by C. C. Dado
“I need you to come with me now.” Zeus’s words instantly caused Toren to move back away from Zeus.
He seemed to mull over the words. “Where are you going to take me?”
“Easter Valley is kind of a reservation of sorts. It’s owned by my family. We live outside of town. I want to take you to meet the leader of our family. He’s going to help us figure out what to do.”
“Is this the man who has the kids?” Toren asked, sounding unsure if meeting him was a good idea.
“Yes. If we can’t figure out a way to keep both you and the kids safe here, we will leave.”
“We?” Toren asked, his eyes so filled with vulnerability it broke Zeus’s heart. He wanted to hold him so bad, but he knew his size was a scary thing for someone who was already scared shitless.
“I told you I want to help you. I will protect you. No matter what happens.”
“Why? Why would you do that for me?” Toren asked, turning partially away.
Zeus couldn’t stop himself from moving forward now. He turned Toren back toward him. The top of Toren’s head came to Zeus’s chin. He gently lifted Toren’s chin with his finger, feeling the shudder of fear rushing through him.
“I want you to trust me.” Zeus hoped that if this was his mate, then whatever a human could feel for a mate would make Toren trust him.
They stood there like that, Zeus softly caressing Toren’s jaw.
“Okay,” Toren finally said, a soft exhale escaping his lips.
“Let’s pack up your stuff so we don’t have to do it in the dark tonight.”
TOREN SAT in the passenger seat, picking fabric from the already torn knee of his jeans. When they reached the lodge, Zeus turned toward him to reassure him.
“He’s waiting. It will be okay.”
Zeus got out and went around the truck to open the door for an unmoving Toren. Zeus noticed how he stayed by his side walking into the lodge. It made Zeus happy that a part of Toren was seeing him as a safe place, even if he was unaware of it.
Kimber was running around the living room chasing Rosetta when they walked in. Rosetta turned at the new arrival and started barking incessantly. It looked like someone had dyed her fur in the colors of the rainbow.
Toren pushed himself closer against Zeus’s side.
“It’s okay,” Zeus said to Toren over the sound of the barking, reaching for his hand and thankful when Toren let him entwine their fingers. “That’s just Rosetta. She’s evil but small, so if she gets too close, just kick her.” Zeus wasn’t sure why Rosetta was barking at Toren.
“You are not kicking Kimber’s dog,” Max hollered, coming down the hall.
The noise brought Christian out of his office as well. Rosetta turned her wrath on Christian. “What is wrong with that dog?”
Jack had been working on Rosetta’s anger issues, so Zeus was surprised to see her barking at Christian too.
“I thought we were past this?” Christian asked, leaning his head back like he was praying for strength from up above.
“We were, until she came into our room last night when you were doing that ‘thing’ with the ‘thing.’” Max gestured awkwardly with his hand. “And now she thinks you’re trying to hurt me.” Max picked up Rosetta, who had obviously accepted him along with Kimber now, and nuzzled the side of her face, assuring her everything was okay. “Don’t be mad, princess, he wasn’t trying to hurt Daddy, he was trying to make Daddy feel good. You see, when a man loves another man….”
“Oh my God, please stop. Let’s go in the office,” Christian said, turning to look at Zeus and Toren, apparently giving up trying to have a conversation with his mate about the dog.
“What happened to Rosetta’s fur?”
“Kimber used her markers on her when Max was in the shower. Apparently no noise is not good noise. It was a learning moment for me as a parent.”
Zeus smiled until Christian’s gaze turned serious and shifted to Toren.
Toren tensed. Zeus rubbed his thumb across the back of his hand, trying to soothe him.
So many times Zeus had come to this house, but it had never been like this. Suddenly it felt like the course of his life depended on what his alpha was going to decide in that room. Zeus walked into the office and shut the door behind them. Toren stood a few feet away from the desk, obviously unsure if he should sit or stand. Zeus could still hear a laughing Kimber running around the house. Rosetta was a good thing for this crazy family.
“I’m Christian,” the alpha said, reaching his hand out to Toren.
Toren looked at the hand and back at Zeus, who gave him a nod of encouragement.
“Toren,” he said, shaking Christian’s hand.
Christian gestured for them to sit.
“So, Toren, you were sent here to find the kids.”
Zeus wished Christian would be a little more sensitive in his questions.
“Um, I was, yes.”
“When were you supposed to contact the ones who sent you?”
“There were four towns on the list he gave me. He told me to go to the towns, search for the kids, and contact him when I found them.”
“And you decided not to contact him once you found the kids. Why?”
“Once I saw them, I realized I couldn’t. I think he plans to hurt them.”
Christian leaned back against his desk in thought, as was his habit, contemplating before speaking. Zeus could tell it was doing nothing for Toren’s nerves, though.
“You have good instincts. How much time do we have before you think he will be wondering why you haven’t contacted him?”
“A week maybe.”
“I need his information.”
“I just have an email. I was supposed to get pictures of the kids as proof and send them.”
“Toren, we’re going to come up with a plan over the next few days, and you will eventually have a decision to make. Do you want to go back to your old life or do you want to stay here at Easter Valley?”
Toren’s eyes instantly went to Zeus.
“You don’t have to decide now, just think on it.”
Toren nodded.
“We can’t have you sleeping in the woods anymore, though.”
Toren’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment before he responded. “They said your town would be the hardest because of the large amount of security. I wasn’t aware of the no overnight stays here, so I made a shelter in the woods, and I ran out of food a few days ago so I’ve been scrounging a bit around town for food.”
“It’s okay,” Zeus leaned down and whispered to him.
Christian stared at Toren again for a long time before talking.
“We have an open apartment above the bakery in town. I’d like you to stay there until we get this all sorted out.”
Toren looked up at Zeus like he wasn’t sure how to respond.
Tension he wasn’t even aware was there released from Zeus’s shoulders. He nodded, letting Toren know it was going to be okay.
“Welcome to Easter Valley, Toren,” Christian said.
TOREN DIDN’T say anything on the way back to town. Zeus opened up the downstairs door to the apartment and motioned for him to go first. His bag slung over his shoulder, Toren cautiously made his way up the stairs.
The apartment hadn’t been empty that long, and the boys had left all the furniture, with the exception of Max’s love mattress, which he’d made Zeus bring up to the lodge, so it still looked like a home. Zeus could tell Toren was overwhelmed by it all.
“Why don’t you sit,” he suggested, motioning Toren toward the couch. Zeus sat on the coffee table in front of Toren and leaned forward.
Toren looked so lost.
Every protective instinct Zeus had filled his chest. He wasn’t sure why these feelings of possession weren’t constant, like he had heard other pack members speak of, but Toren was his. He felt it right now, at this moment. He had to be.
Toren was back to picking at the knee of his jeans.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Toren responded, looking up at Zeus.
“You okay?”
He didn’t respond right away. “I’m not sure. I think so. Everything is just really overwhelming, this town, this apartment… you.”
Zeus smiled softly.
“I have all these feelings, and I don’t understand them at all.”
“Would it help you if I told you how I am feeling?”
Toren’s breath got heavy at Zeus’s question.
“Yes,” he admitted, studying the tear in his jeans again.
“I have feelings too that I don’t totally understand. Feelings about you.” Zeus stopped there and reached out, caressing the side of Toren’s cheek. “I know we have a lot of stuff to deal with, but I’d also like to spend time getting to know you and figuring out what all these feelings are. Would that be okay with you?”
“Yes.”
Zeus moved his hand down the side of Toren’s neck, to his shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze.
“I’m going to head out, but I’ll be back first thing in the morning and take you down to meet Seth. You should have everything you need here,” Zeus said, getting up.
“Don’t leave,” Toren said, in an almost panic, giving Zeus’s hand a tug to pull him back.
“You’re safe here,” Zeus assured him.
“It’s not that,” Toren said, then didn’t speak for a long time, looking like he wasn’t sure how to say whatever it was he wanted to say. “I’ve felt wrong my entire life, like an internal fight was going on inside me. The medicine I take makes the seizures stop, but it doesn’t stop everything else.”
“Like what? Tell me,” Zeus gently prodded.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking maybe I’m crazy. It feels… it feels like something inside me pulls me in certain directions, and not just intuition. It’s almost like I’m fighting against myself. I know it sounds crazy, right?” Toren looked down at his hands. “But when you’re near me, it stops. I’m so calm inside it scares me.” He finally looked up at Zeus when he finished. “I don’t get it. You’re literally, like, the largest person I’ve ever seen in my life, and those tattoos. I’ve never seen anything like you. I should be afraid of you, and at first I was, but then I realized that it stopped. And I didn’t feel crazy for once.”
Zeus didn’t know what to say.
“You make it stop. I feel normal, like I’m not broken.”
Zeus leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Toren’s forehead.
“But it’s also worse now, when you are not around me. When you went to town this morning, the feelings were worse than before. That’s why I went in the stream to try and calm myself down. I don’t want you to go because I know they’ll start again.”
Zeus thought over Toren’s words. “What if I slept here on the couch?” Zeus suggested, thinking that would solve both their problems, since he had originally planned on sleeping out front in his truck. His wolf’s need to protect Toren was too great for him to go far.
“I’d like that,” Toren said, then looked like he wanted to continue but didn’t.
“What?”
“I think I would also like to take a shower,” he said, sounding slightly embarrassed that he felt he needed one.
“Of course. Here, I’ll get you a towel.” Zeus reached into the hall closet, grabbing out a fluffy butter-yellow towel. He handed it to Toren, knowing it was going to be torture listening to the sound of the water running over him.
“Your bedroom is right in there.” Zeus gestured to the open door of what used to be Seth’s bedroom. Thankfully they kept the apartment furnished. The queen bed was still made up. The other room had been turned into an office.
“I’ll be right out there if you need me,” Zeus said from the doorway.
Toren gave him a half smile, still looking concerned. “Okay.”
Zeus almost couldn’t walk away. Toren looked so perfect standing there. He was taller than he appeared on the security cameras; he had to be five-eleven at least, his arms lean muscle.
“Good night, Zeus,” Toren said, breaking Zeus out of his trance.
“Good night, Toren.”
ZEUS WOKE at the first light of day, adjusting his muscular body, stiff from the too-small couch he’d slept on. He saw a lump on the floor in front of him and realized Toren had come out at some point in the night and curled up on the floor in a blanket next to where he slept. Zeus was surprised he hadn’t woken. He reached his arm out and brushed his fingers across Toren’s cheek. Toren was too thin. Thinner than a guy his age should be. Zeus needed to go talk to the doc today.
Toren started to move a little, waking up. His eyes slowly opened, and he looked into Zeus’s.
“Hi,” Zeus said, still caressing Toren’s cheek.
“Hi,” Toren said, his voice so soft and shy it made Zeus shudder. He loved that voice.
“You came out to be by me,” Zeus said, more of a statement than a question.
Toren tried to turn his face away, but Zeus wouldn’t let him.
“It’s okay. I want to be by you too.” The words had the exact effect he was hoping for. Toren’s eyes filled with a longing so blatant Zeus had to stop himself from pulling him up onto the couch and taking his mouth. “I think it would be better for us if I stayed here, until we get this all figured out.”
“Okay.” Toren’s quick response made Zeus laugh and caused Toren to look away.
“Don’t be embarrassed, I feel it too, remember?” The words made Toren look back at Zeus. “We can go down to the bakery for breakfast, and I can introduce you to the boys. You’ve met Max, but Seth will be down there too. I have some things I need to do today. I need you to stay around the bakery or apartment until I get back, okay?”
Toren seemed to deflate inside himself. “You still don’t trust me.”
“Come up here,” Zeus said, sitting up, pulling Toren off the floor to sit next to him. “Me asking you to stay around here is not because I don’t trust you, it’s that I find that I can’t stop worrying about you. I need to know where you are and that you’re safe or I won’t be able to focus on what I have to do today. I think I have a plan that will keep you and the kids safe, but I need to go talk to Christian.”
Zeus saw Toren’s hope grow at his words. He felt his wolf’s contented demand. Ours…. Zeus gently squeezed Toren in a side hug, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.
“I’m sorry,” Toren said, regret clear in his voice. “I’m sorry that I put the kids in danger.”
“Stop,” Zeus gently demanded. “You did not put them in danger. You chose to save them. If he hadn’t sent you, he would have found someone else. Someone who wouldn’t have decided not to contact him when they found the kids.”
Toren seemed to relax. Zeus needed to get them out of there before he kissed Toren for real. The last thing he wanted to do was take things too fast. “Come on, let’s go introduce you to the boys.”
THE BAKERY was alive with folks when Zeus and Toren slipped in through the side door. The bustle made Toren tense up next to him. Zeus wondered how much interaction he’d had with other people while growing up on a farm.
As usual Max was working the front counter in his yellow Sweets & Meats apron and bow tie.
“The kids gone today?” Zeus asked when there was a break in customers at the counter.
“Grandma is watching them.”
Zeus’s eyebrows rose at the response.
“Yep, you’ve been saved from the wrath of my mother. She bribed Rosetta with peanut butter. Had to feed her the entire jar before she allowed her to touch Kimber. But apparently now they’re besties, and everything is right with the world.”
“What happens to a shih tzu if you feed it an entire jar of peanut butter?”
“You don’t even want to know,” he said, rolling his eyes before turning his attention to Toren. Max paused and studied Toren, like he was deciding whether to trust this person who was a possible threat. “Hi, Toren, we haven’t offici
ally met. I’m Max,” he said, reaching out to shake Toren’s hand. “I used to live in the apartment upstairs. If you need anything, just come down. Food is on the house. Have you guys had breakfast yet?”
Zeus’s stomach rumbled at the thought of Seth’s cooking.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Max said with a laugh. “Why don’t you go introduce Toren to Seth. He’s cooking up some breakfast rolls back there, so you can eat and talk.”
Zeus didn’t have to be told twice, so he grabbed Toren’s hand and led him into the kitchen.
At their entrance, Seth looked up from the mixer he was currently adjusting a large bowl into.
“Hey,” he said, looking expectantly over at Toren, waiting to be introduced. Zeus was so proud of how much Seth had opened up since finding Jack. Normally Seth would have hidden behind his bangs if someone outside his trusted few saw him, but now he stared at them, bangs clipped up and out of his face, his intense bicolored eyes on display.
“Seth, this is Toren.”
“Hi, Toren. I would come shake your hand, but I’m a little messy,” he said, holding up his flour-covered hands.
Toren smiled at the gesture, seeming to relax.
“You two hungry? The tray right there just came out of the oven,” Seth said, pointing his elbow at a tray of maple bacon rolls.
Zeus grabbed two off the tray and handed one to Toren. Toren’s reaction to the first bite was exactly what Zeus had hoped for, but also caused him to shift uncomfortably at the delicate moan.
“That might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” he said, his eyes partially bulging at Seth.
Seth preened at the praise. “Thank you.”
“Toren will be hanging around upstairs today while I run some errands. I told him if he needed anything to come down to the bakery.”
“Of course. And if you get really bored, you are more than welcome to come down and bake with me,” Seth said jokingly.
“Really?” The excitement in Toren’s voice surprised both Seth and Zeus.
