Chapter 13 Ottis’ Past
OTTIS’ PAST
Ottis stopped breathing. Crap. He knew he was supposed to tell Doc the truth, but he didn’t want to do it with everyone else listening in.
Especially if Doc had a bad reaction to it.
Doc seemed to understand. He rubbed Ottis’ back and bumped their cheeks together, his medical mask rustling against Ottis’ skin. “Hey,” he said to Bruiser and Zenith. “I have to take Ottis home. Thanks for your help with the phone.”
Bruiser was watching them with an unreadable look. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll send along whatever I find. Get outta here.”
Zenith stood too, tucking his notebook under his arm. “Thanks for today. This has been very inspiring.”
He looked from Doc to Ottis, something wistful flitting across his face.
Ottis cleared his throat. “Did you get through your writer’s block?”
“Oh yes.” Zenith brightened. “I have so much new material now.”
What if he wrote a book about Ottis and Doc? Would they get a happy ending? Ottis’ stomach flipped.
Doc ushered Ottis and Marcie back to the car, glancing around discreetly. To Ottis’ relief, no one bothered them on the way to the parking lot, and on the drive back to Doc’s lair.
The real bothering came when Doc pulled up in front of his mansion.
A banner stretched above the front door, huge words painted across it in fresh black paint.
Welcome Home, Butt-Cart Probe Master it felt as though he was staring right into Ottis’ soul. “We’ll table that discussion. There’s a more pressing concern. You’ve just told me your past, but not what you’re worried about right now.”
Damn it. Ottis blew out a weary sigh. “It’s Sevrian. It’s always him. I left my pack this time around because I don’t want him making trouble there. But... But now that I’m here, I’m afraid he’s going to bring you trouble. I’m sorry. I should’ve mentioned it when you found me.”
Ottis shut up then, waiting for Doc to cast his judgment and throw him out.
Fingertips bumped into his side. Ottis jerked, looking down in surprise when Doc rubbed his back.
“I wouldn’t have turned you away,” Doc murmured, pulling Ottis closer. “Maybe this makes things easier, because then I wouldn’t have to hunt down that fucker. What he did to you was not okay, sweetheart. None of it was okay.”
Doc’s voice cracked.
Ottis swallowed, his throat tight. When he dared to look up, he found the alpha’s eyes flickering red, like Doc was trying to hold back his shift.
“I’m furious that he did all that to you,” Doc growled. “Especially because he started when you were so young. Fuck. I want to rip him apart. I want to get out there and hunt him down. Beat his skull in. But I don’t want to leave you alone here, vulnerable.”
“I’ll be okay,” Ottis said.
Doc pulled him into a tight hug, holding him for a long moment. Ottis trembled. Maybe he cried a little, but any wetness was soaked up by Doc’s clothes.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Doc said quietly. “I was alive and capable of stopping it. Hell, I was living in the nearest town. And yet...”
He exhaled noisily, his gaze shadowed.
Ottis shook his head. “You didn’t know. Besides, you couldn’t have been watching me all day, every day, or you would’ve been hovering like my brothers did. I would’ve been mad at you too.”
“But I would’ve been an alpha who would court you. Maybe not when you were eighteen though,” Doc said dryly.
Ottis huffed. He rested his weight against Doc’s chest, relaxing when Doc ran his hand up and down his spine.
“Will you please... not mention this to my brothers? I never told them about the other alphas. After all the things they’ve taught me about punching people, I just feel like I’ve. .. disappointed them. And myself.”
“It isn’t your fault that terrible people exist,” Doc murmured, hugging him tighter. “I promise not to tell. This is your past, and yours alone to share.”
“Thank you,” Ottis whispered, relief filling him.
Doc kept on rubbing his back. He massaged Ottis’ neck too, the steady rise and fall of his chest calming Ottis down. Eventually, Ottis sagged bonelessly, feeling less afraid than before.
“Better?” Doc asked.
Ottis nodded. “Thank you. Sorry for all my crap.”
“Everyone has difficulties to deal with,” Doc murmured, releasing Ottis when Ottis pulled away. “Hell, I haven’t showed you mine.”
Ottis perked up, glad for the distraction. He grabbed a bowl of scrambled egg that Doc’s cook had made, scooping some out for Marcie. “Will you show me your scars? I mean the ones on your body,” he said hurriedly when Doc twitched. “The small ones. I thought your scales were impenetrable.”
Doc huffed, relaxing. “My scales are, but not my human skin.”
Ottis winced at the mental image of Doc bleeding. “I’m sorry that you were hurt.”
“It’s a risk I take when I go out in the field.” The alpha shrugged. Then his eyes crinkled. “You should’ve seen the people I was fighting. They were hurt worse.”
Ottis snorted. “Alphas. You and my brothers, always saying the same thing.”
“Unfortunately, we do have similar traits.”
Ottis’ grin lingered as he set a bowl of boiled pasta in front of Marcie. Doc pulled up a chair and sat next to them, wrapping his arm around Ottis’ waist again. While Marcie played with her food, Ottis leaned into Doc, secretly breathing in Doc’s scent.
“I smell good?” There was a smile in Doc’s voice.
“All of you smells good,” Ottis admitted. He climbed onto Doc’s lap and tucked his nose into Doc’s armpit. Doc’s scent was so concentrated there, Ottis almost moaned. He could lose himself so easily in that scent.
He quickly pressed his nose against Doc’s chest instead. This was safer. So he wouldn’t lose control and make a fool of himself. Ottis nosed his way up Doc’s neck, sniffing at the scent gland there.
The edge of Doc’s medical mask rustled against Ottis’ hair. Out of curiosity, he trailed his fingers up Doc’s neck. Doc watched him and didn’t move.
When Ottis got as high as he could without touching the masks, he hesitated.
“I meant what I said, you know,” Ottis murmured. “About the dark room and being without your masks. I want to learn to see you. To accept you like you did with my leg.”
Doc inhaled sharply. “You don’t want to.”
“I do. You’re the first good alpha I know.”
“What about your brothers?”
Ottis rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. I don’t want my brothers to be my alpha.”
“But you want me...?” Doc grew so still, he wasn’t even breathing.
“I do.” Ever so slowly, Ottis touched his fingertips to Doc’s mask. Doc didn’t move away. With a feather-light pressure, Ottis brushed a line down Doc’s jaw, then up his cheek. He couldn’t feel much through two layers of masks, but that was okay. Doc was letting him touch his face.
He dropped his hand to give Doc time to process that touch.
“That’s it?” Doc asked.
“More tomorrow,” Ottis said.
Doc was quiet for a while. Then he pulled Ottis closer, hugging him tightly.
“Thank you,” Doc murmured.
Ottis grinned. It was progress.