Curtis's Dads 23 (8 page)

“N–No,” Curtis answered quickly, his eyes widening as he stared at Chauncey. Something was going on. He wasn’t fucking stupid.

Chauncey had been around the block a few times, never finding the right person to settle down with. Thank goodness he hadn’t. It would have been a mess when he discovered Curtis. But to be openly checking out another man while he sat here witnessing it was more than the bear could handle.

His mate had been a little off lately. Keeping to himself, distant, removed. He wasn’t like the man Chauncey had first met at the cookout weeks before, or the man who had offered him his virginity.

Was Curtis already having an affair? The thought almost made Chauncey’s bear shift and show itself right there in the bookstore.

“We need to talk.”

“I get off in an hour,” Curtis said with a little bit of fear in his voice. Chauncey wasn’t sure he wanted to talk now that he had heard his mate’s tone. Was he going to confess something to him that would shatter his world?

“I’ll be back then.”

“No!” Curtis said a little too loudly, his hands grabbing the side of the counter, his nails digging into the wood. Chauncey tilted his head slightly as he studied his mate. That wasn’t a look of longing he had for the other guy. His face pulled back in anger as he realized his mate’s eyes held pure fear in them.

“What happened?” he growled softly. He didn’t care that they were in public. He wanted to know why his mate feared the redhead.

He was ten seconds away from going to find the guy and beating it out of him when Curtis shot from behind the counter and out of the front door.

“Fuck,” Chauncey cursed as he went after his mate. He caught up with Curtis outside the bookstore. Chauncey grabbed his mate around the waist, stopping him from running any farther. “Talk to me, hon.”

“No,” Curtis cried as he wrapped his body around Chauncey’s “I–I can’t.” Chauncey held his mate tight as he walked toward his truck.

There was no way he was taking Curtis to his apartment. He was going to see his pa. He would know what to do.

Chauncey drove as quickly as he could to the ranch, pulling his mate from the front seat and carrying him into the house. “Pa!” he shouted as he took his mate to his bedroom. His pa came in, looking between the two as Chauncey laid Curtis on his bed. He pulled his pa aside, telling him what had happened and how Curtis had been acting lately.

“Let me talk to him. Go sit with D in the kitchen. I finally got him to try coffee, and the little vampire won’t stay out of it now.”

Chauncey didn’t want to leave his mate, but Curtis wasn’t talking to him. What else could he do? He stomped down the wooden steps, heading for the kitchen. He found D fumbling with the coffeemaker.

“How do you work this thing?”

“Human blood.”

D spun around, glaring at Chauncey. “Very funny. Now stop acting like an ass and show me how to make a pot of coffee.”

“I thought vampires could only drink blood,” Chauncey said as he walked over to D, setting up the coffeemaker.

“Yeah, me too. But go figure, I can stomach it,” D said as his fingers gripped the counter, his face nearly smashing into the carafe as he watched the pot drip. He started bouncing from foot to foot as the pot filled. Maybe he shouldn’t have been devilish and brewed an extra-strong pot. The vampire looked wired enough already.

Chauncey took a seat at the table. “By the way, I was supposed to come down here and make sure you stayed away from the coffee.”

“Good looking out,” D said as he gave Chauncey a thumbs-up, never taking his eyes off of the machine. Chauncey shook his head.

The guy didn’t fit into any notion he had of vampires. The man was an enigma.

He shot from his chair when his pa entered the kitchen, a solemn look on his face. “Well?”

“I need to call Maverick.”

“Bullshit!” Chauncey shouted at as his pa, making D finally look at something other than the pot. He stared between them nervously and then ran from the kitchen. “He’s
my
mate. I need to know what’s going on!” He knew he was yelling at his pa, but this was insane!

His pa shook his head. “Not until I talk with Maverick.” Chauncey fixed his mouth to argue further until his father pulled up to his full height, daring Chauncey to argue with him. Chauncey clamped his mouth shut, standing there steaming. He listened as his pa talked on the phone with the alpha. All he said was that he needed Maverick to come right over and it concerned Curtis. Chauncey was downright pissed. He paced the kitchen like a caged bear, waiting for the alpha to arrive.

When his nerves got the better of him, Chauncey headed for the steps.

“Don’t go up there yet, son. Give your mate time to compose himself.”

Chauncey spun on his heel, slammed his palm into the screen door, and walked out onto the porch. Chance was sitting there on the porch swing. Neither said anything. His twin knew his moods and knew when to back off. He was grateful for that.

He stood when he saw a dark SUV pull into his driveway.

“Someone I need to help you bury?” Chance asked darkly as he stepped beside Chauncey.

“No. It’s Maverick.” Chauncey walked back into the house and into the kitchen to see D begging his pa not to pour the pot of coffee out. He ignored them as he took a seat. A few minutes later, Maverick and Mark walked into the kitchen, two warriors standing back in the hallway.

Great. All he needed was for Curtis’s dad to be here. Mark eyed him evilly as he leaned against the wall. “I’m standing here barely holding my anger in check. What did you do to my son?”

“It’s not him,” his pa defended Chauncey.

“Then what is it?” Caden, Curtis’s other dad, asked as he walked into the kitchen.

His pa exhaled as he placed his hands on his hips, looking up at the ceiling. Chauncey got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He wasn’t going to like what he heard. He just knew it.

“Do you remember when Curtis first came to live here?”

“Of course,” Mark answered.

“Do you remember the mechanic you hired?” Mark nodded. “Billy. He and Curtis dated for a while. I had to fire him when I caught him stealing. The little shit tried to lie his way out of it. What about him?”

Chauncey’s pa leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. Chauncey held his breath, waiting for his pa to finish. He wasn’t liking where this was going.

“What did he tell you about Billy?”

Mark stood up straight, looking at his pa strangely. “Like I said, they dated for a while. Curtis ended it when he said that Billy wanted to go further than he was ready for.” Chauncey could feel his bear trying to come to the surface. He already knew what his pa was about to say, and he didn’t want to hear it. He wanted to clamp his hands over his ears, to shout it wasn’t true, but instead, he stared hopelessly as he waited for the dreaded words.

His pa shook his head, placing his hands on the counter behind him. “I just talked with Curtis,” his pa said as he turned his head, looking at Chauncey with sadness in his eyes before looking back at Mark. “Billy raped Curtis.”

Chauncey’s head fell back as he roared, his bear breaking free.

Pure and deep hatred flooded him as he bounded for the door. He was going to kill that son of a bitch! He had that bastard in his sights and let him get away! Chauncey roared again as a heavy weight landed on his back. He struggled to get free, clawing and biting. He wanted blood. Billy was going to die!

“No, son,” his pa said as he wrestled him down. “It can’t be this way.”

This was the only way. Retribution had to be paid, in blood.

Chauncey clawed at the floor, trying to get out from under his pa. The man wasn’t even in his bear form but still managed to pin Chauncey down.

“Chauncey?”

He stilled when he heard his mate’s voice. Chauncey was terrified to turn around. He didn’t know what to say to him. His pa released him, and Chauncey stood, looking at the back door for a split second before his mate called his name again. He could hear tears in Curtis’s voice.

Chauncey turned his head, seeing his mate standing in the kitchen archway, his dad pressed behind him. Mark looked devastated as he stared down at his son. Caden was crying. Curtis looked so lost standing there, his entire body shaking as he stared at Chauncey.

“Are you mad at me?”

Chauncey lowered his head, feeling just as lost as Curtis looked.

He padded over to his mate, licking him up his arm, gently butting his head into his mate before shifting. He grabbed Curtis in a tight hold, feeling hot tears streaming down his face. “Never, honey bunny.” Curtis was still shaking, but he wrapped his arms around Curtis and held him tightly to his chest. He noticed Lewis standing close by.

“I need to take his statement. Although it’s been quite a few years, I’m gonna push to have Billy charged.” Chauncey didn’t want his mate to go through this. He wanted Billy to die and be done with it. But he knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

Chance walked into the kitchen, handing Chauncey a pair of jeans, his eyes promising that they would talk later.

They all walked into the living room as Chauncey took a seat, his mate settling in his lap as he recounted what had happened that night.

Chauncey felt like he was going to be sick when Curtis told of how Billy had forced him to perform oral sex. When the bastard had tried to take Curtis anally, he had picked up a rock and smashed it into Billy’s head, running as fast and as far as he could. He confessed to being too ashamed to tell anyone.

Mark got up, crossing the room, and knelt in front of Curtis, tears slowly falling from eyes, eyes that looked just like Curtis’s. “Nothing you did was wrong. All of this lies on Billy’s shoulders. You understand?”

Chauncey wrapped his arms around his mate, giving him the comfort he knew Curtis needed. His mate nodded at his dad but stayed in Chauncey’s arms. He could feel a cesspool of hatred boiling and churning in his stomach as everyone slowly left. Maverick was the last to leave.

“I know you want him dead. I would, too. Let the law handle it, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll come see you.” Chauncey nodded as he stood, carrying his mate upstairs. He crawled into bed, wrapping his body around his mate’s as he gently rocked Curtis to sleep. As soon as his mate was snoring, Chauncey stood, going in search of D.

“I need you to watch over my mate.”

D shook his head as he backed into the wall. “I know what you’re about to do, and if Pa finds out I helped in any way, he’ll kill me.”

“You’re already dead.” Chauncey growled.

“Big misconception,” D shot back. “I tell you what. I’ll watch your mate if you bring me a pot of coffee.”

“Deal.”

“Oh, and Chauncey?”

Chauncey turned to the vampire, not wanting to waste another minute. “What?”

“Kill that bastard.”

Chauncey gave one short nod of the head before walking down the steps. He walked out onto the porch, knowing already who was waiting for him. Chance didn’t say a word as they stripped their clothes off and shifted, going on the hunt.

* * * *

Chauncey padded back through the kitchen, pissed that Mark and Maverick were waiting by Billy’s farm and had stopped him. It was no use anyway. No one could find Billy. His mother told the alpha that she hadn’t seen him in years, which was odd considering he had been sighted in town lately.

He crawled the steps, heading toward his bedroom. Once by his door, Chauncey shifted and walked in.

“Put some damn clothes on,” D complained as he covered his eyes. “Do you want me to go blind?”

“There’s a pot of coffee waiting on you downstairs.” D took off, not saying another word as Chauncey walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall, looking up at the ceiling as he wondered what he was going to do with his mate. He’d never dealt with anything like this before, not on a personal level.

And this was about as personal as it could get.

He regulated the shower as he stepped in, washing the mud and forest from his skin. He felt helpless. There was nothing he could do at the moment for his mate. He’d slay any dragon he could for Curtis, but how could he slay something inside his mate?

Curtis had been all alone in his dealing with this for years.

Chauncey wanted to be there for him. He knew he’d do whatever his mate needed to get him through this.

Chauncey’s thoughts switched gears. Why was Billy here now?

Why was he taunting Curtis? What possible motive could he have?

What could he gain by terrorizing Curtis? Chauncey pounded his fist against the tile as he tilted his head down. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like any of this. He wanted to find that fucker and beat the answers out of him.

Chauncey didn’t care what the others said. He wasn’t going to turn Billy over to Lewis. He was going to exact revenge for what that punk had done to his mate. Chauncey shut the water off and climbed out, drying himself off before stepping back into his bedroom. He grabbed a pair of underwear from the drawer and slid them on.

He stood there for a moment, staring at his sleeping mate. Curtis looked so peaceful. His features were stunning. His heart clenched at what Curtis had to endure so many years ago. He crossed the room, climbing into bed with his mate, pulling Curtis close to his chest.

“Where did you go?” Curtis asked softly as his hand flattened on Chauncey’s chest.

He had to swallow a few times. This was hard as hell. He didn’t want to lie to Curtis. “I went looking for him.”

Curtis didn’t say anything. For a moment, Chauncey thought he had fallen asleep. He lay there cradling his mate as he tucked Curtis’s head under his chin, gazing at the far wall.

“Please don’t kill anyone because of me. I couldn’t live with that.” Chauncey didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t going to promise anything. He knew himself and his limitations, and knowing that someone had hurt his mate, was still out there taunting him, made his canines itch to sink into that bastard and tear him to shreds.

No, it was best to keep quiet. There was no way he was allowing Billy to get away with what he had done.