, as if he knew something had happened. Casey sighed. There was no way he could avoid talking about it, but he didn’t want to do it more than once.

  “Why don’t we all go and talk with Dominic? That way I’ll tell you all together and we can decide what to do.”

  Their small group headed to Dominic’ office, Steve in tow. The leopard smiled at Casey. “So, I guess that makes me your new uncle, huh?”

  Casey didn’t really mind. He liked the guy, and he wanted Elena to be happy. Steve had become part of the pride about ten years earlier, having been shunned from his birth pride because he was half human. He had wandered around for many years before finding Dominic.

  Soon they were all sitting on the couches in the office, waiting for Nate to arrive while Dominic watched them, making Casey nervous. The Alpha always seemed to know more than he should, and Casey swore the man could read him. He had cocked a brown eyebrow at Steve’s presence, but hadn’t said anything, as if he already knew why the man was there with them.

  “Alpha Howard is being shown around the town by Derick, Soren and Denver,” Nate said coming in. “So, what do we have here?”

  Casey looked at his family, unsure if he should be the one to start talking, but he was saved by Nolan. His mate squeezed his hand before saying, “I was talking to Elena and Trevor and I found out that they were threatened to come here to help get Casey back to Orston. Since they have no other family, I proposed to ask you if they could become members of this pride. It shouldn’t be a problem for Elena since we just found out that Steve is her mate, but I’m not sure about Trevor.”

  Dominic smiled. “As a member of Casey’s close family you’re welcome here. I’ll talk with Alpha Howard myself and let him know that the two of you will move here.”

  “Thank you, Alpha Nash.” Trevor bowed his head to Dominic, showing his respect. “I know I’m asking so much of you, but we would like to stay here right away. I think being alone with Alpha Howard or in his territory wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  Dominic nodded, but it was Nate who talked next. “I don’t think that will be a problem. If you give me your addresses I can send some of the pride members to retrieve your things, or you can go with them if you want to. Anyways, you won’t be left alone in the Orston pride territory. Of course, we will have to discuss this with
Alpha Howard, but he can in no way prohibit you from moving here or going to gather your things, since you petitioned Dominic and have a good reason to do so.”

  “Since this is settled,” Dominic turned to Casey, “do you want to tell us what happened with Alpha Howard? Why is he really here?”

  Casey felt his face redden. He so didn’t want to have this conversation, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. “Nolan was right. Gregory wanted me to go back with him and become Alpha mate by his side. I told him that even if I hadn’t met Nolan, I wouldn’t have gone back, and he backed off. He told me he would go back tomorrow.”

  “Do you have any idea why he would want you as an Alpha mate after not seeing you for thirty years?” Nate asked.

  “I’m not sure. I guess it could be from the way our separation happened. Maybe it marked him in some way, and when he found out I was alive it seemed like a miracle to him?” Casey shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any idea why this is happening. I’m just glad it’s over.”

  Casey could see the skeptical glances the others gave him, and he actually agreed with them that Gregory was far from finished with him, but he could hope, right?

  The rest of the day passed with both Casey’s and Nolan’s family, and watching them interact Casey felt a sense of belonging settle in his chest. It wasn’t exactly the same thing that he felt with Nolan, but he loved finally having a family. And even though he didn’t like the situation, he had to thank Gregory for bringing him his aunt and uncle back. He probably wouldn’t have seen them again without him.

  Casey hadn’t been there when Dominic had communicated to Gregory that he had lost two pride members, but he had heard the altercation from where he had been sitting in the living room, as had the rest of the pride. Gregory had made a fuss, at first trying to prevent Elena and Trevor from leaving his pride, and then prohibiting them from going back to get their stuff, but Dominic had been firm and he had won. The cheetah had stormed away, giving a last chilling glance at Casey as he passed by the living room. It hadn’t help that Nolan had been in Casey’s lap, nuzzling his cheek to Casey’s neck, but Casey couldn’t bring himself to care. He was done with the man.