Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
CIARAN
“You can’t stay away forever,” Fray said. “We’ve been gone two days already.”
Many years ago, they’d found an old miner’s hut up the river, forgotten by humans and time and reclaimed by the forest for the better part of the last century.
It made the perfect place to get away.
The hut itself had needed repairs, and it had been a fun project for them all to work on. But there was a woodstove and a couple of single bedframes they’d put new mattresses on a few years ago. They didn’t need anything else.
It was right on the water’s edge, and they’d fixed the small jetty as well so they could climb in and out of the water all they wanted.
They used it mostly for hiding away when the need for solitude and to be in their freeform was too overwhelming. Certain lunar cycles, mating cycles. That kind of thing. A place where they were free to be themselves.
Sure, Tenebrae Cove offered them the perfect location to straddle the human/not-so-human line, but sometimes they needed more.
Like now, when Ciaran didn’t want to face any of his consortium—or the man who was the sole cause of all his troubles.
The very human Detective Sergeant Douglas Sawyer.
“Pretty sure I can stay here forever,” Ciaran replied petulantly. “Well, the next five years, at least.”
Fray made a face. They were on the jetty, their human feet dangling into the water. “Aren’t you a bit curious?”
“Curious? About what?”
Fray rolled his eyes. “About everything. He’s your mate. It’s not as if our kind and humans—”
“That’s right. He’s human,” Ciaran said. “And he’s a cop.”
Fray shrugged one shoulder. “He’s kinda hot, though. For a biped.”
Ciaran shot him a glare and made a low growl from somewhere deep in his belly. It surprised him how instinctual it was and how deeply he’d meant it.
Fray wasn’t fazed, though. He never was. He put both his hands up and laughed. “Just kidding.”
“It’s not funny.”
It wasn’t funny when Kellan had explained it the other night.
It wasn’t funny when Ciaran knew in his blood that what the doctor had found in his textbooks was true; their kind had been known to take a mate, though it was not common, but they never took a human mate.
It wasn’t funny when every single one of them had stared at him.
It wasn’t funny when Otis busted up laughing, or when Ciaran threatened to rip one of Otis’s arms off.
It wasn’t funny then, and it wasn’t funny now.
“Ahh, come on,” Fray said, still grinning. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Ciaran stared at him. “What’s the worst—are you serious? He would know about us. About our world. He’s a cop, for fuck’s sake. He’s human, Fray. Hu. Man. They’re irrational, impulsive, and self-serving.”
“Like you’re being right now. You’re a perfect match.”
Ciaran snarled at him, but there was no heat in it. “Fuck you.”
“No, thanks. You’re not my type.” He leaned back on his hands, closing his eyes to enjoy the gust of cold wind that blew up the river. “But you could fuck him,” he said casually. “Get some action while you can. It’s not like you’ve had any in, uh, how long has it been?”
Ciaran wanted to smack him with all eight arms. “Speaking of your type and getting action, how’re things with Tobin going?”
Fray cracked one eye open, his smile now gone. “Speaking of fuck you.”
Ciaran smiled with satisfaction and put both his hands up like Fray had done earlier. “Just kidding.”
Fray groaned. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Ciaran chewed on the inside of his lip for a minute. “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe if you actually told him...”
“Says the guy who’d rather hide away for two days than face his little matey.”
“Little matey?”
He shrugged. “What else am I supposed to call him?”
“Not that.”
“Sawyer. Douglas Sawyer. Detective Sergeant Douglas Sawyer.”
“Are you done?”
“Nope. Got five years to go.”
“The fuck I do.” Ciaran shook his head. “I can deny it. Kellan said the whole mate thing isn’t set in stone. We still have free will. I can choose to not... to not do anything.”
Fray turned to look at him with a curious expression before he decided not to say anything.
“Spit it out, Fray.”
He sighed. “I just.... What does it feel like? I can tell you’re on a freaking knife’s edge around him, conflicted or tormented, because I’ve never seen you struggle before.
But what do you feel? I mean, finding a mate is kinda rare.
Special, I guess.” He shrugged. “I was just curious about what it’s like. ”
Ciaran could understand the curiosity. The mate-bond was rare for their kind—especially involving a human, which was unheard of—and he knew Fray would never use it against him. Hell, maybe it’d help if he knew what Ciaran was going through.
“It’s... like nothing I’ve ever felt,” he admitted. “As soon as I saw him on the boat, my body knew he was someone....”
Fray raised an eyebrow. “Your body?”
“Not like that,” Ciaran said, knowing how Fray’s perverted mind worked.
“I mean, there’s that too. But this was.
... I dunno. My hearts began to race like I’d just seen something amazing and terrifying.
My blood felt cold and hot at the same time, and I needed to shift so bad.
I’ve never struggled to keep form, but..
.. It’s hard to explain.” He shook his head at himself.
It did feel good to admit this stuff out loud, but it also made it very real.
“You know what it’s like when the ocean calls us? ”
Fray nodded. “You have to go. You can’t not go.”
“It’s like that. But only it’s not the ocean. It’s...”
“A person.”
Ciaran nodded. “It feels like a hook in me. Like there’s a line between us, and it’s reeling me in.”
“Holy shit.”
“It scared the shit outta me,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what it was. I mean, who the fuck does he think he is? He can’t just turn up in our town and expect me to...”
“To what, Ciar? To be honest, I don’t think he expects anything from you.”
Ciaran frowned at that, at the ache in his chest. “He’s human. How could he?” He rubbed his sternum. “Fuck.”
“Even thinking about rejecting it hurts, huh?”
Ciaran nodded again. “Burns. Like I need water. I need cold water. Being in freeform helps. I feel more centred. These human forms are all fucking wrong. What good is a freaking skeleton on the inside of a body anyway? Exoskeletons make more sense.”
Fray laughed. “Evolution didn’t always get it right.”
They were quiet for a minute then, and Ciaran figured he may as well admit to Fray what he didn’t even want to admit to himself.
“When I see him, the need to go to him is intense. I need to be near him. I want to touch him. Need to. It burns me not to touch him.” He swallowed hard, his mouth dry at the mere thought of not being able to touch him.
“I want to take him. The need to take him in freeform, wrap every limb around him and pull him deep into the water.” He opened and closed his fists a few times. “I want to do that so fucking bad.”
Fray made a face. “Well, can I recommend you don’t do that? Because, well, you know... humans don’t do too well underwater for very long.”
Ciaran let his head fall back and he groaned.
“That’s why I can’t be near him. I’m gonna lose it good and proper and fucking change form in front of him.
I’m not gonna be able to stop it. I’ve barely been able to contain it as it is, and I can only imagine it’s going to get worse the longer he stays. ”
“Okay, so, serious question,” Fray said. “Do we get rid of him?”
Ciaran’s sternum burned again, and he tried to rub the pain away. “Ugh.”
Fray looked at him, genuinely concerned. “Look. I get it. But if it’s between losing you or him, if one of you has to go, it’s not a question. So maybe he leaves permanently. Surely the mating thing will dissipate if he’s, like, dead or something.”
The burn deepened, making Ciaran hiss. “Yeah, I can’t even think about that.”
Fray watched as Ciaran rubbed his chest, pressing the heel of his hand against his sternum to try and appease the ache. “Okay, so maybe not.”
Ciaran shook his head. “I need water.” He didn’t wait for Fray to reply, he just melted into freeform and slipped into the river.
The relief was immediate but not complete. The burn was still there, a small ember in his hearts that not even the freezing water could snuff out.
It still burned.
It still made his blood thrum.
Fuck, he needed to stop thinking about it.
Just then, a blue arm smacked him upside the head.
He knew who it was without even looking.
What the fuck, dude?
What the fuck, exactly. Look at yourself.
Ciaran looked down at himself, seeing his body, his limbs. Such a vibrant red.
Fuck.
If you wanna ignore this whole mate thing, you need to get better at not thinking about it.
I can’t....
Then you need to talk to him, at least. I mean, have you even said two words to him?
Ciaran hissed at him, blooming an angry and indignant red down every limb. Take a fucking look at me. How do I explain this?
Fray’s laughter ran through Ciaran’s mind. You know about humans and tentacle porn, right? It’s an actual thing on the internet—
He was interrupted by the distant but familiar sound of Tobin’s boat. Fray’s eyes met Ciaran’s, wide and alert.
Something’s wrong.
For Tobin to be coming by boat? Yes, something was wrong.
And Ciaran had one singular thought. Not his consortium. Not his family.
Sawyer.
Only Sawyer.
Ciaran pushed up, breaking the surface, and was in his human form in one fluid movement, pulling on his clothes before Fray was even out of the water.
He was very clearly about to say something smart until he saw the panic Ciaran couldn’t conceal.
“I’m sure it’s nothing major,” he said, pulling on his shorts.
By the time Tobin’s boat came around the bend and up to the jetty, they had the hut all locked up and were waiting for him.
“What’s wrong?” Ciaran asked, hopping aboard, Fray a few steps behind him.
Tobin gave Ciaran a tight smile. “Hendrix is back.”
Hendrix, Ciaran’s cousin, for the want of a better word. He was young and reckless, but this was hardly bad news.
And it wasn’t about Sawyer. The relief Ciaran felt was immeasurable.
“And?”
“And he’s alone. He was surprised to learn Dylan wasn’t here. He said Dylan left him days ago.”
What?
“Days ago?” Fray asked.
Tobin gave a nod. “Six days.”
Dylan had been unaccounted for for six days?
Oh no...
“And that’s not all,” Tobin said, his tone quiet, grim.
“What?” Ciaran wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“They had a run-in with the Bass Strait boys—”
Ciaran’s hearts skipped a beat. “They what?”
“Apparently they said something that freaked Dylan the fuck out,” Tobin said. “Let’s get back to the Cove. Hendrix can tell you everything.”