Wiatt’s face softened. “Oh.”
“If I’m going to do the right thing by this pup, and by you, I need to do everything I can to make sure, we know and have all we need for her. For her to have a good life.” Tatum said passionately, trying to calm herself down. She felt emotionally strung, teary and angry and anxious all at once.
“You want information.” Wiatt said back at her.
“And answers.” Tatum answered him. “Then we, as a couple can truly move forward into our life together. I don’t want to tell Robbie about the pup, I want to confront him about the rape, about being attacked and made a lycan.” Tatum found herself saying before she even realized she’d actually said out loud. It was too easy, the one word, it had been sitting there, at the edge of her mouth, ready for her to use it, waiting for her, to release her from the ties of past bindings. “Oh.” she uttered eyes wide in surprise as she began to shake.
“Hey,” Wiatt put his coffee down and moved quickly to be hold her upright. “Everything will be alright.” Wiatt said wrapping his strong arms around Tatum and pulling her close into his body as she trembled against him. “Not going to let anything happen to either you or own pup.” He uttered softly kissing the top of her head as she molded back into him, hugging him back. “If you want to do this, then we will do it together Tay. I’ll be right there beside you the whole way. You’re never going to be alone again, ever.”
Tatum looked up at Wiatt. A fierce sense of love and protection reared up in Wiatt and he held her face in his hands as he seared his lips to her mouth and told her just how much she meant to him, with the hard, solidness of his passionate kiss.
6
Wiatt walked into the cafe and spotted his brother Paris at a corner front table with his pack mate Bg, they’re heads were turned and looking down the cafe bar, towards the back. Wiatt sat down on a seat opposite them, and looked in the dame direction too. “What are we watching?” He asked curiously, glancing over the coffee drinking crowd.
“Jules,” Paris answered absently. “Thane.” Bg answered at the same time before they both slowly returned they’re gaze to one another and smiled. Wiatt looked down at the tables against the wall of the cafe, further away from Paris and Bg. Jules was smiling brightly and animatedly talking, or flirting, Wiatt thought, to another male who he could only see the back of the head of. Who had to be Thane, Bg’s big-brother.
“What’s Thane doing down here anyway? Doesn’t he have a pack to run or something?”
“Dropping Phelan off, making sure he’s set up.” Bg answered absently, still watching the two males, engrossed in their actions.
“Phelan, what’s he doing in Manhattan?”
“Not Manhattan.” Bg answered not looking at him. “Spending time with me, they came down for a visit.”
“Oh, well. Don’t be a douche Jules.” Wiatt muttered softly and turned back around. He hated to think his friend was cheating on his boyfriend Zhane. He’d never known Jules to be an asshole but if he was trying to hook up with Bg’s brother Thane, then that would definitely qualify him as one. Wiatt knew Zhane was crazy about Jules. They’d spoken about him quite a few times.
“What?” Bg said snapping her gaze back onto Wiatt.
“Are they hooking up?” Wiatt asked now distracted from why he’d sought his brother out. Wiatt didn’t know enough about Thane Cavello to know if he was gay or not, had barely been around the guy to get a gauge. Wiatt wasn’t around Bg’s family nearly as much as Paris was.
“Don’t know.” Paris muttered, “Was why we were watching. Thane was already in here when the three of us arrived. Didn’t even get a chance to come over and say hi to Bg before Jules all but abandoned us. Wasn’t planned.”
Wiatt sighed and glanced back over his shoulder before turning back around. “Anyway, I came to tell you I need time off.” Wiatt said causing Paris to look back at him instantly.
“Time off, for what?” Paris asked automatically business again, back into pack leader mode.
“It’s personal, I need a few days, maybe a week, tops.” Wiatt replied. “Zhane and Ash are capable of running the rounds while I’m absent. I’ve got at least five other werewolves who can back them up if need be, that know how things work and what to do should a situation arise.
Paris’s eyes hardened. “You’ve never asked for time off before. Never once the whole time you’ve been policing the lycans in our territory.”
“So I’m over due for a break. Seems fair.” Wiatt said back at his brother putting his hands on the table and intersecting his fingers. The action didn’t go u noticed by Paris and his eyes flicked back up to Wiatt’s face.
“What do you need the time off for?” Paris repeated.
“Like I said, it’s personal.”
“If this personal thing has to do with Tatum, I need to know or you won’t be going anywhere. You’ll be under my personal guard instead.” Bg picked up her coffee and watched the relay between the brothers from over the top of her coffee cup.
Wiatt sighed and stared hard at his brother. “Tatum is my pack mate, so therefore she’s my problem, not yours.”
“Wrong answer little brother. Try again.” Paris said waiting him out.
“It’s not like you can actually stop me from leaving the city limits Paris. I was just doing this out of courtesy.” Wiatt said pushing his chair back loudly.
“Bg, tell Julian I require him to block the exit from this cafe from my brother. Immediately.” Paris said to his pack mate without taking his eyes off Wiatt. Bg never left her seat, instead, she looked at Wiatt and sipped her coffee. “It’s done.” She replied.
Wiatt watched past Bg as Julian’s focus shifted entirely back to Paris’s party and his face hardened. As he walked towards the doorway of the cafe. Wiatt relaxed back into the chair and pulled it back into the table. “Neat trick that telepathy.” He said bitterly back at Bg. She hadn’t told him how it worked and hadn’t done it with him, yet. He wondered why.
“Tatum is my problem and she is under my protection when it comes to you and her. This relationship is only happening because you showed me it can happen for the right reasons. So I need to know if she and the pup are okay Wiatt. Or do I need to have someone go around and do a physical, welfare check up on them?”
Wiatt’s eyes opened wide. “What? No. Of course they’re fine. I’m not some abusive bastard, you know that!”
“It wasn’t so long ago, you lost your shit over her, remember? I don’t think you’re capable of domestic violence. But you were out of your mind when she announced the pregnancy or have you forgotten that?”
“Scared us, all of us.” Bg admitted quietly.
Wiatt looked over at her and nodded his head. “I know, and I scared myself in the process too. But that’s not me. You guys know that. I love her and the pup. We’re getting married for Christ-sakes.”
“So are you going to make me, ask you a third time because you know how much I hate repeating myself for anyone.” Paris asked his brother again. “Talk to me, tell me what’s going on.”
Wiatt glanced across at Bg and back at Paris. “I’m going go say hi to Thane and see if I can’t get some gossip out of him.” Bg said smiling back at both male werewolves and pushing her chair out before leaving the table.
Paris watched her walk over to Thane before turning his sight back to Wiatt. “Well with the wedding coming up, it’s raised a few issues that Tatum and I need to think about, more than think about. Address actually.” Wiatt said back at Paris.
“Such as?”
“Tatum wants closure on what uh, happened to her in Boston.” Wiatt said awkwardly. “She wants to confront the wolf that raped her.”
Paris’s eyes remained stony and hard. “Is that really wise? She’s getting on with her life down here with you. She’s already survived this wolf.”
“I know. She told me, this would mean we had nothing hanging over us. She thinks it’ll be good for our relationship, especially for me with the pup.” Wiat
t answered Paris back.
“Is she really prepared to do this Wiatt? I would think this kind of confrontation, could be rather…emotional. It might hurt her more than she thinks and if that’s how it goes down, it’ll spill over into your relationship with her. You have to be ready for that, this time.” Paris said softly. “Because if you’re not, and you go off the rails like you did before,”
“I won’t go off the rails.” Wiatt growled back at the older werewolf.
“If you do go off the rails again,” Paris continued on ignoring his brother’s anger. “I won’t let you anywhere near her again. At all. You’ll be done with her, do you understand me?”
Wiatt tensed up. One fucking emotional slip-up. That’s all it took for his own brother and pack leader to think he wasn’t what? Emotionally stable anymore when it came to his pack mate? For fuck sake it wasn’t like he lacked the ability to have control! He was a D’arenberg who’d been raised the same way Paris had. They had been schooled in how to control they’re werewolf abilities. He wouldn’t spazz out on Tatum again, no matter if they fought or not. He knew that. Paris should damn well know it too. For fuck-sakes, he’d been ashamed of his previous behavior when Tatum had announced her pregnancy to him. He’d never felt more ashamed of himself in his entire life.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then tell me you understand what I’m saying.” Paris said seriously at his brother. “Tell me you understand the importance of a wolf female who’s managed to carry a pup and how she needs to be treated like your queen. Tell me you understand, that if you slip up like you did before and I have to intervene again, that you know I will take over the welfare of Tatum and her pup without you. That she may be removed from our territory for good if this becomes to big an issue for you to deal with. Because that’s what I’m saying Wiatt.”
“I get it.” Wiatt gritted back out at him. “But if Tatum leaves Manhattan, I go with her. End of story.” Wiatt threw back at Paris.
“If I think you’re a danger to her, you won’t get that option and I will fight you on it, so take note.” Paris replied coolly back at Wiatt.
“So I’ve been warned?”
“Yes.” Paris stated simply.
“Guess that means I get time off then.” Wiatt replied casually, glancing around the cafe again. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”
“Oh and Wiatt,” Paris said smiling at Bg as she looked across the cafe back at Paris. “What you do to that son of a bitch in Boston, is none of my business, since its not in my territory and you’re not on any official pack business.”
Wiatt’s mouth hardened. “Good to know. Because there is a list.”
“Think of Tatum and the pup first and foremost, that’s my only advice.” Paris said as Wiatt pushed his chair back out again and stood up. “Relationships can survive a lot of emotional warfare, but you have to know what her breaking point is so you don’t go past it.” Paris said standing up also. They watched as Bg and Thane stood up, still chatting.
“There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for Bg. I’ve told her as much too, so we’re clear, should certain situations arise. But if she says no go, then I stop. I want her more than I want any revenge that I think I may need to partake on her behalf. I’d hate for her to end up hating me.”
Wiatt nodded his head and wondered if Paris was talking about Bg and her ex-Breukelen boyfriend, Conall Wakely. Paris and Addison had done a number on him, when Bg and Paris had first started dating. Not that in Wiatt’s eyes it wasn’t justified. They’d kidnapped Conall, tied him up in silver chains in Manhattan Maen territory on a lunar night. The silver restricted his shape shift and burnt his skin. Paris thought it wasn’t enough, given that Conall had beaten Bg to a pulp for breaking up with him.
“I want this relationship more than anything else. I won’t jeopardize it.” Wiatt said softly as Bg walked back over and he walked out with Julian making way for him.
7
“So I’m going to be gone a few days,” Tatum said to Hooper as she looked over her desk at the rec center. “Back to Boston. Just a short trip.”
Hooper stared at her. “There’s only one reason you would go back there.” He said to her. Knowing her full story. “After what happened, how you got turned, I can only think of one reason you’d go back.” She’d confided in him not long after her park rescue, where they’d met. It was what had helped make them friends.
“Yep, that’s the reason. Has to be done. Can’t preach to the lycans what I can’t do myself you know?” She said looking up at him.
“You’re so damn brave Tay.” He replied.
“I feel like a chicken-shit, actually.”
“You’re not. Well, good luck. I hope you get what you need.” Hooper replied back at her. “But you just opened Haven.” Hooper replied back at her. “What about running that? What happens?” Tatum looked back at Hooper dryly.
“My opening day was an indicator that this is a luke-warm venture. I’ll be lucky if I get anyone interested in participating in any sessions for awhile yet. They’ve got to build up they’re trust in me. So I’m going to run limited hours for awhile anyway. This community has got to get to know me. I knew this was going to be a baby steps kind of approach. I mean, look at my clientele. Rattled, angry lycans. It’s a sensitive crowd to reach out to. Time off won’t be bad. It’s going to be a slow process.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Hooper replied crossing his ankles as he leaned back against a chair arm. Tatum looked over at the younger lycan.
He was right, it was her second day of opening Haven and she had listed that a therapy session would take place. No one had turned up yet, except Hooper, because he knew she would be here, so they could hang out until she had to do her real work.
“Do you want to do a therapy session?” Tatum asked him in all seriousness. “Cause I’m happy to talk to you, any time. I want you to know that. But if you’re more comfortable with a formal setting, like here, then we can do that. Whatever suits.”
Hooper pushed off the chair arm and moved to sit down in the chair. “My brother’s always telling me I need to talk to someone about it.”
“Why do you think he says that?” Tatum asked moving things around on her desk and producing a notepad.
“Because he knows what it’s like.” Hooper replied back at her.
“Knows what, what is like?”
“Going through the whole experience, having to deal with it, and it changing not only you and everything about you, but you’re life too. We were attacked together.” Hooper said watching Tatum tap her pen. “I’m not sure he ever talked to anyone about it, after the attack either. But things were different for him.”
“Different how? You both were attacked, survived and made into lycans.”
“True, but he’s an Alpha. Got all the abilities and this got him acceptance into the Breukelen werewolf pack. I’m not either.”
“An alpha or a pack wolf?” Tatum asked seeking clarity as she wrote a word down on her notepad that Hooper couldn’t see.
“Right.”
“Are you jealous about your brother’s standing?” She said raising her eyes to meet his.
Hooper thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps a little. I had the chance to join the Breukelen, the same time he did.” Hooper replied relaxing into the comfy arm chair.
“So you made a choice.” Tatum said. Hooper nodded his head. “That you now regret.” Hopper’s eyes hardened on her and Tatum waited him out. There was a flash of anger in his features, but she had known to expect this. “A lot of lycans are angry, and with good reason. They’ve had something violent done to them, against they’re will. They’d been forced into this condition and now they’re saddled with all the baggage they didn’t know that came with it. I know. I’m no different. But we all approach it differently.”
Hooper sighed. “I could see Booker was a good fit for the Breukelen. He had this thing for one of the werewolves there, a female.” Hooper scratched his hea
d in thought. “I think she got in his head, convinced him to join. I think he was just in total love with her. It was too soon for me, I was still harboring too much anger about what had happened, and was learning about what it meant to become a lycan to even consider changing everything I’d ever known in my life, to follow a fucking werewolf I didn’t know into a pack of wolves, who for all intents and purposes, could’ve been the damn wolves who attacked us in the first place. And here he was just following a pretty looking werewolf into this…other realm, just because she made his cock hard.”
“So you’re angry at your brother for being able to move forward and make his own choice?” Tatum asked writing down some notes. “However he came to it.”
“It’s not like he abandoned me, or ever has. I just, couldn’t see how he could put so much blind faith into these creatures we didn’t know, in this world, we didn’t know anything about until it was too late.”
“Booker is a risk taker and you’re not.”
“I guess. He’s always been the far more confident of us two.” Hooper answered her. “Even when it comes to relationships.”
Tatum wrote more down. “So you’re jealousy of his choice to join the Breukelen, do you think it springs from a need you have to not be alone, to be like you’re brother in a relationship, with someone? Perhaps someone who understands what you’re going through?”
Hooper’s mouth opened and closed again. “He’s not with her, that werewolf. I know that much. I mean, Booker’s got a girlfriend, but she’s a human.” Hooper said avoiding answering the question.
“Yes, but does your own jealousy of your brother making what you see as the right choice, based on a lustful whim, drive you’re own need for a relationship with someone understanding?”
Hooper shifted in the seat and leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. “Fuck, just come at me why don’t you?”
Tatum smiled a closed mouth smile and wrote notes down, that Hooper craned his neck to see. “Therapy is about confrontation of ourselves. You do it to get an understanding. I’m not supposed to keep you in your comfort zone because that’s where you like being. You don’t even like being there, Hooper.”
Wolves Bloodlines Page 3
