“Hayden, please be reasonable,” Gregory implored. If he hadn’t asked Hayden five damn times, he hadn’t asked him once.
“Reasonable!” Hayden spluttered “Don’t be such a hypocrite! Do you even know what you’re asking? How dare you tell me to be reasonable!” Hayden’s entire body shook with anger. Wow, his mate had a temper.
Crossing the room quickly, Gregory stood in front of Hayden, halting his progress to the closet to grab more clothes. “What am I asking exactly? Why don’t you tell me why it’s so difficult for you to shift?”
Hayden glared some more. “Just drop it, Gregory. I already said I’d come with you. Can’t you leave it at that?”
This was harder than Gregory had anticipated. “No, I can’t.”
“Urgh!” Hayden threw up his arms in exasperation. “You are unbelievable! You show up out of nowhere, and just expect me to leave everything behind and go with you to God only knows where. You expect me to leave my home, my job, my… my family!”
“Mac is your boss—he’s not family,” Gregory corrected. Jesus, he wanted to grab Hayden and shake him, to blurt out the truth.
I’m your family, goddamn it! And if you’d just shift, you’d realise that!
Hayden’s eyes turned black with fury and his glare became more pronounced. “How dare you! You don’t know a goddamn thing! Mac is my family! He’s all I’ve got!” Despite his fury, Hayden’s voice cracked on the last word.
Gregory wanted to pull Hayden into his arms and crush him in an embrace. He couldn’t stand to see the pain in his mate’s eyes. He’s not all you’ve got, Hayden.
“And,” Hayden continued, “how do I even know you’re telling the truth, huh? How do I know you’re from the supernatural council at all? You could be dragging me off to the desert to…to rape me, or murder me or something.”
Gregory rolled his eyes. “I showed you my ID.”
“ID can be faked!”
This was getting them nowhere. They’d been having this same damn argument for the past half an hour and Gregory couldn’t see any end to it. He couldn’t think of anything else to say to convince Hayden of his sincerity…well, short of telling him the truth. But he knew that wouldn’t help matters—it would only make things worse. He’d been close to revealing everything to Hayden back in his condo but he’d changed his mind at the last second.
If Gregory admitted they were mates, Hayden would never believe him. How could he? A shifter knew when they met their mate. It was an instinctual thing, like a mighty revelation or the answer to every question they had ever asked. That was exactly how it had felt for Gregory. But Hayden’s cat was buried so deep within himself, his human side so prevalent, that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. And if he didn’t feel it, Gregory would be fucked. Hayden wouldn’t go anywhere with him.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t even have the first fucking clue where he could take Hayden to keep him safe. He just knew he had to get him the hell away from Vegas. While he thought of another way to broach the topic of shifting, his cell started vibrating in his pocket. Great.
He pulled out the phone and checked the caller ID. Kelan.
“Hello.”
“Gregory, Kelan. I’ve had some news I thought you might want to hear.”
Gregory caught Hayden watching him out of the corner of his eye. “Is it about what we discussed?”
“Yeah, how much longer are you in Vegas?”
Pursing his lips, Gregory watched Hayden slip an e-reader into his backpack, then pause to look around the room at the rest of his meagre belongings, probably deciding what he should bring. Hayden appeared to be concentrating on the task at hand but Gregory had no doubt he was listening to every word.
For hours Gregory had been trying to decide on a place he could take Hayden where he would be safe from the council’s clutches. A thought suddenly occurred to him. His answer was on the other end of the line, waiting for his reply.
“I’m leaving now, but I’m driving and it’s a twenty hour run, so I’ll stop halfway, spend the night in Albuquerque. I can be there by Friday. Can it wait until then?”
“Yeah, Friday’s cool.”
“Okay, good. I can’t talk right now, but is it okay if I give you a ring from the road? I have a favour to ask.” Gregory hoped Kelan would help him out. He trusted the alpha and he knew Hayden would be safe with him on the Crazy Horse ranch if he had to leave to deal with council business. And, of course, Cary was living at the ranch so Hayden would have the company of another cat.
But it was a lot to ask. Kelan could get into a shit load of trouble for helping him, and Gregory didn’t even want to think about what the council would do to him if they found out what he’d done. And what would happen to Hayden?
Kelan groaned. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like the sound of this?” Despite his words, there was a teasing tone to his voice and Gregory couldn’t help but smile.
“Let’s just say, if you can help me out with this, I’ll owe you…big time.”
Kelan chuckled. “I always collect.”
When Gregory hung up, Hayden was sorting through a pile of clothes on his bed but his attention appeared to be elsewhere.
“Who was that?” he asked casually.
“Just a friend in Texas.”
“A close friend?” Hayden’s casual tone hadn’t changed but he’d paused mid-sorting and his body had become as stiff as a starched cotton sheet.
Gregory crossed the room and sat on the bed beside his mate. He waited for Hayden to meet his gaze before he spoke. “Just a friend.”
Hayden shrugged like it didn’t make one damn lick of difference, but as he continued to sort through his clothes Gregory noticed a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. Gregory put his hands over his lap and tried to hide his pleasure at Hayden’s reaction to him. Even without knowledge of their bond, Hayden was displaying the jealous tendencies a shifter often showed towards their mate. It delighted Gregory’s cat.
Chapter Three
With a deep sadness, Hayden watched the ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ sign whizz past the window as they headed out towards the desert. He might not have much to leave behind but what he did have he’d worked damn hard to get. His biggest regret was not being able to say goodbye to Mac. He wished there had been some way he could have explained his situation to his boss, or at the very least thanked him for everything he’d done, but that hadn’t been possible.
He’d pleaded with Gregory to allow him to go to the diner, but Gregory’s reply had always been the same. The supernatural council would send in more men to search for Hayden and they would undoubtedly question Mac. To see the man again, to talk to him, would only put him at risk.
Gregory had called his superior at the council to tell him he couldn’t find Hayden and he suspected he’d left the city. After the call, Gregory had become quiet and he’d barely spoken two words to Hayden since. Hayden hadn’t questioned him about the call but the further they drove from Vegas, the more it played on his mind.
Fear of the unknown had never been a problem for Hayden. He’d become used to moving from place to place. But he’d felt settled in Vegas—for the first time since he’d left home, he’d found a place where he felt needed. Leaving that behind was difficult, almost as hard as leaving his parents and brother had been. What would happen to him now? Would he be forever looking over his shoulder, wondering if the council was closing in on him? Where would he live? What would he do to survive? The questions weighed on his mind until he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“What did your superior say when you told him you couldn’t find me?”
Gregory sighed. “He said not to worry, they’d find you eventually. He told me to come back to base. He wasn’t happy with me for losing you.”
“What will they do to you if they find out you’ve helped me?”
“I don’t know, Hayden, but I don’t think it would be good.”
“You’re risking an awf
ul lot for me,” Hayden said. “Why is that?”
Gregory stiffened in his seat and Hayden noticed his hands grip the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles were white with the pressure.
“I’ve been doing this job for a long time,” Gregory said. “The more I see, the harder it becomes. I used to think I was helping people, doing some good, but I’m not so sure anymore. I couldn’t hand you over to the council not knowing if something bad could happen to you. I feel like it’s my duty to protect you.”
Gregory’s words rang true, but Hayden suspected there was something Gregory wasn’t telling him. After a moment, the cat let out a long breath, his body relaxing a little in his seat.
“What sort of cat are you?” Hayden asked.
Gregory took his eyes off the road and turned to stare at Hayden, mouth agape. “You can’t tell?”
Hayden shrugged. “Guess my sense of smell is not what it used to be. I mean, I can tell you’re a cat, I think, but I don’t know what kind.”
Gregory shook his head. “Your sense of smell is not what it used to be because you haven’t shifted in so long. If you’d just listen to me, if you’d shift…”
“I’m not going over this again. I don’t want to shift—now can you drop it, please?”
“Fine,” Gregory replied through a clenched jaw.
“So what are you?”
“I’m a leopard.”
“Oh, cool. Never met any leopards before.”
Gregory nodded. “We’re rare in this part of the country. There are a lot of snow leopards in the states that border Canada, but leopards are pretty much thin on the ground all over, especially in the southern states. Hardly any in Texas.”
“Is that where you’re taking me?”
“Yes. We’re going to my friend’s ranch. I haven’t asked him yet but I think it will be okay. There’s a young panther shifter living there called Cary—your age. I think you’ll like him.”
“Is your friend a panther, too?”
“No, Kelan is a wolf. He’s the alpha of his pack.”
Hayden gasped. “What? You’re taking me to a pack of wolves?”
“Relax, Hayden.” Gregory took his hand off the steering wheel and placed it on Hayden’s knee. The touch had obviously been meant to soothe, but it had the opposite effect. Hayden’s heart started beating faster and his dick hardened. He suppressed a moan.
“Kelan is a good man,” Gregory continued. “You’ll be safe with him. And I think you’ll like the other wolves that work there, too. Cary has been there for a while now. He’s the only cat and he’s very happy living on the ranch.”
Hayden looked down at the hand on his knee and sighed. He liked it there and didn’t even think of removing it. He wished it meant more but he knew it didn’t. Gregory was obviously a tactile person because he’d been touching Hayden constantly since they’d first met. It was always casual, though—a brush of fingers here, a hand on his shoulder there. When they’d first got into the car, Gregory had leant forward and brushed the bangs out of Hayden’s eyes. Each touch was like a rush of adrenaline racing through his system. A constant high—and one he could become accustomed to. Hayden would be sorry to see it end when Gregory dropped him off in Texas.
“Isn’t Kelan the person you spoke to on the phone earlier?”
“Yep.”
Hayden frowned and turned to look at the stark and uninspiring view through the passenger window. He hadn’t liked the way Gregory had smiled when he’d spoken to Kelan. It had made him feel…jealous—even though he had no reason to be. It was crazy because he and Gregory had only just met, but he hadn’t liked it one bit.
“At the next rest stop I’ll give Kelan a call,” Gregory continued. “We’ll see if he has some work for you on his ranch. You ever do anything like that before?”
Hayden shook his head. “I’ve never even been on a horse.”
“Nothing to it—you’ll be an expert in no time.”
“I guess.” Hayden wasn’t so sure. He’d always been fearful of horses, but he didn’t want Gregory to think he was weak so he kept quiet. “Can I ask you something?”
Gregory turned his head and flashed Hayden his thousand watt smile, his straight white teeth glistening in the midday sun that flooded the car. The smile caused Hayden’s stomach to tighten. “Of course, you can ask me anything.”
“When you drop me at the ranch, is that it? Will I ever see you again?”
A trace of emotion flashed in Gregory’s eyes, but Hayden couldn’t be certain what it had been. The hand on his knee squeezed tighter and the pressure caused warmth to spread through his body, making him tingle.
“You’ll see me all the time, Hayden.”
Hayden nodded. He let his head fall back against the rest and closed his eyes, relieved perhaps more than he should be by Gregory’s response. He swallowed down a lump in his throat. This was so not good. He didn’t want to form an attachment to Gregory, but after just a few short hours spent with him that was exactly what was happening. That was dangerous for a shifter. Stupid. But Hayden couldn’t make himself care.
Hayden’s last thought before he fell asleep surprised him. He realised that, for the entire time he’d been in the car, he hadn’t once worried about how ugly his scar made him appear. It was a pleasing thought.
* * * *
“Hayden. Hayden…wake up, we’re here.”
Hayden opened his eyes and stretched out his stiff body. He rolled his head from side to side making it crick.
“Texas?” he asked around a yawn, peering out of the window into the darkness to try to get his bearings.
Gregory chuckled. The low, husky sound reverberated through Hayden’s body and sent a zing of excitement racing up his spine. “You haven’t been asleep that long, beautiful, although you have been out cold for a good eight hours. We’re in Albuquerque.”
Hayden’s anger immediately rose to the surface. “Don’t make fun of me!” he shouted.
Gregory jerked back as though Hayden had physically slapped him then drew his eyebrows together in confusion. “I didn’t. What did I say?”
Turning his overheated face away, Hayden tried to take a few steadying breaths. When he finally got his anger under control, he spoke, but his voice shook with emotion. “I know I’m ugly. But I have feelings, you know. I expect that sort of thing from most people, but I never expected it from you. Guess I should have known.”
Hayden tried to swallow down his hurt. He’d thought Gregory was different, but then he’d thought that about people in the past, hadn’t he? Most of them turned out to be exactly the same—cruel…hurtful to those that were different from themselves.
“Hey!” Gregory’s booming voice made Hayden jump. “Look at me!”
Hayden set his jaw and continued to stare out of the window.
“I said look at me, God damn it!” Gregory grabbed hold of Hayden’s face and twisted it until they were eye to eye. Hayden thought Gregory might be about to apologise for what he’d said, but what happened next was the very last thing he could have anticipated. Gregory leant forward and crushed their mouths together, forcing his tongue into Hayden’s mouth. The kiss was hard, fervent and incredibly hot. It felt almost like Gregory was claiming him. Hayden could do nothing but hold on for the ride and hope he didn’t come in his pants.
When Gregory finally ended the kiss, he groaned and pressed their foreheads together. He was breathing heavily and when he pulled back Hayden saw that his eyes and teeth had shifted to their cat form.
“You are not ugly. You are the most beautiful goddamn man I ever saw and I’ll tell you every damn day until you start to believe it, you got me?”
Haydon was so shocked he couldn’t speak. He nodded dumbly, trying to avert his gaze, but it was no use. Gregory still held his head in a death grip between his hands.
“Do you understand me, Hayden?” Gregory pressed.
“But my scar…” Hayden whispered.
“Is just that—a scar. It doesn
’t take anything away from your looks, not for me. I don’t even see it when I look at you, and it’s not like you don’t know how to get rid of it. You only need to shift.”
Hayden closed his eyes. It was the only thing he could do to get away from the intensity in Gregory’s stare. He couldn’t hold that inquisitive gaze without blurting out his secrets and uncovering his skeletons. He wasn’t ready for that.
“I can’t,” he whispered.
“One day soon you’re going to tell me why,” Gregory said. “Now, I’m going to get us a room for the night. Stay in the car until I get back, okay?”
Hayden nodded, but he didn’t open his eyes. After a moment he heard Gregory sigh and his hands fell from Hayden’s face. The car door opened and then closed again and Hayden was at last alone. His breath left him in a rush. Could it be possible that Gregory really thought he was beautiful and didn’t notice his scar? Or had he just said that to make Hayden feel better about himself?
Gregory was the most incredible man he’d ever met. Handsome didn’t even come close to describing him. His face had a rugged quality to it. Strong nose, strong jaw and the most alluring blue eyes Hayden had ever seen. Okay, so Hayden knew Gregory played for his team now, but someone like him could have any man he wanted. Could he really find Hayden attractive? Even with his scar? Hayden didn’t dare believe.
Part of him realised the pointlessness of his thoughts, anyway. Most shifters didn’t get involved in relationships because it would only complicate their lives if they found their mate. So would there be any point in the two of them starting anything? Hayden knew it would be easy to fall for Gregory and then, when the leopard met his mate, where would that leave Hayden? It was stupid of him to want things he had no business wanting. Reckless.
Maybe it would be better if he didn’t see Gregory again after he’d been dropped off at the ranch in Texas. Better for them both. But the thought of never seeing Gregory again made his stomach ache. Jesus. What the hell was he getting himself into? He tried to get a handle on his anxiety while he waited for Gregory to return.
Gregory's Rebellion Page 4
