Chapter Six #2
“Sure thing. I just need the keys.” Aiden held out his hand.
Hayden handed the plates to Teagan before digging them out and passing them to Liam.
Then he greedily grabbed the plates. Or tried to.
Teagan insisted on keeping the one filled with desserts, clutching it to his chest like he was afraid Hayden would wrestle him for it.
Liam didn’t blame him. Pearls and Swirls bakery made some of the best desserts he’d ever tasted.
Though you couldn’t pay Liam enough to go there. Not after what happened to Vaughn.
“Drive safely.” Aiden patted the driver’s door then walked away.
“Oh, fuck,” Hayden groaned, the foil on the plate lifted. On top of the meat sat at least six deviled eggs.
“Aiden, you’re an asshole!” Liam called out.
“You’re welcome!” Aiden laughed, disappearing around the side of the house.
On the drive down the mountain, six eggs flew out the window. The wildlife would eat them. Maybe.
* * * *
The headlights washed over the darkened house as Liam pulled into the driveway. He was going to have a talk with his mates about keeping a few lights on so it looked as if they were home.
After parking his truck, he followed Hayden and Teagan inside, carrying both plates since his mates looked exhausted. Stepping through the doorway, something hit his nostrils that made his wolf surge forward.
Two distinct odors that didn’t belong.
Male.
Unfamiliar.
Recent.
Someone had been in this house.
“Wait in the living room,” Liam said, his words coming out as a demand.
Both men turned to stare at him, but Liam had set aside the plates and was already moving down the hallway, following the foreign smells, which clung to the walls like invisible smoke.
Bathroom. Bedroom. Kitchen. Everywhere he went, those same two odors lingered, strongest near drawers and surfaces someone would touch while searching. His wolf paced restlessly, hackles raised at the violation of what should’ve been safe territory for his mates.
“What’s going on?” Hayden’s voice carried from the living room, edged with suspicion.
Returning to find both men standing exactly where he’d left them—well, mostly—Liam tried to figure out how to explain enhanced senses to humans without sounding completely unhinged.
“Were you expecting company today?” he asked. “Anyone who might have a key?”
“No to both.” Hayden replied warily. “Why?”
“Nobody has a key except us,” Teagan added, though his voice carried a tremor. “Liam, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
Liam ran a hand through his hair, buying time while his mind raced through plausible explanations that wouldn’t involve outright lying. Unfortunately, every possibility sounded equally insane.
“Look, this is going to sound crazy, but—”
“But what?” Hayden stepped forward, green eyes flashing with irritation. “Stop being cryptic and tell us what’s wrong with our house.”
“Someone was here.” He tapped the side of his nose. “Two people, actually. They’ve been all through your place.”
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the tick of the kitchen wall clock. Hayden blinked once, twice. Teagan’s mouth fell slightly open.
Both men stared at him like he’d just announced he could speak to houseplants.
“You can... smell them?” Teagan’s voice pitched higher. “Like what, a dog?”
Fuck. This was going exactly as well as he’d feared. Liam watched understanding dawn on Hayden’s face. Not the good kind of understanding, but the slow horrifying realization that they’d brought a lunatic into their home.
Teagan’s face had gone pale, while Hayden’s expression shifted from irritation to something approaching alarm.
“You can smell them,” Hayden repeated, like he needed a turn to say it out loud as the skin under his left eye twitched.
“I know how it sounds—”
“Get out.” Hayden pointed toward the door as he stepped protectively in front of Teagan. “I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but—”
“It’s not a game.” Liam held up both hands, palms out. “I know exactly how it sounds, but someone was definitely here. Check your drawers, your closets. Tell me nothing’s been moved or taken.”
“Get. Out.” Each word came harder than the last. “Now!”
Fear rolled off both men, sharp, acidic, nothing like the warm contentment from earlier. Liam’s wolf whined at the rejection, at causing his mates distress when all he wanted was to protect them.
But they were afraid of him, not the intruders. Because he’d just claimed superhuman abilities like some kind of delusional stalker.
“Hayden, listen to me—”
“No.” Hayden’s hands clenched into fists. “You show up out of nowhere, fix our car, invite us to your commune, and now you’re standing in our house claiming you can smell people like some kind of bloodhound.”
“Just let me—”
“Now.” Hayden’s voice carried steel Liam hadn’t heard before. “Get the fuck out!”
His mates were in danger, and they thought he was the threat.
Left with no choice, Liam focused on his right hand. Heat burned through his fingertips as keratin extended, sharpening into deadly points. Five curved claws emerged where human nails had been seconds before.
Teagan squeaked before his eyes rolled back in his head. His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor in a boneless heap.
Damn it. Liam should’ve caught him, but he was too worried about his mates thinking he was some lunatic.
“Holy shit!” Hayden dove behind the couch, grabbing throw pillows like they were weapons. A decorative cushion with embroidered flowers bounced off Liam’s cheek, followed by one shaped like a pineapple that struck his ear. “Stay back! Stay the fuck back!”
Perfect. Just perfect. His first full day with his mates, and he’d managed to traumatize one into unconsciousness while the other was launching home décor at his head.
“What the fuck are you?”
A third pillow was thrown, this one whacking Liam square in the forehead. For someone hiding behind furniture, Hayden had surprisingly good aim.
“Would you stop throwing things at me?” Liam retracted his claws, holding both hands up in surrender. “If you’ll just let me explain—”
“Explain?” A fourth pillow sailed over the couch, hitting Liam on the nose. “You just grew fucking claws! People don’t grow claws!”
“Some people do.” Liam moved toward where Teagan lay sprawled on the thin carpet. “Can I please check on him without you launching more cushioned missiles at my head?”
Hayden clutched the back of the couch like it might sprout wings and carry him to safety. He nodded, his breathing coming in short, sharp bursts as his eyes darted wildly around the room.
When Liam scooped Teagan up, he felt impossibly light in his arms, head lolling back to expose the elegant line of his throat.
The trust implicit in that vulnerability made Liam’s wolf whine.
He settled his mate carefully on the couch, brushing silky blond hair back from his forehead.
“Teagan?” He kept his voice gentle, though his wolf wanted to pace and snarl at the lingering foreign smells. “Come on, wake up, honey.”
A soft moan escaped those lips, followed by fluttering eyelids.
“Did I miss the alien invasion?” Teagan mumbled, blinking his eyes open. “Because I distinctly remember claws, and that seems like the kind of thing that would come right before little green men.”
Despite everything, laughter bubbled up from Liam’s throat. Even semiconscious, Teagan managed to be adorable. “No aliens. Just me being a supernatural pain in your ass.”
“That’s a relief.” Teagan struggled to sit up, accepting Liam’s steadying hand without question. “I was worried things were about to get weird.”
“Things are already weird,” Hayden pointed out from behind the couch. “He has claws, Teag. Actual claws that came out of his fingers like some kind of—”
“Wolverine wannabe?” Teagan finished, studying Liam’s now-normal hands with curious eyes instead of terror. “That’s actually kind of cool. Can you do the whole wolf thing, too, or just the stabby bits?”
Role reversal didn’t begin to cover this. Liam had expected Hayden’s easy acceptance and Teagan’s panic.
Instead, his outgoing mate looked ready to bolt, while Teagan acted like supernatural revelations were just an everyday occurrence.
Hayden made a strangled sound. “Cool? He just showed you he’s some kind of supernatural creature, and you think it’s cool?”
Pursing his lips. Teagan looked as though he was processing the revelation.
“Think about it,” he finally said, turning to look at Hayden. “This explains everything. Why we’re both so drawn to him, why he showed up exactly when we needed help, why he makes us feel...” He gestured vaguely. “You know.” He turned his gaze to Liam. “Did I nail it?”
“On the head.” Liam felt something warm unfurl in his ribcage at Teagan’s acceptance. One mate down, one still having an existential crisis. Now he just had to convince Hayden that being a shifter didn’t make him dangerous.
At least not to them.
“I’m a wolf shifter.” Might as well rip off the bandage completely. “And before you ask, no, I don’t turn into a mindless killing machine during full moons. That’s Hollywood bullshit.”
Slowly, Hayden moved from behind the couch then sat down, nearly missing the cushions. He picked up Teagan’s hand, clinging to it.
At least he’s willing to listen instead of continuing his throw-pillow assault.
“And the word mate does mean something.” Wanting to make himself appear smaller, Liam took a seat on the floor. Hayden was already terrified. The guy didn’t need a massive wolf shifter standing over him.
“What does it mean?” Hayden whispered, his grip on Teagan’s hand tightening.
Liam leaned back on one elbow, stretching out a leg, leaving the other one bent. Even relaxed, he listened for any hint of danger inside and outside the house.
“It means fate thought we needed each other,” he explained. “Like Teagan said, that’s why you two feel so drawn to me. It’s our bond. As soon as you two climbed into my truck last night, I knew. It’s called the pull.”