Chapter Four
Wesley tried to work this out in his head as he walked. His life hadn’t been the same since that fateful night, and now… A bear? Maybe, just maybe, he could somehow get beyond the fact the guy he was overwhelmingly attracted to was a bear, but how would he deal with them being mates?
That meant Hyett would see his leg. He would freak out like the last guy, but it would hurt even more this time. Wesley hadn’t known the rando. They’d simply hooked up. But with Hyett, it was different. Wesley really liked him.
Now the man stood in front of him, staring at him like Wesley was the crazy one. The hysterical laughter probably didn’t help matters. Neither did his throbbing leg. Wesley shouldn’t have walked so far from the road.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Hyett reached for him, and Wesley didn’t stop him. He wanted the relief, but more so, he wanted to feel Hyett’s strong arms around him. The man pulled Wesley to his chest and hugged him close.
“You’re a bear,” he said into Hyett’s pec. Why did the guy have to be so freaking tall?
“I am.” Hyett rubbed his back. “Don’t let that scare you, sweetheart. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Wesley burrowed deeper into him, sighing as his pain began to ease. “How are you doing that? Is it because we’re mates?”
“Yes.” Hyett hugged Wesley tighter, as if the guy needed to be touched just as much as he did.
“Magic?” After what Hyett just revealed to him, Wesley would believe him.
The guy softly chuckled. “No magic. You just completely relax when I touch you, hon.”
Truthfully, Wesley had been kind of hoping it was magic. He’d been having such a rough time that it would be nice to discover something so cool.
Like the fact Hyett could change into a bear? That’s what should be freaking Wesley out the most, not the mate thing. The gorgeous man wasn’t even human, yet all Wesley cared about was Hyett’s reaction to seeing his scars.
“Agh!” Wesley quickly curled his arms around Hyett’s neck when the man scooped him up and held him to his chest. “What’re you doing?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious.” Hyett smiled as he started back toward the road. “I’m carrying my honey because his leg hurts.”
“But the pain went away,” Wesley argued. “I’m too high off the ground. What if you drop me? I feel ridiculous being carried.”
Despite his many protests, Wesley was loving every second of it, even though Hyett looked a little too smug with that goofy grin on his face.
“You feel wonderful in my arms, and there’s no chance in hell I’m gonna drop you.” Hyett made it back to the SUV in no time.
Wesley wished he’d taken longer. He might have felt ridiculous, probably even looked twice as absurd, but who was he to argue if Hyett liked carrying grown men?
“Dude, I can get into the car without any help,” Wesley said when Hyett wrestled with the handle then opened the door, placing him gently on the seat.
The guy kissed him on the nose then smiled. “What if I like doing it for you?” He wound the seatbelt around Wesley.
“Okay, now you’re going too far,” he grumbled, smacking at Hyett’s hands. “I can buckle it myself.”
The seatbelt clicked into place.
“Already done.” Hyett kissed his nose again.
Wesley crossed his arms. Hyett chuckled as he closed the door. “What in the hell am I doing?” He could not let this mate thing progress any further. The guy wasn’t even human, and Wesley had a horrific leg. It just couldn’t work.
“Are you really upset I did all that?” Hyett asked after he climbed in and closed the door.
Wesley opened his mouth and then chickened out, so he closed it. He wanted to tell Hyett the truth, that he was terrified of the guy seeing his leg, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud.
“I’m sorry if you thought I was taking away your independence, Wes.”
Wesley instantly stiffened. “Please…please don’t call me that.”
Hyett studied him for the longest moment. “Okay, Wesley. I won’t do it again.”
Shit. Wesley knew he was a mess, but he hadn’t realized how screwed up he was until he met Hyett. He wanted to tell the guy why he hated the shortened version of his name, but then Hyett would discover how fucked up Wesley’s homelife was. The guy might argue with his brothers, but that kind of thing was normal among siblings.
What wasn’t normal was Wesley visiting a drug house once a week to score for a man who unleashed hatred on his son when he was in pain. It also wasn’t normal for that man’s son to accidently take the drugs he never wanted to buy in the first place.
They rode in silence back to town, their small moment of fun disappearing because Jackson had destroyed a simple nickname, causing Wesley to loathe even hearing it.
Hyett was probably already regretting even meeting him. What bothered Wesley the most was the fact he was acting just like his father when he lashed out at Hyett.
When they parked, he tried to jump out, but Hyett placed a hand on his arm. “Please, give me your phone number.”
What was the point since Hyett was about to wash his hands of him? But to help him escape faster, Wesley relented. He pulled out his phone and accessed the dial pad before handing it to Hyett.
The man called his own phone. “I want to see you again,” he said, handing back Wesley’s phone, and then he stored the number.
“Why?” He huffed at how badly he’d acted toward Hyett. “Are you into that kind of torture?”
“Mates don’t quit each other, Wesley. You’re it for me, and vice versa. We might hit snags, but I would never give up on you or let you push me away.”
Hyett said it so sincerely that Wesley could almost believe him. But a person could only handle someone’s mood swings for so long before they actually did give up. If mates couldn’t quit each other, Hyett was in for a miserable life, even if Wesley wanted the opposite.
He was turning into his father and felt like he couldn’t stop the inevitable, no matter how much he wanted to.
“I have to go.” Getting out, Wesley hurried to his car before Hyett could stop him, then he had to force himself not to look at the guy as he pulled away. It physically hurt to leave Hyett behind, but Wesley had to get the pills to his dad.
“Who are you trying to fool?” he asked himself. “Admit it, you’re running away like a coward.”
By the time he made it home, Wesley was in an even worse mood. If he’d just stayed on Hyett’s couch, his evening might have turned out differently. He wasn’t talking about sex, but he could have enjoyed an evening just chilling instead of coming home to Jackson’s rotten mood.
If his dad had been blowing up his phone, it meant he was out of pills and in a lot of pain. As he walked through the front door, Wesley braced himself for the onslaught of verbal abuse.
A hand grabbed him around the throat and slammed him into the wall. Wesley stared right into Morton’s cold, flat eyes. What in the hell was going on? What was the drug dealer and his creepy roommate doing at his house?
And why was his dad curled into a ball on the floor, bleeding from his nose and shivering and sweating?
Morton slowly tilted his head to crack it. “Your father has racked up quite a debt.”
Wesley’s heart was beating like crazy, and Morton’s hand was squeezing his neck a little tighter. “What are you talking about? I pay you every time I come over.”
His mind raced, but Wesley couldn’t figure out what debt Morton was referring to. There had to be some kind of mistake. Clearly the guy was using his own products.
A slow smile curled Morton’s lips. “You don’t know, do you? Or are you playing me?”
Wesley shook his head quickly, trembling so badly his limbs knocked against the wall behind him.
Seth, the guy’s creepy roommate, chuckled. He was seated casually on their couch, rolling a blunt, looking as if he owned the place.
Morton released him then backhanded Wesley so hard his head banged into the wall next to him. As he felt warm blood run from his nose, he wondered if the guy had broken his cheekbone.
“That’s in case you’re lying to me,” Morton said. “Daddy has been scoring on the side, running up a tab with me.”
As his face throbbed, Wesley glanced at his father covered in sweat and moaning. The sight of him lying there hurt Wesley’s heart. Before everything had gone to shit, his dad had been a strong, hardworking man. They hadn’t always gotten along, had rarely seen eye to eye, but he’d never looked like this.
“Jackson owes ten grand, since you seem unaware of his debt. Drugs, gambling, and a woman or two.” Morton winked. “Now, the bill comes due.”
Seth lit his blunt with a chuckle. He took a couple hits then got up and walked toward them. The smoke filled the space around them, causing Wesley to choke. A headache began to throb in the back of his skull from the nasty smell.
“See, we thought the pain pills were for you.” Seth pointed the blunt at him as if it was an extension of his finger. “Had we known they were for your dad, we would’ve just taken the money for his debt.”
Wesley prayed this wasn’t leading to what he suspected, but he was too terrified to open his mouth. Morton was a tall, heavyset guy with thinning hair and a nose too big for his face. Even worse, he also had an aura of evilness hugging him close.
Seth was tall, too, but he was lean with muscles and had a look that said he derived pure joy from hurting others.
“A family that does drugs together can pay the bill together,” Seth side, blowing the foul smoke directly into Wesley’s face.
“But I had no idea what he was doing!” Wesley argued as his mind whirled, trying desperately to figure a way out of this nightmare. “I don’t do drugs.” Not illegal ones. The ones he’d taken earlier had been by accident.
He shouted when Seth hauled off and slugged him in the gut, the blunt dangling between his lips. He yanked Wesley up and punched him again in the face, causing him to crash to the floor.
“Save your whining.” Morton stepped back like he was horrified at the thought of getting blood on his shoes. “I don’t give a shit which one of you knew what or who cries innocent. I don’t even care if you knock over a few liquor stores to get my money. One week from today, you better have it, so I suggest you get to hustling.”
Seth squatted next to Jackson and shook his head. “If you don’t come up with the money, you and this piece of shit will be buried in the forest.”
Oh god. Wesley had no idea what he was going to do. He didn’t have ten grand and couldn’t possibly come up with it in a week. Why on earth would Morton allow Jackson to run up such a huge debt. How long had this been going on behind Wesley’s back?
That was probably why his dad had blown up his phone. He knew Morton was coming for his money. But why call him? It wasn’t as though he had the ten thousand dollars lying around.
He closed his eyes when he saw Seth heading toward him, his eyes gleaming with malice. Maybe the guy would beat him to death and Wesley wouldn’t have to wait until next week to die.
* * * *
Hyett heard the back door of the house open and close as he lay on top of the garage, staring at the canopies of trees silhouetted against the night sky. He was trying to count as many stars as he could see, but one of his family members was about to disrupt his peace and quiet.
A grunt and a few footsteps later, Killian lay down beside him. “You know you’re never gonna get an accurate count, right? So why bother?”
“Damn it, you made me mess up,” Hyett grumbled, wondering if he’d been at 280 or 300. “Because it was relaxing until you came up here.”
The truth was, counting stars was a distraction. Anything to take his mind off Wesley. No matter what approach Hyett tried—biting back, gentle, or playfulness—Wesley either tried to walk away or he’d become pissed off.
There was no denying he wanted to bond with Wesley, to get the human naked, and make him forget everything but Hyett. From the second he’d laid eyes on his mate, something in him had snapped, like some primal force taking over.
But Wesley wasn’t on the same page. Hell, he wasn’t even reading the same book. If his mate had been anything other than human, Hyett would have had him naked and begging by now. Regardless, nothing was going down until his mate’s guard lowered and he opened up. Wesley was hiding secrets, and he had it in his head that Hyett would judge him for those secrets. Nothing was further from the truth.
For Hyett, it was ride or die, and eventually, Wesley would come to the same conclusion and learn to trust him.
“I’m sorry,” Killian said, “for being a dickhead. I’ve never seen you look at anyone that way before and should have known something deeper was going on.”
Turning his head, Hyett squinted at his brother. “What look?”
Killian contorted his face into an exaggerated doe-eyed expression before grinning. “Like the entire world had disappeared and it was just you and the human and nothing could rip your gaze away from him.”
Hyett snorted. Yeah, that’s exactly how it had felt. “But you still acted like a dickhead when it hit you that he was my mate.”
Killian turned his gaze skyward. “Look, you’re our baby brother. You’re the one cool under pressure, while Ryker and I just want to knock heads and rip out throats.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“And you found your mate first,” Killian added, voice tinged with envy.
Hyett propped himself up on an elbow to look at him. “Are you seriously jealous? It’s not like I set out to find Wesley today. I was just as shocked as you were.”
“Yeah, well, tell me you wouldn’t be at least a little jealous if I found mine first.” Killian laced his fingers and rested them over his chest, still staring at the sky.
With a sigh, Hyett lay back down. “Yeah, I would, but so far, it’s not all roses and romance like I thought it would be when I found my mate. It’s more like thorns and heartache and enough attitude to give me frostbite.”
Killian glanced at him with a frown. “You actually thought it’d be easy?”
“You don’t have to point out how delusional I am.” Hyett playfully elbowed him.
“But you know fate pairs two people who need each other. As soon as you realized Wesley was your mate, your first question should’ve been: how broken is this guy, and how many battle wounds will he cause me before we get our shit together?”
“My first question was more like: who is this guy, and how fast can I get him under me?” Hyett grinned, but it quickly faded. “Your question would’ve been more appropriate.”
“Not the worst question. More fun, at least.” Killian chuckled then sobered. “You figured out what he’s hiding yet?”
“Damn, you’re nosy.” Hyett traced his fingers along the rough asphalt roof. “I saw the way you two were gazing at each other through the window at the pizza shop.”
Killian choked on a disbelieving laugh. “He was high as fuck and zoned out,” he argued. “His mind was probably riding rainbow unicorns through a melted chocolate waterfall.”
Hyett had been joking with his brother, but… “You’re way too specific for that to be random,” he snarled.
“Because it just popped into my head. Jeez. I can see now you’re going to be a barrel full of laughs until you claim him.” Killian rolled his eyes. “ He’s now my brother-in-law, Hyett. I’m going to treat him just like I treat you and Ryker, so stop with the attitude.”
“If you treat Wesley the same as us, Dad will help me bury your carcass.” Hyett reached into his back pocket when his phone started ringing.
It was Wesley. Hyett’s heart skipped a beat.
“Get lost so I can talk dirty to my mate.” He shooed his brother away before he answered. “Hey, hon.”
“Hyett,” Wesley groaned with a heavy wheeze.
He bolted upright. “Wesley, what’s wrong?”
Killian turned back around and trotted toward him, a quizzical expression on his face.
“Hurts,” Wesley coughed roughly. “Hurt m-me.”
Hyett was up and racing to the edge of the roof, Killian right behind him, texting on his phone.
“Are you still at home, baby?” Hyett flung himself down from the roof so fast he nearly landed on his ass.
“Y-Yeah,” Wesley wheezed, his breath rasping through the speaker. “Hiding.” Then a ping. Wesley shared his location.
Hyett’s heart pounded like crazy, but his bear wanted to attack whoever had hurt their mate. So did he. “Wesley, is the person who hurt you still there? Are they in the house?”
His dad and Ryker shot out of the back door, Quinton taking the wheel as they jumped into the SUV and his dad sped from the driveway.
“Wesley?” Hyett’s voice cracked with fear. “Baby, answer me.”
His father’s hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing hard as they tore down the back road.
“Wesley?” He pulled his phone away and saw the call had disconnected. “Shit!”
Closing his eyes, Hyett prayed whoever had hurt Wesley wasn’t still there, but another part of him hoped like hell they were, because they had four deadly bear shifters heading their way to wipe them from existence.