Kelan paid for the drinks when they arrived and tossed a few dollars into the jar. Before Andre was called away again, Jake decided to try his luck.
“Andre, did you see the young guy I was talking to last night?”
“You mean Cary?”
Jake was so relieved he could have kissed the man.
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“Sure, I know him.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
Andre narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you? I’ve seen you with him a few times.”
Jake’s face filled with heat.
A few times?
He could only remember the once, not counting the few moments he’d spoken to Cary the night before. But then, Jake often forgot the names and faces of the men he took home. That would certainly explain why Cary had been so pissed off about Jake forgetting his name the week before.
“I never got his address.”
“What do you want him for?” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously then his gaze shifted from Jake to Kelan. “He in some kind of trouble?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Jake reassured. “Actually, I’m worried about him.”
Andre frowned. “Has that loser of an ex been sniffing around again?”
Jake thought back to the argument he had seen Cary involved in the night before. He hadn’t recognized the man, but they’d definitely looked as though they knew each other well.
You didn’t get involved in arguments like that with complete strangers.
“I think so,” Jake said. “I saw him here with someone last night. The guy was shouting at him. Cary looked upset when he left, so I wanted to check he was okay.”
Andre’s eyes darkened. “That piece of crap was in here? He’d better not show his face again or I’ll kick his ass.”
“The guy trouble?” Kelan asked.
“A real low-life. Used to beat up on Cary, from what I’ve heard, until Cary got wise to his ass and kicked him out a while back.”
“What’s his name?” Jake asked.
“Gill. But you don’t want to mess with him. The guy’s not right in the head if you know what I mean. He recently started showing up at some of the leather clubs I go to. Fancies himself a Dom, I think, but he crosses the line.
“Most of the subs I know wouldn’t be caught dead with him.”
Kelan nodded his thanks. “We’ll be careful.”
Andre sighed. “Cary and I went out a couple of times, but it never amounted to much. We didn’t have the same…interests. Even so, he’s a great guy. I wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to him. I kinda feel protective of him, you know?”
“I understand,” Kelan said. “We don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Jake smiled gratefully at the bartender. “Thanks, Andre. We appreciate the help.”
Ten minutes later, Kelan and Jake left Liberties with Cary’s address in hand.
It was only a few blocks away from the bar, not too far away from where Jake himself lived.
“It looks like Cary’s ex could be the shifter that’s been bothering you.”
Jake nodded. “Cary is really sweet. I was hoping it wasn’t him but, well, I’m not sure of anything anymore.”
Kelan tried not to let Jake’s words make him feel jealous.
He couldn’t wait to get Jake home to Texas with him. He knew his mate had a past, as did he, but he wasn’t sure how many more of Jake’s hookups he could stand to meet.
“Is this the place?” He stopped outside an old tenement building that had long since seen better days.
Jake squinted in the darkness at the slip of paper in his hand.
“Yeah, this is the right address.”
Kelan frowned, taking in the building’s dated and run-down façade. “Christ, it’s a dump.”
Jake pressed the number on the keypad outside the main entrance door. He waited for an answer and then buzzed again.
“Shit, what are we going to do now?” He looked around the building for another entrance.
Kelan stepped forwards and pressed every number on the keypad.
“Hello,” a gruff male voice barked out.
Kelan grinned. “Pizza delivery.”
Jake raised an eyebrow when the door in front of them was buzzed open.
“Huh. Why didn’t I think of that?”
They made their way up to the fourth floor of the building. When they found Cary’s apartment, they knocked on the door and waited.
“I guess he’s not home,” Jake said.
“He’s home. I can smell him in there. He’s a shifter, definitely a cat but not the one from the alley and your apartment.”
“Then it has to be his ex.”
“It would seem so, yes.”
Jake knocked on Cary’s door again.
“He’s afraid,” Kelan said. “His apartment reeks of fear.”
“Cary! It’s Jake, open up!” Jake shouted through the closed door.
A moment later, they heard several locks on the door snick open. Cary peered out tentatively from behind the barrier.
“Jake? What are you doing here?”
Jake gasped evidently noticing the cuts and bruises adorning Cary’s face at the same time Kelan did. The young man’s left eye was swollen and half-closed, and his lip was split.
“What the hell happened to your face?” Jake asked. “Let me in.”
“You can’t be here,” Cary said. “Go away. Please.”
“Cary, let me in. We just want to talk to you.”
“We?”
Cary pulled the door a couple of inches wider, his eyes widening when he finally noticed Kelan standing beside Jake and took in his height and stature. He subtly sniffed the air between them, and the moment he realized Kelan was a wolf showed clearly on his face.
He appeared terrified.
“Who is he?” Cary asked, trembling.
“I’m Jake’s mate.” Kelan tried to keep his voice low and as non-threatening as possible. “Can you let us in? We really need to talk to you.”
“Mate?” Cary squeaked. “What do you want with me?”
“We just want to talk to you, Cary. It’s important.”
“You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”
“Don’t worry,” Kelan soothed. “Gill won’t hurt you while I’m here. I promise you.”
Cary looked shocked by Kelan’s statement then resignation set in. He sighed and pulled the door wider to allow them access. When they were inside, Cary closed the apartment door behind them, re-bolting each of the locks in turn.
Finally, he turned to face them, shoulders slumped.
“How do you know about Gill?”
“Did he do this to your face?” Kelan asked, ignoring the question.
Cary nodded then strode past them into the living room, gesturing for them to follow.
“Yes,” he said, quietly as he sat an easy chair in the corner of the room, his eyes downcast. “Take a seat.”
Jake glanced around the small, cramped apartment. Cary had made the best of the small space, but the furnishings were old and well-worn. Kelan sat down on the end of the threadbare sofa and Jake sat next to him.
“Jake was attacked last night,” Kelan said. “It happened in the alley behind Liberties. We think it was Gill.”
Cary gasped and looked at Jake wide-eyed.
“What? Are you okay? What happened?”
“I saw you arguing with someone in Liberties,” Jake said. “You looked upset, so I followed you to make sure you were okay. I lost you in an alley and when I turned to leave, there was a large, black panther blocking my way. It attacked me.”
Tears filled Cary’s eyes. “This is my fault. I’m sorry to drag you into it. Gill saw us together at Liberties and he told me to stay away from you, but I never thought he’d really hurt you, I swear.”
“Gill broke into Jake’s apartment the other night, too,” Kelan said. “And he’s been leaving notes, threatening notes.”
; “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Why don’t you tell us what’s been going on with your ex?” Kelan suggested. “Maybe we can help.”
A tear slid down Cary’s cheek.
He lifted a hand to wipe it away, but more fell in its place.
“Gill isn’t just my ex,” Cary said. “He’s my mate.”
Jake’s mouth fell open in shock. “Your what?”
Kelan’s expression darkened. “That son of a bitch. What the hell kind of scumbag could hurt his own mate?”
Cary merely shrugged.
“I’m sorry, Cary,” Kelan said with feeling. “I’d like to think all shifters get the mate of our dreams, but I guess that isn’t always the case.”
Cary nodded, his eyes filled with misery. “Gill wasn’t so bad when I met him. Well, he had a fierce temper, but the first few months we were together he didn’t lay a finger on me.”
“What changed?” Kelan asked.
“I don’t know. He started getting more and more possessive. At first, he had a problem with me meeting my friends. He was jealous of the relationships I had with them, I guess.
“Then it was literally everyone. It got to the stage where I couldn’t go out with him in public anymore because he’d end up accusing some guy of looking at me and start a fight.”
“How long were you with him?” Jake asked.
“Two years.”
“And when did he start to hit you?” Kelan gestured to Cary’s face.
Cary slumped forward in the chair.
Kelan had never seen anyone look so dejected, so lost.
“About four months after we met.”
“But why did you put up with it for so long?” Jake needed to know.
He had never been able to understand why anyone would stand for something like that.
Cary met Jake’s gaze. “Because he’s my mate.”
Jake scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “But even so, how could you let him treat you like that?”
“You only get one mate, Jake. You’re human, you wouldn’t understand.”
Jake glanced at Kelan then back to Cary.
He knew how important Kelan had become to him in such a short space of time, but he was beginning to realize the importance that shifters placed on their mates. Did Kelan feel that way about him?
“Try me,” he said.
Cary sighed. “I hoped that things would get better between us, that somehow Gill would realize the way he was treating me was wrong, that he would see how it affected me, how much he hurt me. But he never did.”
“So you left him?” Kelan asked.
Cary nodded. “We were living together in New Hampshire and one day, about six months ago, he beat me up pretty bad. I…I didn’t know if I’d survive it. I did, barely, but as soon as I was able to I packed a bag and I left.”
“That must have been difficult,” Kelan said.
Cary nodded. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Even after everything he did to me, I didn’t want to walk away. But if I’d stayed, he would have killed me, I’m sure of it.”
“You did the right thing,” Kelan said.
Cary hung his head. “Yeah. But my heart still aches for him.”
“I’m sure it does,” Kelan said. “But you can’t put up with that, mate or not. We’re supposed to cherish our mates, love them and protect them, not hurt them. You deserve better.”
Jake felt a lump rising in the back of his throat.
He couldn’t believe what Cary had put up with during the last couple of years. His life must have been hell. It was a lot for someone so young to have to deal with. Hell, it was a lot for anyone of any age to deal with.
Jake felt worse knowing the way in which he’d behaved towards Cary himself. As if the kid hadn’t been through enough in his life, Jake had come along and treated him no better than a piece of meat. He felt thoroughly ashamed of himself and made a promise to himself to make it up to the Cary.
Whatever he could do to help him, he’d do it gladly.
“I’m so sorry for everything you went through, Cary,” Jake said.
Somehow the words didn’t seem enough.
“How did he find you here?” Kelan asked.
“I was still in contact with a couple of my friends from back home. Gill threatened one of them until they told him where I was. I don’t blame him.” Cary gave a small shrug. “Gill is a difficult man to stand up to.”
“When did he show up here?”
“A couple of months ago. He didn’t confront me at first, though, just followed me around. He never showed himself to me, but I could sense he was close. I could feel him, you know?
“I think he was watching me to see who I was meeting. He probably wanted to know if there was anyone else in my life before he did something about it.
“I guess that’s how he knew about you.”
Cary gestured towards Jake then looked at Kelan apologetically.
Kelan gave the young shifter a curt nod.
Even though the alpha wolf in him demanded that he show the man who Jake belonged to, he forced down all of his protective and highly dominant tendencies. There was no point in getting angry about something that had happened before he met Jake. Even though his natural wolf instinct was to be jealous, he didn’t see the shifter as a threat.
Besides, he felt sorry for Cary.
The young man had been through a lot and Kelan wanted to help him if he could.
“What happened after you left Liberties?” Jake asked.
“I ran into the alley so no one would see me shift,” Cary explained. “I was going to stick to the back streets to get home, and I can run faster in my panther form.
“I was worried Gill would follow me back, so I climbed one of the fire escapes at the end that led around the side of the building.
“When I made it to the next street, I ran home. I’m sorry, Jake. If I’d known you followed me into the alley, I never would have left. I wouldn’t have intentionally put you in danger like that, I swear.”
“That’s okay,” Jake said. “There’s not a lot you could have done anyway.”
“I would have tried.”
“What happened next?” Kelan asked. “How did Gill catch up with you, do that to your face?”
“I was nearly home and I thought I’d got away from him. I had shifted back just around the corner when he caught up with me. He was furious.
“I’ve never seen him that mad before. I really thought he was going to kill me. Then a couple of men showed up and said they’d called the police, so he ran off. But he promised he’d be back.”
“How come you haven’t healed?” Kelan pointed to Cary’s face.
“I have,” Cary said. “Mostly. I looked a lot worse than this last night.”
Jake gasped.
Cary’s face was in pretty bad shape now, so Kelan couldn’t begin to imagine what state it had been in the night before.
“You can’t stay here, Cary,” Kelan said. “If everything you’ve said about Gill is true then you’re not safe. If he gets hold of you again, there’s no telling what he’ll do next time.”
Fresh tears fell from Cary’s eyes.
“I know that, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.” His small voice tugged at Kelan’s heartstrings. “I used all my savings to get this place and my job doesn’t pay much. I haven’t been able to put anything away.”
Kelan nodded, his mind made up. He had to do something to help Cary. He couldn’t just leave him here at the mercy of Gill. He would never forgive himself if the young shifter came to any more harm when there was something he could have done to prevent it.
“How do you feel about Texas?”
“What do you mean?” The confusion on Cary’s bruised and battered face was more than evident.
“I’m the alpha of my pack back home. You’d be more than welcome there. I have a working ranch, but if you’re not up for manual work then I’m sure someone in my pack wo
uld be able to find you a suitable job.”
Jake looked at Kelan in surprise.
Kelan didn’t even know Cary, and yet here he was offering him somewhere to go, a home and a new life. It made his feelings for Kelan even stronger if that were possible. A lump formed in Jake’s throat and suddenly, he couldn’t think of a single reason why he shouldn’t move to Texas to be with Kelan.
What was really keeping him in New York? A job? They were ten a penny.
“You mean, come to live there?” Cary asked, his eyes wide. “With wolves?”
Kelan gave him a wry smile. “Do you have any better options?”
Cary shook his head. “But you don’t even know me. Why would you help me?”
Kelan shrugged. “I guess I’m a sucker for a hard-luck story.”
“I’m not a charity case,” Cary protested.
“Whoa, I wasn’t offering charity,” Kelan said. “You’d have to work for a living, earn your keep, but if you want a fresh start, then the offer is there.”
Cary visibly swallowed a couple of times, his gaze fixed on Kelan. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I’d do the same for any of my friends. I realize I don’t know you, but you’re a friend of Jake’s and that’s good enough for me.”
Cary looked from Jake to Kelan then back again, his eyes wide with wonder.
“Wow. You’d really do that for me?”
“Sure.”
Cary smiled for the first time since Kelan and Jake had arrived.
“Thank you,” he said at last. “Thank you so much. This means a lot.”
“Well, that solves your plans for the future,” Kelan said. “But you need somewhere to stay right now. I don’t think you should be here even temporarily. Gill could show up at any time.
“My brother Cody has a spare room. I’ve been staying in it myself, but you’re more than welcome to it. I know my brother won’t mind. That is if Jake will put me up at his apartment.”
Kelan looked at Jake expectantly.
Jake smiled. He leaned forward and gave Kelan a light kiss on the lips.
“Where else would my mate stay?”
Kelan’s heart soared.
That was the first time he had heard Jake refer to him as his mate, and he liked it.
He liked it a lot.
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