Chasing Seth (20 page)

“Another wolf that wasn’t Native American?” Nick looked up at him, pinning him in place with a sharp look. “Did your father tell you anything about him?”

“Not much. Just that he realized the man wasn’t the same as a Created. He could function with awareness while in wolf form, and when in human, his eyes were clear and focused. Oh, and he told me the man’s name. Eric. Eric Hawthorne.” Kasey felt Seth tense and saw surprise flood Nick’s features. “What?” he demanded.

“That… that was my father,” Seth replied shakily, his eyes misting slightly at the realization his father had actually been here in this town before. Maybe it explained why he’d been so drawn to it when he’d first arrived only a few short weeks ago.

Kasey lifted an eyebrow. “But your last name is Davies.”

“Davies is my mother’s maiden name. After escaping the Triad, I changed it as a way of hiding in plain sight,” Seth explained bemusedly, still hung up on the fact his father had actually met Kasey’s father before. “Hawthorne was my dad’s real last name.”

Which cleared up why the background check on Seth had come back empty, Kasey thought ruefully. “It’s so weird how my dad actually visited here all those years ago,” he heard Seth state, awed.

He smiled and nuzzled at the dark crown of hair. “It was fate, pup.”

“Do you think your father will remember anything about my dad? I mean, what he did? Why was he here?” Seth sat up eagerly, his eyes shining brightly at the thought of hearing something about his father he never knew. “Did he ever say anything to you, Nick?”

“Afraid not, Seth.” Nick slumped down wearily, ready to take a good long nap. “The only way you can disguise Seth’s scent would be to practically bury him in yours.” He yawned before continuing, “Rub his clothing all over your body before he puts it on. Pretty much almost carry him into the house. Since I can still cloak my scent, I should be fine.”

Seth watched his friend nodding off into sleep. He remembered he hadn’t been able to press Nick about what had happened tonight. Why he had blood on him and why his clothing was torn. Tomorrow, he promised himself. For now, Nick needed rest. Heavy dark circles under his green eyes stood out starkly in his tanned face, and it made him feel guilty for being angry at him. “I think we should let him rest for now,” he whispered to Kasey, standing reluctantly from the warm lap he’d been seated in to grab Nick a blanket and ease him down to a reclining position on the couch.

Kasey took Seth’s hand the instant he finished and drew him into the bedroom, where he embraced him tightly. “I have to go in to the station tomorrow, pup. Just for a few hours. I wish I could take you with me, but my deputy, Julian, is a wolf as well and would be able to scent you from a mile away.”

Clenching his fingers in the khaki uniform shirt, Seth rested his ear over where Kasey’s heart beat beneath the big broad chest. The steady thudding soothed him. He smiled softly as he spoke. “It’s okay, Sheriff. I know you have a job to go to. You can’t stay by my side 24/7. Besides, Nick is here.”

“Exactly.” Kasey scowled teasingly, even though Seth couldn’t see it.

Seth pulled back and looked up at a Kasey, frustration evident in his expression. “You better get used to the fact he’s in my life, Kasey, because he’s my best friend. I’m not going to give up almost fifteen years of friendship because you’re jealous.”

It took a few breaths before Seth noticed the laughter dancing in the man’s dark eyes. He wrinkled his nose at Kasey and shook his head. “What am I going to do with you?”

The mirth died away, leaving behind a yearning spark that blazed higher the longer they stood there. Kasey’s fingers lightly traced the lines of Seth’s face and whispered gently over his cheek before resting on the pulse beating just beneath the skin on his throat. “There is only one thing I need you to do with me, pup,” he murmured quietly.

“Oh?” Seth held his breath, his heart slamming against his ribcage. “What’s that?”

Kasey slowly walked them toward the bed, never letting go of his mate or releasing his gaze. When Seth felt the backs of his knees hit the bed, Kasey said, “Just love me.”

Unable to utter a word as Kasey’s mouth suddenly landed on his, Seth found himself on his back on the mattress. Seth wanted to tell him right then that he already did, but the words became lost in passionate, demanding kisses. Mere moments passed before he became a writhing, shuddering mass of flesh beneath the hard thrusting body above him. He sobbed Kasey’s name over and over again, begging him to end the torture and send him flying. The Cheyenne’s scent was everywhere around him, in him, Seth’s nose drinking deeply of the earthy smell he adored. His hands pawed at Kasey’s bare skin, almost attempting to pull him inside himself.

More than animal lust drove them to new heights, and it wasn’t long before Kasey spilled his essence inside his mate and Seth’s own slick ropes of come sprayed across his bare chest and belly. When the storm faded, they lay in a panting entanglement of limbs, their breathing loud in the dark room. Kasey could just barely manage to move himself to the side without releasing Seth. A soft sound rumbled in his chest when he felt Seth’s hand lazily drawing circles in the light dusting of hair on his chest. Contented couldn’t even begin to describe the emotion inside him. Warmth spread outward from his chest, straight down to the tips of his fingers and toes. “Good night, pup,” he said softly.

“Good night, babe,” Seth mumbled almost unintelligibly. Safe, warm, and loved, he’d already reached the half-asleep point.

Kasey grinned tiredly into the darkness before sliding into slumber with his mate tucked in his arms.

Chapter Ten

A pair
of warm lips brushing along his forehead woke Seth. He stirred, but a large palm caressed the length of his bare arm. “Just going into work, pup. Go back to sleep.”

He grunted and grabbed Kasey’s wrist, pressing a kiss into his palm before cuddling back down into the warmth of the blankets. He had no real reason to rush getting up, since his clinic no longer existed. Seth allowed himself to drift for another hour or so before rousing fully. He moaned as he stretched beneath the covers, his muscles feeling a pleasant burn after being in the same position for so long.

Nick, already awake, sat at the small dinette table drinking a cup of coffee. Seth grimaced in distaste. If Nick had made the coffee, it would surely be like axle grease, but his senses screamed for the caffeine, and he gave in. Adding sugar and creamer to cut down on the bitterness, he looked at his friend, who stared off into space, obviously thinking about whatever event had taken place the previous evening. “So you going to tell me what happened to you last night? Why your clothes were torn up?” Seth leaned back against the counter, blowing on his coffee to cool it down slightly before taking a sip.

Nick blinked heavily several times, but what brought Seth upright and to the chair beside his friend was the anguish in his eyes. “Come on, babe, tell me what’s going on?”

“I found him, Seth. I found my mate,” Nick choked out hoarsely.

Him!?
Seth’s eyes nearly popped out of his head with how wide they flew open. Nick’s mate was a man? Wait, it was a good thing he’d found his mate, right? “If you found your mate, Nick, why are you so upset? Haven’t you wanted to find h-him? Or is it because it’s a man?”

Shaking his head, Nick admitted, “I’m bi, Seth. I sleep with men or women. It doesn’t matter to me that my mate is a guy.”

“Wait a minute. Since when have you been bi?” Seth demanded, sitting up straighter.

“Since I realized it at the age of sixteen and wound up having sex with our English teacher,” Nick said, looking sheepish.

Flabbergasted, Seth felt his mouth drop open. Their English teacher? Mr. Tyson? “What the hell?! How is it you never told me this?”

“I thought if you knew you might… want to be more than friends,” Nick whispered, knowing his friend would go through the roof.

“You arrogant jerk!” Seth shouted, punching his friend in the arm with all his might. A sense of satisfaction stormed through him when he saw Nick wince and rub his upper arm. “What else have you been lying to me about?”

“Nothing! I swear,” Nick protested, running a hand against the back of his neck. “Well… there is one thing.”

Seth growled, but Nick held up his hands in an innocent gesture. “Before you kill me, let me just say it isn’t that bad.” Seth gave him a look, clearly waiting for an explanation. “Well, I wouldn’t say I was lying, but it was more of an omission.”

“Tell me before I tie you down outside, smear honey all over your body, and let the ants have their way with you,” Seth ground out, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh, kinky, Seth. Didn’t know you were into BDSM. I wonder if the sheriff knows what he’s in for.” Nick grinned teasingly at Seth.

Seth fought an answering smile but couldn’t keep it from spreading across his face. They’d been friends for far too long, and Nick knew exactly what buttons to push to cool Seth down whenever he was angry with his friend. “Just tell me, Nick.”

Nick wondered if maybe he should get up and move away from Seth. What he was about to reveal would probably make Seth really want to kill him or at least maim him. “I, uh… kind of scared off that guy Bryan you were interested in.”

Seth’s eyebrows flew up into his hairline. “Excuse me? You did what?”

Bryan, the first guy who’d ever been interested in him, had worked at the same place as him, a small family pizza joint, as a waiter. Seth had been a busboy clearing the tables. For months they’d flirted and danced around the issue, but just when Seth had thought for sure Bryan intended to ask him out, Bryan disappeared. He’d quit his job and wouldn’t answer his phone whenever Seth called. Seth’s breathing deepened as he started to get mad, but then the anger faded away. A snort left him, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle the chuckle boiling up in his throat.

Watching Seth about to lose it, Nick quirked one corner of his mouth up in a half-assed grin. “Sorry, Seth, but… he only wanted to get you in his bed. I overheard him talking to one of the other waiters there when I came to get you from work one night. I actually found it kind of funny because he, uh… pissed himself when I warned him off.”

Peals of laughter burst from Seth, and he clutched his stomach. Bryan hadn’t exactly been a big, strong guy, but he wasn’t a weakling either. “How… how’d you do it?” he gasped.

“The next night, I went back. You weren’t working, so when he finished for the night, I cornered him in the alley behind the restaurant. At first, I just warned him to stay away from you, but he got nasty about it, and I had to kind of let the wolf come out,” Nick said, an almost sadistic grin on his face.

Seth cracked up again. Tears rolled down his cheeks from laughing so hard. Now that he knew Nick’s true nature, he could almost picture the entire event. “No wonder he just up and quit without a word,” he chortled. “No one could figure it out.”

When Seth had managed to settle down again and catch his breath, he looked at Nick. “So tell me why you aren’t over the moon at finding your mate?”

Nick blanched as he remembered the events of last night. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and something akin to pain reflected on his face. “Like your mate, he’s Native American and believes I am a Created. He tried to kill me last night. And he almost succeeded, because I couldn’t see past him being my mate. I couldn’t hurt him. No matter what he did to me, I couldn’t hurt him, Seth. I managed to get away from him, but ever since it’s like there is this cloak over me. I can’t hear or think of anything but him.”

Sympathy flooded Seth, and he moved to Nick, hugging him fiercely. “Once Kasey figures out how to explain us to his pack, maybe things will be different, babe. Maybe he can accept you. Just have faith.”

A silent sob shuddered through Nick, and he buried his face in Seth’s dark hair, holding on tightly. No tears fell, and the sound was nothing more than a jerky motion of his lean body. Seth couldn’t help but wonder if Kasey had felt the way Nick did right then whenever Seth had rejected him. Guilt bit at him despite the fact that he’d been justified at the beginning to reject Kasey. His throat closed over at the depth of anguish roiling off his friend like a tidal wave crashing onto the shore. “Calm down, Nick,” he murmured to Nick, stroking a hand down his friend’s back.

Nick sighed and pulled away from Seth, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear. A flush darkened his high cheekbones. “Sorry,” Nick mumbled.

“It’s what friends are for, right?” Seth said quietly. “Things will be okay, Nick. When they explain about me being Kasey’s mate, they’ll understand we aren’t the Created. And he’ll be able to accept you.”

Nick only grunted in response. He doubted it. The hate on his mate’s face as he’d charged at him, shifting mid-jump, had clearly showed his loathing of Nick’s claim. His hand unconsciously rubbed at his chest over his heart. “So what time is the dinner with Kasey’s parents?”

“Hmm… I think he said we’d be leaving here at five.” Seth glanced at the clock and saw it was only noon. “There’s a park over on the main street. You want to go shoot some hoops?”