Chapter 6 #2
Bel’s smile turned a bit mocking as he folded up the towel and placed it next to the sink.
“I thought I was hearing voices. It didn’t take too long to determine that I was receiving the thoughts and feelings of animals around me.
The hard part was learning how to tune them out, so I didn’t go insane. ”
“True.”
“But it gave me a chance to study a variety of animals that I hadn’t considered before.”
“Like that bird you spoke to last night?”
Bel gave a little laugh. “That’s Ozzie. We’ve been together for quite a while.”
“Is he a pet?”
Bel’s brow furrowed, his lips pursed together in thought; then he shook his head.
“A neighbor. Or maybe a friend, I guess. We met while my family was living in South Carolina. Ravens travel in flocks when they’re young but are generally solitary birds.
I was out hunting one night, and there were a handful of ravens about that I politely borrowed to scout the area. ”
“Ozzie was one of them?”
Bel nodded. “After he and his companions completed their task, I thanked them with a sandwich I’d purchased at a gas station. But he wasn’t interested in the sandwich. He seemed to be more curious that I could understand him. I think he was lonely.”
“You talked…to a bird?”
Bel’s smile turned a bit sheepish, and River couldn’t deny that there was something sort of adorable about the vampire’s embarrassment.
“Ravens are among the smartest animals on the planet. After I fed, he followed me as I walked home, flitting from tree branch to tree branch. It wasn’t much of a conversation at first, just showing me places he liked to hunt for food.
Sadly, it took me another few nights to realize he was giving me advice on good hunting grounds. ”
River leaned his hip against the nearest table and chuckled. “He was being a good neighbor. Helping out the newcomer.”
“Exactly.” Bel shrugged. “As time passed, he kept coming back to me. Our conversations became more complicated as our communications skills evolved.”
“He followed you from South Carolina to Connecticut?”
Bel blushed and looked away from River. “I will admit…that’s the one time I’ve put him in a cage.
We discussed it thoroughly beforehand, and he agreed it was for his own safety.
I flew from South Carolina and I brought him on the chartered jet with me.
We were worried about his safety over such a long flight, and he was worried about my safety since we’d be separated for so long if he flew on his own.
When I moved in here, I set up a large birdhouse near mine for him, but he knows he doesn’t have to use it if he doesn’t want to.
He also knows that he can leave me at any time. ”
“But he won’t,” River said softly, speaking mostly to himself. And he got it. Why would he leave? Bel was his friend. The vampire didn’t treat the raven like a pet, but as a respected friend, giving him both safe boundaries and kindness.
“Probably not. Ozzie has a well-developed sense of humor, and he finds my family very entertaining.”
River shook his head and grinned at the floor. Bel had the most interesting view of the world. And for the first time since he and Wyatt had been kicked out of their pack, River enjoyed a small taste of hope.
Bel wasn’t Brett. River wasn’t entirely sure who Bel was, but River knew he wasn’t like his past.
And it was all thanks to Ozzie.
“Have you always been interested in science?” River asked suddenly. He needed to know everything about this man. Was there some secret that would prove he was hiding a darker side? Or was he the protector they’d been looking for?
“Oh, yes! I love science. I think I’ve studied a little bit of everything over the years. I enjoy learning how things work and why things in nature are the way they are. What about you?”
“Science? Oh, God no.” River shuddered. “Never really cared for it. Wyatt enjoys biology. He had plans of becoming a doctor. Me? I guess I’ve always been afraid of being discovered by humans as a werewolf and getting dissected.”
Some vampires had the benefit of having the ability to fuck with human brains. They could wipe memories so they didn’t realize they’d just donated a pint of blood or saw a vampire do something freaky.
River had never heard of a single werewolf having that ability.
If a human discovered someone was a werewolf, more often than not, the human had to be killed.
It sucked, but it was dangerous if they were discovered.
Humans vastly outnumbered werewolves. If people found out they were real, River was sure they’d all be rounded up and placed in cages or zoos so they could be studied.
“I won’t allow it.” Bel closed the short distance between them and wrapped his slender fingers around River’s bicep. “It’s never going to happen. No one is going to harm you or Wyatt. I won’t allow it.”
Every muscle in River’s body froze. He didn’t feel threatened by Bel’s touch and closeness.
No, everything within him was longing to lean forward and bury his face in Bel’s throat, to cuddle close and let Bel wrap his warmth and vanilla scent around him.
There was something so unexpectedly strong about Bel.
Every little motion, smile, and blush left River thinking that the scientist was just a sweet, strange man.
There was also hidden steel within him. He was the man who’d killed another vampire to protect his brother. There was a deeper protective instinct within Bel that called to River.
Now that he let himself think about it, so much of Bel called to him and had since last night. If he’d thought the vampire meant him or Wyatt harm, would he have been able to sleep so soundly, even with Wyatt there to watch over him? No.
But from Bel’s playful and kind questions to the way they’d talked over food options to even the simple warm conversation in the lab, everything laid out the kind of person Bel was.
There was no subterfuge to Bel. River felt sure there wasn’t a manipulative bone in Bel’s body.
The vampire spelled out clearly what he wanted, and it all largely came back to protecting those he cared for.
While he preferred to use science, Bel would obviously use force if necessary.
“Okay, so no science,” Bel said, sounding as if he were trying to force some lightness into his voice as he released River’s arm. “What do you like?”
River tensed as he turned the question over. He’d not given it much thought in a long time. Either no one had cared about what he liked or there had simply been no chance to enjoy such luxuries.
“Music. Books, but fiction. Action movies. Making things with my hands. Puzzles. That sort of stuff,” he finished a bit awkwardly.
It was easier to get Bel talking about himself.
River didn’t want to talk about himself, didn’t want to think about things that he wasn’t sure when he’d get to enjoy again.
“My questions…they don’t make you uncomfortable, do they? I never meant to upset you—”
River stopped the words by pressing his fingertips to Bel’s parted lips. Blue eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. The most beautiful blush painted Bel’s cheeks, bringing back River’s earlier amusement with the vampire.
“They don’t bother me. You’re not proposing to cut me open and pull all my organs out.”
“Never,” Bel whispered, his lips brushing River’s fingers.
River lowered his hand to his side. “Then ask me anything you want.”
“Okay, but you have to promise to tell me if it becomes too much.” Bel’s eyes were wide and his expression incredibly earnest. “Ethan complains every time I ask for just a tiny bit of blood. He hates needles.”
Laughter erupted from River, and he rocked against the table behind him. Bel’s hand fell away. He was looking awkward once more but also amused.
“Ethan is the vampire mate for your brother?” Bel nodded to River’s question. “And he hates needles?” He chuckled again. “How is he afraid of getting a little blood drawn when he’s a vampire?”
“What’s all this laughing about?” Wyatt asked as he strolled into Bel’s lab. He was still pulling on his T-shirt, giving River and Bel a delicious view of his beautiful abs.
Slipping his hands under the hem of Wyatt’s worn, soft shirt, he sent one around his back while the other snuck up his chest to pluck at a hard nipple.
The scent of pine and earth drifted around him along with Wyatt’s heady musk.
When they’d been with their pack, there had been only a few stolen moments before they were discovered.
And then the MacPherson clan kept them as wolves, leaving River feeling like he’d been waiting half his life to touch Wyatt as much as he wanted.
His lover dipped his head as if he meant to steal a kiss, but he stopped and looked over River’s shoulder at Bel, waiting. Seeking permission. There was a part of River that wanted to snarl and snap at the idea that his powerful lover was waiting on a vampire’s benevolence to claim a kiss.
But River swallowed back the anger. The fact that they were standing together like this was a vast improvement over their last circumstances.
Plus, Wyatt was being cautious. They hadn’t won Bel over yet, and this was his home.
River closed his eyes and stomped on the irrational feelings. Bel isn’t Brett. Bel isn’t Brett.
“Oh…umm…yes…excuse me,” Bel stammered. “Let me just…I-I need to see to…” He started to step around River and Wyatt as if he meant to give them some privacy in his private laboratory.
Wyatt chuckled and his hand shot out, grabbing Bel’s arm. The vampire yelped as he was pulled in until he was held pressed to both shifters. River blinked over at the blushing Bel, letting that soft scent from the vampire gently soothe ragged nerves and old wounds.
“We weren’t trying to run you out of your private sanctum,” Wyatt said. His voice was so wonderfully deep that River wanted to roll in it.
“Oh.” That single syllable came out breathless and so hushed, River could barely hear it.