Thomas crossed his arms on his chest. “It’s not like I spend my days doing nothing, you know.”
“I know, but no one seems to need a plumber at the moment.” Zach’s face was still off, and Thomas decided that he’d had enough of people being scared of him because he was always in a foul mood.
“I do have clients outside the pack, I just had a lot to think about lately, but I didn’t abandon them.”
“That’s not what I was saying.”
Thomas nodded. He was the one who took care of the pack’s pipes, but it wasn’t a full time job, not even with the high number of members they had. He used to take human clients too, but after scaring one too many old ladies with his bitching, he had put that on hiatus. He was glad he could start doing that again, and hopefully his old clients hadn’t forgotten about him. “I’m sorry.”
Zach’s eyes widened just a bit before he could stop himself and school his expression. “About what?”
“About being an ass for so long.” Thomas couldn’t tell Zach about Craig yet, but he could tell him about what had happened with Laura. He had to tell the alpha couple anyway, if he wanted to find another house.
“It’s... okay. I understand things have been hard after Erskine lost his challenge, and not everyone had an easy time getting used to how things are now.”
“What do you mean? You think I felt better when Erskine was alpha?” Now Thomas was offended. Okay, so he was an asshole, but he didn’t think he was so much of an asshole that people would think he was sorry Erskine wasn’t their alpha anymore.
Zach looked a little distressed. He obviously wasn’t used to acting as the alpha mate yet, and Thomas wasn’t making things easier for him. Another thing to feel guilty for. “No, no. I just meant it’s not easy to get used to something new when you’ve lived one way all your life.”
“You’re right, it’s not easy, especially if you’ve been living a lie for the bigger part of that life.”
“What do you mean?”
Thomas took a deep breath. Once he told Zach about himself, there was no going back, ever. “Laura and I weren’t in love when we got married. You’re too young to know that, but when Erskine became alpha, he pushed a lot of people to get married and have kids. He wanted more pack members to control and use, I guess, and he couldn’t have them if we didn’t reproduce. Laura isn’t my mate, and I wouldn’t have married her if I hadn’t had to then. I love her, but as a friend, not as a wife. In fact... I’m gay.”
Zach’s face would have been funny if Thomas hadn’t been so scared of rejection. He knew Zach was as gay as he was, but it was still engrained in him to keep it a secret and expect pain when he didn’t. Still, the almost perfect O of Zach’s mouth and his wide eyes were funny, and Thomas chuckled.
“Gay?”
“Yep. That’s why I was so angry lately. I never thought I would have the opportunity to really be myself, but Kameron challenged Erskine and won and I suddenly had to make a decision.”
“Coming out and hurt your family or keeping it hidden and hurt yourself.”
“Exactly.”
“I take it you finally decided.”
“Yeah, and I need a place to stay, possibly big enough to have rooms for Elias and Carissa. I know there are a few free houses but I don’t think Stan’s would be the right one, not with the kids.” That, and he didn’t want to live in a house where Zach and his sister had been abused. Not that the other house was better, what with it being Renaldo’s old house, but it wasn’t as bad.
Zach grimaced. “Craig also needs a place and I know he wanted to see the houses, but I don’t know which one he chose.”
Thomas’s heart missed a beat. He didn’t know Craig all that well, but he couldn’t imagine the man living in an isolated house, so he had probably picked Renaldo’s. Thomas could easily see himself live in it with his mate and his kids, but he knew it wasn’t going to happen soon. “Oh, okay. Do you think I could stay here for now? Until I find a place?”
“Of course you can,” Kameron said from the door, and Thomas turned to look at his alpha.
“You heard everything, right?”
Kameron nodded and walked to his mate. He kissed the top of Zach’s head as Zach stood from the chair, leaving it for Kameron before sitting on his lap. “I’m sorry I eavesdropped, but I didn’t want to disturb your confession, and you know Zach would have told me anyway.”
“It’s okay, I would have told you if I had found you here today instead of Zach.”
“So that’s what’s been bugging you for the past few months?” Thomas nodded. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“Like Zach said, I needed to make a decision, and no one could have helped me, not yet. Now that I decided what I want to do, it’s different.”
“Craig already decided to take Renaldo’s house, so you’ll have to stay here for a while, but we’ll find a solution.”
Thomas could only hope that solution would include a mate bite and lots of sex with said mate, but he couldn’t exactly say that to Kameron. “Sure.”
“As for your assignment... since you don’t have to convince Craig to become a pack member anymore, you can help him with his stuff. He has a storage unit somewhere and he needs help to empty it.”
“I’ll do it.”
Kameron narrowed his eyes. “Since we cleared the air I expect you to be easier to live with from now on. I’m not telling you to come out to the whole pack if it’s not what you want, but I don’t want you to keep on being an asshole.”
“I won’t.”
“All right. Craig is in the living room. Go talk to him and make plans.” Kameron waved Thomas away and he knew he was being dismissed. The alpha probably wanted some quality time with his mate, if the way he was looking at Zach was any indication of it.
Thomas stood up and left the room, not even bothering to say goodbye. The couple probably wouldn’t even have heard him since they’d already locked their lips together. He went looking for his mate instead, his wolf happily yipping at the thought in his mind, at least until he entered the living room and froze.
Craig was there all right, but he wasn’t alone. His arms were wrapped around Jago and the smaller shifter was looking up while Craig looked down. Jago’s face was flushed and it was obvious that the two had been kissing.
Thomas’s wolf took control. Oh, Thomas knew what was happening and he could have stopped it, but he had no real desire to do it. He moved fast, placing himself behind Craig and grabbing the short hair on the side of his head. He heard a gasp and saw Jago’s eyes grow huge, but he didn’t care.
Thomas pulled Craig’s head to the side, taking care not to hurt him, not even when he started to turn around. Thomas’s fangs punched through his gums and he struck.
They sank easily into Craig’s neck and a spurt of sweet-tasting blood hit his tongue, making him moan. He felt Craig tense, but he was too far gone to care, not even when yells and shouts filled the room around him. Thomas was claiming his mate, and that was the only important thing in the world at that moment.
Chapter Five
Craig froze when he felt the sharp fangs penetrate his neck. He didn’t know what was happening or how to stop Thomas without tearing the teeth out of his neck and hurting himself, and he hoped Jago would react, call for help, but he seemed to be as frozen as Craig was.
Thomas’s hand left Craig’s head to slide around his waist and Craig tensed. The bite hurt, but the pain was fading as Thomas’s mouth lingered on it. What had started as painful was becoming ecstasy, and Craig didn’t know how that was possible. It didn’t make sense, and he wanted nothing more than to move away, but he didn’t know how without hurting himself even more.
He felt Thomas suck on the wound and realized the man was drinking his blood, but the man was holding him tight enough that Craig couldn’t move. His cock had gone from soft to rock hard just with the bite, and that was enough to puzzle him. Craig frowned, but he didn’t
actually have the time to think. Thomas’s hand landed on his groin and pressed down, and that along with the pulls on his neck were taking him closer and closer to orgasm as the seconds passed.
Craig shuddered and grabbed Thomas’s wrists, not caring about anything else in the room. He wasn’t trying to pull away anymore, far from it. The only thing he wanted was to throw the man down and have his wicked way with him, so when he felt the fangs in his neck retreat, Craig turned around. He growled at the look of bliss on Thomas’s face even if it quickly transformed into a mix of surprise and oh shit, and he clearly wasn’t expecting Craig to throw his arms around him and mash their lips together.
Not that Craig had been expecting to kiss Thomas again, but at that moment, he really didn’t care. He felt like doing it, and he didn’t eve care that the man had just bit him as if he were a vampire.
Who knew biting would turn me on.
Thomas didn’t react right away and Craig pushed himself against his body, his tongue coming out and sliding on Thomas’s lips to coax him into responding. It seemed to do the trick, because Craig felt two strong arms going around him, pulling him closer just as Thomas opened his mouth and their tongues met.
It was heaven. Craig wouldn’t have been able to explain why it felt so good and right, but he knew he’d found something precious. He explored Thomas’s mouth with his tongue, licked and nipped, and Thomas wasn’t far behind.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Kameron’s voice was enough to snap Craig out of whatever state he had been in. He opened his eyes and looked at Thomas, who was still cradling him as close as he could. Craig knew something big had just happened, but he didn’t know what. Since Thomas had been the one to bite him, Craig wanted him to be the one to explain, possibly before Kameron decided to bite both their heads off.
“Thomas? Mind explaining why the fuck you bit him?”
Feeling this was going to be hard on his temper, Craig disentangled himself from Thomas’s arms. Thomas shot him a wounded glance but he didn’t try to touch Craig again and Craig turned to face Kameron.
The alpha wasn’t the only one there, but he definitely was the angrier one. His eyes were flashing and Craig could have sworn he’d seen a fang gleam as Kameron moved.
Other people had ran to Craig’s aid, and now he was facing Zach, Jago, Duncan and a woman and two men Craig didn’t know. All of them looked both shocked and indignant, except for Duncan, who was smirking.
“What did you do to him?” Jago snarled, moving toward Craig. Before he could actually touch him, Thomas growled and grabbed Craig’s wrist, pulling him behind his back.
Craig didn’t know if he should have found the protective gesture endearing or offensive, but if he was honest with himself, it was actually quite funny. Jago was several inches shorter than Craig was, and while he was a shifter, he lacked the muscle-mass Craig sported, and the training, but Thomas still seemed to think he had to protect Craig from the other shifter.
Craig patted Thomas’s back and stepped aside. “Jago won’t hurt me.”
“He didn’t hide you because he thought Jago would hurt you,” Duncan pointed out. “He did it because he doesn’t want Jago to be close to you.”
“Why?”
“Yes, Thomas. Please explain why you’re doing this,” Kameron asked, and Craig felt irritated. He was the one Thomas had bitten, and he should be the one asking for explanations. For some reason he didn’t want all these people with them when Thomas did tell him what had just happened.
“He’s my mate.”
That explained everything, really. Craig knew what mates were, of course, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t understood what was happening when Thomas had bit him. He just hadn’t expected to actually be a shifter’s mate, never mind Thomas’s. “Your mate? You’re sure of that? Like, a hundred percent sure?”
Thomas turned to face him. His face was hard and expressionless, and Craig wasn’t sure what to do. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with an angry wolf shifter that thought he was being rejected by his mate. “Yes.”
“But you’re married!” someone exclaimed behind them, and Craig’s brain started again.
“Wait, so you’re saying that you’ve been married to a woman for years but I’m your mate anyway?”
“And he just claimed you,” Jago added, and Craig felt ready to explode. Zach and Duncan weren’t saying anything, but the three Craig didn’t know couldn’t seem to shut up, and it wasn’t helping.
“What the fuck, Thomas?”
“How could you do this to Laura?”
“Since when are you gay?”
Since Kameron was doing his best impression of a dead fish, Craig took it on himself to free some space in the living room. “Shut up!” He turned to the three. “This has nothing to do with you. I don’t even know you, so go. Away.”
The woman opened her mouth but Thomas’s growl stopped her from saying anything. “You heard him.”
Her eyes hardened. “I’m going to Laura.”
It was obviously a threat, but Thomas just chuckled, although it wasn’t a happy sound. “You do that, Elianor.”
Elianor huffed and stomped to the door, the two men following her without having to be told so again. Craig took a deep breath. Now he only had to deal with the people he knew. Oh joy.
“Duncan, you don’t seem surprised.”
Duncan smiled. “I kind of knew you were Thomas’s mate, but I wasn’t expecting him to do this.” He gestured in Craig’s direction. “That’s not what I meant when I said he had to let you get to know him.”
Craig pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, now could you please go?”
“‘Course. You know where to find me if you need me.” He waved and headed to the door, letting it bang behind himself.
Jago was gaping at him, and Craig sighed. “Jago, I know you want to talk about it and stuff, but please, can we do this later?” He didn’t like the fact that Thomas was obviously jealous of the smaller shifter, and he didn’t want Jago to get hurt, so he was relieved when the man just nodded and exited the room.
Now only Thomas and the alpha couple remained, and Craig turned to Thomas. “What the fuck, man?”
Thomas bristled and stood taller. “You were kissing him.”
Craig frowned. “I wasn’t.”
“I saw you!”
“I wasn’t, but even if I was, it wasn’t any of your business!”
“You’re my mate!”
“Oh, yeah, and you couldn’t just tell me? You had to claim me like, like an animal instead?”
Thomas reeled back as if Craig had hit him. “Oh, right, I forgot you had no intention to pass the rest of your life with me. Don’t worry, you can still walk away and be happy with Jago.”
Craig only now understood how much what he’d said the day before had hurt Thomas, and while he was sorry he’d said them, it wasn’t a good enough reason for what Thomas had just done. “I already told you I don’t want him! This has nothing to do with Jago, it has to do with the fact that you claimed me without even asking me if I was okay with it!”
“Guys, please. There’s no need to bite heads off,” Zach intervened, and since Craig didn’t want to fight with Kameron, he bit his lower lip to stop his next words from coming out.
“Okay, Thomas. I know you just told us you were gay, but you already knew Craig was your mate.”
Thomas gave the alpha a curt nod.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He had to be the first to know.”
“Yeah, and see how well it went,” Craig muttered.
Thomas scowled and Kameron went on, “I’m not sure you actually succeeded with that. What happened?”
“I came in and they were kissing! What would you have done if you had found Zach kissing another man?”
“We weren’t kissing, for god’s sake! How many times do I have to tell you?”
“It
sure looked like it to me!”
A hand landed on Craig’s nape and he startled. He turned to face Kameron even as the alpha used his hold to steer him toward the door. “I think you both need some time to cool off if you don’t want to say something you’ll regret. Thomas, head out and go patrol with Andy.” Thomas opened his mouth to protest and Kameron narrowed his eyes. “You’ll do what I say, and you won’t protest. I know you want to talk with Craig, but you’ll only end up fighting right now. He told you he wasn’t kissing Jago, and you should believe him. Now go.”
Thomas looked like he didn’t want to go, but he obeyed his alpha, giving Craig one last glance before closing the door behind himself. Kameron turned to Craig. “Now, you. I know you don’t like Thomas all that much, but you should give him a chance. You’re his mate.”
Craig scoffed. “I’m human. It doesn’t mean much to me.”
“But it does to him. You’re the man who should complete him and understand him better than anyone else, and the same goes for him. You won’t ever find another man who will love you as much as he does.”
“Love me? He’s married, for god’s sake!”
“You don’t know everything,” Zach said softly. “It’s not my story to tell, but Thomas didn’t have a choice in his marriage. Now that he found you, he’s already trying to make some changes. He talked with Laura, and he’s moving out of the house where he’s lived for the past twenty years.”
That stopped Craig. Thomas was obviously taking this seriously, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing. Still, giving Thomas at least a chance to explain himself wouldn’t cost him anything but a little time, and he had plenty of that at the moment. “Fine. I’ll give him a chance to talk.”
Zach smiled. “That’s all we ask for.”
* * * *
Thomas had been in a foul mood since leaving the alpha house, and it hadn’t improved yet. It probably wouldn’t, not since he was about to step into his house—Laura’s house. He took a deep breath, clutching to whatever was the closest he could be to calm, because he didn’t want to snap at Laura or the kids. It was the last thing he needed.
Craig [Gilham Pack: 3] Page 8
