23. Harley
Harley
Afew hours later, after we clean the hallway and no evil shifters leap out to attack us, there’s a sharp knock on the apartment door.
I glance at Val.
He sighs and, oddly enough, looks relieved.
“Who is it, Val?”
Val gets to his feet and heads for the door. “I could be wrong, but I expect it’s Marcus and Nathan, at the very least. I told Marcus what happened to Ryder and he was very unhappy.”
“Ryder’s not going to like this, but he’ll have to deal with it.”
I follow Val to the door. Ryder’s asleep in the guest bedroom, and the rate he’s healing is still completely mind-boggling to me.
“Yup, it’s the AA and Nathan,” Val says, referring to Marcus by his abbreviated Alpha Anax title.
He unlocks the bolts and opens the door, then steps back.
“Alpha Anax, Nathan. Hey, Keegan, Riley, Bon.”
I assume those are guards escorting Marcus and Nathan. They don’t come in, and Val shuts the door behind our visitors.
I hold out my hand to Nathan first because I’m simply more comfortable around him.
“Nathan, it’s—well, I’m glad you had a safe trip,” I amend, because it isn’t exactly good to see him. Not under the circumstances, anyway.
Nathan laughs and slaps me on the back while we shake hands.
“I think I like your diplomacy, or lack of it, rather.”
“Thanks,” I mutter before turning to Marcus.
It’s hard to meet Marcus’s eyes, but I force myself to do it. I can feel the power in him, and I finally realise that’s part of why he scares me so much.
“Marcus. Welcome.”
Marcus shakes my hand and gives me a nod.
“This place looks good. Nathan has a flair for decorating.”
“One of us has to,” Nathan snipes. “Otherwise we’d have cowhide rugs all over the place and milk crate furniture.”
“Which works, but isn’t as nice as this.”
Marcus smiles slightly and looks toward the couch.
“Oh!”
I blush, horrified by my lack of manners.
“Sorry, sorry. Please, have a seat. The couch is clean-ish.”
Nathan walks over to it and takes an exaggerated sniff before quickly covering his nose.
“The hell? It smells like major BO.”
“My brother,” I mumble.
Val comes to my rescue.
“He’s been on the streets since he was changed. Ryder didn’t think he had any choice. He—”
“Can speak for himself,” Ryder barks.
I turn and glare at him.
“Sorry, Har. I’ll behave.”
Ryder walks into the room wearing the sweats Val loaned him. They’re stretched so tightly over his thighs and hips that I’m surprised the seams haven’t surrendered and burst.
“I’m Ryder Johansen.”
He thrusts his hand toward Marcus without the slightest hesitation and, unlike me, has absolutely no problem looking him directly in the eye.
At first I feel it.
A swell in the air.
Power.
It rolls off Ryder first, then answers from Marcus. For one ridiculous second it feels like I’m watching some prehistoric pissing contest, a challenge over who gets to be the biggest, baddest wolf in the room.
Then Marcus responds.
Energy explodes outward.
It isn’t visible, but I feel it all the same.
The force of it hits me like a physical blow.
My knees nearly buckle. Beside me, Val immediately drops into a chair and lowers his head, exposing the side of his neck in a gesture that looks instinctive rather than deliberate.
And Ryder—
Ryder’s confidence evaporates.
“Jesus,” he gasps as he slowly lowers himself to his knees. “What’s happening?”
“Don’t ever challenge the Alpha Anax,” Nathan says, sounding entirely too amused.
“That’s something he won’t tolerate, for good reason.
A demonstration of strength generally convinces all the wannabe bad wolfies to accept their place in the chain of authority.
You can always refuse to kneel, if you think you want to try taking Marcus’s position as leader of the North American shifter packs. ”
I feel a little bad for Ryder.
A very little.
Because I saw what he was trying to do.
I saw that attempt to intimidate Marcus.
I hate that kind of thing.
Some people might say Marcus is doing exactly the same thing, but I don’t see it that way. Marcus has thousands of shifters depending on him. He has to lead them, protect them, keep order. Any sign of weakness would probably create chaos.
“Sorry. I’m sorry,” Ryder starts saying as his knees finally hit the floor. “Please! I won’t—”
“Do you submit to me?” Marcus asks.
His eyes have gone so dark they’re almost completely black.
“Will you accept my authority even if you aren’t a member of my pack?”
“Yes,” Ryder grinds out.
He tips his head down and slightly to one side.
“Jesus, don’t fucking make me roll over and show my belly. Please don’t do that.”
I don’t doubt for a second that Marcus could make him do it.
And if he thought it was necessary, I’m pretty sure he would.
Instead, Marcus gives a clipped nod and takes a step back.
“Then get up and do not fuck with me in any way. My patience is in short order right now.”
Nathan immediately takes Marcus’s hand and leads him toward a chair.
“Less stinky,” he says as he points at one. “And yeah, we’ve got no sleep the past few days. Things in Amsterdam went all screwy for Gabe and Mika, and their friends. Really screwy.”
Marcus looks at Val.
“About that, Shania might have something to help you. Something kind of disgusting, but if you’re willing to try it, perhaps it will help heal your leg completely and stimulate your wolf to come out of its funk.”
He crooks two fingers.
“Come here, please, you two.”
Since he’s looking at both me and Val, I assume he means us.
I walk the few steps over to him.
Nathan stands from where he’s perched on the arm of the chair and circles around us, sniffing.
“Well, I can tell they’ve had sex, but with Val’s wolf so deeply hidden, the mate bond is indiscernible to me.”
He tips his chin toward Marcus.
“You try.”
Then he flaps a hand at Ryder.
“And you need a few showers, but you can get up. I’d suggest the couch since it already reeks.”
For once, Ryder keeps his mouth shut. He gets up and sits on the couch while Marcus rises and begins circling us slowly.
When Marcus stops in front of us and stares directly into my eyes, I want to squirm.
Every instinct I have screams at me to look away, to break eye contact, to do something.
But I can’t. Something holds me in place.
Maybe it’s Marcus’s will. Maybe it’s the force of his personality.
Maybe it’s whatever weird alpha thing shifters have going on.
Whatever it is, I feel pinned where I sit.
Marcus’s lips twitch and he grunts softly before turning his attention to Val.
What happens next is strangely beautiful.
Marcus cups the back of Val’s neck and presses their foreheads together.
The instant they touch, something ripples through the room.
I can’t see it, but I feel it.
The air seems to hum.
Val trembles.
A soft moan slips from him, not sexual but relieved, like someone has finally set down a burden he’s been carrying for too long.
I don’t know what passes between Val and his Alpha Anax, but whatever it is seems to ease something inside him that has been hurting for a very long time.
“They are mates,” Marcus says as he lifts his head, still holding Val’s nape. “His wolf is trying, but he doesn’t know how to come out of the sleep he’s in. There’s a sense of shame about him. Am I right, Val?”
“Yes,” Val rasps. “I don’t know how to assure him he didn’t fail me. He couldn’t have kept me from being hurt.”
“Time will help, but as Nathan said, we might have something to speed you and your wolf along on the road to recovery. We’ll discuss it when we’re in a secure location.”
Marcus squeezes the back of Val’s neck once before releasing him.
“Have a seat.”
Val and I move to the remaining chair. He sits while I settle on the armrest beside him.
I brace myself.
Something tells me I know exactly where this conversation is heading.
Marcus rests one hand on Nathan’s knee but keeps his attention fixed on me and Val.
Nathan clears his throat and leans forward.
“We’d like all three of you to return with us. Now, before you say no, there are a few reasons you might consider it. First, we do have something we hope will help Val. He might not want to try it, though.”
“Why not?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Nathan gulps.
I swear he actually turns paler than usual.
“Well, because it’s really...gross. But very powerful medicine. That’s all I can say right now.”
“In front of me, you mean,” Ryder says.
Nathan shrugs.
“Yeah, pretty much. You challenged my mate, the leader of all the North American packs. Trust is something you have to earn, Ryder. By the way, in case you haven’t caught on, I’m Nathan and this gorgeous man is my mate Marcus.”
“I kinda got that. I’m not as stupid as I appear to be...sometimes.”
Ryder actually looks embarrassed about his earlier behavior.
I nearly fall off the arm of the chair.
“What, bro?” he asks. “You think I can’t admit when I fuck up?”
“You can. I just didn’t think you ever would.”
Nathan laughs.
“Geez, Marcus, they sound like you and Aidan.”
“They do,” Val adds. “Must be a brother thing, which, being an only child, I would know nothing about.”
“Same here,” Nathan says.
I glance at him.
“I take it Aidan is Marcus’s brother?”
“Identical twin brother,” Val clarifies.
“But”—Marcus holds up one finger—”I am the oldest.”
Nathan nods solemnly.
“Yeah. Those twelve or thirteen seconds made alllllll the difference.”
Marcus growls.
Nathan immediately starts laughing.
“Anyway, back to our reasons why you three should come back. There’s the medical help, the support of your AA and myself, and I think, all things considered, it’d be great for you, Harley, to live with us and not feel like you were being kept as a prisoner.
We’d really love a chance to show you how vicious we aren’t—and earn your trust, like Ryder will have to do with us. ”
“Why the hell would I want to come live with a bunch of shifters?” Ryder asks, anger creeping into his voice. “Look what one of you did to me.”
Marcus tilts his head and scowls.