Her laughter spilled out of Tom’s speakers and into his sensitive ears. “So what else is new? Werewolves coming my way?”
Westley shot a panicked look at Tom. “Maybe.”
“Well, I guess they found out.”
“Um—”
Tom motioned at Westley to find out what they’d found out.
“Yeah, uh.”
“Well, you keep him safe, Westley. You seem like a nice guy. Be careful now.”
“Right,” Westley said, as she ended the call.
“She didn’t seem surprised,” Tom said. “About werewolves, I mean.”
“No.”
“You have any idea what she was talking about?”
“No.”
Tom studied Westley’s face and decided he was being honest. He also decided that if he ever needed to put someone on interrogation detail, Westley would be his last choice. “So, how was it with the hunter?”
“Fine. And his name’s Jaylen.”
There was something Westley wasn’t saying, but Tom didn’t feel like pushing it. Westley looked ready to fall over.
He aimed to keep his voice gentle. “Go upstairs and eat some breakfast. I’m going to talk to your boyfriend.”
“He’s not—” Ignoring Westley’s protests and his “Please don’t kill him,” Tom opened the door. Jaylen sat in the middle of the bed, cross-legged in Tom’s underwear, and leaning against the wall. Red scratches slashed thin lines over his chest, some going all the way across. Tom was pleased that he was still bound. He hadn’t fully trusted that Westley would keep him that way. Jaylen didn’t look surprised when Tom walked in.
“If you’re looking for an apology about your friend, he should have stayed dead the first time I killed him.”
“Not why I’m here.” Tom grabbed the wicker chair and moved it right up next to the bed. He hadn’t heard from Austin’s family. He hoped Cody had delivered his body to them safely and that their silence was because they were sitting vigil, not because they’d been caught up in the night’s chaos. He flipped the chair around and straddled it. Jaylen’s eyes darted down to Tom’s crotch. Rather than hide what he’d done, Jaylen next met Tom’s gaze head on and offered up a challenging smirk. “If you’re done comparing our dicks, we’ve got some talking to do,” Tom said.
Jaylen shrugged. “You’re the jailer.”
“Look, I’m going to cut through the shit with you and get to the point.”
“Suits me.”
“I’ve got wolves going crazy out there. I’ve got the total destruction of human and wolf relations that we’ve built up over the past hundred and fifty years on my hands. And I’ve got you, the guy who brought the Alpha to town.”
Jaylen made a show of tugging his ropes. “I followed him in, but hey, let me go and I’m out of here.”
“Yeah, somehow I don’t believe you’re the Pied Piper of the Alpha. See, I don’t think he’ll go jigging after you once you’ve left. I think he’ll go when he pleases, and I suspect that’ll be after he’s torn this town to ruin. I’m fifth generation here, and I will not let that happen on my first day as pack alpha.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Stick around until he’s dead. Help us with him,” Tom said.
Jaylen leaned forward, his face set. “He killed my family. I want to kill him.”
“I’m proposing a truce,” Tom said. “The only wolf you kill from here out while you stay in La Mer is Denton.”
“Until I kill Denton, then I’ve already made a pledge to kill another one.” Tom followed Jaylen’s gaze up to the ceiling.
“Westley.”
“Yep. And after him, I’m perfectly happy to put you next.”
That explained why Westley was acting cagey. Tom ignored Jaylen’s threat. “You told him this?”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s okay with it?” Tom was going to give him a good thrashing, that was for sure.
“He seems confident he can change my mind.”
Tom held up his hands, letting Jaylen see their size, curling his fingers and letting Jaylen imagine them crushing his throat. “I’d prefer that you don’t do that. Westley is dear to me.”
“Yeah, he was a real kitten last night when he went on a murdering rampage.”
“And saved your life.”
A decent man would have looked away, lowered his eyes in shame.
Jaylen wasn’t decent.
“Do we have a deal?” Tom asked.
“You’ll let me out of this room?”
“You’ll stay in here and give us whatever information you think we should know to defeat him.”
Jaylen crossed his arms. “Nice try.”
“No one knows Denton better,” Tom said.
“And I’m not saying a thing until you let me out. I’m a sitting duck in here.”
“It’s not safe for you. There’s a house full of wolves up there.”
Jaylen snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you care about my safety. Look, if you’re going to torture me, been there, done that. I doubt your skills are quite up to Denton’s.”
Tom stood. “Suit yourself. By the way, Westley called your friend. She says she’s fine and thanks for the warning.”
This seemed to take some of the wind out of his sails. “Thanks.”
“Who is she to you?”
“Just somebody I trust.”
“She said they’d ‘figured it out.’ What did she mean?”
“No idea.”
“Give me something here, man.”
Jaylen held out his bare arm. “Your friend Cody had to burn me before I’d say her name. And you think I’ll tell you who she is by your asking?”
“I don’t do torture, Jaylen. If you don’t want to help us, that’s your choice. But I hope you’ll change your mind. If you don’t, could be that none of us will make it through the night.”
“Save me from killing you.”
Tom sighed. “We’re not monsters. If you’d get your head out of your ass, you’d see that. I’d think you would’ve seen that with Westley. He’s never hurt anyone in his life. And now he’s figured out how to—”
“How to what?” Jaylen sounded curious, a change from his confrontational tone.
Tom weighed his options. Tell the hunter about Westley’s method of preventing his shift? Or keep it secret? His mind zipped through the consequences, good and bad, but stalled on the wall of uncertainty. He didn’t know Jaylen, and Westley’s trusting him wasn’t enough. Jaylen could easily use this new information against Westley, as Tom could probably use whatever Jaylen wasn’t telling him against Jaylen. It was a loop that Tom wasn’t yet prepared to break.
“Never mind. Shout if you need anything.” He closed the door and stood against it a moment. If Jaylen did end up shouting, no one would hear him, but Tom was all right with letting Jaylen sit with uncertainty after that conversation. Westley would probably spend plenty of time with him anyway, so Jaylen wouldn’t go without food, water, or, from the smell of him, sex.
WESTLEY WASN’T HUNGRY, but he grabbed a granola bar off the kitchen counter because Tom had told him to eat. Not liking the way the others looked at him, he didn’t stay in the kitchen, but instead swallowed it in two bites and made himself scarce. The house had filled up since he’d been downstairs with Jaylen. The Wards’ floor plan had a fairly open layout. The only room that was truly separate was the kitchen. From there, a person could stand at the base of the stairs and be in the front parlor, living room and dining room all at once. From that vantage point, Westley assessed the situation. Seeing the other omegas occupied with their mates, he hurried off for towels and warm rags to soothe the injured. They lay in bedraggled heaps on the furniture and carpet. He knelt beside Tiffany, a beta he’d gone to school with when she was human. She’d been turned while he was away at college.
“Westley.” She smiled weakly. “Still single?”
He laid the washcloth over her forehead. “How do you feel?”
>
“Like a two hundred pound wolf ran into me.”
He checked her over, gently pushing up her sleeves and part of her shirt to see her stomach. “All I see are bruises. You’ll be fine.”
“Marry me,” she said, drifting off.
“Is it true what they’re saying?” Scott asked. He was an alpha a year younger. He sat on the floor with his omega mate trembling beside him. Westley handed him a towel, which Scott used to cover them both.
“What’s that?” Westley asked.
“That the hunter’s downstairs and we’re all doomed because Tom’s protecting him.”
“I don’t see how we’re doomed unless someone tells Denton about it,” Westley snapped. Scott’s face changed. He’d been talking smack before, but now he knew. He knew because Westley had confirmed it. Shit. Shit. Shit. “I mean, if he were here....” But it was too late to backpedal. Without turning around, he sensed he was surrounded by werewolves on silent feet, all leaning in to know what else they could get out of the stupid, weird, solitary omega. How else could they think of Westley? His own parents felt the same, and now he’d gone and proved them right. He stood quickly, almost losing his balance as the blood rushed back into his legs. “Excuse me.” He stumbled toward the stairs and ran up.
Thinking of his parents, where were they? Had they survived the night? Considering their traditionalism, Westley wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d learned Tom was pack alpha now and decided to see what Denton had to offer instead. “It’s all about tits with that drunken lout,” his father used to lecture whenever Westley dragged himself home after a night out with Tom, while Westley bit his tongue to stop himself from saying it wasn’t all about tits. Fortunately, his mother usually ended the conversation with a sharp chide against insulting the pack alpha’s son, but it was clear from her tone that she agreed. Of course, if he’d dragged himself in at half past stupid o’clock and declared he and Tom were mated, they’d be rolling out the red carpet.
Westley shook away the resentment. His parents were what they were. They loved him in their own way. If he told them about Jaylen, they’d explode. He grinned. It was almost nice to think about them out there somewhere worrying about him ruining his life by straying from their set path. At least he knew what to expect there. Here, with Denton’s plans unknown, he didn’t have any answers. Seeing a door open at the top of the stairs, he walked toward it. He almost backed up when he realized he was about to interrupt Mrs. Ward’s vigil, but something, maybe the thought of his own mother, compelled him forward. “Mrs. Ward? It’s Westley. Do you need anything?”
The chair rocked forward and Westley could see that she was holding Thomas’ hand. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What I’m—?” Mrs. Ward had terrified him when he was younger. She was a beta who had earned the highest placement in the pack that a beta could have. Subjected to jealousy and gossip because of that, she saved her affection for her family. If a bit of it ever spilled over in Westley’s direction, the sweetness was swept away in seconds by a snapped word. She’d slapped him once, when he was fourteen. He couldn’t remember what he was supposed to have done, but was positive it was Tom’s fault and that he’d somehow pinned the blame on Westley. He was so stunned he didn’t stand up for himself. The next day, Tom had apologized, which had led to Westley getting his first blow job, and Westley would’ve been a jerk not to forgive him after that.
She turned. “Manipulating Tom so he’ll let you hide the hunter here. He’d do anything for you and you take advantage of him.”
“Did he tell you Jaylen is my mate?” Surely she wouldn’t begrudge him his loyalty to Jaylen then, especially when having a mate would get him out of Tom’s hair.
“Then you should both leave and let Denton be done with you.”
Westley swallowed. If she held any sway over Tom, he was a dead man. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Sorry for disturbing you.” He stopped in the hallway to stare at his hands. He concentrated until they stopped shaking. Opting for the back staircase, which would egress into the kitchen and thus avoid the gathering that he’d outed Jaylen’s presence to, he eased himself down the thin stairwell and creaking steps. Tom sat at the kitchen table with a handful of alphas. He recognized Alex, who had always been all right to him, and Georgia, who ran the La Mer Inn. Her mate Cyrus growled at him. So the news had spread.
“Westley?” Tom half stood from his chair. “Are you all right? You look—” He gestured to his own forehead, so Westley raised his hand and wiped sweat off his brow.
“I’m fine. Just checking on your mother.”
“Ah.” Tom grinned. “My mother has been scaring Westley since he was a pup.” The atmosphere relaxed, and a few “Me too” comments were muttered. “How is she?”
When Westley couldn’t answer, Tom got up. “Are you all right?”
“Your mother thinks it would be a good idea for you to put both me and Jaylen out.” Westley didn’t know why he was whispering. Everyone could hear him no matter how quietly he spoke. But Tom had dipped his ear next to Westley’s lips, and for the security that illusion of privacy gave him, Westley was grateful. Tom squeezed Westley’s wrist, pressing it against his hip.
“I will never do that. You’re not worried about it, are you?” He pulled back and studied Westley’s eyes. Westley wasn’t sure what he saw there, but it evidently wasn’t what he was looking for. “West. We’re a team. You and me, and… and Jaylen too, if he’s willing. All right?”
Westley glanced over Tom’s shoulder at the alphas watching. None of them looked to be on board with Tom’s statements. But they weren’t pack alpha, Tom was. “You won’t sacrifice me for the greater good?” He ventured a small smile to show he’d chosen his words for their irony.
“Want me to pinky swear?” Tom asked. He held out his finger. Westley hooked his on.
“Dork.”
Tom grinned. “Geek.” He stepped away and returned to his seat. “Now, where were we?”
“We were talking about how the best plan we have is to put the hunter outside and tell Denton to come get him,” Steve said. Steve was a doctor who had delivered every baby born in La Mer after 1978.
“You were talking about that. I told you no. Start thinking of another one,” Tom said. He glanced at Westley with what he probably wanted to be a reassuring smile but reeked more of exasperation.
“I’ll be downstairs,” Westley said. He grabbed the box of granola bars and a jug of fruit juice, trying his best not to look like he was fleeing. When he opened the door to Tom’s room, he found that Jaylen had twisted himself up in the ropes and somehow suspended his left foot in the air. He lay on his back and frowned at Westley.
“Help?”
Westley put the food and juice down. “What did you do?” he asked as he sat beside Jaylen’s hip and started untangling him.
“Got tired of yelling, so I tried kicking,” Jaylen said.
“Why were you yelling? The room’s soundproof.”
“Now they tell me.” Jaylen tapped Westley’s back. “You brought food?”
“Nothing exciting.”
“I’m starving. I’ll take anything.”
“Here.” Westley grabbed the box and set it next to Jaylen’s head. He finished freeing his foot while Jaylen ate. When he turned around, four wrappers littered Jaylen’s chest.
“What?” Jaylen asked.
“Are you a vacuum cleaner?”
Jaylen grinned. He managed an approximation of a shrug for someone lying on his back. “Said I was hungry. Did you come down to check on me or try again to convince me not to kill you?”
“I came down because up there there’s people pissed off at me and talking about throwing both of us out to Denton like it’ll solve their problems, so I figured I’d come down here because at least I know where I stand with you.”
Jaylen licked his fingers clean. “So we’re almost in the same boat.”
“Universally hated? Yeah. Great boat. Do you have t
o do that?” Westley didn’t mean to look at his crotch to see how it was responding to Jaylen’s soft core porn show, but Jaylen noticed and grinned. He finished off his ring finger with a wet smack. “Tell me something about you that no one else knows.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re down here with nothing else to do. Something embarrassing.”
“And you’ll tell me something?” Westley asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. My first week of college, I accidentally rushed a sorority.”
“You what?”
“I got confused about the letters! Once I got there and realized it was all girls, I made up some stupid excuse and bolted, but yeah, that was probably the most embarrassed I’ve ever been. Your turn.”
“Hold on. I’m not done laughing at you.”
“You’d better make yours good.”
“Better than that? Doubtful. Okay. When I was in high school, I was making out with this girl, and she touched my dick and I jizzed all over her hand.”
Westley blinked. “That’s it? Your teenaged hair trigger penis?”
“It was in science class, right before the bell rang. She was my lab partner and I had to sit through the entire ninety-minute class with jizz in my pants. I was scared to death it would turn out to be flammable when we lit up the Bunsen burners.”
“You thought semen was flammable?”
Jaylen raised his hands. “I never claimed to be a genius. Plus, you know, I was worried about the smell. Wasn’t exactly showering on a regular basis back then. Pretty much only when my parents made me.”
“Eww.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you have to walk around with a wet spot? Because if you did, I’ll concede that your embarrassing moment is worse than mine.”
“Praise Jesus for Trapper Keepers.”
“What are those?”
“Shut up. You’re not that much younger.”
Wolf Hunter Page 14
