With Caution

by J. L. Langley

  Scrunching his face a little, Remi closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Sorry? What the fuck? Jake growled and stood. Dirk was going to pay for this. “Are you all right? Where all are you hurt?”

  Remi winced again. “I’m okay.”

  “I’m going to have Rhys come stay with you. I’m going after your father. He’s not getting away with this.” Jake grabbed his phone off his belt. Fuck, he was so pissed, he couldn’t even operate the fucking phone. His hands were shaking.

  Remi jumped to his feet and pushed the phone down. “Don’t. Dirk isn’t worth it.”

  Jake clasped Remi’s hand with his other one. “How can you say that? Look at you. Look at what he did. He had no right. I’ll be damned if that son of a bitch lays another hand on you.” Realizing he was yelling at Remi, he lowered his voice. “I promised you’d never have to go through this again.”

  Remi tugged on the phone, pulled it out of Jake’s hand and tossed it to the couch. “You can’t go after Dirk. And you can’t promise something like that. This isn’t your fault any more than it’s mine. It’s Dirk’s, but murdering him isn’t the answer.”

  Seething, Jake looked away. Remi was his. His to protect and care for.

  “Jake, I nearly killed him myself a few minutes ago. We’re close to finding something on him, I know it. Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing. Rhys is supposed to meet with his ex-boss today, right? Give him a chance to find something.” He touched Jake’s cheek with tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to risk you going to jail. Sterling and I need you.”

  They stood there staring—almost glaring—at one another for several moments before Jake gave in. How could he not when Remi looked at him like that? The gnawing anger didn’t disappear, but the need to comfort Remi grew stronger. For all his bravado, Remi was still scared. His scent hadn’t changed much.

  With a pleading look on his face, Remi caressed Jake’s cheek. “Please.”

  He loves me. It was there in his eyes. He wanted Jake with him more than he wanted Dirk gone. Jake closed his eyes, nodding. For once it was he who leaned into Remi’s hand and enjoyed the feel of his mate’s touch. Remi needed him here. Dirk would have to wait.

  “Your eyes and teeth shifted.” Remi’s voice was soft, almost a whisper.

  “It’s the smell of your blood.” Closing the door with his foot, he reached for Remi. This time Remi didn’t shy away, he let Jake help him. “Come on, let’s get you taken care of. Where do you hurt?”

  “I’m not that hurt, just pissed off mostly.”

  “You and me both.” Jake traced his hands over Remi, trying to assure himself Remi was really okay. He seemed to be. Now Jake felt like an ass for not seeing to his mate’s care sooner. He steered Remi toward the bathroom. “What happened? Sterling called me in a near panic saying Dirk was headed here.”

  “Yeah. He told me to call you off or you and Sterling were going to get hurt.”

  Jake ground his teeth together. Guilt ate at him. He should’ve told Remi about Dirk’s visit. “He came to my office the other day. I was going to tell you about it tonight. I didn’t want to ruin your evening yesterday. You seemed happy and in such a great mood, I didn’t want you to worry. I figured he was confronting me, so he’d let you be.”

  “There isn’t any way you could have known he’d come looking for me too. You can never tell what the asshole is going to do. Where are we going?”

  “Bathroom to clean you up.”

  Remi was limping a little and Jake had to quash down the anger threatening to take over again.

  “I scared him.” Remi leaned against Jake more, groaning softly. “I lost it, Jake. I just wigged out. I started beating the hell out of him and my eyes and teeth shifted.” Stopping, he turned to Jake and worried his lip. “He saw them.”

  “What did he do?” Swooping Remi gently into his arms, Jake carried him the rest of the way to the bathroom.

  Remi wrapped his arms around Jake’s neck. “He thought I was on something. I don’t think it really registered. I shouldn’t have fought back. What if he tells everyone about what he saw? What if…?” Shoulders slumping, Remi sighed. He seemed exhausted. More mentally than physically, but then physically he wasn’t so hot either. The dried blood on his face and clothes was turning crusty.

  “Who the hell is going to believe him, if he does tell?” Setting Remi on the vanity counter next to the sink, Jake turned on the water to let it heat and got a washcloth from the linen cabinet.

  Remi reclined against the mirror and shut his eyes, a small smile curving his lips. He looked pleased with himself, or maybe he was resigned to let things be for now and allow Jake to care for him. Whatever the case, he was still and compliant.

  Placing his hands on Remi’s knees, Jake bent forward and brushed their lips together. Thank God Remi wasn’t more seriously injured.

  “Mmm…” Remi’s eyes opened. With the dark smears of blood on his face, his pale eyes appeared even lighter, almost white because of Jake’s monochrome vision.

  “What are you smiling about?” Brushing Remi’s hair out of his face, Jake picked some dried blood out of it.

  “I fought back. It felt good.”

  Jake smiled and kissed Remi again. “I’m glad. Wish I could have seen it. Lift your arms.”

  Remi raised his arms, allowing Jake to pull the T-shirt over his head. After tossing it toward the hamper, Jake inspected Remi’s ribs. There was a bruise halfway up on his right side, but it wasn’t too bad. There wasn’t any swelling. Likely whatever injury he’d sustained was already healing but Jake ran his fingers over it lightly.

  “That tickles.”

  Pulling his hand back, Jake straightened. “Sorry.” He wet the washcloth with warm, soapy water and cleaned Remi’s face and neck.

  He had the urge to bite into Remi’s neck and taste. The smell of Remi’s blood was going to Jake’s head and had been since he opened the SUV door. Now his cock was getting hard too.

  He bathed Remi’s shoulders and chest, ignoring his arousal. There was nothing on Remi’s stomach, but Jake washed it, too, enjoying the feel of Remi’s ab muscles rippling under his ministrations.

  Yawning, Remi closed his eyes, and Jake gave up all pretense of cleaning wounds. He tossed the washcloth aside and turned off the water. Threading his fingers through Remi’s soft black hair, Jake situated himself between Remi’s thighs.

  Sitting forward, Remi put his hands on Jake’s shoulders and offered his mouth. “Sir?”

  Jake groaned. How could he ignore the plea in Remi’s tone? It still amazed him Remi had switched to calling him sir so effortlessly. He captured Remi’s mouth in a slow, gentle kiss and traced Remi’s lips with his tongue, feeling where it had been split. It wouldn’t take long to heal, but until it did… He drew back, studying Remi.

  They stared at each other for the longest time with everything Remi felt on his face for Jake to read. The last of Jake’s anger melted away. He couldn’t remember ever sharing silent communication with another. Sure Rhys and he used grunts and nods on occasion, but with Remi it was different, special. The more they were together the closer they grew. It was an amazing feeling. One he didn’t know he could feel until Remi came along.

  Yawning again, Remi leaned forward and rested his head on Jake’s shoulder.

  Grabbing Remi’s legs, Jake wrapped them around his waist and picked his mate up.

  “Where are we going?” Remi nuzzled Jake’s neck.

  “To put you to bed.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jake smiled and continued to the bedroom. He lay on the bed, situating Remi on top of him, and rubbed circles on Remi’s back. He felt the scars and closed his eyes. The welts reminded him once again of his hatred for Lassiter and his desire to go after the man. But he wouldn’t, at least not now. He had a mate to take care of.

  For the longest time, Remi laid there. His breath was slow and even, and Jake thought he’d fallen asleep, until he kissed Jake’s collarbone. �
�I hate how good it felt to hit him. I don’t want to be like that and I don’t want you to be like that. Killing him would be too easy and it would feel really good for a while, but in the long run it would make us no better than he is.”

  Remi was right. They needed to try to do it legally first, like they’d planned. But if it didn’t work… “Okay, pup, we’ll keep going at it the way we have been.” Sighing, Jake continued to rub Remi’s back.

  Remi’s cell phone rang.

  Damn. “It’s probably Sterling calling to see if you’re all right.” Jake loosened his grip on Remi so he could get up. He’d forgotten to call the imp back.

  Oh no. What if Dirk had gone home and beat on the kid? Jake had been so preoccupied with caring for his mate, he hadn’t thought of it before. “Do you think Sterling is okay?”

  Remi crawled off of Jake and down to the foot of the bed to retrieve the phone. “Yeah, Sterling’s okay. Dirk was mad at me, not him.”

  Pushing himself to a sitting position, Jake watched his mate. Fuck me. That was a pretty sight. He grinned and went to get his own cell phone as Remi answered. He got to the couch where his phone had been tossed and realized Remi hadn’t said any more than, “Hello.”

  Something was wrong. Fear and the need to protect besieged Jake. He hurried back down the hall.

  Remi still sat at the foot of the bed, the cell phone held in his hand. His face was blank, confused. Remi’s eyebrows pulled together. “I’m not allowed to see Sterling anymore.”

  * * *

  Rhys hurried across the field, with his ears back and his tail down, until he could clearly see the small white house. Hopefully, anyone who saw him would think he was a dog, but he’d stayed out of public view, keeping away from high traffic areas anyway. Now it was getting dark and he blended in.

  Raising his nose, he sniffed, trying to find his target. The soft, wild and fresh, almost evergreen scent was easy to find. It was getting stronger.

  The back door opened and Sterling clambered out, holding a bowl of something. Milk. It smelled like milk. Looking left then right, he hurried down the porch steps and into the grass.

  What was he doing? Rhys crept closer on his belly trying to see.

  Glancing back at the house, Sterling set the bowl on the ground. “Come on, boy, it’s okay.” He stared toward Rhys.

  What? Can he see me? Rhys looked around him, fairly certain he was concealed by the dark and the tall grass.

  “Oh, there you are.” Sterling turned his attention to his left.

  A small orange tabby cat wandered up and meowed a greeting. He went right to the bowl and began drinking.

  Sitting down in the grass, Sterling talked to the cat like he was a long-lost friend.

  If Rhys had been in human form, he’d have smiled. The kid would talk to anyone or anything. It was endearing.

  Lying there, Rhys could see that Sterling was unharmed. Dirk Lassiter’s scent lingered around the home, but it was faint. The man wasn’t in residence. The tension in Rhys eased and he closed his eyes, listening to the smooth cadence of his mate’s voice, content that the kid was all right.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Goddamn it, Jake, get out of my way.”

  “No. You are not going over there by yourself. You told me your mom said everything was fine and Sterling was safe. If you think you have to go, I’ll take you, but you’re only going to make him madder.” Jake leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. Remi was being completely unreasonable. After the phone call from his mother informing him Dirk no longer wanted him around Sterling, Remi got up and grabbed his helmet and keys. He was intent on going to check on his brother, which was probably exactly what that asshole, Lassiter, was counting on. No way in hell was Jake letting Remi go near Dirk Lassiter after what had happened.

  Jake was trying his damnedest not to get mad at his mate, but he was nearly at the breaking point. It amazed him how quickly Remi could go from sweet and lovable to growling and snapping. Sometimes it was like he was two different people.

  “I can’t take you with me. I have to make Dirk think I’m doing what he wants.” Remi looked down at the helmet in his hand, then back at Jake. “Jake, please.”

  “No.”

  Remi’s eyes shifted as he snarled at Jake. “I just want to make sure he’s—”

  Someone knocked on the door.

  Holding up his hand, Jake stalled Remi and inhaled deeply. Pack. It was their guys. Jake recognized their scents. He turned and opened the door, letting them in and ignoring Remi for the moment. “What are y’all doing here?”

  “Son of a bitch.” Remi stalked further into the living room.

  Dago’s eyebrows rose as Zack pushed past him into the apartment. Dago came in behind him, his eyes zeroing in on the blood-splattered wall to the left of the door. “Whoa.”

  Jake shut the door.

  “We heard what happened and came to check on Remi.” Zack walked around Remi, studying him. “Are you okay?”

  Jake grinned, not at all surprised. They’d taken to Remi as quickly as he’d taken to them. Following the guys into the living room, he extracted the helmet and keys from Remi’s hands. He set them on the coffee table and sat on the couch, crooking his finger at Remi. “Come sit.” He looked at Dago. “How did y’all find out?”

  “Listen, guys. I’m fine, but I need you to go. You can’t come here. If I’m seen around all of you—” Remi stopped when Jake turned back to him.

  Immediately, Jake felt the unease in the air. The men were reacting to their omega. “Remi, come here.”

  “He’s having me watched, somehow. He knew about me going to the bar. I bet you anything he’s paying those homeless men we keep seeing around here to report back to him.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, Remi closed his eyes for a minute. He dropped his hand and glanced at Jake. “He knew about you and I running into my mom at the grocery store. If he finds out about all of them”—he waved his arms around, indicating the room as a whole—“here, he’s going to keep Sterling from me.”

  Which was a moot point as far as Jake was concerned because Dirk was already doing that. Jake stood and went to his mate, wanting to ease his worries even though he knew there was little he could do. Remi was right. Dirk had to be keeping tabs on Remi somehow, which was exactly why, from now on, Jake was staying with him at all times.

  So far, he’d kept his cool and tried to calm Remi that way. Earlier, Remi had done the same to him. It wasn’t easy though, he couldn’t remember ever hating another person as badly as he did Lassiter. His resolve to keep from killing Dirk was slipping a bit more each second. “Remi, he’s already forbidden you to see Sterling. There isn’t anything you can do about it. What will alienating our friends, your pack, do?”

  “He did what?” Dago asked, outrage clear in his voice.

  “He doesn’t want me hanging out with all of you.” Holding up his hands, Remi turned back to Jake. “I tried it your way.” Shaking his head, he took a seat on the arm of the couch, next to Zack. “I can’t not be around Sterling, Jake. With me out of the picture, Sterling will end up hurt. You can keep investigating, but until you get something on Dirk…” He stood and his eyes were misty. “I can’t.” He gazed back at the guys. “I’m sorry. All of you have to go.”

  Feeling his mate’s fear and sorrow so keenly, Jake had to blink back tears. How could he get Remi to understand? How could he assure Remi they’d get something on Dirk? Maybe he should just go kill the bastard.

  Zack came forward and began kneading Remi’s shoulders.

  Shrugging him off, Remi stepped away.

  Looking like a kicked dog, Zack went and sat beside Dago on the couch.

  Jake studied them with their heads hanging and had no clue what to say. Jesus, this was not only destroying Remi, it was tearing their pack apart.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Growling, Remi grumbled, “Who now?”

  Nick and Tank. Jake could smell them. He opened the
door, allowing them in before shutting it.

  “Goddamnit.” Remi threw his hands up again and groaned. “Gee, let’s put a sign on the door to make sure everyone knows who all’s here.”

  Nick’s eyes widened. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s fine.” Stepping aside, Jake extended an arm toward the couch.

  “No, he’s not.” Remi flopped down on the carpet.

  Something scratched the door.

  Jake frowned.

  “And that would be Rhys, Keaton and Chay.” Covering his face with his hands, Remi groaned.

  All the men looked at Remi, then one another.

  “Who is that?” Tank asked.

  It smelled like…Matt? Opening the door, Jake spotted a black wolf. He stepped out of the way, letting the wolf in, and closed the door.

  Sighing, Remi sat up.

  The wolf began to shift. Muscles shrank and bones popped as tanned skin took the place of black fur. In a matter of seconds, Matt picked himself up off of all fours and stood, naked, in the living room. Shaking his head, he stretched his arms. His lithe body flexed. He turned, looking at Jake. “Rhys sent me to tell you that Sterling is fine.”

  Remi jumped to his feet and rushed forward, nearly tripping over the coffee table. “What? How does he know? Where is Sterling? What—?”

  Jake wrapped his arms around Remi’s waist. “Shh. Let him talk, pup.”

  Matt smiled at Jake and addressed Remi. “After Jake left, Rhys shifted and headed out. I, ah—” Matt blushed and darted a glance around the room. “I decided to follow. So, after I let Rhys out the front, I locked up, stripped and went out the back.” His gaze met Jake’s. “I locked the back door first and hid the key before I shifted. Then I followed Rhys’ scent. When I got there, Rhys told me to come let you know.”

  Remi actually relaxed a little, his shoulders lost some of their tension and he leaned against Jake. “Tell me about Sterling?”

  “He’s at the house with your mother. We caught glimpses of them through the windows. Your father came home, got changed into his uniform and then left again. Rhys is going to stay until he comes back, to make sure everything is okay.”