He shoved it aside. It didn’t matter. It was obviously Park’s right and he didn’t owe him an explanation.
Cooper cleared his throat. “Did they, uh, give you something to take for the pain?” he asked.
Mutely Park pulled a prescription bottle out of his pocket and tossed back three pills without water. “What will you do now?” he said hoarsely. “Instead of the BSI, I mean.”
“I don’t know,” Cooper said, watching him with concern, still feeling ill at ease. He really didn’t feel like talking about his job prospects or lack thereof on top of everything else. “I’ll figure something out. How’s Eli?”
“Absolutely fine, but milking it. Apparently he met a cute nurse. No doubt he’ll be demanding round-the-clock treatment for a fatal case of heartthrob by dinnertime.”
Cooper smiled. “Good. I like Eli. I’d like to keep in touch with him,” he added.
Park’s face tightened as if he was fighting to keep the mask in place, and he still avoided Cooper’s eye. Finally, he said, “Eli’s a good, kind, reliable person that anyone would be lucky to call a friend and I know he genuinely likes you. I’m sure he’d be happy if the two of you spent time together.”
“Uh, yeah. Great.” Cooper had sort of been thinking more as a couple-friend situation, but if Park felt weird hanging with his ex, that was his prerogative. He cleared his throat. “Did you have a chance to talk to your family since...?”
Park blinked slowly, expression still blank and distant. “I know about Stuart and his betrayal with Sylvia.” Pause. “And according to Marcus, so did you. Before he even came clean to Helena.”
Cooper sighed. “I didn’t know. I just...wondered, followed a hunch. He was clearly resentful that your family is sitting on so much property without capitalizing on it. And he was so adamant that Sylvia wasn’t the one behind the shootings. Sylvia is the owner of a small business in a ghost town paying taxes to the state and the pack. But your grandfather refused to sell for years. If he had found out Stuart did it anyway, especially with a potential rival...”
“Joe would never have stood for it,” Park agreed. “Sylvia could have killed him not for control of the pack but just to keep the secret.”
“And David Freeman was at the Rosettis’ asking about property deeds just before his death. If Geoff got suspicious and threatened to tell if he didn’t get a cut, I guess that explains why she killed him.”
“Marcus said Stuart swore he knew nothing about any of the attacks.”
“I believe him,” Cooper said quickly. The man he’d seen groveling and broken on the ground, completely destroyed by his family’s rejection, was not likely to have killed his own father in cold blood. “But what I still don’t understand is why the—” Cooper gestured at his mouth, feeling a bit ill “—pulled teeth? Why shoot at Helena?”
Park rubbed at his eyes. “Maybe once Joe was out of the way she saw an opportunity to take control of the territory after all. As for the teeth, I don’t know. I don’t know. People do mad things when they feel threatened.” He stared at his fingers for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me you suspected Stuart?”
“I wasn’t sure I did. Not until the very end. I didn’t want to accuse your family on a possibility. Not with...everything else going on.” Park averted his eyes. “I’m still not even sure it all makes sense.”
Cooper thought about those supposed rumors in the WIP. Was this the plot that would change the way wolves were governed forever? Real estate gone awry? Of course, that was assuming Daisy could be trusted. And she couldn’t. Not in the least because she was WIP herself.
Cooper frowned. “Helena kicked Stuart out of the pack, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” Park said uncomfortably.
“Does that make them more vulnerable?” What if a pack war was still on the horizon? What if the change the WIP had meant was still to come?
“Actually, no. The opposite. With Geoff and Sylvia gone, the Rosettis have completely fallen apart. The rest of their pack is tainted by association and will have to live as lone wolves for a while. We’re back to being three times as large as the next biggest pack, and with Stuart disciplined so harshly and publicly, Helena’s position as leader is stronger than it even was before all this went down.” Park shrugged. “It’s funny how things change so quickly.”
“Yeah,” Cooper said thoughtfully. “Funny.” He hesitated. “I didn’t realize it was...like that. I mean, he sounded...”
Park looked very solemn. “Getting kicked out of a pack against your will is one of the most painful mental experiences any wolf can go through. It leaves deep scars.”
“Oh,” Cooper said quietly. “Shit. And she did that just because of some property?”
“And because she blames Stuart for putting the three of us in danger.”
“Oh, well, maybe you two. But I don’t think she’s stressing too much about me.”
Park cocked his head. “That’s not true. She’s actually very impressed with you. You did save her life just yesterday. And today you saved mine.”
“That’s misleading. At best it was a mutual effort.”
“It really wasn’t,” Park said vehemently. “I convinced you to go to the market without proper backup. I abandoned you there undefended. I underestimated Sylvia.”
His voice jumped a bit in pitch. “Honestly? I didn’t believe my... Daisy was right about any of it. Anonymous benefactors and secret accounts, it seemed too outlandish. Like something someone would make up. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just wanted to prove her wrong. Prove she couldn’t show up out of nowhere and do my job or tell me secrets about the people I’ve known all of my life. I was so fucking stubborn and it got you hurt.”
Park took a deep, shaky breath. “I hurt you. Again. I keep hurting you.” He looked Cooper in the eye. “She was right about me, my mother. I’m not proud of what I’ve done. I really am just a phony mask. A good face hiding a bad thing.”
Hearing his own words, twisted like that and used by Park to hurt himself, ripped something open inside of Cooper. “You’re not a bad thing. And fuck anyone who’s ever made you think you are, including myself. You are good. You’re the best person I’ve ever known.”
“I’m not!” Park snarled. “You don’t know me because I lied to you. Does that sound like a good person? Haven’t you ever wondered why ninety percent of the wolves we interact with are terrified of me? Why I have practically no one in my life? You have literally seen a child run screaming from my presence in Jagger Valley. Does that sound like something that happens to a good person?”
Park looked down at his lap. He was breathing heavily, strange little gasping breaths.
“The first time someone called me the Shepherd I was fifteen years old and I’d just beaten a grown man in a fight. He was a terrible person and a terrible pack leader. Cruel and vindictive. Marcus and I were just supposed to be negotiating borders, but things got out of hand. The pack leader said something shitty to his wife, so Marcus said something shitty back. The pack leader attacked him. Marcus isn’t a fighter—it takes him forever to shift and he can’t even get his claws out on command—so I stepped in.”
Park clenched and unclenched his fists. “I humiliated him. I wanted to humiliate him. It made me feel...powerful. Afterward, all of his pack was afraid of me. They agreed to follow whatever I proposed.”
He looked up at Cooper, his expression was desperate, broken. “When Marcus told Joe about it later, he said they were like sheep with the shepherd. I’d never seen my grandfather more proud than in that moment. He kept calling me Shepherd. So I kept doing what he said and expanding the territory.
“Sometimes that meant talking to people about why they were safer with us. There are benefits. Real ones. I liked those trips fine. I got to help people, too. Wolves like Eli who were in trouble and trapped with no one to turn to. We don’t have anyone to turn to bes
ides the larger packs when we’re in trouble. But sometimes...sometimes I had to threaten them or we’d have to fight. I always won, but I didn’t like it anymore. I hated it. Hate it. Everywhere I went people were calling me the Shepherd. And now they were all afraid.”
Cooper was surprised to see unspilled tears appear in Park’s eyes. “I didn’t want you to see me like that,” he whispered. “Me in my fur. An animal whose only language is dominance or submission. Something scary. I’ve scared so many people away. Didn’t want to scare you away, too.”
Cooper went to him then and wrapped his arms around Park, one arm at his shoulders, the other pulling his head to Cooper’s breastbone. He stroked his hair and felt Park melt against him, nuzzling his skin and soaking up the touch as if he thought he’d never get it again.
“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Park whispered, his words a vibration against Cooper’s heart. “About my past. Please just give me another chance. Please don’t—don’t leave me.”
Cooper inhaled sharply and his hands spasmed against Park’s skin. “What?” He pulled away to better see Park, who seemed reluctant if not outright anxious to leave Cooper’s embrace. “I’m not leaving you, Oliver. God, why do you think that?”
“You quit—”
“Because I’m unhappy there. You know that.”
“And this morning, in the living room, you said we’re bad for each other.”
“I didn’t—”
“You said you make me worse. That we can’t go on.”
“So you’ve thought we were breaking up this whole day?”
Park glanced away and then back up at Cooper through lowered lashes. “I didn’t—I wasn’t sure...”
“Oliver, no. That wasn’t—I meant worse about hiding who you are. Trying to be someone you’re not. I meant we can’t go on with you not talking about being a werewolf and me just letting you. It’s bad for you. It’s bad for us. And I’m really, really sick of things that are bad for us. God, I’m not leaving you. I’m so fucking in love with you I couldn’t if I tried.”
He kissed him then. Simple. Reassuring. Sealing a promise. Park turned it into something else entirely. He was all desperation and tentative happiness and unapologetic love that Cooper felt through to his toes.
Park dragged him forward, and they toppled onto the bed together and the kiss turned sweet again. “Please,” Park murmured. “I need you. Please...”
Cooper wasn’t sure what he was asking for exactly, wasn’t sure the specifics mattered. Only knew that Park had been hurting today and was still soft and vulnerable and begging in his arms.
Should Cooper still be angry that he’d hidden a major secret about his past? Maybe. Park had purposefully concealed something he thought Cooper would leave him for. Whether he would have or not, that manipulation was wrong.
Had he been too angry already? Maybe that, too. No one owed anyone the most painful secrets of their life. But right now none of that seemed to matter. All he wanted was to kiss Park along the fissure lines. He wanted to kiss him everywhere.
So it turned out neither of them was perfect. How could he possibly want perfect over this?
Steadily they undressed each other, and with each new patch of skin revealed, their touch increased in intent. Trailing fingers turned to tracing turned to tugging as if they were both desperate to memorize every dip and swell of each other’s bodies. Bodies they’d almost never gotten to touch again.
When Cooper found the heavy bandage on Park’s ribs, he played with the edge thoughtfully.
“Not where you thought it would be?” Park asked, watching him cautiously.
Cooper blinked at him, taking a moment to understand what he was asking. “No, it’s not,” he said. “It’s farther up. It looked like your belly before, but this...this could have punctured your lungs.”
Park hummed, expression still watchful. “It’s not an exact translation. A lot of body mass has to shift up. Organs are rearranged. Bones crack.” He couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d been shouting This is a test!
Cooper’s hand spread out flat on Park’s belly and he bent down to kiss the general area he would have expected the wound to be and then the edge of the bandage. “You could never scare me. I liked seeing you as a wolf, or in fur, I guess. Not just because a serial killer had backed me into a cereal tomb and the second I saw you I felt safe. Not even because you’re fucking adorable like that.”
Park huffed, embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I hope that’s not weird or rude, but you really friggin’ are.” Cooper scratched his fingers through the hair below his belly button, enjoying the feel of Park twitching and grunting beneath him. “I liked it because when I saw you, the first thing I thought was thank god, he finally trusts me.”
Park’s breathing stopped. “Of course I trust you,” he said.
“Not always. Not with every part of you.” Park started to protest again and Cooper shhed him. “It’s okay. You’ve got baggage. Some may say I have a small carry-on or two myself.”
He steadfastly ignored Park’s snort and continued, “Being open isn’t easy for either of us. Shit, maybe not for anyone. But I work on it because, to me, you’re worth it. And you know what, Oliver? I’m worth it, too. So pull your shit together so we can get on with being mates and in love and all that trash.”
Park rolled them so that he was hovering over Cooper and held his face in his hands. “There’s my porcupine. I didn’t recognize you there for a minute, all sensitive and sweet without your prickers.”
Cooper thrust up, knocking his half-hard dick against Park’s. “I’ve still got one prick left right here if you’re feeling nostalgic.”
Park’s laughter melted into gentle kisses, and gentle kisses became urgent touches until they were both desperate for more. An electrical storm pressed in the space between their skin, hot and bright and crackling.
“What do you want?” Park whispered into the crease of his thigh. “You can have anything.” He pressed an open kiss to Cooper’s skin. “My mouth? My tongue? My ass? My dick?”
“Yes, good,” Cooper groaned. “That sounds good.”
Park laughed breathlessly. “You have to choose. Or do you need me to repeat the options?”
“What is this, a game show? Who Wants to Get Fucked? Do I get to phone a friend?”
Park mouthed at his balls gently in lieu of a response, then worked his way lower to lap at his hole.
“That,” Cooper gasped, “is leading the witness.”
Park poked his head back up. “Is that an objection, your honor?” There was so much laughter in his eyes and voice, so different from moments before—hell, from this whole weekend, maybe longer—as if for the first time Cooper was seeing him totally and completely free.
Unexpected emotion filled his chest, and Cooper had to bite the inside of his cheek hard not to cry. No one’s happiness had ever been so intrinsically linked to his own. Oliver’s joy was his joy now. And Oliver had never looked so fucking joyful. They could make the happiest goddamn home together.
“Cooper?” Park said, concerned.
He could feel his own lips quivering. He pressed them together and shook his head. “Come home with me. Stay.”
Park’s whole body stilled. “What?”
“Live with me. Move in.”
“Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Cooper said. It had seemed like a good idea when he said it, but Park’s slack-jawed reaction wasn’t exactly boosting his confidence.
“It’s just—” Park stammered. “I mean, I know you like your space. I don’t ever want to get in the way of that.”
Cooper snorted. “It’s not space worth having without you in it.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before Park was on top of him. Kissing his neck and face and chest. Sloppy and rough, his whole body trembl
ing with excitement. Cooper was dizzy with it.
“So was that a yes or are you letting me down really roughly?”
“Yes, yes,” Park said hastily, moving to press slightly gentler kisses along his jaw and then along his hairline and all over his ear. “I want to live with you. Very much.” Even his voice was trembling, and his hips twitched in an aborted little thrust. “Can we—Can I?”
“Commemorate the occasion?” His hands trailed down Park’s back to squeeze his ass and felt him thrust again. This time Park kept going, humping his leg and making little excited gasps, and his eyes had slid shut.
Cooper laughed breathlessly. “Jesus, wait for me.” Park stilled with obvious effort.
Cooper had never seen him get this excited this fast. He had no doubt he could finish Park off right then and there with some simple rubbing. That was tempting and made him feel so fucking desirable he nearly lost control himself.
Cooper shifted his leg in a slow circle, grinding against Park’s hardness, and Park’s whole body jerked as he almost sobbed. Tempting indeed, but he wanted more. Wanted to push Park and see that joy explode.
Cooper arched up to whisper against Park’s jaw, “I want you on your back so I can ride you.” He nipped at his skin. “Want to get myself off on your cock. Please, can I?”
Park’s eyes snapped open and he hopped up like an alarm had sounded and scooted onto his back so violently the corner sheet popped off. By the time Cooper had sat up and grabbed lube from the bedside table, Park was reclining with a pillow behind his head, stroking his dick and practically wriggling in the bed while staring at him eagerly.
“Damn, where’s the fire?” Cooper said.
“Come up here and I’ll show you where,” Park said gruffly, tugging Cooper into position kneeling backward over his face and proceeding to set Cooper’s body ablaze with his lips and tongue, the heat of his mouth almost impossible not to rock back on.
Thrown to the Wolves (Big Bad Wolf) Page 24
