20. Finn
Finn
A shifter had been in Chester’s shop.
A jaguar shifter.
A jaguar shifter from the same clan responsible for murdering Sarah and Maria.
A jaguar shifter had threatened Chester.
My Chester .
Even if Chester weren’t someone special to me, I’d still be furious. All beings in our territory, human or supe, fell under our protection. The Clarkson Clan should know better.
We didn’t take kindly to those in our territory being threatened.
I’d picked up on the unusual scent as soon as I’d entered the shop, but it’d been too faint to place immediately. Chester’s story and sniffing the card he’d left had confirmed who it was.
Or rather, what he was.
Chester might’ve brushed it off, but I knew him well enough to know he’d been scared by it.
The pure rage that knowledge had sent through me…
it had almost made me lo se control. I’d almost shifted right there in Chester’s shop.
Which was likely the worst way for him to learn about my true nature.
I didn’t plan on hiding it from him forever, but me losing control of the shift?
That couldn’t happen. My wolf and I didn’t always agree, but it was rare for him to try and seize control so aggressively.
And even rarer for me to almost let him.
Thank fuck I’d managed to pull it back in time. Although, it hadn’t been me at all, but Chester. His touch had grounded me, reminding me why losing my shit and hunting the fucker down there and then wasn’t smart.
I was curt on the phone with Calan, relaying what I knew and instructing him and the others to meet me at Thistle Do Nicely. I didn’t take my eyes off Chester as I spoke. He was busying himself with wiping down the counter. My sensitive man was far more rattled than he was letting on.
Calan asked only a single question. “Including Evan?”
I turned the question over in my mind. Reid hated Evan, and seeing him again would likely drag up the baggage they shared. On the other hand, no one tracked like Evan, or knew Reid’s former clan as well.
This was too big to risk. Not when the fucker had gone into Chester’s place of business. When he’d threatened him.
“Yes,” I said finally. “Warn him to be on his best fucking behaviour. He’s only to talk to Reid if he speaks first.”
“Got it,” Calan said. “We’re leaving now.”
I hung up without saying another word. Calan, Evan, and Logan would be shifting already, carrying their clothes and phones in small bags in their jaws.
Travelling while shifted was faster than by car.
The issue was you wound up naked at the other end unless you made accommodations.
Over the centuries, we’d found a solution that worked for us.
With my inner circle on their way, I headed back into the shop. Chester’s head shot up immediately. The spray bottle he’d been holding fell to the counter with a thud. “Everything okay?”
“Everything will be.” I went around the counter and pulled him into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Chester.”
He was stiff for a moment, making me question whether I’d overstepped somehow. But before I could move back, he relaxed into me with a sigh. He wrapped his arms around me, gripping the back of my shirt tightly. “Me too.”
We stayed like that for a while, his face buried in my chest, mine in his hair. I breathed as deeply as I could, letting Chester’s scent burn away the jaguar shifter’s. God, his hair was so soft. He hadn’t used any product in it today, and I couldn’t help but rub my cheek over it repeatedly.
So soft.
Smells so good.
Make him smell like you.
Smell like you.
I froze as I realised what I was doing. What my wolf was making me do.
I was scent marking Chester. Fuck.
“Finn?” Chester pulled back and frowned up at me. “Everything okay?”
He must’ve felt me tense. “Yeah. I’m just thinking about that bloke.”
And how I was openly scent marking Chester as mine.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. No, if Chester was my mate, I’d be making sure every inch of him smelled like me before letting him step out of the front door.
Any supe worth his salt would know exactly who Chester belonged to.
Whose wrath they’d incur if they so much as growled in his direction.
I wasn’t an alpha, but I was as lethal and ruthless as one, and I’d happily unleash my skills if it meant protecting my mate.
That right there was the issue. Chester wasn’t my mate. Not yet.
If I let him walk around with my scent on him but without a mating bond, I’d be putting him at risk. Hell, I may as well put a massive fucking target on him and just let the nearby shifters run riot.
If Chester was my mate, he’d share my strength and healing abilities. He’d be almost as difficult to kill as I was.
But he wasn’t. Not yet.
Our peace with the surrounding shifter clans was tenuous at best. The McCarthy territory was the largest, strongest, and most prosperous.
We’d defended our borders from power hungry clans for centuries and would continue to do so for many more.
We’d lost Sarah and Maria partly because Sarah and Danny hadn’t been mated.
If they had been, there might’ve been a different outcome.
It was something that had haunted Danny for many years.
I wasn’t foolish enough to expose Chester to the same risk. Which meant, until he was ready and willing to commit to me permanently, I was going to have to be careful. No scent marking. No being seen with him in public. Even being here now could be too much of a risk.
He’s already at risk with Reid working here.
“He was quite creepy,” Chester admitted. “But maybe I’m reading too much into it?”
“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t think you are. Where is Reid, by the way? ”
“Out doing deliveries.” Chester glanced at the clock and bit his lip. “He should be back in the next ten minutes or so. Should I call him?”
I shook my head. “He’ll only worry. Let’s get him here where we know he’s safe, then we can decide where to go from there.”
“Thank you,” Chester said softly. “But you don’t need to hang around. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it, but it’s not your problem to solve, Finn.”
I tried to hide my grimace. It was more my problem than Chester’s, but it wasn’t like I could tell him that. Not without explaining several centuries worth of border skirmishes and resulting treaties. “Anyone or anything that makes you feel even slightly uncomfortable is my problem, Chester.”
He flushed and ducked his head. “It isn’t, but thank you.”
I touched his chin, lifting gently until he was forced to meet my gaze. “Aye, it is. At least, I’d very much like it to be.”
Chester was saved from answering by the bell, quite literally. It rang as Calan, Evan, and Logan stepped into the shop.
The magnitude of the moment suddenly hit me. Chester was meeting those I was closest to. My family. I’d had visions of this happening over dinner, hopefully after I’d briefed him fully on what to expect.
And after I’d beaten a warning into Logan to behave.
Unfortunately, this situation meant that neither of those things had happened. I drew closer to Chester. I wasn’t throwing him to the wolves alone.
Pun fully intended.
“Oh, hello,” Logan said, mischief firing as he noted ourpositioning and the possessive hold I still had on Chester’s jaw. “Who do we have here? Is this Chester?”
The fucker knew the answer to that already. I ground my teeth together and shot Logan a look warning him to toe the line .
His wink had my heart sinking. Little shit had no intention of making this easy for me.
Striding over to the counter, he extended a hand to Chester. “Hi, I’m Logan, Finn’s most interesting friend.”
“Interesting is one word for it,” Calan muttered, yanking Logan away with a murderous glare. “What are you trying to touch him for? Have ye lost yer mind completely?”
“Not since I last checked.” Logan sniffed. “Besides, it’s not like Finn canna cope with me shaking the man’s hand, right?”
“Right,” I said through gritted teeth. Logan knew exactly what game he was playing, and later, I’d make sure he knew what the punishment was.
Someone was going to be pulling the night shift for the foreseeable future if he kept pushing my buttons.
“Chester, this is Logan, one of my…friends. The big one there is my brother, Calan. And I believe you already know Evan?”
Chester eyed Evan warily. “Yup. You going to cause trouble for Reid again, or do I need to ask you to leave before he gets back?”
My respect for Chester rose several more notches. Judging by the smirks on Calan’s and Logan’s faces, they felt the same. Shifters were a protective bunch.
Chester was going to fit right in.
“No,” Evan said quietly. He was hunched over, hands in his pockets as though he was trying to make himself as small as possible. It was an incredible feat considering his size. “I just want Reid to be safe, that’s all.”
Chester studied him for a moment longer before nodding. “Good. Then you can stay.”
Calan stepped forwards. “Would ye mind telling us what happened?”
Chester’s gaze flitted between them before coming to land on me. “I don’t understand. Why are they here?”
I cursed myself internally. This was exactly why it was tricky dealing with humans who knew nothing about the supe world. “We all know who Reid’s family are. We’re happy to intercede on his behalf if needed.”
“Intercede…” Chester’s voice faded away as he once more looked everyone over. I could almost see his mind working. Noting mine, Calan’s, and Evan’s superior size and muscles. Did he also see the feral, unhinged gleam in Logan’s gaze? Not many noticed it.
Not until it was too late.
Chester’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means we will do what’s needed to protect Reid,” Evan said darkly from his position against the wall. “I might’ve failed once before, but I can guarantee ye that I won’t make the same mistake again.”