Chapter 5 #2
But there was an underlying sense of anxiety running through Wyatt that helped to keep Bel’s urges under control.
Was he offering only because he thought it was expected of him?
Was this the wolf trying to be the perfect servant, doing anything to see to his master’s needs? This wasn’t what Bel wanted at all.
God, yes he was tempted. Everything about Wyatt and River tempted, not that he could understand it. He’d seen plenty of attractive men in his long lifetime, but this was so much more.
Yet, it was damn complicated, because he wanted Wyatt to want him freely. Not out of some sick obligation to protect his life and River’s.
“I can’t.” Bel forced out those two broken words, not caring what Wyatt thought of his crumbling will. “You and River deserve better.”
Wyatt took a step back and very slowly lifted his hand. Fingers grazed his cheek for only a second and then returned to his side. Bel looked up to find the man smiling at him while a strange look of confusion filled his eyes. “I think we have found better.”
Bel wasn’t sure what to say to that. Luckily, he was saved by the chiming of his phone again. He jumped and frantically grabbed it from his pocket, rushing to silence the noise.
“What’s that?”
“Just a reminder,” Bel muttered.
“For an experiment?” Wyatt asked. There was a hint of amusement but also interest.
But before Bel could reply, the shades started to fall over the handful of windows in the kitchen, deepening some of the shadows. He looked up to find Wyatt watching them in fascination. His sharp eyes suddenly jumped to Bel.
“Sunrise,” he said as the truth of Bel’s situation seemed to snap into his brain. “That’s why you came into the room. The sun will be rising soon.”
Bel pressed his lips together in a hard line. He couldn’t deny it.
“I’ll get River. We’ll leave, so you can get some rest in peace.”
Bel jerked into action, grabbing Wyatt’s arm to stop him as he turned to leave the kitchen. “No! Don’t!”
Wyatt froze, muscles stiffening under his touch.
Bel released him in an instant, pulling his hand against his chest and retreating a step.
He hadn’t meant to startle Wyatt or come off threatening in any way.
He didn’t know what Wyatt and River had already suffered.
He needed to be more cautious and never touch them without their expressed permission.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—I’m sorry,” he stammered. “Just…don’t. You don’t need to leave.”
He kept his eyes lowered to the counter. Everything was so much easier when he was speaking to his brothers. They understood him. Didn’t mind his strange little quirks. He even felt a kinship with Ethan despite knowing the young man for only a few months.
But around everyone else…he was just awkward. Painfully, horribly, embarrassingly awkward. And it felt all the worse because Wyatt and River were so beautiful. Wounded, but strong and beautiful.
And he was just Bel, the Varik misfit.
“You don’t feel safe with us in the house. Not while you’re trying to sleep, and the sun is high in the sky.” The understanding and compassion in Wyatt’s words only made him feel worse.
“I can’t ask you to leave. You and River are exhausted.
You need your rest as well. Somewhere warm and safe.
” Bel made a noise of disgust and motioned toward the windows.
“It’s well below freezing out there.” He groaned, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.
“Can you drive? I can loan you my car and give you some money. You and River could stay in a hotel for a while. At least until we figure this out.”
Wyatt’s smile was so very gentle as he took a step toward Bel. His movements were all very careful as if Bel was the skittish, wild animal. Well, he was certainly acting like one.
“That is incredibly generous. Too generous.”
“No, it’s not.”
Reaching out, Wyatt slid his hand across Bel’s. The touch light at first, then growing firmer until his hand was wrapped around Bel’s. “Does this bother you?”
Definitely not. Though, it took him two tries to push out a rough “No.”
“Wolves are very tactile creatures. We crave physical contact.”
A thousand thoughts darted through Bel’s brain. He noticed the constant touching between Wyatt and River. The way Wyatt had even reached for him a couple of times and stopped himself. It was as if it was how they interpreted the world around them. Maybe even grounded themselves.
“But it’s been my experience that vampires don’t like touching,” Wyatt continued.
Bel frowned. “It’s about trust, I believe. We don’t trust other vampires. And well, humans…”
“It’s a complicated relationship,” Wyatt finished. His thumb rubbed back and forth across the top of Bel’s hand in a relaxing caress. “Your offer is very generous, but it does not remove River and me from danger.”
Bel’s head snapped up and he tightly reined in his brain, keeping it on the topic they were discussing rather than Wyatt’s closeness. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know all the details, but the vampires and werewolves have a very old truce, established long before I was even born.
Werewolves stay out of vampire territory and vampire affairs.
Vampires stay out of pack affairs. If another pack finds River and me in a hotel, we’ll be hauled in front of that pack and likely killed.
There is very little unclaimed territory around here. ”
“But if you’re here with me?”
Wyatt gave a smile tinged with sadness. “Vampire territory, and we would be considered a part of vampire affairs because we belong to you. As long as River and I don’t interfere with local pack business, then they’d ignore that we exist.”
Bel’s fingers tightened on Wyatt’s. “That settles it. You’re sleeping here.”
“And what about you?”
Bel frowned as they were back to the same problem that had started this mess.
“Do you have a basement? Or maybe the garage?” Wyatt continued when Bel had no answer to that question. “A separate area of the house that could be locked.”
“Absolutely not! I’m not locking you and River up like-like prisoners!”
Wyatt’s smile turned a little wry. “Certainly wouldn’t be the first time we were locked in a cage.”
“Well, that was the last time, if I have anything to say about it! You may be able to turn into wolves, but you’re still human beings.
I-I…” Bel swallowed the rest of his rant, tongue-tied under the heat of Wyatt’s gaze.
There was such exquisite joy on his face.
He didn’t care how deep of a hole he was digging himself.
It suddenly only mattered that he made Wyatt happy.
“If it makes you feel any better, I swear on my life and River’s that we will not harm you. We will give our lives to protect you.”
Bel closed his eyes, but he could feel Wyatt’s hand wrapped around his. Feel the heat of his body. And more, he could feel the steel determination and truth of his words through that same mental pathway he shared with animals and in some strange way, his twin.
“I believe you,” he whispered. “My brothers would say I am being na?ve. That you’re part of a MacPherson revenge plot to kill me.”
“Trust must start somewhere.”
“I know.” Bel nodded and looked up at Wyatt. He had to first trust his own instincts, which said Wyatt and River didn’t mean him harm. “Go back to bed. I’m sorry I disturbed you.”
“It’s no trouble. I’m glad we spoke.”
“I usually don’t wake until late afternoon. There are lots of leftovers in the fridge if you and River are hungry. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“Sweet dreams, Bel,” Wyatt murmured. He gave his hand one last squeeze and released him, taking all his wonderful warmth with him as he walked out of the kitchen.
Bel stared down at his hand, Wyatt’s heat slowly fading away. Had he just been manipulated? Played by a man smarter and more cunning? Winter would likely believe so.
But something in Bel’s gut said it wasn’t true.
He could see it in how Wyatt and River behaved around each other, feel it in the emotions they couldn’t hide from him.
They needed him alive, not dead, if they were to have any hope of living.
They were trapped by a horrible system, but maybe he could help them find some happiness, some semblance of a normal life.
Wyatt slipped under the covers and snuggled close to River’s relaxed body.
He was like a small furnace, but the touch of his smooth skin against his own was heaven.
It usually helped to settle his emotions, give him a sense of calm when he struggled to find it on his own, but this time his mind refused to settle.
It was too occupied with thoughts of Bel.
He doubted the vampire understood how close Wyatt had come to hugging him, but his indignant rant and subtle claim when he’d spoken of cages had thrilled the werewolf in ways he hadn’t thought possible.
But when sweet, soft-hearted Bel tipped his head up and fire flared in those blue eyes, all Wyatt could think about was protecting him.
River shifted against him, stretching. “Where’d you go?” he asked on a yawn.
“I was speaking with Bel. The sun is rising soon.”
River seemed to come fully awake. “What? Does he want us to leave?” He tried to push upright, but Wyatt used his bigger body to keep River pinned to the mattress. The wolf growled low in the back of his throat for only a moment; then he relented, his entire body going loose.
“We spoke, and while he’s not entirely comfortable with us here, we may stay during the daylight hours.”
River didn’t move. Didn’t even speak. If Wyatt wasn’t so familiar with River’s breathing, he would have thought the man had fallen asleep again. But he was still wide awake and turning over the implications of what Wyatt had said.
Lowering his face, Wyatt nuzzled the side River’s head. “I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I trust him. He has no intention of harming us.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean he will protect us from the local pack, let alone his own kind.”
“I believe he’ll do exactly that.”
River said nothing, so Wyatt pressed a soft kiss to the edge of his jaw. “I also think…I think he needs us.”
That earned a scornful noise. “Vampires don’t need anyone. Especially this one. I heard plenty of whispers about the Variks. I think they were actually blood relatives when they were humans. Family.”
“Maybe.” Wyatt pressed another kiss, this one at the corner of River’s mouth. “Try talking to him tomorrow. He might surprise you. At the very least, you need to remember that he’s not Brett. Not the MacPherson clan.”
No, Bel was a Varik.
And Wyatt was beginning to think that made a great deal of difference in their world.