Cole looked sideways at his mate. They hadn’t talked about the house—their house—again. They hadn’t talked period, even if Rick had promised he’d stopped hiding from Cole earlier. “We’ll let you know as soon as possible.”
Cole saw the way Rick’s hand tightened around his fork but he didn’t want to say anything in front of the alpha couple. Not that he didn’t trust them. It just wasn’t their business.
“Kam?”
Everyone looked at the kitchen door when Nick called out. “Kitchen,” Kameron answered.
Steps got closer and Cole could tell Nick wasn’t alone. Sure enough, he came into the kitchen followed by a man Cole had never seen. Kameron seemed to recognize him, though, because he stood up and smiled while extending his hand in greeting.
“Alpha Rhett.”
“None of the alpha crap, Gentry. I thought I told you that on the phone.”
Gentry shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to show a bit of respect.”
“We’re a family. You don’t need to use my title. In fact, I order you not to.”
“Okay, fine, Kameron.”
Kameron beamed. “Now that’s more like it. Do you want to sit and eat with us? Both of you?”
“I’ll sit, but I already ate,” Nick said.
Zach stood up and made Gentry a plate, and only then did everyone start eating again.
“Gentry, this is Zach, my mate, and those are Cole and Rick. This is Gentry Reddings. He’s the psychologist I asked to move in with the pack.”
Cole felt Rick tense next to him and he put his fork down. He slid his hand under the table and onto Rick’s thigh, hoping he wouldn’t scare his mate. He wasn’t sure what Rick thought of it, since Rick was already nervous, but he didn’t protest when Cole squeezed his thigh and pulled his hand away.
“H-h-he’s here f-f-for me?”
“Not only. We have a whole bunch of people who need someone to talk to. And you don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to.”
Gentry looked like a nice enough man to Cole, even with the glances he was sneaking Nick’s way. Not that Cole knew the man or anything, but if Kameron had asked him to come, he couldn’t be bad. Besides, Rick needed the help and everyone around the table knew it, including him.
They finished their meal mostly in silence. Rick almost bolted from the room when he was done and Cole gave Kameron an apologetic glance.
“Go with him,” the alpha said, not at all worried about Rick’s reaction.
Cole found his mate huddled on the bed in what was his room for now. “Rick? Can I come in?”
Rick nodded and Cole closed the door behind himself before sitting on the edge of the mattress. “What’s wrong?”
Rick shrugged and Cole pushed a bit. “You know you have to talk if you want to get better.”
Rick scowled at him, but he didn’t deny Cole’s words. “I’m j-j-just scared.”
“Of Gentry?”
“N-n-no. Of what h-h-he’ll tell me. W-w-what if he can’t f-f-fix me?”
“Pup, there’s nothing to fix in you.” Rick shook his head and Cole pressed on. “It’s the truth. You’re not broken, just a little banged up. You’ll be perfect even if you stay banged up, but wouldn’t you feel better if we worked on the bangs a bit?”
Cole wasn’t sure he was making sense, but he must have, since Rick was slowly nodding. “Besides, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You can try and talk to Gentry, and never go back if you don’t like it or him. Or you can go as often as you want. You decide. You’re the one in charge of this, not Kameron, not me. You.”
Rick still didn’t look too sure, but he nodded again. “So, do you want to go and at least say hi?”
Cole rose from the bed and offered Rick his hand. He felt incredibly smug when Rick didn’t even have to think about taking it. He just reached out and grabbed it. Cole still had to pull a bit in order to make him actually walk out of the room. He could see from the stubborn expression on Rick’s face that he was going to make this as difficult as he could, maybe to test the guy, but he wasn’t about to intervene. He’d said the truth. Rick was the one who’d handle this, and Cole had nothing to say about it.
They found Gentry in the living room. He was talking to Nick, their voices low enough that Cole couldn’t hear them, but the hand Nick had on Gentry’s forearm talked loud enough. Cole smirked and cleared his throat and the two men turned to face him.
Nick chuckled and said one last thing to Gentry, then walked toward Cole. He clasped Cole’s shoulder as he passed by him. “Good luck with that one.”
“I heard you, you know!” Gentry exclaimed, but there was no heat in his voice. He waited for Nick to leave before looking at Cole and Rick.
“What can I do for you?”
“Ah, well, Kameron told you about Rick?”
“Somewhat. I have no details, of course, except for the fact that you stutter.”
Rick nodded, then seemed to realize it and said, “Y-y-yes. They think I s-s-should do therapy f-f-for it. And for w-w-what happened to m-m-me.”
“Ah, well, no one can tell you to do therapy. It’s something you have to decide yourself. But we can talk about it, about why you think you might need it, or not need it, of course.” His eyes went to Cole. “What about you?”
“I don’t need therapy. I’m just here to support Rick, whatever he decides.”
“That’s good. There can never be enough supporting people in one’s life. So, did you want to start now?”
Cole looked at Rick. “I can go if you want me to.”
Rick seemed to hesitate and his hand clenched around Cole’s. Cole noticed that Gentry was looking at their locked hands with interest, but he didn’t ask whatever it was he wanted to know.
“I’ll stay outside if you want me to. You just have to call and I’ll be there.”
Rick finally loosened his hold on Cole’s hand and let it go. Cole took that for a yes and leaned over to kiss his mate on the forehead. “Just call if you need me, for anything. Okay?”
Rick nodded and Cole left the room. He didn’t go far, just like he’d told Rick. He went back to the kitchen, smiled at Zach, grabbed a chair, and hauled it to the hallway. He put it down against the wall and sat in it. He leaned the back of his head against the wall and waited, hopefully until Rick was done talking and not until something happened.
It still amazed Cole how much Rick seemed to already trust him and lean on him when he needed it. He’d thought it would take a lot more time, but he was glad it hadn’t. He wanted his mate to know he was there for him, and apparently Rick had gotten the message.
* * * *
Rick kept his eyes on Gentry but didn’t say anything.
“All right, Rick. Was there anything specific you wanted to talk about?” Gentry moved from where he was standing and sat on the couch. Rick followed his lead but made sure to sit far enough from him that Gentry couldn’t touch him even if he tried. He’d have to get up to do it, and Rick would have the time to move away.
“N-n-no.” He still wasn’t sure he actually wanted to talk to Gentry. The man was a stranger. Rick had a hard time talking to people he knew, never mind someone he’d never met.
“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll do the talking, then. Jared told me that you want to get better with the stuttering. That’s actually why he contacted me rather than someone else. I’ve worked with several stutterers on the psychological side of their therapy. You’re going to have to go to a speech therapist for the practical side of it, but I know enough to give you the info you might want right now.”
“Y-y-you know how t-t-to cure me?”
“I wouldn’t call it a cure. It’s called fluency shaping, and it’s going to take some hard work, but I’m sure you can do it. You’ll work on your speech characteristics and on relaxing the speech muscles and articulations. The trick here is to slow down when you talk. Have you noticed that you stutter less when you’re w
ith people who don’t make you nervous?”
Rick had to think about it and he realized it was true. He didn’t stutter much when he talked with Arlen, and even with Cole and Zach the stutter wasn’t as bad as it’d been in the beginning. “Y-y-yes.”
“That’s because you’re more relaxed with some of them. I’m guessing one of the people is Cole?”
“Y-y-yes. He’s m-m-my mate.”
Gentry smiled. “That’s good.”
“W-w-what about the p-p-psychological p-p-part?”
“I’ll work with you on reducing your fears and accepting your stutter. I don’t know what happened to you, but I can imagine parts of it, I think. I know the stutter wouldn’t have been accepted by your pack, and that it was probably ingrained in you to see it as a defect.”
Rick nodded.
“Well, we’ll discuss that and how the stutter isn’t a defect. I’ll want to know what you think about it, how it influences your everyday life and things like that. If you want to tell me, of course.”
Rick shrugged. “I haven’t d-d-decided yet.”
Gentry nodded and smiled. “That’s fine. Kameron also asked me to try and help you dealing with your past, if you’re okay with it.”
“I d-d-don’t know. M-m-maybe?”
“We’ll do it as slow or as fast as you want.”
“D-d-don’t you have to go h-h-home?”
“Not for a while. Kameron asked me to stay at least for a year, longer if I think my patients still need me.”
“B-b-but... don’t y-y-you have f-f-family?”
Gentry’s smile fell a bit, but he was obviously trying not to let Rick see the question had hit him harder than he wanted to show. “No, not anymore. The only family I had was my mate, and, well, he passed away.” Gentry plastered a smile on his face. “So I’m here to stay.”
Rick couldn’t even imagine how losing a mate would feel. He wasn’t even mated with Cole, had known him only for a week, yet the man was already at the center of most of Rick’s thoughts. It was unnerving, but it felt so right. He didn’t know what he’d do if Cole’s reassuring presence wasn’t always close enough for him to know that if something happened, he wouldn’t be alone. Not anymore.
It might look like Rick was dependent on Cole to some people, but he really wasn’t. He just knew that if something did happen to him he wouldn’t be able to fight back. He probably wouldn’t have enough strength anyway, and that was if he didn’t freeze. He had so many bad memories, had been hit so many times, that it had become automatic for Rick to curl up in a fetal position rather than fight back or run away.
It had happened just the day before. Kameron had raised his arm suddenly while he was explaining something to Rick and it had looked like he was about to hit him. Rick hadn’t panicked, no. He’d just dropped on the floor and curled up. Kameron had been sorry and Rick was mortified, but he just couldn’t help it.
Now that Cole was there, he knew that even if someone did manage to get to him, Cole would be there right away to protect him. He was the most important person in Cole’s life, juts because he was his mate. Rick would always come at least second with everyone else—Kameron, Zach, Duncan. But not for Cole. It was reassuring, and Rick just didn’t want to think about how different his life would be if Cole came to disappear or worse, die.
“I’m s-s-sorry.”
Gentry waved Rick’s words away. “It’s okay. It was many years ago.”
“T-t-that doesn’t mean i-i-it doesn’t hurt a-a-anymore.”
“No, that’s true. It does hurt, still, but I’ve had the time to deal with grief as best as I could. Now, how about we talk about you? This is the reason I’m here, after all.”
“O-o-okay.”
Rick didn’t add anything. He had no idea how this worked. Should he just start talking about whatever, should he start with what he knew was the cause of his present problems, or should he wait for Gentry to ask him questions?
Gentry seemed to understand his hesitation. “Why don’t you tell me about your childhood?”
Rick snorted. “W-w-what childhood? I w-w-was ignored at the b-b-best of times, b-b-beaten at the worst.”
“Why?”
“W-w-why what?”
“Why were you beaten?”
“The s-s-stutter.”
“Of course. This was a very traditional pack before Alpha Rhett took it over.”
“It w-w-wasn’t traditional, i-i-it was ruled by a-a-an asshole.”
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
Rick took a deep breath and started talking.
“I think we did enough for today.”
Rick looked at the time on the DVD player and was surprised to see an hour had passed. He’d gone over his childhood, what had happened to his parents, and some of what Erskine had done to him. It was weird, because while Rick had been hesitant in the beginning, he’d soon realized he didn’t actually mind telling Gentry about his life. He knew the man would keep everything Rick told him to himself and that he wouldn’t think less of Rick for what he’d done. Well, he probably wouldn’t anyway.
Gentry wasn’t a friend, a mate, or an alpha. He was just someone who’d studied to deal with stuff like what Rick had gone through, and the fact that Rick didn’t actually know him had made telling him somewhat easier.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
“W-w-will I ever trust C-C-Cole?”
Gentry linked his hands on his lap. “Has he done anything to justify your distrust?”
“N-n-no.”
“So you distrust him because of your past, not because of something he did.”
“I g-g-guess.”
“I can see why trust doesn’t come easy to you, but I think that with time, you’ll be able to get over it. Maybe not with everyone, but with the people you know? Probably. Do you trust Kameron? Or Zach?”
“Y-y-yes.” And Rick really did. It kind of surprised him, but he knew what had happened to Zach, and he’d seen how Kameron was working. The alpha could’ve stuck Rick in the council’s jail along with the other members of Erskine’s inner circle when Zach had been found, but he hadn’t. He’d given Rick the benefit of the doubt.
“I think you just need time. I also think part of you already trusts him, probably your wolf part. I’ve noticed you were holding hands when you came in earlier.”
Rick thought about it and realized the man was right. His wolf already trusted Cole, probably because it acted more on instinct than Rick’s human side did. The wolf thought Cole wouldn’t hurt them, because they were mates. Rick didn’t know how much of that was true, but every mated couple he’d encountered until now looked blissfully happy. Maybe his wolf was onto something.
* * * *
Cole rose from his chair when the door opened. He didn’t move any more than that, though. He didn’t know what had happened in the room during the hour Rick had been inside with Gentry. He didn’t know what they’d talked about and in what state Rick would be.
Cole knew his mate had probably talked about his life again, and since it hadn’t been easy to listen to it, it definitely would be worse to tell it once, let alone twice.
But Rick was smiling when he walked out of the living room, and even more importantly, he went straight to Cole and hugged him.
Cole didn’t react right away. The most touching they’d done had been holding hands—well, and Rick had leaned against him the day he’d moved in the alpha’s house, but that was all. He really hadn’t expected this, but if it was a result from whatever Gentry had done in the living room, he was all for moving to Gillham indefinitely.
Still, Cole knew he couldn’t really give in into what his bear and himself wanted. He would never forgive himself if he scared Rick and tore apart the fragile trust his mate seemed to have in him.
So he lightly reached around Rick. He pressed his palms on Rick’s back, one over his shoulder blade, one on the small of his
back. He didn’t squeeze, just held his mate loosely until Rick moved away.
“It went well?”
Rick smiled “Y-y-yeah. I like h-h-him.”
Cole bit on his lower lip to keep the growl inside. Of course Rick meant that he liked Gentry as his doctor, maybe his friend, not as a possible life partner.
Rick’s smile got bigger. “It’s t-t-thanks to him that I h-h-hugged you. You should be g-g-grateful.”
“I am. I just can’t stop myself sometimes.”
“I’m trying, C-C-Cole.”
“I know. I’m happy to wait for you.”
“You’re s-s-sure?”
“Yes. Let’s put it like this. Would you wait for me if something happened?”
Rick didn’t answer right away, but after a few seconds he nodded. “Yes.”
“See? Now, do you have something to do, or are you ready for that ride I promised you?”
Rick’s eyes widened. “On y-y-your bike?”
“Yes. You don’t have to if you changed your mind.”
“No, i-i-it’s fine. It’s just a 1-1-little scary.”
“I know I said I got the scar on my hand because I fell from the bike, but it was years ago. I’m a lot better now, I swear. And I’ll go slow if you want me to.”
“You’ll s-s-show me what I have t-t-to do?”
“Of course.”
Rick’s smile was a bit nervous, but he nodded.
“Great!”
Cole took his mate’s hand, always careful to move slowly and check if it was okay with Rick. It looked like Rick was getting used to Cole’s touch already—he didn’t flinch, didn’t slightly move away without realizing it. Cole decided it was good, especially since it’d been only a week. He could only hope things would continue to go so well.
Cole guided Rick outside the house and toward his bike. It was parked at the side of the house, in the shade of the trees. He unlocked it and handed one of the helmets to Rick. Rick looked at it gingerly and put it on. Cole reached out and fastened it for him before placing a small kiss on Rick’s nose.
Rick looked surprised, but he didn’t move away. Cole wanted to kiss him again, this time on the mouth, but he wasn’t sure Rick was ready for it. Maybe they should talk about it—when they came back. “I’m going to sit, and you’re going to sit behind me, okay?”
Rick Page 7
