Sometimes you have to make the best with what life gives you, even if it’s something you don’t want.
Troy has been handed an ugly hand by life. He was kidnapped, his DNA was tinkered with, and he doesn’t know what or who he is anymore. Even if the pride has accepted him without questions, he hides in his room, scared of what he could see in the other peoples’ eyes.
Emery is used to a lonely life. He lost his family years before to the Krsnik wars, and he’s happy to have found new friends within the pride. He’s even happier to find out his mate lives in the mansion, even if Troy makes approaching him difficult.
Troy pushes Emery into mating, scared that Emery will flee once he finds out just how wrong Troy has become. He doesn’t, though, not even when something incredible, something no one could have forecasted, happens. Will they be able to face their unsure future together, or will one of them crumble under the pressure?
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Troy
Copyright © 2015 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0481-9
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Troy
Whitedell Pride 12
By
Catherine Lievens
Chapter One
“Troy? Can I come in?”
Troy looked up from the book he’d been reading. He didn’t want to see anyone, least of all Adrian. Every time he’d talked to the man, Troy was reminded of what a freak he was, and if there was something he didn’t want to think about it, it was exactly that.
“Troy?”
Troy knew the geneticist wouldn’t be easily deterred by a lack of answer, though. He sighed and put his book down, accepting the inevitable. “Come in.”
The door opened and Adrian’s head poked in. “Am I disturbing you?”
“If I say yes will you go away?”
Adrian shook his head and opened the door more fully. He slipped through the opening and closed it behind himself. “Fat chance of that, Troy. You know it.”
“What can I do for you, doc?”
“For one thing, you could stop calling me doc.”
“Fine, what can I do for you, Adrian?”
“I just wanted to know how you were feeling.”
Troy bit back the snarky remark that was already on his lips. He knew Adrian felt responsible and guilty about what had happened to Troy, even if they’d never met before Adrian became part of the Whitedell pride. He still was the easiest target for Troy’s anger, though, but Troy tried not to do that. It wasn’t Adrian’s fault, just like it wasn’t Troy’s fault he’d decided to walk home that night instead of grabbing a cab.
“I’m fine. Nothing new.”
“Any pain?”
“No.”
“Discomfort of any kind?”
“I said no.” Adrian’s eyes shot to the floor and Troy instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry. I’m fine, really. The... the harpy seems to be, I don’t know, dormant or something. I haven’t felt her much lately.”
Adrian’s face made that expression that meant Troy was going to have to answer a hundred question and volunteer his blood for more research. “Dormant? Do you know since when? Has something specific happened?”
An image of violet eyes briefly flicked through Troy’s mind, but he pushed it away. “Nothing different from usual.”
Adrian was already in his thinking mode, which meant he was largely ignoring Troy. His mind was already at work to solve Troy’s new problem—not that it really was one, in Troy’s opinion. Troy might have accepted he would have to live with his new harpy half for the rest of his life, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
“Have you shifted lately?”
“No.”
“Troy...”
“I know, I know.” Troy sighed and repeated the lesson Adrian gave him every time they talked about this. “I should shift often enough to get used to my second form and to keep the harpy happy. Look, she seems to be happy enough as it is, so I don’t see why I should shift.”
Adrian opened his mouth to say something but closed it again and shook his head before asking, “Do you think I could take some samples?”
Troy shrugged. “Sure.”
Adrian seemed almost giddy as he walked to the door and led Troy to the infirmary. Troy really didn’t need to be told which way it was, though, not with all the time he’d spent in there since he’d arrived at the mansion.
The house was bustling with activity, and it made Troy wish he could’ve stayed in his room. He didn’t need the glances, the pity and curiosity he could see in everyone’s eyes. At least the people who were moving in the recently added new wing didn’t know there was something different about Troy. They didn’t take notice of him, not like the pride members did, anyway.
The only enforcer who’d noticed Troy was Emery, and Troy didn’t know if he should have been afraid or grateful.
Emery was perfect. He was quite a bit smaller than Troy, but he made up for it with a strong personality. His eyes were the most beautiful and exotic thing Troy had ever seen, the deep-violet color enthralling to the point that Troy had been scared to look into them the first and only time they’d met his gaze.
Emery’s dark hair contrasted with his porcelain skin, and while all those features should’ve made him look fragile, the result was very different. Troy could tell he was strong just by looking at him, and he’d done a lot of that in the past week and a half. That was why he’d started spending so much time hidden in the library. The windows there looked over the backyard, where the enforcers trained.
Watching Emery take on men twice his size and win was arousing as hell, and the fact that he usually trained without a shirt on didn’t help. The vision of Emery’s chest was now burned into Troy’s mind. The pale hairless skin, made even sexier by the two nipple piercings, tormented Troy in his sleep. He hadn’t had so many wet dreams since he was a teen.
Troy still didn’t know what type of shifter Emery was, and he couldn’t ask without making the fact that he was interested in him obvious. The only thing he knew was that Emery had been voted into the enforcers by every single council member without exception.
“Troy?”
Troy snapped his face up, blushing when he realized he was standing still in front of the infirmary without actually walking in. Adrian gave him a small smile and ushered him inside, and Troy let him do so without protesting.
He walked straight to what he thought of as his bed, waving at Adan when he passed him. The shifter didn’t react, but he did follow Troy with his gaze. Troy settled down and
watched as Adrian gathered what he needed and came over to him.
He was used to having blood taken, so Troy stuck his arm out and waited for Adrian to do his stuff.
“You’re sure nothing out of the ordinary happened?”
Troy hesitated. He really didn’t want to confess his hopeless crush to Adrian, but the fact that the harpy was so calm was weird, even if he tried to avoid thinking about it. Adrian noticed his hesitation, of course, and Troy mentally swore. Now that the doc knew there was something to find out, he wouldn’t let go until he knew what it was.
“Troy?”
Troy shook his head and looked down. He didn’t want to talk about it. Heck, he didn’t want to talk period. He couldn’t wait to run back to his room and close the rest of the world out again.
Adrian sighed and finished what he was doing. He labeled the vials and put them on the tray, then sat next to Troy on the bed. “I know we’re not exactly friends, but I’d like you to talk to me. I won’t tell anyone, whatever the problem is. I wouldn’t if I was your friend, and I can’t as your doctor.”
Troy stayed silent in the hope that he’d let go, but he knew Adrian all too well to really believe that. Adrian grabbed one of Troy’s hands and squeezed it. It brought tears to Troy’s eyes, because his mind and his heart were at war as to what to do. His heart wanted nothing more than to have someone to talk with, but his mind knew he was a freak and that no one in their right mind would want to be there for him. He knew even Jared and Adrian viewed him more like a lab experiment than a friend.
“You need to talk with someone, Troy. If you’d rather it be someone else I don’t care, but you can’t keep on bottling everything in.”
Troy opened his mouth without meaning it and everything spilled out. “Nothing really happened. I just... I met someone, well, it’s more that we bumped into each other, and even if I don’t know him, I...” He didn’t know how to continue.
“Troy? Are you telling me you have a boyfriend?”
“No. I never even talked with Emery. We just... looked at each other. That’s it. It’s nothing, really.”
Troy shook Adrian’s hand off and jumped off the bed. “Can I go now?”
“Troy, there’s nothing wrong with liking someone. Maybe you should try to talk to Emery. I don’t know him well, but I’m sure the two of you can at least be friends.”
Troy shook his head. “Do you need anything else?”
“Troy—”
“Do you need anything else?” Troy asked harshly. He needed an answer right now.
“No, but—”
Troy didn’t wait to hear what else Adrian had to tell him. He rushed to the door and swung it open. He let it slam behind himself, not caring about the noise. He was already running toward his room anyway.
* * * *
Emery threw himself down and spun, his leg straight in front of him. He hit the other enforcer’s legs with his and the man went down like a sack of potatoes.
Emery straightened and sighed. It was too easy. “Is this really all you can do?”
Rob scowled from his sprawled position on the grass. “We don’t all have the advantage of super-speed.”
“No, but you could at least try.”
Rob growled and the air around him started to shimmer. Emery smiled. Looks like I managed to make him angry.
The coyote that was now standing in front of Emery didn’t scare him more than its human counterpart had, though. Not only was Emery faster in both his human form and his white leopard one, but his leopard was bigger than the coyote.
The coyote snarled and showed Emery his teeth. Emery cocked a brow at the glorified dog and flashed Rob his fangs. Rob seemed to hesitate, probably torn between the need to show he wasn’t afraid and the knowledge that he couldn’t win. Nate solved the problem for him.
“Maddie and Lenny, in my office now. Rob, stop being a jerk and admit even my grandmother is faster than you.”
Emery laughed and mocked a salute to Nate. Nate scowled, but they both knew neither of them was serious. Emery turned to his fellow enforcers to ask if someone else wanted to try to beat him, but something caught his eye.
He looked up at the window he knew was in the library and smiled when he saw the telltale flame of fiery red hair in the sunlight. He was having a hard time convincing Troy to even just speak to him. Yet he still tried to smile at him and talk to him every time he could. It wasn’t working, especially since Troy spent most of his time hidden away in his room, coming out of it only when Emery had something else to do.
Troy didn’t acknowledge Emery, but he did move away from the window. Emery sighed. He hadn’t come to Whitedell with this in mind. Sure, he’d known that since Krsnik were part shifter, there was a good chance he might have a mate. His people’s legends said so, after all.
He’d just never encountered a mated Krsnik, probably because their life span was usually very short. The wars between Emery’s people and the Kudlaks meant that Krsniks usually didn’t live longer than their mid-twenties, and that left no time to look for a mate. They usually bonded with someone as soon as they reached puberty and could breed, but Emery had wanted none of that. He was glad he hadn’t, now that he knew about Troy.
Still, it didn’t make the situation with Troy any easier. Emery wasn’t even sure Troy knew they were mates. He really didn’t know much about him, other than the fact that the last year or so had been hell on him. He wanted to help his mate, but he didn’t know how.
“Hey! I’m talking to you!”
Emery’s head snapped in the voice’s direction only to wish he hadn’t looked. Damien was cute and sweet to the point that Emery wondered if he could really survive as an enforcer. He also had a huge crush on Emery, and that made talking to him awkward. Not that Damien had ever tried anything, but every time they talked the kid blushed and kept his eyes fastened on the ground. The fact that he seemed pissed because Emery wasn’t listening to him was a first.
“What?”
Damien’s eyes widened when he realized how he’d been talking to Emery and he looked down. Emery could see the red blush creeping on his cheek and it made him want to pat the young man on the head like a puppy. “You’re, uh, they want you in the infirmary.”
Emery shook his head and settled on patting Damien’s arm instead of his head. “Thanks.”
He grabbed the T-shirt he’d abandoned on the grass before the fight with Rob and pulled it on as he stepped inside the house. He stopped at the door just a moment and enjoyed the feelings of the air-conditioning on his heated skin. Gosh, he loved living with the pride. It sure beat living alone in a shack in the middle of the woods.
He nodded at Nysys as he passed quickly through the kitchen. The last thing he wanted was to become a guinea pig, even if Nysys was getting better at baking and cooking.
Once he reached the infirmary, Emery knocked and entered when Jared called out to him. “You needed me?” He was surprised to see that not only were both Jared and Adrian present, Dominic was there too.
“Sit down.”
“I take it it’s something serious if you’re asking me to sit.” Emery couldn’t think of anything serious that’d have to do with him. He had no family left, no friends except the ones he’d met being an enforcer. The only thing he could think of was that something was wrong with Troy since Jared knew they were mates.
“It’s nothing too serious for now,” Adrian said, but the worry on his face said something different. “You know I’m Troy’s doctor, right?”
Emery nodded. He didn’t ask questions. There was no need to, not when they were about to tell him everything he needed to know.
“I’m not going to tell you what’s wrong with Troy, but Jared talked to me and, well, he told me Troy is your mate.”
Three pairs of eyes looked at Emery for confirmation and he nodded. “He is.”
Adrian let a heavy sigh out. “Okay, we might be able to do something, then.”
“It might be easier if you tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
“Why aren’t you trying to get into his pants?”
Emery grinned at the blunt question. “I’d love to, but I don’t think he’s ready for that. We haven’t even talked yet.”
“Why?”
“Because he runs every time he sees me, or anyone else for that matter. I know you’re just about the only person he talks to.”
“It has to change,” Dominic intervened, and Emery looked at him.
“Why?”
“It’s not good for him.”
“He’s closing in on himself more and more as the time passes,” Adrian pointed out. “Even now that we know what was done to him, he’s not any closer to accepting it, and he’s retreating into himself. I don’t want to lose him.”
“I can’t exactly force him to talk to me, though.”
“No, but I can assign you to stay with him,” Dominic said.
“How are you going to explain that?”
“I don’t have to. The pride and its members come before the council, and you’re Troy’s mate. You don’t have to explain why you want to help him.”
Emery tugged on his hair. “I want to talk to him, I really do, but I’m worried this is going to complicate things even more. I bet he won’t be happy to have me around, not after he’s been a loner for months. What if he decides to walk away?”
“We’ll deal with it if it comes to that, but we can’t leave him alone anymore. He had time to heal and to come to terms with what he is. Since he hasn’t, we’re going to have to push him.”
Saying no wasn’t an option. Emery nodded. “When do I start?”
* * * *
The knock on the door startled Troy out of his thoughts. He frowned and wondered who it was—no one came to him nowadays, not when they knew he wouldn’t open anyway, and he’d already talked with Adrian.
Troy [Whitedell Pride: 12] Page 1
