Kelan looked down when he felt something brush against his legs. He smiled when he saw a jet black cat rub against him. Jake reached down to pet it and it arched into his touch, purring loudly.
“Friend of yours?” Jake asked, continuing to stroke the sleek, black coat on the cat’s back.
Cary grinned. “Yep, this is Henry. He keeps me company here. I think he likes you.”
To confirm Cary’s words, Henry jumped up into Jake’s lap and began circling before settling himself down, making himself at home.
Kelan chuckled. “I’d say you’re right. He has good taste.”
Henry’s head jerked up when Kelan spoke, as though he had only just noticed Kelan was in the room. He jumped up, arched his back and hissed at Kelan before fleeing to the kitchen.
“Uh, sorry about that,” Cary said. “I guess he’s not a fan of wolves.”
Jake burst out laughing at Kelan’s wounded expression.
“Cats never did like me,” Kelan mumbled.
“I like you,” Cary said. “And Henry will come around when he gets to know you, too.”
Kelan nodded and smiled.
He was so distracted by the cat he almost didn’t catch the strong smell that was slowly making its way through the small apartment.
“What the hell?” he said, frowning. “Is that smoke?”
Cary sniffed the air and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Crap, yes!”
Cary ran to his apartment door, unbolted the locks and threw it open before Jake or Kelan could tell him not to. The corridor outside was filled with smoke. It immediately seemed to catch in his throat, making him cough. He slammed the door shut then turned to face Kelan and Jake.
“The building is on fire!”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Is there another way out?” Kelan asked, running through the small apartment to throw open the window in the living room.
“Yes, the fire escape,” Cary said, “but you can only access it through the bedroom.”
Smoke was already making its way under the apartment door.
“We need to hurry,” Jake said. “We’re not going to be able to breathe in here soon.”
“Come on, it’s this way.”
Cary ushered Jake and Kelan into his sparsely-decorated bedroom.
He ran to the window and threw open the curtains.
“It’s stuck!” Cary fought with the latch on the window.
“Here, let me try.” Kelan gently nudged Cary out of the way.
Jake watched as Kelan used all his strength to pull at the latch.
He cursed loudly when the damn thing broke off in his hand.
“We’re gonna have to smash the window,” Kelan said. “Cary, can you find me something I can use?”
Cary nodded and looked around the bedroom. He didn’t have much. All of his meager earnings must have gone to rent and necessities. Cary rushed to the nightstand and unplugged a heavy bedside lamp before carrying it to Kelan.
“Here, use this.”
“Okay, stand back.”
Jake moved Cary back from the window and they waited at the bedroom door for Kelan to break the glass. The smoke was thick in the living room now and already making its way through the rest of the apartment. Jake started coughing as he couldn’t avoid inhaling it. His eyes stung from the fumes and tears slid in quick succession down his cheeks.
“Kelan, hurry—we haven’t got much time.”
Kelan nodded, took a few steps back and then smashed the lamp against the window. The glass shattered under the pressure. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand, using it to knock out the rest of the glass until the hole was large enough for them to climb through.
“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand to Jake.
Jake moved to Kelan’s side.
He was halfway out of the broken window when he looked over his shoulder. Cary had disappeared from his place at the bedroom door.
“Oh God, Cary,” Jake said, looking desperately at Kelan. “He must have gone to find Henry.”
“Fuck! Climb down. I’ll get him.”
“What? No way, I’m not leaving you.”
“Please Jake, don’t give me shit over this. I won’t let anything happen to Cary, I promise, but I need to know you’re safe.”
Jake nodded reluctantly. “Okay, but please be careful.”
Kelan gave a sharp nod of his head. He placed a firm kiss on Jake’s lips, then turned to leave. Jake watched Kelan rush to the bedroom door as panic and fear coursed through his veins.
“Kelan!” he called out before Kelan had made it through the door.
Kelan turned to face him.
“I love you.”
It had been a long time since Jake had used those words, but they felt right. He’d never meant them more than he did at that moment. The love and affection shining back at him through Kelan’s eyes brought tears to Jake’s own.
“As I love you,” Kelan replied.
Jake started to climb down the fire escape steps. He had made it down two floors when he heard an almighty crash above him. Shit. It sounded as though it had come from Cary’s apartment. What the hell was he doing? He couldn’t just climb down to safety knowing Kelan and Cary were still inside. He couldn’t live with himself if something were to happen to either of them.
Jake climbed back up to the apartment and heaved himself in through the window. The smoke was thick in the bedroom and he could barely find his way to the door. He lifted his shirt to cover his mouth and nose and fought his way through the haze back into the living room.
“Kelan! Cary! Where are you?” he called out. The polluted air had him coughing and spluttering.
When Jake got back to the living room, he noticed the door to the apartment was hanging off its hinges. He rushed to the door and gasped when he saw Kelan’s motionless body on the hallway floor.
“Kelan! Oh God, no!” Jake shouted, rushing to his mate’s side.
He knelt down next to Kelan’s body and checked his neck for a pulse.
It was faint, but Kelan was alive.
Thank God.
“Kelan, wake up!” Jake shook his shoulders roughly.
There was no sign of Cary anywhere in the hall. Jake got up, grabbed Kelan under the arms and began dragging him back into the apartment. Kelan was heavy and Jake had to keep stopping as coughing fits overcame him.
He managed to get Kelan back into Cary’s bedroom, but the difficult part proved to be lifting him to get him out of the window. Jake heaved and, finding a reserve of strength he didn’t know he possessed, he climbed out of the apartment window with Kelan in his arms and placed him on the fire escape landing.
Jake looked anxiously from Kelan back to the apartment.
He didn’t want to leave Kelan out here alone, but he had to help Cary. He had made a promise to himself he would make it up to Cary for the way he had treated him, and he would if it was the last thing he ever did.
Jake covered his mouth again and fought his way through the smoke in the apartment out into the hall. He still couldn’t see any actual flames, but the heat in the corridor was intense. He stuck to the wall and felt his way along to the stairwell. He was deciding whether he should go down or up when he heard an ear-splitting scream coming from the floor above.
“Cary!” Jake called out, starting up the stairs.
When he reached the next floor, Jake called out again.
There was no reply.
The smoke on the fifth floor wasn’t as thick as the floor below, so Jake knew the fire had started lower, the smoke, heat, and flames making their way up. There was no sign of Cary in that corridor, so Jake climbed up another floor.
“Cary!”
“Jake, no! Go back, get out!” Cary called out. “Argh!”
Fuck.
Jake had to get to Cary.
Gill had him, it was obvious.
Now that Jake came to think about it, Gill had probably been the one to start the fi
re, too. Jake didn’t know how he could fight someone as strong as Gill, but blind fury clouded his mind when he heard Cary cry out in pain once again. The sound was quieter this time, though, further away. Gill must be taking Cary up to the roof.
Jake kept on climbing.
At least there was less smoke the further he climbed, making it easier for him to breathe. He finally reached the top floor of the tenement building and stood in front of the roof door.
“Christ, please let him be okay,” Jake mumbled, pushing open the door.
He shivered involuntarily when the cold night air hit him, but he was so pumped on adrenaline, he barely noticed it. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness then climbed the four narrow steps that led up onto the roof.
“Jake, no!” Cary shouted. “Get out of here!”
Jake spun around and gasped at the sight before him. Gill stood behind Cary, one arm wrapped around his waist, the other holding a knife to his mate’s throat. Blood poured from Cary’s nose, and the cut on his lip had re-opened.
“Well, look who it is,” Gill said, pressing the knife closer to Cary’s throat. “Your new fuck-buddy.”
Jake saw blood trickle down Cary’s throat from where the knife was cutting into his skin.
“It’s not like that between us,” Jake said. “We’re just friends.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” Gill shouted, using the knife to point at Jake. “I know you’ve been screwing him!”
Gill’s face contorted with rage.
His eyes gleamed yellow in the moonlight and, from where he stood, Jake saw a ripple pass over the shifter’s skin. He looked like a madman who had nothing to lose, a very dangerous combination.
“Gill, put the knife down,” Jake said. “You don’t want to do this.”
“How the fuck do you know what I want?” Gill seethed. “I want my mate! That’s what I want.”
“You had me,” Cary said. “We could have been happy together, Gill, but you ruined it. You ruined everything.”
Jake saw the confusion in Gill’s eyes.
He thought that maybe Cary was getting through to him, but then the coldness returned and Gill sneered.
“Don’t put this on me. You should never have left me. It’s your fault I got so fucking angry all the time, the way you pranced around, flaunting yourself at any man that would look twice at you.”
A lone tear trickled down Cary’s cheek.
“That’s not true,” he said quietly. “I loved you. I never looked at another man when we were together. I didn’t want anyone else.”
“Bullshit!” Gill spat. “You couldn’t wait to get rid of me so you could start fucking around. I’m not stupid. Well, now you’re going to fucking pay!”
Cary screamed when Gill replaced the knife at his throat, cutting deeper into his skin and drawing more blood. Jake didn’t spare a thought for his own safety, or for the consequences of his actions.
He lunged at Gill and made a grab for the knife.
Kelan cracked open his eyes and squinted in the darkness. Where was he? And what was that damn smell, was it smoke? He jumped up hastily when the fog in his brain cleared and he remembered where he was and what had happened to him.
Gill.
At first, Kelan couldn’t understand who had put him out on the fire escape, but then it hit him.
It had to have been Jake.
Damn it, he’d told him to stay outside.
He had no doubt Jake would have then gone back in after Cary, too.
“Jake!”
Kelan climbed back into Cary’s apartment, but the smoke was thick. By the time he made it into the living room, he saw huge flames outside the apartment door.
“Jake!” Kelan shouted.
He stood for a moment, paralyzed by fear.
Please God, let him have got out.
The heat and smoke coming from the fire spurred Kelan into action. He ran back into the bedroom and clambered out of the window. He was about to climb down the fire escape when he heard shouting coming from the roof.
Without conscious thought, he grabbed hold of the ladder and began climbing.
He was enraged.
His only thought was to get to his mate.
If Gill had harmed one hair on his mate’s head, Kelan was going to kill him.
He wouldn’t let the panther shifter get away a second time.
As Kelan approached the roof, he could clearly hear Jake’s voice. Jake was trying to reason with Gill. Gill’s voice was louder, angry. As he reached the last rung of the ladder and peered over the top, Kelan’s rage and panic caused his eyes to shift instantly.
His skin trembled—his wolf itching to break free and get to his mate.
Gill had a knife to Cary’s throat, its blade cutting into his skin. Kelan watched in horror as Jake charged at Gill and made a grab for the knife. Kelan didn’t hesitate. He vaulted over the top of the ladder and landed hard on his feet on the roof’s concrete surface.
Gill threw Cary aside and fought with Jake for possession of the knife. Jake had a grip on the handle, but Gill twisted it and tugged it away. Jake made a grab for it again, but the blade sliced across his palm, cutting deep.
The scent of Jake’s blood reached Kelan’s nostrils, making them flare. His heart accelerated until he feared it would burst right out of his chest.
Kelan ran for his mate.
The last thing he saw while still in human form was Gill shoving the knife into Jake’s chest, the blade disappearing until only the handle was visible.
“No!”
Kelan’s scream echoed out across the rooftop.
It changed midway into a howl when he shifted and his wolf leaped at Gill, knocking him off his feet. Without hesitation, he bit into Gill’s neck, ripping at flesh, tendon, and bone.
Gill screamed, eyes wide with fear, before becoming pliant under Kelan’s weight, his body still and lifeless—dead.
Jake fell to the floor.
He raised his hand to his chest and felt the metal of the knife embedded there. Blood trickled through his fingers, soaking his shirt. He had never felt such pain in his life. And he couldn’t breathe properly, either. When blood traveled up his throat and caught there, he started to cough.
Fear gave way to panic when the metallic taste of his own blood entered his mouth and it escaped his lips and trickled down his chin.
He felt light-headed.
Cold.
Was this what dying felt like?
He watched as the large, grey wolf turned and ran to his side.
Kelan, his Kelan.
The wolf whimpered, pushing its muzzle into Jake’s hand. He reached out with his uninjured hand and ran his fingers through the fur on the wolf’s head. Jake could only stare in awe.
Kelan was magnificent in wolf form.
He was glad that Kelan was there with him if they were the last moments of his life.
Jake tried to tell Kelan he loved him, but the words came out as a gurgle in his throat. The last thing he saw was amber wolf eyes staring at him forlornly before changing back into the deep blue human eyes of the man he now knew he loved with every fiber of his being.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jake awoke to the sound of beeping.
Where was he?
He tried to think around the fog in his brain.
He could hear muted voices talking from somewhere around him, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He cracked his eyes open and blinked when the harsh white light stung his eyes, making them water.
When he looked down at himself, he realized he was in some sort of hospital bed. The voices must be coming from the corridor outside his room. Wires and tubes were coming from his hands and fingers and connected to a machine at the side of his bed.
It was the machine that beeped.
“Jake? Baby, you’re awake.”
Kelan appeared at his side.
The look of relief on Kelan’s face was palpable.
&nb
sp; “Kelan?” Jake croaked.
The word caught in his throat when he spoke.
It felt as if he’d been swallowing sandpaper.
“Here, drink this,” Kelan said, holding a plastic cup with a straw to Jake’s mouth. “Just take a little sip, okay?”
Jake nodded and slurped at the drink.
“Thanks.”
Kelan stroked the hair away from his forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a tank. I ache all over and my chest hurts.”
“You were stabbed, Jake.” Kelan choked on the words as he said them. “You nearly died.”
Jake’s eyes widened.
He gasped, trying to sit up in the bed.
“Cary! Is he…?”
Kelan placed a firm hand on Jake’s shoulder and held him down on the pillow.
“Don’t try to get up. You need to rest, baby. Your body needs time to heal. Cary’s fine—well, on the outside at least.”
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“The cut on his throat was pretty deep, and he’d lost a lot of blood. It healed, for the most part, when he shifted. But on the inside…” Kelan shook his head. “On the inside, he’s a mess. I killed Gill.”
“I remember. Don’t blame yourself. Gill would have killed Cary and me. You were protecting us.”
Kelan nodded. “Cary says he understands why I did it. When I saw you fighting with Gill, when I saw the knife go into your chest, I…I saw red.”
Jake started to speak again, but it resulted in a coughing fit.
“Easy, Jake,” Kelan said. “Don’t try to speak too much right now. Your throat is sore from all the smoke you inhaled and the breathing apparatus they had in you.”
Jake shook his head and made a grab for the cup on the table in front of him. Kelan lifted it to his lips.
“Just small sips. The nurse said when you woke up they’d get me some ice chips for you.”
Jake took another sip of the tepid water. He took a few breaths then continued with what he’d been trying to say. He had to make Kelan understand that none of this was his fault. Gill had been crazy, and Jake and Cary were lucky to be alive. The fact that they were was all because of Kelan.
“Cary knew better than anyone what Gill was capable of,” Jake whispered. “He knew the man wouldn’t stop until he was dead.”
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