He hadn’t been expecting this sort of treatment. It was almost unnerving to realize how much attention Nathan paid to him. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Nathan insisted. He sounded stubborn. Simon had dealt with plenty of ornery kids in his day, and this wasn’t anything like that. This was the stubbornness of a very mature man who knew what was right, and who would have his say no matter the consequences. The consequences be damned, anyway. It was none of his concern if what he said was upsetting to someone else, not if he was correcting them for their own good.
“You and I are men of routine. We know what we have to do each day, and we do it. We deal with the difficulties that come our way. The only way to do that is to stick to the routine. In all the time I’ve known you, you have never gone without coffee. Something has changed.”
“Maybe I did quit.”
“For a health reason? If so, that’s important information for me to know.”
“Not if it isn’t life-threatening. You’re just my boss. You don’t need to know about it if my heart skips a beat every now and again. Arrhythmia is a fairly common ailment with all sorts of causes.”
“And do you have arrhythmia?” Nathan demanded.
Simon looked away. He couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t lie out loud when spoken to like that by this man, though his actions gave away the answer clearly enough.
“So, you’re making up excuses to hide a problem, yet you say nothing’s wrong. Can you understand why I’m a little bit confused?”
Simon tossed his hands up into the air. “Geez, Nathan. I didn’t drink coffee today. So? Why do you think that gives you the right to know why? You noticed something? Congratulations.”
Some of the other teachers said he can be overbearing. I’m starting to realize what they meant.
Nathan opened his mouth then closed it again. His broad shoulders slumped slightly, and his bright amber eyes darkened, dim headlights in the quiet room. “I thought I was more than just your boss.”
“You…Oh. You mean…Explain?”
Nathan blushed. It was the first time Simon had ever seen him look embarrassed, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. A wolf like this had no right to be uncertain of himself. “Not like that. I just thought it meant more.”
Between the realms of boss and secret lovers, was there anything else? Another gradient, a shade of purpose that Simon hadn’t been aware of? Could you have feelings for the superior you slept with, without them being either sexual or subordinate?
“You’re interested in me as a person,” Simon said. It was the closest he could get to what he thought Nathan meant.
Looking relieved, Nathan nodded. “I care about you, even if we aren’t…Well. Anyway.”
“I care about you, too.” Simon paused. This alpha was meant to be his mate. If there was someone who could say this, surely it was him. “You just came on a bit strong there.”
“I did? I didn’t know. Let me try again.” Nathan cleared his throat. Turning away and then turning back, he acted as if he was seeing Simon for the first time. “Hello, Simon. You seem different today. Is everything going well?”
It was the old, cliched reintroduction trick, seen in dozens of romance movies all across the world. Simon saw enough of it just flipping through the TV channels. He always rolled his eyes and wondered who could possibly fall for that.
The answer was apparently that he himself could fall for it, because he found himself smiling a little. “Hi, Nathan. I’ve actually been feeling a little unwell the past couple of days. It’s no big deal. Thank you for your concern.” He added, “That was much better.”
Nathan seemed pleased that he’d done well. His expression was of an enormous puppy who had just grabbed that his ass on the floor and the command “sit” were connected. “I’m sorry I tried to jump you. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known.”
“Well, you didn’t know. So, it’s okay.”
“Is it your stomach?” Nathan touched his own middle, as if in demonstration.
“I feel fine right now.”
“I know that isn’t true, and you didn’t answer the question.”
“Nathan. Back it up a little, okay? You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what? Oh. Overbearing.” Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. He thought long and hard, then turned back to Simon. “I’m going to have to pay more attention to that if it annoys you.”
Well, it annoys a lot of people, but I guess doing it for one person would be a nice start.
Mostly, Simon was just astonished that the alpha was willing to listen to him.
“In any case, you’re going home.”
“Excuse me?” Simon’s jaw dropped. He stared at Nathan. “Nate, are you serious? I have so much work to do.”
“And it can wait. We’re more alike than I initially thought, if you’re willing to continue working even after feeling unwell for several days. You won’t get any better if you keep pushing yourself.”
This didn’t exactly seem like the time to inform Nathan that he had been planning on just doing some easier work instead. The alpha wouldn’t care. “I’m a wolf. I think I can handle it.”
“I’m also a wolf.” Nathan opened his mouth, flashed his fangs in demonstration. “And as much of a stubborn ass as I am, even I know that we have our limits. Endurance is only possible with the necessary fuel. In your case, that means rest.”
“And plenty of fluids and vitamins.”
“I see Elaine’s already gotten to you. Don’t be surprised if she gets your address from me and shows up with homemade soup.”
“I hate chicken noodle,” Simon grimaced. “If I go home, will you keep her from doing that? I’d hate to see her waste the effort.”
“I’m sure she’d be willing to make a different kind for you. Or, I can always order some for you. What would you prefer instead?”
“I think I’d just prefer to go home and go to bed. I haven’t really been sleeping well lately, either.”
“It’s no wonder, if you’ve been sick.” Nathan walked over to the supply closet door and pushed it open. He gestured through the opening. “I’ll walk you out to your car.”
Simon slipped past the alpha’s broad form and started to head across the gym floor. He’d polished it again recently, and the surface glittered like unbroken arctic ice. He could see Nathan’s reflection as the other wolf followed quickly, then fell into step beside him.
His lack of sleep had nothing to do with whatever mysterious disappearing illness he’d acquired, since it usually didn’t stick around even this late into the day. Instead, his thoughts were often preoccupied by that weird strike of presence which kept occurring. He kept waiting and waiting for it to return but it never did, only making itself known when he was feeling particularly unwell. The fact that all the sensations then faded together led him to believe that they were connected. Someone was doing something to him, or someone was watching what was happening to him for their own amusement. He could think of no other options.
Simon was very aware of Elaine’s gaze following him all the way past her office, keenly interested because of the way Nathan was keeping pace alongside him like a loyal bodyguard.
There were only a few scattered cars in the parking lot, and Simon headed straight for his. Teachers mostly parked alongside the shorter end of the building, perpendicular from here, where some of them had plaques with their names on it; Simon didn’t have a plaque and probably wouldn’t be receiving one anytime soon, so he had taken up a space in the very rear corner of the lot. It was very much not a prime location, but at least no parents would be pissed that he was hogging up what they considered to be their space.
Nathan gave his van a quick glance up and down. A Town and Country minivan, it was relatively new and in good shape. Simon kept the huge vehicle as clean as he could, inside as well as out, so the bronzed exterior glowed in the sunlight. When he had dirty, muddy kids tromping all over the place, perhaps giving a few o
f them rides home, it would be harder to do that. Luckily, he had invested a significant amount of money into cheap towels to toss over the floor and seats.
“Very economical,” Nathan said.
“It makes me feel old to drive, so I guess that’s a better way to put it.”
“Very modest.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Very soccer-mom.”
Simon glared at the principal, who grinned back at him. “I’m the ultimate soccer mom here and don’t you forget it. That’s what you hired me for, after all.”
“I’m glad I did. In all seriousness, it’s a nice van. I’m surprised it wouldn’t start the other day.”
“Mechanics told me the problem was something electrical.”
“Ah. I’m no longer surprised.”
The two of them stood there together in silence for a moment. Nathan leaned forward, his lips starting to part, and then he drew away again as soon as Simon started to respond. “We shouldn’t. Not out here.”
A pang of regret shook through him and then settled deep in the pit of his abdomen. Turning his head away, Simon nodded. “I understand.”
And I don’t know why it feels like I should ask for it anyway. Like I should ask for something more.
Nathan was to be his mate, but he had no idea how to cross that threshold. Best to just keep going.
“I guess I should get going.” Simon pulled his keys out of his pocket and jangled them, as if this statement needed clarification.
“Do you need me to follow you home, just in case?”
Simon smiled at him, but shook his head. “I’m fine. Really, I am.”
“All right. Be sure to take as much time as you need before coming back. We can always make accommodations, especially for you.”
Simon nodded, not sure how to respond to that, and then turned towards his van once more. Nathan stepped backwards reluctantly, then took several more steps as if he was finding it hard to leave. His eyes glittered like twin suns; he shook his head, then turned towards the school and walked away.
Climbing up into the driver’s seat, Simon stuck the keys in the ignition and backed out of the parking spot. He started to drive home, making an extra effort to be careful even though his thoughts were in tangles. Too much was happening all at once, and he didn’t know what to make of it.
I should stop thinking. Start acting. Like I always tell the teams I coach.
He reached his house, which looked pretty small and insignificant compared to its neighbors. When he first moved in, he’d only meant to rent but then the owner announced he had plans to sell the home in the future, so he bought it to avoid dealing with a change in landlords. It wasn’t much, but it was his now.
The yard looked a little crispy. He should have been watering it each morning, but he’d been neglecting it because of his strange morning experiences.
He should have watered it now but all he wanted to do was go inside and take a nap. The grass would just have to survive on its own for now.
Turning off the engine, Simon pocketed his car keys and slid out of the van. The harsh, summer sunlight burned against the back of his neck, and he hurried towards the patch of shade underneath the overhang above his tiny front porch. Without thinking, he grabbed the doorknob.
It should have been locked. He always locked it, then tapped the wall twice to drive it into his memory. The trick he had learned years ago to better be able to recall such insignificant events like this had never failed him. He remembered tapping the wall this morning. He had locked the damn door.
The door was yanked open from the inside, and a flash of silver emerged from the shadows within the house.
“No sudden movements.”
Simon looked at the man who had broken into his home, his face obscured by a black ski mask, and prepared to die.
8
From the look Elaine gave him, she knew exactly what Nathan was up to when he re-entered the office and told her he would be stepping out for a bit.
“Did Simon go home?” she had asked.
“He wasn’t feeling well,” Nathan had responded briskly, which wasn’t exactly an answer to her questions. He also didn’t mention where he was going. He was aware of her eyes following him all the way to the front doors of the school, and he knew her thoughts would haunt him for a long while yet. She was a brilliant woman, and he would have been lost without her, though sometimes he thought she might be a little smarter than he liked.
He would just have to trust her integrity, because he didn’t have time to spare if he was going to follow Simon home.
His own car was a baby-blue Chevy Malibu, one of the latest models. He loved the little car to death. That fact didn’t matter. What did matter was that Simon had no idea what he drove, which meant he wouldn’t know that he was being followed. Nathan intended to do nothing other than follow the other wolf to ensure he got home safely. It wasn’t supposed to turn into anything creepy or significant. He was only a concerned employer, keeping his employee safe.
That was all. Right?
His intentions all changed the moment he saw Simon pause after opening his front door. Nathan drove slowly by, obeying the lowered speed limit—deaf children in the area and all that—and so he was able to see the odd hesitation. There was something about it that just struck him as wrong, sending a chill down his spine. He slammed his foot down on the brake, sending up a spray of gravel.
Simon didn’t seem to notice. He was staring inside the open door of his own home, talking to someone in the pitch blackness of the exterior. Nathan could see a vague suggestion of dark clothes and nothing else.
Slowly, Simon lifted his hands up. He held them with the palms facing the other person, as if he was trying to appease them or talk them down.
“Oh, fuck this,” Nathan snarled.
He got out of the car just as Simon stepped inside the house. The door was shoved shut behind him, slamming so hard that dust actually tumbled down off the roof.
Nathan’s fangs filled his mouth, summoned by fear and anger. The urge to become a wolf was overpowering, but he fought it back, knowing that he couldn’t be certain of who might accidentally see him. His hands curled into fists as he marched up to the front door and pounded on it. No one called to him and no one came to answer the door. He didn’t hear footsteps or any other sounds that might signal that anyone was even in the house at all.
Nathan growled again, “Fuck this.”
Trying the knob, he found it locked.
Taking a few paces back, Nathan stuck his shoulder out and rammed the door with as much force as he could manage. An enormous, resounding thud echoed out across the neighborhood, deafeningly loud. The door frame cracked, and the door buckled where he had struck against it. Bouncing off the bent surface, Nathan dug his feet against the concrete of the porch and threw himself forward again.
This time, he didn’t hear anything at all. He broke through the door, not knowing if he had shattered it or just knocked it off its hinges, and hit the ground hard; rolling over, he shifted midway through the motion and came up on all four paws as a wolf.
Distant shouting came from the direction of a nearby hallway. Flattening his ears back against his skull, Nathan charged down the hall as fast as he could. His senses were raging, blood pounding through his veins. Red fury covered his vision, casting everything in a sickly light.
Simon’s scent, mingled with a stranger’s, clearly led in this direction. Even without the trail to follow, Nathan would have known where to go. He could sense Simon, could feel the omega, was guided towards him like a magnet.
The hallway was short, and there were only a few doors. Nathan barged through the right one just as someone tried to shut it. The pads on his hind paw were slammed between the door and the frame. He hardly felt it, whipping around to face the unknown assailant.
The man held a gun, pointing it right at Nathan’s head. His face was obscured by a black mask, not that Nathan needed to see his face to know everything about h
im in an instant. Young male, early twenties, if that. He wasn’t drunk, wasn’t high, and he wasn’t angry; in fact, he was terrified out of his fucking mind.
The gun shook and jerked in his hand. His fingers were shaking like crazy. One wrong twitch and it would all be over.
“Shit,” the man said.
Definitely younger than Twenty. Eighteen at most.
The man’s voice rasped and squeaked, rising up in pitch. “There’s another one? He only told me about one! Shit!”
His fingers twitched again, and he tightened his grip on the pistol. The metal glistened with his sweat.
Digging his paws against the carpet, Nathan crouched down low. His hackles bristled. He snarled.
The man took an uncertain step backwards, and that was when the pistol fired.
Nathan didn’t move an inch as the shot went wide, thudding into the ground several feet behind him. Splinters of wood and shreds of carpet fiber hit his legs.
“Shit,” the man tried to say again. The word was forming on his lips, poised to fall. Pushing forward with all his strength, Nathan slammed into the man and brought him down. He opened his jaws, prepared to bite, prepared to do anything that was required of him to win this fight to save Simon’s life.
The man lay limp underneath him, breathing heavily. He clearly wasn’t dead, but all the combativeness had left him.
Nathan didn’t dare let his guard down. Keeping his huge front paws planted on the man’s stomach, he bent his head down low and snarled into the man’s face. All he did was turn his head away. He didn’t protest or even try to wipe away the threads of saliva that spattered his cheeks. Just like that, he was down.
Not human.
The shifter scent about this man was so incredibly faint that he hadn’t noticed until now. The familiar musk of another wolf was lost beneath the odors of human, suggesting that this man hardly ever embraced his animal side.
Feral shifters were people who lost their grip on humanity, succumbing fully to the animal nature inside them. This seemed to be the opposite of that. This man, whoever he was, had completely rejected his wolf.
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