Sometimes you have to decide if helping others is more important than your own safety.
Finn has been free from the lab for months, but he still isn’t happy. After finding out his mate didn’t want him, he went back home to his tribe, where he is once again beaten and ignored. The mansion is the only place in which he feels safe, if only he didn’t have to face the mate who doesn’t want him...
Bryce has been heartbroken since Keenan left him. He was sure he didn’t want Finn as his mate, but finding out that the Nix is being hurt changes that. He knows he will have to grovel for Finn to forgive him, but he will gladly do that and much more to insure that Finn is safe.
While they find their way to each other, Finn uncovers a secret that might tear him apart. Will Bryce be able to win Finn’s trust and keep him safe?
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Finn
Copyright © 2015 Catherine Lievens
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0178-8
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
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Finn
Whitedell Pride 4
By
Catherine Lievens
Dedication
To Laura and Jay, my wonderful editor and editor in chief. Thank you for making this whole experience so easy.
Chapter One
The day was cold around Finn, too cold to be outside, but he didn’t have any other place to go. He tried to bundle even more in his flimsy coat, but it didn’t help much. At least the snow had stopped falling and he wasn’t sitting on the cold ground, since he had shimmered up in a tree. From there he could see inside the mansion without too many problems, even if he did feel like a peeping tom.
Finn knew he could go in and no one would tell him anything, but it was getting harder and harder to see the pity in the mansion inhabitant’s eyes. Finn didn’t even know why he still insisted on coming here. Bryce had been clear the few times he had talked with him. He didn’t want Finn, even if he was his mate. Finn had thought that for shifters, mates were about the most important things in the world, but it seemed that he was wrong, at least in Bryce’s case.
But he saw how the mated couples in the house acted toward each other, and he knew that the problem in their mating was him. The cougar didn’t want him, he wanted Keenan. It would have been better for everyone if Keenan had been Bryce’s mate, but because of Finn the three of them were miserable. He had tried to keep away, thinking that if Bryce was happy with Keenan he wouldn’t interfere. However, Keenan had rejected Bryce when he had found out about him.
As he watched the cats inside the house decorating it with Christmas decorations, he thought about the first time he had met Bryce. He had escaped from the laboratory he was being held in with Jamie. They had shimmered into the pride Alpha’s office and Bryce had been there. Finn had immediately recognized him for what he was, Finn’s soul mate. Nix didn’t rely on their sense of smell like shifters to identify their mates. They didn’t have enhanced senses like them, but they had magic, and they recognized their soul mates by sight.
When Finn had come back with Oliver, his heart had broken at seeing Keenan sitting in Bryce’s lap, the cougar kissing him even though Finn was sure Bryce knew they were mates. He hadn’t known why his soul mate was kissing another man, but he’d later found out that his mate was in love with Jamie’s brother. He had thought that Bryce would still give him a chance, since he knew how important mates were for shifters, but the man had denied him even when Keenan had ended their relationship, and he had refused to talk with Finn since then.
Yeah, Finn should probably go away and never come back, but he just couldn’t. When Jamie had told him he could come and live here after escaping from the lab, Finn had never been so happy. He wouldn’t have had to go back to his clan. That dream had shattered right away, though. He’d had to go back, even if the way he was treated by his clan was even worse than before. So Finn passed as much time as he could on the pride’s property. Dominic had told him he was welcome to move in with them if he wanted to, but Finn just couldn’t. Instead he stayed outside in the trees, watching people come and go and wishing he could be in there with them. It would have been too hard to face Keenan’s hurt and Bryce’s anger at seeing him all the time.
“Why don’t you come in? You have to be freezing up there.”
Finn jolted when he heard someone talk from below him. Scrambling to avoid losing his hold on the branch he had been huddled on and therefore crashing on the hard ground under him, Finn looked down, his eyes meeting the Alpha’s amber ones. That man seemed to always know when Finn was around, even when he didn’t actually enter the house.
“Don’t worry, both Keenan and Bryce are out right now, so you won’t see them.”
Finn thought about his options. He could refuse and stay out there, freezing, or go back to his clan. The second option wasn’t really an option, though. He had come there in the first place to avoid seeing the clan’s second after he had beaten Finn up for some imaginary offense. Finn just didn’t have the courage to go back until night fell and everyone went to sleep. There was the third option, though. He could do as Dominic suggested and go inside the mansion.
Sighing, Finn shimmered next to the Alpha, shivering as the cold air touched him now that he didn’t have the relative cover of the tree’s wood around him. He looked up at the lion, their eyes locking together, and he winced when he realized what he had done. Dominic growled, reaching for Finn’s face, and Finn snapped his eyes back down. He shouldn’t have looked up in the lion’s face, he should have known better. No one was allowed to look in the eyes of the leader of the clan or of the second, and he had done just that. Finn felt Dominic’s hand on his jaw as the lion angled his head up before asking, “Who did this to you?”
Finn frowned at the question before remembering that the clan’s second had hit him on the face, probably leaving a bruise, and that was what Dominic was seeing now. He let out the breath he had been holding. He knew Dominic wasn’t like his clan’s leader, he had seen enough proof of that, but Finn couldn’t help always thinking the worse.
Dominic growled, bringing Finn’s attention back to him. “Who did this?”
“My—my clan’s second.” Finn’s voice was so low as he answered that he wasn’t sure Dominic would hear him.
The Alpha looked into Finn’s eyes and Finn had to fight not to close them. It felt as if the man saw right through him, read him, when he looked at him like that. “Let’s go inside. I’ll fix you a mug of hot chocolate and we’ll talk.”
It always amazed Finn to see how the man behaved as if he was a normal member of the pride. He did everything on his own, not expecting anyone to grovel for him, and
it actually wasn’t the first time that he’d cooked for Finn.
He followed Dominic into the kitchen and sat down when the man gestured in the chair’s direction. He watched as the Alpha gathered everything he needed and put a small pot full of milk on the stove before taking out bread and cold cuts and making a sandwich he put down in front of Finn. Finn’s stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since the night before. He’d had to skip breakfast because the second had called him into his cabin, and when the second called, one obeyed.
Grateful, he looked up and smiled at Dominic before he started eating. Soon a steaming mug appeared in front of him and Finn grabbed it, thankful for the warmth.
“Does it happen often?” Dominic asked, indicating Finn’s face.
Finn had never talked to anyone about the way he was treated in his clan. He hadn’t actually had anyone to talk to until he had met Jamie and Oliver. Although as much as he considered the men his friends, Jamie was Keenan’s brother, and Oliver had bigger problems on his hands than Finn being roughed up.
Finn shrugged. “I guess about twice a week, sometimes more.” The lion in front of him growled and Finn flinched, even if he knew it wasn’t directed at him.
“Why don’t you move here? I know you still have problems with Bryce and Keenan, but I don’t want you to be hit like this. Even if Bryce is being stubborn, I still consider you part of this pride, and I want you safe.”
Finn rotated the mug, watching as the dark liquid inside it sloshed around. He knew that would be the best solution for him. That way he wouldn’t have to be hit and ostracized anymore, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I...I want Bryce to be happy, and he won’t be if I’m around. Besides, it’s not so bad.” Finn shrugged. “I usually manage to stay out of Karun’s way, but sometimes it can’t be helped. I’ve had worse than this, so it’s no big deal.”
Dominic opened his mouth to talk but he was interrupted by the noise of several people entering the house. “Stay here, Nix.” The lion got up and headed for the kitchen’s door, disappearing into the hallway. He came back soon after. “I’m sorry, I have to go, but I want you to stay here. I want you to move in, so we’ll talk about it when I’m done, okay?”
Finn nodded even though he knew he wouldn’t wait for the lion to come back. He waited until Dominic exited the room before shimmering away to the woods behind the small cabin he lived in.
* * * *
Bryce watched as Dominic walked back to the kitchen. He knew who was there, he had smelled it on his Alpha, and his cougar was roaring in the back of his mind to go and get his mate. It was becoming increasingly difficult to resist, but Bryce refused to be a slave to his animal’s wants. He should be the one to choose who he wanted to spend the rest of his long life with, not his cat. Still, he felt a bit guilty for the way he had been treating Finn since Keenan had broken up with him. It wasn’t the kid’s fault if he had ended up being Bryce’s mate, but the whole situation was a mess.
Dominic returned and pointed in the direction of his office. The Alpha wanted to talk with the man they had brought home, since he was a guard in one of those laboratories that experimented on shifters. Just thinking about it sent Bryce in a rage.
He knew they had experimented on Finn. Jamie had told him about the many times the Nix had been taken to the scientists and had returned with stitches and wounds, and the thought of the small man hurting made Bryce want to turn around and go grab him. He wanted to hide the fae in his room and never let him go, but then Keenan’s face appeared in his mind, making him groan. Nate looked at him, cocking an eyebrow in a question that Bryce couldn’t answer, so he shook his head and turned back to Craig, the guard. The small white weasel that the man had been trying to free was still in his arms. They had tried to take him away, to bring him to the infirmary, but the small shifter had refused to let go of the human, which was weird. Wasn’t that man working in a lab with people that had hurt the little guy?
They all piled into Dominic’s office, Casey and Nolan on the couch while Ward sat on one of the chairs and Nate on the other. Bryce indicated the last chair for Craig and stood behind the man.
“You’re the one who saved Nolan?” Dominic asked. Craig looked both stunned and worried, and Bryce could understand that. He might save small shifters when he could, but he probably wasn’t used to being with so many shifters in a room without any type of security.
“Yeah.”
Dominic looked down at the weasel. “Is it something you do often?”
The man seemed to think about it before he answered, “As much as I can, but it’s not easy. Shifters are controlled by the scientists, so I have to either fake a death or forge fake transfer papers, and I can’t do that too often.”
“Why do you do it?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Wouldn’t you do it if you were to find humans in that situation? You might be different, but it’s not a good enough reason to make you suffer like that. I just wish I could do more.” Craig turned to Nolan. “I’m sorry I had to leave you like that in the middle of the street, but I couldn’t take you home with me. I would have risked being found out, and I can’t afford that.”
Nolan nodded. “It’s okay. It was actually thanks to that, that I ended up here and that I found my mate, so I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for me.”
“Would you be willing to work with us?” Dominic asked, bringing the attention back to him.
“Depends what you have in mind, I guess.”
“We are trying to close those laboratories and to rescue the shifters, but we can’t seem to find enough information to locate them. I would like you to work for us from the inside of the Glass Research Company. You would continue to do your job for them, but on the side you would give us enough information to locate and close the labs. We would take care of every shifter we would find in them, of course.”
“How do I know I can believe you? I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but some of the people who provide us with shifters to experiment on are shifters themselves.”
Dominic’s face hardened. “We know about that. We found out a few weeks ago that the Alpha of a nearby pack sold some of his members to the Company. Luckily that man is now dead, but we weren’t able to find the wolves he sold. That’s why we need your help.”
Craig stayed silent for a while before slowly nodding his head. “I ‘ll do what I can to help you, but I need to go home soon. We’re not usually controlled outside of work, but I wouldn’t put it past the Company to check on our relationships and on what we do in our free time.” He looked down at the white weasel. “Can I leave him here?” The small shifter reacted immediately, scrambling up Craig’s chest as he tried to hide against his neck.
“Of course, we’ll take care of him.”
“You might have a hard time separating us, though. I don’t know why, but he seems to have attached himself to me.”
“I think I might know the perfect person to take care of him right now.” Dominic gestured to Jamie to come over to his desk. When the human got there they whispered for a little while before Jamie nodded and exited the room, returning soon after with his cell phone in his hand. Bryce should have guessed what Dominic had in mind when he saw his Alpha looking at him and the air in the middle of the office trembled as Finn shimmered in.
Bryce stared at his mate, his cougar roaring in his mind to reach for the small man and grab him, to push him down on the closest flat surface and finally claim him. The Nix’s clean scent reached Bryce and he felt his dick thickening in his pants, oozing pre-cum in only an instant. It was a side effect of not claiming his mate immediately, and Bryce couldn’t do anything to stop his lust from rising. Their gazes clashed together and he lost himself inside the green orbs for just a few seconds before his mate turned away. Bryce could tell the fae was as affected as him by their sudden vicinity. His cheeks were flushed, his hands trembling as Dominic talked to him.
Bryce took his f
ill of his mate, tracing Finn’s body with his eyes until he reached his face. That was when he really noticed the bruise on his mate’s jaw and the black eye. A low growl filled the room and he realized he was he one doing it when everyone turned to watch him. Finn’s eyes were wide and full of fear, as if he thought that Bryce was growling at him, and Bryce could only blame himself for making the Nix wary of him. It hurt him, though. He didn’t want his mate to be scared of him.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to meet Nate’s eyes. He knew he had to calm down. Finn might be his mate, but Bryce hadn’t and wouldn’t claim him, so it was none of his business what had happened to the man.
He struggled to keep his cougar under control as he watched Dominic talking to Finn and the Nix going down on his knees in front of Craig. Another growl made his way through Bryce’s throat, but this time he managed to keep it in. Even so, a jealous rage filled him. His mate should kneel only in front of him! The hand on his shoulder tightened as Bryce tried to step forward—it stopped him from doing something foolish.
Bryce took a deep breath and watched as Finn softly talked to the white weasel, coaxing him first into peeking at him from Craig’s neck, then into leaving the man’s lap and climbing into Finn’s arms. The man stroked the white fur as Dominic told him which room he could take the small shifter into, and Bryce couldn’t take his eyes off the small hand sinking into the soft fur. His cat longed to feel their mate pet him as he was doing with the weasel. A spike of jealousy rose as Bryce realized that the weasel might be in animal form right now, but was actually a male who could steal his mate from him.
This time Nate had to grab Bryce’s waist to keep him from jumping forward and wrenching his mate away from the shifter. Finn’s eyes widened in fear right before he popped out of the room, disappearing from Bryce’s sight. The cougar roared, needing his mate to be near, but various hands on him kept Bryce away from him.
Finn Page 1
