21. Cas #2
I fist my hands in Nathan’s shirt as my mate goes rigid beside me, every muscle in his body tensing. “What. Happened?” he asks.
“Look,” Adrian says, “I visited the house under the guise of seeing Eden. I didn’t see Kato because our esteemed alpha decided it was a smart idea to order him to stay inside.” He snorts a humourless laugh. “Dunno why he thought that would be a good idea.”
“So that’s where he is right now?” I ask. “At Declan’s?” In that little room. Declan’s prisons sure are seeing a lot of traffic with the three of us constantly getting locked up.
“Not anymore,” Adrian says. “He went on a bit of a bender yesterday. Fucked up some of the fair preparations, caused general chaos and made a break for it.” He grimaces. “Declan has him locked up in the barn now.”
Nathan sweeps me into his lap, gripping me tight, as if I too might be taken from him. I return to his neck, inhaling his wildflower scent. It helps calm my racing heart, but Adrian’s words aren’t reassuring. We can’t have gone through all of this only for Kato to be kept from us forever.
I sink into my alpha as Nathan deflates, letting out a long sigh. “I was supposed to be looking out for him.” He glares at Adrian. “Why didn’t you tell me about this yesterday?”
Adrian fidgets with the mug, rubbing a finger over a chip in the handle. “I couldn’t.”
“Why?” Nathan’s voice breaks a little. His hurt over Adrian’s unwillingness to share the information spears my heart. My alpha has so few friends in the pack. More than that—he considers Adrian his family.
Adrian springs to his feet, tea sloshing over the side of the mug.
“What do you want me to say, Nathan? That I was worried if I told you the truth about Kato that you’d martyr yourself trying to rescue him?
Rush in with no plan, no backup, and get caught immediately?
That I’d have to watch you get yourself hurt by Declan, who’s looking for any excuse to fuck you up again?
” His voice is getting louder with every word, and I can smell his distress rising.
“But equally, how if you don’t come and get Kato, I’m going to have to sit on the sidelines and watch your new mate destroy himself in front of my eyes?
“And how about the fact that you were one of the only decent shifters in this bloody pack and now that you’re gone, I’m wondering what the fuck we’re doing staying in it?” Adrian takes a deep breath, but he appears to have run out of steam.
“I…didn’t know you cared so much,” Nathan says in a soft voice.
Adrian huffs. “Kato might be a bit of a dickhead, but he’s your dickhead.”
“About me, I mean.”
“Oh. Yeah. So fuck you for getting two mates that are hell-bent on getting dead. I prefer you alive and kicking.”
“I’m about to kick you in a second,” I grumble. Adrian’s agitation is seeping into the room. It’s too much for me right now.
Nathan’s hand slides up the nape of my neck, squeezing firmly.
I melt into the grounding touch, trying to ignore everything else.
Because, no matter what, I know that Nathan is here for me.
He chose me over his pack, after all. He could have pleaded his case with Declan, let me take the fall.
Instead, he left the only world he’s ever known for me.
He buries his hands in my hair, scratching softly at my scalp in soothing motions. “Okay,” he says with a sigh, “clearly the best course of action is for me to sneak onto the pack lands, kidnap Kato, and bring him here.”
“Absolutely not, Nathan,” Niall snaps. “You’ll only put all of you in more danger. And what will you do once you have him here? Declan will surely come to retrieve him.”
“Niall’s right,” Adrian adds ruefully. “Besides, everyone is on high alert for the horse fair. You know what it’s like. Having visitors on our lands always has Declan in a tizzy.”
“But on the day of the show, with all the different scents, all the strangers…” Nathan says, nodding as he works through his thoughts. “I might be able to swing it. Declan won’t be expecting me to try.”
“He will be,” Adrian says, exasperated. “I wish you weren’t so willing to throw your life away. This horse fair is already the bane of my existence and now you’re about to make it even worse.”
Nathan cocks a disbelieving brow. “What’s exactly comparable to me putting my life on the line for my mate?”
“They’ve got me assigned to shit-shovelling duty!” Adrian exclaims, wrinkling his nose as if he can already smell the stench of manure.
“I’m sorry, love,” Niall says sincerely. He squeezes Adrian’s shoulder. “I’m certain that Declan is only doing it to punish me for going against him at the trial.”
“Well, it would have been more convenient for me if he’d assigned you the shit duty instead,” Adrian huffs. “Let this be the last time I take the fall for something you did.”
Niall smiles fondly at him. “We both know you’d shovel shit for me any day of the week.”
“And that,” Adrian says with a roll of his eyes, “is the biggest load of horseshit ever.”
I snort. “Not as big as the pile you’ll be shovelling at the show,” I helpfully point out.
He gives me a narrow-eyed look. “Damn shame you got exiled, because who knew we had such a manure expert in our midst. I could have done with a minion to boss around.”
“I wasn’t really exiled,” I say. “I wasn’t ever part of the pack. Can’t be kicked out; I wasn’t even invited.”
“Pre-emptively uninvited, then,” Adrian shoots back, before pursing his lips in thought. “Do you actually know anything about horses, or are you just taking the mick?”
I swallow thickly. “Yeah. Studied equine management at uni before I”—was taken.
Was changed. Was made into what I am today—“before I dropped out.” I fiddle with the bow of the ribbon I’ve wrapped around my upper thigh.
Not one of the thick ones Nathan used yesterday, a narrow one I stole from his sewing kit.
“Worked at a stable for a bit. I love horses, always have. They’re such expressive animals.
I find them easier to understand than most people. ”
When I lift my head, Niall is looking at me like he can see right through me. Adrian, on the other hand…
“Why’d you drop out?” he asks, leaning forward. Damn omega can smell a story from a mile away, apparently.
Niall prods his side. “Love, you really need to learn to stop being so damn inquisitive. It’s only going to get you in trouble.”
“Pfft. Curiosity killed the cat, not the wolf.”
“Will you ever stop being such a brat?” Nathan asks.
Adrian makes a face at him. “Why are we friends, again? Please remind me.”
Nathan shrugs. “I think you wanted to piss Declan off because you’re a contrary wee fucker. So you made sure to befriend the one alpha in the pack he hates more than anyone else.”
“I do so enjoy witnessing Declan’s angry face,” Adrian says with a grin. “It’s like his normal face, but with more frown lines. Makes him look like one of those dogs with the smooshed faces and all those wrinkles.” He turns to Niall. “You know the ones!”
“English bulldogs?” Niall suggests tiredly. I get the distinct impression they’ve had this exact conversation several times.
Adrian clicks his fingers. “That’s the one.”
“And you wonder why our alpha has you on shit-shovelling duty?” Niall muses. They begin to squabble with the ease of two people who know each other inside and out.
“Have you always been part of the pack, Adrian?” I ask. I figure if he’s going to ask me about my past, I ought to find out a bit more about him too. Nathan has mentioned Niall being a more recent addition, but he hasn’t told me much about Adrian.
He turns from growling playfully at Niall and nods. “Yeah. Lived here my whole life. My o-dad had a difficult pregnancy and passed away not long after my birth, so I was raised by my grandads until they passed a few years back.”
So he’s like me. No family to speak of. “I don’t have anyone left, either.”
Adrian slides a hand around Niall’s back. “You’ve got your mates.”
I stare at the spot on Adrian’s neck where his mating mark would be, had Niall been born an alpha.
My dual bites tingle, as if aware of their implausibility.
As a beta I never expected to be mated like this.
I’d hoped to meet another beta one day, perhaps settle down together somewhere nice.
Join a friendly pack. Buy some horses. Live a quiet life.
Never in a million years did it cross my mind that I’d be sitting here mated by two alphas.
Being without one of them isn’t going to fly any longer.
We’d been waiting to figure out how the hell we could do it, and now we have our solution.
It’s not without flaws, and we’ll have to come up with a way to keep Kato here once he’s back with us, but it’s a start.
“I’m coming with you to break Kato out on the day of the horse show,” I announce to Nathan.
He squeezes my shoulder, right over Kato’s mark. “We’ll get it done.”
Adrian and Niall don’t look convinced, but I am. Nathan and I will be getting our mate back, no matter what.